Episodios

  • Ep 435: A Primer on China

    Ep 435: A Primer on China
    Jan 12 2026
    China looms large in our modern world -- and yes, is misunderstood, or not understood at all. Manoj Kewalramani joins Amit Varma in episode 435 of The Seen and the Unseen to put together a primer on China, from ancient times through all the kingdoms through Mao and Deng to Xi and this present moment. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Manoj Kewalramani on LinkedIn, Twitter, Google Scholar, Amazon, Takshashila, Substack and his own website. 2. The Takshashila Institution. 3. The Great Power Show on Spotify, Apple and Substack. 4. Tracking People's Daily -- Manoj Kewalramani's Substack Newsletter. 5. Eye on China -- Anushka Saxena's Substack newsletter (formerly written by Manoj). 6. China in the Changing Geo-economic Landscape -- A Takshashila course on China that begins later this month. 7. The China Dude Is in the House -- Episode 231 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Manoj Kewalramani). 8. What Does China Want? — Episode 143 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Manoj Kewalramani). 9. Chinese Foreign Policy — Episode 81 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Manoj Kewalramani). 10. Foreign Policy is a Big Deal — Episode 170 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pranay Kotasthane & Manoj Kewalramani). 11. The Dragon and the Elephant — Episode 181 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Hamsini Hariharan & Shibani Mehta). 12. Keeping India Safe — Episode 219 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Sushant Singh). 13. Kanti Bajpai on India vs China -- Episode 234 of The Seen and the Unseen. 14. The History of Indian Cricket -- Mihir Bose. 15. The Invention of China -- Bill Hayton. 16. When Marx Met Confucius. 17. Red Roulette -- Desmond Shum. 18. Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China -- Ezra Vogel. 19. China's New Red Guards -- Jude Blanchette. 20. Factional Model-making in China -- Olivia Cheung. 21. America against America -- Wang Huning. 22. The Lying Flat Movement. 23. China Media Project. 24. Probal DasGupta Goes to the Himalayas With Books in His Bag — Episode 412 of The Seen and the Unseen. 25. Wealth and Power -- Orville Schell and John Delury. 26. Rethinking Chinese Politics -- Joseph Fewsmith. 27. The Party's Interests Come First -- Joseph Torigian. 28. Prestige, Manipulation, and Coercion -- Joseph Torigian. 29. John Fairbank, Alastair Iain Johnston and Vijay Gokhale on Amazon. 30. The Long Game -- Vijay Gokhale. 31. China Talk -- Jordan Schneider. 32. Sinica -- Kaiser Kuo. 33. The Third Revolution -- Elizabeth Economy. 34. End of an Era -- Carl Minzner. 35. Hrithik Roshan on Dhurandhar. This episode is sponsored by The Six Percent Club. Join them to go from content idea to launch in just 45 days! Amit Varma runs a course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here. And have you read Amit’s newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free! Also check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. Episode art: ‘A Maze’ by Simahina.
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    3 h y 48 m
  • Ep 434: An Ode to Meanderness

    Ep 434: An Ode to Meanderness
    Dec 29 2025
    Enough serious talk about economics and geopolitics. As the year draws to an end, it's time to sit and chill with friends -- and let the mind meander. Shruti Rajagopalan and Pranay Kotasthane join Amit Varma in episode 434 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about friendship, horses, second acts -- and more! (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Shruti Rajagopalan on Twitter, Substack, Instagram, her podcast, Ideas of India and her own website. 2. Pranay Kotasthane on Twitter, LinkedIn, Amazon, Puliyabaazi and the Takshashila Institution. 3. Emergent Ventures India. 4. The Takshashila Institution. 5. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen w Shruti Rajagopalan: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. 6. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen w Pranay Kotasthane: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16. 7. Shruti Rajagopalan Remembers the Angle of the Light -- Episode 410 of The Seen and the Unseen. 8. Pranay Kotasthane Talks Public Policy — Episode 233 of The Seen and the Unseen. 9. Dance Dance For the Halva Waala — Episode 294 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Jai Arjun Singh and Subrat Mohanty). 10. The Adda at the End of the Universe — Episode 309 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vikram Sathaye and Roshan Abbas). 11. We Are All Amits From Africa — Episode 343 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Krish Ashok and Naren Shenoy). 12. You’re Ugly and You’re Hairy and You’re Covered in Shit but You’re Mine and I Love You — Episode 362 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Krish Ashok and Naren Shenoy). 13. Long Distance II -- Tony Harrison. 14. Deepak VS and the Man Behind His Face — Episode 373 of The Seen and the Unseen. 15. The Poetic Feminism of Paromita Vohra — Episode 339 of The Seen and the Unseen. 16. The Heart of Disruption -- Episode 86 of Everything is Everything (on Amit's heart issues). 17. The Practice of Medicine — Episode 229 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Lancelot Pinto). 18. How I Reversed My Type 2 Diabetes -- Episode 9 of Everything is Everything. 19. The Art of Podcasting -- Episode 49 of Everything is Everything. 20. The Art of Reading -- Episode 120 of Everything is Everything. 21. Sudhir Sarnobat Works to Understand the World — Episode 350 of The Seen and the Unseen. 22. Inside the Hearts of Men and Women -- Episode 118 of Everything is Everything. 23. Understanding Human Sexuality -- Episode 126 of Everything is Everything. 24. Kavitha Rao Chases Chatto and Roy -- Episode 416 of The Seen and the Unseen. 25. Shephali Bhatt Is Searching for the Incredible — Episode 391 of The Seen and the Unseen. 26. The Life and Times of the Takshashila Institution -- Episode 433 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Nitin Pai and Pranay Kotasthane). 27. I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City -- Harry Nilsson. 28. After Virtue -- Alasdair MacIntyre. 29. The Light in Winter -- Episode 97 of Everything is Everything. 30. The Black Paintings -- Francisco Goya. 31. From Strength to Strength -- Arthur Brooks. 32. Songs of Surrender -- U2. 33. Creep -- Radiohead. 34. Choo Lo -- The Local Train. 35. Second Act -- Henry Oliver. 36. BR Ambedkar's Grammar of Anarchy Speech in Hindi on Puliyabaazi. 37. Mohak Mangal, Veritasium, 3Blue1Brown, Jared Owen, Van Neistat and vlogbrothers. 38. We're here because were here -- The vlogbrothers video Amit mentions. 39. Mathematica -- David Bessis. 40. A Sixth Of Humanity — Devesh Kapur and Arvind Subramanian. 41. In Praise of Floods -- James C Scott. 42. Seeing Like a State -- James C Scott. 43. Against the Grain -- James C Scott. 44. A Passion for Cycling -- Episode 53 of Everything is Everything. 45. Everything that turned out well in my life followed the same design process -- Henrik Karlsson. 46. On agency -- Henrik Karlsson. 47. Notes on the Synthesis of Form -- Christopher Alexander. 48. Anaximander -- Carlo Rovelli. 49. Divya Prakash Dubey: Ek Jeevani -- Episode 399 of The Seen and the Unseen. 50. Ibnebatuti -- Divya Prakash Dubey. 51. Divya Prakash Dubey and Terry Pratchett on Amazon. 52. His Dark Materials -- Philip Pullman. 53. The Day Ryan Started Masturbating -- Amit Varma. 54. Amit's backscratcher. 55. Notebook LM. 56. Learn LM by Ashish Kulkarni. 57. Bojack Horseman on Netflix. 58. The Reflections of Samarth Bansal — Episode 299 of The Seen and the Unseen. This episode is sponsored by The Six Percent Club. Join them to go from content idea to launch in just 45 days! Amit Varma runs a course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here. And have you read Amit’s newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free! Also check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. ...
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    2 h y 55 m
  • Ep 433: The Life and Times of the Takshashila Institution

    Ep 433: The Life and Times of the Takshashila Institution
    Dec 15 2025
    India's policy ecosystem was once a desolate landscape, stuck in bad ideas of the past. One institution shook it all up. Nitin Pai and Pranay Kotasthane join Amit Varma in episode 433 of The Seen and the Unseen to describe their journey building the Takshashila Institution. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Nitin Pai on Twitter, LinkedIn, his own website and the Takshashila Institution. 2. Pranay Kotasthane on Twitter, LinkedIn, Amazon and the Takshashila Institution. 3. The Takshashila Institution. 4. Takshashila's courses and Open Takshashila. 5. The Liberal Nationalism of Nitin Pai — Episode 318 of The Seen and the Unseen. 6. Pranay Kotasthane Talks Public Policy — Episode 233 of The Seen and the Unseen. 7. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen with Nitin Pai: 1, 2, 3. 8. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen w Pranay Kotasthane: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. 9. The archives of The Acorn, Nitin Pai's blog. 10. The Life and Times of Gurcharan Das -- Episode 425 of The Seen and the Unseen. 11. Assembling India's Constitution -- Rohit De and Ornit Shani. 12. The Overton Window. 13. Nitin Pai's 2011 FAQ on Anna Hazare and the Lok Pal bill. 14. Arthashastra and History of the Peloponnesian War. 15. Distance From Delhi -- Various Takshashila authors. 16. The Age of the Partial Outsider — Janan Ganesh. 17. The Prestige -- Christopher Priest. 18. Everything Evolves -- Mark Vellend. 19. Humankind -- Rutger Bregman. 20. A Sixth Of Humanity -- Devesh Kapur and Arvind Subramanian. This episode is sponsored by The Six Percent Club. Join them to go from content idea to launch in just 45 days! Amit Varma runs a course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here. And have you read Amit’s newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free! Also check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. Episode art: ‘Lighthouse’ by Simahina.
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    3 h y 49 m
  • Ep 432: Vasant Dhar's Lifetime in Artificial Intelligence

    Ep 432: Vasant Dhar's Lifetime in Artificial Intelligence
    Dec 1 2025
    He's been working in AI since the late 1970s, and started a pioneering machine learning hedge fund in the 1990s. Now he's a professor, a podcaster, a Substacker, a yoda -- and has just written a cracking book on the subject. Vasant Dhar joins Amit Varma in episode 432 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss the life and times of AI through the life and times of Vasant Dhar. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Vasant Dhar on Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Scholar and NYU Stern. 2. Thinking With Machines: The Brave New World of AI -- Vasant Dhar. 3. Brave New World -- Vasant Dhar's podcast. 4. Vasant Dhar's Brave New World on Substack. 5. Brave New World — Episode 203 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vasant Dhar). 6. Brave New World -- Aldous Huxley. 7. Death of a Salesman -- Arthur Miller. 8. Aldous Huxley interviewed by Mike Wallace. 9. Anil Seth On The Science of Consciousness – Episode 94 of Brave New World. 10. How the Mind Works -- Steven Pinker. 11. Anthony Zador on How our Brains Work — Episode 35 of Brave New World. 12. The Naked Sun -- Isaac Asimov. 13. Human and Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare — Episode 4 of Brave New World (w Eric Topol). 14. Daniel Kahneman on How Noise Hampers Judgement — Episode 21 of Brave New World. 15. The Nature of Intelligence — Episode 7 of Brave New World (w Yann LeCun). 16. Philip Tetlock on the Art of Forecasting — Episode 31 of Brave New World. 17. Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction — Philip Tetlock and Dan Gardner. 18. "When you control the mail..." -- Clip from Seinfeld. 19. The Future of Liberal Education — Episode 11 of Brave New World (w Michael S Roth). 20. The Surface Area of Serendipity -- Episode 39 of Everything is Everything. 21. When Should We Trust Machines? -- Vasant Dhar's TEDx talk from 2018. 22. From Strength to Strength -- Arthur Brooks. 23. The Innovator's Dilemma -- Clayton Christensen. 24. Raghu Sundaram on Building a Great University -- Episode 88 of Brave New World. 25. Power and Prediction -- Ajay Agrawal, Joshua Gans and Avi Goldfarb. 26. The Paperclip Maximiser. 27. The Wealth of Nations -- Adam Smith. 28. The Theory of Moral Sentiments -- Adam Smith. 29. Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister — Jonathan Lynn and Antony Jay. 30. Aswath Damodaran on Investing — Episode 33 of Brave New World. 31. The Damodaran Bot. 32. Dmitry Rinberg on the Mysteries of Smell — Episode 62 of Brave New World. 33. Alex Wiltschko on the Sense of Smell — Episode 81 of Brave New World. 34. Sandeep Robert Datta on Smell and the Brain -- Episode 90 of Brave New World. 35. Alex Wiltschko on Digitizing Scent -- Episode 97 of Brave New World. 36. A Billion Wicked Thoughts -- Ogi Ogas and Sai Gaddam. 37. Being You: A New Science of Consciousness -- Anil Seth. 38. Noise -- Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony and Cass Sunstein. 39. Thinking, Fast and Slow -- Daniel Kahneman. This episode is sponsored by CTQ Compounds. Check out The Daily Reader and FutureStack. Use the code UNSEEN for Rs 2500 off. Amit Varma runs a course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here. Amit and Ajay Shah also bring out a weekly YouTube show, Everything is Everything. Have you watched it yet? You must! And have you read Amit’s newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free! Also check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. Episode art: ‘The Mage’ by Simahina.
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    3 h y 28 m
  • Ep 431: Ghazala Wahab and the Hindi Heartland

    Ep 431: Ghazala Wahab and the Hindi Heartland
    Nov 17 2025
    Our Hindi Heartland has more people than the USA and Western Europe combined -- and is arguably more diverse. Ghazala Wahab joins Amit Varma in episode 431 of The Seen and the Unseen to describe her research into those states -- and much else, including being an outspoken Muslim woman in India, and the future of warfare. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Ghazala Wahab on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Amazon, the Wire and Force. 2. The Hindi Heartland -- Ghazala Wahab. 3. Born a Muslim: Some Truths About Islam in India — Ghazala Wahab. 4. Dragon On Our Doorstep — Pravin Sawhney and Ghazala Wahab. 5. The Peacemakers -- Edited by Ghazala Wahab. 6. Force — The magazine edited by Ghazala Wahab. 7. Being Muslim in India — Episode 216 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ghazala Wahab). 8. The Future of War -- Episode 112 of Everything is Everything. 9. A Deep Dive Into the Indian Military -- Episode 31 of Everything is Everything. 10. A Deep Dive Into Ukraine vs Russia — Episode 335 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah). 11. The State of the Ukraine War — Episode 14 of Everything is Everything. 12. The Innovator's Dilemma -- Clayton Christensen. 13. Tanhaiyaan and Parchaiyan. 14. What Just Happened Between India & Pakistan? -- Episode 418 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pranay Kotasthane & Aditya Ramanathan). 15. The Age of Hybrid Warfare -- Episode 84 of Everything is Everything. 16. The Broken Script — Swapna Liddle. 17. Swapna Liddle and the Many Shades of Delhi — Episode 367 of The Seen and the Unseen. 18. The Refreshing Audacity of Vinay Singhal — Episode 291 of The Seen and the Unseen. 19. Stage.in. 20. Gods, Guns and Missionaries: The Making of the Modern Hindu Identity — Manu Pillai. 21. The Forces That Shaped Hinduism — Episode 405 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Manu Pillai). 22. Early Indians: The Story of Our Ancestors and Where We Came From — Tony Joseph. 23. Early Indians — Episode 112 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Tony Joseph). 24. Who We Are and How We Got Here — David Reich. 25. Caste, Capitalism and Chandra Bhan Prasad — Episode 296 of The Seen and the Unseen. 26. How the BJP Wins — Prashant Jha. 27. The BJP’s Magic Formula — Episode 45 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Prashant Jha). 28. We Are All Amits From Africa — Episode 343 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Krish Ashok and Naren Shenoy). 29. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen that touched on women's participation in the labour market with Namita Bhandare, Shrayana Bhattacharya and Ashwini Deshpande. 30. Another India -- Pratinav Anil. 31. Influence of Islam on Indian Culture -- Tara Chand. 32. Political Economy of Colonial and Post-Colonial India -- Aditya Mukherjee. 33. The Identity Project -- Rahul Bhatia. 34. Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa -- Kundan Shah. 35. Ahmad Faraz on Wikipedia and Rekhta. 36. Pretty Woman -- Garry Marshall. 37. Harry Potter : The Complete Collection -- JK Rowling. 38. Home Fire -- Kamila Shamsie. 39. Yeh Hawa Yeh Raat Yeh Chandni -- Song from Sangdil. 40. Madhumati -- Salil Chowdhury. 41. Andaz -- Naushad. 42. Amar -- Naushad. 43. Elvis Presley and Perry Como on Spotify. 44. Na To Karvan Ki Talash Hai -- Song from Barsaat ki Raat. 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 course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here. Amit and Ajay also bring out a weekly YouTube show, Everything is Everything. Have you watched it yet? You must! And have you read Amit’s newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free! Also check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. Episode art: ‘Heartland’ by Simahina.
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    3 h y 39 m
  • Ep 430: Aneesh Pradhan: A Life in Hindustani Music

    Ep 430: Aneesh Pradhan: A Life in Hindustani Music
    Nov 3 2025
    When it comes to Hindustani music, he is both a doer and a thinker. A great tabla player, he has written books about the history and theory of music. Aneesh Pradhan joins Amit Varma in episode 430 of The Seen and the Unseen to chat about his life, his music and this world we inhabit. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Aneesh Pradhan on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Scroll, Amazon, Spotify and his own website. 2. Chasing the Raag Dream: A Look into the World of Hindustani Music -- Aneesh Pradhan. 3. Hindustani Music in Colonial Bombay -- Aneesh Pradhan. 4. Tabla: A Performer's Perspective -- Aneesh Pradhan. 5. The Life and Music of Shubha Mudgal -- Episode 426 of The Seen and the Unseen. 6. The Light in Winter -- Episode 97 of Everything is Everything. 7. From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life -- Arthur Brooks. 8. The Heckman Equation — a website based on James Heckman’s work. 9. The Instagram reel about The Godfather. 10, The interview with Vasant Pradhan. 11. Dehachi Tijori -- Sudhir Phadke. 12. Chal Chal Chal Mere Saathi -- Song from Haathi Mere Saathi. 13. Categories of Music -- Ashok D Ranade. 14. Nationalism Is Bad for the Nation -- Episode 122 of Everything is Everything. 15. The Populist Playbook -- Episode 42 of Everything is Everything. 16. Tawaif — Episode 174 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Saba Dewan). 17. The Refreshing Audacity of Vinay Singhal — Episode 291 of The Seen and the Unseen. 18. Stage.in. 19. How Music Works — David Byrne. 20. The Changing Forms of Creativity -- Episode 72 of Everything is Everything. 21. Em and the Big Hoom — Jerry Pinto. 22. The Life and Times of Jerry Pinto — Episode 314 of The Seen and the Unseen. 23. The War Against Cliche — Martin Amis. 24. Bridge of Dreams -- Various artists. 25. Out of the Shruti Box -- Anuja K's YouTube channel. 26. Malini Goyal is the Curious One — Episode 377 of The Seen and the Unseen. 27. The Disciple — Chaitanya Tamhane. 28. Niranjan Rajadhyaksha Is the Impartial Spectator — Episode 388 of The Seen and the Unseen. 29. Why Hindustani Musicians are Good Cooks: Analogies between Music and Food in North India -- Adrian McNeil. 30. Sangeet Kosh. 31. Begum Akhtar, Siddheshwari Devi, Kesarbai Kerkar, Faiyaz Khan, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Amir Khan, Sharadchandra Arolkar, Ahmed Jan Thirakwa, Amir Hussain Khan, Alla Rakha, Kishan Maharaj, Samta Prasad, Zakir Hussain, Anindo Chatterjee, Swapan Chaudhuri, Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis on Spotify. 32. Music Contexts: A Concise Dictionary of Hindustani Music -- Ashok D Ranade. Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here. Amit and Ajay also bring out a weekly YouTube show, Everything is Everything. Have you watched it yet? You must! And have you read Amit’s newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free! Also check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. Episode art: ‘Play’ by Simahina.
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    4 h y 46 m
  • Ep 429: Rudraneil Sengupta is Embedded

    Ep 429: Rudraneil Sengupta is Embedded
    Oct 20 2025
    He wrote the definitive history of Indian wrestling. His longform reportage has taken him into strange territories. He embedded himself with the Delhi police and has now come out with his first crime novel. Rudraneil Sengupta joins Amit Varma in episode 429 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about he throws himself into both his life and his work. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Rudraneil Sengupta on Instagram, Twitter, Mint and Amazon. 2. The Beast Within -- Rudraneil Sengupta. 3. Enter the Dangal -- Rudraneil Sengupta. 4. The Girl From Haryana -- Amit Varma's feature story on Sakshi Malik (2016). 5. Aadha Gaon — Rahi Masoom Raza. 6. Amitava Kumar Finds the Breath of Life — Episode 265 of The Seen and the Unseen. 7. From Cairo to Delhi With Max Rodenbeck — Episode 281 of The Seen and the Unseen. 8. Kind of Blue -- Miles Davis. 9. Wall-E -- Andrew Stanton. 10. The Complete Adventures of Feluda (Volume 1) (Volume 2) -- Satyajit Ray. 11. The Adventures Of Kakababu -- Sunil Gangopadhyay. 12. More Adventures Of Kakababu -- Sunil Gangopadhyay. 13. Sandesh. 14. Paar -- Goutam Ghose. 15. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? -- Philip K Dick. 16. Philip K Dick and Ursula K Le Guin on Amazon. 17. Sandman -- Neil Gaimon. 18. Persepolis -- Marjane Satrapi. 19. The Buddha -- Osamu Tezuka. 20. The Solitary Writer Meets the Impossible Man -- Episode 428 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Narayani Basu). 21. A Man For All Seasons: The Life Of KM Panikkar — Narayani Basu. 22. Understanding India Through Its Languages — Episode 232 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Peggy Mohan). 23. Wanderers, Kings, Merchants: The Story of India through Its Languages — Peggy Mohan. 24. Frank Zappa, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Muddy Waters and Django Reinhardt on Spotify. 25. Satyaki Banerjee and Paban Das Baul on Spotify. 26. The Indianness of Indian Food — Episode 95 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vikram Doctor). 27. The Refreshing Audacity of Vinay Singhal — Episode 291 of The Seen and the Unseen. 28. Stage.in. 29. Tom Waits, Mark Strand and Mary Oliver. 30. The Golden Age of Murder -- Martin Edwards. 31. Roseanna -- Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö. 32. Ian Rankin (of Inspector Rebus fame) on Amazon. 33. Six Four -- Hideo Yokoyama. 34. Raag Darbari -- Shrilal Shukla (translated by Gillian Wright). 35. Saans -- Neena Gupta. 36. Anne Tyler on Amazon. 37. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas -- Hunter S Thompson. 38. The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved -- Hunter S Thompson. 39. The Life and Times of Gurcharan Das -- Episode 425 of The Seen and the Unseen. 40. Meet Suyash Dixit, the man who would be king -- Rudraneil Sengupta. 41. The Autopsy Report -- Rudraneil Sengupta. 42. Court -- Chaitanya Tamhane. 43. The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind -- Gustave Le Bon. 44. Invisible Man -- Ralph Ellison. 45. The Is-Ought Problem and the Naturalistic Fallacy. 46. V for Vendetta -- Alan Moore and David Lloyd. 47. Murder in Mahim -- Jerry Pinto. 48. The Life and Times of Jerry Pinto — Episode 314 of The Seen and the Unseen. 49. Hayao Miyazaki, Satyajit Ray and Martin Beck. 50. Disgrace -- JM Coetzee. 51. Moby Dick -- Herman Melville. 52. Julian Lage and Bill Frisell on Spotify. 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 course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here. Amit and Ajay also bring out a weekly YouTube show, Everything is Everything. Have you watched it yet? You must! And have you read Amit’s newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free! Also check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. Episode art: ‘Delhi’ by Simahina.
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    3 h y 26 m
  • Ep 428: The Solitary Writer Meets the Impossible Man

    Ep 428: The Solitary Writer Meets the Impossible Man
    Oct 6 2025
    Writing biographies is solitary and difficult -- even when the subject is way more interesting than anything you could make up. Narayani Basu joins Amit Varma in episode 428 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss writing, friendship, hustling, ageing, intentionality and the subject of her latest book, the impossible KM Panikkar. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Narayani Basu on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Amazon. 2. A Man For All Seasons: The Life Of KM Panikkar -- Narayani Basu. 3. VP Menon: The Unsung Architect of Modern India -- Narayani Basu. 4. Allegiance: Azaadi and the End of Empire -- Narayani Basu. 5. India’s Greatest Civil Servant — Episode 167 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Narayani Basu). 6. Kavitha Rao Chases Chatto and Roy -- Episode 416 of The Seen and the Unseen. 7. When Harry Met Sally -- Rob Reiner. 8. Can men and women be just friends? — The Economist. 9. Malini Goyal is the Curious One — Ep 377 of The Seen and the Unseen. 10. Unboxing Bengaluru — Malini Goyal & Prashanth Prakash. 11. Finding Love in Modern India — Ep 401 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Sanjana Ramachandran and Samarth Bansal). 12. Inside the Hearts of Men and Women -- Episode 118 of Everything is Everything. 13. Heart Tantrums: A Feminist's Memoir of Misogyny and Marriage -- Aisha Sarwari. 14. The Life and Times of Gurcharan Das -- Episode 425 of The Seen and the Unseen. 15. Ambassador -- Narayani Basu on CB Muthamma. 16. Five Epic Stories That Must Be Films -- Episode 29 of Everything is Everything. 17. The Cripps Version: The Life of Sir Stafford Cripps 1889-1952 -- Peter Clarke. 18. Lady Doctors : The Untold Stories Of India’s First Women In Medicine — Kavitha Rao. 19. Kavitha Rao and Our Lady Doctors — Episode 235 of The Seen and the Unseen. 20. The Heckman Equation — a website based on James Heckman’s work. 21. The Ferment of Our Founders — Episode 272 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Kapila). 22. Gods, Guns and Missionaries: The Making of the Modern Hindu Identity — Manu Pillai. 23. The Forces That Shaped Hinduism -- Episode 405 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Manu Pillai). 24. The First Assault on Our Constitution — Episode 194 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Tripurdaman Singh). 25. The Surface Area of Serendipity -- Episode 39 of Everything is Everything. 26. Understanding India Through Its Languages — Episode 232 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Peggy Mohan). 27. Wanderers, Kings, Merchants: The Story of India through Its Languages — Peggy Mohan. 28. Impossible Germany — Wilco. 29. Coolie No 1 -- David Dhawan. 30. Anne de Courcy, Sonia Purnell and Ben Macintyre on Amazon. 31. Clementine: The Life of Mrs. Winston Churchill -- Sonia Purnell. 32. A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of Virginia Hall, WWII's Most Dangerous Spy -- Sonia Purnell. 33. Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, Bookish and Department Q. Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here. Amit and Ajay also bring out a weekly YouTube show, Everything is Everything. Have you watched it yet? You must! And have you read Amit’s newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free! Also check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. Episode art: ‘Solitary and Impossible’ by Simahina.
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