akhil's notebook

🪷 where media ruptures into reality 🪷

By Akhil Vaidya

· Launched 2 years ago

VIDEO: wasia & the end of american empire

Further reading from our conversation on the rise of Wasia in the wake of American imperial decline.

Jun 18•Akhil Vaidya and Charlie Markbreiter

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LatestTopDiscussions

VIDEO ESSAY: "asian american rom-coms & the trap of media representation"

Notes on Aziz Ansari, Ryan Higa, and the futile project of representation.

May 26•Akhil Vaidya

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"TILL THE WORLD ENDS"

In a world of endless gooning, Britney Spears' apocalypse anthem edges us to completion.

May 7•Akhil Vaidya

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AISHWARYA RAI IN THE RAIN

After financial crisis, India's renewed vision of global power was embodied by a young beauty queen and actress. In the rain, a woman becomes an idea.

Apr 29•Akhil Vaidya

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VIDEO ESSAY: "how reality tv manufactures propaganda for dubai"

Notes + further reading on Syria's authoritarian state, the right to represent reality, and the delusions of men.

Apr 23•Akhil Vaidya

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VIDEO ESSAY: "how indian-americans became the face of multiracial conservatism"

Notes on Bobby Jindal, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Usha Vance.

Mar 5•Akhil Vaidya

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COMING OUT TO PEREZ HILTON

When I was 11, I confided in the only gay man I knew at the time. He called himself the "most hated" man in Hollywood.

Jan 14•Akhil Vaidya

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2026 INS & OUTS (444Hz HOPECORE SUBLIMINAL)

on SE Asia (in), the ick (out), trap queens (in), media representation (out), lean (in), and more

Dec 28, 2025•Akhil Vaidya

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