Episodes

  • Ep 392: Biju Rao Won't Bow to Conventional Wisdom

    Ep 392: Biju Rao Won't Bow to Conventional Wisdom
    Jul 29 2024
    He's an economist who cares more about people than numbers -- and he thinks his field needs more sociology and anthropology in it. Vijayendra (Biju) Rao joins Amit Varma in episode 392 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about what makes him angry, what drives him forward and what brings him peace. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Vijayendra (Biju) Rao on Twitter, Google Scholar, The World Bank and his own website. 2. Biju Rao's blog at the World Bank. 3. Localizing Development: Does Participation Work? -- Ghazala Mansuri and Vijayendra Rao. 4. Oral Democracy: Deliberation in Indian Village Assemblies -- Paromita Sanyal and Vijayendra Rao. 5. Can Economics Become More Reflexive? -- Vijayendra Rao. 6. Vamsha Vriksha -- Girish Karnad. 7. ‘I want absolute commitment to our gharana’: A tribute to Rajshekhar Mansur and his music -- Vijayendra Rao. 8. The Life and Work of Ashwini Deshpande — Episode 298 of The Seen and the Unseen. 9. Two Hundred and Fifty-Thousand Democracies: A Review of Village Government in India -- Siddharth George, Vijaendra Rao and MR Sharan. 10. Last Among Equals : Power Caste And Politics In Bihar's Villages -- MR Sharan. 11. Lant Pritchett Is on Team Prosperity — Episode 379 of The Seen and the Unseen. 12. National Development Delivers: And How! And How? — Lant Pritchett. 13. The Perils of Partial Attribution: Let’s All Play for Team Development — Lant Pritchett. 14. The Rising Price of Husbands: A Hedonic Analysis of Dowry Increases in Rural India -- Vijayendra Rao. 15. The Life and Times of Jerry Pinto — Episode 314 of The Seen and the Unseen. 16. Shephali Bhatt Is Searching for the Incredible -- Episode 391 of The Seen and the Unseen. 17. Jiddu Krishnamurti on Wikipedia, Britannica and Amazon. 18. Biju Rao listens to Jiddu Krishnamurthy. 19. Ben Hur -- William Wyler. 20. Trade, Institutions and Ethnic Tolerance: Evidence from South Asia -- Saumitra Jha. 21. Memories and Things — Episode 195 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Aanchal Malhotra). 22. Remnants of a Separation — Aanchal Malhotra. 23. Deliberative Democracy -- Jon Elster. 24. A Life in Indian Politics — Episode 149 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Jayaprakash Narayan). 25. Subhashish Bhadra on Our Dysfunctional State — Episode 333 of The Seen and the Unseen. 26. Caged Tiger: How Too Much Government Is Holding Indians Back — Subhashish Bhadra. 27. Urban Governance in India — Episode 31 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan). 28. Understanding Gandhi. Part 1: Mohandas — Episode 104 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ram Guha). 29. Understanding Gandhi. Part 2: Mahatma — Episode 105 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ram Guha). 30. Accelerating India’s Development — Karthik Muralidharan. 31. The Added Value of Local Democracy -- Abhishek Arora, Siddharth George, Vijayendra Rao and MR Sharan. 32. Some memories of VKRV Rao -- Vijayendra Rao. 33. The Foundation Series — Isaac Asimov. 34. Lawrence of Arabia -- David Lean. 35. Gandhi -- Richard Attenborough. 36. The Story of My Experiments with Truth -- Mohandas Gandhi. 37. Bhagavad Gita on Wikipedia and Amazon. 38. KT Achaya on Amazon. 39. The Emergency: A Personal History — Coomi Kapoor. 40. My Varied Life in Management: A Short Memoir -- SL Rao. 41. The Incredible Curiosities of Mukulika Banerjee — Episode 276 of The Seen and the Unseen. 42. Ram Guha Writes a Letter to a Friend -- Episode 371 of The Seen and the Unseen. 43. Terror as a Bargaining Instrument : A Case Study of Dowry Violence in Rural India -- Francis Bloch and Vijayendra Rao. 44. Domestic Violence and Intra-Household Resource Allocation in Rural India: An Exercise in Participatory Econometrics -- Vijayendra Rao. 45. Immanuel Kant’s Categorical Imperative. 46. Narrative Economics -- Robert J Shiller. 47. Culture and Public Action -- Edited by Vijayendra Rao and Michael Walton. 48. The Capacity to Aspire -- Arjun Appadurai. 49. Aspiration: The Agency of Becoming -- Agnes Callard. 50. Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind -- Tom Holland. 51. PV Sukhatme in EPW. 52. India Needs Decentralization -- Episode 47 of Everything if Everything. 53. Deliberative Inequality: A Text-As-Data Study of India’s Village Assemblies -- Ramya Parthasarathy, Vijayendra Rao and Nethra Palaniswamy. 54. A Method to Scale Up Interpretive Qualitative Analysis with An Application to Aspirations among Refugees and Hosts in Bangladesh -- Julian Ashwin, Vijayendra Rao, Monica Biradavolu, Aditya Chhabra, Afsana Khan, Arshia Haque and Nandini Krishnan. 55. Using Large-Language Models for Qualitative Analysis Can Introduce Serious Bias -- Julian Ashwin, Aditya Chhabra and Vijayendra Rao. 56. This Be The Verse — Philip Larkin. 57. Audacious Hope: An Archive of How Democracy is Being Saved in India -- Indrajit Roy. 58. Poverty and the Quest for...
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    3 hrs and 54 mins
  • Ep 391: Shephali Bhatt Is Searching for the Incredible

    Ep 391: Shephali Bhatt Is Searching for the Incredible
    Jul 22 2024
    The internet has changed the way we live -- and someone needs to make sense of it all. Shephali Bhatt joins Amit Varma in episode 391 of The Seen and the Unseen to describe all that she has learnt through her deep dives into popular culture, the creator economy, this turbulent society and her Mamaji's library. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Shephali Bhatt on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Economic Times, Mint and Instagram. 2. Santosh Desai is Watching You — Episode 356 of The Seen and the Unseen. 3. Indian Society: The Last 30 Years — Episode 137 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Santosh Desai). 4. The plays of Maxim Gorky: 1, 2. 5. Bollywood Masala and a French Art Film -- Amit Varma. 6. Enter, tastefluencer: The rise of a curator economy -- Shephali Bhatt. 7. The Artist -- Michel Hazanavicius. 8. Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga -- Shelly Chopra Dhar. 9. Gaming the algorithm to ‘manifest’ -- Shephali Bhatt. 10. Search Party -- Shephali Bhatt. 11. The Experience Machine. 12. Badtime Stories -- Shephali Bhatt. 13. Lentil Powerhouse at Pret a Manger. 14. Brave New World — Episode 203 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vasant Dhar). 15. Brave New World -- Vasant Dhar's podcast. 16. When the third-party cookie crumbles -- Shephali Bhatt. 17. Digital Minimalism and Slow Productivity -- Cal Newport. 18. Range Rover — The archives of Amit Varma’s column on poker for the Economic Times. 19. Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas — Natasha Dow Schüll. 20. Cache Cab: Taxi Drivers' Brains Grow to Navigate London's Streets -- Ferris Jabr. 21. The Life and Times of Jerry Pinto — Episode 314 of The Seen and the Unseen. 22. Em and the Big Hoom — Jerry Pinto. 23. Behave — Robert Sapolsky. 24. Grave of the Fireflies -- Isao Takahata. 25. Cosmos -- Carl Sagan. 26. Irfan, the Keeper of Memories -- Episode 368 of The Seen and the Unseen. 27. Voice Wide Web -- Shephali Bhatt. 28. Ishaan Chintamani on Instagram and YouTube. 29. Breaking Bad, House of Cards, The Wire, Harry Potter, Friends. 30. All the President's Men -- Alan J Pakula. 31. Surabhi on Wikipedia and IMDb. 32. The unplanned glory of Surabhi -- Shephali Bhatt. 33. Alt News. 34. Fighting Fake News — Episode 133 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pratik Sinha). 35. Don't Choose Tribalism Over Principles -- Amit Varma. 36. Caste, Capitalism and Chandra Bhan Prasad — Episode 296 of The Seen and the Unseen. 37. Multiverse of food-fluencers -- Shephali Bhatt. 38. The Refreshing Audacity of Vinay Singhal — Episode 291 of The Seen and the Unseen. 39. Stage.in. 40. Shephali Bhatt's story on how Koffee With Karan inspired many Indians to learn English. 41. Young India — Episode 83 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Snigdha Poonam). 42. Dreamers: How Young Indians Are Changing Their World — Snigdha Poonam. 43. The Disciple -- Chaitanya Tamhane. 44. The Loneliness of the Indian Man — Episode 303 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Nikhil Taneja). 45. How Instagram reels are transforming Indian weddings -- Shephali Bhatt. 46. The Parenting Influencers Who Won’t Stop Posting Their Children -- Fortesa Latifi. 47. “We’re Never Doing This Again”: What It Took for These Parenting Influencers to Pull Their Kids Offline -- Fortesa Latifi. 48. Luke Burgis Sees the Deer at His Window — Episode 337 of The Seen and the Unseen. 49. The Influencer Diaries -- Shephali Bhatt. 50. 1000 True Fans — Kevin Kelly. 51. 1000 True Fans? Try 100 — Li Jin. 52. The Streisand Effect. 53. Varun Mayya on YouTube. 54. The YouTube Election -- Shephali Bhatt. 55. With content king, creators trying hard to be kingmakers this Lok Sabha elections -- Shephali Bhatt. 56. The Life and Times of Shanta Gokhale — Episode 311 of The Seen and the Unseen. 57. The Life and Times of Mrinal Pande — Episode 263 of The Seen and the Unseen. 58. The Life and Times of Urvashi Butalia — Episode 287 of The Seen and the Unseen. 59. Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 -- Cho Nam-Joo. 60. Rasidi Ticket (Punjabi) (English) -- Amrita Pritam. 61. The Good Girls Revolt -- Lynn Povich. 62. Jagte Raho -- Amit Maitra and Sombhu Mitra. 63. Zakhm -- Mahesh Bhatt. 64. Shephali Bhatt's Spotify playlists. 65. The Life and Times of Nilanjana Roy — Episode 284 of The Seen and the Unseen. Amit’s newsletter is active again. Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free! Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube. Check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. Episode art: ‘Search' by Simahina.
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    4 hrs and 21 mins
  • Ep 390: Sanjiv Sharma Sails Through 45 Years of Indian Entertainment

    Ep 390: Sanjiv Sharma Sails Through 45 Years of Indian Entertainment
    Jul 15 2024
    He started in advertising in 1979, became a pioneering ad filmmaker, broke new ground in Indian television, and is the managing trainee of his own life. Sanjiv Sharma joins Amit Varma in episode 390 of The Seen and the Unseen to share his frameworks for living. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Sanjiv Sharma on Instagram, Twitter, IMDb and LInkedIn. 2. Divya Prakash Dubey on Instagram, Wikipedia, LinkedIn, IMDb, Twitter, Amazon and his own website. 3. The Surface Area of Serendipity -- Episode 39 of Everything is Everything. 4. Deepak VS and the Man Behind His Face — Episode 373 of The Seen and the Unseen. 5. Mansoor Khan on Wikipedia, Amazon and IMDb. 6. Umberto -- Mansoor Khan. 7. American Cinematographer. 8. Idhar Udhar. 9. Chalti Ka Naam Antakshari. 10. Khul Ja Sim Sim. 11. The Evolution of Cricket -- Episode 97 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Harsha Bhogle). 12. Television Price Controls -- Episode 27 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ashok Malik). 13. Yeh Meri Life Hai. 14. Urban Discoveries for Ford Ecosport. 15. Crime Patrol Season 2. 16. Comedy Circus Season 1. 17. My Cancer is Me -- Vijay Bhat and Nilima Bhat. 18. Sakshi. 19. The Rakshin Project. 20. Smita Bharti interviewed by Radio One. 21. We Should Celebrate Rising Divorce Rates (2008) — Amit Varma. 22. Profit = Philanthropy — Amit Varma. 23. Rohini Nilekani Pays It Forward — Episode 317 of The Seen and the Unseen. 24. The Double ‘Thank You’ Moment — John Stossel. 25. Lectures by Swami Sarvapriyananda: 1, 2, 3, 4 plus a full series of them here. 26. Spiral Bound -- Screenwriting with Boman Irani. Sanjiv's Recommendations: Movies 1. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest -- Miloš Forman. 2. As Good as It Gets -- James L Brooks. 3. Roman Holiday -- William Wyler. 4. Anne of the Thousand Days -- Charles Jarrott. 5. Kramer vs Kramer -- Robert Benton. 6. The Shawshank Redemption -- Frank Darabont. 7. The Godfather -- Francis Ford Coppola. 8. Oppenheimer -- Christopher Nolan. 9. The Dark Knight -- Christopher Nolan. Sanjiv's Recommendations: Books1. The Covenant of Water -- Abraham Verghese. 2. The Untethered Soul -- Michael A Singer. 3. The Craving Mind -- Judson Brewer. 4. The Ascent of Humanity -- Charles Eisenstein. 5. Essence of the Upanishads -- Eknath Easwaran. 6. The Mind Illuminated -- Culadasa (John Yates). 7. Same as Ever -- Morgan Housel. 8. The Ascent of Money -- Niall Ferguson. 9. The Ending of Time -- Jiddu Krishnamurti. Amit’s newsletter is active again. Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free! Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube. Check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. Episode art: ‘Sailing’ by Simahina.
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    4 hrs and 30 mins
  • Ep 389: Bhargavi Zaveri-Shah Will Not Wear a Blue Tie to Work

    Ep 389: Bhargavi Zaveri-Shah Will Not Wear a Blue Tie to Work
    Jul 7 2024
    The world is complex. The state is primitive. Regulation is where they meet. Bhargavi Zaveri-Shah joins Amit Varma in episode 389 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss her experiences with the regulatory state at the intersection of law & economics. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Bhargavi Zaveri Shah on Twitter, LinkedIn, The Leap Blog and her own website. 2. The accountability framework of UIDAI: Concerns and solutions -- Vrinda Bhandari and Renuka Sane and Bhargavi Zaveri. 3. Institutionalise formal regulatory independence -- Bhargavi Zaveri. 4. Regulators don't need constitutional status -- Bhargavi Zaveri. 5. Measuring Regulatory Responsiveness in India: A Framework for Empirical Assessment -- Anirudh Burman and Bhargavi Zaveri. 6. Participatory governance in regulation making: How to make it work? -- Bhargavi Zaveri. 7. IBBI's draft framework sets new standards of regulatory governance in India -- Bhargavi Zaveri. 8. FIU’s Penalty on PayPal: The Wisdom of Jurisprudence by Committee -- Bhargavi Zaveri. 9. Survey-based measurement of Indian courts -- Pavithra Manivannan, Susan Thomas, and Bhargavi Zaveri-Shah. 10. Helping litigants make informed choices in resolving debt disputes -- Pavithra Manivannan, Susan Thomas, and Bhargavi Zaveri-Shah. 12. Judicial triage in the lockdown: evidence from India's largest commercial tribunal -- Anjali Sharma and Bhargavi Zaveri. 13. The Loneliness of the Indian Woman — Episode 259 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shrayana Bhattacharya). 14. Young India -- Episode 83 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Snigdha Poonam). 15. Dreamers: How Young Indians Are Changing Their World -- Snigdha Poonam. 16. The Loneliness of the Indian Man — Episode 303 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Nikhil Taneja). 17 Alice Evans on Twitter and The Seen and the Unseen. 18. The End of History? — Francis Fukuyama’s essay. 19. The End of History and the Last Man — Francis Fukuyama’s book. 20. Economic Facts and Fallacies — Thomas Sowell. 21. The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression -- Amity Shlaes. 22. Public Choice Theory Explains SO MUCH -- Episode 33 of Everything is Everything. 23. Parkinson’s Law. 24. Statutory Regulatory Authorities and the Federal System in India -- KP Krishnan, Amrita Pillai and Karan Gulati. 25. Suits on Netflix. 26. The Accidental Prime Minister -- Sanjaya Baru. 27. The Life and Times of KP Krishnan — Episode 355 of The Seen and the Unseen. 28. The Life and Times of Montek Singh Ahluwalia — Episode 285 of The Seen and the Unseen. 29. The Four Quadrants of Conformism — Paul Graham. 30. Stay Away From Luxury Beliefs -- Episode 46 of Everything is Everything. 31. The Anxious Generation -- Jonathan Haidt. 32. Concrete Island -- JG Ballard. 33. High-Rise -- JG Ballard. 34. Judicial Reforms -- Episode 62 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Alok Prasanna Kumar). 35. Noise -- Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony and Cass R. Sunstein. 36. Court on Trial: A Data-Driven Account of the Supreme Court of India -- Aparna Chandra, Sital Kalantry and William HJ Hubbard. 37. Fixing the Knowledge Society -- Episode 24 of Everything is Everything. 38. The Plague -- Albert Camus. 39. The Outsider -- Albert Camus. 40. The Life and Times of the Indian Economy -- Episode 387 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rajeswari Sengupta). 41. Shoe Dog -- Phil Knight. 42. Laapataa Ladies -- Kiran Rao. 43. The Incredible Curiosities of Mukulika Banerjee — Episode 276 of The Seen and the Unseen. 44. The Life and Times of Mrinal Pande — Episode 263 of The Seen and the Unseen. 45. Caste, Capitalism and Chandra Bhan Prasad — Episode 296 of The Seen and the Unseen. Amit’s newsletter is active again. Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free! Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube. Check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. Episode art: ‘Warrior’ by Simahina.
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    3 hrs and 50 mins
  • Ep 388: Niranjan Rajadhyaksha Is the Impartial Spectator

    Ep 388: Niranjan Rajadhyaksha Is the Impartial Spectator
    Jul 1 2024
    He's an elder statesman in the worlds of journalism, policy and economics in India -- and he takes the long view. Niranjan Rajadhyaksha joins Amit Varma in episode 388 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about his life and learnings. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Niranjan Rajadhyaksha on Twitter, Mint and Artha Global. 2. The Rise of India -- NIranjan Rajadhyaksha. 3. Niranjan Rajadhyaksha interviewed in Marathi by Think Bank: Part 1. Part 2. 4. MV Rajadhyaksha and Vijaya Rajadhyaksha. 5. The Times of India obituary of MV Rajadhyaksha. 6. The Song of Life -- Vijaya Rajadyaksha. 7. Adventures of a Bystander -- Peter F Drucker. 8. The Theory of Moral Sentiments -- Adam Smith's book that contains the concept of the impartial spectator. 9. The Impartial Spectator columns by Niranjan Rajadhyaksha and Shruti Rajagopalan. 10. Ratatouille -- Brad Bird. 11. The Overton Window. 12. John Maynard Keynes on Alfred Marshall. 13. The Rooted Cosmopolitanism of Sugata Srinivasaraju — Episode 277 of The Seen and the Unseen. 14. The Rise and Fall of the Bilingual Intellectual -- Ramachandra Guha. 15. Understanding India Through Its Languages — Episode 232 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Peggy Mohan). 16. Wanderers, Kings, Merchants: The Story of India through Its Languages — Peggy Mohan. 17. The Heckman Equation -- a website based on James Heckman's work. 18. Select episodes of The Seen and the Unseen with Suyash Rai (1, 2) and Rahul Verma (1, 2). 19. Stri Purush Tulana by Tarabai Shinde on Amazon and Wikipedia. 20. Kalyanche Nishwas by Vibhavari Shirurkar (Malati Bedekar) on Amazon and Wikipedia. 21. Makers of Modern India -- Ramachandra Guha. 22. Simone de Beauvoir (Wikipedia, Britannica, Amazon) and Germaine Greer (Wikipedia, Britannica, Amazon). 23. Gopal Ganesh Agarkar's essay on education for girls. 24. The omnibus volume of BR Nanda’s biographies of Gokhale, Gandhi and Nehru. 25. The Adda at the End of the Universe — Episode 309 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vikram Sathaye and Roshan Abbas). 26. This Be The Verse — Philip Larkin. 27. Rohit Lamba Will Never Be Bezubaan -- Episode 378 of The Seen and the Unseen. 28. Volga Se Ganga (Hindi) (English) -- Rahul Sankritayan. 29. In Service of the Republic — Vijay Kelkar & Ajay Shah. 30. Turning Over the Pebbles: A Life in Cricket and in the Mind -- Mike Brearley. 31. Slow Horses (book one of Slough House) -- Mick Herron. 32. Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 -- Tony Judt. 33. On Warne -- Gideon Haigh. 34. The Essential Keynes -- John Maynard Keynes. 35. The Age of Uncertainty — John Kenneth Galbraith. 36. Asian Drama -- Gunnar Myrdal. 37. Aneesh Pradhan on Spotify, Amazon, Instagram, Twitter and his own website. 38. Malini Goyal is the Curious One — Episode 377 of The Seen and the Unseen. 39. The UNIX Episode -- Episode 32 of Everything is Everything. 40. The O-Ring Theory of Economic Development -- Michael Kremer. 41. Why Abhijit Banerjee Had to Go Abroad to Achieve Glory -- Amit Varma. 42. Why Talent Comes in Clusters -- Episode 8 of Everything is Everything. 43. The Dark Knight Rises -- Christopher Nolan. 44. Thinking it Through -- The archives of Amit Varma's column for Mint. 45. Remembering Mr. Shawn's New Yorker -- Ved Mehta. 46. Videhi -- Vijaya Rajadhyaksha. 47. Select pieces on the relationship between Raymond Carver and Gordon Lish: 1, 2, 3, 4. 48. Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy -- Joseph Schumpeter. 49. Maharashtra Politics Unscrambled — Episode 151 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Sujata Anandan). 50. Complaint Resolution Systems: Experimental Evidence from Rural India -- Chinmaya Kumar and MR Sharan. 51. Parkinson’s Law — C Northcote Parkinson. 52. The Importance of the 1991 Reforms — Episode 237 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan and Ajay Shah). 53. The Life and Times of Montek Singh Ahluwalia — Episode 285 of The Seen and the Unseen. 54. The Forgotten Greatness of PV Narasimha Rao — Episode 283 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vinay Sitapati). 55. The Life and Times of KP Krishnan — Episode 355 of The Seen and the Unseen. 56. Lant Pritchett Is on Team Prosperity — Episode 379 of The Seen and the Unseen. 57. The Reformers — Episode 28 of Everything is Everything. 58. The Tragedy of Our Farm Bills — Episode 211 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah). 59. Public Choice Theory Explains SO MUCH -- Episode 33 of Everything is Everything. 60. The Logic of Collective Action — Mancur Olson. 61. Ashutosh Salil and the Challenge of Change — Episode 312 of The Seen and the Unseen. 62. Rational Ignorance. 63. The State of Our Farmers — Ep 86 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Gunvant Patil, in Hindi). 64. India’s Agriculture Crisis — Ep 140 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Barun Mitra & Kumar Anand). 65. The Indian State Is...
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    3 hrs and 50 mins
  • Ep 387: The Life and Times of the Indian Economy

    Ep 387: The Life and Times of the Indian Economy
    Jun 24 2024
    Our greatest moral imperative is to solve the problem of poverty -- and after over 75 years, we still have some distance to travel. Rajeswari Sengupta joins Amit Varma in episode 387 of The Seen and the Unseen for a deep dive into how we got here, where we went wrong, what we got right, and how we should look at the Indian economy going forward. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out:1. Rajeswari Sengupta's homepage. 2. Demystifying GDP — Episode 130 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rajeswari Sengupta). 3. Twelve Dream Reforms — Episode 138 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan, Rajeswari Sengupta & Vivek Kaul). 4. Two-and-a-Half Bengalis Have an Economics Adda -- Episode 274 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rajeswari Sengupta and Shrayana Bhattacharya). 5. Talks & Discussions on the Indian Economy featuring Rajeswari Sengupta. 6. Rajeswari Sengulta's writings on the Indian economy. 7. Rajeswari Sengupta's writing for Ideas for India. 8. Rajeswari Sengupta's writing on the Leap Blog. 9. Rajeswari Sengupta's pieces on GDP: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 10. Rajeswari Sengupta's pieces on fiscal policy: 1, 2, 3. 11. Rajeswari Sengupta's pieces on the banking crisis: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 12. Rajeswari Sengupta's pieces on the financial sector: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. 13. Rajeswari Sengupta's pieces on Covid: 1, 2, 3, 4. 14. Getting the State out of Our Lives -- Rajeswari Sengupta's TEDx talk. 15. Why Freedom Matters -- Episode 10 of Everything is Everything. 16. The Reformers -- Episode 28 of Everything is Everything. 17. The Importance of the 1991 Reforms — Episode 237 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan and Ajay Shah). 18. The Life and Times of Montek Singh Ahluwalia — Episode 285 of The Seen and the Unseen. 19. The Forgotten Greatness of PV Narasimha Rao — Episode 283 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vinay Sitapati). 20. India’s Lost Decade — Episode 116 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Puja Mehra). 21. The Life and Times of KP Krishnan -- Episode 355 of The Seen and the Unseen. 22. Lant Pritchett Is on Team Prosperity -- Episode 379 of The Seen and the Unseen. 23. Josh Felman Tries to Make Sense of the World — Episode 321 of The Seen and the Unseen. 24. Rohit Lamba Will Never Be Bezubaan -- Episode 378 of The Seen and the Unseen. 25. Yugank Goyal Is out of the Box — Episode 370 of The Seen and the Unseen. 26. The State of Our Farmers — Ep 86 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Gunvant Patil, in Hindi). 27. India’s Agriculture Crisis — Ep 140 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Barun Mitra & Kumar Anand). 28. The Tragedy of Our Farm Bills — Episode 211 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah). 29. The Art and Science of Economic Policy — Episode 154 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vijay Kelkar & Ajay Shah). 30. Two Economic Crises (2008 & 2019) — Episode 135 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Mohit Satynanand). 31. The Indian Economy in 2019 — Episode 153 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vivek Kaul). 32. Subhashish Bhadra on Our Dysfunctional State -- Episode 333 of The Seen and the Unseen. 33. The Importance of Data Journalism — Episode 196 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rukmini S). 34. Rukmini Sees India’s Multitudes — Episode 261 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rukmini S). 35. Pramit Bhattacharya Believes in Just One Ism — Episode 256 of The Seen and the Unseen. 36. Understanding the State -- Episode 25 of Everything is Everything. 37. When Should the State Act? -- Episode 26 of Everything is Everything. 38. Public Choice Theory Explains SO MUCH -- Episode 33 of Everything is Everything. 39. Our Population Is Our Greatest Asset -- Episode 20 of Everything is Everything. 40. What's Wrong With Indian Agriculture? -- Episode 18 of Everything is Everything. 41. The Long Road to Change -- Episode 36 of Everything is Everything. 42. India Needs Decentralization -- Episode 47 of Everything is Everything. 43. Beware of These Five Fallacies! -- Episode 45 of Everything is Everything. 44. Stay Away From Luxury Beliefs -- Episode 46 of Everything is Everything. 45. Graduating to Globalisation -- Episode 48 of Everything is Everything (on I18N). 46. Ask Me ANYTHING! -- Episode 50 of Everything is Everything. 47. Four Papers That Changed the World -- Episode 41 of Everything is Everything. 48. The Populist Playbook -- Episode 42 of Everything is Everything. 49. The 1991 Project. 50. The quest for economic freedom in India — Shruti Rajagopalan. 51. What I, as a development economist, have been actively “for” — Lant Pritchett. 52. National Development Delivers: And How! And How? — Lant Pritchett. 53. Economic growth is enough and only economic growth is enough — Lant Pritchett with Addison Lewis. 54. Is India a Flailing State?: Detours on the Four Lane Highway to Modernization — Lant Pritchett. 55. Is Your Impact Evaluation Asking Questions That ...
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    9 hrs and 54 mins
  • Ep 386: Shashi Verma Made London Move

    Ep 386: Shashi Verma Made London Move
    Jun 17 2024
    Our cities have changed -- but the ways in which they are governed and imagined can take time to catch up. Shashi Verma joins Amit Varma in episode 386 of The Seen and the Unseen to describe his journey in thought and action -- and his pioneering work in reshaping urban transport. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Shashi Verma on LinkedIn and Centre for London. 2. Shashi Verma on Transport in the 21st Century -- Episode 83 of Brave New World, hosted by Vasant Dhar. 3. The Brave New Future of Electricity -- Episode 40 of Everything is Everything. 4. Guns, Germs and Steel -- Jared Diamond. 5. Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India — Akshaya Mukul. 6. The Gita Press and Hindu Nationalism — Episode 139 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Akshaya Mukul). 7. Deepak VS and the Man Behind His Face — Episode 373 of The Seen and the Unseen. 8. How We Do the Small Things -- Amit Varma. 9. Praise for intelligence can undermine children’s motivation and performance — Claudia Mueller and Carol Dweck. 10. Fixing Indian Education — Episode 185 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Muralidharan). 11. Confronting Constraints: Shashi Verma & Transport for London Tackle a Tough Contract -- Harvard case study. 12. Firms, Contracts, and Financial Structure -- Oliver Hart. 13. India: The Dabhol Power Corporation -- Shashi Verma's case study for Harvard Kennedy School. 14. The Practice of Medicine — Episode 229 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Lancelot Pinto). 15. The Epic of Gilgamesh. 16. Dunbar’s number. 17. The Life and Death of Ancient Cities -- Greg Woolf. 18. The Complete Sherlock Holmes -- Arthur Conan Doyle. 19. Urban Governance in India — Episode 31 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan). 20. The Importance of the 1991 Reforms — Episode 237 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan and Ajay Shah). 21. The Life and Times of Montek Singh Ahluwalia — Episode 285 of The Seen and the Unseen. 22. The Reformers -- Episode 28 of Everything is Everything. 23. The Death and Life of Great American Cities — Jane Jacobs. 24. The Power Broker — Robert Caro. 25. Michael Beesley and Cost Benefit Analysis -- CD Foster. 26. Pritika Hingorani Wants to Fix Our Cities -- Episode 361 of The Seen and the Unseen. 27. Reclaim the Sky -- Episode 11 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Alex Tabarrok). 28. Status Quo Bias. 29. Parkinson’s Law — C Northcote Parkinson. 30. Seen/Unseen episodes with singing by Karthik Muralidharan and Ashwini Deshpande -- and no singing by TM Krishna. 31. Wanderers, Kings, Merchants: The Story of India through Its Languages — Peggy Mohan. 32. Understanding India Through Its Languages — Episode 232 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Peggy Mohan). 33. Pyaasa -- Guru Dutt. Amit’s newsletter is active again. Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free! Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube. Check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. Episode art: ‘London Calling’ by Simahina.
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    5 hrs and 2 mins
  • Ep 385: Vinayak Calling Vinayak

    Ep 385: Vinayak Calling Vinayak
    Jun 10 2024
    To understand modern India, we must understand the history of Hindutva -- and we must wrestle with Savarkar. Vinayak Chaturvedi joins Amit Varma in episode 385 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss his life and work as a historian -- and the importance of history in shaping the present moment. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) (This episode was recorded in March, 2024.) Also check out: 1. Vinayak Chaturvedi at UC Irvine and Amazon. 2. Hindutva and Violence: VD Savarkar and the Politics of History -- Vinayak Chaturvedi. 3. Peasant Pasts – History and Memory in Western India -- Vinayak Chaturvedi. 4. Imaginary Homelands -- Salman Rushdie. 5. The Road and No Country for Old Men -- Cormac McCarthy. 6. No Country for Old Men -- Joel and Ethan Coen. 7. Wanderers, Kings, Merchants: The Story of India through Its Languages — Peggy Mohan. 8. Understanding India Through Its Languages — Episode 232 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Peggy Mohan). 9. Partha Chatterjee on Amazon, Wikipedia and Columbia University. 10. The Egg -- Andy Weir. 11. Deepak VS and the Man Behind His Face -- Episode 373 of The Seen and the Unseen. 12. The Incredible Insights of Timur Kuran -- Episode 349 of The Seen and the Unseen. 13. Private Truths, Public Lies — Timur Kuran. 14. The Long Divergence — Timur Kuran. 15. Some plagiarism complaints against Claudine Gay: 1, 2, 3, 4. 16. The Exquisite Irony of Claudine Gay's Downfall -- Glenn Loury with John McWhorter. 17. Why Did Harvard Cancel Its Best Black Professor? -- Documentary by Rob Montz on the destruction of Roland Fryer. 18. “A White Male Would Probably Already Be Gone” -- Carol Swain interviewed by Christopher Rufo. 19. How one hearing brought down two Ivy League presidents -- Sareen Habeshian. 20. Carlo Ginzburg and Christopher Bayly. 21. The Birth of the Modern World -- CA Bayly. 22. Recovering Liberties: Indian Thought in the Age of Liberalism and Empire -- CA Bayly. 23. The Indian Ideology -- Perry Anderson. 24. Event, Metaphor, Memory : Chauri Chaura -- Shahid Amin. 25. Peasant Intellectuals: Anthropology and History in Tanzania -- Steven Feierman. 26. Elementary Aspects of Peasant Insurgency in Colonial India -- Ranajit Guha. 27. Maps Are Magic -- Episode 44 of Everything is Everything. 28. On Exactitude in Science — Jorge Luis Borges. 29. Rulers, Townsmen and Bazaars -- CA Bayly. 30. The Cheese and the Worms -- Carlo Ginzburg. 31. From Peasant Pasts to Hindutva Futures? -- Vinayak Chaturvedi. 32. Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India — Akshaya Mukul. 33. The Gita Press and Hindu Nationalism — Episode 139 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Akshaya Mukul). 34. The Life and Times of Vir Sanghvi -- Episode 236 of The Seen and the Unseen. 35. A Rude Life — Vir Sanghvi. 36. The BJP Before Modi — Episode 202 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vinay Sitapati). 37. The Importance of the 1991 Reforms — Episode 237 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan and Ajay Shah). 38. Essentials Of Hindutva -- VD Savarkar. 39. Farewell Waltz -- Milan Kundera. 40. A Zone of Engagement -- Perry Anderson. 41. Spectrum: From Right to Left in the World of Ideas -- Perry Anderson. 42. BR Ambedkar's interview on BBC from 1955. 43. Hindutva before Hindutva: Selected Writings and Discourses of Chandranath Basu in Translation -- Edited by Amiya Sen. 44. The Ferment of Our Founders — Episode 272 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Kapila). 45. The Many Shades of George Fernandes -- Episode 327 of The Seen and the Unseen. 46. The Life and Times of George Fernandes — Rahul Ramagundam. 47. Hind Swaraj — MK Gandhi. 48. Annihilation of Caste — BR Ambedkar. 49. Understanding Gandhi: Part 1: Mohandas — Episode 104 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ram Guha). 50. Understanding Gandhi: Part 2: Mahatma — Episode 105 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ram Guha). 51. The Indian War of Independence: 1857 -- VD Savarkar. 52. Savarkar: The True Story of the Father of Hindutva -- Vaibhav Purandare. 53. The Populist Playbook -- Episode 42 of Everything is Everything. 54. The Intellectual Foundations of Hindutva — Episode 115 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Aakar Patel). 55. Hindu-Padpaadshahi (Hindi Edition) -- VD Savarkar. 56. Veer Savarkar -- Dhananjay Keer. 57. GS Sardesai, VK Rajwade and Jadunath Sarkar. 58. The Collected Works of MK Gandhi and BR Ambedkar. 59. Swapna Liddle and the Many Shades of Delhi — Episode 367 of The Seen and the Unseen. 60. Episodes of the Seen and the Unseen with Srinath Raghavan: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 61. Episodes of the Seen and the Unseen with Manu Pillai: 1, 2, 3, 4. 62. Episodes of the Seen and the Unseen with Ramachandra Guha: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. 63. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen with Ira Mukhoty, Parvati Sharma and Rana Safvi. 64. John McEnroe plus Anyone -- Edward Said. 65. ...
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    4 hrs and 39 mins