The Polis Project

What does it mean to write America now? We bring together four writers to reflect on what it means to report on, live in, and make sense of a country we call home at a time of deep political rupture. What does it mean to tell stories with rigour and care, without collapsing into despair or propaganda? How do we write democracy as it is lived, contested, and enforced today? Nearly two centuries ago, Alexis de Tocqueville travelled across the United States and wrote ‘Democracy in America’ as an outsider trying to understand the country’s political experiment. This conversation returns to that impulse, but from a different lens. What does it mean now for writers of the diaspora to move through America and write about it, not as distant observers, but as people shaped by and implicated in its systems of power? We’re joined by: Aruni Kashyap (@arunikashyap ): Author of ‘The Way You Want To Be Loved’, ‘The House With a Thousand Stories’, and the forthcoming ‘How to Date a Fanatic’. Zara Chowdhary (@zarachowdhary ): Writer, producer, and educator; author of ‘The Lucky Ones’. Anjali Enjeti (@anjalienjeti ): Journalist, activist, poll worker, and former attorney; author of ‘Southbound’, ‘The Parted Earth’, and ‘Ballot’. Suchitra Vijayan (@suchitravijayan ): Executive Director of The Polis Project; author of ‘Midnight’s Borders’, and ‘How Long Can the Moon Be Caged?’ May 15, Friday | 6 to 9 p.m. The People’s Forum, 320 W 37th St, New York, NY Get your tickets at the link in bio.

Three remarkable writers, @zarachowdhary @arunikashyap , and @anjalienjeti came to New York for what was one of the most important conversations we’ve had in a really long time about what it means to write about democracy in America. It became an incredibly important and cathartic conversation about writing in times of genocide, writing about American violence, and linking it back to their own histories— Gujarat, Assam, and the American South. The energy in the room was phenomenal. The kind of conversation that reminds you why spaces and conversations like this matter. We’ll have the event videos out soon. In the meantime, if you want to continue supporting and being part of our conversations, subscribe to our New York newsletter. Link in bio.

The news cycle can be confusing and overwhelming. To make sense of it all, Suchitra Vijayan (@suchitravijayan ) breaks down the week’s three biggest headlines. Have a question? Leave a comment!

The news cycle can be confusing and overwhelming. To make sense of it all, Suchitra Vijayan (@suchitravijayan ) breaks down the three biggest headlines every week. Have a question? Leave it in the comments!

The news cycle can be confusing and overwhelming. To make sense of it all, Suchitra Vijayan (@suchitravijayan ) breaks down the three biggest headlines every week. Have a question? Leave it in the comments!

Aruni Kashyap (@arunikashyap ) is the author of ‘The Way You Want To Be Loved’, ‘The House With a Thousand Stories’, and the forthcoming ‘How to Date a Fanatic’. Aruni joins us this Friday at The People’s Forum for a conversation on what it means to write America now. Nearly two centuries ago, Alexis de Tocqueville travelled across the United States and wrote ‘Democracy in America’ as an outsider trying to understand the country’s political experiment. This conversation returns to that impulse, but from a different lens. What does it mean now for writers of the diaspora to move through America and write about it, not as distant observers, but as people shaped by and implicated in its systems of power? Aruni is joined by Anjali Enjeti (@anjalienjeti ), Zara Chowdhary (@zarachowdhary ), and Suchitra Vijayan (@suchitravijayan ). May 15, Friday | 6 to 9 p.m. The People’s Forum, 320 W 37th St, New York, NY Get your tickets at the link in bio.

Even as #Sudan enters the 4th year of devastating war, media coverage remains abysmal. We speak to two Sudanese journalists about why the deadliest conflict in the world has become the the casualty of today’s media attention economy. Join Madhuri Sastry and Bhakti Shringarpure for a live recording of It’s Not You, It’s The Media with guests @ikushkush and @raghdanorsud Thursday, May 14th, 12pm New York, 6pm Khartoum. Event will be livestreamed online on Substack, YouTube and X. 1d

Anjali Enjeti (@anjalienjeti ) is journalist, activist, poll worker, and former attorney. She’s also the author of ‘Southbound’, ‘The Parted Earth’, and ‘Ballot’. Anjali joins us this Friday at The People’s Forum for a conversation on what it means to write America now. Nearly two centuries ago, Alexis de Tocqueville travelled across the United States and wrote ‘Democracy in America’ as an outsider trying to understand the country’s political experiment. This conversation returns to that impulse, but from a different lens. What does it mean now for writers of the diaspora to move through America and write about it, not as distant observers, but as people shaped by and implicated in its systems of power? Anjali is joined by Aruni Kashyap (@arunikashyap ), Zara Chowdhary (@zarachowdhary ), and Suchitra Vijayan (@suchitravijayan ). May 15, Friday | 6 to 9 p.m. The People’s Forum, 320 W 37th St, New York, NY Get your tickets at the link in bio.

Peiman Salehi is an independent Iranian journalist based in Tehran. This dispatch was recorded under significant constraints: internet access has been blocked across Iran since the beginning of the conflict. Salehi’s laptop was destroyed in the impact of a nearby strike in Tehran. That blackout has consequences that extend well beyond Iran’s borders: it has made it functionally impossible for Iranian journalists, civil society voices, and ordinary citizens to report, document, or narrate what is happening on the ground in their own country. The result is an information vacuum. Western corporate media have once again abdicated their duty to cover the American War against Iran; its coverage has been stenographic and spineless, treating the war as inevitable. The danger is not just propaganda but habituation. War, when treated as routine, escapes scrutiny, and Iranian civilian experience remains almost entirely invisible. Into that vacuum comes this dispatch. Eyewitness testimony from inside Iran during this period is exceptionally rare, and we believe its value, its insistence on human dignity, and what is being flattened into briefings and bomb-damage assessments outweigh the limitations imposed by circumstance.

Madhuri Sastry and Bhakti Shringarpure speaking with guest Robin Andersen, author of The Complicit Lens: US Media Coverage of Israel’s Genocide in Gaza. They discuss why the media framing of October 7th narrative became pivotal to manufacture consent for the genocide in Gaza. Andersen explains that the New York Times, in particular, played an outsize role in framing this October 7th origin story. Watch the complete conversation on YouTube.

Madhuri Sastry and Bhakti Shringarpure speaking with guest Robin Andersen, author of The Complicit Lens: US Media Coverage of Israel’s Genocide in Gaza. They discuss why the media framing of October 7th narrative became pivotal to manufacture consent for the genocide in Gaza. Andersen explains that the New York Times, in particular, played an outsize role in framing this October 7th origin story. Watch the complete conversation on YouTube.

Securitization doesn’t just respond to crisis. It produces the conditions we live under. Emergency becomes permanent. Security extends beyond the state into platforms, capital, and infrastructures that shape everyday life. What is framed as protection becomes a way to govern mobility, speech, assembly, and dissent — a structured war on movements. And what is treated as “exceptional” in the Global North has long been routine in postcolonial contexts. To understand securitization, we have to follow how power operates. Explore our paper. Link in bio. #Securitization #PoliticalEconomy #Surveillance #BigTech #CivicSpace #GlobalSouth #NoorReports #NoorXThePolisProject