Episodes

  • What actually sets Bengaluru apart ft Malini Goyal

    What actually sets Bengaluru apart ft Malini Goyal
    Jul 28 2024
    Once known as the back office of the world, Bengaluru is now seen as India's startup capital and tech hub. However, the city’s rapid growth has brought significant challenges, with traffic congestion and water issues becoming as notorious as its startup culture.

    In this episode, Malini Goyal, the author of Unboxing Bengaluru, joins Sandip to discuss how Bengaluru evolved into its current state and what sets it apart among Indian cities.

    Produced by Shashank Bhargava
    Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar
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    1 hr and 1 min
  • Is it Modi model or Gujarat model? ft Christophe Jaffrelot

    Is it Modi model or Gujarat model? ft Christophe Jaffrelot
    Jul 14 2024
    When Narendra Modi first appeared on the national stage, his supporters touted the Gujarat model as crucial for national success, while opponents feared it might weaken India's foundational pillars. Now, after 20 years, how has the Gujarat model scaled up at the national level? In this episode, political scientist and historian Christophe Jaffrelot joins Sandip Roy to answer this question, and talk about his latest book — Gujarat Under Modi: The Blueprint for Today's India.

    Jaffrelot is Research Director at CERI-Sciences Po/CNRS, Professor of Indian politics and sociology at King’s College (London), President of the French Political Science Association and Chair of the British Association for South Asian Studies.

    Produced by Shashank Bhargava
    Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar
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    49 mins
  • Grace Banu on how transgender lives have changed 10 years after NALSA

    Grace Banu on how transgender lives have changed 10 years after NALSA
    Jun 30 2024
    In 2014, the Supreme Court ruled on a writ filed by the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA), stating that the government, both at the state and Centre, must grant full legal recognition to transgender individuals.

    That judgment, in many ways, helped pave the way for the landmark Section 377 verdict. But ten years on, how much of the promise of that verdict has been realized in practice for the transgender community? To answer this question, Sandip is joined by Dalit and transgender rights activist Grace Banu.

    Grace is India's first transgender engineer and the founder of the Trans Rights Now Collective.

    Produced by Shashank Bhargava
    Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawat
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    47 mins
  • The puzzling questions of the Bhima Koregaon Case ft Alpa Shah

    The puzzling questions of the Bhima Koregaon Case ft Alpa Shah
    Jun 10 2024
    Alpa Shah’s latest book, The Incarcerations, a finalist for the Orwell Prize for Political Writing, unravels and uncovers the chilling story of the Bhima Koregaon case and how sixteen human rights defenders—including academics, poets, trade unionists, and Dalit organizers—were labeled urban Naxalites, charged with inciting violence, and accused of waging a war against the Indian state. In this episode, Shah joins host Sandip Roy to unpack the case and discuss some of its most puzzling questions.

    Alpa Shah is a professor of anthropology at the London School of Economics.

    Produced by Shashank Bhargava
    Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar
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    53 mins
  • Is AAP a game changer or has the game changed it? ft Ashutosh and Neelanjan Sircar

    Is AAP a game changer or has the game changed it? ft Ashutosh and Neelanjan Sircar
    May 26 2024
    The Aam Aadmi Party, led by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, is one of the most formidable political parties in the country and has often been described as a game-changer. But to what extent has that been the case? Has it truly transformed Indian politics, or has Indian politics, in turn, reshaped what the party once stood for?

    In this episode, host Sandip Roy is joined by Ashutosh and Neelanjan Sircar to discuss the evolution of the party, its current standing, the threat it poses to the BJP, and the challenges that lie ahead.

    Ashutosh is a former member of AAP, the co-founder and editor of SatyaHindi, and the author of Hindu Rashtra. Sircar is a senior fellow at the Centre for Policy Research (CPR).

    Produced by Shashank Bhargava
    Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar
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    45 mins
  • Why India is a magnet for crypto scams ft Mitali Mukherjee

    Why India is a magnet for crypto scams ft Mitali Mukherjee
    May 12 2024
    This week on the show, Sandip Roy speaks with journalist Mitali Mukherjee, whose book "Crypto Crimes" gives us a window into the underbelly of the crypto world and its rapid expansion throughout India. Through personal anecdotes and firsthand narratives, the book delves into the depths of the dark web, exposing the reality behind the unregulated crypto bubble that is now witnessing all sorts of crimes.

    Mukherjee is the director of the Journalist Programmes at the Reuters Institute at Oxford.

    Produced by Shashank Bhargava
    Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar
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    52 mins
  • Mridula Koshy and Rituparna Neog on India's missing libraries

    Mridula Koshy and Rituparna Neog on India's missing libraries
    Apr 28 2024
    Despite the frequent buzz around new book releases and the increasing popularity of literary festivals, one glaring absence in the country remains: free public libraries. Join host Sandip Roy this week as he engages in a conversation with Mridula Koshy and Rituparna Neog, community activists part of the Free Libraries Network (FLN), to discuss India's dearth of public libraries and what can be done about it.

    Koshy, an award winning writer, founded The Community Library Project in Delhi in 2015 and is the member of the FLN's steering committee. Neog, a queer rights activist and a library educator, is the founder-director of the Akam Foundation.

    Produced by Shashank Bhargava
    Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar
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    55 mins
  • Why India lags behind its neighbours in human development ft Swati Narayan

    Why India lags behind its neighbours in human development ft Swati Narayan
    Apr 15 2024
    During a time when India's economy is on the rise, a new book called Unequal: Why India Lags Behind Its Neighbours by Swati Narayan argues that this growth hasn't automatically translated into the empowerment of the poor or an improvement in their social mobility. When compared with its less prosperous neighbors such as Bangladesh and Nepal, India still falls behind in numerous human development indexes. However, is it fair to compare India to these other countries, or are there additional complexities to consider? In this episode, host Sandip Roy speaks to Swati to find out.

    Produced by Shashank Bhargava
    Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar
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    57 mins