The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma

Decades after the trauma of separation, Partition remains with us. Aanchal Malhotra joins Amit Varma in episode 195 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about her work in excavating the memories of Partition survivors through the objects they carried with them -- and their resonance in these modern times. Also check out: 1. Aanchal Malhotra's website. 2. Remnants of a Separation -- Aanchal Malhotra. 3. Museum of Material Memory. 4. Profile of Aanchal Malhotra by Mayank Austen Soofi, 2010. 5. Nanak Was Here -- Episode 166 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Amardeep Singh). 6. Imaginary Number -- Vijay Seshadri. 7. Punjabi Tappe on YouTube. 8. The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Trucker -- Episode 192 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rajat Ubhaykar). And do check out Amit's online course, The Art of Clear Writing.

The constitution of India, it has been said, is not a book but a periodical. Starting with Jawaharlal Nehru, every prime minister who wanted to do something unconstitutional simply amended the constitution. Tripurdaman Singh joins Amit Varma in episode 194 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss India's First Amendment, which began a rot that never ended. Also check out: 1. Sixteen Stormy Days -- Tripurdaman Singh. 2. Imperial Sovereignty and Local Politics -- Tripurdaman Singh. 3. The books of CA Bayly. 4. Shruti Rajagopalan on our constitutional amendments. 5. The Right to Property -- Episode 26 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan). 6. 'Not murder but mimicry' -- Kapil Komireddi's tweet. 7. Modi's Lost Opportunity -- Episode 119 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Salman Soz). 8. India's Greatest Civil Servant -- Episode 167 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Narayani Basu). 9. India's Founding Moment -- Madhav Khosla. 10. The Ideas of Our Constitution -- Episode 164 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Madhav Khosla). 11. Who Broke Our Republic? -- Episode 163 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Kapil Komireddi). 12. The Emergency of 1975 -- Episode 103 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Gyan Prakash). 13. Where Have All the Leaders Gone? -- Amit Varma. 14. Dark Days Lie Ahead -- Pratap Bhanu Mehta. And do check out Amit's online course, The Art of Clear Writing.

The conflict between the government and the central bank seems like an arcane one that only wonks care about -- but it affects the lives of all of us. Viral Acharya joins Amit Varma in episode 193 of The Seen and the Unseen to explain why we should all join him in the battle against Fiscal Dominance. Also check out: 1. Quest for Restoring Financial Stability in India -- Viral Acharya. 2. Viral Acharya at NYU Stern. 2. Guaranteed to Fail -- Viral Acharya et al. 3. Indian Banks: A Time to Reform? -- Viral Acharya and Raghuram Rajan. 4. On the Importance of Independent Regulatory Institutions –The Case of the Central Bank -- Viral Acharya's AD Shroff Memorial lecture 2018. 5. Yaadon Ke Silsile -- Viral Acharya. 6. Viral Acharya interviewed by Ira Dugal, Mitali Mukherjee, Vivek Kaul and Anantha Narayan. 7. Lakshya Ko har Haal Mein Paana Hai. 8. Rahul Dravid at Headingley, Adelaide and Rawalpindi. 9. What Really Happened? -- Lawrence H White on the 2008 Financial Crisis. 10. Zombie Firms and Creative Destruction -- Episode 118 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah). And do check out Amit's online course, The Art of Clear Writing.

There is much romance in being on the open road, always on the move. But not for the long-distance trucker, trapped in a moving cocoon, always travelling but getting nowhere slowly. Rajat Ubhaykar joins Amit Varma in episode 192 of The Seen and the Unseen to describe his insights from hitchhiking around India on trucks. Also check out: 1. Truck de India!: A Hitchhiker's guide to Hindustan -- Rajat Ubhaykar. 2. A Free Man -- Aman Sethi. 3. English, August -- Upamanyu Chatterjee. 4. Bird on the Wire -- Leonard Cohen. 5. Why Children Labour -- Amit Varma. 6. Young India -- Episode 83 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Snigdha Poonam). 7. Dreamers -- Snigdha Poonam. 8. Aloo Posto recipes: 1, 2, 3, 4. 9. Amit Varma's India Uncut posts from Peshawar (2006): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. 10. A Tale Of Two Bandits: Naxals And The Indian State -- Amit Varma. 11. Power and Prosperity -- Mancur Olson. 12. The Roving Bandits of Uttar Pradesh -- Episode 4 of Econ Central. 13. Jeevan Ke Safar Mein Rahi. Also check out Amit Varma's online course, The Art of Clear Writing.

In normal times, cities are an engine of prosperity. In these strange times, they are also an engine of pandemic. Vaidehi Tandel joins Amit Varma in episode 191 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss how important cities are to civilisation, and how Covid-19 will affect the way we live. Also check out: 1. COVID-19 a Grim Reminder for Govts -- Vaidehi Tandel. 2. Don't Blame Dense Cities. They Have Been Resilient -- Reuben Abraham and Vaidehi Tandel. 3. Why India Has the Fastest-Growing Cities -- Kadambari Shah, Vaidehi Tandel and Harshita Agarwal. 4. Cities and Pandemics Have a Long History -- Edward L Glaeser 5. A World of Cities: The Causes and Consequences of Urbanisation in Poorer Countries -- Edward L Glaeser. 6. Cities After Coronavirus: How Covid-19 Could Radically Alter Urban Life -- Jack Shenker. 7. Spatial Economics: The Declining Cost of Distance -- Karen Harris, Andrew Schwedel and Austin Kimson. 8. Triumph of the City -- Edward L Glaeser. 9. Order Without Design – How Markets Shape Cities -- Alain Bertaud. 10. The Importance of Cities -- Episode 108 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Reuben Abraham & Pritika Hingorani.) 11. The Seen and the Unseen episodes with Alex Tabarrok on FSI and Rent Control. 12. Urban Governance in India -- Episode 31 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan). 13. Taking Stock of Covid-19 -- Episode 169 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan). 14. The Nuances of Lockdown -- Episode 176 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Anup Malani). 15. India's Economy in the Time of Covid-19 -- Episode 177 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vivek Kaul). 16. Fixing Indian Education -- Episode 185 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Muralidharan). 17. What a Long Strange Trip It's Been -- Episode 188 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Arvind Subramanian). 18. Rajesh Jain and Dhan Vapasi -- Episode 94 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rajesh Jain). 19. Publish and Perish -- Agnes Callard. 20. Young Rural Women in India Chase Big-City Dreams -- Ellen Barry. 21. We Are Fighting Two Disasters: Covid-19 and the Indian State -- Amit Varma.

Whatever you say of India, an old cliche goes, the opposite is also true. India has always been homophobic -- but it also contains Queeristan. Parmesh Shahani joins Amit Varma in episode 190 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about his long ongoing battle for LGBTQ inclusion in corporate India -- and much beyond. Also check out: 1. Queeristan -- Parmesh Shahani. 2. Gay Bombay -- Parmesh Shahani. 3. Godrej India Culture Lab. 4. Being Gay, Loving Books -- Episode 141 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vivek Tejuja). 5. Being Gay in India -- Episode 84 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Navin Noronha). 6. Habiba -- Bappi Lahiri. 7. Blank Noise. 8. India's Problem is Poverty, Not Inequality -- Amit Varma. 9. On Inequality -- Harry Frankfurt. 10. On Bullshit -- Harry Frankfurt. 11. An Empty Shell of a Gangster Film -- Amit Varma's review of Raees.12. Films, Feminism, Paromita -- Episode 155 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Paromita Vohra). 13. Women at Work -- Episode 132 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Namita Bhandare). 14. A Life in Indian Politics -- Episode 149 of The Seen and the Unseen (w JP Narayan). 15. Project Bolo with Parmesh Shahani.

These are exciting times for Indian cinema, as multiple worlds and sensibilities collide in the streets and studios of Mumbai. Actors Rasika Dugal and Mukul Chadda join Amit Varma in episode 189 of The Seen and the Unseen to describe their journeys in this brave new world. Rasika's films: 1. Kshay (Amazon Prime). 2. Qissa (Mubi). 3. Manto (Netflix). 4. Hamid (Netflix). 5. Lootcase (Hotstar). 6. Tu Hai Mera Sunday (Netflix). Rasika's shows:1. Delhi Crime (Netflix). 2. Mirzapur (Amazon Prime). 3. Made in Heaven (Amazon Prime). 4. Out of Love (Hotstar). 5. Humorously Yours (TVF). 6. A Suitable Boy (BBC). Rasika's short films: 1. Banana Bread (with Mukul, on YouTube). 2. Chutney (YouTube). 3. The School Bag (YouTube). Selected work by Mukul: 1. The Office (Hotstar). 2. Banana Bread (with Rasika, on YouTube). 3. Ek Bahut Choti Si Love Story (YouTube). 4. Pressure Cooker (YouTube). 5. Butnama (YouTube). Also check out: 1. The Art of Translation -- Episode 168 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Arunava Sinha). 2. A Meditation on Form -- Amit Varma. 3. Range Rover -- The archives of Amit Varma's poker column for the Economic Times.

The Indian economy has been on a wild ride, traumatic in parts, for the last 73 years. And Arvind Subramanian was on a wild ride of his own as Chief Economic Advisor in the Indian government between 2014 and 2018. Arvind joins Amit Varma in episode 188 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss both these journeys. Also check out: 1. Of Counsel: The Challenges of the Modi-Jaitley Economy -- Arvind Subramanian. 2. India's Turn: Understanding the Economic Transformation -- Arvind Subramanian. 3. Eclipse: Living in the Shadow of China's Economic Dominance -- Arvind Subramanian. 4. Remembering Arun Jaitley -- Arvind Subramanian. 5. From "Hindu Growth" to Productivity Surge: The Mystery of the Indian Growth Transition -- Arvind Subramanian & Dani Rodrik (2004). 6. India's Great Slowdown: What's Happened? What's the Way Out? -- Arvind Subramanian and Josh Felman (Dec 2019). 7. Arvind Subramanian interviewed by Karthik Muralidharan -- I4I Conversations (2015). 8. 'Not Just Any Ordinary Slowdown': Arvind Subramanian interviewed by Prannoy Roy (2019). 9. Walk the Talk -- Arvind Subramanian interviewed by Shekhar Gupta (2016). 10. We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families -- Philip Gourevitch. 11. Fixing Indian Education -- Episode 185 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Muralidharan). 12. What Have We Done With Our Independence? -- Episode 186 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pratap Bhanu Mehta). 13. In Service of the Republic -- Vijay Kelkar and Ajay Shah. 14. The Art and Science of Economic Policy -- Episode 154 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vijay Kelkar & Ajay Shah). 15. The Lost Decade -- Puja Mehra. 16. India's Lost Decade -- Episode 116 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Puja Mehra). 17. Episode of The Seen and the Unseen on GST with Devangshu Datta, Vivek Kaul and Shruti Rajagopalan. 18. DeMon, Morality and the Predatory Indian State -- Episode 85 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan). 19. 'Narendra Modi Takes a Great Leap Backwards' -- Amit Varma. 20. Most of Amit Varma's writing on DeMon, collected in one Twitter thread. 21. Restart: The Last Chance for the Indian Economy -- Mihir Sharma. 22. We Are Fighting Two Disasters: Covid-19 and the Indian State -- Amit Varma. 23. The State of Our Farmers -- Episode 86 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Gunvant Patil). 24. India's Agriculture Crisis -- Episode 140 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Barun Mitra and Kumar Anand). 25. We Must Save Our Farmers — Amit Varma. 26. The Indian State is the Greatest Enemy of the Indian Farmer — Amit Varma. 27. Demystifying GDP -- Episode 130 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rajeswari Sengupta). And do check out Amit's online writing course, The Art of Clear Writing. Registration for the September batches is now open.

Dadabhai Naoroji and the Fight for India Description: In the 19th century, when the Idea of India was so nebulous, what did it mean to be a freedom fighter? Dinyar Patel joins Amit Varma in episode 187 of The Seen and the Unseen to describe Dadabhai Naoroji's battle to transform India from within the British empire. Also check out: 1. Naoroji: Pioneer of Indian Nationalism -- Dinyar Patel. 2. Dadabhai Naoroji's books on Amazon. 3. Dadabhai Naoroji -- RP Masani. 4. Three Statesmen: Gokhale, Gandhi and Nehru -- BR Nanda. 5. Understanding Gandhi. Part 1: Mohandas -- Episode 104 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ramachandra Guha). 6. Understanding Gandhi. Part 2: Mahatma -- Episode 105 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ramachandra Guha). 7. The Art of Narrative Nonfiction (+ JBS Haldane) -- Episode 183 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Samanth Subramanian). And do check out Amit's writing course, The Art of Clear Writing.

As India completes 73 years, it's worth taking stock of our journey so far. Pratap Bhanu Mehta joins Amit Varma in episode 186 of The Seen and the Unseen, an Independence Day Special that takes a discursive look at the political and social currents that made us what we are. Also check out: 1. Pratap Bhanu Mehta's writing in the Indian Express. 2. The Burden of Democracy -- Pratap Bhanu Mehta. 3. On Politics -- Alan Ryan. 4. The Making of Modern Liberalism -- Alan Ryan. 5. Human Dignity -- George Kateb. 6. Patriotism and Other Mistakes -- George Kateb. 7. Conversation and Society -- Episode 182 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Russ Roberts). 8. Fixing Indian Education -- Episode 185 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Muralidharan). 9. The Three Languages of Politics -- Arnold Kling. 10. The Dark Side of Democracy -- Michael Mann. 11. The Emergency -- Episode 103 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Gyan Prakash). 12. The Ideas of our Constitution -- Episode 164 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Madhav Khosla). 13. The Facts Do Not Matter -- Amit Varma. 14. A Meditation on Form -- Amit Varma. 15. An Indian Political Life: Charan Singh and Congress Politics, 1937 to 1961 -- Paul R Brass. 16. Taking Stock of Our Republic -- Episode 157 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ram Guha). 17. Who Broke Our Republic? -- Episode 163 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Kapil Komireddi) 18. Participatory Democracy -- Episode 160 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ashwin Mahesh.) 19. A Life in Indian Politics -- Episode 149 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Jayaprakash Narayan). 20. Kashmir and Article 370 -- Episode 134 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Srinath Raghavan). 21. The Citizenship Battles -- Episode 152 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Srinath Raghavan). 22. Indian Society: The Last 30 Years -- Episode 137 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Santosh Desai). 23. The Gita Press and Hindu Nationalism -- Episode 139 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Akshaya Mukul). 24. Political Ideology in India -- Episode 131 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rahul Verma). 25. Religion and Ideology in Indian Society -- Episode 124 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Suyash Rai). 26. The Intellectual Foundations of Hindutva -- Episode 115 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Aakar Patel). 27. Crime in Indian Politics -- Episode 114 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Milan Vaishnav). Do also check out Amit's writing course, The Art of Clear Writing, and subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter.

It is a humanitarian and moral failure that 73 years after Independence, our education system remains broken. We have failed our children through all this time. Karthik Muralidharan joins Amit Varma in episode 185 of The Seen and the Unseen to share his insights from years of research on the ground. We can fix this. Is the NEP part of the solution? Also check out: 1. Karthik Muralidharan's bio at UCSD. 2. Walking the Talk -- Inga Kiderra's profile of Karthik Muralidharan. 3. Reforming the Indian School Education System -- Karthik Muralidharan's chapter from What the Economy Needs Now. 4. The State and the Market in Education Provision -- Karthik Muralidharan. 5. Karthik Muralidharan interview by Pranav Kothari for EI Dialogues. 6. Charting a Course for the Indian Economy -- Karthik Muralidharan in conversation with Arvind Subramanian. 7. Karthik Muralidharan's archived research and articles. 8. Education in India -- Episode 77 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Amit Chandra). 9. The Profit Motive in Education -- Episode 9 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Parth Shah). 10. The Right to Education Act -- Episode 19 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vivek Kaul). 11. Our Unlucky Children (2008) -- Amit Varma. 12. Fund Schooling, Not Schools (2007) -- Amit Varma. 13. A Prize for Evidence-Based Policy -- Karthik Muralidharan. 14. Why Abhijit Banerjee Had to Go Abroad to Achieve Glory -- Amit Varma. 15. Poverty and Famines -- Amartya Sen. 16. India's Problem is Poverty, Not Inequality -- Amit Varma. 17. On Inequality -- Harry Frankfurt. 18. A Theory of Justice -- John Rawls. 19. Anarchy, State and Utopia -- Robert Nozick. 20. Arguments for Liberty -- Aaron Ross Powell and Grant Babcock. 21. Saving Capitalism From the Capitalists -- Raghuram Rajan. 22. Out-Arnabing Arnab -- Episode 8 of Econ Central. 23. Parkinson's Law -- Cyril Northkote Parkinson. 24. Myths of Official Measurement -- Abhijeet Singh. 25. Centrally Sponsored Government Schemes -- Episode 17 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pranay Kotasthane). 26. The Aggregate Effect of School Choice -- Karthik Muralidharan and Venkatesh Sundararaman. 27. The Private Schooling Phenomenon in India: A Review -- Geeta G Kingdon. 28. Extending access to low-cost private schools through vouchers: an alternative interpretation -- James Tooley. Also, do check out Amit's writing course, The Art of Clear Writing.

The rivalry between Dara Shukoh and Aurangzeb is often considered a foundational one for Islam in India. Good Muslim vs Bad Muslim. But it's not quite that simple. Historian Supriya Gandhi joins Amit Varma in episode 184 of The Seen and the Unseen to point out that the truth is complex, and there are no easy binaries. Also check out: 1. The Emperor Who Never Was: Dara Shukoh in Mughal India -- Supriya Gandhi. 2. City of Djinns -- William Dalrymple. 3. Jill Lepore and Shamsur Rahman Faruqi on Amazon. 4. Dara Shukoh -- Kalika Ranjan Qanungo (full text). 5. Dārā S̲h̲ikūh: Life and Works -- Bikrama Jit Hasrat (full text). 6. Mysteries of Selflessness: Rumuz-i Bekhudi -- Muhammad Iqbal. 7. The Month We Lost Dara -- Ashok Malik. 8. Women in Indian History -- Episode 144 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ira Mukhoty). 9. Jahangir the Curious -- Episode 147 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Parvati Sharma). 10. The Resonance of Akbar -- Episode 173 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Manimugdha Sharma). 11. Our Colorful Past -- Episode 127 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Manu Pillai). 12. Secularism and Hindutva Histories -- Supriya Gandhi. 13. The Truth About Us -- Sanjoy Chakravorty. 14. Supriya Gandhi interviewed by Ira Mukhoty. 15. Supriya Gandhi interviewed by Rana Safvi.

In a complex world where the truth is up for grabs, we need narrative nonfiction. Samanth Subramanian joins Amit Varma in episode 183 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about the art and craft of this form of literature. Also discussed: A Dominant Character, Samanth's book on JBS Haldane, and the intersection of science and politics. Also check out: 1. A Dominant Character -- Samanth Subramanian. 2. Samanth Subramanian's website, Amazon page and his work at the Guardian and the New Yorker. 3. The Intersection -- the podcast hosted by Padmaparna Ghosh and Samanth Subramanian. 4. Psmith, Journalist -- PG Wodehouse. 5. Question Time: My Life as a Quiz Obsessive -- Samanth Subramanian. 6. Quizzing is Not Just a Trivial Pursuit -- Amit Varma. 7. Neville Cardus on Amazon. 8. Darwin's Dangerous Idea -- Daniel Dennett. 9. The Perfect Murder -- HRF Keating. 10. Conversation and Society -- Episode 182 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Russ Roberts). 11. Cricket as a novelty, an obsession, and as literature -- Samanth Subramanian on Siddhartha Vaidyanathan's podcast, 81 all out. 12. On Writing Well -- Sarah Farooqui's interview with Samanth Subramanian. 13. The Complete New Yorker. 14. AJ Liebling, Calvin Trillin and Joan Didion on Amazon. 15. The Confidence Man -- Samanth Subramanian (on Lalit Modi). 15. The New New Journalism -- Robert Boynton. 16. The Secret of Excess -- Bill Buford (on Mario Batali). 17. The Power Broker -- Robert A Caro. 18. Robert A Caro on Amazon. 19. What Ails Indian Science -- JBS Haldane. 20. The Evolution of Everything -- Episode 96 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Matt Ridley). 21. The Man of System -- Adam Smith (excerpted from The Theory of Moral Sentiments). 22. The Papers of JBS Haldane -- Samanth Subramanian. 23. A talk by Samanth Subramanian on JBS Haldane at Archives@NCBS. And hey, do check out Amit Varma's writing course, The Art of Clear Writing.

We live in an age of competing monologues. We talk, but we do not listen. Russ Roberts joins Amit Varma for a wide-ranging conversation in episode 182 of The Seen and the Unseen. Also check out: 1. Econ Talk -- Russ Roberts's podcast. 2. Russ Roberts's website, archived writing and books. 3. How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life -- Russ Roberts. 4. The Theory of Moral Sentiments -- Adam Smith. 5. The Three Languages of Politics -- Arnold Kling. 6. The Three Blind Sports of Politics -- Russ Roberts. 7. Tribe -- Sebastian Junger. 8. The Economics of the Chilling Effect -- Episode 5 of Econ Central. 9. You're From the Mutton Lobby — Transcript of episode 49 of The Seen and the Unseen (solo episode on political discourse). 10. A Letter on Justice and Open Debate -- Various authors (in Harper's). 11. My Twelve Rules for Life -- Russ Roberts. 12. Shallow -- A Star is Born. 13. Shallow -- Lady Gaga and Bradely Cooper at the Oscars. 14. Shallow -- Cover by Jessica Reinl and Christopher Halligan of the Mount Sion Choir. 15. Everything Flows -- Vasily Grossman. 16. The Story of My Life -- Russ Roberts. 17. The Evolution of Everything -- Episode 96 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Matt Ridley). 18. Indian Society: The Last 30 Years -- Episode 137 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Santosh Desai). Also check out these Econ Talk episodes that Russ mentioned with Dan Klein, Arnold Kling and Ryan Holiday. New batches for Amit's online course, The Art of Clear Writing, begin soon.

Why is there this tension between China and India? To understand that, we must uncover many layers of the past. Foreign Policy scholars Hamsini Hariharan and Shibani Mehta join Amit Varma in episode 181 of The Seen and the Unseen to share their insights on the rich history of the interactions between these two great civilizations. Also check out: 1. What Does China Want? -- Episode 143 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Manoj Kewalramani). 2. Chinese Foreign Policy -- Episode 81 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Manoj Kewalramani). 3. Foreign Policy is a Big Deal -- Episode 170 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pranay Kotasthane & Manoj Kewalramani). 4. Understanding Foreign Policy -- Episode 63 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Nitin Pai). 5. The Geopolitics of the Bangladesh War -- Episode 113 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Srinath Raghavan). 6. The India-Pakistan Conflict -- Episode 111 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Srinath Raghavan). 7. War and Peace in Modern India -- Srinath Raghavan. 8. China's Influence in South Asia -- Episode 22 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pranay Kotasthane). 9. India's Maldives Dilemma -- Episode 57 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pranay Kotasthane). 10. India's China War -- Neville Maxwell. 11. China's Indian War -- Bertil Lintner. 12. Strong Borders, Secure Nation -- M Taylor Fravel. 13. From Frontier Policy to Foreign Policy -- Matthew Mosca. 14. Watershed 1967 -- Prabal Dasgupta. 15. Making it Count -- Arunabh Ghosh. 16. The Stories Behind the Numbers -- Episode 52 of States of Anarchy. 17. A Tale of Two Kingdoms -- Episode 32 of States of Anarchy. 18. China Through Indian Eyes -- Episode 361 of All Things Policy. 19. China's Ambitions in the Subcontinent -- Episode 359 of All Things Policy. 20. Should We Be Aatma Nirbhar? -- Episode 1 of Econ Central. 21. Ban on Chinese apps: Sending a strong message to ourselves -- Hamsini Hariharan. 22. Ladakh's position in the Sino-India border issue -- Hamsini Hariharan. 23. What India Can Learn From China -- Hamsini Hariharan. 24. Wilson Center Digital Archive (and the Mao-Nehru conversation). 25. Eye on China -- Manoj Kewalramani's newsletter.

Indian decision makers often blindly copy public policy from abroad, without considering whether it would work in local conditions. Shruti Rajagopalan and Alex Tabarrok join Amit Varma in episode 180 of The Seen and the Unseen to explain the damage caused by such 'isomorphic mimicry,' and why it happens in the first place. Also check out: 1. Premature Imitation and India's Flailing State -- Shruti Rajagopalan & Alexander Tabarrok. 2. Modern Principles of Macroeconomics -- Tyler Cowen & Alex Tabarrok. 3. Modern Principles of Microeconomics -- Tyler Cowen & Alex Tabarrok. 4. DeMon, Morality and the Predatory Indian State -- Episode 85 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan). 5. The Delhi Smog -- Episode 44 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vivek Kaul). 6. Is India a Flailing State? -- Lant Pritchett. 7. We Are Fighting Two Disasters: Covid-19 and the Indian State -- Amit Varma. 8. Political Ideology in India -- Episode 131 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rahul Verma). 9. Ideology and Identity -- Pradeep Chhibber & Rahul Verma. 10. Understanding Gandhi. Part One: Mohandas -- Episode 104 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ram Guha). 11. Understanding Gandhi. Part Two: Mahatma -- Episode 105 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ram Guha). 12. Akhil Katyal's poem on caste. 13. Caste in Modern India -- Episode 52 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan). 14. Women at Work -- Episode 132 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Namita Bhandare). 15. Metrics of Empowerment -- Episode 88 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Devika Kher, Nidhi Gupta & Hamsini Hariharan). 16. Here's What's Wrong With the Maternity Benefits Act -- Suman Joshi. 17. FSI in India -- Episode 11 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Alex Tabarrok). 18. Twelve Dream Reforms -- Episode 138 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan, Rajeswari Sengupta & Vivek Kaul). 19. Slums in India -- Episode 21 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pavan Srinath). 20. Order Without Design -- Alain Bertaud. 21. The Power Broker — Robert Caro. 22. The Death and Life of Great American Cities — Jane Jacobs. 23. The Right to Property -- Episode 26 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan). 24. Swachh Bharat -- Episode 82 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan). 25. Modi's Lost Opportunity -- Episode 119 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Salman Soz). 26. Education in India -- Episode 77 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Amit Chandra). 27. The Art and Science of Economic Policy -- Episode 154 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vijay Kelkar & Ajay Shah). 28. In Service of the Republic -- Vijay Kelkar & Ajay Shah. 29. The Importance of Cities -- Episode 108 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Reuben Abraham & Pritika Hingorani).

India suffers from a predatory state, and nothing illustrates this better than the sorry state of our street vendors. Prashant Narang joins Amit Varma in episode 179 of The Seen and the Unseen to elaborate on this unseen tragedy of the streets around us. Also check out: 1. Street Vendor Act 2014: Progress Report -- 2017, 2018-19, 2020. 2. Do Street Vendors Have a Right to the City? -- Prashant Narang & Vidushi Sabharwal. 3. The Ease of Doing Business on the Streets of India -- Bhuvana Anand, Prashant Narang, Riktika Shah, Vidushi Sabharwal. 4. Suboptimal vendor enumeration practices in Gurugram -- Prashant Narang & Vidushi Sabharwal. 5. Enumerating Street Vendors in Mumbai -- Prashant Narang. 6. Street Vendors Act 2014: Allocating Certificates of Vending -- Prashant Narang & Bhuvana Anand. 7. Vendors Need Ease of Doing Business to Become Atmanirbhar -- Bhuvana Anand, Jayana Bedi & Prashant Narang. 8. Modi govt will count hawkers in job data but must improve their Ease of Doing Business too -- Prashant Narang and Jayana Bedi. 9. Third Wheel -- A documentary on auto-rickshaws. 10. Manushi Sangathan v GNCT of Delhi -- Judgement on cycle rickshaw pullers. 11. Time For Manushi-II -- Prashant Narang. 12. Formal versus Informal Allocation of Land in a Commons -- Gregg W Kettles. 13. What About 'Unlock' For Vendors? -- Bhuvana Anand, Jayana Bedi & Prashant Narang. 14. A People's Constitution-- Rohit De. 15. The Mystery of Capital -- Hernando De Soto. 16. The Power Broker-- Robert Caro. 17. The Death and Life of Great American Cities -- Jane Jacobs. Also, do check out The Art of Clear Writing. Note: This episode was recorded in February 2020.

Journalism used to be a quest to establish the truth. It has now become a battle of conflicting narratives. We have gone from seeking to shouting. What went wrong? Nidhi Razdan joins Amit Varma in episode 178 of The Seen and the Unseen to share insights from her eventful career. Also check out: 1. Left, Right and Centre: The Idea of India -- Nidhi Razdan (editor). 2. Special: Inside Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (Dec 2004) -- NDTV/Nidhi Razdan. 3. Best in the Field (w Nidhi Razdan) -- NDTV. 4. The Facts Do Not Matter -- Amit Varma. 5. The State of the Media -- Episode 46 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Prem Panicker). 6. The State of the Media 2 -- Episode 89 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Sidharth Bhatia & Peter Griffin). 7. You're From the Mutton Lobby -- Episode 49 of The Seen and the Unseen (solo ep with transcript). 8. Television Price Controls -- Episode 27 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ashok Malik). 9. Jon Stewart Is Back to Weigh In -- David Marchese. 10. Hold On, Mr President! -- Sam Donaldson.

Our economy was going down, down, down well before Covid-19 struck. And now? Vivek Kaul joins Amit Varma in episode 177 of The Seen and the Unseen to spread his usual quota of sunshine and joy. Also check out: 1. TikTok and Indian Society — An online course by Amit Varma. 2. Bad Money — Vivek Kaul. 3. Taking Stock of Covid-19 — Episode 169 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan). 4. The Nuances of Lockdown — Episode 176 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Anup Malani). 5. The Indian Economy in 2019 — Episode 153 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vivek Kaul). 6. India's Lost Decade — Episode 116 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Puja Mehra). 7. The Art and Science of Economic Policy — Episode 154 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vijay Kelkar & Ajay Shah). 8. Demystifying GDP — Episode 130 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rajeswari Sengupta). 9. Ponzi Schemes — Episode 142 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vivek Kaul). 10. The State of Our Farmers — Episode 86 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Gunvant Patil). 11. India's Agriculture Crisis — Episode 140 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Barun Mitra & Kumar Anand). 12. Rajesh Jain and Dhan Vapasi — Episode 94 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rajesh Jain). 13. Economy bears burden as goods trains travel light — Vivek Kaul. 14. As people act in their self-interest, India is getting into a recession — Vivek Kaul. 15. RBI's moves may not snap banks' wariness to lend — Vivek Kaul. 16. Six reasons why the fiscal package is more about putting people's own money into their hands than actually kickstarting crippled economy — Vivek Kaul. 17. Explained: RBI's negative role in the government's Rs 20 lakh crore package — Vivek Kaul' 18. Should the RBI print money to revive the economy? It's not as simple as it sounds — Vivek Kaul. 19. Why India needs more than liquidity dreams — Vivek Kaul. 20. How India's soaring fiscal deficit affects you — Vivek Kaul. 21. Easynomics: Why State Bank of India is not lending — Vivek Kaul. 22. A GST cut can put auto sales on fast track to revival — Vivek Kaul. 23. 10 things you need to know about Indian real estate in the aftermath of coronavirus — Vivek Kaul. 24. India's economy was in a rut even before Covid-19 struck — Vivek Kaul. 25. The Forgotten Man — Amity Shlaes. 26. Modern Money Theory — L Randall Wray. 27. Monetization: Neither Game Changer not Catastrophe Today — Raghuram Rajan.

What do past epidemics teach us about Covid-19? What do past disasters teach us about politics and the state? Is there a false binary between lockdown and no-lockdown? Anup Malani joins Amit Varma in episode 176 of The Seen and the Unseen to share his insights on these subjects and more. Also check out: 1. Anup Malani's homepage. 2. Taking Stock of Covid-19 -- Episode 169 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan). 3. We Are Fighting Two Disasters -- Amit Varma. 4. The Economic Approach to Human Behaviour -- Gary Becker. 5. Learning During a Crisis: the SARS Epidemic in Taiwan -- Daniel Bennett, Chun-Fang Chiang, Anup Malani. 6. Identifying Placebo Effects with Data from Clinical Trials -- Anup Malani. 7. FSI (Floor Space Index) -- Episode 11 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Alex Tabarrok). 8. Rent Control -- Episode 14 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Alex Tabarrok). 9. Slums -- Episode 21 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pavan Srinath).

As institutions wither around us, the Indian Armed Forces have retained their credibility. But is there a risk of politicization there as well? Lt Gen Prakash Menon joins Amit Varma in episode 175 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss the evolution of our armed forces through the decades, and the challenges they face today. Also check out: 1. India in the Nuclear Age -- Episode 80 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Lt Gen Prakash Menon). 2. The Strategy Trap -- Lt Gen Prakash Menon. 3. The India-Pakistan Conflict -- Episode 111 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Srinath Raghavan). 4. The Geopolitics of the Bangladesh War -- Episode 113 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Srinath Raghavan). 5. Our Colorful Past -- Episode 127 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Manu Pillai). 6. Army and Nation -- Steven I Wilkinson. 7. Rommel: The Desert Fox -- Desmond Young. 8. To Serve With Honour -- SD Verma. 9. The Battle for Money -- Sushant Singh. 10. The Insurgents -- Fred Kaplan. 11. Counterinsurgency Warfare -- David Galula. 12. The Generation of Rage in Kashmir -- David Devadas. 13. We Won't Need To Fight A War If We Can Win The Peace -- Amit Varma.

Tawaifs played a unique role in Indian society and culture in the 19th century, but have since been either vilified or romanticized. Filmmaker and author Saba Dewan joins Amit Varma in episode 174 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about the fascinating human stories behind this lost community. Also check out: 1. Tawaifnama -- Saba Dewan 2. The Other Song -- Saba Dewan 3. Films, Feminism, Paromita -- Episode 155 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Paromita Vohra) 4. The History of Desire in India -- Episode 161 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Madhavi Menon) 5. Women in Indian History -- Episode 144 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ira Mukhoty) 6. The Gita Press and Hindu Nationalism -- Episode 139 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Akshaya Mukul) The Seen and the Unseen is a labour of love. Click here to support it.

So much of our history has been weaponized by politics -- especially the Mughal period. Manimugdha Sharma joins Amit Varma in episode 173 of The Seen and the Unseen to shed light on the tug of war around Emperor Akbar -- and why that history remains relevant even today. Also check out: 1. Allahu Akbar: Understanding the Great Mughal in Today's India -- Manimugdha Sharma. 2. Parthian Shot -- Manimugdha Sharma's column archives. 3. Manimugdha Sharma's reporting in Times of India. 4. Who Broke Our Republic? -- Episode 163 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Kapil Komireddi). 5. The Ideas of Our Constitution -- Episode 164 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Madhav Khosla), 6. The Many Cities of Delhi -- Episode 172 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rana Safvi). 7. Women in Indian History -- Episode 144 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ira Mukhoty). 8. Jahangir the Curious -- Episode 147 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Parvati Sharma). 9. Our Colorful Past -- Episode 127 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Manu Pillai). 10. The BJP's Magic Formula -- Episode 45 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Prashant Jha). 11. Essential Kabir -- Arvind Krishna Mehrotra. 12. White Mughals -- William Dalrymple. 13. Empress: The Astonishing Reign of Nur Jehan -- Ruby Lal. 14. The Bhagvad Gita in Urdu, recited by Ahmed Rashid Shervani at Manthan Samvaad. 15. The Early History of India -- Vincent Smith. 16. The Mughal Empire -- JF Richards. 17. The Agrarian System of Mughal India -- Irfan Habib. 18. Akbar and His India -- Irfan Habib. 19. The Western Way of War -- Victor Davis Hanson. 20. The Anglo-Maratha Campaigns and the Contest for India -- Randolph GS Cooper. 21. Gunpowder and Firearms: Warfare in Medieval India -- Iqtidar Alam Khan. 22. The Millennial Sovereign -- A Azfar Moin. 23. The German Way of War -- Robert Citino 24. When Titans Clashed -- David M Glantz & Jonathan M House.

There is much more to Delhi than Old Delhi and New Delhi. The stones bear witness to a rich history, with much drama and tumult. Rana Safvi joins Amit Varma in episode 172 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about how the forgotten past of Delhi continues to shape its present. Also check out:1. Where Stones Speak -- Rana Safvi 2. The Forgotten Cities of Delhi -- Rana Safvi 3. Shahjahanabad: The Living City of Old Delhi -- Rana Safvi 4. City of My Heart -- Rana Safvi 5. The History of Desire in India -- Episode 161 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Madhavi Menon) 6. Our Colorful Past -- Episode 127 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Manu Pillai) 7. The Deccan Before Shivaji -- Episode 98 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Manu Pillai) 8. Kerala and the Ivory Throne -- Episode 156 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Manu Pillai) 9. Women in Indian History -- Episode 144 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ira Mukhoty) 10. Jahangir the Curious -- Episode 147 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Parvati Sharma) 11. Rebel Sultans -- Manu Pillai 12. Daughters of the Sun -- Ira Mukhoty 13. India in the Persianate Age -- Richard Eaton

Many entrepreneurs aim to plug a hole in the world. Some try to expand the universe. Mohit Satyanand joins Amit Varma in episode 171 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about why these are exciting times to be an angel investor. Also check out:1. Two Economic Crises (2008 & 2019) -- Episode 135 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Mohit Satyanand) 2. Poker and Stock Markets -- Episode 47 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Mohit Satyanand) 3. Entrepreneurship: If You Love Them, Set Them Free -- Mohit Satyanand 4. Where Angels Fear to Tread -- Mohit Satyanand 5. Mohit Satyanand in conversation with Amitabh Kant at JLF.

So much of the lives of common people depends on the relationships between nations. But is foreign policy an arcane subject, meant only for wonks and elites? No! Pranay Kotasthane and Manoj Kewalramani join Amit Varma in episode 170 of The Seen and the Unseen to demystify international relations. Note: This episode contains an update about how foreign policy will be affected by Covid-19. That sections begins at around 1 hr 57 minutes. Also check out: 1. Foreign Policy -- Episode 63 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Nitin Pai) 2. What Does China Want? -- Episode 143 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Manoj Kewalramani) 3. Chinese Foreign Policy -- Episode 81 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Manoj Kewalramani) 4. China's Influence in South Asia -- Episode 22 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pranay Kotasthane) 5. Democracy in Pakistan -- Episode 79 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pranay Kotasthane and Hamsini Hariharan) 6. India's Maldives Dilemma -- Episode 57 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pranay Kotasthane) 7. Radically Networked Societies -- Episode 158 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pranay Kotasthane) 8. The Geopolitics of the Bangladesh War -- Episode 113 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Srinath Raghavan) 9. Libertarianism -- Episode 64 of The Seen and the Unseen 10. Foreign Policy: Time to Be a Major Player -- Pranay Kotasthane 11. We Live in Multiple Neighbourhoods -- Pranay Kotasthane 12. All That's Not New in Naya Pakistan -- Pranay Kotasthane 13. Ingredients of a New World Order -- Pranay Kotasthane 14. Pranay Kotasthane's newsletter, Anticipating the Unintended. 15. Manoj Kewalramani's newsletter, Eye on China.

How should India handle Covid-19? Every option on the table carries huge costs, and will take countless lives. Shruti Rajagopalan joins Amit Varma in episode 169 of The Seen and the Unseen to help navigate the complex decisions that policy makers are being forced to make with little information. Also check out: 1. India must shut itself down to contain the coronavirus -- Shruti Rajagopalan (Mar 16) 2. Shruti Rajagopalan on India and the coronavirus -- Marginal Revolution (Mar 25) 3. The lockdown may be doing us more harm than good -- Shruti Rajagopalan (Mar 30) 4. Assessing Healthcare Capacity in India -- Shruti Rajagopalan and Abishek Choutagunta 5. Pandemic Policy in Developing Countries: Recommendations for India -- Shruti Rajagopalan and Alex Tabarrok 6. We have miles of roadblocks to remove before we sleep (Apr 13) -- Shruti Rajagopalan 7. We Are Fighting Two Disasters: Covid-19 and the Indian State -- Amit Varma 8. Urban Governance in India -- Episode 31 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan) 9.Swachh Bharat -- Episode 82 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan) 10. Caste in Modern India -- Episode 52 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan) 11. DeMon, Morality and the Predatory Indian State -- Episode 85 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan) 12. Kashmir and Article 370 -- Episode 134 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Srinath Raghavan) 13. The Citizenship Battles -- Episode 152 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Srinath Raghavan) 14. Demonetisation -- Episode 2 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Suyash Rai) 15. The State of Our Farmers -- Episode 86 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Gunvant Patil) 16. India's Agriculture Crisis -- Episode 140 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Barun Mitra & Kumar Anand) 17. The Art and Science of Economic Policy -- Episode 154 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vijay Kelkar and Ajay Shah) 18. The Great Redistribution -- Amit Varma 19. That Which is Seen, and That Which is Not Seen -- Frédéric Bastiat 20. The Law -- Frédéric Bastiat

There are over 6000 languages in the world. How can we possibly understand one another? Arunava Sinha joins Amit Varma in episode 168 of The Seen and the Unseen to explain the importance of translation, and literature itself, in these divisive times.. Select books translated by Arunava: 1. Chowringhee -- Sankar 2. When the Time is Right -- Buddhadeva Bose 3. Shake the Bottle and Other Stories -- Ashapurna Debi 4. Seventeen -- Anita Agnihotri 5. Harbart -- Nabarun Bhattacharya 6.. The Greatest Bengali Stories Ever Told -- Arunava Sinha (ed) 7, The Moving Shadow: Electrifying Bengali Pulp Fiction -- Arunava Singa (ed) Also check out: 1. Why Translation Matters -- Edith Grossman 2. Through the Language Glass -- Guy Deutscher 3. Translating Neruda -- John Felstiner 4. The Task of the Translator -- Walter Benjamin 5. The Impossibility of Translating Homer into English -- Emily Watson Twitter thread 6. The Odyssey -- Homer (Trans. Emily Watson) 7. The Way by Swann's -- Marcel Proust (trans. Lydia Davis) 8. The Vegetarian -- Han Kang (trans. Deborah Smith) 9. The Business of Books -- Episode 150 of The Seen and the Unseen (w VK Karthika)

In 1906, a 13-year-old boy burnt down his school in a village in Kerala and ran away from home to work in the gold mines of Kolar. Decades later, he put this country together. Narayani Basu joins Amit Varma in episode 167 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about the extraordinary life of VP Menon. Also check out: 1. VP Menon: The Unsung Architect of Modern India -- Narayani Basu 2. Integration of the Indian States -- VP Menon 3. The Transfer of Power in India -- VP Menon 4. Kashmir and Article 370 -- Episode 134 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Srinath Raghavan)

The man known as Guru Nanak was one of the great travellers of his time, passing through lands that are today spread across nine countries. Amardeep Singh joins Amit Varma in episode 166 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about how he retraced Nanak's path -- and also about his efforts at documenting the Sikh heritage of Pakistan. Also check out: 1. Lost Heritage: The Sikh Legacy in Pakistan -- Amardeep Singh. 2. The Quest Continues: Lost Heritage -- Amardeep Singh. 3. Peering Soul -- A documentary by Amardeep Singh. 4. Peering Warrior -- A documentary by Amardeep Singh. 5. The Lost Heritage website. 6. Amardeep Singh on Facebook (Lost Heritage, Tapestry), Instagram and Twitter. 7. Hindu, Sufi or Sikh -- Steven W Ramey. 8. Our Colourful Past -- Episode 127 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Manu Pillai). 9. The History of Desire in India -- Episode 161 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Madhavi Menon). 10. The Truth About Us -- Sanjoy Chakravorty. You can email Amardeep at [email protected] and whatsapp him at +65 9832 6508.

Humans are the only bots with the ability to reprogram themselves. Shambhavi Naik joins Amit Varma in episode 165 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss the science, ethics, politics and policy implications of genetic engineering. Also check out: 1. A Framework for Governing Gene Editing -- Takshashika Discussion Document. 2. Gene Drives in Infectious Diseases -- Takshashila Discussion Slidedoc 3. Chinese gene-edited baby row rekindles need for guidelines in India -- Shambhavi Naik. 4. The scientific argument for marrying outside your caste -- Shambhavi Naik. 5. The gene of prejudice in gender determination -- Shambhavi Naik. 6. The Evolution of Everything -- Episode 96 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Matt Ridley). 7. The Selfish Gene -- Richard Dawkins. 8. The Blank Slate -- Steven Pinker. 9. Politics and the Sociopath -- Amit Varma. 10. Farmers, Technology and Freedom of Choice: A Tale of Two Satyagrahas -- Amit Varma. 11. Let's Rethink Doping -- Amit Varma. 12. The Indianness of Indian Food -- Episode 95 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vikram Doctor). 13. The Art and Science of Economic Policy -- Ep 154 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vijay Kelkar & Ajay Shah). 14. In Service of the Republic -- Vijay Kelkar & Ajay Shah. 15. Hacking Darwin -- Jamie Metzl. 16. Early Indians -- Episode 112 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Tony Joseph).

Contrary to popular belief, the Indian constitution was not a copy-paste job without a vision. It emerged from decades of intellectual ferment. Madhav Khosla joins Amit Varma in episode 164 of The Seen and the Unseen to describe the history of the key ideas that drove our founders and shaped our constitution. Also check out: 1. India's Founding Moment -- Madhav Khosla 2. The Indian Constitution (Oxford Short Introductions) -- Madhav Khosla 3. The Idea of India -- Sunil Khilnani 4. The Citizenship Battles -- Episode 152 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Srinath Raghavan) 5. Citizenship and its Discontents -- Niraja Gopal Jayal 6. Narendra Modi Takes a Great Leap Backwards -- Amit Varma 7. India's Sedition Law -- Episode 146 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Chitranshul Sinha) 8. Who Broke Our Republic? -- Episode 163 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Kapil Komireddi) 9. The Emergency -- Episode 103 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Gyan Prakash) 10. Democracies of the East -- Radhakamal Mukerjee 11. Why I am Not a Conservative -- Friedrich Hayek 12. The Indian Conservative -- Episode 145 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Jaithirth Rao) 13. Pakistan or the Partition of India -- BR Ambedkar.

Seven decades after Independence, India is still wracked by poverty and strife. Who is responsible? Kapil Komireddi joins Amit Varma in episode 163 of The Seen and the Unseen to excoriate every political player of Independent India. No prisoners taken. Also check out: 1. Malevolent Republic -- Kapil Komireddi. 2. Kashmir and Article 370 -- Episode 134 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Srinath Raghavan). 3. Understanding Gandhi. Part One: Mohandas -- Episode 104 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ram Guha). 4. Understanding Gandhi. Part Two: Mahatma -- Episode 105 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ram Guha). 5. The Gita Press and Hindu Nationalism -- Episode 139 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Akshaya Mukul). 6. Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India -- Akshaya Mukul. 7. India's Founding Moment -- Madhav Khosla. 8. Where Have All the Leaders Gone? -- Amit Varma. 9. Democracy in Pakistan -- Episode 79 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pranay Kotasthane & Hamsini Hariharan). 10. The 2019 Elections -- Episode 122 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Sadanand Dhume). 11. Radically Networked Societies -- Episode 158 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pranay Kotasthane). 12. The Emergency -- Episode 103 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Gyan Prakash). 13. Taking Stock of Our Republic -- Episode 157 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ram Guha). 14. A Game Theory Problem: Who Will Bell The Congress Cat? -- Amit Varma. 15. An Area of Darkness -- VS Naipaul. 16. India: A Wounded Civilization -- VS Naipaul. 17. The Discovery of India -- Jawaharlal Nehru.

So much of our culture is shaped by our social fault lines. TM Krishna joins Amit Varma in episode 162 of The Seen and the Unseen to peel the layers off the development of Karnatik music -- and Indian society itself. Also check out: 1. Sebastian and Sons -- TM Krishna 2. A Southern Music -- TM Krishna 3. Reshaping Art -- TM Krishna 4. TM Krishna singing on a bus. 5. Superforecasting -- Philip Tetlock & Dan Gardner 6. The Gita Press and Hindu Nationalism -- Episode 139 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Akshaya Mukul)

We may be a sexually repressed country today, but it wasn't always like this. Madhavi Menon joins Amit Varma in episode 161 of The Seen and the Unseen to elaborate on the infinite variety of our desires all through history, Also check out: 1. Infinite Variety -- Madhavi Menon 2. Madhavi Menon's Amazon page. 3. Masala Shakespeare -- Jonathan Gil Harris 4. The Seven Basic Plots -- Christopher Booker 5. The Ascetic of Desire -- Sudhir Kakar 6. Early Indians -- Tony Joseph 7. Early Indians -- Episode 112 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Tony Joseph) 8. Being Gay, Loving Books -- Episode 141 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vivek Tejuja) 9. It is Immoral to Have Children. Here's Why -- Amit Varma 10. Everybody Lies -- Seth Stephens-Davidowitz 11. The Truth About Ourselves -- Amit Varma 12. Lihaaf -- Ismat Chugtai

In India, we have government of the people and for the people, but not by the people. How can we fix this? Polymath thinker Ashwin Mahesh joins Amit Varma in episode 160 of The Seen and the Unseen to chat about participatory democracy, India Against Corruption, the Aam Aadmi Party and what makes a Good Indian. Also check out: 1. Ashwin Mahesh's homepage. 2. With the Government, Within the Government, As the Government -- Ashwin Mahesh 3. The State of our Farmers -- Episode 86 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Gunvant Patil) 4. A Life in Indian Politics -- Episode 149 of The Seen and the Unseen (w JP Narayan) 5. Radically Networked Societies -- Episode 158 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pranay Kotasthane) 6. Education in India -- Episode 77 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Amit Chandra) 7. The Anti-Defection Law -- Episode 13 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Barun Mitra)

Budgets matter more than they should -- and the process of making them matters more than their contents. Ajay Shah and Vivek Kaul join Amit Varma in episode 159 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss both journey & destination, strategy & tactics. Also check out: 1. The Art and Science of Economic Policy -- Episode 154 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vijay Kelkar and Ajay Shah) 2. Analysing the February 2020 budget -- Ajay Shah 3. India budget raises more questions than answers -- Vivek Kaul 4. What the budget says and how it impacts you -- Vivek Kaul 5. Long on Talk, Short on Ideas -- Vivek Kaul 6. Bae, look how I shrank the Budget -- Vivek Kaul 7. Budget 2020: Tactics Over Strategy -- Suyash Rai 8. TN Ninan and AK Bhattacharya dissect Budget 2020 9. The Indian Economy in 2019 -- Episode 153 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vivek Kaul) 10. Budget, Bollywood, Badmaashi -- Episode 129 of The Seen and the Unseen (on the 2019 budget, w Vivek Kaul) 11. Twelve Dream Reforms -- Episode 138 of The Seen and the Unseen (w three guests) 12. Zombie Firms and Creative Destruction -- Episode 118 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah) 13. The Importance of Finance -- Episode 125 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah) 14. Taking Stock of Our Republic -- Episode 157 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ramachandra Guha)

From the Arab Spring to Shaheen Bagh, radically networked societies are rising up to express themselves. What do they have in common? How will a hierarchical state deal with a networked society? Pranay Kotasthane shares his insights with Amit Varma in episode 158 of The Seen and the Unseen. Also check out: 1. Individual Liberty vs Public Security in a Radically Networked Society -- Nitin Pai and Pranay Kotasthane. 2. Networked Societies and Hierarchical States: The Emerging Challenge to Political Order -- Nitin Pai and Sneha Shankar 3. Twitter and Tear Gas -- Zeynep Tufekci 4. Serdar Akinan's picture of the procession of coffins 5. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen featuring Pranay Kotasthane 6. Protesters Are United by Something Other Than Politics -- Tyler Cowen 7. Films, Feminism, Paromita -- Episode 155 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Paromita Vohra) 8. Fighting Fake News -- Episode 133 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pratik Sinha) 9. The Facts Do Not Matter -- Amit Varma 10. Pranay Kotasthane's newsletter.

India has endured -- but as we celebrate another Republic Day, we must remember that we cannot take this for granted. Historian Ramachandra Guha joins Amit Varma in episode 157 of The Seen and the Unseen to examine some of the currents of history that brought us here, and are still in flux. Also check out: 1. The books of Ramachandra Guha on Amazon. 2. Ramachandra Guha's columns in the Telegraph. 3. Understanding Gandhi: Part 1: Mohandas: Episode 104 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ram Guha). 4. Understanding Gandhi: Part 2: Mahatma: Episode 105 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ram Guha). 5. Patriotism vs Jingoism -- Ram Guha's speech at the Kerala Lit Fest. 6. The Citizenship Battles -- Episode 152 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Srinath Raghavan). 7. A Life in Indian Politics -- Episode 149 of The Seen and the Unseen (w JP Narayan). 8. The Intellectual Foundations of Hindutva -- Episode 115 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Aakar Patel). 9. Religion and Ideology in Indian Society -- Episode 124 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Suyash Rai). 10. Political Ideology in India -- Episode 131 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rahul Verma). 11. The Gita Press and Hindu Nationalism -- Episode 139 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Akshaya Mukul). 12. The Indian Conservative -- Episode 145 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Jaithirth Rao). 13. India's Lost Decade -- Episode 116 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Puja Mehra). 14. Lessons from an Ankhon Dekhi Prime Minister -- Amit Varma 15. We Must Reclaim Nationalism From the BJP -- Amit Varma 16. Where Have All the Leaders Gone -- Amit Varma 17. Why Nationalism -- Yael Tamir 18. Notes on Nationalism -- George Orwell 19. The Flaming Feet and Other Essays -- DR Nagaraj 20. Becoming the Mahatma -- Sunil Khilnani's review of Ram Guha's biography.

Kerala has a madly interesting history. It was a hub of globalisation centuries ago, an exemplar of tolerance. Almost in contrast, it took casteism to an extreme. It also had a matrilineal system, a tradition of empowered women, and some badass queens. Historian Manu Pillai joins Amit Varma in episode 156 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss all this and more. Also check out: 1. The Ivory Throne -- Manu Pillai 2. Our Colourful Past -- Episode 127 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Manu Pillai) 3. The Deccan Before Shivaji -- Episode 98 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Manu Pillai) 4. The Indianness of Indian Food -- Episode 95 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vikram Doctor) For complete archives, do visit seenunseen.in.

Immense changes have swept through our lives in the last three decades. Filmmaker and writer Paromita Vohra joins Amit Varma in episode 155 of The Seen and the Unseen, and turns her unique gaze both inwards and outwards. Also check out: 1. Agents of Ishq 1. Unlimited Girls (95 mins) 2. Cosmopolis: Two Tales of a City (13 mins) 3. Where's Sandra (18 mins) 4. Morality TV (32 mins) 5. Partners in Crime (95 mins) 6. A Love Latika (Trailer) 7. Interview of Paromita Vohra by Anuradha Sengupta 8. A Lover's Argument -- Talk by Paromita Vohra 9. Paromita Vohra on Shah Rukh Khan 10.My True North: All Renewal Starts With the Self -- Paromita Vohra 11. On My First Data, My True Love Gave To Me -- Paromita Vohra 12. The Mystery of The Half-Girlfriend and the Double Chetan -- Paromita Vohra 13. Automatic Bodies -- Paromita Vohra 14. Indian Society: The Last 30 years -- Episode 137 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Santosh Desai) 15. The Dialect of a Cricket Writer -- Amit Varma 16. Reading India Now -- Ulka Anjaria

Economic policy affects each of us -- and yet, India has gotten it wrong for decades. In their groundbreaking new book, Vijay Kelkar and Ajay Shah write not just how to do policy, but how to think about policy. They join Amit Varma in episode 154 of The Seen and the Unseen to share their learnings, first principles onwards. Also check out: 1. In Service of the Republic -- Vijay Kelkar & Ajay Shah 2. Zombie Firms and Creative Destruction -- Ep 118 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah) 3. The Importance of Finance -- Ep 125 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah) 4. Every Act of Government Is an Act of Violence -- Amit Varma 5. The Delhi Smog -- Ep 44 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vivek Kaul) 6. Public Choice Theory -- Ep 121 of The Seen and the Unseen 7. Narendra Modi takes a Great Leap Backwards -- Amit Varma 8. Three Reasons Why A Cashless Society Would Be A Disaster -- Amit Varma 9. Where Have All the Leaders Gone? -- Amit Varma 10. India's Agriculture Crisis -- Ep 140 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Barun Mitra & Kumar Anand) 11. Premature Imitation and India's Flailing State -- Shruti Rajagopalan & Alex Tabarrok (pdf link) 12. Our Political Discourse -- Ep 49 of The Seen and the Unseen (w transcript) 13. The Facts Do Not Matter -- Amit Varma

Alongside much social unrest, the Indian economy went to hell in 2019. Vivek Kaul joins Amit Varma in episode 153 of The Seen and the Unseen to survey the damage, and to demystify the rubble. For detailed show notes, head on over to seenunseen.in.

Why is India burning over the Citizenship Amendment Bill? Why does the NRC matter? What is happening in Assam? Srinath Raghavan joins Amit Varma in episode 152 of The Seen and the Unseen to give historical perspective on our current ferments. For detailed show notes, head on over to seenunseen.in.

Politics in Maharashtra is deeply complicated. Its themes and fault lines have been formed over decades. Veteran journalist and author Sujata Anandan joins Amit Varma in episode 151 of The Seen and the Unseen to unravel some of the mysteries behind its fascinating dramas. Also check out: 1. Hindu Hriday Samrat -- Sujata Anandan 2. Maharashtra Maximus -- Sujata Anandan 3. Marathi Manoos -- Sujata Anandan.

How has Indian publishing evolved in the last few decades? What does India read, and why? Publisher VK Karthika joins Amit Varma in episode 150 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about what she learnt in her years in Penguin, Harper Collins and (now) Westland. Also check out: Death of the Author -- Roland Barthes (pdf link) How to Read and Why -- Harold Bloom A Poetry Handbook -- Mary Oliver Roseanna -- Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö The Gita Press and Hindu Nationalism -- Akshaya Mukul

Jayaprakash Narayan was trained as a physician, served in the IAS, and went on to start a political movement. JP joins Amit Varma in episode 149 of The Seen and the Unseen to share his insights on Indian politics, the nature of the state and what we need to do to change India for the better. Also check out: The State of Indian Politics -- Episode 50 of The Seen and the Unseen (w JP Narayan) What Is It Like to Be a Bat? -- Thomas Nagel (pdf link) Lessons from an Ankhon Dekhi Prime Minister -- Amit Varma Where Have All The Leaders Gone? -- Amit Varma Government's End -- Jon Rauch The Emergency -- Episode 103 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Gyan Prakash) Urban Governance in India -- Episode 31 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan) Crime in Indian Politics -- Episode 114 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Milan Vaishnav) The Indianness of Indian Food -- Episode 95 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vikram Doctor) You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the new and improved IVM Podcast App on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios

In episode 148 of The Seen and the Unseen, host Amit Varma invokes a fictional super-weapon to build an argument against gun rights in India. Guests Shubho Roy and Sudhanshu Neema disagree with him, and each other, most vigorously. Also check out: The Bombzooka Question -- Amit Varma on India Uncut Resisting State Injustice -- Episode 120 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Jason Brennan) You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the new and improved IVM Podcast App on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios

Jahangir is often considered a lightweight Mughal emperor, an ineffectual drunkard sandwiched between his father and his son, Akbar and Shah Jahan. But this is an unfair view. Parvati Sharma joins Amit Varma in episode 147 of The Seen and the Unseen to shed light on not just Jahangir as an emperor, but on his human side, endearing and infuriating in equal measure. Also check out: Jahangir: An Intimate Portrait of a Great Mughal -- Parvati Sharma Women in Indian History -- Episode 144 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ira Mokhoty) Our Colouful Past -- Episode 127 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Manu Pillai) The Deccan Before Shivaji -- Episode 98 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Manu Pillai) Talk by Parvati Sharma at The Loft Shī'Ī polemics at the Mughal court -- Sajjad Rizvi You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the new and improved IVM Podcast App on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios

Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code is an archaic law and needs to go. But what is the historical background of our sedition law? What are the political and social contexts in which it evolved and thrived? Chitranshul Sinha joins Amit Varma in episode 146 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss his book on the subject, The Great Repression. Also check out: The Great Repression -- Chitranshul Sinha Don't Insult Pasta (2007) -- Amit Varma Hardcore History by Dan Carlin Archive.org The Emergency -- Episode 103 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Gyan Prakash) You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the new and improved IVM Podcast App on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios