The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma

Finally, 2020 is behind us. It changed our world, the way we live our lives, and how we relate to each other and to ourselves. Shruti Rajagopalan and Alex Tabarrok join Amit Varma in episode 206 of The Seen and the Unseen to take stock of the year gone by, with each of them picking five lessons they feel 2020 holds for us. Because they can't count, though, they end up with more than 15 -- here they are, below. (Listen to the episode for the elaborations and arguments.) The Lessons: 0. Don't take anything for granted. (Amit) 1. Don't make the mistake of Omission, Commission, Distinction. (Alex) 2. We should pay more attention to tail risks. (Shruti) 3. Art and Entertainment can be intimate and personal. (Amit) 4. People care more about narratives to explain the world than the world itself. (Amit) 5. We should think more about inter-generational tradeoffs, and consider lowering the voting age. (Shruti) 6. Software is eating the biological world. (Alex) 7. Science is not the problem. The problem is economic illiteracy. (Shruti) 7.5. We should move from collectivized decision-making to respecting individual choice. (Alex) 8. We need to rethink education. Not just the delivery of it, but how we think of education itself. (Amit) 9. A bigger problem than state capacity is state will. (Alex) 10. Politicians don't always behave in a rational, self-interested way. (Shruti) 11. Politics is driven only by tribalism. (Amit) 12. The internet is even better than we thought. (Alex) 13. Markets don't solve everything. (Shruti) 14. We should worry more about computer viruses. (Alex) 15. We should take a closer look at how we relate to other people. (Amit) 15.5 Be like dogs. Live in the moment. (Shruti) Also check out: 1. Elite Imitation in Public Policy -- Episode 180 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan and Alex Tabarrok). 2. Previous episodes with Shruti and Alex. 3. Previous episodes on Covid-19: 1, 2, 3, 4. 4. The Omission-Commission Error is Deadly -- Alex Tabarrok. 5. Asteroid Deflection as a Public Good -- Alex Tabarrok. (And some other Marginal Revolution posts on asteroids.) 6. The Day the Dinosaurs Died -- Douglas Preston. 7. Unlikely is Inevitable -- Amit Varma. 8. The Hunter Becomes the Hunted -- Episode 200 of The Seen and the Unseen. 9. The YouTube channels of Samay Raina and ChessBase India. 10. Only Fans. 11. 1000 True Fans -- Kevin Kelly. 12. 1000 True Fans? Try 100 -- Li Jin. 13. Marginal Revolution University. 14. ParentData -- Emily Oster's newsletter on Substack. 15. Profit = Philanthropy -- Amit Varma. 16. Modern Principles of Microeconomics -- Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok. (And Macroeconomics.) 17. Collective Action Kills Innovation -- Alex Tabarrok.18. Fixing Indian Education -- Episode 185 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Muralidharan). 19. The Case Against Education -- Bryan Caplan. 20. Beware of the Useful Idiots -- Amit Varma. 21. Khaana Chahiya. 22. The BJP Before Modi -- Episode 202 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vinay Sitapati). This episode is sponsored by the podcast, Think Like an Economist, hosted by Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers.  You can now buy Seen/Unseen swag. And do check out Amit’s online courses, The Art of Clear Writing and The Art of Podcasting.

Pandemic, lockdown, masks, vaccine, state failure, state overreach: India's been here before, and it's been worse. Chinmay Tumbe joins Amit Varma in episode 205 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss how 40 million lives were lost in the subcontinent between 1817 and 1920 in the cholera, plague and influenza pandemics -- and the lessons we need to learn from them. Also check out: 1. Age of Pandemics -- Chinmay Tumbe. 2. India Moving -- Chinmay Tumbe. 3. India = Migration -- Episode 128 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Chinmay Tumbe). 4. Everyday Technology: Machines and the Making of India's Modernity -- David Arnold. 5. Cholera and Colonialism in British India -- David Arnold. 6. Smritichitre: The Memoirs of a Spirited Wife -- Lakshmibai Tilak (translated by Shanta Gokhale). 7. The British in India: A Social History of the Raj -- David Gilmour. 8. The Great Escape -- Angus Deaton. 9. The Birth of the Modern World -- CA Bayly. 10. Eric Hobsbawm's books on Amazon. 11. Harsh Mander’s Near-Death Covid Experience In Delhi’s Hospitals -- Natasha Badhwar. 12. Fighting Fake News -- Episode 133 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pratik Sinha). 13. Plague Ports -- Myron Echenberg. 14. A Life Misspent -- Suryakant Tripathi aka Nirala. This episode is sponsored by The Great Courses Plus. Check out their course, An Introduction to Infectious Diseases. For free unlimited access for a month, click here. You can now buy Seen/Unseen swag. And do check out Amit’s online courses, The Art of Clear Writing and The Art of Podcasting.

Indian cooking is often treated as a mystical art -- but it is the science behind it that should fill us with wonder. Krish Ashok joins Amit Varma in episode 204 of The Seen and the Unseen to speak about Masala Lab, his effort at explaining this great art from scientific first principles. Every meal of yours can now be a romantic adventure filled with the ecstasy of insight -- whether you cook it, eat or or do both while playing the violin. Also check out: 1. Masala Lab -- Krish Ashok. 2. Krish Ashok's website, blog, YouTube, Soundcloud & columns. 3. The Indianness of Indian Food -- Episode 95 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vikram Doctor). 4. Neurogastronomy -- Gordon M Shepherd. 5. Hot Ones (the spicy wings show) on Wikipedia and YouTube. 6. The Botany of Desire -- Michael Pollan. 7. Ganesh Bagler's homepage, Wikipedia, academic papers and YouTube Channel. 8. Shukto (Ekla Cholo Re). Bloody hell! 9. Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat -- Samin Nosrat. 10. Nisha Madhulika on YouTube. 11. The Ketchup Conundrum -- Malcolm Gladwell. 12. Toddy Chicken -- Vahchef. 13. The Food Lab -- J Kenji López–alt. 14. Modernist Cusine -- Nathan Myhrvold. 15. Modernist Cusine at Home -- Nathan Myhrvold. 16. Bong Eats on YouTube. 17. Saffron Trail -- Nandita Iyer's blog. 18. Salu Kitchen on YouTube. 19. Madras Samayal on YouTube. This episode is sponsored by The Great Courses Plus. Check out their course, Cooking Across the Ages. For free unlimited access for a month, click here. You can now buy Seen/Unseen swag. And do check out Amit’s online courses, The Art of Clear Writing and The Art of Podcasting.

If someone from the year 1990 visited the world of 2020, it would seem magical, even fictional. Vasant Dhar joins Amit Varma in episode 203 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about how technology will continue to change our world in ways we cannot imagine. Will the future upgrade us -- or will it make us obsolete?  Also check out: 1. Vasant Dhar at NYU Stern. 2. Brave New World -- hosted by Vasant Dhar. 3. When Should We Trust Machines? -- Vasant Dhar at TEDxHamilton. 4. Vasant Dhar on machine learning and investing. 5. Vasant Dhar on the Commercialisation of Big Data. 6. The New World Upon Us -- Amit Varma. 7. The Interpreter -- Amit Varma. 8. Human -- Michael S Gazzaniga. 9. My Stroke of Insight -- Jill Bolte Taylor. 10. Why Nations Fail -- Daron Acemoglu and James A Robinson. 11. Here's Why Aadhaar is a Big Deal -- Episode 61 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Nikhil Pahwa). 12. The Future of the Internet -- Episode 65 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Nikhil Pahwa & Amit Doshi). 13. Data Factories -- Ben Thompson. 14. What Really Happened? — Lawrence H White on the 2008 Financial Crisis. 15. 3 Ways to Increase Social Media Platforms’ Transparency — Vasant Dhar. 16. Who Controls Your Data? — Vasant Dhar. 17. In the AI era, privacy and democracy are in peril -- Vasant Dhar. 18. Social-media platforms are undermining our democracy -- Helena Rosenblatt & Vasant Dhar. 19. Paperclip Maximizer. 20. The Three Laws of Robotics. This episode is sponsored by CTQ Compounds. Upgrade yourself for the future -- and get your reading habit back in gear! You can now buy Seen/Unseen swag. And do check out Amit’s online courses, The Art of Clear Writing and The Art of Podcasting.

The dominance of Hindu nationalism in Indian politics is so complete that it seems like it was inevitable. Was it? Vinay Sitapati joins Amit Varma in episode 202 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss the BJP's long journey to this point, as reflected in the jugalbandi of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani. Also check out: 1. Jugalbandi: The BJP Before Modi -- Vinay Sitapati. 2. Half-Lion: How P.V. Narasimha Rao Transformed India -- Vinay Sitapati. 3. The BJP's Magic Formula -- Episode 45 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Prashant Jha). 4. The Gita Press and Hindu Nationalism -- Episode 139 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Akshaya Mukul). 5. The First Assault on Our Constitution -- Episode 194 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Tripurdaman Singh). 6. The Ideas of Our Constitution -- Episode 164 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Madhav Khosla). 7. Who Broke Our Republic? -- Episode 163 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Kapil Komireddi). 8. The Intellectual Foundations of Hindutva -- Episode 115 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Aakar Patel). 9. Religion and Ideology in Indian Society -- Episode 124 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Suyash Rai). 10. Political Ideology in India -- Episode 131 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rahul Verma). 11. Vinay Sitapati interviewed by Rohan Venkat.  This episode is sponsored by The Great Courses Plus. Check out their course, Games People Play: Game Theory in Life, Business, and Beyond. For free unlimited access for a month, click here. You can now buy Seen/Unseen swag. And do check out Amit’s online courses, The Art of Clear Writing and The Art of Podcasting.

Cricket has a unique place in Indian society, and has touched and shaped millions of lives. Ramachandra Guha joins Amit Varma in episode 201 of The Seen and the Unseen to describe how he came to love, play and even administer the 'most subtle and sophisticated game known to humankind.' Also check out: 1. The Commonwealth of Cricket -- Ramachandra Guha. 2. A Corner of a Foreign Field -- Ramachandra Guha. 3. The Picador Book of Cricket -- Edited by Ramachandra Guha. 4. Ramachandra Guha's books on Amazon. 5. Understanding Gandhi. Part 1: Mohandas -- Episode 104 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ramachandra Guha). 6. Understanding Gandhi. Part 2: Mahatma -- Episode 105 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ramachandra Guha). 7. Taking Stock of Our Republic -- Episode 157 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ramachandra Guha). 8. Autobiography of an Unknown Cricketer -- Sujit Mukherjee. 9. Beyond a Boundary -- CLR James. 10. The Tao of Cricket -- Ashis Nandy. 11. Money in Cricket -- Episode 41 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Gideon Haigh & Prem Panicker). 12. The Evolution of Cricket -- Episode 97 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Harsha Bhogle). 13. Where Have All the Leaders Gone? -- Amit Varma. 14. Who Will Bell the Congress cat? -- Amit Varma. 15. Indian Cricket's Conflict-of-Interest Problem -- Mukul Kesavan. 16. The Sporting Spirit -- George Orwell. 17. Amit Varma on the IPL. 18. Of Gifted Voice -- Keshav Desiraju. 19. Yele Suhabashini -- TM Krishna. 20. S Gopalakrishnan (@gopalears) on Twitter. 21. The Lost World of Hindustani Music -- Kumar Prasad Mukherji. 22. Raga'n Josh -- Sheila Dhar. This episode is sponsored by The Great Courses Plus. Check out their course, Your Deceptive Mind: A Scientific Guide to Critical Thinking Skills. Click here for free unlimited access for a month. You can now buy Seen/Unseen swag.  Registrations are now open for Amit’s online courses, The Art of Clear Writing and The Art of Podcasting.

The tables are turned in episode 200 of The Seen and the Unseen. Host Amit Varma is in the firing line, replying to questions from 22 of his past guests and fans as Shruti Rajagopalan plays proctor. They talk about poker, podcasting, politics, policy and the personal.  Show Notes 1. Select episodes of The Seen and the Unseen featuring Shruti Rajagopalan (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), Manu Pillai (98, 127, 156), VK Karthika, Rajat Ubhaykar, Chinmay Tumbe, Prem Panicker (41, 46), Joy Bhattacharjya, Akshaya Mukul, Ira Mukhoty, Parvati Sharma, Manimugdha Sharma, Supriya Gandhi, Harsha Bhogle, Karthik Muralidharan, Srinath Raghavan (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), Pranay Kotasthane (1, 2), Hamsini Hariharan (1, 2, 3, 4), Russ Roberts, Arvind Subramanian, Ram Guha (1, 2, 3), Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Narayani Basu, Amardeep Singh, Aakar Patel, Rahul Verma, Ashok Malik, Barun Mitra+Kumar Anand, Matt Ridley, Neelesh Misra, Puja Mehra, Rajeswari Sengupta (1, 2), Aanchal Malhotra, Alex Tabarrok (1, 2, 3), Madhavi Menon and Mohit Satyanand (1, 2, 3, 4) 2. A Godless Congregation -- Amit Varma. 3. Agarkar’s Donkeys: A Meditation on God -- Amit Varma. 4. Luck is All Around -- Amit Varma. 5. Why I Loved and Left Poker -- Amit Varma. 6. The archives of Amit Varma's poker column for the Economic Times, Range Rover. 7. Selected works by George Orwell: Essays, 1984, Animal Farm. 8. Selected Works by Frédéric Bastiat: The Law, That Which is Seen, and That Which is Not Seen. 9. A World of Stopped Watches — Amit Varma. 10. A Picture of Hell, and No Kerosene -- Amit Varma. 11. ये लिबरल आख़िर है कौन? -- Episode 37 of Puliyabaazi, featuring Amit Varma discussing Friedrich Hayek. 12. Facts Don’t Matter. Stories Do -- Amit Varma. 13. Every Act of Government Is an Act of Violence -- Amit Varma. 14. We Are Fighting Two Disasters: Covid-19 and the Indian State -- Amit Varma. 15. The Blank Slate -- Steven Pinker. 16. Almost Invisible -- Mark Strand. 17. The Power Broker -- Robert Caro. 18. The Lord of the Rings -- JRR Tolkien. 19. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time -- Mark Haddon. 20. What Is It Like to Be a Bat? -- Thomas Nagel. 21. Economics in One Lesson -- Henry Hazlitt. 22. Haal-Chaal Theek Thaak Hai -- Subrat and Pavan. 23. The Road to Serfdom -- Friedrich Hayek. 24. The Intellectuals and Socialism -- Friedrich Hayek. Also check out Amit Varma being interviewed on libertarianism, public choice theory, the math of sports, IPL & T20 cricket, and assorted subjects. You can now buy Seen/Unseen swag. And a four-volume anthology is on the way. And ah, registrations are now open for Amit's online courses, The Art of Clear Writing and The Art of Podcasting.

Figuring out what consumers want is pretty similar to figuring out what society wants. Adman and author Ambi Parameswaran joins Amit Varma in episode 199 of The Seen and the Unseen to share his insights from his decades in advertising, and the many books he has written. Also check out: 1. Spring: Bouncing Back From Rejection -- Ambi Parameswaran. 2. Nawabs, Nudes, Noodles: India through 50 Years of Advertising -- Ambi Parameswaran. 3. Sponge: Leadership Lessons I Learnt From My Clients -- Ambi Parameswaran. 4. For God's Sake: An Adman on the Business of Religion -- Ambi Parameswaran. 5. Ambi Parameswaran's talk at Godrej India Culture Lab. 6. Indian Society: The Last 30 Years -- Episode 137 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Santosh Desai). 7. Gender Advertisements -- Erving Goffman. 8. Airtel -- The Boss TVC. 9. Fair and Lovely -- The Air Hostess TVC. 10. Santoor -- The Aerobics & Flute TVCs. 11. Titan Fastrack 'Come out of the Closet' TVC. And do check out Amit’s online courses, The Art of Clear Writing and The Art of Podcasting.

As our cities are growing, our citizens are growing apathetic. Can we reassert our rights and reform our governance? Ashwin Mahesh joins Amit Varma in episode 198 of The Seen and the Unseen for a wide-ranging conversation on urban governance, citizenship, education and much more. Also check out: 1. Participatory Democracy -- Episode 160 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ashwin Mahesh). 2. Ashwin Mahesh's website. 3. A New, Urban India -- Ashwin Mahesh. 4. The Publicly Managed City -- Ashwin Mahesh. 5. The tweets by Sabyasachi Kar and Naval Ravikant. 6. Tiago Forte's Second Brain, & videos on Roam Research by Thomas Frank & Ali Abdaal. 7. Fixing Indian Education -- Episode 185 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Muralidharan). 8. Our Unlucky Children (2008) -- Amit Varma. 9. The Element -- Ken Robinson. 10. Urban Governance in India -- Episode 31 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan). 11. Reforming Urban Governance -- Episode 48 of The Seen and the Unseen (w V Ravichandar). 12. Is India a Flailing State? -- Lant Pritchett. 13. We Are Fighting Two Disasters: Covid-19 and the Indian State -- Amit Varma. 14. Prisoners of Geography -- Tim Marshall. 15. The Importance of Cities -- Episode 108 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Reuben Abraham & Pritika Hingorani.) 16. The Power Broker -- Robert Caro. 17. The Death and Life of Great American Cities -- Jane Jacobs. 18. A Life in Indian Politics -- Episode 149 of The Seen and the Unseen (w JP Narayan). 19. What a Long Strange Trip It’s Been -- Episode 188 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Arvind Subramanian). And do check out Amit’s online courses, The Art of Clear Writing and The Art of Podcasting.

Stories and conversations can shape the world, and ourselves, in ways that we often don't appreciate. Neelesh Misra joins Amit Varma in episode 197 of The Seen and the Unseen to chat about his journey as a storyteller and interviewer. Also check out: 1. Neelesh Misra's YouTube page. 2. Gaon Connection. 3. Slow. 4. Neelesh Misra's interviews with Pankaj Tripathi, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Sanjay Mishra, Piyush Mishra, Vishal Bhardwaj, Ayushmann Khurrana, Anurag Kashyap, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Tapsee Pannu, Manoj Bajpayee, Swanand Kirkire and Varun Grover. 5. Neelesh Misra's books on Amazon. 6. Papa Se Shart -- Neelesh Misra. 7. Sa Re Ga Ma Pa -- Neelesh Misra. 8. Maine Dil Se Kaha Dhoond Laana Khushi. 9. Conversation and Society -- Episode 182 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Russ Roberts). 10. Memories and Things -- Episode 195 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Aanchal Malhotra). 11. A World of Stopped Watches -- Amit Varma. 12. A Meditation on Form -- Amit Varma. 13. Story -- Robert McKee. 14. The Seven Basic Plots -- Christopher Booker. And do check out Amit’s online courses, The Art of Clear Writing and The Art of Podcasting.