The Bad Take

On this episode, we're joined by linguist Carmen Aguilera-Carnerero based in Granada, Spain. She was in Sri Lanka for some months last year, studying extreme speech online. She has also studied graffiti and "wall art" in Spanish and other European cities. This is a deep dive into her findings. Carmen Aguilera-Carnerero is a lecturer at the University of Granada (Spain), a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for the Analysis of the Radical Right and co-editor of the academic journal GRETA. Her area of study is Linguistics, and she has explored the syntax and sematics interface in her pre-doctoral phase and the Critical Discourse Analysis of Cyberdiscourse in her post doctoral stage (from 2013). Her areas of interest primarily are the articulation of hate speech online (specially in social media) with cyberislamophobia (both in text and image) and online racism in Sri Lanka in focus. Carmen has also worked in products of subculture and their subversiveness via linguistics and semiotics such as graffiti. Carmen is on Twitter at @Carmenable. Special thanks to our Patron Uditha Umesh for making this episode possible. Show notes for this episode, including links to everything mentioned: thebadtake.com/episode20 Support us on Patreon and get exclusive extras: thebadtake.com/patreon Credits: Soundtrack -  Downtown Funk by Dj Quads @aka-dj-quads Music provided by Free Music for Vlogs youtu.be/UYBJQkvLTIw Background image - Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash

On this episode, we're joined by Sri Lankan astronomer Mahesh Herath who made headlines last year when he discovered not one but two exoplanets - no big deal - in a remote corner of our galaxy. We talked about his rigorous research process and the future of space exploration technologies among other things. Mahesh Herath is a research scientist attached to the Arthur C Clarke Institute of Modern Technologies (ACCIMT). His discovery of two extra solar planets (exoplanets) orbiting a distant star has put Sri Lanka’s footprint on the map of space research. Mahesh Herath read for his degree in physics at the University of Southampton, UK and then went on to do his master’s in space science at KU Leuven in Belgium. The course of study included spacecraft engineering, space law and statistics. Mahesh is currently reading for his MPhil in planetary astronomy at the University of Colombo. Mahesh is on Twitter at @MaheshHerath5. Show notes for this episode, including links to everything mentioned: thebadtake.com/episode19 Support us on Patreon and get exclusive extras: thebadtake.com/patreon Credits: Soundtrack -  Downtown Funk by Dj Quads @aka-dj-quads Music provided by Free Music for Vlogs youtu.be/UYBJQkvLTIw Background image - Alexander Andrews on Unsplash

Joined by subject expert Nisansa de Silva, we bust some myths about AI and its applications, while exploring the challenges in AI development and the inevitable social, economic and political implications it poses. Nisansa de Silva is a doctoral candidate at the Department of Computer and Information Science at the University of Oregon. His research interests are in the area of Artificial Intelligence, specifically, in the sub-domains of; Natural Language Processing, Machine Learning, and Data mining. Nisansa is currently on study leave from his position of lecturer at the Dept. of Computer Science & Engineering, University of Moratuwa. He is a polymath of sorts and has a wide range of interests including history, philosophy, linguistics, mythology, pop culture and classical music. Nisansa is on Twitter at @NisansaDdS. Show notes for this episode, including links to everything mentioned: thebadtake.com/episode18 Support us on Patreon and get exclusive extras: thebadtake.com/patreon Credits: Soundtrack -  Downtown Funk by Dj Quads @aka-dj-quads Music provided by Free Music for Vlogs youtu.be/UYBJQkvLTIw Background image - Brett Jordan on Unsplash

We caught up with sports writer Andrew Fidel Fernando for a chat on his first book, the well received travelogue Upon a Sleepless Isle. Andrew is a prolific sports writer with a penchant for incisive analysis of all things cricket. He is also a historian and travel writer, and his new book Upon A Sleepless Isle has been well received both here and abroad. He is on Twitter at @afidelf Andrew's book, Upon a Sleepless Isle, is available in select bookstores, Takas.lk and Amazon. Show notes for this episode, including links to everything mentioned: thebadtake.com/episode17 Support us on Patreon and get exclusive extras: thebadtake.com/patreon Credits: Soundtrack -  Downtown Funk by Dj Quads @aka-dj-quads Music provided by Free Music for Vlogs youtu.be/UYBJQkvLTIw Background image - Ashwin on Instagram

This edition of our At the Movies episodes is a somewhat belated discussion on Tarantino's latest outing and legendary filmmaker Martin Scorcese's remarks on the MCU. --- Show notes for this episode, including links to everything mentioned: https://thebadtake.com/episode16 --- Music used in this episode: Vanilla Fudge - You Keep Me Hangin' On (© WMG on behalf of Atco) Soundtrack: Downtown Funk by Dj Quads @aka-dj-quads Music provided by Free Music for Vlogs youtu.be/UYBJQkvLTIw

We're back after a while with another movie episode. This time we talk about the new Joker and the controversy surrounding it. Is it worth the hype? --- Show notes for this episode, including links to everything mentioned: https://thebadtake.com/episode15 --- Music used in this episode: Gary Glitter - Rock & Roll Part 2 ( © The Orchard Music, On behalf of: Snapper Music) | Hildur Guðnadóttir - Escape from the Train (Joker OST) | Frank Sinatra - That's Life (© Warner Music Group) Soundtrack: Downtown Funk by Dj Quads @aka-dj-quads Music provided by Free Music for Vlogs youtu.be/UYBJQkvLTIw

From Doo Daruwo to Soora Pappa, from Rookantha to Bathiya & Santhush, the 1990s saw an unprecedented boom in popular entertainment in Sri Lanka that defined an entire generation. This is a look back at the glory days. --- Show notes for this episode, including links to everything mentioned: https://thebadtake.com/episode14 --- Soundtrack: Downtown Funk by Dj Quads @aka-dj-quads Music provided by Free Music for Vlogs youtu.be/UYBJQkvLTIw

We're back after a bit of a hiatus. So much has happened since you last heard from us. Particularly on the online space. This is a brief look at what's been going down. --- Show notes for this episode, including links to everything mentioned: https://thebadtake.com/episode13 --- Soundtrack: Downtown Funk by Dj Quads @aka-dj-quads Music provided by Free Music for Vlogs youtu.be/UYBJQkvLTIw

Are we living in a simulation? The idea is not a new one. It's been a sci-fi staple for years. But more and more scientists are taking it seriously. This is an attempt to understand the implications of this question. --- Show notes for this episode, including links to everything mentioned: https://medium.com/the-bad-take/episode-12-cosmic-musings-2-are-we-living-in-a-simulation-d43d41612865 --- Soundtrack: Downtown Funk by Dj Quads @aka-dj-quads Music provided by Free Music for Vlogs youtu.be/UYBJQkvLTIw

Given the sheer number of stars in the universe – over 200 billion in our galaxy alone, in a universe of two trillion galaxies – chances are, we are not alone. And yet, we have yet to see a shred of credible evidence for life outside our little cosmic corner, let alone intelligent life. The silence is deafening. Are we really alone? --- Show notes for this episode, including links to everything mentioned: https://medium.com/the-bad-take/episode-11-cosmic-musings-1-where-are-all-our-neighbors-1b7534fd1405   --- Soundtrack: Downtown Funk by Dj Quads @aka-dj-quads Music provided by Free Music for Vlogs youtu.be/UYBJQkvLTIw

"You're not stuck in traffic. You are traffic." So goes the adage. But is that always true? What explains the bumper to bumper traffic jams we find ourselves in almost every day, slowly driving us all insane? Is there a solution in sight? This is our attempt to answer some of these questions. --- Show notes for this episode, including links to everything mentioned: https://medium.com/the-bad-take/episode-10-congested-2844ac2023d9 --- Soundtrack: Downtown Funk by Dj Quads @aka-dj-quads Music provided by Free Music for Vlogs youtu.be/UYBJQkvLTIw

This week, we're joined by journalist turned author Ajay Kamalakaran based in Mumbai, India. He talks about, among other things, his latest work, a short story collection centred around a remote island in Russia. Ajay Kamalakaran is a writer and journalist based in Bombay, India. He is currently a columnist for the Malayala Manorama, one of the most widely read publications in India. A veteran on Russian affairs, he was the editor of Sakhalin Times in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk from 2003 to 2007. He has also been a columnist and editor with Russia Beyond The Headlines, an international multimedia publication, based in Moscow. Ajay on Twitter: @AjayKamalakaran Ajay on Facebook: Ajay Kamalakaran Buy Ajay’s book, Globetrotting for Love and Other Stories from Sakhalin Island on Amazon, or contact us at thebadtake [at] gmail [dot] com (if you’re in Sri Lanka.) --- Show notes for this episode, including links to everything mentioned: medium.com/the-bad-take/episode-9-a-conversation-with-ajay-kamalakaran-621a5b84042a --- Soundtrack: Downtown Funk by Dj Quads @aka-dj-quads Music provided by Free Music for Vlogs youtu.be/UYBJQkvLTIw

An unfortunate incident involving a political argument that quickly escalated took Twitter by storm a few days ago. Tempers flared and one of the parties ended up losing their job as a result. Joining us today are Chav and Thimal Gajadeera to discuss the ethical and moral implications of this. Thimal Gajadeera describes himself as a perennial law student with an interest in politics and poetry. He is on Twitter at @ThimalG. Chav is a programming language pony by day and everything else by night. He’s on Twitter at @chav_. --- Show notes for this episode, including links to everything mentioned: medium.com/the-bad-take/episode-8-firing-squad-e84006aba667 --- Soundtrack: Downtown Funk by Dj Quads @aka-dj-quads Music provided by Free Music for Vlogs youtu.be/UYBJQkvLTIw

This week, we're joined by writer and pop culture connoisseur Dilina Amaruwan Pathirage. We pick his brain on what's hot (and not) at the movies and take a walk down memory lane on Sri Lankan cinema's golden years. Dilina Amaruwan Pathirage is a writer at Roar Media. He has a BA in Teaching English as a Second Language and has extensive experience in feature writing, content creation and writing for online media. He also been involved in video production during his stint at Yamu.lk, having being featured on a few videos of his own. Dilina is a self-confessed film buff and a pop culture enthusiast. --- Show notes for this episode, including links to everything mentioned: https://medium.com/the-bad-take/episode-7-at-the-movies-again-with-dilina-amaruwan-8ce79064cea7 --- Soundtrack: Downtown Funk by Dj Quads @aka-dj-quads Music provided by Free Music for Vlogs youtu.be/UYBJQkvLTIw

The Bad Take is back after a month's silence. On this episode we have a chat about Thamara's holiday in Indonesia. --- Show notes for this episode, including links to everything mentioned: https://medium.com/the-bad-take/bonus-episode-b008426653d --- Soundtrack: Downtown Funk by Dj Quads @aka-dj-quads Music provided by Free Music for Vlogs youtu.be/UYBJQkvLTIw

Social media is all around us, controlling so many aspects of our lives. For a lot of us, it's a useful way to stay connected, to stay up to date on what's going in the world. But like with all things, too much of it cannot be a good thing. This is a deep dive into the ills of social media. --- Show notes for this episode, including links to everything mentioned: https://medium.com/the-bad-take/episode-6-on-digital-demons-1e58056e75c5 --- Soundtrack: Downtown Funk by Dj Quads @aka-dj-quads Music provided by Free Music for Vlogs youtu.be/UYBJQkvLTIw

In the Sinhala-speaking corner of the internet, the word 'radical' has come to mean something negative, not unlike pejorative terms such as 'SJW'. This is an attempt to make sense of this politically loaded word as it applies to the Sri Lankan context. --- Show notes for this episode, including links to everything mentioned: https://medium.com/the-bad-take/episode-5-on-radicals-social-justice-826f9d40fe3b --- Soundtrack: Downtown Funk by Dj Quads @aka-dj-quads Music provided by Free Music for Vlogs youtu.be/UYBJQkvLTIw

It's cranky, it's raw, you know it when you hear it. And whether you like it or not, 'bus music' is here to stay. On this episode we explore the fundamental characteristics of the famed Lankan musical genre with connoisseur Indika de Silva. --- Indika de Silva is a lecturer in IT at the General Sir John Kotelawala Defense University in Suriyaweva, Hambantota. He has been a double bass player since 1995 and was a part of the Sri Lankan National Youth Orchestra a while ago. He's has a pronounced interest in Sri Lankan 'bus music' in general, and calls himself a fan. He is also a huge geek, and is the proud owner of an expansive library of comics, graphic novels, and other memorabilia. Indika can be found on Twitter at @saintgif. --- Show notes: https://medium.com/the-bad-take/episode-4-on-bus-music-2b5032369dc8 --- Disclaimer: We don't own the copyrights to any of the songs played in this episode. They are played off YouTube, purely for reference purposes.

With no preparation at all, we sat down to have a chat about the movies we have enjoyed. The conversation flowed with great ease, and we veered a little towards books and TV shows, too, naturally. A fun exchange it was, so we decided to revisit the movie theater again soon. We hope you’d enjoy this first installment for now! --- Show notes for this episode, including links to everything mentioned: https://medium.com/the-bad-take/episode-3-at-the-movies-62fb1dada3d7 --- Soundtrack: Downtown Funk by Dj Quads @aka-dj-quads Music provided by Free Music for Vlogs youtu.be/UYBJQkvLTIw

So we got some new recording gear this week and we thought we'd just sit down and record an impromptu conversation just to test the equipment. This is what we ended up with: a rather long-winded meta chat about the podcast and a few other things that interest us personally. It's not the most exciting, so feel free to skip. Await Episode 3! --- Show notes for this episode, including links to everything mentioned: https://medium.com/the-bad-take/bonus-episode-sound-check-539c0a245464 --- Soundtrack: Downtown Funk by Dj Quads @aka-dj-quads Music provided by Free Music for Vlogs youtu.be/UYBJQkvLTIw

Religion is a touchy topic, to say the least. It's a subject many people like to steer clear of - with good reason. But lately, in Sri Lanka, there has been much conversation around religion, or more specifically, the absence of it. This is one such discussion. --- Show notes for this episode, including links to everything mentioned: https://medium.com/the-bad-take/episode-2-on-atheism-4e0e8afbf6d7 --- Soundtrack: Downtown Funk by Dj Quads @aka-dj-quads Music provided by Free Music for Vlogs youtu.be/UYBJQkvLTIw

The word 'censorship' gets thrown around a lot these days, both locally and internationally. It's been an especially thorny topic of late, given the divisive political climate we're living in right now. But what exactly does it mean to censor someone? And who reserves the right to do it? Thamara and Himal, two random dudes on the internet, offer their half baked opinions on this important subject. --- Show notes to this episode, including links to everything mentioned: https://medium.com/the-bad-take/episode-1-on-censorship-hate-speech-tolerance-71bea804fcd5 --- Soundtrack: Downtown Funk by Dj Quads @aka-dj-quads Music provided by Free Music for Vlogs youtu.be/UYBJQkvLTIw