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Ashok Karra

Ashok Karra

374 posts published

http://ashokkarra.com https://x.com/akarra https://www.facebook.com/akarra
On Machiavelli's "Letter to Vettori"
philosophy

On Machiavelli's "Letter to Vettori"

You must prepare to step into a different age when reading Machiavelli.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Dec 2, 2022 • 6 min read
Kyla Houbolt, "Freedom Find You"
poetry

Kyla Houbolt, "Freedom Find You"

I want to talk about love, panic, and language.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Dec 2, 2022 • 3 min read
Engineering Ethics and the Preface to Nietzsche's "Beyond Good and Evil"
philosophy

Engineering Ethics and the Preface to Nietzsche's "Beyond Good and Evil"

I feel like we live in an age where everyone reacts in blind panic if they sense their power is being challenged.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Nov 29, 2022 • 6 min read
Toward a "Meaning of the Election" for the 2022 Midterms
american politics

Toward a "Meaning of the Election" for the 2022 Midterms

What is the best question we can ask about the 2022 US midterms?

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Nov 23, 2022 • 4 min read
Nietzsche & Lawfulness: On the Opening of the Genealogy of Morals, Second Essay
nietzsche

Nietzsche & Lawfulness: On the Opening of the Genealogy of Morals, Second Essay

I want to begin by placing Nietzsche's account of forgetting and memory in dialogue with a choice line from Plato.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Nov 11, 2022 • 6 min read
Shame, Power, and the Pinto: What I've Learned So Far in Engineering Ethics
philosophy

Shame, Power, and the Pinto: What I've Learned So Far in Engineering Ethics

Our present moment indulges images of cars in distress.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Oct 23, 2022 • 5 min read
Themes, Connections, and Getting the Most out of a Humanities Class
education

Themes, Connections, and Getting the Most out of a Humanities Class

I don't think I ever was a good student.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Oct 17, 2022 • 4 min read
On the Opening of Nietzsche's "On the Pathos of Truth"
philosophy

On the Opening of Nietzsche's "On the Pathos of Truth"

"Art is more powerful than knowledge," Nietzsche declares, and part of me wants to scream

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Oct 15, 2022 • 8 min read
from Marilyn Kallet's "You Can't"
poetry

from Marilyn Kallet's "You Can't"

I wouldn't say there's wisdom in everyday life, but seeds of wisdom.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Oct 11, 2022 • 4 min read
The Lack of Possession and Belonging in John Singer Sargent's "The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit"
painting

The Lack of Possession and Belonging in John Singer Sargent's "The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit"

The trick to art is to pretend a friend made it, and you want to say something nice and thoughtful to them.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Sep 30, 2022 • 6 min read
Kyla Houbolt, "hold on"
poetry

Kyla Houbolt, "hold on"

Kyla Houbolt has been writing amazing poetry on a regular basis, and I regret I cannot give all her work the attention it deserves.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Sep 17, 2022 • 4 min read
Emily Dickinson, "Much Madness is divinest Sense"
poetry

Emily Dickinson, "Much Madness is divinest Sense"

When I encounter the sentence "Much Madness is divinest Sense," I think back to middle school and high school.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Sep 16, 2022 • 4 min read
A Short Tribute to Porochista Khakpour's "Just (Don't) Do It"
writing

A Short Tribute to Porochista Khakpour's "Just (Don't) Do It"

Now I have to write about myself again. It's not going great.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Sep 7, 2022 • 4 min read
On Office Hours
education

On Office Hours

OK, this is wild. Students at Harvard don't go to office hours?

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Aug 27, 2022 • 4 min read
Emily Dickinson, "The Sunset stopped on Cottages" (950)
poetry

Emily Dickinson, "The Sunset stopped on Cottages" (950)

I want Dickinson's confidence, though I can't help but think it hubris.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Aug 24, 2022 • 5 min read
Kyla Houbolt, "morning"
poetry

Kyla Houbolt, "morning"

A few of my more fateful encounters have been with those obsessed with simplifying.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Aug 16, 2022 • 4 min read
Matsuo Bashō, "Lady Butterfly"
poetry

Matsuo Bashō, "Lady Butterfly"

Bashō witnesses a butterfly with resplendent, patterned wings hovering over an orchid.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Aug 11, 2022 • 4 min read
Emily Dickinson, "To fight aloud is very brave" (126)
poetry

Emily Dickinson, "To fight aloud is very brave" (126)

Dickinson says "To fight aloud is very brave," and "brave" catches me unguarded. I don't think I've ever been "brave."

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Aug 5, 2022 • 4 min read
D. Nurkse, "Psalm to Be Read with Closed Eyes"
poetry

D. Nurkse, "Psalm to Be Read with Closed Eyes"

The apocalypse was easier before.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Jul 31, 2022 • 3 min read
I bought the Baroness G.I. Joe figure from WalMart
gi joe

I bought the Baroness G.I. Joe figure from WalMart

I suspect I am experiencing a midlife crisis.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Jul 29, 2022 • 4 min read
Adam Zagajewski, “Auto Mirror”
poetry

Adam Zagajewski, “Auto Mirror”

Those who drive wherever they like, whenever they like—I've been jealous of them for so long.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Jul 28, 2022 • 3 min read
Emily Dickinson, "Our share of night to bear" (133)
poetry

Emily Dickinson, "Our share of night to bear" (133)

...your literal self is on full display during a move.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Jul 22, 2022 • 4 min read
Kyla Houbolt, "But What Do You Know?"
poetry

Kyla Houbolt, "But What Do You Know?"

Parts. That's what Houbolt begins with. "[M]aybe the problem is that God has been split up / into parts."

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Jul 6, 2022 • 6 min read
Kay Ryan, "Pinhole"
poetry

Kay Ryan, "Pinhole"

"Hope is a discipline," Mariame Kaba says.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Jul 1, 2022 • 4 min read
Andrea Cohen, "Night"
poetry

Andrea Cohen, "Night"

Andrea Cohen's "Night" sketches the mystery of night so well that I find myself lost in it.

  • Ashok Karra
Ashok Karra Jun 26, 2022 • 6 min read
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