Everything is Everything

Our universities are broken. The academy is a circlejerk. Our intellectuals have failed us. To nurture a Knowledge Society, we need to rethink how we make knowledge, how we diffuse it, and how we use it to make the world a better place. Welcome to Episode 24 of Everything is Everything, a weekly podcast hosted by Amit Varma and Ajay Shah. This episode was first published on YouTube on December 8, 2023. For magnificent, detailed, juicy show notes, click here.

The nonviolent resistance of a supposedly warrior tribe. The fat frogs who played a pivotal role in World War 2. The fierce will of a child widow who remakes herself and her world. The crucible of democracy, the soldiers who had to kill their own, the author whose book was lost, the young man who went missing. Welcome to Episode 23 of Everything is Everything, a weekly podcast hosted by Amit Varma and Ajay Shah. In this episode, Amit and Ajay share seven great stories that they think should be films or web series. And what stories! This episode was first published on YouTube on December 1, 2023. For magnificent, detailed, juicy show notes, click here.

Firms tend to grow, and even innovate, along predictable paths. But sometimes a firm does something truly audacious, involving a leap of imagination that seems to come out of thin air. Today's episode is about three such great leaps. Welcome to Episode 22 of Everything is Everything, a weekly podcast hosted by Amit Varma and Ajay Shah. In this episode, Ajay discusses three great leaps by three great firms: Sun Microsystems, Google and Amazon. Amit talks about how such leaps of imagination are more an act of creative storytelling than linear business logic. What is your story about yourself? How could you reimagine it? This episode was first published on YouTube on November 24, 2023. For magnificent, detailed, juicy show notes, click here.

Human progress is enabled by the world of finance -- a world that seems dreadfully complicated from the outside. But once you understand its historical context, and how it evolved, everything about finance makes sense. Welcome to Episode 21 of Everything is Everything, a weekly podcast hosted by Amit Varma and Ajay Shah. In this episode, Ajay demystifies finance by giving us a guided tour of its history -- from primitive times to limited liability companies to banking to modern finance to derivatives. Finance is essential to our progress -- and yet, in India, we don't understand its beauty well enough, and the heavy hand of the state often messes things up. Amit then shares the insights of Timur Kuran on why the Middle East lagged behind in evolving financially and economically -- a story that truly will blow your mind! This episode was first published on YouTube on November 17, 2023. For magnificent, detailed, juicy show notes, click here.

We've been taught for generations that India's biggest problem is its population. This is a lie. Our population is our greatest strength. People are brains, not stomachs. Welcome to Episode 20 of Everything is Everything, a weekly podcast hosted by Amit Varma and Ajay Shah. In this episode, Amit discusses the origin of the flawed belief that population is a problem -- and states his case for why population density is the greatest driver of prosperity. Most problems ascribed to population are actually problems of governance. He goes over India's troubled history with population control, which is premised on the evil belief that the state can control the bodies of its citizens. Ajay then makes a case for why we should never fear population booms -- and instead be wary of fertility busts. Both men also recommend great books written long ago about the present time. This episode was first published on YouTube on November 10, 2023. For magnificent, detailed, juicy show notes, click here.

To truly understand cricket, or life for that matter, we need to learn from poker. We need to understand the concept of Expected Value. We also need to learn from economics, and understand Opportunity Cost. Welcome to Episode 19 of Everything is Everything, a weekly podcast hosted by Amit Varma and Ajay Shah. In this episode, Amit shares what he learnt about cricket from being a professional poker player and understanding economics. Amit and Ajay then apply those concepts to life itself. Never again will you be results-oriented. Never again will you be judgemental and insufferable. Welcome to the new humble you. This episode was first published on YouTube on November 3, 2023. For magnificent, detailed, juicy show notes, click here.

India's farmers are suffering. Indian agriculture has been in crisis since we gained Independence. Why? What can we do about it? Welcome to Episode 18 of Everything is Everything, a weekly podcast hosted by Amit Varma and Ajay Shah. In this episode, Amit and Ajay discuss the many complicated problems of Indian agriculture, breaking them down one by one. Spoiler alert: the oppressive hand of the state is at the heart of it all. Us city slickers take some of our freedoms for granted -- but our farmers are still denied basic liberties. It's a tragedy. This episode was first published on YouTube on October 27, 2023. For magnificent, detailed, juicy show notes, click here.

Humanity should not be divided. Globalization is a powerful force for good. But it is has ebbed and flowed. Are we retreating to a more insular world -- or does globalization continue, but in a modified form? Welcome to Episode 17 of Everything is Everything, a weekly podcast hosted by Amit Varma and Ajay Shah. In this episode, Ajay talks about the first two waves of globalisation -- and then explains the term he has coined, 'The Third Globalization.' We still live in a globalised world, he explains -- but with caveats based on economic statecraft. (And yes, he explains what that is!) Amit explains why we should not worry about trade deficits, and why we should celebrate babysitters. Amit then recommends "the greatest podcast of all time,' and Ajay talks about a book that left him transfixed in an Irani cafe. This episode was first published on YouTube on October 20, 2023. For magnificent, detailed, juicy show notes, click here.

The Soviet Union functioned under the delusion that you don't need freedom of any sort to grow as a society. The China model functions under the delusion that economic properity is all you need, and it can be directed from above. The Soviet model broke. The China model is breaking. Freedom matters. Welcome to Episode 16 of Everything is Everything, a weekly podcast hosted by Amit Varma and Ajay Shah. In this episode, Ajay and Amit discuss how economic freedom, social freedom and political freedom must go hand-in-hand for a society to progress. Ajay lays out the cautionary tale of the Soviet Union. He then explains why the China model is broken -- and what we should learn from the way it broke. Amit gives a potted history of the Chinese story -- and then raves about lesbian counterculture. This episode was first published on YouTube on October 13, 2023. For magnificent, detailed, juicy show notes, click here.

One of the giants of 20th century statistics died a few weeks ago. He was Indian. His name was CR Rao, and he was the finest product of the Bengal Renaissance. Welcome to Episode 15 of Everything is Everything, a weekly podcast hosted by Amit Varma and Ajay Shah. In this episode, Ajay tells us the story of his great hero, CR Rao. The love for statistics is infectious, and so is the storytelling, as Amit follows up with stories about Abraham Wald, PC Mahalanobis, JBS Haldane, the Bharat Sadhu Samaaj and the urbane finance minister who did WHAT to a tree? Magnificent entertainment. Paisa wasool. This episode was first published on YouTube on October 6, 2023. For magnificent, detailed, juicy show notes, click here.