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The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma

All public policies -- indeed, all actions by humans -- have two kinds of effects: the effects that are intended, and visible; and unintended consequences, which are invisible. The Seen and the Unseen is a podcast that aims to examine both the seen and the unseen effects of our actions.

Presented by Amit Varma (a journalist for a decade-and-a-half, and winner of the prestigious Bastiat Prize for journalism in 2007 and 2015 -- the only person to win it twice), the show takes on a specific public policy in every episode, and dissects its seen and unseen effects. For example: the ban on surge pricing by Uber in Delhi. What is seen is that Uber no longer costs so much; what is unseen is that you cannot get an Uber at all, because of the scarcity that is a direct result of the price control. The host explains the economic reasoning at work, and talks to an expert who breaks it down further.

The host will have a panel of experts at his disposal, from a variety of disciplines, and will speak to a relevant expert in every episode. Subjects covered will range from broad ones like the state of education in India, to narrower ones like the banning of 'victimless crimes' like prostitution and gambling.

Ep 219: Keeping India Safe

The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma

  • 870 views
  • almost 3 years ago
  • 02:37:23

There are many things that threaten our nation, both internal and external, both seen and unseen. Our armed forces protect us from some of them. Sushant Singh joins Amit Varma in episode 219 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss the state of our military, his experiences in Kashmir, the threats from Pakistan and China, and the danger of politics to national security. Also check out: 1. Sushant Singh at CPR and Indian Express. 2. Kashmir and Article 370 -- Episode 134 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Srinath Raghavan). 3. The India-Pakistan Conflict -- Episode 111 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Srinath Raghavan). 4. The Citizenship Battles -- Episode 152 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Srinath Raghavan). 5. The Indian Armed Forces -- Episode 175 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Lt Gen Prakash Menon). 6. India in the Nuclear Age -- Episode 80 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Lt Gen Prakash Menon). 7. The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew and Enid Blyton on Amazon. 8. The Gita Press and Hindu Nationalism -- Episode 139 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Akshaya Mukul). 9. Political Ideology in India -- Episode 131 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rahul Verma). 10. Being Muslim in India -- Episode 216 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ghazala Wahab) 11. Memories and Things -- Episode 195 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Aanchal Malhotra). 12. The Burden of Democracy -- Pratap Bhanu Mehta. 13. What Have We Done With Our Independence? -- Episode 186 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pratap Bhanu Mehta). 14. The BJP Before Modi -- Episode 202 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vinay Sitapati). 15. A Call to Honour -- Jaswant Singh. 16. We Won’t Need To Fight A War If We Can Win The Peace -- Amit Varma. 17. Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice -- David Galula. 18. Seven Pillars of Wisdom -- TE Lawrence. 19. The Insurgents -- Fred Kaplan. 20. The Generation of Rage in Kashmir -- David Devadas. 21. The Lost Rebellion: Kashmir in the Nineties -- Manoj Joshi. 22. First They Came... --  Martin Niemöller. 23. Army and Nation: The Military and Indian Democracy -- Steven I Wilkinson. 24. The Strategy Trap: India and Pakistan Under the Nuclear Shadow -- Lt Gen Prakash Menon. 25. Thoughts on Pakistan -- BR Ambedkar. 26. The Promise of Power -- Maya Tudor. 27. War and Peace in Modern India -- Srinath Raghavan. 28. The Battle for Money -- Sushant Singh. 29. The World of Yesterday -- Stefan Zweig. 30. The End of History? -- Francis Fukuyama. 31. Why China Is Winning Against India -- Sushant Singh. 32. Guns Fall Silent on the LoC -- Sushant Singh. 33. Line of Narrative Control -- Sushant Sngh. 34. Looking Ahead After the Ladakh Walk Back -- Sushant Singh. 35. Why China Is Winning Against India -- Sushant Singh. 36. India Can’t Say It Wants U.S. Help Against China -- Sushant Singh. 37. India's China Challenge -- Ananth Krishnan. 38. The Dragon and the Elephant -- Episode 181 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Hamsini Hariharam & Shibani Mehta). 39. What Does China Want? -- Episode 143 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Manoj Kewalramani). 40. Foreign Policy is a Big Deal -- Episode 170 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pranay Kotasthane & Manoj Kewalramani). 41. Understanding Foreign Policy -- Episode 63 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Nitin Pai). 42. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy -- Douglas Adams. 43. China’s Influence in South Asia -- Episode 22 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pranay Kotasthane). Check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It’s free!

Ep 218: A Creator of the Floating World

The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma

  • 770 views
  • about 3 years ago
  • 03:15:26

The world of creators has changed in the last few years -- and maybe advertising is dead? Varun Duggirala joins Amit Varma in episode 218 of The Seen and the Unseen to describe his journey as a creator in the world of advertising -- and the time he kidnapped people for reality television. Also check out: 1. Varun Duggirala's website, Linktree, Instagram and Twitter. 2. Advertising is Dead -- Varun Duggirala. 3. The Varun Duggi Show. 4. Unschooled by Varun Duggirala. 5. Amit Varma on Podcasting on The Varun Duggi Show. 6. Flipped Script -- Episode 112 of Advertising is Dead (w Pooja Jauhari). 7. The Jungle Book (1967 film). 8. This Be The Verse -- Philip Larkin. 9. Small Town Mindset -- TEDx talk by Varun Duggirala. 10. How Social Media Threatens Society -- Episode 8 of Brave New World (Jonathan Haidt speaking to host Vasant Dhar). 11. The Prem Panicker Files -- Episode 217 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Prem Panicker). 12. An Adman Reflects on Society & the Self -- Episode 199 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ambi Paramaeswaran). 13. Success, Legacy, Our Moral Compass & Taking the Plunge -- Varun Duggirala. 14. Frameworks, Tough Decisions and the Force -- Varun Duggirala. 15. Conversation and Society -- Episode 182 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Russ Roberts). 16. The Seen and the Unseen with Ghazala Wahab and Tamal Bandyopadhyay. 17. How it Feels to Reach 1 MILLION Subscribers -- Ali Abdaal. 18. Staying Ahead of the Content Curve -- Episode 85 of Advertising is Dead (w Tanmay Bhatt). 19. Future Focus: The Intimate Content Ecosystem -- Varun Duggirala. 20. Pivot -- Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway. 21. 1000 True Fans — Kevin Kelly. 22. 1000 True Fans? Try 100 — Li Jin. 23. The Balanced Information Diet -- Varun Duggirala. 24. Stillness is the Key -- Ryan Holiday. 25. The Ride of a Lifetime -- Robert Iger. 26. Inside Voices. 27. Blockbuster. 28. The Defiant Ones on Netflix. 29. The Minimalists. Check out Amit's online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It's free!

Ep 217: The Prem Panicker Files

The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma

  • 830 views
  • about 3 years ago
  • 03:13:10

Prem Panicker has been raising hell in Indian journalism for over 30 years: A muckraker and a pioneer, a maverick and an elder statesman, he is loved by fans and feared by the establishment. Prem joins Amit Varma in episode 217 of The Seen and the Unseen for a raw and intimate account of the wounds he got from living, and the lessons he learnt while healing. Also check out: 1. Smoke Signals -- Prem Panicker's blog. 2. The Peepli Project -- Edited by Prem Panicker 3. The State of the Media -- Episode 46 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Prem Panicker). 4. Money in Cricket -- Episode 41 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Gideon Haigh and Prem Panicker). 5. The New World Upon Us -- Amit Varma. 6. The Glimpse -- Trilok Gurtu. 7. The Out of Eden Walk -- Paul Salopek. 8. A Picture of Hell, and No Kerosene -- Amit Varma. 9. A World of Stopped Watches -- Amit Varma. 10. Being Muslim in India -- Episode 216 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ghazala Wahab). 11. One Way Ticket -- Neil Sedaka. 12. The House of the Dead -- Fyodor Dostoyevsky. 13. Kettyolaanu Ente Malakha -- Directed by Nissam Basheer. 14. The Hunter Becomes the Hunted -- Episode 200 of The Seen and the Unseen. 15. The Seen and the Unseen episodes with Deepak Shenoy and Sonia Faleiro. 16. Bhimsen -- Prem Panicker (adapted from Randaamoozham by MT Vasudevan Nair). 17. How Social Media Threatens Society -- Episode 8 of Brave New World (Vasant Dhar chatting with Jonathan Haidt).  18. The Windowpane channel and newsletter. 19. A Meditation on Form -- Amit Varma. 20. Gell-Mann Amnesia. 21. It's Hard to Build and Easy to Destroy -- Amit Varma. This episode is sponsored by The Great Courses Plus. Check out their course, Life Lessons from the Great Books. For free unlimited access for a month, click here. Please subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It’s free! And check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing.

Ep 216: Being Muslim in India

The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma

  • 770 views
  • about 3 years ago
  • 03:46:53

What is it like to be Muslim in India? Ghazala Wahab joins Amit Varma in episode 216 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss.the history of Islam in the subcontinent -- and how, at this present moment, we may be trapped in a vicious circle. Also check out: 1. Born a Muslim: Some Truths About Islam in India -- Ghazala Wahab. 2. Dragon On Our Doorstep -- Pravin Sawhney and Ghazala Wahab. 3. Force -- The magazine edited by Ghazala Wahab. 4. Ghubar-e-Khatir -- Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. 5. The Gita Press and Hindu Nationalism -- Episode 139 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Akshaya Mukul). 6. Political Ideology in India -- Episode 131 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rahul Verma).  7. The Notebook Trilogy -- Agota Kristof. 8. Jhumpa Lahiri on Writing, Translation, and Crossing Between Cultures -- Episode 17 of Conversations With Tyler. 9. A Writer Learns to See -- Episode 215 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Annie Zaidi). 10. Private Truths, Public Lies -- Timur Kuran. 11. Memories and Things -- Episode 195 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Aanchal Malhotra). 12. Influence of Islam on Indian Culture -- Tara Chand. 13. Our Colorful Past -- Episode 127 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Manu Pillai). 14. Nanak Was Here -- Episode 166 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Amardeep Singh). 15. The Two Faces of Islam -- Stephen Schwartz. 16. India Wins Freedom -- Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. 17. A Life in Indian Politics -- Episode 149 of The Seen and the Unseen (w JP Narayan). 18. Hum Dekhenge -- Written by Faiz Ahmad Faiz and sung by Iqbal Bano. 19. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty -- James Thurber. 20. The Citizenship Battles -- Episode 152 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Srinath Raghavan). 21. Radically Networked Societies -- Episode 158 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pranay Kotasthane). 22. The BJP Before Modi -- Episode 202 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vinay Sitapati). This episode is sponsored by The Great Courses Plus. Check out their course, The Joy of Mathematics. For free unlimited access for a month, click here. Please subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It's free! And check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing.

Ep 215: A Writer Learns to See

The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma

  • 860 views
  • about 3 years ago
  • 02:50:26

There is so much about India that is unseen to us, hidden behind layers of blindness. If only we could peel them off. Annie Zaidi joins Amit Varma in episode 215 of The Seen and the Unseen to describe how her many years as a writer, blogger, journalist, playwright and filmmaker deepened her vision of our world. Also check out: 1. Bread, Cement, Cactus -- Annie Zaidi. 2. Unbound: 2,000 Years of Indian Women's Writing -- Annie Zaidi (editor). 3. Prelude to a Riot -- Annie Zaidi. 4. Annie Zaidi's author page on Amazon.in. 5. Known Turf -- Annie Zaidi's blog. 6. History, Fear and the Role of the Writer -- A talk by Annie Zaidi for Mumbai Local. 7. Ek Red Color Ki Love Story -- A short film by Annie Zaidi. 8. Annie Zaidi's films. 9. The Art of Translation -- Episode 168 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Arunava Sinha). 10. राधा सौंदर्य -- Beni Prasad Beni. 11. Thandi Hawayein Lehrake Aaye. 12. Aakar Patel at The Windowpane Sessions. 13. A Scientist in the Kitchen -- Episode 204 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Krish Ashok). 14. A Meditation on Form -- Amit Varma. 15. Jackson Katz's TedX talk about violence against women and the passive voice. (Also, this quote.) 16. Demystifying GDP -- Episode 130 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rajeswari Sengupta). 17. DeMon, Morality and the Predatory Indian State -- Episode 85 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan). 18. Most of Amit Varma’s writing on DeMon, collected in one Twitter thread. 19. Our Colourful Past -- Episode 127 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Manu Pillai). 20. Early Indians -- Tony Joseph. (And the Seen/Unseen episode with him.) 21. The Right to Property -- Episode 26 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan). 22. The Baptist, the Bootlegger and the Dead Man Walking -- Amit Varma's column on the Uttar Pradesh Mritak Sangh. 23. India Awakes. 24. Who Broke Our Republic? -- Episode 163 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Kapil Komireddi). 25. The Gita Press and Hindu Nationalism -- Episode 139 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Akshaya Mukul). 26. Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India -- Akshaya Mukul. 27. The Citizenship Battles -- Episode 152 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Srinath Raghavan). 28. 'Understand the Chronology' -- Rohan Venkataramakrishnan's piece on how Amit Shah linked CAA to NRC. 29. The Intellectual Foundations of Hindutva -- Episode 115 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Aakar Patel). 30. Our Hindu Rashtra -- Aakar Patel. 31. Raghu Sanjaylal Jaitley’s Father’s Scooter -- Episode 214 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Raghu Sanjaylal Jaitley).  32. Misogyny and our Legal System -- Episode 58 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Madhav Chandavarkar and Hamsini Hariharan). 33. The History of Desire in India -- Episode 161 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Madhavi Menon). 34. Women in Indian History -- Episode 144 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ira Mukhoty). 35. Sultana's Dream --  Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain. 36. The Mothers of Maya Diip -- Suniti Namjoshi. 37. The Prisons We Broke -- Baby Kamble. 38. The High Caste Hindu Woman -- Pandita Ramabai. 39. Speeches and Writings of Sarojini Naidu. 40. The Story of My Experiments With Truth -- Mahatma Gandhi. 41. I, Lalla: The Poems of Lal Dĕd -- Lal Dĕd (translated by Ranjit Hoskote). This episode is sponsored by CTQ Compounds. Check out The Daily Reader and FutureStack. Use the code UNSEEN for Rs 2500 off. The India Uncut Newsletter has resumed. So do subscribe, it’s free! And check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing.

Ep 214: Raghu Sanjaylal Jaitley's Father's Scooter

The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma

  • 800 views
  • about 3 years ago
  • 03:08:44

India is a complex country. The last few decades have been full of tumult. How does one make sense of it all? Raghu Sanjaylal Jaitley joins Amit Varma in episode 214 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about the many frames he uses to look at our politics, economics, culture and Dilip Kumar. Also check out: 1. Anticipating the Unintended -- Pranay Kotasthane and Raghu Sanjaylal Jaitley's newsletter. 2. Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin, featuring Raghu Jaitley. 3. Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, featuring Sanjay Lal. 4. It Happened One Night. 5. Persuasion -- Yascha Mounk's newsletter. 6. The Coddling of the American Mind -- Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt. 7. A Meditation on Form -- Amit Varma. 8. Public Opinion -- Walter Lippman. 9. The World Outside and the Pictures in our Heads -- Walter Lippman. 10. A Venture Capitalist Looks at the World -- Episode 213 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Sajith Pai). 11. Puliyabaazi -- Saurabh Chandra and Pranay Kotasthane's podcast. 12. ये लिबरल आख़िर है कौन? -- Episode 37 of Puliyabaazi (w Amit Varma). 13. Remembering Frédéric Bastiat (2007) -- Amit Varma. 14. The Candemakers' Petition -- Frédéric Bastiat. 15. Frédéric Bastiat's writings at Bastiat.org and Amazon. 16. Also on Amazon, the books of Friedrich Hayek and Ludwig von Mises. 17. Imagined Communities -- Benedict Anderson. 18. The First Assault on Our Constitution -- Episode 194 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Tripurdaman Singh). 19. Who Broke Our Republic? -- Episode 163 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Kapil Komireddi). 20. The Emotional Dog and its Rational Tail -- Jonathan Haidt. 21. Political Ideology in India -- Episode 131 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rahul Verma). 22. The Three Languages of Politics -- Arnold Kling. 23. Naya Daur, the anti-Nehruvian film from 1957. 24. Nehru's Hero: Dilip Kumar In The Life Of India -- Meghnad Desai. 25. The Twitter threads on Mahmood Farooqui by Kavita Krishnan and Audrey Truschke. 26. Misogyny and our Legal System -- Episode 58 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Madhav Chandavarkar and Hamsini Hariharan). 27. The Harshacharita of Banabhatta. 28. Murty Classical Library of India. 29. The End of History and the Last Man -- Francis Fukuyama. 30. The Light that Failed -- Ivan Krastev and Stephen Holmes. 31. Elite Imitation in Public Policy -- Episode 180 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan and Alex Tabarrok). 32. What Really Happened? — Lawrence H White on the 2008 Financial Crisis. 33. Range Rover -- Archives of Amit Varma's poker column for the Times of India. 34. The BJP’s Magic Formula -- Episode 45 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Prashant Jha). 35. How the BJP Wins -- Prashant Jha. 36. The Concept of the Political -- Carl Schmitt. 37. Most of Amit Varma’s writing on Demonetisation, collected in one Twitter thread. 38. Lessons from an Ankhon Dekhi Prime Minister -- Amit Varma. 39. Beware of the Useful Idiots -- Amit Varma. 40. The Tragedy of Our Farm Bills -- Episode 211 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah). 41. Fun Home -- Alison Bechdel. 42. Restaurant Regulations in India -- Episode 18 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Madhu Menon). 43. Kalyug -- Shyam Benegal's 1981 film. 44. India After Gandhi -- Ramachandra Guha. 45. Ramachandra Guha on The Seen and the Unseen: 1, 2, 3, 4. 46. The Ideas of Our Constitution -- Episode 164 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Madhav Khosla). 47. India’s Founding Moment — Madhav Khosla. 48. Jadunath Sarkar, Jagdish Bhagwati and Amartya Sen on Amazon. 49. The Idea of India -- Sunil Khilnani. 50. The Indian Trilogy -- VS Naipaul. This episode is sponsored by CTQ Compunds. Check out The Daily Reader and FutureStack. Use the code UNSEEN for Rs 2500 off. Amit has promised to resume The India Uncut Newsletter. So do subscribe, it's free! And check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing.

Ep 213: A Venture Capitalist Looks at the World

The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma

  • 810 views
  • about 3 years ago
  • 02:45:02

VCs have a crazy job description. They need to understand society, figure out what people will want tomorrow and bet on the future. Sajith Pai joins Amit Varma in episode 213 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about his frames of looking at the world -- and what he has learnt about media, entrepreneurship and this country of ours. Also check out: 1. The Indus Valley Playbook -- Sajith Pai. 2. Understand Startups, Metrics and Valuations -- Twitter thread by Sajith Pai. 3. India2, English Tax and Building for the Next Billion Users -- Sajith Pai. 4. India1, Avocado Startups & Product-Market Fit -- Sajith Pai. 5. Indo-Anglians: The newest and fastest-growing caste in India -- Sajith Pai. 6. MERIT colleges, national track India, & privilege blindness -- Sajith Pai. 7. Deconstructing Indian Startups & VCs -- YouTube talk by Sajith Pai. 8. India’s Start-Up Ecosystem -- Episode 171 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Mohit Satyanand). 9. Indian Society: The Last 30 Years — Episode 137 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Santosh Desai). 10. An Adman Reflects on Society & the Self -- Episode 199 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ambi Parameswaran).  11. Essays -- Paul Graham. 12. Ali Abdaal on reaching one million subscribers and staying patient for the long haul. 13. The First Assault on Our Constitution -- Episode 194 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Tripurdaman Singh).  14. The Gell-Mann Amnesia Effect. 15. Finite and Infinite Games -- James Carse. 16. It Happened in India -- Kishore Biyani. 17. TikTok and the Sorting Hat -- Eugene Wei. 18. The Art of Narrative Nonfiction (+ JBS Haldane) -- Episode 183 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Samanth Subramanian). 19. Lessons in Investing (and Life) -- Episode 208 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Deepak Shenoy). 20. The tweets by Benedict Evans and Pomp. 21. VCs should play bridge -- Alex Danco. 22. The only thing that matters -- Marc Andreessen. 23. Fixing Indian Education -- Episode 185 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Muralidharan). This episode is sponsored by The Great Courses Plus. Check out their course, Introduction to Machine Learning. For free unlimited access for a month, click here. You can now buy Seen/Unseen swag.  And do check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing.

Ep 212: Pandemonium in India's Banks

The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma

  • 790 views
  • about 3 years ago
  • 02:20:07

India's financial system has been in crisis for more than a decade -- and it affects all of us. Tamal Bandyopadhyay joins Amit Varma in episode 212 of The Seen and the Unseen to make sense of all the turbulence. Also check out: 1. Pandemonium: The Great Indian Banking Tragedy -- Tamal  Bandyopadhyay. 2. Tamal Bandyopadhyay's books on Amazon. 3. Tamal Bandyopadhyay's website. 4. Tamal Bandyopadhyay's columns in Mint and Business Standard.5. India's Lost Decade -- Episode 116 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Puja Mehra). 6. The Fight of the Central Banker -- Episode 193 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Viral Acharya). 7. The Importance of Finance -- Episode 125 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah). 8. Zombie Firms and Creative Destruction -- 118 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah). 9. Easy Money -- Episode 56 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vivek Kaul).  10. IL&FS and the Indian Financial System -- Episode 91 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vivek Kaul and Ashutosh Datar). 11. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen on public sector banks and NPAs.. 12. What Really Happened? — Lawrence H White on the 2008 Financial Crisis. 13. Politics and the English Language -- George Orwell. 14. Lady Chatterley's Lover -- DH Lawrence. 15. Firefighting: The Financial Crisis and its Lessons -- Ben S Bernanke, Timothy F Geithner and Henry M Paulson Jr. 16. Code Name God: The Spiritual Odyssey of a Man of Science -- Mani Bhaumik. 17. Ispat Bhi Hum Banate Hain -- The Tata Steel commercial. (Also this.) 18. Complan Boy and Girl (w Shahid Kapoor and Ayesha Takia). 19. Maltova Mum. You can now buy Seen/Unseen swag. And do check out Amit’s online courses, The Art of Clear Writing and The Art of Podcasting.

Ep 211: The Tragedy of Our Farm Bills

The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma

  • 920 views
  • about 3 years ago
  • 02:02:24

Our agriculture needs reform -- but we should be wary that our attempt to get there is not at the cost of our democracy. Ajay Shah joins Amit Varma in episode 211 of The Seen and the Unseen to share his insights on the process, content and implication of the farm bills. Also discussed: knowledge assimilation, public health, how we tackled the pandemic and what we can do going forward. Also check out: 1. Ajay Shah's homepage. 2. The Art and Science of Economic Policy -- Episode 154 of The Seen and the Unseen. 3. In Service of the Republic — Vijay Kelkar & Ajay Shah. 4. Other episodes of The Seen and the Unseen with Ajay Shah: 1, 2, 3. 5. The State of Our Farmers — Ep 86 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Gunvant Patil, in Hindi). 6. India's Agriculture Crisis -- Episode 140 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Barun Mitra & Kumar Anand).  7. Other episodes of The Seen and the Unseen on Agricultire: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 8. We Must Save Our Farmers — Amit Varma. 9. The Indian State is the Greatest Enemy of the Indian Farmer — Amit Varma. 10. A Tale of Two Satyagrahas — Amit Varma. 11. Economic Freedom in Agriculture -- Ajay Shah. 12. India: An Agricultural Trade Powerhouse -- Ajay Shah. 13. Enabling a National Market for Food -- Anirudh Burman, Ila Patnaik, Shubho Roy & Ajay Shah. 14. Feeding the Hungry in the Pandemic -- Episode 210 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ruben Mascarenhas). 15. Previous episodes of The Seen and the Unseen on the pandemic: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. 16. We Are Fighting Two Disasters: Covid-19 and the Indian State — Amit Varma. 17. Public Choice Theory -- Episode 121 of The Seen and the Unseen. 18. Analysing the 2021 budget -- Ajay Shah. 19. The Theatre of the Budget (2020) -- Episode 159 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah and Vivek Kaul).  20. DeMon, Morality and the Predatory Indian State -- Episode 85 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan). 21. Most of Amit Varma’s writing on DeMon, collected in one Twitter thread. 22. India's Water Crisis -- Episode 60 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vishwanath S aka Zenrainman). 23. The Delhi Smog -- Episode 44 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vivek Kaul). 24. Episode of The Seen and the Unseen on GST: 1, 2, 3. 25. Pratap Bhanu Mehta on the farm bills & what followed: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. You can now buy Seen/Unseen swag. And do check out Amit’s online courses, The Art of Clear Writing and The Art of Podcasting.

Ep 210: Feeding the Hungry in the Pandemic

The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma

  • 730 views
  • about 3 years ago
  • 02:57:40

A virus can kill you -- and so can hunger. The lockdown last year led to an explosion of hunger around the country. Where the state failed, civil society stepped in. Ruben Mascarenhas joins Amit Varma in episode 210 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss his initiative, Khaana Chahiye, that fed lakhs of people in Mumbai. Also discussed: activism, local politics and the clash between principles and the will to power. Also check out: 1. Khaana Chahiya. (also on Twitter.) 2. Litmus Test Project. 3. A Life in Indian Politics -- Episode 149 of The Seen and the Unseen (w JP Narayan). 4. Participatory Democracy -- Episode 160 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ashwin Mahesh). 5. Cities and Citizens -- Episode 198 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ashwin Mahesh.) 6. Previous episodes of The Seen and the Unseen on the pandemic: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. 7. We Are Fighting Two Disasters: Covid-19 and the Indian State -- Amit Varma. 8. Reforming Urban Governance -- Episode 48 of The Seen and the Unseen (w V Ravichandar). 9. Urban Governance in India -- Episode 31 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan). 10. Where Have All The Leaders Gone? -- Amit Varma. 11. AAP and Down -- Mayank Gandhi and Shrey Shah. 12. Politics and the Sociopath (2014) -- Amit Varma. 13. Fixing Indian Education -- Episode 185 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Muralidharan) 14. Education in India -- Episode 77 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Amit Chandra). 15. Our Unlucky Children (2008) -- Amit Varma. 16. Fund Schooling, Not Schools (2007) -- Amit Varma. 17. Where Anna Hazare Gets It Wrong (2011) -- Amit Varma. Also, registration is now open for Amit’s online courses, The Art of Clear Writing and The Art of Podcasting.

Ep 209: Two Girls Hanging From a Tree

The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma

  • 730 views
  • about 3 years ago
  • 02:03:16

In 2014, a photograph of two girls hanging from a tree in an Indian village went viral. Sonia Faleiro joins Amit Varma in episode 209 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss the years she spent researching their story, and the complex layers of truth she uncovered. And also, how the larger crime is the one our society commits on itself. Also check out: 1. The Good Girls -- Sonia Faleiro. 2. Beautiful Thing -- Sonia Faleiro. 3. 13 Men -- Sonia Faleiro. 4. Sonia Faleiro's website. 5. Lessons in Investing (and Life) -- Episode 208 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Deepak Shenoy). 6. The Art of Narrative Nonfiction (+ JBS Haldane) -- Episode 183 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Samanth Subramanian). 7. Random Family -- Adrian Nicole LeBlanc. 8. Yuganta -- Irawati Karve. This episode is sponsored by The Great Courses Plus. Check out their course, How Digital Technology Shapes Us. For free unlimited access for a month, click here. You can now buy Seen/Unseen swag. And do check out Amit’s online courses, The Art of Clear Writing and The Art of Podcasting.

Ep 208: Lessons in Investing (and Life)

The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma

  • 830 views
  • about 3 years ago
  • 03:42:14

Is the stock market an engine of our economy or a casino disconnected from reality? Does it require deep thinking or mad gambling? Deepak Shenoy joins Amit Varma in episode 208 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about the lessons he has learnt about the markets -- and about life. Also check out: 1. Capitalmind, Deepak Shenoy's investment research and wealth management company, 2. The Capitalmind Podcast. 3. Cats in the Cradle -- Ugly Kid Joe (Also, the Harry Chapin original.) 4. Midnight in Chernobyl -- Adam Higginbotham. 5. Nuclear Power Can Save the World -- Joshua S Goldstein, Staffan A Qvist and Steven Pinker. 6. Poker and Stock Markets -- Episode 47 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Mohit Satyanand). 7. Luck is All Around -- Amit Varma. 8. Range Rover -- Archives of Amit Varma's poker column for the Economic Times. 9. Variants of chess on chess.com. 10. The Dichotomy of Markets -- Deepak Shenoy. 11. Brave New World -- Episode 203 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vasant Dhar). 12. Alpha Zero -- Episode 51 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Devangshu Datta). 13. The New World Upon Us -- Amit Varma. 14. Trading Places on Wikipedia. 15. Our Unlucky Children -- Amit Varma. 16. The State of Financial Advice in India -- Episode 4 of the Capitalmind Podcast. 17. Demystifying GDP -- Episode 130 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rajeswari Sengupta). 18. Indian Society: The Last 30 Years -- Episode 137 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Santosh Desai). 19. An Adman Reflects on Society & the Self -- Episode 199 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ambi Parameswaran). 20. Doris 'Tanta' Dungey at Calculated Risk. 21. Invest Like the Best -- Patrick O'Shaughnessy's podcast. 22. Market Wizards & The New Market Wizards by Jack D Schwager. 23. What Goes Up -- Eric J Weiner. 24. The Scam: From Harshad Mehta To Ketan Parekh -- Debashish Basu & Sucheta Dalal. 25. The Intelligent Investor -- Benjamin Graham. 26. Rich Dad Poor Dad -- Robert Kiyosaki. 27. The books of Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Steven Pinker, Philip Tetlock, Nate Silver and Per Bylund. 28. Buffet and When Genius Failed by Roger Lowenstein. 29. Books we Like: On Investing, Trading & More -- The Capitalmind team. This episode is sponsored by The Great Courses Plus. Check out their course, The Art of Investing. For free unlimited access for a month, click here. You can now buy Seen/Unseen swag. And do check out Amit’s online courses, The Art of Clear Writing and The Art of Podcasting.

Ep 207: Religion, Food, Indian Society

The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma

  • 830 views
  • about 3 years ago
  • 02:28:18

God is a controversial subject, but we can all agree that food exists, and is often divine. Shoba Narayan joins Amit Varma in episode 207 of The Seen and the Unseen to describe her explorations of religion and food in India. Also check out: 1. Food and Faith: A Pilgrim's Journey through India -- Shoba Narayan. 2. Shoba Narayan's books on Amazon. 3. Shoba Narayan's website and columns. 4. The Indianness of Indian Food — Episode 95 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vikram Doctor). 5. A Scientist in the Kitchen -- Episode 204 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Krish Ashok). 6. The God of Small Feasts -- Shoba Narayan. 7. Meenakshi Ammal's Cook and See: Volumes one, two and three. 8. Vikram Doctor's columns and KT Achaya's books. 9. Harold McGee's books. 10. Fuchsia Dunlop's books. 11. Michael Pollan's books. 12. The Man Who Ate Everything -- Jeffrey Steingarten. 13. Feast: Food of the Islamic World -- Anissa Helou. 14. Feast and Fasts: A History of Food in India -- Colleen Taylor Sen. 15. The Suriani Kitchen -- Lathika George. 16. A Godless Congregation -- Amit Varma. 17. The Big Questions -- Steven E Landsburg. 18. Diana Eck's books. 19. Writers at Work in the Paris Review & and Amazon (1, 2, 3). 20. The Paris Review interview of Ernest Hemingway. 21. Yuganta -- Irawati Karve. 22. Caste, Gender, Karnatik Music -- Episode 162 of The Seen and the Unseen (w TM Krishna). 23. The Making Sense Podcast by Sam Harris. 24. Waking Up: Searching for Spirituality Without Religion -- Sam Harris. 25. Early Indians -- Episode 112 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Tony Joseph). 26. Kerala and the Ivory Throne -- Episode 156 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Manu Pillai). 27. A Meditation on Form -- Amit Varma. 28. A Life in Indian Politics -- Episode 149 of The Seen and the Unseen (w JP Narayan). You can now buy Seen/Unseen swag. And do check out Amit’s online courses, The Art of Clear Writing and The Art of Podcasting.

Ep 206: Lessons From 2020

The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma

  • 760 views
  • about 3 years ago
  • 02:47:16

Finally, 2020 is behind us. It changed our world, the way we live our lives, and how we relate to each other and to ourselves. Shruti Rajagopalan and Alex Tabarrok join Amit Varma in episode 206 of The Seen and the Unseen to take stock of the year gone by, with each of them picking five lessons they feel 2020 holds for us. Because they can't count, though, they end up with more than 15 -- here they are, below. (Listen to the episode for the elaborations and arguments.) The Lessons: 0. Don't take anything for granted. (Amit) 1. Don't make the mistake of Omission, Commission, Distinction. (Alex) 2. We should pay more attention to tail risks. (Shruti) 3. Art and Entertainment can be intimate and personal. (Amit) 4. People care more about narratives to explain the world than the world itself. (Amit) 5. We should think more about inter-generational tradeoffs, and consider lowering the voting age. (Shruti) 6. Software is eating the biological world. (Alex) 7. Science is not the problem. The problem is economic illiteracy. (Shruti) 7.5. We should move from collectivized decision-making to respecting individual choice. (Alex) 8. We need to rethink education. Not just the delivery of it, but how we think of education itself. (Amit) 9. A bigger problem than state capacity is state will. (Alex) 10. Politicians don't always behave in a rational, self-interested way. (Shruti) 11. Politics is driven only by tribalism. (Amit) 12. The internet is even better than we thought. (Alex) 13. Markets don't solve everything. (Shruti) 14. We should worry more about computer viruses. (Alex) 15. We should take a closer look at how we relate to other people. (Amit) 15.5 Be like dogs. Live in the moment. (Shruti) Also check out: 1. Elite Imitation in Public Policy -- Episode 180 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan and Alex Tabarrok). 2. Previous episodes with Shruti and Alex. 3. Previous episodes on Covid-19: 1, 2, 3, 4. 4. The Omission-Commission Error is Deadly -- Alex Tabarrok. 5. Asteroid Deflection as a Public Good -- Alex Tabarrok. (And some other Marginal Revolution posts on asteroids.) 6. The Day the Dinosaurs Died -- Douglas Preston. 7. Unlikely is Inevitable -- Amit Varma. 8. The Hunter Becomes the Hunted -- Episode 200 of The Seen and the Unseen. 9. The YouTube channels of Samay Raina and ChessBase India. 10. Only Fans. 11. 1000 True Fans -- Kevin Kelly. 12. 1000 True Fans? Try 100 -- Li Jin. 13. Marginal Revolution University. 14. ParentData -- Emily Oster's newsletter on Substack. 15. Profit = Philanthropy -- Amit Varma. 16. Modern Principles of Microeconomics -- Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok. (And Macroeconomics.) 17. Collective Action Kills Innovation -- Alex Tabarrok.18. Fixing Indian Education -- Episode 185 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Muralidharan). 19. The Case Against Education -- Bryan Caplan. 20. Beware of the Useful Idiots -- Amit Varma. 21. Khaana Chahiya. 22. The BJP Before Modi -- Episode 202 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vinay Sitapati). This episode is sponsored by the podcast, Think Like an Economist, hosted by Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers.  You can now buy Seen/Unseen swag. And do check out Amit’s online courses, The Art of Clear Writing and The Art of Podcasting.  

Ep 205: India's Tryst With Pandemics

The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma

  • 740 views
  • over 3 years ago
  • 02:59:08

Pandemic, lockdown, masks, vaccine, state failure, state overreach: India's been here before, and it's been worse. Chinmay Tumbe joins Amit Varma in episode 205 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss how 40 million lives were lost in the subcontinent between 1817 and 1920 in the cholera, plague and influenza pandemics -- and the lessons we need to learn from them. Also check out: 1. Age of Pandemics -- Chinmay Tumbe. 2. India Moving -- Chinmay Tumbe. 3. India = Migration -- Episode 128 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Chinmay Tumbe). 4. Everyday Technology: Machines and the Making of India's Modernity -- David Arnold. 5. Cholera and Colonialism in British India -- David Arnold. 6. Smritichitre: The Memoirs of a Spirited Wife -- Lakshmibai Tilak (translated by Shanta Gokhale). 7. The British in India: A Social History of the Raj -- David Gilmour. 8. The Great Escape -- Angus Deaton. 9. The Birth of the Modern World -- CA Bayly. 10. Eric Hobsbawm's books on Amazon. 11. Harsh Mander’s Near-Death Covid Experience In Delhi’s Hospitals -- Natasha Badhwar. 12. Fighting Fake News -- Episode 133 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pratik Sinha). 13. Plague Ports -- Myron Echenberg. 14. A Life Misspent -- Suryakant Tripathi aka Nirala. This episode is sponsored by The Great Courses Plus. Check out their course, An Introduction to Infectious Diseases. For free unlimited access for a month, click here. You can now buy Seen/Unseen swag. And do check out Amit’s online courses, The Art of Clear Writing and The Art of Podcasting.

Ep 204: A Scientist in the Kitchen

The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma

  • 790 views
  • over 3 years ago
  • 03:11:32

Indian cooking is often treated as a mystical art -- but it is the science behind it that should fill us with wonder. Krish Ashok joins Amit Varma in episode 204 of The Seen and the Unseen to speak about Masala Lab, his effort at explaining this great art from scientific first principles. Every meal of yours can now be a romantic adventure filled with the ecstasy of insight -- whether you cook it, eat or or do both while playing the violin. Also check out: 1. Masala Lab -- Krish Ashok. 2. Krish Ashok's website, blog, YouTube, Soundcloud & columns. 3. The Indianness of Indian Food -- Episode 95 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vikram Doctor). 4. Neurogastronomy -- Gordon M Shepherd. 5. Hot Ones (the spicy wings show) on Wikipedia and YouTube. 6. The Botany of Desire -- Michael Pollan. 7. Ganesh Bagler's homepage, Wikipedia, academic papers and YouTube Channel. 8. Shukto (Ekla Cholo Re). Bloody hell! 9. Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat -- Samin Nosrat. 10. Nisha Madhulika on YouTube. 11. The Ketchup Conundrum -- Malcolm Gladwell. 12. Toddy Chicken -- Vahchef. 13. The Food Lab -- J Kenji López–alt. 14. Modernist Cusine -- Nathan Myhrvold. 15. Modernist Cusine at Home -- Nathan Myhrvold. 16. Bong Eats on YouTube. 17. Saffron Trail -- Nandita Iyer's blog. 18. Salu Kitchen on YouTube. 19. Madras Samayal on YouTube. This episode is sponsored by The Great Courses Plus. Check out their course, Cooking Across the Ages. For free unlimited access for a month, click here. You can now buy Seen/Unseen swag. And do check out Amit’s online courses, The Art of Clear Writing and The Art of Podcasting.

Ep 201: A Cricket Tragic Celebrates the Game

The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma

  • 810 views
  • over 3 years ago
  • 02:15:30

Cricket has a unique place in Indian society, and has touched and shaped millions of lives. Ramachandra Guha joins Amit Varma in episode 201 of The Seen and the Unseen to describe how he came to love, play and even administer the 'most subtle and sophisticated game known to humankind.' Also check out: 1. The Commonwealth of Cricket -- Ramachandra Guha. 2. A Corner of a Foreign Field -- Ramachandra Guha. 3. The Picador Book of Cricket -- Edited by Ramachandra Guha. 4. Ramachandra Guha's books on Amazon. 5. Understanding Gandhi. Part 1: Mohandas -- Episode 104 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ramachandra Guha). 6. Understanding Gandhi. Part 2: Mahatma -- Episode 105 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ramachandra Guha). 7. Taking Stock of Our Republic -- Episode 157 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ramachandra Guha). 8. Autobiography of an Unknown Cricketer -- Sujit Mukherjee. 9. Beyond a Boundary -- CLR James. 10. The Tao of Cricket -- Ashis Nandy. 11. Money in Cricket -- Episode 41 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Gideon Haigh & Prem Panicker). 12. The Evolution of Cricket -- Episode 97 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Harsha Bhogle). 13. Where Have All the Leaders Gone? -- Amit Varma. 14. Who Will Bell the Congress cat? -- Amit Varma. 15. Indian Cricket's Conflict-of-Interest Problem -- Mukul Kesavan. 16. The Sporting Spirit -- George Orwell. 17. Amit Varma on the IPL. 18. Of Gifted Voice -- Keshav Desiraju. 19. Yele Suhabashini -- TM Krishna. 20. S Gopalakrishnan (@gopalears) on Twitter. 21. The Lost World of Hindustani Music -- Kumar Prasad Mukherji. 22. Raga'n Josh -- Sheila Dhar. This episode is sponsored by The Great Courses Plus. Check out their course, Your Deceptive Mind: A Scientific Guide to Critical Thinking Skills. Click here for free unlimited access for a month. You can now buy Seen/Unseen swag.  Registrations are now open for Amit’s online courses, The Art of Clear Writing and The Art of Podcasting.

Ep 200: The Hunter Becomes the Hunted

The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma

  • 880 views
  • over 3 years ago
  • 04:59:42

The tables are turned in episode 200 of The Seen and the Unseen. Host Amit Varma is in the firing line, replying to questions from 22 of his past guests and fans as Shruti Rajagopalan plays proctor. They talk about poker, podcasting, politics, policy and the personal.  Show Notes 1. Select episodes of The Seen and the Unseen featuring Shruti Rajagopalan (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), Manu Pillai (98, 127, 156), VK Karthika, Rajat Ubhaykar, Chinmay Tumbe, Prem Panicker (41, 46), Joy Bhattacharjya, Akshaya Mukul, Ira Mukhoty, Parvati Sharma, Manimugdha Sharma, Supriya Gandhi, Harsha Bhogle, Karthik Muralidharan, Srinath Raghavan (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), Pranay Kotasthane (1, 2), Hamsini Hariharan (1, 2, 3, 4), Russ Roberts, Arvind Subramanian, Ram Guha (1, 2, 3), Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Narayani Basu, Amardeep Singh, Aakar Patel, Rahul Verma, Ashok Malik, Barun Mitra+Kumar Anand, Matt Ridley, Neelesh Misra, Puja Mehra, Rajeswari Sengupta (1, 2), Aanchal Malhotra, Alex Tabarrok (1, 2, 3), Madhavi Menon and Mohit Satyanand (1, 2, 3, 4) 2. A Godless Congregation -- Amit Varma. 3. Agarkar’s Donkeys: A Meditation on God -- Amit Varma. 4. Luck is All Around -- Amit Varma. 5. Why I Loved and Left Poker -- Amit Varma. 6. The archives of Amit Varma's poker column for the Economic Times, Range Rover. 7. Selected works by George Orwell: Essays, 1984, Animal Farm. 8. Selected Works by Frédéric Bastiat: The Law, That Which is Seen, and That Which is Not Seen. 9. A World of Stopped Watches — Amit Varma. 10. A Picture of Hell, and No Kerosene -- Amit Varma. 11. ये लिबरल आख़िर है कौन? -- Episode 37 of Puliyabaazi, featuring Amit Varma discussing Friedrich Hayek. 12. Facts Don’t Matter. Stories Do -- Amit Varma. 13. Every Act of Government Is an Act of Violence -- Amit Varma. 14. We Are Fighting Two Disasters: Covid-19 and the Indian State -- Amit Varma. 15. The Blank Slate -- Steven Pinker. 16. Almost Invisible -- Mark Strand. 17. The Power Broker -- Robert Caro. 18. The Lord of the Rings -- JRR Tolkien. 19. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time -- Mark Haddon. 20. What Is It Like to Be a Bat? -- Thomas Nagel. 21. Economics in One Lesson -- Henry Hazlitt. 22. Haal-Chaal Theek Thaak Hai -- Subrat and Pavan. 23. The Road to Serfdom -- Friedrich Hayek. 24. The Intellectuals and Socialism -- Friedrich Hayek. Also check out Amit Varma being interviewed on libertarianism, public choice theory, the math of sports, IPL & T20 cricket, and assorted subjects. You can now buy Seen/Unseen swag. And a four-volume anthology is on the way. And ah, registrations are now open for Amit's online courses, The Art of Clear Writing and The Art of Podcasting.

Ep 196: The Importance of Data Journalism

The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma

  • 770 views
  • over 3 years ago
  • 02:38:51

Good data journalism can reveal otherwise unseen truths about our society. Pioneering journalist Rukmini S joins Amit Varma in episode 196 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about the insights data brought to her journalism, and her groundbreaking podcast on Covid-19, The Moving Curve. Also check out: 1. The Moving Curve -- Rukmini S's podcast, also on all podcast apps. 2. Rukmini S at HuffPost, Hindu, Scroll, Mint,Times of India (1, 2) and India Spend. 3. Canary -- Amy Brittain's podcast. 4. How the Coronavirus Could Take Over Your Body (Before You Ever Feel It) -- Jeff Wise. (This is the piece mistakenly referred to in this episode as an Atlantic article.) 5. Muslim Population Growth Slows -- Rukmini S & Vijaita Singh (2015). 6. The Art of Narrative Nonfiction -- Episode 183 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Samanth Subramanian). 7. Raag Darbari (Hindi) (English) -- Shrilal Shukla 8. Memories and Things -- Episode 195 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Aanchal Malhotra). 9. India’s coronavirus lockdown takes toll on migrant workers -- Rukmini S. 10. The First 100 -- The ProPublica investigation in Chicago. 11. Ideology and Identity -- Pradeep K Chhibber and Rahul Verma. 12. Political Ideology in India -- Episode 131 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rahul Verma). 13. Somesh Jha at Business Standard.14. Covid19india.org. 15. Taking Stock of Covid-19 -- Episode 169 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan). 16. The Nuances of Lockdown -- Episode 176 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Anup Malani). 17. India’s Economy in the Time of Covid-19 -- Episode 177 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vivek Kaul). 18. Our Cities After Covid-19 -- Episode 191 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vaidehi Tandel). 19. Data Journalism and Indian Politics -- Episode 136 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Roshan Kishore). 20. The State of the Media -- Episode 46 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Prem Panicker). 21. The State of the Media 2 -- Episode 89 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Sidharth Bhatia & Peter Griffin). 22. What Happened to Our Journalism? -- Episode 178 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Nidhi Razdan). And do check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing.

Ep 194: The First Assault on Our Constitution

The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma

  • 830 views
  • over 3 years ago
  • 02:34:37

The constitution of India, it has been said, is not a book but a periodical. Starting with Jawaharlal Nehru, every prime minister who wanted to do something unconstitutional simply amended the constitution. Tripurdaman Singh joins Amit Varma in episode 194 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss India's First Amendment, which began a rot that never ended. Also check out: 1. Sixteen Stormy Days -- Tripurdaman Singh. 2. Imperial Sovereignty and Local Politics -- Tripurdaman Singh. 3. The books of CA Bayly. 4. Shruti Rajagopalan on our constitutional amendments. 5. The Right to Property -- Episode 26 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan). 6. 'Not murder but mimicry' -- Kapil Komireddi's tweet. 7. Modi's Lost Opportunity -- Episode 119 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Salman Soz). 8. India's Greatest Civil Servant -- Episode 167 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Narayani Basu). 9. India's Founding Moment -- Madhav Khosla. 10. The Ideas of Our Constitution -- Episode 164 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Madhav Khosla). 11. Who Broke Our Republic? -- Episode 163 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Kapil Komireddi). 12. The Emergency of 1975 -- Episode 103 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Gyan Prakash). 13. Where Have All the Leaders Gone? -- Amit Varma. 14. Dark Days Lie Ahead -- Pratap Bhanu Mehta. And do check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing.