I think some parts of the Indian population finally fell into a digital rabbit hole that possibly no one expected in 2026: Jeremy Wade talking about actual river monsters (humans) in the Ganga River in his Might Rivers series. The episode originally aired in 2018, but it was recently uploaded for free viewing on YouTube.
After the full episode went live on YouTube, there has been a barrage of Shorts and Reels that show and remind people of how they have affected the river and the effects of a changing climate on ecosystems.
The episode discusses how the river is under extreme environmental pressure, with certain areas overwhelmed by pollution and disease. Decades of overfishing have decimated wild fish populations so much so that the decline of native wildlife has reached a point where local fish markets are now dominated by non-native, farmed species rather than wild-caught river fish.
Remember, this episode is from 2018. The government might have tried to change things over the last 8 years, but that has not had any positive effect. On the contrary, recent reports suggest that human activity has led to the unprecedented drying of the Ganga River.
What’s fascinating is how this content is reaching us now. I am not sure if the show was ever aired on Indian television or OTT channels before. But today, the release of content on YouTube has somehow democratised this archive. Most people aren’t even sitting down for the full episode. They are seeing a 30-second clip, and that’s enough to make an impact.
I like it, but at the same time feel appalled by how information access can spark new thematic debates while being non-linear in how that access was achieved, way later than needed. In a world controlled by algorithms, this access affects the non-linearity of conversations in society much more. I am not even sure how big of an impact this episode might actually have, or is it just my algorithm across platforms that has been affected by it?
