The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma

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.

India has endured -- but as we celebrate another Republic Day, we must remember that we cannot take this for granted. Historian Ramachandra Guha joins Amit Varma in episode 157 of The Seen and the Unseen to examine some of the currents of history that brought us here, and are still in flux. Also check out: 1. The books of Ramachandra Guha on Amazon. 2. Ramachandra Guha's columns in the Telegraph. 3. Understanding Gandhi: Part 1: Mohandas: Episode 104 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ram Guha). 4. Understanding Gandhi: Part 2: Mahatma: Episode 105 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ram Guha). 5. Patriotism vs Jingoism -- Ram Guha's speech at the Kerala Lit Fest. 6. The Citizenship Battles -- Episode 152 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Srinath Raghavan). 7. A Life in Indian Politics -- Episode 149 of The Seen and the Unseen (w JP Narayan). 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. The Gita Press and Hindu Nationalism -- Episode 139 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Akshaya Mukul). 12. The Indian Conservative -- Episode 145 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Jaithirth Rao). 13. India's Lost Decade -- Episode 116 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Puja Mehra). 14. Lessons from an Ankhon Dekhi Prime Minister -- Amit Varma 15. We Must Reclaim Nationalism From the BJP -- Amit Varma  16. Where Have All the Leaders Gone -- Amit Varma 17. Why Nationalism -- Yael Tamir 18. Notes on Nationalism -- George Orwell 19. The Flaming Feet and Other Essays -- DR Nagaraj 20. Becoming the Mahatma -- Sunil Khilnani's review of Ram Guha's biography.

Historian Manu Pillai joins Amit Varma to discuss Kerala's history, including its matrilineal system empowering women, extreme casteism, and badass queens. They explore the assimilative nature of Kerala, the brutal tactics of Martin Varma, effects of British influence on Indian culture, and the complex life of painter Raja Ravi Varma. The podcast also covers the fearless leadership of a Maharaja, the downfall of a queen, and the striking down of the matrilineal system.

Immense changes have swept through our lives in the last three decades. Filmmaker and writer Paromita Vohra joins Amit Varma in episode 155 of The Seen and the Unseen, and turns her unique gaze both inwards and outwards.   Also check out: 1. Agents of Ishq 1. Unlimited Girls (95 mins) 2. Cosmopolis: Two Tales of a City (13 mins) 3. Where's Sandra (18 mins) 4. Morality TV (32 mins) 5. Partners in Crime (95 mins) 6. A Love Latika (Trailer) 7. Interview of Paromita Vohra by Anuradha Sengupta 8. A Lover's Argument -- Talk by Paromita Vohra 9. Paromita Vohra on Shah Rukh Khan 10.My True North: All Renewal Starts With the Self -- Paromita Vohra 11. On My First Data, My True Love Gave To Me -- Paromita Vohra 12. The Mystery of The Half-Girlfriend and the Double Chetan -- Paromita Vohra 13. Automatic Bodies -- Paromita Vohra 14. Indian Society: The Last 30 years -- Episode 137 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Santosh Desai) 15. The Dialect of a Cricket Writer -- Amit Varma 16. Reading India Now -- Ulka Anjaria

Economic policy affects each of us -- and yet, India has gotten it wrong for decades. In their groundbreaking new book, Vijay Kelkar and Ajay Shah write not just how to do policy, but how to think about policy. They join Amit Varma in episode 154 of The Seen and the Unseen to share their learnings, first principles onwards.   Also check out: 1. In Service of the Republic -- Vijay Kelkar & Ajay Shah 2. Zombie Firms and Creative Destruction -- Ep 118 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah) 3. The Importance of Finance -- Ep 125 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah) 4. Every Act of Government Is an Act of Violence -- Amit Varma 5. The Delhi Smog -- Ep 44 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vivek Kaul) 6. Public Choice Theory -- Ep 121 of The Seen and the Unseen 7. Narendra Modi takes a Great Leap Backwards -- Amit Varma 8. Three Reasons Why A Cashless Society Would Be A Disaster -- Amit Varma 9. Where Have All the Leaders Gone? -- Amit Varma 10. India's Agriculture Crisis -- Ep 140 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Barun Mitra & Kumar Anand) 11. Premature Imitation and India’s Flailing State -- Shruti Rajagopalan & Alex Tabarrok (pdf link) 12. Our Political Discourse -- Ep 49 of The Seen and the Unseen (w transcript) 13. The Facts Do Not Matter -- Amit Varma

Alongside much social unrest, the Indian economy went to hell in 2019. Vivek Kaul joins Amit Varma in episode 153 of The Seen and the Unseen to survey the damage, and to demystify the rubble.  For detailed show notes, head on over to seenunseen.in.

Why is India burning over the Citizenship Amendment Bill? Why does the NRC matter? What is happening in Assam? Srinath Raghavan joins Amit Varma in episode 152 of The Seen and the Unseen to give historical perspective on our current ferments. For detailed show notes, head on over to seenunseen.in.

Politics in Maharashtra is deeply complicated. Its themes and fault lines have been formed over decades. Veteran journalist and author Sujata Anandan joins Amit Varma in episode 151 of The Seen and the Unseen to unravel some of the mysteries behind its fascinating dramas.   Also check out: 1. Hindu Hriday Samrat -- Sujata Anandan 2. Maharashtra Maximus -- Sujata Anandan 3. Marathi Manoos -- Sujata Anandan.