On top of giving interviews and hosting reading events, many authors are often pressured by their publishers to write personal essays about topics related to their book for various media outlets, as a means of selling themselves to a wider audience. Writers Tajja Isen and Vivek Shraya explain why book publishers, media sites, and readers alike have become enamored with the personal-essay format and why many authors aren’t pleased about the additional work being required of them. Plus, culture writer Aparita Bhandari joins Elamin to talk about the new film Laapataa Ladies. She explains how this film makes a story set in rural India feel universal and why it's exciting to finally get a second film from Indian director and producer Kiran Rao.