Hari Kunzru

 As I write, the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei has been in detention for 51 days and 6 hours. I know this so precisely because someone who goes by the handle loveaiww has placed a counter on the web. On the door of my apartment is a poster with a silhouette of Ai, made from a photograph taken during a period when he was interested in getting (and giving) weird haircuts.

Index on Censorship asked me to blog about the campaign against Rod Liddle's possible appointment to the editorship of the Independent. A comment thread is already underway on the the Index Site: