Snigdha Poonam

May 15, 2024 | newlinesmag.com | Snigdha Poonam

It started with two simple words: “Hi, beautiful.” Jhumpa Biswas, 36, would have ignored this direct message from a stranger on Instagram. But intrigued by his name, Mark Anthony, she checked out his profile. He was a foreigner, indeed, and a white guy at that. “Fair and handsome,” she described him to me in her one-room apartment in Gurugram, a satellite city south of the Indian capital of New Delhi, in April 2023. She pulled up a screenshot of his Instagram display photo to prove it.

May 13, 2024 | fullerproject.org | Erica Hensley |Louise Donovan |Snigdha Poonam |Albert Oppong-Ansah

Of the 7 million Americans with Alzheimer’s, two-thirds are women. A new drug offers them a chance at slowing the cognitive decline that comes with this terminal illness. But there will always be a crucial asterisk when it comes to the development of Leqembi, approved last year by the Food and Drug Administration: Its tests in the U.S. only included 10 Black women, despite Black women being twice as likely to be diagnosed with the disease compared to white women.

May 6, 2024 | fullerproject.org | Louise Donovan |Snigdha Poonam |Albert Oppong-Ansah |Zahra Nader

In January, I traveled to Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital, to report on how climate change is impacting the lives of the country’s garment workers. Sitting in the back of a tuk tuk, hot air blowing on my face, I took a screenshot of the temperature on my iPhone: 89.6°F. Although the Southeast Asian country is known for its tropical climate, January is meant to be one of the cooler months. After several hours, the heat made it difficult to concentrate fully. But I could always take a break.

Apr 29, 2024 | fullerproject.org | Louise Donovan |Snigdha Poonam |Albert Oppong-Ansah

As we prepare to celebrate World Press Freedom Day, it’s worth reflecting on how it’s become a rare privilege to spot a female face on Afghan television — whether they wear a face covering or not. On some channels, voices of women are broadcast, but their faces are nowhere to be seen. Now, even these brief glimpses of women on Afghan TV might disappear.

Apr 8, 2024 | foreignpolicy.com | Snigdha Poonam

India changes more in five years than many countries would in a quarter century. This is partly because it is still relatively young: The country gained independence just 76 years ago, and nearly half of its population is under the age of 25. As one would expect, then, much has happened in the five years since 2019, when Indian voters issued an overwhelming mandate to keep the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in power.