Jophin Mathai
@jofmat.bsky.social
philanthropy, education, social mobility, careers, social change | I read, write, listen
Pinned
Jophin Mathai
@jofmat.bsky.social
· Nov 18
Books I read/finished reading in 2025 🧵
This is a yearly ritual. I shall be adding to the thread every now and then. May you happily stumble upon something worth your time:
#booksky
This is a yearly ritual. I shall be adding to the thread every now and then. May you happily stumble upon something worth your time:
#booksky
Reposted by Jophin Mathai
"In the male-dominated online communities, women become the target of misogyny, because they are seen as standing in the way of their success — but this hostility could just as easily be directed toward another marginalized group."
Are ‘hyper-meritocracy’ and feminist backlash driving South Korean young men to the right?
One interviewee said anonymous online forums have fostered a culture in which blatant misogynistic, racist and sexist jokes and comments are normalized.
globalvoices.org
January 13, 2026 at 2:40 PM
"In the male-dominated online communities, women become the target of misogyny, because they are seen as standing in the way of their success — but this hostility could just as easily be directed toward another marginalized group."
“The world’s richest 1% have used up their fair share of carbon emissions just 10 days into 2026, analysis has found.
Meanwhile, the richest 0.1% took just three days to exhaust their annual carbon budget, according to the research by Oxfam.”
Meanwhile, the richest 0.1% took just three days to exhaust their annual carbon budget, according to the research by Oxfam.”
World’s richest 1% have already used fair share of emissions for 2026, says Oxfam
Richest 1% took 10 days while wealthiest 0.1% needed just three days to exhaust annual carbon budget, study shows
www.theguardian.com
January 11, 2026 at 8:56 AM
“The world’s richest 1% have used up their fair share of carbon emissions just 10 days into 2026, analysis has found.
Meanwhile, the richest 0.1% took just three days to exhaust their annual carbon budget, according to the research by Oxfam.”
Meanwhile, the richest 0.1% took just three days to exhaust their annual carbon budget, according to the research by Oxfam.”
Reposted by Jophin Mathai
Fascinating story about how genome-based theories of disease clouded our understanding of exposome-based explanations of disease and how those errors are now slowly being corrected.
“Your exposome is the sum of your own personal environmental exposures, from the womb to the casket.”
“Your exposome is the sum of your own personal environmental exposures, from the womb to the casket.”
“No one knows exactly how much of the world’s drinking water is laced with TCE. The CDC reckons the water supply of 4-18% of Americans is contaminated… In Silicon Valley, where TCE was integral to manufacturing of early transistors, a necklace of underground plumes…”
www.wired.com/story/scient...
www.wired.com/story/scient...
Scientists Thought Parkinson’s Was in Our Genes. It Might Be in the Water
New ideas about chronic illness could revolutionize treatment, if we take the research seriously.
www.wired.com
January 11, 2026 at 5:24 AM
Fascinating story about how genome-based theories of disease clouded our understanding of exposome-based explanations of disease and how those errors are now slowly being corrected.
“Your exposome is the sum of your own personal environmental exposures, from the womb to the casket.”
“Your exposome is the sum of your own personal environmental exposures, from the womb to the casket.”
I’d been reviewing some of readings and saved tweets and came across one by @existentialcomics.com.
“No justice had ever been won without making someone uncomfortable.”
“No justice had ever been won without making someone uncomfortable.”
January 11, 2026 at 6:20 AM
I’d been reviewing some of readings and saved tweets and came across one by @existentialcomics.com.
“No justice had ever been won without making someone uncomfortable.”
“No justice had ever been won without making someone uncomfortable.”
Reposted by Jophin Mathai
Behind Indore deaths, civic collapse, health system struggling with deluge of patients
Behind Indore deaths, civic collapse, health system struggling with deluge of patients
Over 66,000 screened; many first rushed to small clinics barely equipped to deal with crisis
indianexpress.com
January 4, 2026 at 3:54 PM
Behind Indore deaths, civic collapse, health system struggling with deluge of patients
"Among today’s adept practitioners, the lie has long since lost its honest function of misrepresenting reality. Nobody believes anybody, everyone is in the know."
- Theodor Adorno, Minima Moralia
- Theodor Adorno, Minima Moralia
January 4, 2026 at 1:43 PM
"Among today’s adept practitioners, the lie has long since lost its honest function of misrepresenting reality. Nobody believes anybody, everyone is in the know."
- Theodor Adorno, Minima Moralia
- Theodor Adorno, Minima Moralia
“Its 11-year-old Building Institutions and Networks, otherwise known as BUILD, gave grants to 574 social justice nonprofits in 47 countries, via five-year grants ranging from around $2 million to more than $10 million.”
www.alliancemagazine.org/blog/ford-fo...
www.alliancemagazine.org/blog/ford-fo...
Ford Foundation scraps $2 billion global grants programme - Alliance magazine
The US-based Ford Foundation ‘quietly’ scrapped a $2 billion grantmaking programme that provided long-term funding for institutional support. Its 11-year-old Building Institutions and Networks, other...
www.alliancemagazine.org
December 29, 2025 at 1:29 PM
“Its 11-year-old Building Institutions and Networks, otherwise known as BUILD, gave grants to 574 social justice nonprofits in 47 countries, via five-year grants ranging from around $2 million to more than $10 million.”
www.alliancemagazine.org/blog/ford-fo...
www.alliancemagazine.org/blog/ford-fo...
Reposted by Jophin Mathai
There’s a Silicon Valley billionaire freak out happening about a potential wealth tax ballot initiative in California.
I hope everybody understands—the only way to make billionaires pay a similar *income* tax rate as their secretaries is via taxing unrealized cap gains or wealth
I hope everybody understands—the only way to make billionaires pay a similar *income* tax rate as their secretaries is via taxing unrealized cap gains or wealth
December 29, 2025 at 12:07 AM
There’s a Silicon Valley billionaire freak out happening about a potential wealth tax ballot initiative in California.
I hope everybody understands—the only way to make billionaires pay a similar *income* tax rate as their secretaries is via taxing unrealized cap gains or wealth
I hope everybody understands—the only way to make billionaires pay a similar *income* tax rate as their secretaries is via taxing unrealized cap gains or wealth
Reposted by Jophin Mathai
If you're interested in some granular national data on innovative social protection approaches - check out:
greeneconomytracker.org/policies/inc...
UNRISD also have lots of great research 😊
www.unrisd.org/en/research/...
greeneconomytracker.org/policies/inc...
UNRISD also have lots of great research 😊
www.unrisd.org/en/research/...
Inclusive Social Protection
A fair green future needs new laws. Here's the most important policies across 5 themes: Nature, People, Sectors, Finance & Governance
greeneconomytracker.org
December 29, 2025 at 7:12 AM
If you're interested in some granular national data on innovative social protection approaches - check out:
greeneconomytracker.org/policies/inc...
UNRISD also have lots of great research 😊
www.unrisd.org/en/research/...
greeneconomytracker.org/policies/inc...
UNRISD also have lots of great research 😊
www.unrisd.org/en/research/...
According to the ILO's flagship report 2024-26, dealing with climate shocks and implementing just transition policies 'requires comprehensive social protection systems to be in place ex ante". There is already a massive shortfall:
“Asia accounted for four of the top six costliest disasters with flooding in India and Pakistan killing more than 1,860 people, costing up to $6 billion and affecting more than 7 million people in Pakistan alone.”
December 29, 2025 at 6:55 AM
According to the ILO's flagship report 2024-26, dealing with climate shocks and implementing just transition policies 'requires comprehensive social protection systems to be in place ex ante". There is already a massive shortfall:
"If survival always involves others, it is also necessarily subject to the indeterminacy of self-and-other transformations."
- Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, 'The Mushroom at the End of the World'
#booksky
- Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, 'The Mushroom at the End of the World'
#booksky
December 29, 2025 at 6:29 AM
"If survival always involves others, it is also necessarily subject to the indeterminacy of self-and-other transformations."
- Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, 'The Mushroom at the End of the World'
#booksky
- Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, 'The Mushroom at the End of the World'
#booksky
Reposted by Jophin Mathai
In a statement, the bishops’ association said that it was “particularly shocked” by an incident in Jabalpur, where a visually impaired woman attending a Christmas programme was assaulted by a BJP leader.
Read more: scroll.in/latest/10895...
Read more: scroll.in/latest/10895...
December 24, 2025 at 5:34 AM
In a statement, the bishops’ association said that it was “particularly shocked” by an incident in Jabalpur, where a visually impaired woman attending a Christmas programme was assaulted by a BJP leader.
Read more: scroll.in/latest/10895...
Read more: scroll.in/latest/10895...
Reposted by Jophin Mathai
I think it's sweet that the oldest surviving printed book in the world - the Diamond Sutra - is also the oldest creative work explicitly released into the public domain, with a colophon at the end that says it was created for universal free distribution.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond...
Diamond Sutra - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
December 23, 2025 at 9:48 PM
I think it's sweet that the oldest surviving printed book in the world - the Diamond Sutra - is also the oldest creative work explicitly released into the public domain, with a colophon at the end that says it was created for universal free distribution.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond...
ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS.
I cannot imagine knowing stuff without getting sucked into a citation rabbit-hole / wonderland and then reflecting on how these works engage with each other.
I cannot imagine knowing stuff without getting sucked into a citation rabbit-hole / wonderland and then reflecting on how these works engage with each other.
Am I the only one who gets a real kick out of citation chains? Reading people's writing and footnotes, and making assessments and notes, finding the sources in the footnotes and reading them yourself, and making more notes?
I...love it?
I...love it?
Not for academics it isn’t. You learn by reading and by following citation chains and talking to other people in the field. Letting the AI do the summary is abdicating your job.
December 23, 2025 at 5:32 AM
ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS.
I cannot imagine knowing stuff without getting sucked into a citation rabbit-hole / wonderland and then reflecting on how these works engage with each other.
I cannot imagine knowing stuff without getting sucked into a citation rabbit-hole / wonderland and then reflecting on how these works engage with each other.
Reposted by Jophin Mathai
I think this post nails the actual problem, for researchers at least—AI hallucinations would simply not be a problem in academic work if we’d not normalized citation-as-signaling rather than actual engagement—you can only cite a fake paper if you’re not in the habit of reading the papers you cite
Do not cite an academic paper unless you’ve read it
AI Is Inventing Academic Papers That Don't Exist -- And They're Being Cited in Real Journals
Academic articles from authors using large language model are creating an ecosystem of fake research that threatens human knowledge itself.
www.rollingstone.com
December 19, 2025 at 7:01 PM
I think this post nails the actual problem, for researchers at least—AI hallucinations would simply not be a problem in academic work if we’d not normalized citation-as-signaling rather than actual engagement—you can only cite a fake paper if you’re not in the habit of reading the papers you cite
“Censors banned 13 films, citing national security reasons, between 2021 and July this year, while 50 films were “required to be modified,” the office said.
Hong Kong banned no films between 2016 and 2020, but that figure jumped to 10 in 2023.”
Hong Kong banned no films between 2016 and 2020, but that figure jumped to 10 in 2023.”
Hong Kong filmmaker Kiwi Chow says the banning of his latest movie exposes a trend for censorship in the region.
Banned film exposes Hong Kong’s censorship trend, director says
“If it involves Hong Kong’s real political situation, absolutely no one will make a movie about it,” says Deadline director Kiwi Chow.
ebx.sh
December 22, 2025 at 12:56 PM
“Censors banned 13 films, citing national security reasons, between 2021 and July this year, while 50 films were “required to be modified,” the office said.
Hong Kong banned no films between 2016 and 2020, but that figure jumped to 10 in 2023.”
Hong Kong banned no films between 2016 and 2020, but that figure jumped to 10 in 2023.”
Reposted by Jophin Mathai
Harsh Mander on supporting independent Southasian journalism.
We’re aiming for 100 new patrons by year-end. If you value this space, consider supporting us : https://ow.ly/c1tW50XN6Pk
We’re aiming for 100 new patrons by year-end. If you value this space, consider supporting us : https://ow.ly/c1tW50XN6Pk
December 22, 2025 at 12:29 PM
Harsh Mander on supporting independent Southasian journalism.
We’re aiming for 100 new patrons by year-end. If you value this space, consider supporting us : https://ow.ly/c1tW50XN6Pk
We’re aiming for 100 new patrons by year-end. If you value this space, consider supporting us : https://ow.ly/c1tW50XN6Pk
Reposted by Jophin Mathai
One of my favourites: an important, critical intervention by Tania Murray Li, particularly salient in these times.
If imminent development is failing, what must come ‘after development’?
ideas.repec.org/a/bla/devchg...
If imminent development is failing, what must come ‘after development’?
ideas.repec.org/a/bla/devchg...
December 19, 2025 at 2:17 PM
One of my favourites: an important, critical intervention by Tania Murray Li, particularly salient in these times.
If imminent development is failing, what must come ‘after development’?
ideas.repec.org/a/bla/devchg...
If imminent development is failing, what must come ‘after development’?
ideas.repec.org/a/bla/devchg...
One of my favourites: an important, critical intervention by Tania Murray Li, particularly salient in these times.
If imminent development is failing, what must come ‘after development’?
ideas.repec.org/a/bla/devchg...
If imminent development is failing, what must come ‘after development’?
ideas.repec.org/a/bla/devchg...
December 19, 2025 at 2:17 PM
One of my favourites: an important, critical intervention by Tania Murray Li, particularly salient in these times.
If imminent development is failing, what must come ‘after development’?
ideas.repec.org/a/bla/devchg...
If imminent development is failing, what must come ‘after development’?
ideas.repec.org/a/bla/devchg...
"J&J’s exit isn’t an outlier; it’s part of a broader retreat from infectious disease research across the pharmaceutical industry, as companies shift toward drugs for wealthier markets: cancer, obesity, autoimmune disorders."
They call this a "textbook market failure".
Damn textbooks.
They call this a "textbook market failure".
Damn textbooks.
This brutal mosquito-borne disease may have a cure, but there's a catch
No one wants to make it.
www.motherjones.com
December 19, 2025 at 10:49 AM
"J&J’s exit isn’t an outlier; it’s part of a broader retreat from infectious disease research across the pharmaceutical industry, as companies shift toward drugs for wealthier markets: cancer, obesity, autoimmune disorders."
They call this a "textbook market failure".
Damn textbooks.
They call this a "textbook market failure".
Damn textbooks.
“The current shift to devolve the scheme to states and without commensurate fiscal support, now threatens its existence. States lack the central government’s financial capacity.”
Open letter to the Indian Government in Support of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)
Open letter to the Indian Government in Support of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)
An Open Letter to the Indian Government in Support of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) – Levy Economics Institute of Bard College
The Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee (MGNREGA or NREGA) is the largest rights-based public employment program in the world, signed into law in 2005. It faces imminent repeal by the...more
www.levyinstitute.org
December 19, 2025 at 5:57 AM
“The current shift to devolve the scheme to states and without commensurate fiscal support, now threatens its existence. States lack the central government’s financial capacity.”
Open letter to the Indian Government in Support of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)
Open letter to the Indian Government in Support of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)
"The relational aspect of human powers suggests that our relations with others are really important for determining our individual and collective powers. Who and what we connect and relate to, and how we do so, profoundly affects what we can do and become."
December 18, 2025 at 2:14 AM
"The relational aspect of human powers suggests that our relations with others are really important for determining our individual and collective powers. Who and what we connect and relate to, and how we do so, profoundly affects what we can do and become."
Reposted by Jophin Mathai
It would be heartless not to empathise with Gen Z and Alpha (and whatever comes after) who are getting raw deal on nearly every front.
The study-to-work pipeline is fundamentally compromised in an area traditionally preferred.
The study-to-work pipeline is fundamentally compromised in an area traditionally preferred.
“Among his 400 classmates at the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Design and Manufacturing, fewer than 25% have secured job offers. His course ends in May 2026, and there’s a sense of panic on the campus.”
“Everyone is so panicked”: Entry-level tech workers describe the AI-fueled jobpocalypse
Engineering graduates face shrinking opportunities and rising pressure to upskill beyond their curriculum.
restofworld.org
December 12, 2025 at 2:15 PM
It would be heartless not to empathise with Gen Z and Alpha (and whatever comes after) who are getting raw deal on nearly every front.
The study-to-work pipeline is fundamentally compromised in an area traditionally preferred.
The study-to-work pipeline is fundamentally compromised in an area traditionally preferred.
Jeez.
Coke admitted they had to generate 70,000 video clips for their latest Christmas slopvertising
BY MY CALCS:
- 4x the CO2 impact of a normal ad project
- 1 day of 2-5 medium hospitals
- 1 month of 250 households
- 44 years of continuous Netflix viewing
futurism.com/artificial-i...
BY MY CALCS:
- 4x the CO2 impact of a normal ad project
- 1 day of 2-5 medium hospitals
- 1 month of 250 households
- 44 years of continuous Netflix viewing
futurism.com/artificial-i...
December 17, 2025 at 10:33 AM
Jeez.
Reposted by Jophin Mathai
Mumbai’s rapid data center growth deepens energy pressure, fuels coal dependence and exposes widening inequality. Read Sushmita's report for @techpolicypress.bsky.social to learn more: https://loom.ly/cuSIyzM
📸Credit: Gloria Mendoza/Better Images of AI/CC by 4.0.
📸Credit: Gloria Mendoza/Better Images of AI/CC by 4.0.
December 17, 2025 at 5:00 AM
Mumbai’s rapid data center growth deepens energy pressure, fuels coal dependence and exposes widening inequality. Read Sushmita's report for @techpolicypress.bsky.social to learn more: https://loom.ly/cuSIyzM
📸Credit: Gloria Mendoza/Better Images of AI/CC by 4.0.
📸Credit: Gloria Mendoza/Better Images of AI/CC by 4.0.