The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma

Indian decision makers often blindly copy public policy from abroad, without considering whether it would work in local conditions. Shruti Rajagopalan and Alex Tabarrok join Amit Varma in episode 180 of The Seen and the Unseen to explain the damage caused by such 'isomorphic mimicry,' and why it happens in the first place. Also check out: 1. Premature Imitation and India’s Flailing State -- Shruti Rajagopalan & Alexander Tabarrok. 2. Modern Principles of Macroeconomics -- Tyler Cowen & Alex Tabarrok. 3. Modern Principles of Microeconomics --  Tyler Cowen & Alex Tabarrok. 4. DeMon, Morality and the Predatory Indian State -- Episode 85 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan). 5. The Delhi Smog -- Episode 44 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vivek Kaul). 6. Is India a Flailing State? -- Lant Pritchett. 7. We Are Fighting Two Disasters: Covid-19 and the Indian State -- Amit Varma. 8. Political Ideology in India -- Episode 131 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rahul Verma). 9. Ideology and Identity -- Pradeep Chhibber & Rahul Verma. 10. Understanding Gandhi. Part One: Mohandas -- Episode 104 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ram Guha). 11. Understanding Gandhi. Part Two: Mahatma --  Episode 105 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ram Guha). 12. Akhil Katyal's poem on caste. 13. Caste in Modern India -- Episode 52 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan). 14. Women at Work -- Episode 132 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Namita Bhandare). 15. Metrics of Empowerment -- Episode 88 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Devika Kher, Nidhi Gupta & Hamsini Hariharan). 16. Here’s What’s Wrong With the Maternity Benefits Act -- Suman Joshi. 17. FSI in India -- Episode 11 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Alex Tabarrok). 18. Twelve Dream Reforms -- Episode 138 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan, Rajeswari Sengupta & Vivek Kaul). 19. Slums in India -- Episode 21 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pavan Srinath).  20. Order Without Design -- Alain Bertaud. 21. The Power Broker — Robert Caro. 22. The Death and Life of Great American Cities — Jane Jacobs. 23. The Right to Property -- Episode 26 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan). 24. Swachh Bharat -- Episode 82 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan). 25. Modi's Lost Opportunity -- Episode 119 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Salman Soz). 26. Education in India -- Episode 77 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Amit Chandra). 27. The Art and Science of Economic Policy -- Episode 154 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vijay Kelkar & Ajay Shah). 28. In Service of the Republic -- Vijay Kelkar & Ajay Shah. 29. The Importance of Cities -- Episode 108 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Reuben Abraham & Pritika Hingorani).

India suffers from a predatory state, and nothing illustrates this better than the sorry state of our street vendors. Prashant Narang joins Amit Varma in episode 179 of The Seen and the Unseen to elaborate on this unseen tragedy of the streets around us.   Also check out: 1. Street Vendor Act 2014: Progress Report -- 2017, 2018-19, 2020. 2. Do Street Vendors Have a Right to the City? -- Prashant Narang & Vidushi Sabharwal. 3. The Ease of Doing Business on the Streets of India -- Bhuvana Anand, Prashant Narang, Riktika Shah, Vidushi Sabharwal. 4. Suboptimal vendor enumeration practices in Gurugram --  Prashant Narang & Vidushi Sabharwal. 5. Enumerating Street Vendors in Mumbai -- Prashant Narang. 6. Street Vendors Act 2014: Allocating Certificates of Vending -- Prashant Narang & Bhuvana Anand. 7. Vendors Need Ease of Doing Business to Become Atmanirbhar -- Bhuvana Anand, Jayana Bedi & Prashant Narang. 8. Modi govt will count hawkers in job data but must improve their Ease of Doing Business too -- Prashant Narang and Jayana Bedi. 9. Third Wheel -- A documentary on auto-rickshaws. 10. Manushi Sangathan v GNCT of Delhi -- Judgement on cycle rickshaw pullers. 11. Time For Manushi-II -- Prashant Narang. 12. Formal versus Informal Allocation of Land in a Commons -- Gregg W Kettles. 13. What About 'Unlock' For Vendors? -- Bhuvana Anand, Jayana Bedi & Prashant Narang.  14. A People's Constitution-- Rohit De. 15. The Mystery of Capital --  Hernando De Soto. 16. The Power Broker-- Robert Caro. 17. The Death and Life of Great American Cities -- Jane Jacobs. Also, do check out The Art of Clear Writing.   Note: This episode was recorded in February 2020.

Journalism used to be a quest to establish the truth. It has now become a battle of conflicting narratives. We have gone from seeking to shouting. What went wrong? Nidhi Razdan joins Amit Varma in episode 178 of The Seen and the Unseen to share insights from her eventful career.   Also check out: 1. Left, Right and Centre: The Idea of India -- Nidhi Razdan (editor). 2. Special: Inside Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (Dec 2004) -- NDTV/Nidhi Razdan. 3. Best in the Field (w Nidhi Razdan) -- NDTV. 4. The Facts Do Not Matter -- Amit Varma. 5. The State of the Media -- Episode 46 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Prem Panicker). 6. The State of the Media 2 -- Episode 89 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Sidharth Bhatia & Peter Griffin). 7. You're From the Mutton Lobby -- Episode 49 of The Seen and the Unseen (solo ep with transcript). 8. Television Price Controls -- Episode 27 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ashok Malik).  9. Jon Stewart Is Back to Weigh In -- David Marchese. 10. Hold On, Mr President! -- Sam Donaldson.

Our economy was going down, down, down well before Covid-19 struck. And now? Vivek Kaul joins Amit Varma in episode 177 of The Seen and the Unseen to spread his usual quota of sunshine and joy.   Also check out: 1. TikTok and Indian Society — An online course by Amit Varma. 2. Bad Money — Vivek Kaul. 3. Taking Stock of Covid-19 — Episode 169 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan). 4. The Nuances of Lockdown — Episode 176 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Anup Malani). 5. The Indian Economy in 2019 — Episode 153 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vivek Kaul). 6. India’s Lost Decade — Episode 116 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Puja Mehra). 7. The Art and Science of Economic Policy — Episode 154 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vijay Kelkar & Ajay Shah). 8. Demystifying GDP — Episode 130 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rajeswari Sengupta). 9. Ponzi Schemes — Episode 142 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vivek Kaul). 10. The State of Our Farmers — Episode 86 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Gunvant Patil). 11. India’s Agriculture Crisis — Episode 140 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Barun Mitra & Kumar Anand). 12. Rajesh Jain and Dhan Vapasi — Episode 94 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rajesh Jain). 13. Economy bears burden as goods trains travel light — Vivek Kaul. 14. As people act in their self-interest, India is getting into a recession — Vivek Kaul. 15. RBI’s moves may not snap banks’ wariness to lend — Vivek Kaul. 16. Six reasons why the fiscal package is more about putting people’s own money into their hands than actually kickstarting crippled economy — Vivek Kaul. 17. Explained: RBI’s negative role in the government’s Rs 20 lakh crore package — Vivek Kaul’ 18. Should the RBI print money to revive the economy? It’s not as simple as it sounds — Vivek Kaul. 19. Why India needs more than liquidity dreams — Vivek Kaul. 20. How India’s soaring fiscal deficit affects you — Vivek Kaul. 21. Easynomics: Why State Bank of India is not lending — Vivek Kaul. 22. A GST cut can put auto sales on fast track to revival — Vivek Kaul. 23. 10 things you need to know about Indian real estate in the aftermath of coronavirus — Vivek Kaul. 24. India’s economy was in a rut even before Covid-19 struck — Vivek Kaul. 25. The Forgotten Man — Amity Shlaes. 26. Modern Money Theory — L Randall Wray. 27. Monetization: Neither Game Changer not Catastrophe Today — Raghuram Rajan.

What do past epidemics teach us about Covid-19? What do past disasters teach us about politics and the state? Is there a false binary between lockdown and no-lockdown? Anup Malani joins Amit Varma in episode 176 of The Seen and the Unseen to share his insights on these subjects and more.   Also check out: 1. Anup Malani's homepage. 2. Taking Stock of Covid-19 -- Episode 169 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan). 3. We Are Fighting Two Disasters -- Amit Varma. 4. The Economic Approach to Human Behaviour -- Gary Becker. 5. Learning During a Crisis: the SARS Epidemic in Taiwan -- Daniel Bennett, Chun-Fang Chiang, Anup Malani. 6. Identifying Placebo Effects with Data from Clinical Trials -- Anup Malani. 7. FSI (Floor Space Index) -- Episode 11 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Alex Tabarrok). 8. Rent Control -- Episode 14 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Alex Tabarrok).  9. Slums -- Episode 21 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pavan Srinath).

Lieutenant General Prakash Menon, Director of the Strategic Studies Program at Takshashila Institution, shares insights on the credibility of the Indian Armed Forces amidst declining institutional trust. He examines the evolution of civil-military relations over decades and the challenges of military modernization due to budget constraints. The discussion includes the complexities of counterinsurgency in Kashmir, ethical dilemmas in military leadership, and the impact of nuclear deterrence on strategies. Menon emphasizes the importance of reforms to adapt to geopolitical changes.

Tawaifs played a unique role in Indian society and culture in the 19th century, but have since been either vilified or romanticized. Filmmaker and author Saba Dewan joins Amit Varma in episode 174 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about the fascinating human stories behind this lost community.   Also check out: 1. Tawaifnama -- Saba Dewan 2. The Other Song -- Saba Dewan 3. Films, Feminism, Paromita -- Episode 155 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Paromita Vohra) 4. The History of Desire in India -- Episode 161 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Madhavi Menon) 5. Women in Indian History -- Episode 144 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ira Mukhoty) 6. The Gita Press and Hindu Nationalism -- Episode 139 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Akshaya Mukul) The Seen and the Unseen is a labour of love. Click here to support it.

So much of our history has been weaponized by politics -- especially the Mughal period. Manimugdha Sharma joins Amit Varma in episode 173 of The Seen and the Unseen to shed light on the tug of war around Emperor Akbar -- and why that history remains relevant even today.   Also check out: 1. Allahu Akbar: Understanding the Great Mughal in Today's India -- Manimugdha Sharma. 2. Parthian Shot -- Manimugdha Sharma's column archives. 3. Manimugdha Sharma's reporting in Times of India. 4. Who Broke Our Republic? -- Episode 163 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Kapil Komireddi). 5. The Ideas of Our Constitution -- Episode 164 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Madhav Khosla), 6. The Many Cities of Delhi -- Episode 172 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rana Safvi). 7. Women in Indian History -- Episode 144 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ira Mukhoty). 8. Jahangir the Curious -- Episode 147 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Parvati Sharma). 9. Our Colorful Past -- Episode 127 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Manu Pillai). 10. The BJP's Magic Formula -- Episode 45 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Prashant Jha). 11. Essential Kabir -- Arvind Krishna Mehrotra. 12. White Mughals -- William Dalrymple. 13. Empress: The Astonishing Reign of Nur Jehan -- Ruby Lal. 14. The Bhagvad Gita in Urdu, recited by Ahmed Rashid Shervani at Manthan Samvaad. 15. The Early History of India -- Vincent Smith. 16. The Mughal Empire -- JF Richards. 17. The Agrarian System of Mughal India -- Irfan Habib. 18. Akbar and His India -- Irfan Habib. 19. The Western Way of War -- Victor Davis Hanson. 20. The Anglo-Maratha Campaigns and the Contest for India -- Randolph GS Cooper. 21. Gunpowder and Firearms: Warfare in Medieval India -- Iqtidar Alam Khan. 22. The Millennial Sovereign -- A Azfar Moin. 23. The German Way of War -- Robert Citino 24. When Titans Clashed -- David M Glantz & Jonathan M House.

There is much more to Delhi than Old Delhi and New Delhi. The stones bear witness to a rich history, with much drama and tumult. Rana Safvi joins Amit Varma in episode 172 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about how the forgotten past of Delhi continues to shape its present.   Also check out:1. Where Stones Speak -- Rana Safvi 2. The Forgotten Cities of Delhi -- Rana Safvi 3. Shahjahanabad: The Living City of Old Delhi -- Rana Safvi 4. City of My Heart -- Rana Safvi 5. The History of Desire in India -- Episode 161 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Madhavi Menon) 6. Our Colorful Past -- Episode 127 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Manu Pillai) 7. The Deccan Before Shivaji -- Episode 98 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Manu Pillai) 8. Kerala and the Ivory Throne -- Episode 156 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Manu Pillai) 9. Women in Indian History -- Episode 144 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ira Mukhoty) 10. Jahangir the Curious -- Episode 147 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Parvati Sharma) 11. Rebel Sultans -- Manu Pillai 12. Daughters of the Sun -- Ira Mukhoty 13. India in the Persianate Age -- Richard Eaton

Many entrepreneurs aim to plug a hole in the world. Some try to expand the universe. Mohit Satyanand joins Amit Varma in episode 171 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about why these are exciting times to be an angel investor.   Also check out:1. Two Economic Crises (2008 & 2019) -- Episode 135 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Mohit Satyanand) 2. Poker and Stock Markets -- Episode 47 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Mohit Satyanand) 3. Entrepreneurship: If You Love Them, Set Them Free -- Mohit Satyanand 4. Where Angels Fear to Tread -- Mohit Satyanand 5. Mohit Satyanand in conversation with Amitabh Kant at JLF.