Jaipur Bytes

In the 100th episode (and 2019 season finale) of Jaipur Bytes, host Lakshya Datta speaks with Jaipur Literature Festival co-director Namita Gokhale about her upcoming novel 'Jaipur Journals'. Partly a love letter to the greatest literary show on earth, partly a satire about the glittery set that throngs this literary venue year on year, and partly an ode to the millions of aspiring writers who wander the earth with unsubmitted manuscripts in their bags, 'Jaipur Journals' is a light-footed romp that showcases in full form Gokhale's unsparing eye for the pretensions and the pathos of that loneliest tribe of them all: the writers. 'Jaipur Journals' is available for pre-order on Amazon.

A sense of belonging is an essential component to the notion of identity. In conversation with Mridula Nath Chakraborty, Roanna Gonsalves and Shameem Black read from their work and discuss the multiplicities of identity in their writings. This episode is a live session from JLF Adelaide 2019.

Dr. James Onley, Director of Historical Research and Partnerships at the Qatar National Library, in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive, James and Lakshya talk about the 4000+ years long history between India and the Gulf, how the dynamics between the two regions changed after 1947, and the work he and his team at QNL having been doing to archive this rich history. Dr. Onley holds a D.Phil. in History from Oxford and specializes in the Gulf Arab states and their historical connections with India.  He is the author of The Arabian Frontier of the British Raj, the founding editor of the Journal of Arabian Studies, and the curator of the exhibition Qatar, India and the Gulf currently on in the QNL plaza. James will be speaking at JLF Doha, which is happening at  Qatar National Library this week from Dec 12 to Dec 14.

In conversation with James Crabtree, writers Peter Verghese, Shashi Tharoor & Tony Birch examine social realities nd the conflicts of today. This episode is a live session from JLF Adelaide 2019.

Author Intan Paramaditha in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive chat, Intan talks to Lakshya about her academic career, Indonesian films, why she chooses to write in her native language, and how she wrote a choose your own adventure novel.  Intan is an Indonesian fiction writer and currently a lecturer in Media and Film Studies at Macquarie University, Sydney. Her first book was the short story collection titled "Apple and Knife". Her novel The Wandering won a PEN Translates Award and will be published in 2020 in English. Intan was a speaker at JLF Adelaide 2019 which happened earlier this month.

Frank Dikötter, author of "How to Be a Dictator: The Cult of Personality in the Twentieth Century", in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive chat, Frank talks to Lakshya about his career, The People’s Republic of China, The people of Hong Kong, and dictators.  Frank has been Chair Professor of Humanities at the University of Hong Kong since 2006. He is the author of the People's Trilogy, a series of books that document the impact of communism on the lives of ordinary people in China on the basis of new archival material. The first volume, entitled Mao's Great Famine: The History of China's Most Devastating Catastrophe, won the 2011 Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction. The second instalment, The Tragedy of Liberation: A History of the Chinese Revolution, 1945-1957, was short-listed for the Orwell Prize in 2014. The Cultural Revolution: A People’s History, 1962-1976 concludes the trilogy. In "How to Be a Dictator", Frank examines the cults and propaganda surrounding twentieth-century dictators, from Hitler and Stalin to Mao Zedong and Kim Il Sung - and how their dictatorships, in turn, have influenced leaders in the twenty-first century, including Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, and Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Frank spoke at JLF Adelaide this past week, and will be speaking at the Jaipur Literature Festival next year, which will be happening in Jaipur from January 23 to 27, 2020.

Tony Joseph, author of "Early Indians: The Story of Our Ancestors and Where We Came From", in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive, Tony tells Lakshya about the research that went into writing the book, how the modern indian population came to be composed as it is, and what we can learn about ourselves and our current times from our ancestors. Tony has been a journalist, columnist and contributor to leading newspapers and magazines for over three decades. He was the Editor of BusinessWorld, Associate Editor of Business Standard and Features Editor of The Economic Times. Tony will be speaking at JLF Adelaide, which is happened this weekend from Nov 1-3, 2019.

Writer and editor Tom Cho in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive chat,  Tom talks to Lakshya about his first book, his next book, and where and how he finds the words to fill them. Tom’s debut collection of fiction, titled "Look Who’s Morphing", was shortlisted for multiple awards, including the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book. He also has over 70 fiction publications in journals. His current project is a novel on the meaning of life. Originally from Australia, Tom now lives in Canada, and was a speaker at JLF Toronto last month. You can follow Tom's work at www.tomcho.com.

Ryan Stoa, author of "Craft Weed: Family Farming and the Future of the Marijuana Industry”, in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive, Ryan tells Lakshya about what drew him to studying and teaching law, how he found himself writing a book about the cannabis and marijuana industry, how he proposes for quality regulation in the form of Marijuana Appellation System (akin to the wine industry), and what the international possibilities are once regulation evolves. Ryan Stoa is an Associate Professor of Law at Concordia University School of Law in Idaho, where he teaches Property Law, Administrative Law, Environmental Law, and Natural Resources Law. He has also authored numerous scholarly articles that address energy regulation, agriculture policy, natural resources management, and international development. Professor Stoa’s writing has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New Republic, Salon, Daily Beast, and The Conversation, and his research has been featured in Rolling Stone, Wired, and Gizmodo, among others.

André Aciman, author of "Call Me by Your Name" and its upcoming sequel "Find Me", in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive, André and Lakshya talk about why he drawn to writing these characters again, how the success of the film affected his writing process on "Find Me", why he chose to tell this story from three perspectives, while also sharing some great advice on how to write believable characters and emotions.  André is a memoirist, essayist and New York Times bestselling novelist, and currently Distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature at the Graduate Center, CUNY. His first book was a memoir, called 'Out of Egypt', which details his childhood growing up Jewish in post-colonial Egypt. In the upcoming follow-up to "Call Me by Your Name", titled 'Find Me', Aciman shows us Elio’s father, Samuel, on a trip from Florence to Rome to visit Elio, who has become a gifted classical pianist. A chance encounter on the train with a beautiful young woman upends Sami’s plans and changes his life forever. Elio soon moves to Paris, where he, too, has a consequential affair, while Oliver, now a New England college professor with a family, suddenly finds himself contemplating a return trip across the Atlantic. Aciman is a master of sensibility, of the intimate details and the emotional nuances that are the substance of passion. "Find Me" brings us back inside the magic circle of one of our greatest contemporary romances to ask if, in fact, true love ever dies.  André will be speaking at JLF Toronto on September 28. "Find Me" hits bookstores on October 29 worldwide.