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Where you read it first | Friday, December 5, 2025
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Annika Pillai

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Arts

The spy thriller as a geopolitical lens

By Annika Pillai | December 5

Though it may seem like mindless entertainment, spy fiction isn’t just about gadgets, secret codes or daring escapades. Rather, it’s a mirror for the world’s biggest fears. From 19th century diplomacy to today’s espionage, the genre has evolved alongside global conflicts, shifting power dynamics and the anxieties that shadow them. Every twist, betrayal and covert mission reveals something deeper — what societies dread, how they interpret danger and how they try to grasp control over the uncontrollable. In many ways, the evolution of the espionage thriller is a record of our collective fears written in ink and, now, on the big screen.

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Arts

Colleen Hoover’s ‘Regretting You’ delivers the drama, leaves the rest behind

By Annika Pillai | November 21

Colleen Hoover’s stories aren’t designed for subtlety, and “Regretting You” is no exception. The film unfolds with the same relentless pace as her novels — emotions spelled out in painful detail and absurd twists that land before the audience can catch its breath. It’s the kind of story that pushes for immediate reaction, even if it comes at the cost of overall quality. On screen, however, that approach feels uneven. The movie is so busy moving from one moment to the next that it rarely gives its story or characters time to land.

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Arts

How protein became commodified

By Annika Pillai | November 20

Protein is everywhere now — or at least, the word is. When you walk into a grocery store, it almost feels like half the aisle is trying to convince you that you’re one scoop away from collapsing from malnutrition. There’s protein cereal, protein pasta, protein donuts, protein Pop-Tarts, protein chips, protein soda and even protein water, which sounds like a product that shouldn’t exist. The implication is constant: without added effort, you’re probably falling short. Yet many doctors and nutritionists say the average American already consumes more than enough protein. So why is it suddenly everywhere?

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Arts

What Reddit’s ‘snark’ pages can tell us about the fate of journalism

By Annika Pillai | November 13

In May, The New York Times ran a story about a young influencer with Stage 4 cancer who’d become the fixation of a Reddit ‘snark’ community. The subreddit’s members didn’t believe she was sick. They combed through her Instagram posts and created timelines tracking her hospital visits and medical details. They called it research. When the Times confirmed her diagnosis with her doctor and reached out to Reddit for a comment on its inaction, the platform banned the forum. By then, though, its members had already produced something that looked unsettlingly like journalism.

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Arts

R.F. Kuang visits Tufts, discusses fear, form and fairytales

By Annika Pillai | October 23

On Oct. 10, author R. F. Kuang joined the Tufts community for a discussion on writing, identity and the questions that shape her fiction. Hosted by the Asian American Center, the event drew a full audience to Distler Performance Hall, where students eagerly awaited with notebooks and copies of “Babel” and her other works in hand. Over the course of an hour, Kuang spoke warmly about her craft, academia and the delicate balance between critique and care.

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Arts

Has social media marketing gone too far?

By Annika Pillai | October 22

When Amazon Prime Video compared a fan’s engagement ring to Belly’s from “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” the reaction was immediate and sharp. This incident is not just a mistake. It reflects a deeper tension in modern brand marketing.

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Arts

R.F. Kuang’s ‘Katabasis’ exposes the hell of higher learning

By Annika Pillai | October 16

R.F. Kuang has never shied away from ambitious storytelling. From the imperial critique of “Babel” to the literary satire of “Yellowface,” her novels combine social insight with a uniquely creative narrative. In “Katabasis,” she turns her attention to a new and rather audacious terrain: the world of academia itself, imagined as a literal underworld. What does she come up with this time? A darkly funny, rather unsettling meditation on ambition, power and the cost of striving for academic recognition.

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Arts

Somerville’s Bow Market finds beauty in the small

By Annika Pillai | October 9

Tucked into Somerville’s Union Square, Bow Market is proof that good things really do come in small spaces. Part open-air mall, part food court, part art experiment, it’s built inside a converted storage building. What started in 2018 as a vision to turn an underused lot into something better has since grown into a thriving center for over 30 small, local businesses — many of them artist, chef or independently-owned. Their motto is simple: “Small is beautiful, with the belief that the small businesses run by individuals in a community are beautiful.”

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Arts

Microdramas are taking over the television landscape

By Annika Pillai | October 2

If you don’t have TikTok downloaded, you might not know what “His Nerd” is. But if you’ve doom-scrolled long enough, chances are you’ve stumbled across an ad for a microdrama. Titles like “His Nerd” and “Loving My Brother’s Best Friend” have become ubiquitous online, enticing viewers with quick romance and melodramatic twists.

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