Ep 385: Vinayak Calling Vinayak
The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma
Exploring Complexity in Historical Writing
The chapter delves into the intricacies of historical writing, discussing the challenge of balancing a comprehensive narrative with the nuanced details of specific regions or events. Through the analogy of George Everest's mapping vision in India, the dilemma of focusing on broader overviews versus intricate details is explored. The discussion extends to the speaker's academic projects on Gujarat's history, denotified tribes, and the rise of Hindutva, emphasizing the importance of recognizing agency in individuals involved in societal movements.
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. Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste -- Pierre Bourdieu. 66. Lendl, Becker, McEnroe, & Wilander interviewed in the Tennis Legends Podcast. 67. Ben Böhmer, Sultan+Shepard, Nora En Pure, U2 and New Order on Spotify. 68. The Zone of Interest -- Jonathan Glazer. 69. Oldboy -- Park Chan-wook. 70. Burning -- Lee Chang-dong. 71. Memories of Murder -- Bong Joon-ho. 72. Return to Seoul -- Davy Chou. 73. Past Lives -- Celine Song. 74. Monster -- Kore-eda Hirokazu. 75. The Wind From Far Away -- Amit Varma (on Monster among other things). 76. Shoplifters -- Hirokazu Kore-eda. 77. Nobody Knows -- Hirokazu Kore-eda. 78. Broker -- Hirokazu Kore-eda. 79. A Death in the Family -- Book 1 of Karl Ove Knausgaard's A Struggle. 80. In Search Of Lost Time -- Marcel Proust. 81. My Saga -- Karl Ove Knausgaard's essay for NYT. 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: ‘The Historian’ by Simahina.
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