The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma

In 1906, a 13-year-old boy burnt down his school in a village in Kerala and ran away from home to work in the gold mines of Kolar. Decades later, he put this country together. Narayani Basu joins Amit Varma in episode 167 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about the extraordinary life of VP Menon.   Also check out: 1. VP Menon: The Unsung Architect of Modern India -- Narayani Basu 2. Integration of the Indian States -- VP Menon 3. The Transfer of Power in India -- VP Menon 4. Kashmir and Article 370 -- Episode 134 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Srinath Raghavan)

The man known as Guru Nanak was one of the great travellers of his time, passing through lands that are today spread across nine countries. Amardeep Singh joins Amit Varma in episode 166 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about how he retraced Nanak's path -- and also about his efforts at documenting the Sikh heritage of Pakistan.   Also check out: 1. Lost Heritage: The Sikh Legacy in Pakistan -- Amardeep Singh. 2. The Quest Continues: Lost Heritage -- Amardeep Singh. 3. Peering Soul -- A documentary by Amardeep Singh. 4. Peering Warrior -- A documentary by Amardeep Singh. 5. The Lost Heritage website. 6. Amardeep Singh on Facebook (Lost Heritage, Tapestry), Instagram and Twitter. 7. Hindu, Sufi or Sikh -- Steven W Ramey. 8. Our Colourful Past -- Episode 127 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Manu Pillai). 9. The History of Desire in India -- Episode 161 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Madhavi Menon). 10. The Truth About Us -- Sanjoy Chakravorty.   You can email Amardeep at amardeepsinghranghar@yahoo.com.sg and whatsapp him at +65 9832 6508.

Humans are the only bots with the ability to reprogram themselves. Shambhavi Naik joins Amit Varma in episode 165 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss the science, ethics, politics and policy implications of genetic engineering.   Also check out: 1. A Framework for Governing Gene Editing -- Takshashika Discussion Document. 2. Gene Drives in Infectious Diseases -- Takshashila Discussion Slidedoc 3. Chinese gene-edited baby row rekindles need for guidelines in India -- Shambhavi Naik. 4. The scientific argument for marrying outside your caste  -- Shambhavi Naik. 5. The gene of prejudice in gender determination -- Shambhavi Naik. 6. The Evolution of Everything -- Episode 96 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Matt Ridley). 7. The Selfish Gene -- Richard Dawkins. 8. The Blank Slate -- Steven Pinker. 9. Politics and the Sociopath -- Amit Varma. 10. Farmers, Technology and Freedom of Choice: A Tale of Two Satyagrahas -- Amit Varma. 11. Let's Rethink Doping -- Amit Varma. 12. The Indianness of Indian Food -- Episode 95 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vikram Doctor). 13. The Art and Science of Economic Policy -- Ep 154 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vijay Kelkar & Ajay Shah). 14. In Service of the Republic -- Vijay Kelkar & Ajay Shah. 15. Hacking Darwin -- Jamie Metzl. 16. Early Indians -- Episode 112 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Tony Joseph).

Contrary to popular belief, the Indian constitution was not a copy-paste job without a vision. It emerged from decades of intellectual ferment. Madhav Khosla joins Amit Varma in episode 164 of The Seen and the Unseen to describe the history of the key ideas that drove our founders and shaped our constitution.   Also check out: 1. India's Founding Moment -- Madhav Khosla 2. The Indian Constitution (Oxford Short Introductions) -- Madhav Khosla 3. The Idea of India -- Sunil Khilnani 4. The Citizenship Battles -- Episode 152 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Srinath Raghavan) 5. Citizenship and its Discontents -- Niraja Gopal Jayal 6. Narendra Modi Takes a Great Leap Backwards -- Amit Varma 7. India's Sedition Law -- Episode 146 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Chitranshul Sinha) 8. Who Broke Our Republic? -- Episode 163 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Kapil Komireddi) 9. The Emergency -- Episode 103 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Gyan Prakash) 10. Democracies of the East -- Radhakamal Mukerjee 11. Why I am Not a Conservative -- Friedrich Hayek 12. The Indian Conservative -- Episode 145 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Jaithirth Rao) 13. Pakistan or the Partition of India -- BR Ambedkar.

Seven decades after Independence, India is still wracked by poverty and strife. Who is responsible? Kapil Komireddi joins Amit Varma in episode 163 of The Seen and the Unseen to excoriate every political player of Independent India. No prisoners taken. Also check out: 1. Malevolent Republic -- Kapil Komireddi. 2. Kashmir and Article 370 -- Episode 134 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Srinath Raghavan). 3. Understanding Gandhi. Part One: Mohandas -- Episode 104 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ram Guha). 4. Understanding Gandhi. Part Two: Mahatma -- Episode 105 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ram Guha). 5. The Gita Press and Hindu Nationalism -- Episode 139 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Akshaya Mukul). 6. Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India -- Akshaya Mukul. 7. India's Founding Moment -- Madhav Khosla. 8. Where Have All the Leaders Gone? -- Amit Varma. 9. Democracy in Pakistan -- Episode 79 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pranay Kotasthane & Hamsini Hariharan). 10. The 2019 Elections -- Episode 122 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Sadanand Dhume). 11. Radically Networked Societies -- Episode 158 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pranay Kotasthane). 12. The Emergency -- Episode 103 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Gyan Prakash). 13. Taking Stock of Our Republic -- Episode 157 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ram Guha). 14. A Game Theory Problem: Who Will Bell The Congress Cat? -- Amit Varma. 15. An Area of Darkness -- VS Naipaul. 16. India: A Wounded Civilization -- VS Naipaul. 17. The Discovery of India -- Jawaharlal Nehru.

TM Krishna, an expert in Karnatik music and a commentator on Indian society, joins host Amit Varma to explore the development of Karnatik music and its reflection of Indian society. They discuss barriers of identity, normalization of patriarchy and casteism in music, the connection between casteism and racism in Indian society, contradictions and rationalizations in Carnatic music, and the intersection of geographical and social location. They also delve into the intricate science of constructing musical instrument skins, the role of art forms in society, and reflections on the potential for change in the younger generation.

We may be a sexually repressed country today, but it wasn't always like this. Madhavi Menon joins Amit Varma in episode 161 of The Seen and the Unseen to elaborate on the infinite variety of our desires all through history, Also check out: 1. Infinite Variety -- Madhavi Menon 2. Madhavi Menon's Amazon page. 3. Masala Shakespeare -- Jonathan Gil Harris 4. The Seven Basic Plots -- Christopher Booker 5. The Ascetic of Desire -- Sudhir Kakar 6. Early Indians -- Tony Joseph 7. Early Indians -- Episode 112 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Tony Joseph) 8. Being Gay, Loving Books -- Episode 141 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vivek Tejuja) 9. It is Immoral to Have Children. Here’s Why -- Amit Varma 10. Everybody Lies -- Seth Stephens-Davidowitz 11. The Truth About Ourselves -- Amit Varma 12. Lihaaf -- Ismat Chugtai

In India, we have government of the people and for the people, but not by the people. How can we fix this? Polymath thinker Ashwin Mahesh joins Amit Varma in episode 160 of The Seen and the Unseen to chat about participatory democracy, India Against Corruption, the Aam Aadmi Party and what makes a Good Indian.   Also check out: 1. Ashwin Mahesh's homepage. 2. With the Government, Within the Government, As the Government -- Ashwin Mahesh 3. The State of our Farmers -- Episode 86 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Gunvant Patil) 4. A Life in Indian Politics -- Episode 149 of The Seen and the Unseen (w JP Narayan) 5. Radically Networked Societies -- Episode 158 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pranay Kotasthane) 6. Education in India -- Episode 77 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Amit Chandra) 7. The Anti-Defection Law -- Episode 13 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Barun Mitra)

Budgets matter more than they should -- and the process of making them matters more than their contents. Ajay Shah and Vivek Kaul join Amit Varma in episode 159 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss both journey & destination, strategy & tactics.   Also check out:  1. The Art and Science of Economic Policy -- Episode 154 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vijay Kelkar and Ajay Shah) 2.  Analysing the February 2020 budget -- Ajay Shah 3. India budget raises more questions than answers -- Vivek Kaul 4. What the budget says and how it impacts you -- Vivek Kaul 5. Long on Talk, Short on Ideas -- Vivek Kaul 6. Bae, look how I shrank the Budget -- Vivek Kaul 7. Budget 2020: Tactics Over Strategy -- Suyash Rai 8. TN Ninan and AK Bhattacharya dissect Budget 2020 9. The Indian Economy in 2019 -- Episode 153 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vivek Kaul) 10. Budget, Bollywood, Badmaashi -- Episode 129 of The Seen and the Unseen (on the 2019 budget, w Vivek Kaul) 11. Twelve Dream Reforms -- Episode 138 of The Seen and the Unseen (w three guests) 12. Zombie Firms and Creative Destruction -- Episode 118 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah) 13. The Importance of Finance -- Episode 125 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah) 14. Taking Stock of Our Republic -- Episode 157 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ramachandra Guha)

From the Arab Spring to Shaheen Bagh, radically networked societies are rising up to express themselves. What do they have in common? How will a hierarchical state deal with a networked society? Pranay Kotasthane shares his insights with Amit Varma in episode 158 of The Seen and the Unseen.   Also check out: 1. Individual Liberty vs Public Security in a Radically Networked Society -- Nitin Pai and Pranay Kotasthane. 2. Networked Societies and Hierarchical States: The Emerging Challenge to Political Order -- Nitin Pai and Sneha Shankar 3. Twitter and Tear Gas -- Zeynep Tufekci 4. Serdar Akinan's picture of the procession of coffins 5. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen featuring Pranay Kotasthane 6. Protesters Are United by Something Other Than Politics -- Tyler Cowen 7. Films, Feminism, Paromita -- Episode 155 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Paromita Vohra) 8. Fighting Fake News -- Episode 133 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pratik Sinha) 9. The Facts Do Not Matter -- Amit Varma 10. Pranay Kotasthane's newsletter.