H-Pop: The Secretive World of Hindutva Pop Stars
Written by Kunal Purohit
Narrated by Adwait Karambelkar
()
About this audiobook
Can a song trigger a murder?
Can a poem spark a riot?
Can a book divide a people?
Away from the gaze of mainstream urban media, across India's dusty, sleepy towns, a brand of popular culture is quietly seizing the imagination of millions, on the internet and off it. From catchy songs with acerbic lyrics to poetry recited in kavi sammelans to social media influencers shaping opinions with their brand of 'breaking news' to books rescripting historical events, 'Hindutva Pop' or H-Pop is steadily creating societal acceptability for Hindutva's core beliefs. By cleverly inserting Hindutva into popular culture, H-Pop normalizes Islamophobia, demonizes minorities and vilifies its critics each day, without ever making headlines.
What makes H-Pop so popular? Who are its stars and its audience? Who is pouring in the money, the effort and the resources to produce and broadcast it? What is its impact on the BJP and Prime Minister Modi's popularity? And what kind of an India is it trying to create?
These are some of the questions that award-winning independent journalist Kunal Purohit explores in this riveting investigative book as he travels through India, profiling some of H-Pop's most prolific and popular creators--its stars and celebrities. He interrogates whether the creators are driven by ideology or commerce, and what motivates the audience to consume their daily dose of bigotry. In doing so, Purohit uncovers the frightening face of a New India--one that is united by hate, divided by art.
Kunal Purohit
Kunal Purohit has been a journalist for nearly two decades, writing on issues of development, politics, inequality, gender and the intersections between them. He is an independent journalist and has, in the recent past, reported closely on hate crimes and the rise of Hindu nationalism across the country. He has worked in the newsrooms of Hindustan Times and The Free Press Journal in Mumbai. He is an alumnus of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, from where, as a Felix Scholar, he earned an MSc in Development Studies with distinction in 2017. Kunal received the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Civic Journalism in 2012, the Statesman Award for Rural Reporting in 2014 and the UNFPA-Laadli Media Award for Gender Sensitive Reporting in 2014 and 2019. He has also received various fellowships and journalism grants. His work can be found in Al Jazeera, ProPublica, The Times of India, Foreign Policy, Hindustan Times, South China Morning Post, Deutsche Welle and The Wire, among others.
Related to H-Pop
Related audiobooks
Behind the K-pop Mania: Unveiling the Global Sensation Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Karyala: Folk Theatre for Rural Communication in Himachal Pradesh Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKill All Normies: Online Culture Wars From 4Chan And Tumblr To Trump And The Alt-Right Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCulture is bad for you: Inequality in the cultural and creative industries Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSIMPLE METHODS SMARTER DECISIONS: Safety Resource For Female Recording Artists Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5JAY-Z: Made in America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5She Come By It Natural: Dolly Parton and the Women Who Lived Her Songs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pop Masculinities: The Politics of Gender in Twenty-First Century Popular Music Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStreampunks: YouTube and the Rebels Remaking Media Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You Are Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBundini: Don't Believe the Hype Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Johnny Cash and the Paradox of American Identity Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I'd Fight the World: A Political History of Old-Time, Hillbilly, and Country Music Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Black Looks: Race and Representation 2nd Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Circle of the 9 Muses: A Storytelling Field Guide for Innovators and Meaning Makers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Legacy: Trauma, Story, and Indigenous Healing Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5K-POP: The Odyssey: Your Gateway to the Global K-POP Phenomenon Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsYearning: Race, Gender, and Cultural Politics, 2nd Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Build: The Power of Hip Hop Diplomacy in a Divided World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCan't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Move On Up: Chicago Soul Music and Black Cultural Power Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Afrifluence: Unlocking the Potential of African Influencers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Entrepreneurial Muse: Inspiring Your Career in Classical Music Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRocking in the Free World: Popular Music and the Politics of Freedom in Postwar America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Subtweet: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Right This Way: A History of the Audience Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTunes of the Times: An Exploration of Musical Films Through the Ages Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Politics For You
The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Behold a Pale Horse Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Romney: A Reckoning Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 48 Laws of Power Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The War on the West Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5While Time Remains: A North Korean Girl's Search for Freedom in America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of September 11, 2001 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5You Can't Joke About That: Why Everything Is Funny, Nothing Is Sacred, and We’re All in This Together Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dragonfire: Four Days That (Almost) Changed America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Out of the Wreckage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Prince Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Cult of Trump: A Leading Cult Expert Explains How the President Uses Mind Control Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The MAGA Diaries: My Surreal Adventures Inside the Right-Wing (And How I Got Out) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Blackout: How Black America Can Make Its Second Escape from the Democrat Plantation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Letter from Birmingham Jail Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Battle for the American Mind: Uprooting a Century of Miseducation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for H-Pop
0 ratings0 reviews