By Kate Janse Van Rensburg* GOMA, North Kivu, DR Congo | 15 March 2025 (IDN) — “Bunduki za Kwetu” [Our Guns] was the last song released by Congolese musician Delphin Katembo Vinywasiki, popularly known as Delcat Idinco or Idengo (31). Hours later, he was shot dead while filming the song’s music video on 13 February […]
The Impact of the Digital Revolution on Culture and Communication
By Jan Servaes* BRUSSELS, Belgium | 12 March 2025 (IDN) — The digital revolution has undeniably transformed the way we communicate and interact. In just under 50 years, we have evolved from a system of basic linear communication to one of complex and intertwined interactions. This digital media ecosystem has diluted structures and contexts, blurred […]
Social Media and Politics in Southeast Asia
By Jan Servaes* BANGKOK, Thailand | 29 January 2025 (IDN) — Southeast Asia exhibits a wide range of political structures, cultural systems, depths of political engagement, and histories. Nearly four decades since the advent of the Internet in the region, the online population has grown substantially, hand in hand with increased government capacity to exert […]
Book Review: Saving the World from Nuclear War
By Eric Ross, University of Massachusetts Amherst* AMHERST, Massachusetts, USA | 6 January 2025 (IDN) — In Saving the World from Nuclear War, Vincent J. Intondi offers a concise yet comprehensive examination of the context and legacy of the June 12, 1982, Nuclear Disarmament Rally. Against the backdrop of a period of heightened nuclear anxiety […]
A Wonderland of Words: The Anaphora to Zeugma
By Satish Padmanabhan* NEW DELHI | 26 November 2024 (IDN) — If you have a bittersweet longing for something absent in your life, or you have experienced something once, loved and lost, and may never experience it again and are left with feelings of love, happiness, sadness, hope, emptiness and desire—and if you speak Portuguese—you […]
Media’s Adversarial Culture Triggers Geo-Political Tensions, Argues New Book
By Kannan Salazar BANGKOK | 14 November 2024 (IDN) — Today geo-politics drives the news agenda in the Asian region where many countries have seen a dramatic rise in their economic prosperity in the past three decades that have catapulted nations and societies from the ‘third world’ to the ‘first world’ within a generation that […]
Tigray War 2020-2022 Documented
BRUSSELS (IDN) — A comprehensive three-volume series documenting the 2020-2022 Tigray War has beenreleased just ahead of the upcoming commemoration on November 3-4, marking both the start and ceasefire of this devastating conflict. This groundbreaking series explores how the war has irrevocably transformed the Tigray region. Drawing oncollaborative research between universities within and outside Ethiopia, […]
Sri Lankans Waiting for their Messiah: Further Thoughts of an Insomniac
By Seevali Abeysekera* LONDON | 8 October 2024 (IDN) — When our Messiah arrives, we who do not know how to stand in a queue, will miraculously transform ourselves into the most orderly citizens the world has ever seen. When our Messiah arrives, we who fight our way into overcrowded buses and trains will miraculously […]
A Cultural Feast of Folk Songs That Unveils the Soul of Sri Lanka
Reviewed by Nandi Jasentuliyana, former Deputy Director-General, United Nations. LOS ANGELES, USA | 21 September 2024 (IDN) — If you have yet to experience the mesmerizing performances of the Ranwala Balakaya, you’re missing out on a cultural feast that stirs the soul and celebrates Sri Lanka’s rich heritage. Fans of traditional Sri Lankan arts packed […]
Exceptional AI-Powered Art Brings Digital Environmentalism to the UN
World renowned media artist Refik Anadol’s work on nature highlights transformative power of technology during UN General Assembly NEW YORK | 21 September 2024 (IDN | UN) — At the United Nations headquarters, where world leaders will gather to address critical global challenges during the General Assembly (UNGA) high-level week, they will have a unique […]