Harvest

The True Cost of Cotton

By: Maryam Aslany, Rana Dasgupta

Narrated by: Pooya Mohseni, Nadia Marshall, Vikas Adam, Manu Narayan, Azhar Khan, Anjali Bhimani, Lucy Rayner, Sandeep C Deshpande, Pushan Kripalani, Robbin Singh, Sachit Murthy, Nagesh Prasad, Mahika Singh, Ankita Podder

Harvest transports listeners to the beautiful and eerie world of India’s cotton fields. Source of the most intimate and universal of commodities, we find these white-flecked lands pushed to their limit by global pressures.

A young farmer is murdered: everyone thinks they know who did it, but the village holds many secrets. A widow battles to reclaim her dead husband’s land and, despite incredible obstacles, makes a go of farming it alone. Two young men return from the city to take over their family farms: we follow their harvests, their attempts to sell their crop at a profit, their hopes of love and marriage, and their dreams of social change. A moneylender is terrifyingly honest about his own deadly role in this unforgiving system.

Despite the pressures they face, the characters in this unique series maintain profound connections to nature and the sacred. Offering an unprecedented window onto the everyday struggles of these essential producers, Harvest shows how their daily choices shape not just their own futures, but the fabric of the entire world.

©2024 Plan B, LLC (P)2025 Audible Originals, LLC.

We all have a duty to listen to this.

Well narrated and told, this podcast is an excellently researched insight into the exploitation of India's cotton growers, hinting at the plight of the world's two billion small-hold farmers that we hear so little about. The podcast covers multiple stories that discuss how the cumulation of a maliciously-regulated market system, increasing climate stresses, predatory money lenders and cultural pressures are threatening to overwhelm the lives of the many who will hold onto their land at any cost. I look forward to the upcoming book!

Excellent: informative, moving, heartbreaking but essential

This podcast is SO important for everyone to listen to and learn about the cotton production process. It’s heartbreaking, but just so valuable.

podcast about cotton farmers in India

I thought this was going to be a book, but soon realized it was a podcast. eventually I got into it. very interesting subject. never really knew the extreme hardships Indian cotton farmers go through.

the series was put together well, with actors speaking the translated versions of the interviews. the stories are shocking and heartbreaking.

something everyone should here

very real. kept me listening even though it was not a theatrical performance. everyone who wears cotton should know about this

Significant topic, very moving, a lot of heart

Superb research, writing and delivery - all undertaken with great care and sensitivity. Highly recommended. In six episodes. Well paced.