The late-night talk show is not an institution that has much resonance with the majority of Indian viewers. Only now, because satellite channels have carried Jay Leno, David Letterman and Conan O’Brien, do we have some sense of what the fuss is about. [Read more]

Here are two concepts that you may be familiar with. The first is the media elite. There is a sense in which people in the media are regarded as being removed from their readers of viewers. We are said to have our own pre-occupations, our own motivations and our own perspective on the world. Often, we are criticized for being so obsessed with our own interests and our own advancement. [Read more]

Why do you suppose Shashi Tharoor lurches from controversy to controversy? Some of it, I am prepared to concede, has to do with his unfamiliarity with the Indian political idiom. [Read more]

One of my favourite characters in the American TV show 30 Rock is the ditzy star of the fictional TGS programme that the comedy is about. Shattered at being sidelined by a black comedian who becomes the programme’s new star, she looks for other avenues for her creative impulses. [Read more]

Reactions to the photographs of Andhra Pradesh Governor N D Tiwari cavorting in bed with three young girls have gone to extremes. I’ve heard people say that Tiwari’s behaviour was revolting and that he should be sacked for sleeping with women who were young enough to be his granddaughters. [Read more]