Jaipur Bytes

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. 

Vanessa R. Sasson, author of “Yasodhara: A Novel About the Buddha’s Wife”, in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive, Vanessa and Lakshya talk about why she wanted to tell this story, what it was like to write in Yasodhara’s voice, and how the process of writing this book changed how she felt about the Buddha. Vanessa is a professor of Religious Studies in the Liberal and Creative Arts and Humanities Department at Marianopolis College, Quebec. She is also a Research Fellow for the International Institute for Studies in Race, Reconciliation and Social Justice at the University of the Free State in South Africa, as well as Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Religious Studies of McGill University, Montreal. As a scholar, her focus is on Buddhist studies, with particular emphasis on hagiography, gender and childhoods. She will be speaking at JLF Toronto on September 28.

Author, activist, psychotherapist Farzana Doctor in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive, Farzana and Lakshya talk about her life and career - both as a novelist and as a psychotherapist - as well as the work she does with WeSpeakOut, a global group that is working to ban female genital cutting in her Dawoodi Bohra community. Farzana Doctor is the award-winning author of Stealing Nasreen, Six Metres of Pavement and All Inclusive. Doctor was recently named one of CBC Books’ 100 Canadian Writers You Need to Know Now. SEVEN, her fourth novel, will hit bookshelves in August 2020. She will be speaking at JLF Toronto on September 28.

David Moscrop, author of "Too Dumb for Democracy? Why We Make Bad Political Decisions and How We Can Make Better Ones”, in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. David and Lakshya talk about politics, the currently ongoing Canadian elections, his new book, and what sort of topics he and his guests will be debating on his new podcast "Open to Debate with David Moscrop". David is a political theorist and a post doctoral fellow in the Department of Communication at the University of Ottawa. He studies, writes, and talks about democratic deliberation, political decision making, and digital media. David will be speaking at JLF Toronto on September 28.

Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, 2010 Nobel Peace Prize nominee and internationally recognized human rights and inspirational peace activist, in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. Dr. Abuelaish talks to Lakshya about what hatred does to a person and to a community, where he gets his strength to deliver his message of hope and forgiveness, why political leaders need to humanize and not politicize, how health and peace are inter-connected, and why he started the Daughters For Life Foundation. Dr. Abuelaish is currently an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Office of Global Public Health Education & Training at the University of Toronto. In January 2009, an Israeli tank shelled the home of Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish in the Gaza Strip and killed three of his daughters: Bessan, 21; Mayar, 15; and Aya, 13. This tragedy occured only minutes before Dr. Abuelaish was scheduled to speak live on Israeli television. His recorded cries for help captured hearts and headlines in Israel and around the world, and his response to the loss of his daughters was followed by international audiences. Dr. Abuelaish never sought to seek revenge or sink into despair and hatred. Instead, he called for those in the Middle East to stop the bloodshed and facilitate discourse for mutual understanding. His strongest hope is that his daughters will be the last sacrifice on the road to peace between Palestinians and Israelis. He started and chairs the Daughters For Life Foundation in their memory, based on the belief that lasting peace in the Middle East depends on the empowerment of girls and young women through education, which will allow them to become agents of change for the betterment of life throughout the Middle East. His 2010 book "I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor's Journey on the Road to Peace and Human Dignity” has been translated in to 23 languages. Dr. Abuelaish will be speaking at JLF Toronto on September 28. To learn more about his work, go to https://daughtersforlife.com/

Marcus Moench, founder of The Institute for Social and Environmental Transition-International, in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive conversation, Marcus tells Lakshya about the connection between literature and science that he found in India, why he was drawn to work on social and environmental issues, how JLF gives scientists and activists a platform to talk about universal issues like water scarcity and climate change, and what role he thinks the media plays in communicating the narrative relating to climate change (such as the Amazon Rainforest fires recently). Marcus is the founder of ISET-International and has worked extensively on water, climate and urbanisation particularly in Asia. With over three decades experience, his approach combines science with a compassionately humourous eye on the drivers of social change and human behavior. Using art as well as more traditional forms of publication, his work explores the mosaic of solutions to emerging environmental and other challenges. He is particularly well known for his pioneering work on India’s groundwater and interactions between complex social and environmental systems.

Kent Nerburn, author of “Neither Wolf Nor Dog”, in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive conversation, Kent and Lakshya talk about how “Neither Wolf Nor Dog” came to be, how it became a cult classic that is used as a bridge to connect non-natives to the Native-American experience, how Robert Plant (lead singer of Led Zeppelin) found the book and ended up writing the foreword of the 25th anniversary edition of the book, how the book’s film adaptation came together, and what advice he has for young artists and storytellers. Kent Nerburn is an American author and artist, having published over 20 works of fiction and nonfiction. His latest book is called "Dancing With The Gods". You can learn more about Kent at www.kentnerburn.com. He will be speaking at JLF Colorado on September 21.

Author Maaza Mengiste in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive conversation, Maaza and Lakshya talk about how she was drawn to storytelling as a kid, what it was like to take the unknown path of becoming a writer, the research and multiple drafts that led to “The Shadow King”, and why she loves telling stories. Maaza is an Ethiopian-American writer and author of the 2010 novel “Beneath The Lion’s Gaze". Her new book, "The Shadow King", comes out on September 24. Maaza teaches in the MFA Program in Creative Writing at Queens College, City University of New York, and is a lecturer in Creative Writing at the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University. She will be speaking at JLF Colorado on Sept 21.

Scholar-translator Linda Hess in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive conversation, Linda talks to Lakshya about what drew her to come to India in her 20s, how she fell in love with Kabir and his words, and why 500 year old songs created by an illiterate poet are still relevant today. Linda’s publications include "The Bijak of Kabir", "Singing Emptiness: Kumar Gandharva Performs the Poetry of Kabir", and "Bodies of Song: Kabir Oral Traditions and Performative Worlds in North India". She has also written about Tulsidas and the Ramlila of Ramnagar. She taught in the Department of Religious Studies at Stanford University for 21 years, retiring in 2017. Linda will be speaking at JLF Colorado on Sept 21.