The Spotlight — Pakistan is never one story.

ThePickle

Digital preservation of cultural heritage

The corner

The same wooden-balconied corner building, photographed twice. Move between the frames and the difference is entirely in the ground floor.

ThePickle

Experimental digital cultural heritage: archives, reconstructions and records you can enter.

Weekly stories

For six weeks the country existed and its post office did not. What arrived instead was a borrowed stamp with one word printed across it.

A mix of what caught our eye and what we want to talk about.

How different places across Pakistan look from above
Nine places that look unlike anything else when the view moves straight up.
The Ghost of the Mountain
Tales of the Mergichan among the Wakhi people: snow, moonlight and an animal you almost see.
Cultural exchange along the Silk Road
Taxila and Haldeikish, and the routes that moved language, art and ideas as readily as goods.
Pakistan at night
Roads, markets and settlements read differently once the only thing left is light.

This week’s theme: Pakistani roads. Passes, stands and the things that wear out on the way. An 8×8 midi.

Subscribe for free and stay updated with our bi-weekly crossword drops.

Pakistan's cultural moments and a test of your knowledge.

Thirty years in the right order
Eight moments from Pakistani public and cultural life, shuffled. Recognising them is easy; putting them in order is not.
The Biryani Constitution
Aloo or no aloo, raita or salad, degh or home pot: find the article of biryani law you live by.
Pakistani music: 1990s to now
Cassette-era rock, Coke Studio and streaming-era hip-hop: ten questions on who made Pakistani music since the 1990s, and how.
What type of wedding guest are you?
Card says eight, food at eleven: find your place in shaadi season, from the dance practice group to the last table standing.

On YouTube

A short film from The Spotlight.