Sathya Saran, a veteran journalist and former editor of Femina, shares her journey navigating the complex world of women's empowerment and femininity in India. She delves into the evolution of women's magazines and their impact on societal perceptions, particularly the Miss India competition. Sathya also discusses her experiences in journalism, the art of biography writing, and the importance of storytelling. Through personal anecdotes, she reflects on self-worth, resilience, and the significant role of media in shaping narratives for Indian women.

Manu Pillai, author of "Gods, Guns and Missionaries," delves into the multitudes of Hinduism and its complex evolution. He discusses how colonialism and missionary influences shaped modern Hindu identity and explores the adaptability of worship practices. With reflections on personal legacy and storytelling, Pillai emphasizes the importance of understanding historical narratives that intertwine with contemporary issues. He also critiques colonial misinterpretations and discusses the impact of reform movements on Hindu society and nationalism.

Our societies, our norms, our values are all shaped by stories from the past. Devdutt Pattanaik joins Amit Varma in episode 404 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss his life, our society and why we should take mythology seriously. Note: This is Part 2 of a 12-hour episode, being uploaded in two parts now because Spotify and YouTube don't allow uploads over 12 hours. So do listen to Part 1 first -- and if you are on another podcast app, just play the full version if it is there! (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out 1. Devdutt Pattanaik on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Wikipedia, YouTube, Amazon and his own website. 2. Myth = Mithya: Decoding Hindu Mythology -- Devdutt Pattanaik. 3. The Girl Who Chose -- Devdutt Pattanaik. 4. The Boys Who Fought -- Devdutt Pattanaik. 5. Ramayana Versus Mahabharata -- Devdutt Pattanaik. 6. My Gita -- Devdutt Pattanaik. 7. Bahubali: 63 Insights into Jainism -- Devdutt Pattanaik. 8. Sati Savitri -- Devdutt Pattanaik. 9. Business Sutra -- Devdutt Pattanaik. 10. Ahimsa: 100 Reflections on the Harappan Civilization -- Devdutt Pattanaik. 11. Olympus -- Devdutt Pattanaik. 12. Eden -- Devdutt Pattanaik. 13. East vs West -- The Myths That Mystify -- Devdutt Pattanaik's 2009 TED Talk. 14. Today My Mother Came Home -- Devdutt Pattanaik. 15. The Incredible Curiosities of Mukulika Banerjee — Episode 276 of The Seen and the Unseen. 16. The Life and Times of Mrinal Pande — Episode 263 of The Seen and the Unseen. 17. Sara Rai Inhales Literature — Episode 255 of The Seen and the Unseen. 18. The Life and Times of Shanta Gokhale — Episode 311 of The Seen and the Unseen. 19. Yuganta -- Irawati Karve. 20. Women in Indian History — Episode 144 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ira Mukhoty). 21. The Jewel in the Crown -- BBC TV series. 22. Heat and Dust -- James Ivory. 23. The Sexual Outlaw -- John Rechy. 24. Bombay Dost and Gay Bombay. 25. The Double ‘Thank You’ Moment — John Stossel. 26. The Kama Sutra. 27. Liberty -- Isaiah Berlin. 28. Thought and Choice in Chess -- Adriaan de Groot. 29. The Seven Basic Plots -- Christopher Booker. 30. The Seven Basic Plots -- Episode 69 of Everything is Everything. 31. The Hero with a Thousand Faces -- Joseph Campbell. 32. The Big Questions -- Steven Landsburg. 33. 300 Ramayanas — AK Ramanujan. 33. The egg came before the chicken. 34. The Evolution of Cooperation — Robert Axelrod. 35. The Trees -- Philip Larkin. 36. Who We Are and How We Got Here — David Reich. 37. Early Indians — Tony Joseph. 38. Tony Joseph’s episode on The Seen and the Unseen. 39. A Life in Indian Politics — Episode 149 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Jayaprakash Narayan). 40. The BJP Before Modi — Episode 202 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vinay Sitapati). 41. Jugalbandi -- Vinay Sitapati. 42. Perfect Days -- Wim Wenders. 43. The Loneliness of the Indian Woman — Episode 259 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shrayana Bhattacharya). 44. The Loneliness of the Indian Man — Episode 303 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Nikhil Taneja). 45. Mary Wollstonecraft and bell hooks. 46. If India Was Five Days Old -- Devdutt Pattanaik. 47. The Road to Freedom — Arthur C Brooks. 48. The Master and His Emissary -- Iain McGilchrist. 49. This Be The Verse — Philip Larkin. 50. Human -- Michael Gazzaniga. 51. The Elephant in the Brain — Kevin Simler and Robin Hanson. 52. The Blank Slate -- Steven Pinker. 53. Amitava Kumar Finds the Breath of Life — Episode 265 of The Seen and the Unseen. 54. Wanderers, Kings, Merchants — Peggy Mohan. 55. Understanding India Through Its Languages — Episode 232 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Peggy Mohan). 56. The Reformers -- Episode 28 of Everything is Everything. 57. The Golden Bough -- James Frazer. 58. Myth And Reality: Studies In The Formation Of Indian Culture -- DD Kosambi. 59. Srimad Bhagavatam -- Kamala Subramaniam. 60. Boris Vallejo on Instagram, Wikipedia and his own website. 61. The Last Temptation Of Christ -- Nikos Kazantzakis. 62. The Last Temptation Of Christ -- Martin Scorcese. 63. Jeff Bezos on The Lex Fridman Podcast.  64. The Poem of the Killing of Meghnad -- Michael Madhusudan Dutt. 65. Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil — Hannah Arendt. 66. The Crown -- Created by Peter Morgan. 67. Profit = Philanthropy — Amit Varma. 68. Imaginary Number — Vijay Seshadri. 69. The Buddha's Footprint -- Johan Elverskog. 70. A Prehistory of Hinduism -- Manu Devadevan. 71. The ‘Early Medieval' Origins of India -- Manu Devadevan. 72. Unmasking Buddhism -- Bernard Faure. 73. The Red Thread -- Bernard Faure. 74. The Power of Denial -- Bernard Faure. 75. The Thousand and One Lives of the Buddha -- Bernard Faure. 76. A Modern Look At Ancient Chinese Theory Of Language -- Chad Hansen. 77. Hermann Kulke, Umakant Mishra and Ganesh Devy on Amazon. 78. The Hours -- Michael Cunningham. 79. The Hours -- Stephen Daldry. 79. Ancestral Dravidian languages in Indus Civilization -- Bahata Ansumali Mukhopadhyay. 80. Myth -- Laurence Coupe. This episode is sponsored by Rang De, a platform that enables individuals to invest in farmers, rural entrepreneurs and artisans. 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: ‘Tell’ by Simahina.

Our societies, our norms, our values are all shaped by stories from the past. Devdutt Pattanaik joins Amit Varma in episode 404 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss his life, our society and why we should take mythology seriously. Note: This is Part 1 of a 12-hour episode, being uploaded in two parts now because Spotify and YouTube don't allow uploads over 12 hours. So if you are on another podcast app, just play the full version if it is there! (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out 1. Devdutt Pattanaik on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Wikipedia, YouTube, Amazon and his own website. 2. Myth = Mithya: Decoding Hindu Mythology -- Devdutt Pattanaik. 3. The Girl Who Chose -- Devdutt Pattanaik. 4. The Boys Who Fought -- Devdutt Pattanaik. 5. Ramayana Versus Mahabharata -- Devdutt Pattanaik. 6. My Gita -- Devdutt Pattanaik. 7. Bahubali: 63 Insights into Jainism -- Devdutt Pattanaik. 8. Sati Savitri -- Devdutt Pattanaik. 9. Business Sutra -- Devdutt Pattanaik. 10. Ahimsa: 100 Reflections on the Harappan Civilization -- Devdutt Pattanaik. 11. Olympus -- Devdutt Pattanaik. 12. Eden -- Devdutt Pattanaik. 13. East vs West -- The Myths That Mystify -- Devdutt Pattanaik's 2009 TED Talk. 14. Today My Mother Came Home -- Devdutt Pattanaik. 15. The Incredible Curiosities of Mukulika Banerjee — Episode 276 of The Seen and the Unseen. 16. The Life and Times of Mrinal Pande — Episode 263 of The Seen and the Unseen. 17. Sara Rai Inhales Literature — Episode 255 of The Seen and the Unseen. 18. The Life and Times of Shanta Gokhale — Episode 311 of The Seen and the Unseen. 19. Yuganta -- Irawati Karve. 20. Women in Indian History — Episode 144 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ira Mukhoty). 21. The Jewel in the Crown -- BBC TV series. 22. Heat and Dust -- James Ivory. 23. The Sexual Outlaw -- John Rechy. 24. Bombay Dost and Gay Bombay. 25. The Double ‘Thank You’ Moment — John Stossel. 26. The Kama Sutra. 27. Liberty -- Isaiah Berlin. 28. Thought and Choice in Chess -- Adriaan de Groot. 29. The Seven Basic Plots -- Christopher Booker. 30. The Seven Basic Plots -- Episode 69 of Everything is Everything. 31. The Hero with a Thousand Faces -- Joseph Campbell. 32. The Big Questions -- Steven Landsburg. 33. 300 Ramayanas — AK Ramanujan. 33. The egg came before the chicken. 34. The Evolution of Cooperation — Robert Axelrod. 35. The Trees -- Philip Larkin. 36. Who We Are and How We Got Here — David Reich. 37. Early Indians — Tony Joseph. 38. Tony Joseph’s episode on The Seen and the Unseen. 39. A Life in Indian Politics — Episode 149 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Jayaprakash Narayan). 40. The BJP Before Modi — Episode 202 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vinay Sitapati). 41. Jugalbandi -- Vinay Sitapati. 42. Perfect Days -- Wim Wenders. 43. The Loneliness of the Indian Woman — Episode 259 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shrayana Bhattacharya). 44. The Loneliness of the Indian Man — Episode 303 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Nikhil Taneja). 45. Mary Wollstonecraft and bell hooks. 46. If India Was Five Days Old -- Devdutt Pattanaik. 47. The Road to Freedom — Arthur C Brooks. 48. The Master and His Emissary -- Iain McGilchrist. 49. This Be The Verse — Philip Larkin. 50. Human -- Michael Gazzaniga. 51. The Elephant in the Brain — Kevin Simler and Robin Hanson. 52. The Blank Slate -- Steven Pinker. 53. Amitava Kumar Finds the Breath of Life — Episode 265 of The Seen and the Unseen. 54. Wanderers, Kings, Merchants — Peggy Mohan. 55. Understanding India Through Its Languages — Episode 232 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Peggy Mohan). 56. The Reformers -- Episode 28 of Everything is Everything. 57. The Golden Bough -- James Frazer. 58. Myth And Reality: Studies In The Formation Of Indian Culture -- DD Kosambi. 59. Srimad Bhagavatam -- Kamala Subramaniam. 60. Boris Vallejo on Instagram, Wikipedia and his own website. 61. The Last Temptation Of Christ -- Nikos Kazantzakis. 62. The Last Temptation Of Christ -- Martin Scorcese. 63. Jeff Bezos on The Lex Fridman Podcast.  64. The Poem of the Killing of Meghnad -- Michael Madhusudan Dutt. 65. Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil — Hannah Arendt. 66. The Crown -- Created by Peter Morgan. 67. Profit = Philanthropy — Amit Varma. 68. Imaginary Number — Vijay Seshadri. 69. The Buddha's Footprint -- Johan Elverskog. 70. A Prehistory of Hinduism -- Manu Devadevan. 71. The ‘Early Medieval' Origins of India -- Manu Devadevan. 72. Unmasking Buddhism -- Bernard Faure. 73. The Red Thread -- Bernard Faure. 74. The Power of Denial -- Bernard Faure. 75. The Thousand and One Lives of the Buddha -- Bernard Faure. 76. A Modern Look At Ancient Chinese Theory Of Language -- Chad Hansen. 77. Hermann Kulke, Umakant Mishra and Ganesh Devy on Amazon. 78. The Hours -- Michael Cunningham. 79. The Hours -- Stephen Daldry. 79. Ancestral Dravidian languages in Indus Civilization -- Bahata Ansumali Mukhopadhyay. 80. Myth -- Laurence Coupe. This episode is sponsored by Rang De, a platform that enables individuals to invest in farmers, rural entrepreneurs and artisans. 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: ‘Tell’ by Simahina.

In this engaging conversation, Devdutt Pattanaik, an acclaimed author of over 50 books on Indian mythology, unravels how ancient stories shape modern identities. He discusses the impact of mythology on societal values, exploring themes of agency in the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. Pattanaik also reflects on personal journeys, the ethics of vegetarianism, and the significance of storytelling in business. With critical insights into the oversimplification of myths in Bollywood and the complexities of identity, he urges listeners to embrace the depth of these narratives.

Shikha Dalmia, a columnist with a focus on populism and modern authoritarianism, dives deep into the rising tide of populism and its global implications. She discusses the transformation within the Republican Party under Trump, and highlights the parallels between populist movements in India and the U.S. Dalmia emphasizes the erosion of liberal values in today’s political climate, the fragmentation of media narratives, and the urgent need for electoral reform to safeguard democracy. With insights from her own experiences, she sheds light on the challenges of modern identity and journalism.

He's a polymath who cares deeply about the world, tries to understand it, and straddles many fields. He's played a key role over the last few decades in India's journey towards development. Ajay Shah joins Amit Varma in episode 402 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about his life and times. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.)   Also check out: 1. Ajay Shah on Twitter and Substack. 2. Everything is Everything -- Ajay Shah's YouTube show with Amit Varma. 3. Life Lessons -- A course taught by Ajay Shah and Amit Varma. 4. In Service of the Republic: The Art and Science of Economic Policy — Vijay Kelkar and Ajay Shah. 5. XKDR Forum. 6. The LEAP blog. 7. Previous episodes of The Seen and the Unseen with Ajay Shah: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13. 8. The Surface Area of Serendipity -- Episode 39 of Everything is Everything.  9. The Economic Lives of the Poor -- Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo. 10. The Universe of Chuck Gopal — Episode 258 of The Seen and the Unseen. 11. The Hiking Episode -- Episode 35 of Everything is Everything. 12. Declutter -- Episode 30 of Everything is Everything. 13. The Life and Times of Mrinal Pande — Episode 263 of The Seen and the Unseen. 14. Pushpesh Pant Feasts on the Buffet of Life — Episode 326 of The Seen and the Unseen. 15. The Life and Times of Ira Pande -- Episode 369 of The Seen and the Unseen. 16. A Meditation on Form -- Amit Varma. 17. A Passion for Cycling -- Episode 53 of Everything is Everything. 18. Il Lombardia: Tadej Pogačar delivers historical fourth consecutive victory. 19. Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy. 20. Seven Stories That Should Be Films -- Episode 23 of Everything is Everything (including Ajay's retelling, 'The Fat Frogs of Tatsinskaya'). 21. India’s Greatest Civil Servant — Episode 167 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Narayani Basu, on VP Menon). 22. VP Menon: The Unsung Architect of Modern India — Narayani Basu. 23. Five Epic Stories That Must Be Films -- Episode 29 of Everything is Everything (including Amit's retelling of VP Menon's story). 24. Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 — Tony Judt. 25. The God That Failed -- Edited by Richard Crossman. 26. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich -- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. 27. Free to Choose -- Milton Friedman and Rose Friedman. 28. Both Sides Now -- Joni Mitchell. 29. How to Write a Paper -- Episode 62 of Everything is Everything. 30. Jim Corbett on Wikipedia and Amazon. 31. Trek The Sahyadris -- Harish Kapadia. 32. Inflation Targeting Rocks! -- Episode 68 of The Seen and the Unseen. 33. The Heckman Equation. 34. A Deep Dive Into Education -- Episode 54 of Everything is Everything. 35. The Two Cultures -- CP Snow. 36. Shivaji and His Times -- Jadunath Sarkar. 37. Suyash Rai Embraces India’s Complexity — Episode 307 of The Seen and the Unseen. 38. Seeing Like a State — James C Scott. 39. The Tyranny of Experts — William Easterly. 40. Are You Just One Version of Yourself? -- Episode 3 of Everything is Everything. 41. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen with Ramachandra Guha: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. 42. The Life and Times of KP Krishnan — Episode 355 of The Seen and the Unseen. 43. Our Population Is Our Greatest Asset -- Episode 20 of Everything if Everything. 44. Population Is Not a Problem, but Our Greatest Strength -- Amit Varma. 45. Plato (or Why Philosophy Matters) — Episode 109 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rebecca Goldstein). 46. How to Do Development -- Episode 57 of Everything is Everything. 47. Lant Pritchett Is on Team Prosperity — Episode 379 of The Seen and the Unseen. 48. The Life and Times of Chess -- Episode 52 of Everything is Everything. 49. Fixing the Knowledge Society -- Episode 24 of Everything is Everything. 50. The Importance of the 1991 Reforms — Episode 237 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan and Ajay Shah). 51. The Reformers -- Episode 28 of Everything is Everything. 52. The Beauty of Finance -- Episode 21 of Everything is Everything. 53. What's Wrong With Indian Agriculture? -- Episode 18 of Everything is Everything. 54. The Life and Times of Montek Singh Ahluwalia — Episode 285 of The Seen and the Unseen. 55. The Importance of Finance — Episode 125 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah). 56. India in Transition: Freeing the Economy -- Jagdish Bhagwati. 57. The UNIX Episode -- Episode 32 of Everything is Everything. 58. Don't Mess With the Price System -- Episode 66 of Everything is Everything. 59. Four Papers That Changed the World -- Episode 41 of Everything is Everything. 60. The Ghost and the Darkness -- Stephen Hopkins. 61. India’s Massive Pensions Crisis — Episode 347 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah & Renuka Sane). 62. Understanding India's Pensions Disaster -- Episode 65 of Everything is Everything. 63. What Bruce Springsteen Means to Us -- Episode 13 of Everything is Everything. 64. Distance From Delhi -- The Takshashila Institution. 65. Beyond A Boundary -- CLR James. 66. Letters for a Nation: From Jawaharlal Nehru to His Chief Ministers 1947-1963 -- Jawaharlal Nehru. 67. Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister — Jonathan Lynn and Antony Jay. 68. The Long Road to Change -- Episode 36 of Everything is Everything. 69. The Tragedy of Our Farm Bills — Episode 211 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah). 70. Government's End: Why Washington Stopped Working -- Jonathan Rauch. 71. Understanding deviations from the fiscal responsibility law in India -- Pratik Datta, Radhika Pandey, Ila Patnaik and Ajay Shah. 72. Who Lends to the Indian State? -- Aneesha Chitgupi, Ajay Shah, Manish Singh, Susan Thomas and Harsh Vardhan. 73. The Percy Mistry report. 74. Bare Acts. 75. Subhashish Bhadra on Our Dysfunctional State — Episode 333 of The Seen and the Unseen. 76. Shruti Rajagopalan on our constitutional amendments. 77. The First Assault on Our Constitution — Episode 194 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Tripurdaman Singh). 78. Sixteen Stormy Days — Tripurdaman Singh. 79. Caged Tiger: How Too Much Government Is Holding Indians Back — Subhashish Bhadra. 80. Subhashish Bhadra on Our Dysfunctional State — Episode 333 of The Seen and the Unseen. 81. The Matrix -- Lana Wachowski & Lilly Wachowski. 82. How Family Firms Evolve -- Episode 34 of Everything is Everything. 83. From Imperial to Adaptive Firms -- Episode 37 of Everything is Everything. 84. Graduating to Globalisation -- Episode 48 of Everything is Everything. 85. Jeff Bezos on The Lex Fridman Podcast. 86. Born to Run -- Bruce Springsteen. 87. Go to the root cause (2007) -- Ajay Shah. 88. Bhargavi Zaveri-Shah Will Not Wear a Blue Tie to Work — Episode 389 of The Seen and the Unseen. 89. Understanding the State -- Episode 25 of Everything is Everything. 90. Every Act of Government Is an Act of Violence -- Amit Varma. 91. When Should the State Act? -- Episode 26 of Everything is Everything. 92. Public Choice Theory Explains SO MUCH -- Episode 33 of Everything is Everything. 93. Public Choice – A Primer -- Eamonn Butler. 94. The Journey of Indian Finance -- Ajay Shah. 95. Amrita Agarwal Wants to Solve Healthcare -- Episode 393 of The Seen and the Unseen. 96. Fortress and Frontier in American Health Care -- Robert Graboyes. 97. We Love Vaccines! We Love Freedom! -- Episode 27 of Everything is Everything. 98. The Art and Science of Economic Policy — Episode 154 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vijay Kelkar & Ajay Shah). 99. Pranay Kotasthane on Amazon. 100. A blog post is a very long and complex search query to find fascinating people and make them route interesting stuff to your inbox -- Henrik Karlsson. 101. For Whom the Bell Tolls -- Ernest Hemingway. 102. Essays in Persuasion -- John Maynard Keynes. 103. The Ascent Of Man -- Jacob Bronowski. 104. How to Modernise the Working of Courts and Tribunals in India -- Many authors including Ajay Shah. 105. How to Modernise the Working of Courts and Tribunals in India -- Ajay Shah. 106. The lowest hanging fruit on the coconut tree — Akshay Jaitly and Ajay Shah. 107. Climate Change and Our Power Sector — Episode 278 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Akshay Jaitley and Ajay Shah). 108. The Brave New Future of Electricity -- Episode 40 of Everything is Everything. 109. False Alarm: How Climate Change Panic Costs Us Trillions, Hurts the Poor, and Fails to Fix the Planet -- Bjorn Lomborg. 110. Stay Away From Luxury Beliefs -- Episode 46 of Everything is Everything. 111. Nuclear Power Can Save the World -- Joshua S Goldstein, Staffan A Qvist & Steven Pinker. 112. But Clouds Got In My Way -- Ayush Patnaik, Ajay Shah, Anshul Tayal and Susan Thomas. 113. Everybody Lies — Seth Stephens-Davidowitz. 114. The Truth About Ourselves — Amit Varma. 115. Capitalism and Freedom -- Milton Friedman. 116. Against the Grain -- James C Scott. 117. The Beatles, Dire Straits, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and Bruce Springsteen on Spotify. 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: ‘Dreaming’ by Simahina.

Sanjana Ramachandran, a writer and content creator, joins Samarth Bansal, a speaker on modern dating dynamics, to explore the evolving landscape of love in India. They discuss how technology offers both ease and challenges in forming connections. The conversation highlights societal pressures on identity, the intricate dynamics of gender roles, and the clash between tradition and modern values. Listeners hear personal anecdotes as they navigate the humorous yet poignant struggles of contemporary romance, pushing boundaries of what love means today.

In this engaging conversation, Shruti Rajagopalan, a savvy analyst of Indian politics, joins veteran podcaster Amit Varma to share invaluable life lessons learned over eight years. They discuss the failures of traditional education and the importance of lifelong learning. The duo dives into the beauty of daily joys versus grand ambitions, the nuances of wokeism and liberalism, and the value of humor in tough times. With literary references and personal anecdotes, they inspire listeners to embrace curiosity, complexity, and connection.

Divya Prakash Dubey, a bestselling writer revolutionizing Hindi literature and screenwriting, shares his insights on creativity and identity. He delves into the evolution of contemporary storytelling, reflecting on how language shapes narratives and resonates with audiences. The conversation touches on nostalgia tied to past media experiences, the role of education in personal growth, and the complexities of identity influenced by society and religion. Dubey also navigates the balance between tradition and modernity in a rapidly changing world.