Slow Reads

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Your go-to section for long-form storytelling that goes beyond the headlines.

Bangladesh built its economic rise on labour-intensive manufacturing. But the employment model that powered this growth ...
01/09/2026

Bangladesh built its economic rise on labour-intensive manufacturing. But the employment model that powered this growth is coming under increasing strain. Automation, artificial intelligence (AI), and evolving production systems are reshaping the future of work in manufacturing and transforming emerging high-value and digital service sectors. These shifts are unfolding at a time when large segments of Bangladesh’s workforce already remain excluded from secure and productive employment.

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"The real issue is not simply whether Bangladesh should buy a particular fighter aircraft or join a particular defence a...
01/09/2026

"The real issue is not simply whether Bangladesh should buy a particular fighter aircraft or join a particular defence arrangement. It is whether a series of apparently rational security decisions could, over time, reduce the very strategic freedom that Bangladesh wants those decisions to protect."

For Bangladesh, the challenge is to strengthen its defence capabilities while preserving the freedom to decide when to cooperate, when to remain outside a conflict, and when to say no.

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How did Bengal’s landscape, its abundant clay and its indigenous building traditions shape a distinctive architectural s...
01/09/2026

How did Bengal’s landscape, its abundant clay and its indigenous building traditions shape a distinctive architectural style? From brick structures to the curved cornices inspired by bamboo-framed huts, Bengal’s architecture bears the imprint of its geography and local materials. Professor Perween Hasan, a distinguished historian of South Asian architecture, traces the roots of Bengal’s unique architectural identity.

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A migration journey does not always end when the danger becomes clear. For many young Bangladeshis, debt, family expecta...
31/08/2026

A migration journey does not always end when the danger becomes clear. For many young Bangladeshis, debt, family expectations and the money already invested can make turning back feel like another kind of loss. The further they travel, the harder it can become to abandon the journey and return home empty-handed.

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Women writers who wrote for Dhumketu not only demanded rights for women, but were also inspired by Nazrul’s revolutionar...
31/08/2026

Women writers who wrote for Dhumketu not only demanded rights for women, but were also inspired by Nazrul’s revolutionary fervour to call upon men and women alike to rise against the British and demand freedom." Read the untold history of women's voices in Kazi Nazrul Islam's iconic publication.

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Al tools alone cannot fix a fractured education system. From disrupted curricula to widening learning gaps, this piece e...
30/08/2026

Al tools alone cannot fix a fractured education system. From disrupted curricula to widening learning gaps, this piece explores how Bangladesh's students are navigating uncertainty and why meaningful change depends not on technology, but on rebuilding the human support systems around them.

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Developmental psychologists have a name for part of this transformation: filial maturity. It is the stage of adulthood w...
30/08/2026

Developmental psychologists have a name for part of this transformation: filial maturity. It is the stage of adulthood when we stop seeing our parents as all-powerful protectors and begin seeing them as ordinary human beings, with their own histories, fears, limitations, and mortality. It involves letting go of the comforting illusion that they are somehow immune to the ordinary laws of life while learning to understand them as people beyond the roles of "mother" and "father."

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Hendrik van der Heijden’s harrowing account of the destruction and atrocities he witnessed during his June 1971 visit to...
30/08/2026

Hendrik van der Heijden’s harrowing account of the destruction and atrocities he witnessed during his June 1971 visit to Jessore, Khulna, Chalna and Kushtia amid the Pakistan Army’s genocidal campaign. The World Bank economist submitted his field report on June 23, 1971.

Jessore looked like a “ghost town,” with half a million people having fled to India and virtually all economic activity coming to a halt. In Kushtia, the population fell from 40,000 to 5,000, while 90 percent of its houses, shops, banks and other buildings were totally destroyed. “It was like the morning after a nuclear attack.”

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"For Bangladesh, the lesson is cautionary, with the regional picture continuing to be kaleidoscopically fluid, its final...
30/08/2026

"For Bangladesh, the lesson is cautionary, with the regional picture continuing to be kaleidoscopically fluid, its final shape still highly unpredictable. Our best option is to keep all doors open, maintain good bilateral relations with all sides, and avoid any arrangement that could place us disastrously on the wrong side of history. Such a mistake would be strategically costly and would worsen socio-economic pressures at home."

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“For Bangladesh, the real question is not which camp to join but how much room for manoeuvre it can preserve. As global ...
30/08/2026

“For Bangladesh, the real question is not which camp to join but how much room for manoeuvre it can preserve. As global powers build deeper networks of economic, military and diplomatic cooperation, Dhaka must navigate the emerging order without becoming excessively dependent on any one power.”

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