Stories by Onnesha Roychoudhuri

Onnesha Roychoudhuri is a journalist and fiction writer. A 2011 Pushcart Prize nominee, her work has appeared in many publications, including the Nation, The American Prospect, Salon, Mother Jones, The Rumpus, Our Stories, and Wag's Review. subscribe to Onnesha Roychoudhuri's feed

Military Contractors' Dirty Laundering

Posted on: Jul 29, 2011, Source: Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute

A year-long military probe, leaked to the Washington Post, confirms that millions of Pentagon contracting dollars ended up in Taliban hands — as payola.

Is Amazon Evil?

Posted on: Dec 8, 2010, Source: Boston Review

Amazon's cheap books are easy on our wallets, but publishers have been deeply undercut by the rise of large retailers and predatory pricing schemes.

What Happens When a School Board of Religious Zealots Will 'Lie for Jesus'?

Posted on: Jun 19, 2008, Source: AlterNet

Lauri Lebo, author of <i>Devil in Dover</i>, gives an insider's account of a historic court battle about dogma and Darwin in small-town America.

What Michael Pollan Hasn't Told You About Food

Posted on: May 14, 2008, Source: AlterNet

As both obesity and hunger are on the rise, a new book shows why we shouldn't feel guilty about our food choices but angry with a corrupt food system.

Comfortably Numb: How Psychiatry Is Medicating a Nation

Posted on: Apr 16, 2008, Source: AlterNet

Author Charles Barber discusses Americans' unrealistic notions about happiness. We've medicalized a lot of life issues that aren't mental illnesses.

Michael Pollan Debunks Food Myths

Posted on: Feb 19, 2008, Source: AlterNet

Pollan's new book, <i>In Defense of Food</i>, is a scathing indictment of the food industry and a call for a return to unprocessed food.

Reporting Iraq: Journalists' Coverage of a Censored War

Posted on: Feb 7, 2008, Source: AlterNet

A new book takes a close look at the triumphs, challenges and regrets of reporters working to cover the first three years of the Iraq war.

Thom Hartmann: How Liberals Can Speak Without Boring Everyone to Tears

Posted on: Dec 5, 2007, Source: AlterNet

It turns out we have a lot to learn from the advertising world and even Republicans.

The Terror Dream: Fear and Fantasy in Post-9/11 America

Posted on: Nov 3, 2007, Source: AlterNet

Susan Faludi's new book is a scathing critique of the media's response to 9/11. In the wake of the powerlessness many Americans felt on 9/11, a myth was spun.

Your Privacy Is Someone Else's Profit

Posted on: Oct 28, 2007, Source: AlterNet

Private companies have more control over our personal information than we do, as the new book, <i>iSpy: Surveillance and Power in the Interactive Era</i>, explains.

Hocus POTUS: A Fictional Account of the Search for WMDs in Iraq

Posted on: Sep 19, 2007, Source: AlterNet

The new novel from a veteran journalist and former Marine, captures a truth about Iraq that you won't get from reading the daily news. Here's an interview with him and an excerpt.

From Apocalypse to Disaster, America Is Obsessed with the Prospect of Bad News

Posted on: Aug 30, 2007, Source: AlterNet

Author of the new book <i>The Culture of Calamity</i>, Kevin Rozario explains why we are so fond of a good crisis.

How Phone Companies Team Up With Bush to Spy On You

Posted on: Aug 14, 2007, Source: AlterNet

Onnesha Roychoudhuri: A new investigative piece explores American telecoms complicity with the Bush administration’s data mining program.

Exposed: The Anatomy of a Torture Scandal

Posted on: Jun 20, 2007, Source: AlterNet

Where does the buck stop when it comes to torture?

Justice Department Quashes Wiretapping Inquiries

Posted on: Nov 22, 2006, Source: In These Times

The Department of Justice's response to inquiries sent by Maine, Connecticut, Vermont and New Jersey about possible illegal wiretapping has been to sue.

Gitmo From the Inside

Posted on: Sep 26, 2006, Source: AlterNet

An innocent man talks about his three years as a detainee and wonders if he can ever learn to forgive his American captors.

Secret CIA Prisons in Your Backyard

Posted on: Sep 21, 2006, Source: Truthdig

The largest covert CIA operation since the Cold War is run not only by shadowy government contractors in the darkest corners of Afghanistan, but also by unassuming Americans in places like Dedham, Mass.

Readers Write: The Growing Threat of Right-Wing Christians

Posted on: Jul 30, 2006, Source: AlterNet

Does faith have a role in politics? AlterNet readers react to an article about right-wing Christians -- and end up questioning the legitimacy of religion itself.

The Growing Threat of Right-Wing Christians

Posted on: Jul 18, 2006, Source: AlterNet

Michelle Goldberg says progressives need to wake up and pay attention to the enormous -- and growing -- influence of the radical Christian right.

A Supreme Challenge to Bush's Authority

Posted on: Jun 29, 2006, Source: AlterNet

Thursday's Supreme Court ruling on Guantanamo detainees marks what may well be the beginning of the end to an unchecked executive power.

The People's Path to Impeachment

Posted on: Jun 25, 2006, Source: AlterNet

You wouldn't know it from the media, but grassroots movements are afoot all over the country to hold the president legally accountable for his lies.

Fatal Desperation at Guantanamo

Posted on: Jun 12, 2006, Source: AlterNet

While the government characterizes the suicides of three detainees as a 'PR move,' overwhelming evidence points to the true cause of their deaths -- acute despair.

The Guiltiest Guys in the Room

Posted on: May 25, 2006, Source: AlterNet

The Enron verdict is a heartening chapter, but it provides the beginning, rather than an end, of reckoning with a culture of blame-dodging that bleeds far beyond Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling.

Potential Evidence Surfaces of Bush's Illegal Spying

Posted on: May 7, 2006, Source: AlterNet

An Oregon attorney may have proof of Bush's domestic spying operation -- which means the illegal program's days may be numbered.

Making Justice Moot

Posted on: May 6, 2006, Source: AlterNet

The Bush administration releases Guantanamo detainees -- just in time to keep their case from the Supreme Court.

Dirty words in politics

Posted on: May 5, 2006, Source: AlterNet

A proposal to banish the f-word (freedom) and the s-word (security) from political campaigns.

Enron still wreaking havoc

Posted on: May 3, 2006, Source: AlterNet

Even with Lay and Skilling standing trial, Enron creditors and lobbyists are working hard to cover up evidence and exploit consumers.

Guantanamo detainees will be released...

Posted on: May 2, 2006, Source: AlterNet

just as soon as we can be sure their home countries won't abuse them the way we do.

Faking It: How America Lost Politics

Posted on: May 1, 2006, Source: AlterNet

Joe Klein explains why politicians think you're stupid, how the presidency lost character and how we can bring it back.

Bush can disobey 750 laws

Posted on: May 1, 2006, Source: AlterNet

In his unending quest for an imperial presidency, Bush regularly decides to ignore laws he doesn't like.

'Nothing Prepared Me for Bush'

Posted on: Apr 27, 2006, Source: AlterNet

Robert Scheer has reported on every administration since Richard Nixon. But as he says in this interview, he never expected the lies and cynicism of Bush II.

Following the "real news"

Posted on: Apr 25, 2006, Source: AlterNet

Have journalists become a passive audience to this president's preoccupations?

New blood in the White House...

Posted on: Apr 19, 2006, Source: AlterNet

or just a game of musical chairs?

Easter with the LGBT community

Posted on: Apr 18, 2006, Source: AlterNet

An out-of-culture experience.

Facing Up to Modern Censorship

Posted on: Apr 13, 2006, Source: AlterNet

From art to politics, writer Robert Atkins discusses new threats to freedom of expression.

Putting the toothpaste back in the tube

Posted on: Apr 13, 2006, Source: AlterNet

Secret agents at the National Archive are busy reclassifying history.

Skilling takes the stand...

Posted on: Apr 12, 2006, Source: AlterNet

...and tells jurors of his humble intentions to turn Enron into the "company of the 21st century."

A supposedly funny thing...

Posted on: Apr 10, 2006, Source: AlterNet

President Bush thanks first-year grad student for a tip-off on our flawed military strategy.

Of the Iraq war and "tactical errors"

Posted on: Apr 6, 2006, Source: AlterNet

Rice and Rumsfeld argue. figuratively.

The update on Padilla

Posted on: Apr 5, 2006, Source: AlterNet

A critical precedent still delayed as the DoJ takes the courts for a ride…

Pages