Express Conversations

In this episode, boxer Nikhat Zareen spoke to the Indian Express right after she won the world championship in May 2022. She talked about how people ridiculed her choice to become a boxer as a girl, her struggles in a conservative society and how she feels women boxers wearing hijab is a matter of choice. (Illustration: Suvajit Dey)

In this episode, Professor Wendy Doniger, who is one of the world’s foremost scholars on Hinduism and Sanskrit, speaks to the Indian Express about what drew her to study Sanskrit and Hinduism, and the backlash over her most successful book “The Hindus: An Alternative History” which was published in 2014. She also talks about why, at its core, Hinduism has always been diverse.(Cover image illustration: Shyam Kumar Prasad)

In this episode, former RBI Governor D Subbarao speaks to the Indian Express on the need for structural reforms, investment, and cryptocurrency, and why we should be looking at growth drivers instead of numbers.(Cover image illustration: Suvajit Dey)

In this episode, cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir speaks to the Indian Express about how it is being in politics, why reducing the Ghazipur landfill has been more satisfying than winning a World Cup, why he is against hero-worshipping and why BJP has a difficult run in the MCD polls.

In this episode, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, speaks about how different citizens in India use the internet differently, what exactly the “splinternet” is and the risks it poses, and how to balance safety and security.

In this episode, world championship medallist Anju Bobby George speaks about training in the US, facing fatigue, the importance of a good coach, India’s performance in the 2022 Commonwealth Games, the issue of doping in sports.

In this episode, Alia Bhatt speaks about her transition into the role of producer at her production house Eternal Sunshine, the magic of submitting to the moment to make movies, and what it means to be a star in the age of OTT.

In this episode, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare and Chemicals and Fertilizers speaks to Indian Express’ Anant Goenka and Kaunain Sheriff about the Indian government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, subsidies on fertilizers to protect farmers, preventing non-communicable diseases, and how he goes incognito in hospitals to see how the last mile implementation of policy plays out.

In this episode, Pankaj Jha, who played the notorious MLA in Amazon web series Panchayat, talks to Indian Express’ Nishant Shekhar about his days of theatre, life in Mumbai, how he never begged for a role, and why he never regretted missing out on big films.

In this episode, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the current leader of the opposition in Haryana, talks about what the Congress needs to do to give a good fight to the BJP, preparing for the 2024 elections and giving farmers their due in a session moderated by Manraj Grewal Sharma.