General

Increasingly, newsletters have become a way for writers to publish their thoughts and writings, and send it directly into readers' inboxes. We speak to Darshini Kandasamy, CEO of Between the Lines, which describes itself as 'a daily email that summarises the main Malaysian news you need to know, with context, bite and wit.' We discuss the pleasures and challenges that come with running a newsletter, and finding a readership. And then on Footnotes, we talk about the newsletters we're subscribed to. 

On this episode, we review one of the most ambitious, and most highly anticipated Star Wars shows on Disney+ Hotstar - Andor. Directed by veteran filmmaker Tony Gilroy and starring Diego Luna, the first season of Andor takes place a few years before the catalytic events of Rogue One, and long before Cassian Andor found himself fighting in the Rebellion against the Empire. We discuss Andor's restrained approach to Star Wars storytelling, if we need more of this quality in our Disney TV shows, and what we'd like to see in season two.

The issue of government spending, transparency, and making sure people get their due is the spotlight of the day following various news in the spotlight: Anwar Ibrahim's announcement that several high-profile projects from the Muhyiddin Yassin’s Administration are under review, and also his statement that some portion of Bernas profits will be redistributed to poor rice farmers. We unpack these stories.

Image source: KYTan, Shutterstock

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim replied to a tweet of someone calling him 'papa', which he full-on rejected. It raises the question regarding this newly-found Malaysian culture of paternalizing our PMs. Should it be encouraged?

Image source: Anwar Ibrahim, Twitter

On his first day in office, Transport Minister Anthony Loke went incognito during peak travel time to spot check Kelana Jaya's LRT line. We get into the significance of the minister's efforts to experience the daily struggle of commuters, and what outcomes we hope to see from his observations.

Image source: Anthony Loke Siew Fook, Facebook

Positive, negative, margin of error - these are among some of the terms you might hear when you need a medical test to diagnose (or rule out) a health problem. What is the science behind these terms? When might a positive actually be a negative? Can medical language be more contextual, without losing its scientific accuracy? Consultant orthopaedic surgeon Dr Rajesh Singh joins us for a lesson on linguistics and communication. 

Image Credit: 123RF

孟晚舟的案件是中美贸易开打，特朗普所开的第一枪。 在中美两方角力下官司延烧数年。根据《路透社》报导，面对目前已重获自由返国的孟晚舟，美国纽约布鲁克林地区法院近日做出裁定，同意撤销所有对她有关银行诈欺的刑事起诉。撤销对于孟晚舟的控诉是否意味着中美关系有所缓和？

New Year’s Resolutions. It’s that time of the year again, where many of us are excitedly setting goals and dreams that we need to start pursuing from the first week of January. 

But the thing about New Year’s Resolutions is, many of us also don’t stick to it after a few weeks have passed. Why does this happen? And what should we keep in mind when setting new year’s resolutions?

Image Credit: Shutterstock

Despite decades of work and progress led by women’s rights activists in Malaysia, there remains much more to be done for us to achieve gender equality. With a new government in place, what do women’s rights organisations hope and want to see from Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s administration? We speak to Abinaya Mohan, advocacy director with the Women's Aid Organisation.

Image Credit: 123RF

Risk management guides businesses in decision-making and planning. But standard risk management processes are not perfect due to their rigid methodology. By adding a behavioural dimension to risk management, the process can be refined further to provide a clearer risk profile. 

We speak to Nur Hamurcu, Partner at &SAMHOUD and Dr. Wieke Scholten, Behavioral Risk Expert at &SAMHOUD.

Image Credit: Shutterstock | Photon photo