The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma

Amit Varma

The Seen and the Unseen, hosted by Amit Varma, features longform conversations that aim to give deep insights into the subjects being discussed. Timeless and bingeworthy. read less
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Ep 357: Seema Sirohi and the View From Washington
5d ago
Ep 357: Seema Sirohi and the View From Washington
She's covered US-India relations as a foreign correspondent for more than 30 years -- and now she's told that momentous story in a book. Seema Sirohi joins Amit Varma in episode 357 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about her life as a journalist -- and the love-hate relationship between countries that she saw at close quarters. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out 1. Seema Sirohi on Twitter, Economic Times, India Today and Amazon. 2. Friends with Benefits: The India-US Story -- Seema Sirohi. 3. The Luxury Travel Expert on YouTube. 4. The Front Page -- Billy Wilder. 5. The Bhopal Gas Tragedies -- Episode 35 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan). 6. Playboy Stories: The Best of Forty Years of Short Fiction -- Edited by Alice K Turner. 7. Marginal Revolution -- Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok. 8. Persuasion -- Founded and edited by Yascha Mounk. 9. 9/11 and Pakistan’s economy (2006) -- Amit Varma on the Al Faeda nickname. 10. Government’s End: Why Washington Stopped Working — Jonathan Rauch. 11. Kicking Schoolbags (2006) -- Amit Varma. 12. The Three Globalizations -- Episode 17 of Everything is Everything. 13. Dawn of the third globalisation? -- Ajay Shah. 14. Caste -- Isabel Wilkerson. 15. A People's History of the United States -- Howard Zinn. 16. A Tale of Love and Darkness -- Amos Oz. 17. The Bureau, The Americans, Kohrra and Made in Heaven. 18. To Sir, With Love (the book) -- ER Braithwaite. 19. To Sir, With Love (the film) -- James Clavell.. 20. Doctor Zhivago -- David Lean. 21. A Dry White Season -- Euzhan Palcy. 22. Cry Freedom --  Richard Attenborough's film on Steve Biko. Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube. Check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It’s free! Episode art: ‘Foreign Correspondent’ by Simahina.
Ep 356: Santosh Desai is Watching You
Nov 20 2023
Ep 356: Santosh Desai is Watching You
What is this world we live in, and how did we get here? One of the finest thinkers on this subject is in the house. Santosh Desai joins Amit Varma in episode 356 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss Indian society and this changing world. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Santosh Desai on Twitter, the Times of India, LinkedIn, Futurebrands and his own website. 2. Mother Pious Lady: Making Sense Of Everyday India -- Santosh Desai. 3. Indian Society: The Last 30 Years — Episode 137 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Santosh Desai). 4. The Slimfit Conspiracy -- Santosh Desai. 5. Pushpesh Pant Feasts on the Buffet of Life — Episode 326 of The Seen and the Unseen. 6. The Great Indian Rope Trick? -- Santosh Desai. 7. We Are All Amits From Africa — Episode 343 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Krish Ashok and Naren Shenoy). 8. Subhashish Bhadra on Our Dysfunctional State — Episode 333 of The Seen and the Unseen. 9. Nothing is Indian! Everything is Indian! — Episode 12 of Everything is Everything. 10. Nick Carter, PG Wodehouse and Arthur Hailey on Amazon. 11. Roland Barthes and Umberto Eco on Amazon. 12. The Wisden Book of Test Cricket (1877-1977) — Compiled & edited by Bill Frindall. 13. Lessons from an Ankhon Dekhi Prime Minister — Amit Varma’s column on reading. 14. Dom Moraes on Amazon, Wikipedia, Britannica and Poem Hunter. 15. The Indianness of Indian Food — Episode 95 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vikram Doctor). 16. Films, Feminism, Paromita — Episode 155 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Paromita Vohra). 17. The Poetic Feminism of Paromita Vohra — Episode 339 of The Seen and the Unseen. 18. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen with Ramachandra Guha: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 19. A Meditation on Form — Amit Varma. 20. Dreamers: How Indians are Changing the World -- Snigdha Poonam. 21. Young India — Episode 83 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Snigdha Poonam). 22. The Loneliness of the Indian Man — Episode 303 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Nikhil Taneja). 23. India Moving — Chinmay Tumbe. 24. India = Migration — Episode 128 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Chinmay Tumbe). 25. The Guilty Pleasures of Digital Dawdling -- Santosh Desai. 26. 30 years on, you can get what you want but don’t know what you need -- Santosh Desai. 27. How traditions give meaning to our lives -- Santosh Desai. 28. The Median Voter Theorem. 29. Mohammad Zubair’s Twitter thread on the Dharam Sansad. 30. Inverting the Behaviour Change Paradigm? -- Santosh Desai. 31. A Life in Indian Politics — Episode 149 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Jayaprakash Narayan). 32. Jayaprakash Narayan Wants to Mend Our Democracy -- Episode 334 of The Seen and the Unseen. 33. India’s Lost Decade — Episode 116 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Puja Mehra). 34. Living Two Lives in Digital India -- Santosh Desai. 35. Kashi Ka Assi — Kashinath Singh. 36. The Experience Machine. 37. Anarchy, State and Utopia — Robert Nozick. 38. Song of Myself — Walt Whitman. 39. Baaba Maal and Advaita on Spotify.. 40. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri Rousseau, Paul Cézanne, Krishen Khanna, Jayasri Burman and Gogi Saroj Pal. 41. Sudhir Kakar, Ashis Nandy, Roland Barthes, Marshall McLuhan, Walter Ong and John Berger on Amazon. 42. Ways of Seeing -- John Berger. Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube. Check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It’s free! Episode art: ‘He Sees Everything’ by Simahina.
Ep 355: The Life and Times of KP Krishnan
Nov 13 2023
Ep 355: The Life and Times of KP Krishnan
India has travelled a long way in the last few decades -- and one man had an inside view of the whole process, shaping policy and trying to fix the nation. KP Krishnan joins Amit Varma in episode 355 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about his extraordinary life and learnings. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. KP Krishnan at Centre for Policy Research.. 2. KP Krishnan interviewed in CPR Perspectives by Rohan Venkat: Part 1, Part 2. 3. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen with Ajay Shah: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13. 4. The Importance of the 1991 Reforms — Episode 237 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan and Ajay Shah). 5. India’s Lost Decade — Episode 116 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Puja Mehra). 6. The Forgotten Greatness of PV Narasimha Rao — Episode 283 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vinay Sitapati). 7. The Life and Times of Montek Singh Ahluwalia — Episode 285 of The Seen and the Unseen. 8. India’s Massive Pensions Crisis -- Episode 347 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah & Renuka Sane). 9. Taking Stock of Our Economy (May 2021) — Episode 227 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ila Patnaik). 10. What a Long Strange Trip It’s Been — Episode 188 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Arvind Subramanian). 11. Josh Felman Tries to Make Sense of the World -- Episode 321 of The Seen and the Unseen. 12. The Tragedy of Our Farm Bills — Episode 211 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah). 13. The Art and Science of Economic Policy — Episode 154 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vijay Kelkar & Ajay Shah). 14.  In Service of the Republic — Vijay Kelkar & Ajay Shah. 15. The Steady Determination of Yamini Aiyar — Episode 341 of The Seen and the Unseen. 16. The Lost Decade -- Puja Mehra. 17. Why Freedom Matters — Episode 10 of Everything is Everything, hosted by Amit Varma and Ajay Shah. 18. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen with Ramachandra Guha: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 19. Ivan Menezes (1959-2023): A personal recollection of his journey -- Arvind Subramanian. 20. College pedigree, daddy’s name, BBC accent no longer golden ticket. India has a growing new elite -- Shekhar Gupta. 21. Memoirs of a Maverick -- Mani Shankar Aiyar. 22. Why Talent Comes in Clusters -- Episode 8 of Everything is Everything, hosted by Amit Varma and Ajay Shah. 23. KM Nanavati v. State of Maharashtra. 24. Rustom -- Tinu Suresh Desai. 25. Kesavananda Bharati v. The State of Kerala Who Wins? -- PK Tripathi. 26. The Rooted Cosmopolitanism of Sugata Srinivasaraju — Episode 277 of The Seen and the Unseen. 27. The China Model is Broken -- Episode 16 of  Everything is Everything, hosted by Amit Varma and Ajay Shah. 28. Early Indians — Episode 112 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Tony Joseph). 29. Early Indians — Tony Joseph. 30. Who We Are and How We Got Here — David Reich. 31. The Incredible Insights of Timur Kuran -- Episode 349 of The Seen and the Unseen. 32. The Gita Press and Hindu Nationalism — Episode 139 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Akshaya Mukul). 33. Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India -- Akshaya Mukul. 34. Hindi Against India: The Meaning of DMK -- Mohan Ram. 35. Governments across the world are discovering “homeland economics” -- Callum Williams. 36. Living Two Lives in Digital India -- Santosh Desai. 37. Rahul Matthan on Twitter, Amazon, LinkedIn and Trilegal. 38. Climate Change and Our Power Sector — Episode 278 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Akshay Jaitley and Ajay Shah). 39. Ashutosh Salil and the Challenge of Change — Episode 312 of The Seen and the Unseen. 40. Vishnu Sahasranamam - MS Subbulakshmi. 41. Foyle's War -- Created by Anthony Horowitz. 42. Fixing Indian Education — Episode 185 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Muralidharan). 43. Understanding Indian Healthcare — Episode 225 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Muralidharan). 44. Karthik Muralidharan Examines the Indian State — Episode 290 of The Seen and the Unseen. 45. The Percy Mistry Report. 46. The Great Redistribution — Amit Varma. 47. The Logic of Collective Action — Mancur Olson. 48. The Alchemy of Finance — George Soros. 49. Amid 2008 meltdown, how short-selling survived a ban --  P Vaidyanathan Iyer. 50. Our Parliament and Our Democracy — Episode 253 of The Seen and the Unseen (w MR Madhavan). 51. Most of Amit Varma’s writing on Demonetisation, collected in one Twitter thread. 52. We Also Make Policy -- Subhash Chandra Garg. 53. Parkinson's Law. 54. Shashank Subramanyam, N Ramani and RK Srikantan on Spotify. 55. The Truth Pill -- Dinesh Thakur and Prashant Reddy. 56. The Dark Side of Indian Pharma — Episode 245 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Dinesh Thakur). 57. The Third Way: India’s Revolutionary Approach to Data Governance -- Rahul Matthan. 58. Whole Numbers And Half Truths -- Rukmini S. 59. The Importance of Data Journalism — Episode 196 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rukmini S). 60. Rukmini Sees India’s Multitudes — Episode 261 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rukmini S). 61. VP Menon: The Unsung Architect of Modern India -- Narayani Basu. 62. India’s Greatest Civil Servant — Episode 167 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Narayani Basu, on VP Menon). Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube. Check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It’s free! Episode art: ‘A Civil Servant’ by Simahina.
Ep 354: Figuring Out Motherhood
Nov 6 2023
Ep 354: Figuring Out Motherhood
Motherhood is a terrifying condition that changes a woman's life forever. Forget coping with it -- how do you even understand it? Priya Mathews and Gunjan Grover Gupta join Amit Varma in episode 354 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss all they have learnt from being mothers, processing the experience, and their cult podcast, The Mommy Mix Tape. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Priya Mathews and Gunjan Grover Gupta on Instagram.. 2. The Mommy Mix Tape -- The most awesome parenting podcast ever by Priya Mathews, Bakul Dua and Gunjan Grover Gupta. 3. The Mommy Mix Tape on Instagram. 4. A Life's Work -- Rachel Cusk. 5. Of Woman Born -- Adrienne Rich. 6. The Child, the Family, and the Outside World -- Donald Winnicott. 7. Select episodes on The Seen and the Unseen that touched on feminism & gender with Paromita Vohra (1, 2), Kavita Krishnan, Mrinal Pande, Kavitha Rao, Namita Bhandare, Shrayana Bhattacharya, Mukulika Banerjee, Manjima Bhattacharjya, Nilanjana Roy, Urvashi Butalia, Mahima Vashisht, Alice Evans, Ashwini Deshpande, Natasha Badhwar, Shanta Gokhale, Arshia Sattar, Rohini Nilekani and Shaili Chopra. 8. In a Silent Way — Episode 316 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Gaurav Chintamani). 9. Gaurav Chintamani on Instagram. 10. What Is It Like to Be a Bat? — Thomas Nagel. 11. Wanting — Luke Burgis. 12. Luke Burgis Sees the Deer at His Window — Episode 337 of The Seen and the Unseen. 13. René Girard on Amazon and Wikipedia. 14. Womaning in India With Mahima Vashisht — Episode 293 of The Seen and the Unseen. 15. Womaning in India — Mahima Vashisht’s newsletter. 16. Pallavi Aiyar Has Seen the World -- Episode 351 of The Seen and the Unseen. 17. Babies and Bylines — Pallavi Aiyar. 18. India = Migration — Episode 128 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Chinmay Tumbe). 19. India Moving — Chinmay Tumbe. 20. The Loneliness of the Indian Woman — Episode 259 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shrayana Bhattacharya). 21. The Loneliness of the Indian Man — Episode 303 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Nikhil Taneja). 22. Murali Neelakantan Looks at the World — Episode 329 of The Seen and the Unseen. 23. The Nurture Assumption -- Judith Rich Harris. 24. This Be The Verse — Philip Larkin. 25. The Importance of the 1991 Reforms — Episode 237 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan and Ajay Shah). 26. Happiness Class: A Film by Samina Mishra. 27. Natasha Badhwar Lives the Examined Life — Episode 301 of The Seen and the Unseen. 28. Our Unlucky Children (2008) — Amit Varma. 29. Hold on to Your Kids -- Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Maté. 30. The Breeders on Disney Hotstar. 31. My Daughter's Mum -- Natasha Badhwar. 32. I Will -- The Beatles. 33. All You Need is Love -- Shelja Sen. 34. The Whole-Brain Child -- Daniel J Siegel & Tina Payne Bryson. 32. Frances Ha -- Noah Baumbach. 33. The Lost Daughter -- Maggie Gyllenhaal. 34. How to Apologize -- David LaRochelle & Mike Wohnoutka. 35. I Talk Like a River -- Jordan Scott & Sydney Smith. 36. Cry, Heart, But Never Break --  Glenn Ringtved & Charlotte Pardi. 37. A Stone For Sascha -- Aaron Becker. 38. Journey -- Aaron Becker. 39. How War Changed Rondo -- Romana Romanyshyn & Andriy Lesiv. 40. The Wanderer --  Peter Van den Ende. 41. Cicada -- Shaun Tan. 42. The Arrival -- Shaun Tan. Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube. Check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It’s free! Episode art: ‘Mother Looking Out, Looking In’ by Simahina.
Ep 353: Apar Gupta Fights the Good Fight
Oct 30 2023
Ep 353: Apar Gupta Fights the Good Fight
How does technology affect our rights? Do we need protection from the state and Big Tech? Apar Gupta joins Amit Varma in episode 353 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss his battle for digital rights in India. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out 1. Apar Gupta on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, IFF and YouTube. 2. Internet Freedom Foundation. (Donate to it!) 3. Apar Gupta's application to the Ashoka Fellowship (effectively a mini-autobiography). 4. IFF Wrapped, Unwrapped -- 2022 year-end event. 5. The Fine Line of Free Speech in India -- Apar Gupta. 6. When lawyers speak, they argue -- Apar Gupta. 7. I Don't Know -- Apar Gupta. 8. The archives of India Law and Technology Blog. 9. Aakar Patel Is Full of Hope — Episode 270 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Aakar Patel). 10. The Life and Times of Teesta Setalvad — Episode 302 of The Seen and the Unseen. 11. Amartya Ghosh on Spotify. 12. Neighbours Envy, Owners Pride -- Onida commercial. 13. Mungerilal Ke Haseen Sapne. 14. Permanent Record -- Edward Snowden. 15. Nehru's India -- Taylor Sherman. 16. The Life and Times of Vir Sanghvi — Episode 236 of The Seen and the Unseen. 17. India’s Problem is Poverty, Not Inequality — Amit Varma. 18. The Shallows -- Nicholas Carr. 19. The Incredible Curiosities of Mukulika Banerjee — Episode 276 of The Seen and the Unseen. 20. Why India Votes— Mukulika Banerjee. 21. Vlogbrothers, Tom Scott and Hardcore History. 22. The Techno-Optimist Manifesto -- Marc Andreeson. 23. Zero to One -- Peter Thiel. 24. Narendra Modi interviewed by Rajeev Shukla. 25. Sacred Games. 26. The Road Ahead -- Bill Gates. 27. The Prem Panicker Files — Episode 217 of The Seen and the Unseen. 28. Vladimir Nabokov on Wikipedia and Amazon. 29. The Great Gatsby -- F. Scott Fitzgerald. 30. Ruth Bader Ginsberg on Wikipedia and Amazon, 31. The Notebook Trilogy — Agota Kristof. 32. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen with Ramachandra Guha: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 33. Jinnah -- Jaswant Singh. 34. Gujarat High Court lifts ban on Jaswant's book on Jinnah -- Saeed Khan. 35. Shreya Singhal v. Union of India. 36. Charges dropped against girls held for Facebook post -- PTI. 37. Nikhil Pahwa on Twitter, LinkedIn, MediaNama and his own site. 38. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen with Nikhil Pahwa: 1, 2, 3. 39. Chandrahas Choudhury on Instagram, Amazon and The Middle Stage. 40. Chandrahas Choudhury’s Country of Literature -- Episode 288 of The Seen and the Unseen. 41. Kiran Jonnalagadda on Twitter and Hasgeek. 42. Sedition charges dropped against Aseem Trivedi -- PTI. 43. Justice K.S.Puttaswamy(Retd) vs Union Of India. 44. Hello world - and happy Independence Day! (2016) -- Apar Gupta. 45. IFF on Reddit. 46. Twitter and Tear Gas — Zeynep Tufekci. 47. Radically Networked Societies — Episode 158 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pranay Kotasthane). 48. Anushka Jain's thread on SRK and digital rights. 49. IFF's Aarogya Setu Infographic. 50. The AgriStack: A Primer -- Rohin Garg. 51. Naushad Forbes Wants to Fix India — Episode 282 of The Seen and the Unseen. 52. The Struggle And The Promise -- Naushad Forbes. 53. Shruti Rajagopalan on our constitutional amendments. 54. The Right to Property — Episode 26 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan). 55. The Ideas of Our Constitution — Episode 164 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Madhav Khosla). 56. Emergency Chronicles — Gyan Prakash. 57. Gyan Prakash on the Emergency — Episode 103 of The Seen and the Unseen. 58. The Importance of the 1991 Reforms — Episode 237 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan and Ajay Shah). 59. India’s Lost Decade — Episode 116 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Puja Mehra). 60. The Life and Times of Montek Singh Ahluwalia — Episode 285 of The Seen and the Unseen. 61. The Forgotten Greatness of PV Narasimha Rao — Episode 283 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vinay Sitapati). 62. Why Freedom Matters — Episode 10 of Everything is Everything, hosted by Amit Varma and Ajay Shah. 63. India’s Far From Free Markets (2005) — Amit Varma in the Wall Street Journal. 64. Don’t Insult Pasta (2007) — Amit Varma. 65. The Matunga Racket (2007) — Amit Varma. 66. One Bad Law Goes, but Women Remain Second-Class Citizens (2018) -- Amit Varma. 67. The Colonial Constitution -- Arghya Sengupta. 68. The First Assault on Our Constitution — Episode 194 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Tripurdaman Singh). 69. Sixteen Stormy Days — Tripurdaman Singh. 70. A People's Constitution -- Rohit De. 71. Subhashish Bhadra on Our Dysfunctional State — Episode 333 of The Seen and the Unseen. 72. Caged Tiger: How Too Much Government Is Holding Indians Back — Subhashish Bhadra. 73. Roland Barthes and John Berger on Amazon. 74. Bombay Progressive Artists' Group and Gond art. 75. Bill Evans on Spotify and YouTube. 76. Night Song and Mustt Mustt -- Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan with Michael Brook. 77. Doppelganger -- Naomi Klein. 78. Automating Inequality -- Virginia Eubanks. 79. The Speaking Constitution --  KG Kannabiran. 80. The Wages of Impunity -- KG Kannabiran. 81. The Good Fight. 82. Court and The Disciple -- Chaitanya Tamhane. Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube. Check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It’s free! Episode art: ‘Carrying a Torch’ by Simahina.
Ep 352: The Bankable Wisdom of Harsh Vardhan
Oct 23 2023
Ep 352: The Bankable Wisdom of Harsh Vardhan
He's been a consultant, an expert on the financial sector, and now lives a life of the mind. Harsh Vardhan joins Amit Varma in episode 352 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss his life and learnings. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Harsh Vardhan on The Leap Blog, Ideas for India, Money Control and Bloomberg Quint. 2. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen with Ajay Shah: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13. 3. Gabriel García Márquez, Isabel Allende, Mario Vargas Llosa and VS Naipaul on Amazon. 4. BS Mardhekar on Wikipedia and Amazon. 5. Vijay Tendulkar (Wikipedia, Amazon) and Mahesh Elkunchwar (Wikipedia, Amazon). 6. Mirza Ghalib on Wikipedia and Rekhta. 7. The Life and Times of Abhinandan Sekhri — Episode 254 of The Seen and the Unseen. 8. What Really Happened? — Lawrence H White on the 2008 Financial Crisis. 9. Fragile by Design -- Charles Calomiris and Stephen Haber. 10. The post-pandemic credit landscape in India -- Rajeswari Sengupta and Harsh Vardhan. 11. ‘Consumerisation’ of banking in India: Cyclical or structural? --  Rajeswari Sengupta and Harsh Vardhan. 12. A decade of credit collapse in India -- Harsh Vardhan. 13. Thinking about financial sector reforms in India -- Rajeswari Sengupta and Harsh Vardhan. 14. The Metamorphosis -- Franz Kafka. 15. Lord of the Flies -- William Golding. 16. Human -- Michael Gazzaniga. 17. The Blank Slate -- Steven Pinker. 18. Thinking, Fast and Slow -- Daniel Kahneman. 19. Murali Neelakantan Looks at the World -- Episode 329 of The Seen and the Unseen. 20. Who Is Bharat Mata? -- Edited by Purushottam Agrawal. 21. Kishori Amonkar and Kumar Gandharva on Spotify. 22. The Wonder That Was India -- AL Basham. 23. Romila Thapar on Amazon. 24. Desert Island Discs on BBC. Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube. Check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It’s free! Episode art: ‘Bank on Him’ by Simahina.
Ep 351: Pallavi Aiyar Has Seen the World
Oct 16 2023
Ep 351: Pallavi Aiyar Has Seen the World
She's been a journalist,  travelled the world, lived in nine countries, fought and beaten cancer -- and written about it all in exquisite prose. Pallavi Aiyar joins Amit Varma in episode 351 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about her life and learnings. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Pallavi Aiyar on Substack, Amazon, Twitter and her own website. 2. Smoke and Mirrors -- Pallavi Aiyar. 3. Orienting -- Pallavi Aiyar. 4. Babies and Bylines -- Pallavi Aiyar. 5. The Acting Life -- Episode 189 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rasika Dugal and Mukul Chadda). 6. The Adda at the End of the Universe — Episode 309 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vikram Sathaye and Roshan Abbas). 7. Orphaned and almost married at 10 -- Pallavi Aiyar about her grandmother. 8. Who's Afraid of Cola Colonialism? -- Pallavi Aiyar. 9. The Incredible Curiosities of Mukulika Banerjee — Episode 276 of The Seen and the Unseen. 10. The Life and Times of Mrinal Pande — Episode 263 of The Seen and the Unseen. 11. The Memoirs of Dr Haimabati Sen — Haimabati Sen (translated by Tapan Raychoudhuri). 12. Kavitha Rao and Our Lady Doctors — Episode 235 of The Seen and the Unseen. 13. The Life and Times of Shanta Gokhale — Episode 311 of The Seen and the Unseen. 14. Luke Burgis Sees the Deer at His Window — Episode 337 of The Seen and the Unseen. 15. Train-Track Figure -- Kay Ryan. 16. The Arias-Aiyar global khichdi -- Pallavi Aiyar. 17. The Rooted Cosmopolitanism of Sugata Srinivasaraju — Episode 277 of The Seen and the Unseen. 18. Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar's columns and homepage. 19. A tribute to my mother, Gitanjali Aiyar -- Pallavi Aiyar. 20. Confessions of a terrible guru -- Pallavi Aiyar. 21. Children and Death -- Pallavi Aiyar. 22. The Steady Determination of Yamini Aiyar — Episode 341 of The Seen and the Unseen. 23. Films, Feminism, Paromita — Episode 155 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Paromita Vohra). 24. The Poetic Feminism of Paromita Vohra — Episode 339 of The Seen and the Unseen. 25. The Coming Collapse Of China -- Gordon G Chang. 26. Lord of the Rings -- Pallavi Aiyar. 27. A Meditation on Form — Amit Varma. 28. We Are All Amits From Africa -- Episode 343 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Krish Ashok and Naren Shenoy). 29. How The Desperate Norwegian Salmon Industry Created A Sushi Staple -- Jess Jiang. 30. Nothing is Indian! Everything is Indian! -- Episode 12 of Everything is Everything. 31. Wanting — Luke Burgis. 32. René Girard on Amazon and Wikipedia. 33. Womaning in India With Mahima Vashisht — Episode 293 of The Seen and the Unseen. 34. Womaning in India — Mahima Vashisht’s newsletter. 35. Butter Chicken in Ludhiana -- Pankaj Mishra. 36. An End to Suffering -- Pankaj Mishra. 37. A Room of One's Own -- Virginia Woolf. 38. My Mother's Magic Jar of Happiness -- Pallavi Aiyar. 39. In between the Kingdoms of the Well and Sick -- Pallavi Aiyar. 40. Farewell, good breast -- Pallavi Aiyar. 41. I Am, I Am, I Am -- Maggie O'Farrell. 42. Reggaeton. 43. Bad Bunny on Spotify and YouTube. 44. Dekalog — Krzysztof Kieślowski. 45. Dead Poets Society -- Peter Weir. Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube. Check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It’s free! Episode art: ‘Harbour’ by Simahina.
Ep 350: Sudhir Sarnobat Works to Understand the World
Oct 9 2023
Ep 350: Sudhir Sarnobat Works to Understand the World
He built a career and a life through sheer force of will -- and he applies that intentionality to everything in his life. Sudhir Sarnobat joins Amit Varma in episode 350 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about his life, his learnings and the frameworks he wants to share with others. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Sudhir Sarnobat on Twitter and LinkedIn. 2. How Frameworks -- Sudhir Sarnobat's new venture. 3. Ascent Foundation. 4. The Crypto Masterclass playlist compiled by Sudhir Sarnobat. 5. What is Intellectual Investment Planning? -- Sudhir Sarnobat on CTQ Smartcast. 6. The Teaching Learning Community (TLC), founded by Rajendra Bagwe. 7. Reliable Autotech, Rajendra Bagwe's company. 8. That Which is Seen, and That Which is Not Seen — Frédéric Bastiat. 9. Profit = Philanthropy — Amit Varma. 10. Think and Grow Rich -- Napolean Hill. 11. Immanuel Kant’s Categorical Imperative. 12. The Design of Everyday Things -- Don Norman. 13. Bridgital Nation -- N Chandrasekaran and Roopa Purushothaman. 14. A Scientist in the Kitchen — Episode 204 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Krish Ashok). 15. Vitalik Buterin Fights the Dragon-Tyrant -- Episode 342 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vitalik Buterin). 16. How I Reversed My Type 2 Diabetes -- Episode 9 of Everything is Everything. 17. Sudhir Sarnobat's tribute to The Seen and the Unseen at ep 200. 18. Dance Dance For the Halva Waala — Episode 294 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Jai Arjun Singh and Subrat Mohanty). 19. The Hunter Becomes the Hunted -- Episode 200 of The Seen and the Unseen. 20. Narendra Shenoy and Mr Narendra Shenoy -- Episode 250 of The Seen and the Unseen. 21. The Gentle Wisdom of Pratap Bhanu Mehta -- Episode 300 of The Seen and the Unseen. 22. The Reflections of Samarth Bansal -- Episode 299 of The Seen and the Unseen. 23. Natasha Badhwar Lives the Examined Life -- Episode 301 of The Seen and the Unseen. 24. The Greatest Productivity Mantra: Kaator Re Bhaaji! -- Episode 11 of Everything is Everything. Sudhir Sarnobat's recommendations Writing in English 1. Everything by Paul Graham. 2. Everything at Farnham Street. 3. Everything at Collab Fund. 4. Economics in One Lesson -- Henry Hazlitt. 5. The Great Mental Models -- Shane Parrish. 6. Atomic Habits -- James Clear. 7. The Psychology Of Money -- Morgan Housel. 8. Principles -- Ray Dalio. 9. Deep Work -- Cal Newport. 10. Steve Jobs -- Walter Isaacson. 11. Open -- Andre Agassi. 12. A Gentleman in Moscow -- Amor Towles. 13. Family Matters -- Rohinton Mistry. 14. A Fine Balance -- Rohinton Mistry. 15. A Man Called Ove -- Fredrik Backman. 16. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine -- Gail Honeyman. 17. Ghachar Ghochar -- Vivek Shanbhag (translated by Srinath Perur). Writing in Marathi 1. Vyakti ani Valli -- PL Deshpande. 2. Batatyachi Chal -- PL Deshpande. 3. Asa Mi Asami -- PL Deshpande. 4. Apurvai -- PL Deshpande. 5. Purvrang -- PL Deshpande. 6. Mahimchi Khadi -- Madhu Mangesh Karnik. 7. Mrutyunjay -- Shivaji Sawant. 8. Swami -- Ranjeet Desai. 9. Shrimanyogi -- Ranjeet Desai. 10. Radheya -- Ranjeet Desai. 11. Yayati -- VS Khandekar. 12. Duniyadari -- Suhas Shirvalkar. 13. Partner -- VP Kale. Movies 1. Godfather -- Francis Ford Coppola. 2. Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro — Kundan Shah. 3. Dil Chahta Hai -- Farhan Akhtar. 4. Delhi Belly -- Abhinay Deo. 5. Dil Dhadakne Do -- Zoya Akhtar. 6. Lunchbox -- Ritesh Batra. 7. Wake Up Sid -- Ayan Mukerji. 8. Dhobi Ghat -- Kiran Rao. 9. Masaan — Neeraj Ghaywan. 10. Gangs of Wasseypur -- Anurag Kashyap. 11. A Wednesday -- Neeraj Pandey. 12. Mandela -- Madonne Ashwin. 13. The Great Indian Kitchen -- Jeo Baby. 14. Kumbalangi Nights --  Madhu C. Narayanan. 15. Gamak Ghar -- Achal Mishra. 16. The Banshees of Inisherin -- Martin McDonagh. 17. Dekalog — Krzysztof Kieślowski. 18. Three Colors: Red -- Krzysztof Kieślowski. 19. Three Colors: White -- Krzysztof Kieślowski. 20. Three Colors: Blue -- Krzysztof Kieślowski. 21. Jait Re Jait -- Jabbar Patel. 22. Sinhasan -- Jabbar Patel. 23. Umbartha -- Jabbar Patel. 24. Court -- Chaitanya Tamhane. 25. Harishchandrachi Factory -- Paresh Mokashi. 26. Doghi -- Sumitra Bhave and Sunil Sukthankar. 27. Dombivali Fast -- Nishikanth Kamath. English OTTs and Mini-series Game of Thrones, Mad Men, The West Wing, The Wire, The Newsroom, Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, Ted Lasso, Mindhunter, Chernobyl and The Queen's Gambit. Indian OTTSDahaad, Guns and Gulabs, The Bear, Kohrra, Asur and Modern Love Chennai. Restaurants Konkan Cafe, Thai Pavilion, Americano, Bombay Canteen, O Pedro, Masala Library, Cin Cin, Hakkasan, Nutcracker, Masque, Thai Naam, Hotel Surekha, Hotel Prakash, Ashok Vadapav, Udyan Ganesh Bhaji Pav, Sri Krishna Vada/Kande Pohe Samosa (Manju cha Vada),
Ep 349: The Incredible Insights of Timur Kuran
Oct 2 2023
Ep 349: The Incredible Insights of Timur Kuran
Why did the Middle East fall behind Europe despite being in a similar state in 1000 AD? How do modern authoritarians benefit from our tendency to falsify our preferences? Timur Kuran joins Amit Varma in episode 349 of The Seen and the Unseen to share his learnings from history -- and what they teach us about today. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Timur Kuran on Twitter, Wikipedia, Google Scholar and Duke University. 2. Private Truths, Public Lies -- Timur Kuran. 3. The Long Divergence -- Timur Kuran. 4. Freedoms Delayed -- Timur Kuran. 5. You Will Know Them By Their Unpopular Views -- Bryan Caplan. 6. The Hindu Equilibrium -- Deepak Lal. 7. From Cairo to Delhi With Max Rodenbeck — Episode 281 of The Seen and the Unseen. 8. The Life and Times of Nilanjana Roy -- Episode 284 of The Seen and the Unseen. 9. James M Buchanan, Albert O Hirschman, Mancur Olson, Thomas Schelling and Kenneth Arrow. 10. The Logic of Collective Action -- Mancur Olson. 11. Micromotives and Macrobehavior -- Thomas Schelling. 12. Exit, Voice, and Loyalty -- Albert O Hirschman. 13. A Theory of Justice — John Rawls. 14. Anarchy, State and Utopia — Robert Nozick. 15. A Trump wave is on the way (2016) -- Glenn Reynolds. 16. It’s Cascading Trump, It’s Cascading Modi!  (2016) -- Amit Varma. 17. Instapundit -- Glenn Reynolds's blog. 18. Marginal Revolution. 19. Bari Weiss on Twitter, Substack and her own website. 20. VS Naipaul on Amazon. 21. Solomon Asch's experiments. 22. Irreversible Damage --  Abigail Shrier. 23. Luxury Beliefs. 24. Fixing Indian Education — Episode 185 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Muralidharan). 25. Education in India — Episode 77 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Amit Chandra). 26. Fund Schooling, Not Schools (2007) — Amit Varma. 27. The Beautiful Tree — James Tooley. 28. The Incredible Curiosities of Mukulika Banerjee — Episode 276 of The Seen and the Unseen. 29. The Pathan Unarmed — Mukulika Banerjee. 30. The Mystery of Capital — Hernando De Soto. 31. Belling the Cat. 32. Oppenheimer -- Christopher Nolan. 33. Censored -- Margaret E Roberts.. 34. The Art of Not Being Governed -- James C Scott. 35. Domination & the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts -- James C Scott. Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube. Check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It’s free! Episode art: ‘Marketplace of Ideas’ by Simahina.
Ep 348: Devangshu Datta Traded His Corduroy Pants
Sep 25 2023
Ep 348: Devangshu Datta Traded His Corduroy Pants
From Ganja Park in Kolkata to lock-ups in 13 countries, he has travelled the world and lived through mad times. Devangshu Datta joins Amit Varma in episode 348 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss Bengalis who make bombs, Gujaratis who make fetish costumes, his river pirate ancestors and how Only Fans has disrupted Pornhub. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Devangshu Datta on Twitter and Business Standard. 2. Previous (miniature) episodes of The Seen and the Unseen with Devangshu Datta: 1, 2, 3. 3. The Life and Times of Nilanjana Roy — Episode 284 of The Seen and the Unseen. 4. Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India — Akshaya Mukul. 5. The Gita Press and Hindu Nationalism — Episode 139 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Akshaya Mukul). 6. Private Truths, Public Lies — Timur Kuran. 7. Godwin's Law. 8. The End of History? — Francis Fukuyama’s essay. 9. The End of History and the Last Man — Francis Fukuyama’s book. 10. Fixing Indian Education — Episode 185 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Muralidharan). 11. Our Unlucky Children (2008) — Amit Varma. 12. Aakash Singh Rathore, the Ironman Philosopher — Episode 340 of The Seen and the Unseen. 13. The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama -- David Remnick. 14. VP Menon: The Unsung Architect of Modern India — Narayani Basu. 15. India’s Greatest Civil Servant — Episode 167 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Narayani Basu, on VP Menon). 16. 'How big is your Madhya Pradesh?' -- Mamata Banerjee asks a party worker to lose weight. 17. Patriots, Poets and Prisoners: Selections from Ramananda Chatterjee's The Modern Review, 1907-1947 -- Edited by Anikendra Sen, Devangshu Datta and Nilanjana S Roy. 18. The State of Indian Sport — Episode 238 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Joy Bhattacharjya & Nandan Kamath). 19. Early Indians -- Tony Joseph. 20. Early Indians — Episode 112 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Tony Joseph). 21. All Quiet on the Western Front -- Erich Maria Remarque. 22. The Dosadi Experiment (featuring Jorj X. McKie) -- Frank Herbert. 23. A Deep Dive Into Ukraine vs Russia -- Episode 335 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah). 24. Lost Victories -- Erich von Manstein. 25. Basic Chess Endings -- Reuben Fine. 26. The Tamilian Gentleman Who Took on the World — Amit Varma. 27. The New World Upon Us -- Amit Varma on Alpha Zero. 28. Alpha Zero -- Episode 51 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Devangshu Datta). 29. Google’s AlphaZero Destroys Stockfish In 100-Game Match — Mike Klein (with Peter Heine Nielson's quote on a superior species playing chess). 30. Skynet (Terminator). 31. Neuromancer -- William Gibson. 32. Snow Crash --  Neal Stephenson. 33. Why Children Labour (2007) — Amit Varma. 34. The Poetic Feminism of Paromita Vohra — Episode 339 of The Seen and the Unseen. 35. Satisfaction: The Art of the Female Orgasm -- Kim Cattrall and Mark Levinson. 36. Deep Throat and The Devil in Miss Jones. 37. The Matunga Racket (2007) -- Amit Varma. 38. Colleen Hoover on Amazon, Instagram, Wikipedia and her own website. 39. The Business of Books — Episode 150 of The Seen and the Unseen (w VK Karthika). 40. New in Chess. 41. Amartya Ghosh on Spotify. 42. The Universe of Chuck Gopal — Episode 258 of The Seen and the Unseen. 43. 'Wet Streets Cause Rain' -- Michael Crichton explains Gell-Mann Amnesia. 44. How to generate black money in India (2013) -- TEDx Talk by Devangshu Datta. 45. Poker and Stock Markets — Episode 47 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Mohit Satyanand). 46. Once Upon a Prime -- Sarah Hart. 47. Herman Melville and Edgar Allan Poe on Amazon. 48. Professor Moriarty. 49. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time -- Mark Haddon. 50. A Gentleman in Moscow -- Amor Towles. 51. NK Jemisin and Ursula K Le Guin on Amazon. 52. The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 -- Antony Beevor. 53. The Spanish Civil War (playlist with all six parts of the docu-series). 54. The Sandman on Netflix. 55. The Sandman -- Neil Gaiman. 56. The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal -- Mikhail Tal. 57. Dune and Blade Runner 2049 -- Denis Villeneuve. 58. India’s War: The Making of Modern South Asia -- Srinath Raghavan. 59. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen with Srinath Raghavan: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube. Check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It’s free! Episode art: ‘Chess Board’ by Simahina.
Ep 347: India's Massive Pensions Crisis
Sep 18 2023
Ep 347: India's Massive Pensions Crisis
It might seem to be a subject that would interest only wonks and retirees, but "pensions can reshape an entire society." Ajay Shah and Renuka Sane join Amit Varma in episode 347 of The Seen and the Unseen to explain why -- and to take a deep dive into the crisis India is facing right now. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Ajay Shah on Twitter and Substack. 2. Renuka Sane on Twitter and The Print. 3. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen with Ajay Shah: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. 4. In Service of the Republic — Vijay Kelkar and Ajay Shah. 5. XKDR Forum (where Ajay Shah is co-founder). 6. TrustBridge (where Renuka Sane is research director). 7. The Project Oasis Report (2000). 8. A sustainable and scalable approach in Indian pension reform (2005) -- Ajay Shah. 9. Towards estimating India’s implicit pension debt on account of civil service employees (2006) -- Gautam Bhardwaj and Surendra A Dave. 10. Pension guarantees are subtle (2006) -- Ajay Shah. 11. Understanding the Indian financial environment (2015) -- Ajay Shah. 12. The way forward with one-rank-one-pension (2015) -- Ajay Shah and Renuka Sane. 13. Stay the course on the NPS (2018) -- Ajay Shah. 14. Fund management that you buy (2022) -- Ajay Shah. 15. The NPS challenge (2022) -- Ajay Shah. 16. Jayaprakash Narayan Wants to Mend Our Democracy -- Episode 334 of The Seen and the Unseen. 17. The Greatest Productivity Mantra: Kaator Re Bhaaji! -- Episode 11 of Everything is Everything. 18. Whose Money is it Anyway? -- Amit Varma. 19. What is Libertarianism? — Episode 117 of The Seen and the Unseen (w David Boaz). 20. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen on GST: 1, 2, 3. Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube. Check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It’s free! Episode art: ‘Wilderness’ by Simahina.
Ep 346: The Seema Goswami Files
Sep 11 2023
Ep 346: The Seema Goswami Files
She's been a journalist, an editor, a columnist, a novelist -- someone who sees the world and writes it down. Seema Goswami joins Amit Varma in episode 346 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about her life and times, and what they taught her. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Seema Goswami on Twitter, Instagram, Amazon and her own site. 2. Seema Goswami's column in HT Brunch. 3. Woman on Top -- Seema Goswami. 4. Race Course Road -- Seema Goswami. 5. Madam Prime Minister -- Seema Goswami. 6. The Life and Times of Shanta Gokhale — Episode 311 of The Seen and the Unseen. 7. One Foot on the Ground — Shanta Gokhale's brilliant memoir. 8. I Feel Bad About My Neck -- Nora Ephron. 9. Swim against the stereotypes -- Seema Goswami. 10. Zeenat Aman on Instagram. 11. The Culture Code --  Clotaire Rapaille. 12. Jane Austen on Amazon and Wikipedia. 13. Photographic memory -- Seema Goswami. 14. Cameo: Personalized videos from your favorite stars. 15. The West Wing -- Aaron Sorkin. 16. The Prem Panicker Files — Episode 217 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Prem Panicker). 17. Kohrra and Dahaad. 18. Natasha Badhwar Lives the Examined Life — Episode 301 of The Seen and the Unseen. 19. Self-Portrait — AK Ramanujan. 20. The Complete Works of George Bernard Shaw. 21. Georgette Heyer, Enid Blyton, Nancy Drew, James Hadley Chase and Alistair MacLean on Amazon. 22. SJ Bennett's murder mysteries. 23. Manu Pillai on Amazon and The Seen and the Unseen (1, 2, 3, 4). 24. Madhulika Liddle's Muzaffar Jang mysteries. 25. The Malory Towers collections by Enid Blyton: 1, 2, 3, 4. 26. The Gell-Mann Amnesia Effect. 27. Aakash Singh Rathore, the Ironman Philosopher -- Episode 340 of The Seen and the Unseen. 28. Lifespan: Why We Age – and Why We Don’t Have To — David Sinclair. 29. Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity — Peter Attia. 30. Peter Attia on the Huberman Lab Podcast. 31. Pandemic Praise -- Seema Goswami. 32. Blooming Glory -- Seema Goswami. 33. The Life and Times of Vir Sanghvi — Episode 236 of The Seen and the Unseen.  34. Why I Loved and Left Poker — Amit Varma. 35. The archives of Amit Varma’s poker column for the Economic Times, Range Rover. 36. Amarcord -- Federico Fellini. 37. Pushpesh Pant Feasts on the Buffet of Life — Episode 326 of The Seen and the Unseen. 38. The Indianness of Indian Food — Episode 95 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vikram Doctor). 39. Chourangi, Dhamaka and Semma. 40. The Slow Fire Chef on Twitter. 41. Mahabelly, Savya Rasa and Jamun. 42. The Romantic Idiot -- Samarth Bansal. 43. Cut the Clutter with Shekhar Gupta. 44. Mojo Story on YouTube. 45. Faye D'Souza on YouTube and Instagram. 46. Faye D'Souza doing stand-up comedy on One Mic Stand. 47. Larking About -- Seema Goswami. 48. Amitava Kumar Finds the Breath of Life — Episode 265 of The Seen and the Unseen. 49. Films, Feminism, Paromita — Episode 155 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Paromita Vohra). 50. The Poetic Feminism of Paromita Vohra — Episode 339 of The Seen and the Unseen. 51. Seema Goswami's Instagram post on her mother and grandmother. 52. The Simple Knot -- Seema Goswami. 53. Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh — Shrayana Bhattacharya. 54. The Loneliness of the Indian Woman — Episode 259 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shrayana Bhattacharya). 55. The Imitation Game -- Seema Goswami. 56. Wanting — Luke Burgis. 57. Luke Burgis Sees the Deer at His Window — Episode 337 of The Seen and the Unseen. 58. René Girard on Amazon and Wikipedia. 59. The Life and Times of Nilanjana Roy — Episode 284 of The Seen and the Unseen. 60. Shashi Tharoor on Amazon. 61. The Paradox of Narendra Modi — Episode 102 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shashi Tharoor). 62. Kashi Ka Assi — Kashinath Singh. 63. Kathal: A Jackfruit Mystery -- Yashowardhan Mishra. 64. Daniel Silva, Clare Mackintosh and Elizabeth Jane Howard on Amazon. This episode is sponsored by CTQ Compounds. Check out The Daily Reader and FutureStack. Use the code UNSEEN for Rs 2500 off. Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube. Check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It’s free! Episode art: ‘Write it Down’ by Simahina.
Ep 345: Economic Learnings of India for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Bihar
Sep 4 2023
Ep 345: Economic Learnings of India for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Bihar
If Bihar was a country, it would be both one of the largest and one of the poorest in the world. How did we get here? What can we do? Mohit Satyanand and Kumar Anand join Amit Varma in episode 345 of The Seen and the Unseen to share their insights from a lifetime of study -- and a road trip they took last year. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Mohit Satyanand (Twitter, Instagram, IMdB) and Kumar Anand (Twitter). 2. Gimme Mo -- Mohit Satyanand's newsletter. 3. Power of Ideas -- Kumar Anand's blog. 4. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen with Mohit Satyanand: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. 5. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen with Kumar Anand: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 6. Politics — A limerick by Amit Varma. 7. The Right to Property — Ep 26 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan). 8. Raees: An Empty Shell of a Gangster Film — Amit Varma. 9. Bootleggers and Baptists-The Education of a Regulatory Economist -- Bruce Yandle. 10. Films, Feminism, Paromita — Episode 155 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Paromita Vohra). 11. The Poetic Feminism of Paromita Vohra -- Episode 339 of The Seen and the Unseen. 12. The Loneliness of the Indian Woman — Episode 259 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shrayana Bhattacharya). 13. Shruti Rajagopalan Dives Into Delimitation -- Episode 336 of The Seen and the Unseen. 14. Population Is Not a Problem, but Our Greatest Strength — Amit Varma. 15. Fixing Indian Education — Episode 185 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Muralidharan). 16. Education in India — Episode 77 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Amit Chandra). 17. Return to Good Riddance : A Cameo of Contemporary Patna -- Sankarshan Thakur. 18. Amitava Kumar Finds the Breath of Life — Episode 265 of The Seen and the Unseen. 19. A Matter of Rats — Amitava Kumar. 20. Caste, Capitalism and Chandra Bhan Prasad — Episode 296 of The Seen and the Unseen. 21. Not Anurag Behar, Not Smriti Irani, Ramchandara’s Wife Knows Best What’s Good For Her Kids -- Kumar Anand. 22. Education & the Industrial Revolution -- EG West. 23. The Steady Determination of Yamini Aiyar -- Episode 341 of The Seen and the Unseen. 24. Barun Mitra, Philosopher and Practitioner — Episode 264 of The Seen and the Unseen. 25. Gobar Kababs -- Picture by Mohit Satyanand. 26. Snapshots from Bihar: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 -- Pictures by Kumar Anand. 27. The Importance of the 1991 Reforms — Episode 237 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan and Ajay Shah). 28. India’s Lost Decade — Episode 116 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Puja Mehra). 29. The Life and Times of Montek Singh Ahluwalia — Episode 285 of The Seen and the Unseen. 30. The Forgotten Greatness of PV Narasimha Rao — Episode 283 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vinay Sitapati). 31. Why Freedom Matters -- Episode 10 of Everything is Everything, hosted by Amit Varma and Ajay Shah. 32. The Double ‘Thank-You’ Moment — John Stossel. 33. Exit, Voice, and Loyalty — Albert O Hirschman. Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube. Check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It’s free! Episode art: ‘Inside Bihar’ by Simahina.
Ep 344: Manisha Pande Watches the News
Aug 28 2023
Ep 344: Manisha Pande Watches the News
She's a journalist, a satirist and a connoisseur of bullshit. Manisha Pande joins Amit Varma in episode 344 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about her life, her learnings and the lamentable state of our nation and our journalism. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Manisha Pande on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Newslaundry. 2. TV Newsance. 3. Newslaundry. 4. Rahul Gandhi interviewed by Arnab Goswami (2014), Samdish and Curly Tails. 5. Newslaundry on the BeerBiceps collab with MyGov. 6. Wanting — Luke Burgis. 7. Luke Burgis Sees the Deer at His Window — Episode 337 of The Seen and the Unseen. 8. René Girard on Amazon and Wikipedia. 9. S Jaishankar on The Ranveer Show. 10. The Universe of Chuck Gopal — Episode 258 of The Seen and the Unseen. 11. The Looking-Glass Self. 12. The Life and Times of Abhinandan Sekhri — Episode 254 of The Seen and the Unseen. 13. The Doors, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Bad Company, Bob Dylan, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Cat Stevens. 14. Highway 61 Revisited -- Bob Dylan. 15. Blonde and Blonde -- Bob Dylan. 16. Blood on the Tracks -- Bob Dylan. 17. Fyodor Dostoyevsky on Britannica, Wikipedia and Amazon. 18. The Life and Times of Nilanjana Roy — Episode 284 of The Seen and the Unseen. 19. What the moral lessons for journalists quitting Republic TV miss out -- Manisha Pande. 20. What women think of Narendra Modi -- Manisha Pande. 21. Kashi Ka Assi — Kashinath Singh. 22. The Lanterne Rouge Cycling Podcast episode after Gino Mader's death. 23. The TV Newsance episode on Seema Haidar and Piyush Goyal. 24. The Lallantop video on the vegetable vendor. 25. The Barkha Dutt Files — Episode 243 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Barkha Dutt). 26. We all live in a Cannibal Holocaust -- Amit Varma. 27. Cannibal Holocaust -- Ruggero Deodato. 28. Sample SSR conspiracy theory: He’s alive! 29. Narendra Modi interviewed by Akshay Kumar. 30. Why we report on the media -- Manisha Pande. 31. Kean -- Jean-Paul Sartre. 32. Cross Purpose -- Albert Camus. 33. Oscar Wilde, Vijay Tendulkar, RK Narayan, Nida Fazli, 34. Collected Plays -- Girish Karnad. 35. Vajpayee: The Ascent of the Hindu Right, 1924–1977 --  Abhishek Choudhary. 36. Diddi: My Mother's Voice -- Ira Pande. 37. The Way Things Were -- Aatish Taseer. 38. India: A Wounded Civilization -- VS Naipaul. Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube. Check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It’s free! Episode art: ‘Watch’ by Simahina.
Ep 343: We Are All Amits From Africa
Aug 21 2023
Ep 343: We Are All Amits From Africa
Our statues must eat ice cream, our cities must be designed by cardiovascular surgeons, and we must all go to the fifth temple. Krish Ashok and Naren Shenoy join Amit Varma in episode 343 of The Seen and the Unseen to banter away a few perfectly good hours. What a waste of time, eh? NO! (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Krish Ashok on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, his own website and Spotify/Apple Music/Soundcloud. 2. Naren Shenoy on Twitter, Instagram and Blogspot. 3. Narendra Shenoy and Mr Narendra Shenoy — Episode 250 of The Seen and the Unseen. 4. A Scientist in the Kitchen — Episode 204 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Krish Ashok). 5. Masala Lab: The Science of Indian Cooking -- Krish Ashok. 6. Simblified, co-hosted by Narendra Shenoy. 7. We want Narendra Shenoy to write a book. 8. Lohapurusha -- Krish Ashok's Sanskrit Heavy Metal album. 9. The Masala Lab Dal Recipe Generator -- Krish Ashok. 10. The Amaklamatic Salad Recipe Generator -- Krish Ashok. 11. The Amaklamatic Chutney Recipe Generator -- Krish Ashok. 12.  Newton the Alchemist. Gandhi the Black Swan -- Episode 7 of Everything is Everything. 13. Krish Ashok hates computers and this is proof. 14. Roshan Abbas and the Creator Economy — Episode 239 of The Seen and the Unseen. 15. The Adda at the End of the Universe — Episode 309 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vikram Sathaye and Roshan Abbas). 16. The Prem Panicker Files — Episode 217 of The Seen and the Unseen. 17. Caste, Gender, Karnatik Music — Episode 162 of The Seen and the Unseen (w TM Krishna). 18. 4′33″ -- John Cage. 19. Is the Singularity Near? -- Episode 2 of Everything is Everything. 20. The Formula Behind Every Perfect Pop Song — Seeker. 21. I, Pencil -- Leonard Read. 22. The Cadbury Dairy Milk Mystery -- Krish Ashok. 23. A Poetry Handbook — Mary Oliver. 24. Tvam -- Krish Ashok's version of Rammstein's Du Hast. 25. Du Hast -- Rammstein. 26. Early Indians — Episode 112 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Tony Joseph). 27. Caste, Capitalism and Chandra Bhan Prasad — Episode 296 of The Seen and the Unseen. 28. Alice Evans Studies the Great Gender Divergence — Episode 297 of The Seen and the Unseen. 29. The Incredible Curiosities of Mukulika Banerjee — Episode 276 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Mukulika Banerjee). 30. The Pathan Unarmed — Mukulika Banerjee. 31. The Country Foods channel. 32. Ulhas Kamathe -- The Chicken Leg Piece Guy. 33. Sell the Tiger to Save It — Barun Mitra. 34. The Poultry Map. 35. The Egg Map. 36. Team Pizza or Team Biryani? 37. Gordon tries to make Pad Thai -- The F Word. 38. The Panchatantra. 39. Varun Grover Is in the House — Episode 292 of The Seen and the Unseen. 40. Kimaham Abhavam -- Krish Ashok's version of Johnny Cash's version of Nine Inch Nails's Hurt. 41. Hurt -- Johnny Cash. 42. Hurt -- Nine Inch Nails. 43. Miss Excel on Instagram and TikTok. 44. How an Excel Tiktoker Manifested Her Way to Making Six Figures a Day — Nilay Patel. 45. The Menu -- Mark Mylod. 46. Cilappatikaram. 47. Dunbar's number. 48. Womaning in India With Mahima Vashisht — Episode 293 of The Seen and the Unseen. 49. Womaning in India — Mahima Vashisht’s newsletter. 50. Superforecasting -- Philip Tetlock and Dan Gardner. 51. Essays -- Paul Graham. 52. Nityananda making sense. 53. Uncle Roger. 54. Abby Philips Fights for Science and Medicine — Episode 310 of The Seen and the Unseen. 55. Never Talk About TURMERIC on Social Media — Abby Philips. 56. The Magic Pill -- Rob Tate. 57. Wanting — Luke Burgis. 58. Luke Burgis Sees the Deer at His Window -- Episode 337 of The Seen and the Unseen. 59. Brandolini's law. 60. Foodpharmer on Instagram. 61. 1000 True Fans — Kevin Kelly. 62. 1000 True Fans? Try 100 — Li Jin. 63. The Case Against Sugar — Gary Taubes. 64. The Big Fat Surprise — Nina Teicholz. 65. The Obesity Code — Jason Fung. 66. Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas — Natasha Dow Schüll. 67. Your Undivided Attention -- Podcast by Tristan Harris and Aza Raskin. 68. Sara Rai Inhales Literature — Episode 255 of The Seen and the Unseen. 69. 3Blue1Brown on YouTube. 70. The Life and Times of Abhinandan Sekhri — Episode 254 of The Seen and the Unseen. 71. Jaya Varma and the Chandigarh Choir perform Dhano Dhanne. 72. In a Silent Way — Episode 316 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Gaurav Chintamani). 73. Sonnet 18 -- William Shakespeare. 74. Sonnet 18 -- Harriet Walter. 74. Sonnet 18 -- Akala. 75. Sonnet 18 -- David Gilmour. 76. Raga Ahir Bhairav -- Gangubai Hangal. 77. The Memoirs of Dr Haimabati Sen — Haimabati Sen (translated by Tapan Raychoudhuri). 78. Kavitha Rao and Our Lady Doctors — Episode 235 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Kavitha Rao). 79. Dark Was the Night -- Blind Willie Johnson. 80. Car Wheels on a Gravel Road -- Lucinda Williams. 81. Sweet Old World -- Lucinda Williams. 82. All That She Wants -- Ace of Base. Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube. Check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It’s free! Episode art: ‘Amits’ by Simahina.
Ep 342: Vitalik Buterin Fights the Dragon-Tyrant
Aug 14 2023
Ep 342: Vitalik Buterin Fights the Dragon-Tyrant
Everything about the world must be rethought -- and Vitalik Buterin is on it. He joins Amit Varma and guest co-host Ajay Shah in episode 342 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss currencies, freedom, political philosophy, community, aging and why we need not be too scared of men with guns. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Vitalik Buterin on Twitter and his own website. 2. Ending Aging --  Aubrey de Grey. 3. The Fable of the Dragon-Tyrant -- Nick Bostrom. 4. Issue # 1 of Bitcoin Magazine. 5. The World of Warcraft origin story. 6. Human Action -- Ludwig von Mises. 7. Atlas Shrugged -- Ayn Rand. 8. Thomas Sowell on Amazon, Wikipedia and his own website. 9. Frédéric Bastiat’s writings at Bastiat.org and Amazon. 10. The Bastiat-Proudhon Debate. 11. True Names -- Vernon Vinge. 12. The Overton Window. 13. In Defense of Alternative Cryptocurrencies (2013) -- Vitalik Buterin. 14. Convex and Concave Dispositions -- Vitalik Buterin. 15. Arrow's impossibility theorem. 16. Credible Auctions: A Trilemma -- Mohammad Akbarpour and Shengwu Li. 17, Crypto currencies and conventional currencies will both evolve -- Ajay Shah. 18. How Bitcoin Can Actually Help Iranians and Argentinians (2013) -- Vitalik Buterin. 19. Law, Legislation and Liberty -- Friedrich Hayek. 20. The Wandering Earth -- Frant Gwo, based on the book by Cixin Liu. 21. 3 Body Problem -- David Benioff, DB Weiss and Alexander Woo, based on the book by Cixin Liu. 22. The Studio Ghibli Collection. 23. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress -- Robert Heinlein. 24. Fable of the Dragon-Tyrant -- Video by CGP Grey. Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube. Check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It’s free! Episode art: ‘Vitalik’ by Simahina.
Ep 341: The Steady Determination of Yamini Aiyar
Aug 7 2023
Ep 341: The Steady Determination of Yamini Aiyar
She's one of our finest thinkers, and has devoted her life to public policy and building this country. Yamini Aiyar joins Amit Varma in episode 341 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss her life, her learnings and how the Indian state can be reformed. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Yamini Aiyar at Twitter, Deccan Herald, Hindustan Times and Center for Policy Research. 2. The Curious Case of the Powerful yet Powerless Bureaucrat -- BSC Seminar with Yamini Aiyar. 3. Rules Vs. Responsiveness -- A talk by Yamini Aiyar at IIM-A. 4. The State of the State: Strengthening India's Governance Capabilities -- Panel discussion featuring Yamini Aiyar and moderated by Amit Varma. 5. Rewriting the Grammar of the Education System: Delhi’s Education Reform (A Tale of Creative Resistance and Creative Disruption) -- Yamini Aiyar et al. 6. The Post Office Paradox: A Case Study of the Block Level Education Bureaucracy -- Yamini Aiyar and Shrayana Bhattacharya. 7. Rights, Accountability and Citizenship: Examining India’s Emerging Welfare State -- Yamini Aiyar and Michael Walton. 8. Citizen vs labharthi? Interrogating the welfare state -- Yamini Aiyar. 9. The Looking-Glass Self. 10. Wanting — Luke Burgis. 11. René Girard on Amazon and Wikipedia. 12. Luke Burgis Sees the Deer at His Window -- Episode 337 of The Seen and the Unseen. 13. The Overton Window. 14. The Importance of the 1991 Reforms — Episode 237 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan and Ajay Shah). 15. Fixing Indian Education — Episode 185 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Muralidharan). 16. Understanding Indian Healthcare — Episode 225 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Muralidharan). 17. Karthik Muralidharan Examines the Indian State — Episode 290 of The Seen and the Unseen. 18. Ashutosh Salil and the Challenge of Change — Episode 312 of The Seen and the Unseen. 19. India’s Far From Free Markets (2005) — Amit Varma in the Wall Street Journal. 20.  Pure Magic -- Kumkum Chadha on Shankara Pillai Krishna Kumar. 21. The Tragedy of Our Farm Bills — Episode 211 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah). 22. India’s Greatest Civil Servant — Episode 167 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Narayani Basu, on VP Menon). 23. Caged Tiger: How Too Much Government Is Holding Indians Back — Subhashish Bhadra. 24. Subhashish Bhadra on Our Dysfunctional State — Episode 333 of The Seen and the Unseen. 25. A Life in Indian Politics — Episode 149 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Jayaprakash Narayan). 26. Jayaprakash Narayan Wants to Mend Our Democracy — Episode 334 of The Seen and the Unseen. 27. The RISE Programme. 28. Population Is Not a Problem, but Our Greatest Strength — Amit Varma. 29. Is the Singularity Near? -- Episode 2 of Everything is Everything. 30. My Hero, Oppenheimer -- Episode 5 of Everything is Everything. 31. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen with Ramachandra Guha: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 32. What Have We Done With Our Independence? — Episode 186 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pratap Bhanu Mehta). 33. The Gentle Wisdom of Pratap Bhanu Mehta — Episode 300 of The Seen and the Unseen. 34. In Service of the Republic — Vijay Kelkar & Ajay Shah. 35. The Art and Science of Economic Policy — Episode 154 of The Seen and the Unseen. 36. Missing In Action: Why You Should Care About Public Policy — Pranay Kotasthane and Raghu S Jaitley. 37. The Long Road From Neeyat to Neeti — Episode 313 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pranay Kotasthane and Raghu S Jaitley). 38. The Loneliness of the Indian Woman — Episode 259 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shrayana Bhattacharya). 39. Making Bureaucracy Work: Norms, Education and Public Service Delivery in Rural India -- Akshay Mangla. 40. Is India a Flailing State? — Lant Pritchett. 41. James Manor on Amazon. 42. The Hedgehog And The Fox — Isaiah Berlin. 43. Vajpayee: The Ascent of the Hindu Right, 1924–1977 -- Abhishek Choudhary. 44. Planning Democracy: How A Professor, An Institute, And An Idea Shaped India — Nikhil Menon. 45. The History of the Planning Commission -- Episode 306 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Nikhil Menon). 46. Nehru's India -- Taylor Sherman. 47. Hindutva and Violence -- Vinayak Chaturvedi. 48. The Thursday Murder Club -- Richard Osman. 49. Lessons in Chemistry -- Bonnie Garmus. 50. Agatha Christie on Amazon. 51. Dahaad, Kohrra, Scoop and Crash Course in Romance. Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube. Check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It’s free! Episode art: ‘Build It’ by Simahina.
Ep 340: Aakash Singh Rathore, the Ironman Philosopher
Jul 31 2023
Ep 340: Aakash Singh Rathore, the Ironman Philosopher
He's a philosopher, a political theorist, a runner, a wine lover, an Ambedkarite -- and he used to be a Dharma Bum. Aakash Singh Rathore joins Amit Varma in episode 340 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss his unusual journey and his unconventional insights. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Aakash Singh Rathore on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Amazon, Deccan Herald and his own website. 2. Poorva Paksha -- Aakash Singh Rathore's columns in Deccan Herald. 3. Indian Political Theory: Laying the Groundwork for Svaraj -- Aakash Singh Rathore. 4. Ambedkar's Preamble: A Secret History of the Constitution of India -- Aakash Singh Rathore. 5. Becoming Babasaheb: The Life and Times of Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (Volume 1): Birth to Mahad (1891-1929) -- Aakash Singh Rathore. 6. Vision for a Nation: Paths and Perspectives -- Edited by Aakash Singh Rathore and Ashis Nandy. 7. A Scientist in the Kitchen — Episode 204 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Krish Ashok). 8. Cathedral — Raymond Carver. 9. Both Sides Now -- Joni Mitchell. 10. Some ancient wisdom for the modern world -- Aakash Singh Rathore. 11. The Three Languages of Politics -- Arnold Kling. 12. The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic Man -- Marshall McLuhan. 13. Understanding Media -- Marshall McLuhan. 14. Phaedrus -- Plato. 15. Why Are My Episodes so Long? -- Amit Varma. 16. A Meditation on Form -- Amit Varma. 17. Philosophy, Cognition and Writing: A Talk on the Writing Process -- Aakash Singh Rathore. 18. Ghare Baire / Home and the World -- Rabindranath Tagore. 19. Ghare Baire -- Satyajit Ray. 20. Citizen Kane — Orson Welles. 21. A Movable Feast -- Ernest Hemingway. 22. The Life and Times of Jerry Pinto — Episode 314 of The Seen and the Unseen. 23. Murder in Mahim — Jerry Pinto. 24. Eric Weinstein Won’t Toe the Line -- Episode 330 of The Seen and the Unseen. 25. Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas — Natasha Dow Schüll. 26. The Dharma Bums -- Jack Kerouac. 27. The Beat Generation. 28. Kicking Schoolbags -- Amit Varma. 29. The Sex Pistols and Clash. 30. Unsatisfied — The Replacements. 31. Fixing Indian Education — Episode 185 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Muralidharan). 32. Yukio Mishima on Wikipedia, Britannica and Amazon. 33. The Poetic Feminism of Paromita Vohra -- Episode 339 of The Seen and the Unseen. 34. Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar: Life and Mission -- Dhananjay Keer. 35. CB Khairmode's 12-volume Marathi biography of Ambedkar. 36. The Ferment of Our Founders — Episode 272 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Kapila). 37. India’s Greatest Civil Servant — Episode 167 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Narayani Basu). 38. The First Assault on Our Constitution — Episode 194 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Tripurdaman Singh). 39. Hind Swaraj -- Mohandas Gandhi. 40. Understanding Gandhi: Part 1: Mohandas -- Episode 104 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ram Guha). 41. Understanding Gandhi: Part 2: Mahatma -- Episode 105 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ram Guha). 42. The centre-Left in India is more concerned with dirty politics -- Aakash Singh Rathore interviewed by Caravan. 43. Coriolanus -- William Shakespeare. 44. The Incredible Curiosities of Mukulika Banerjee -- Episode 276 of The Seen and the Unseen. 45. The Pathan Unarmed — Mukulika Banerjee. 46. Josh Felman Tries to Make Sense of the World — Episode 321 of The Seen and the Unseen. 47. Relativity: The Special And The General Theory -- Albert Einstein. 48. I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Love You) -- Aakash Singh Rathore. 49. Bob Lazar: Area 51 & Flying Saucers -- Jeremy Corbell. 50. The Fermi Paradox. Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube. Check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It’s free! Episode art: ‘Running to Find the Light’ by Simahina.
Ep 339: The Poetic Feminism of Paromita Vohra
Jul 24 2023
Ep 339: The Poetic Feminism of Paromita Vohra
She's a filmmaker, feminist, artist, writer -- impossible to pin down, a connoisseur of multitudes. Paromita Vohra joins Amit Varma in episode 339 of The Seen and the Unseen to shoot the breeze and share her thoughts on Covid, relationships, the garden of consent, how being a misfit can be liberating and what she means by Poetic Feminism. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Paromita Vohra on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, IMDb and Parodevi Pictures. 2.  Paromita Vohra's column archives in Mid-Day. 3. Agents of Ishq. 3. Films, Feminism, Paromita -- Episode 155 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Paromita Vohra). 4. Unlimited Girls (95 mins). 5. Partners in Crime (95 mins). 6. Paromita Vohra interviewed by The Third Eye. 7. Empire of the Sun -- Steven Spielberg. 8. Simple Recipes for Complicated Times -- Peter Griffin's Facebook group. 9. Tsunami Help and Cloudburst Mumbai. 10. Feeding the Hungry in the Pandemic — Episode 210 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ruben Mascarenhas). 11. The Life and Times of Abhinandan Sekhri — Episode 254 of The Seen and the Unseen. 12. Chekhov's Gun. 13. Natasha Badhwar Lives the Examined Life — Episode 301 of The Seen and the Unseen. 14. Padosan and Kashmir Ki Kali. 15. The Life and Times of Shanta Gokhale — Episode 311 of The Seen and the Unseen. 16. One Foot on the Ground — Shanta Gokhale. 17. Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus — John Gray. 18. What Makes Women Happy -- Fay Weldon. 19. The Loneliness of the Indian Woman — Episode 259 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shrayana Bhattacharya). 20. The Loneliness of the Indian Man — Episode 303 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Nikhil Taneja). 21. Asterix, Tintin, Phantom and Mandrake. 22. Midnight's Children -- Salman Rushdie. 23. Shame -- Salman Rushdie. 24. Amitav Ghosh on Amazon. 25. Anjali Arondekar on Amazon and her own website. 26. Sex, Law, and the Politics of Age: Child Marriage in India, 1891–1937 -- Ishita Pande. 27. Indian Sex Life -- Durba Mitra. 28. The Looking-Glass Self. 29. The Four Quadrants of Conformism — Paul Graham. 30. Miss Excel on Instagram and TikTok. 31. How an Excel Tiktoker Manifested Her Way to Making Six Figures a Day — Nilay Patel. 32. Tokyo is the new Paris -- Noah Smith. 33. Maximum City -- Suketu Mehta. 34. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai — Karan Johar. 35. Supermen of Malegaon -- Faiza Ahmad Khan. 36. The Overton Window. 37. The Indianness of Indian Food — Episode 95 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vikram Doctor). 38. The Refreshing Audacity of Vinay Singhal — Episode 291 of The Seen and the Unseen. 39. Stage.in. 40. On Exactitude in Science — Jorge Luis Borges. 41. On Uniform Civil Code, intent matters -- GN Devy. 42. Past Lives --  Celine Song. 43. Joseph Fasano on Twitter. 44. Imaginary Number — Vijay Seshadri. 45. Therigatha: Poems of the First Buddhist Women -- Translated by Charles Hallisey. 46. Early Indians — Episode 112 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Tony Joseph). 47. Early Indians: The Story of Our Ancestors and Where We Came From — Tony Joseph. 48. Why Children Labour (2007) -- Amit Varma. 49. The Life and Times of Urvashi Butalia — Episode 287 of The Seen and the Unseen. 50. Manjima Bhattacharjya: The Making of a Feminist -- Episode 280 of The Seen and the Unseen. 51. Roots -- Alex Haley. 52. Lifespan: Why We Age – and Why We Don’t Have To — David Sinclair. 53. Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity -- Peter Attia. 54. Chronicle of a Summer -- Jean Rouch and Edgar Morin. 55. Chaalbaaz -- Pankaj Parashar. 56. Topsy-Turvy -- Mike Leigh. 57. Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced an Emergency -- Chen Chen. 58. i love you to the moon & -- Chen Chen. 59. Chen Chen on Instagram. 60. Rajendra Krishan on Wikipedia, IMDb and Rekhta. 61. Pyar Ke Jahan Ki Nirali Sarkar Hai -- Song from Patang, written by Rajendra Krishan. 62. Ga Ga Ga Gori Gori -- Baba Sehgal. 63. Ek Thi Ladki -- Roop Shorey. 64. Lara Lappa Lara Lappa -- Song from Ek Thi Ladki. 65. The Incredible Curiosities of Mukulika Banerjee — Episode 276 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Mukulika Banerjee). 66. Regrets, None -- Dolly Thakore. 67. Timepass: The Memoirs of Protima Bedi -- Protima Bedi. 68. Joan Didion on Amazon. 69. The Odd Woman and the City — Vivian Gornick. 70. We Should All Be Feminists -- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. 71. Fearless Freedom -- Kavita Krishnan. Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube. Check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It’s free! Episode art: ‘The Dance of Life’ by Simahina.
Ep 338: The Nuances of Intensive Care
Jul 17 2023
Ep 338: The Nuances of Intensive Care
There are few spaces in the world more intense than an intensive care unit, where life hangs in the balance, where nothing can be taken for granted. Nitin Arora joins Amit Varma in episode 338 of The Seen and the Unseen to speak about the history and evolution of intensive care, what Covid taught him and why he speaks more Punjabi in Birmingham than in Amritsar. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Nitin Arora on Twitter, LinkedIn, ResearchGate, Google Scholar and Those We Carry. 2. The Beginner's Guide to Intensive Care -- Nitin Arora and Shondipon K Laha. 3. Nitin Arora on the Simblified podcast: 1, 2, 3, 4. 4. The Practice of Medicine — Episode 229 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Lancelot Pinto). 5. Abby Philips Fights for Science and Medicine -- Episode 310 of The Seen and the Unseen. 6. Understanding Indian Healthcare — Episode 225 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Muralidharan). 7. The Importance of Finance -- Episode 125 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah). 8. The Medical Council of India — Episode 8 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pavan Srinath). 9. Critical: Stories from the front line of intensive care medicine -- Matt Morgan. 10. The Armchair Economist -- Stephen Landsburg. 11. Being Mortal -- Atul Gawande. 12. Platoon -- Oliver Stone. 13. Freakonomics -- Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner. 14. The Darwin Awards. 15. Oxygen cylinders or Irish nuns?. 15, The Checklist Manifesto -- Atul Gawande. 16. When Breath Becomes Air -- Paul Kalanithi. 17. Thinking Fast and Slow -- Daniel Kahneman. Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube. Check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It’s free! Episode art: ‘Intensive Care’ by Simahina.