Kashmira Gander

Senior editor, Business Insider: Health and Business Contributors

United Kingdom

Journalist, editor, and manager with 15 years’ experience.

Currently telling human stories about health, wealth, and the changing workplace at Business Insider.

Also featured in Newsweek, The Independent, i, The Evening Standard, and International Business Times U.K.

HarperCollins Author Academy 2026 non-fiction graduate.

Portfolio
Business Insider
09/22/2024
A very Gwyneth Paltrow anti-aging routine

How is the Goop CEO, with millions of dollars at her disposal and some health anxieties, thinking about the autumn of her life? Her answer may surprise you.

Newsweek
05/06/2021
Do you have main character syndrome?

"You have to start romanticizing your life," TikToker Ashley Ward urges in her most popular video, her lo-fi voice resembling a protagonist in an indie coming-of-age movie. She warns: "You have to start thinking of yourself as the main character, because if you don't, life will continue to pass you by."

Newsweek
1/5/21
Anthony Fauci says new South Africa COVID strain likely in the U.S.

Top infectious disease expert Anthony has told Newsweek he would be "surprised" if a new, more infectious strain of from South Africa had not arrived in the U.S., even though it has not yet been detected. The South African variant, named 501.V2, has so far emerged in the U.K., Switzerland, Finland, Japan, Australia, Zambia, France, and South Korea.

Newsweek
09/24/2020
How the U.S. "uniquely mismanaged" the coronavirus pandemic

The U.S. accounts for around a fifth of cases and fatalities, at 6.8 million diagnoses of 31.6 million worldwide. The has killed almost 977,000 people, with nearly 202,000 of those in the U.S. What has led to the world's largest economy amassing a body count so high that top immunologist and White House task force member Dr. Anthony described it as "sobering...

Newsweek
10/13/2020
Fact check: Does the WHO now agree with Trump on ending lockdowns?

President Donald Trump has claimed the World Health Organization (WHO) has "admitted" that his anti- stance amid the -19 pandemic was correct, stating the measures are "killing countries all over the world." "The World Health Organization just admitted that I was right," he tweeted Monday. " are killing countries all over the world.

Newsweek
01/21/2020
For years Utah's LGBTQ children were subjected to conversion therapy. That's about to end

Nathan Dalley had his first crush on a boy when he was in fourth grade. He had never felt a connection with another person quite like it. "It was different," he tells Newsweek. In that moment, the 9-year-old couldn't have envisioned how his attraction to that boy and others-and the ways in which adults would react to those sparks-would go on to shape his life.

Newsweek
02/01/2019
2019 could be worst year for measles in US for 30 years: "We're losing ground to a disease that...

Almost 20 years after measles was eliminated in the U.S., 2019 could see the highest rates of the dangerous disease in three decades, an expert has warned. A combination of the efforts of the small but extremely vocal anti-vaccine movement and barriers to obtaining shots in some communities has sparked outbreaks of the potentially deadly-but entirely preventable-disease across the country.

Newsweek
10/26/2018
Akon is 'very seriously' considering taking on Trump in 2020 presidential race

For the past decade, Akon has been on a mission to transform his legacy. The onetime purveyor of problematically titled pop anthems-from "Smack That" to "SexyBitch"-is now a social entrepreneur and even a potential presidential candidate. Already, his four-year-old solar panel initiative, Akon Lighting Africa, has brought electricity to hundreds of communities in 15 countries, including Kenya, Nigeria and Senegal, where the St.

Newsweek
10/23/2018
Terry Crews on his alleged sexual assault, #MeToo and toxic masculinity

Terry Crews's earliest memory is of his father repeatedly punching his mother in the face as hard as he could. He was about 4 years old at the time. Decades later, the actor concluded his father's behavior was rooted in toxic masculinity: a poisonous concept he has become a vocal critic of.

Newsweek
06/20/2018
Freida Pinto speaks out about #MeToo

Frank. Compassionate. Self-proclaimed rebel. You could use many words to describe Freida Pinto, but prolific is not one of them - at least not by Holywood's typical standards. In the decade since she played Latika in the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire and was propelled from a little-known Indian actress to a global household name overnight, she has collected little more than a dozen or so film and TV acting credits.

Newsweek
02/01/2018
India's only gay prince is opening his palace up as an LGBT sanctuary

Throughout his life, Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil has broken traditions, stereotypes and taboos. Despite the stigma a divorce carries in India, he ended his marriage with his princess in 1992. A decade later, he became the first member of the Indian royal family to come out as gay and launched an LGBT rights charity shortly afterward.

The Independent
02/23/2018
Forget Honshu - visitors to Japan should head for Kyushu instead

"Welcome to paradise!" says the naked, middle-aged woman sitting beside me, grinning as she sinks deeper into the almost-too-hot spring water pool at Hotel Shiragiku in the Japanese city of Beppu. She has travelled from Hong Kong to visit the laid-back spa city famous for its 2,500 mineral-rich hot springs, which are said to soothe the skin and relax the body.

The Independent
09/16/2017
How Instagram made everyone's makeup look the same

The contoured skin; plump lips slicked with a matte colour; thick, flawless eyebrows, and cheekbones glowing with highlighter: it's that airbrushed look that seems to only exist online on the faces of the Kardashians and beauty bloggers of Instagram and YouTube. This "Instagram" look will be what defines the makeup of the 2010s.

The Independent
01/13/2017
Stunning images that capture how skateboarding is a radical act

Skateboarding - the pastime of teens and no-good punks - and architecture - that lofty, high-brow topic - may seem worlds apart. But French photographer Fred Mortagne has spent a decade-and-a-half proving how they are inextricably linked and showing skateboarding "for what it really is".

The Independent
07/12/2017
The dessert that is so good you'll never, ever eat ice cream again

'Gelato is tastier, healthier, sexier' Creamy, cold, and churned up into myriad flavours: you might be forgiven for thinking that ice-cream and gelato are the same. Surely, "gelato" is just Italian for ice-cream, and a word that infuriating foodies throw about to seem in the know. But you'd be very, very wrong.

The Independent
10/03/2017
Forget everything you think you know about emojis

As the widely panned Emoji Movie awaits its DVD release in time for Christmas, it seems like we've reached peak emoji. We can finally say sayonara to smiley yellow faces and anthropomorphic poops that signal the slow demise of civilisation itself.

The Independent
09/20/2017
Why we need to stop calling immigrant food 'ethnic'

The label is damaging the people who make the food we love and a dark sign of attitudes towards foreigners I remember it so vividly. My mum had succumbed to my pleas to make halva, a soft, delicate Persian sweet made using rose water, saffron, sugar, flour and water, and so had packed some in my lunchbox so I could take it to school.

The Independent
02/28/2017
What it's like to travel in an Islamophobic world when you wear a hijab

"When you wear a scarf you are a visual representation of Islam," says Saudi travel blogger Esra Alhamal, who wears the Islamic headscarf, the hijab, and identifies as a "hijabi". "You need to be even nicer than your usual self just to give an even nicer message. That can be exhausting sometimes."

The Independent
01/07/2017
Tight security fails to stop party as Fabric reopens

It's 1.30am in a bare-bricked, underground room in Farringdon, east London, and a crowd flooded in blue and red LED light has opened out into a huge mosh pit. There's a delicious moment of tension, then the bass drops. Arms and legs flying, people happily hurl themselves at each other to Chase and Status' pounding dubstep.

The Independent
08/09/2016
I spent a night at a bar that blocks phone signal - this is what happened

It's Saturday night in the bustling seaside city of Brighton and Hove - famed for nightlife that attracts students and stag dos - and I'm among around 50 people packed into a dimly lit bar which has imposed a prohibition. But it's not alcohol that's off the menu - it's technology.

The Independent
05/17/2016
Why Coachella is about far more than beautiful narcissists

Coachella is full of vapid, narcissistic people who are too worried about looking flawless and snapping selfies to actually enjoy a festival properly. At least that is the picture painted by much of the mainstream media coverage of the three-day event which sees almost 200,000 mainly twenty-somethings descend onto a polo field in the desert city of Indio, California.

The Independent
04/11/2016
The fascinating story of the mother of modern witchcraft

Doreen Valiente, the mother of modern witchcraft, was nine-years-old when she had what she called an indescribably mystical experience, and saw the veil of reality tremble. On a balmy summer evening in the 1920s, she crept into her south London garden at twilight and was consumed by the feeling that her surroundings were fabricated to hide something else: something "very potent."

The Independent
05/31/2016
The weird and wonderful world of zines

Home-made magazines are an increasingly popular, and commendably democratic, journalistic trend. Kashmira Gander takes a look between the covers Jade French was 14-years-old when she ripped out a handful of images from some magazines, crudely glued them to a piece of A4 paper, and photocopied sheet after sheet at her local corner shop.

The Independent
04/07/2016
Why the RCA is the world's best art and design school for the second year running

Synonymous with extreme wealth and the British establishment, if the London borough of Kensington and Chelsea were a person it would be a portly gentleman in finest white tie. The Royal College of Art (RCA) - a piece of brutalist architecture rudely positioned next to South Kensington's ornate Royal Albert Hall - would, then, be a bur stuck to the gentleman's silk handkerchief: an oddity bursting with the seeds of change.

The Independent
05/24/2016
I spent a day as a drag queen to find out if a woman can be one

They, whoever "they" are, always say that you should get out of your comfort zone from time to time. So, naturally, I took this advice to its logical conclusion and decided to perform on stage as a female drag queen. Perhaps I should start from the beginning... I'm addicted to drag culture.

The Independent
01/14/2016
Watch RuPaul's Drag Race contestant Bianca Del Rio give a makeover

Since Bianca Del Rio appeared on RuPaul's Drag Race she has taken her acerbic comedy around the world. Kashmira Gander chats with her as the formidable queen transforms her. (Warning: This article contains spoiler alerts. The video above contains strong language.)

The Independent
07/25/2016
The fascinating history of prosthetic limbs - and the bionic future

Cassie Cava was just 22 years old when she had her leg amputated. Born with a club foot, she suffered complications after breaking it walking up the stairs. Enduring operation after operation over six years, she was still left struggling to walk - and coping with levels of pain that forced her to drop out of medical school.

The Independent
08/01/2016
The 500ft tower dividing locals that could change the eccentric city of Brighton

Illumined by the high-summer sun, my hometown of Brighton (pop: 273,400) throbs with life. The stretch of pebble beach between the gaudy rollercoasters of the Palace Pier and the burnt-out remains of the West Pier is filled with sunbathers. Among them, parents chat while their children happily pile up rocks - who cares that there's no sand?

The Independent
08/15/2016
The trans sports clubs that are changing people's lives

It's a Friday night in Lewisham and ten people have gathered for a weekly swimming club at the inner London borough's modern leisure centre, an oasis of calm beyond which city life grinds on. Reflections from the red light of the emergency exit sign dance on the water of the dimly lit pool where Roberta Francis, the club's head honcho, plays catch with another swimmer.

Standard
06/10/2016
Bahamas: a taste of paradise in the Atlantic

eering out of the plane window as I descend, it is obvious why the Bahamas are synonymous with the notion of paradise. Curls of land rise from azure water under wisps of cloud, eliciting delicious images of white sand being pushed between my toes, before foamy waves wash away my footprints.

The Independent
10/14/2016
The scary reason why Florence Nightingale fans are so furious

Staring proudly across the River Thames towards Big Ben, her cape caught in a gust as she strides away from a backdrop of the Crimean battlefield. This is how the Crimean War heroine Mary Seacole will be memorialised in a powerful 10ft bronze statue by the distinguished sculptor Martin Jennings, to be unveiled outside St Thomas' hospital in central London on Thursday.

The Independent
07/20/2016
What the future might hold for roller coasters

News Planning the thrills and spills of rollercoaster rides can be a heady business, as Kashmira Gander finds out Palms clammy with fear, nails digging into the harness, you come to a grinding halt and inhale sharply before the carriage creeps slowly upwards. A pause.

The Independent
02/06/2015
Game shooting: The journey that takes pheasants from field to plate

Alistair is a game keeper and a deer stalker, who lives alone in a modest white brick house in the rugged hills of a hunting estate in rural Argyll. He spends the year maintaining the land for its owners - during which he uses a combination of steel-strong willpower and the welcome wag of his golden retriever's tale to help haul himself from bed - all for days like today.