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  • Our societies, our norms, our values are all shaped by stories from the past. Devdutt Pattanaik joins Amit Varma in episode 404 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss his life, our society and why we should take mythology seriously.

    Note: This is Part 2 of a 12-hour episode, being uploaded in two parts now because Spotify and YouTube don't allow uploads over 12 hours. So do listen to Part 1 first -- and if you are on another podcast app, just play the full version if it is there!

    (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.)

    Also check out
    1. Devdutt Pattanaik on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Wikipedia, YouTube, Amazon and his own website.
    2. Myth = Mithya: Decoding Hindu Mythology -- Devdutt Pattanaik.
    3. The Girl Who Chose -- Devdutt Pattanaik.
    4. The Boys Who Fought -- Devdutt Pattanaik.
    5. Ramayana Versus Mahabharata -- Devdutt Pattanaik.
    6. My Gita -- Devdutt Pattanaik.
    7. Bahubali: 63 Insights into Jainism -- Devdutt Pattanaik.
    8. Sati Savitri -- Devdutt Pattanaik.
    9. Business Sutra -- Devdutt Pattanaik.
    10. Ahimsa: 100 Reflections on the Harappan Civilization -- Devdutt Pattanaik.
    11. Olympus -- Devdutt Pattanaik.
    12. Eden -- Devdutt Pattanaik.
    13. East vs West -- The Myths That Mystify -- Devdutt Pattanaik's 2009 TED Talk.
    14. Today My Mother Came Home -- Devdutt Pattanaik.
    15. The Incredible Curiosities of Mukulika Banerjee — Episode 276 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    16. The Life and Times of Mrinal Pande — Episode 263 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    17. Sara Rai Inhales Literature — Episode 255 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    18. The Life and Times of Shanta Gokhale — Episode 311 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    19. Yuganta -- Irawati Karve.
    20. Women in Indian History — Episode 144 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ira Mukhoty).
    21. The Jewel in the Crown -- BBC TV series.
    22. Heat and Dust -- James Ivory.
    23. The Sexual Outlaw -- John Rechy.
    24. Bombay Dost and Gay Bombay.
    25. The Double ‘Thank You’ Moment — John Stossel.
    26. The Kama Sutra.
    27. Liberty -- Isaiah Berlin.
    28. Thought and Choice in Chess -- Adriaan de Groot.
    29. The Seven Basic Plots -- Christopher Booker.
    30. The Seven Basic Plots -- Episode 69 of Everything is Everything.
    31. The Hero with a Thousand Faces -- Joseph Campbell.
    32. The Big Questions -- Steven Landsburg.
    33. 300 Ramayanas — AK Ramanujan.
    33. The egg came before the chicken.
    34. The Evolution of Cooperation — Robert Axelrod.
    35. The Trees -- Philip Larkin.
    36. Who We Are and How We Got Here — David Reich.
    37. Early Indians — Tony Joseph.
    38. Tony Joseph’s episode on The Seen and the Unseen.
    39. A Life in Indian Politics — Episode 149 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Jayaprakash Narayan).
    40. The BJP Before Modi — Episode 202 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vinay Sitapati).
    41. Jugalbandi -- Vinay Sitapati.
    42. Perfect Days -- Wim Wenders.
    43. The Loneliness of the Indian Woman — Episode 259 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shrayana Bhattacharya).
    44. The Loneliness of the Indian Man — Episode 303 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Nikhil Taneja).
    45. Mary Wollstonecraft and bell hooks.
    46. If India Was Five Days Old -- Devdutt Pattanaik.
    47. The Road to Freedom — Arthur C Brooks.
    48. The Master and His Emissary -- Iain McGilchrist.
    49. This Be The Verse — Philip Larkin.
    50. Human -- Michael Gazzaniga.
    51. The Elephant in the Brain — Kevin Simler and Robin Hanson.
    52. The Blank Slate -- Steven Pinker.
    53. Amitava Kumar Finds the Breath of Life — Episode 265 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    54. Wanderers, Kings, Merchants — Peggy Mohan.
    55. Understanding India Through Its Languages — Episode 232 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Peggy Mohan).
    56. The Reformers -- Episode 28 of Everything is Everything.
    57. The Golden Bough -- James Frazer.
    58. Myth And Reality: Studies In The Formation Of Indian Culture -- DD Kosambi.
    59. Srimad Bhagavatam -- Kamala Subramaniam.
    60. Boris Vallejo on Instagram, Wikipedia and his own website.
    61. The Last Temptation Of Christ -- Nikos Kazantzakis.
    62. The Last Temptation Of Christ -- Martin Scorcese.
    63. Jeff Bezos on The Lex Fridman Podcast.
    64. The Poem of the Killing of Meghnad -- Michael Madhusudan Dutt.
    65. Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil — Hannah Arendt.
    66. The Crown -- Created by Peter Morgan.
    67. Profit = Philanthropy — Amit Varma.
    68. Imaginary Number — Vijay Seshadri.
    69. The Buddha's Footprint -- Johan Elverskog.
    70. A Prehistory of Hinduism -- Manu Devadevan.
    71. The ‘Early Medieval' Origins of India -- Manu Devadevan.
    72. Unmasking Buddhism -- Bernard Faure.
    73. The Red Thread -- Bernard Faure.
    74. The Power of Denial -- Bernard Faure.
    75. The Thousand and One Lives of the Buddha -- Bernard Faure.
    76. A Modern Look At Ancient Chinese Theory Of Language -- Chad Hansen.
    77. Hermann Kulke, Umakant Mishra and Ganesh Devy on Amazon.
    78. The Hours -- Michael Cunningham.
    79. The Hours -- Stephen Daldry.
    79. Ancestral Dravidian languages in Indus Civilization -- Bahata Ansumali Mukhopadhyay.
    80. Myth -- Laurence Coupe.

    This episode is sponsored by Rang De, a platform that enables individuals to invest in farmers, rural entrepreneurs and artisans.

    Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here.

    Amit and Ajay also bring out a weekly YouTube show, Everything is Everything. Have you watched it yet? You must!

    And have you read Amit’s newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free!

    Also check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing.

    Episode art: ‘Tell’ by Simahina.

  • Our societies, our norms, our values are all shaped by stories from the past. Devdutt Pattanaik joins Amit Varma in episode 404 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss his life, our society and why we should take mythology seriously.

    Note: This is Part 1 of a 12-hour episode, being uploaded in two parts now because Spotify and YouTube don't allow uploads over 12 hours. So if you are on another podcast app, just play the full version if it is there!

    (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.)

    Also check out
    1. Devdutt Pattanaik on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Wikipedia, YouTube, Amazon and his own website.
    2. Myth = Mithya: Decoding Hindu Mythology -- Devdutt Pattanaik.
    3. The Girl Who Chose -- Devdutt Pattanaik.
    4. The Boys Who Fought -- Devdutt Pattanaik.
    5. Ramayana Versus Mahabharata -- Devdutt Pattanaik.
    6. My Gita -- Devdutt Pattanaik.
    7. Bahubali: 63 Insights into Jainism -- Devdutt Pattanaik.
    8. Sati Savitri -- Devdutt Pattanaik.
    9. Business Sutra -- Devdutt Pattanaik.
    10. Ahimsa: 100 Reflections on the Harappan Civilization -- Devdutt Pattanaik.
    11. Olympus -- Devdutt Pattanaik.
    12. Eden -- Devdutt Pattanaik.
    13. East vs West -- The Myths That Mystify -- Devdutt Pattanaik's 2009 TED Talk.
    14. Today My Mother Came Home -- Devdutt Pattanaik.
    15. The Incredible Curiosities of Mukulika Banerjee — Episode 276 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    16. The Life and Times of Mrinal Pande — Episode 263 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    17. Sara Rai Inhales Literature — Episode 255 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    18. The Life and Times of Shanta Gokhale — Episode 311 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    19. Yuganta -- Irawati Karve.
    20. Women in Indian History — Episode 144 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ira Mukhoty).
    21. The Jewel in the Crown -- BBC TV series.
    22. Heat and Dust -- James Ivory.
    23. The Sexual Outlaw -- John Rechy.
    24. Bombay Dost and Gay Bombay.
    25. The Double ‘Thank You’ Moment — John Stossel.
    26. The Kama Sutra.
    27. Liberty -- Isaiah Berlin.
    28. Thought and Choice in Chess -- Adriaan de Groot.
    29. The Seven Basic Plots -- Christopher Booker.
    30. The Seven Basic Plots -- Episode 69 of Everything is Everything.
    31. The Hero with a Thousand Faces -- Joseph Campbell.
    32. The Big Questions -- Steven Landsburg.
    33. 300 Ramayanas — AK Ramanujan.
    33. The egg came before the chicken.
    34. The Evolution of Cooperation — Robert Axelrod.
    35. The Trees -- Philip Larkin.
    36. Who We Are and How We Got Here — David Reich.
    37. Early Indians — Tony Joseph.
    38. Tony Joseph’s episode on The Seen and the Unseen.
    39. A Life in Indian Politics — Episode 149 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Jayaprakash Narayan).
    40. The BJP Before Modi — Episode 202 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vinay Sitapati).
    41. Jugalbandi -- Vinay Sitapati.
    42. Perfect Days -- Wim Wenders.
    43. The Loneliness of the Indian Woman — Episode 259 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shrayana Bhattacharya).
    44. The Loneliness of the Indian Man — Episode 303 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Nikhil Taneja).
    45. Mary Wollstonecraft and bell hooks.
    46. If India Was Five Days Old -- Devdutt Pattanaik.
    47. The Road to Freedom — Arthur C Brooks.
    48. The Master and His Emissary -- Iain McGilchrist.
    49. This Be The Verse — Philip Larkin.
    50. Human -- Michael Gazzaniga.
    51. The Elephant in the Brain — Kevin Simler and Robin Hanson.
    52. The Blank Slate -- Steven Pinker.
    53. Amitava Kumar Finds the Breath of Life — Episode 265 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    54. Wanderers, Kings, Merchants — Peggy Mohan.
    55. Understanding India Through Its Languages — Episode 232 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Peggy Mohan).
    56. The Reformers -- Episode 28 of Everything is Everything.
    57. The Golden Bough -- James Frazer.
    58. Myth And Reality: Studies In The Formation Of Indian Culture -- DD Kosambi.
    59. Srimad Bhagavatam -- Kamala Subramaniam.
    60. Boris Vallejo on Instagram, Wikipedia and his own website.
    61. The Last Temptation Of Christ -- Nikos Kazantzakis.
    62. The Last Temptation Of Christ -- Martin Scorcese.
    63. Jeff Bezos on The Lex Fridman Podcast.
    64. The Poem of the Killing of Meghnad -- Michael Madhusudan Dutt.
    65. Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil — Hannah Arendt.
    66. The Crown -- Created by Peter Morgan.
    67. Profit = Philanthropy — Amit Varma.
    68. Imaginary Number — Vijay Seshadri.
    69. The Buddha's Footprint -- Johan Elverskog.
    70. A Prehistory of Hinduism -- Manu Devadevan.
    71. The ‘Early Medieval' Origins of India -- Manu Devadevan.
    72. Unmasking Buddhism -- Bernard Faure.
    73. The Red Thread -- Bernard Faure.
    74. The Power of Denial -- Bernard Faure.
    75. The Thousand and One Lives of the Buddha -- Bernard Faure.
    76. A Modern Look At Ancient Chinese Theory Of Language -- Chad Hansen.
    77. Hermann Kulke, Umakant Mishra and Ganesh Devy on Amazon.
    78. The Hours -- Michael Cunningham.
    79. The Hours -- Stephen Daldry.
    79. Ancestral Dravidian languages in Indus Civilization -- Bahata Ansumali Mukhopadhyay.
    80. Myth -- Laurence Coupe.

    This episode is sponsored by Rang De, a platform that enables individuals to invest in farmers, rural entrepreneurs and artisans.

    Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here.

    Amit and Ajay also bring out a weekly YouTube show, Everything is Everything. Have you watched it yet? You must!

    And have you read Amit’s newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free!

    Also check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing.

    Episode art: ‘Tell’ by Simahina.

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  • Our societies, our norms, our values are all shaped by stories from the past. Devdutt Pattanaik joins Amit Varma in episode 404 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss his life, our society and why we should take mythology seriously.

    (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.)

    Also check out
    1. Devdutt Pattanaik on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Wikipedia, YouTube, Amazon and his own website.
    2. Myth = Mithya: Decoding Hindu Mythology -- Devdutt Pattanaik.
    3. The Girl Who Chose -- Devdutt Pattanaik.
    4. The Boys Who Fought -- Devdutt Pattanaik.
    5. Ramayana Versus Mahabharata -- Devdutt Pattanaik.
    6. My Gita -- Devdutt Pattanaik.
    7. Bahubali: 63 Insights into Jainism -- Devdutt Pattanaik.
    8. Sati Savitri -- Devdutt Pattanaik.
    9. Business Sutra -- Devdutt Pattanaik.
    10. Ahimsa: 100 Reflections on the Harappan Civilization -- Devdutt Pattanaik.
    11. Olympus -- Devdutt Pattanaik.
    12. Eden -- Devdutt Pattanaik.
    13. East vs West -- The Myths That Mystify -- Devdutt Pattanaik's 2009 TED Talk.
    14. Today My Mother Came Home -- Devdutt Pattanaik.
    15. The Incredible Curiosities of Mukulika Banerjee — Episode 276 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    16. The Life and Times of Mrinal Pande — Episode 263 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    17. Sara Rai Inhales Literature — Episode 255 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    18. The Life and Times of Shanta Gokhale — Episode 311 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    19. Yuganta -- Irawati Karve.
    20. Women in Indian History — Episode 144 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ira Mukhoty).
    21. The Jewel in the Crown -- BBC TV series.
    22. Heat and Dust -- James Ivory.
    23. The Sexual Outlaw -- John Rechy.
    24. Bombay Dost and Gay Bombay.
    25. The Double ‘Thank You’ Moment — John Stossel.
    26. The Kama Sutra.
    27. Liberty -- Isaiah Berlin.
    28. Thought and Choice in Chess -- Adriaan de Groot.
    29. The Seven Basic Plots -- Christopher Booker.
    30. The Seven Basic Plots -- Episode 69 of Everything is Everything.
    31. The Hero with a Thousand Faces -- Joseph Campbell.
    32. The Big Questions -- Steven Landsburg.
    33. 300 Ramayanas — AK Ramanujan.
    33. The egg came before the chicken.
    34. The Evolution of Cooperation — Robert Axelrod.
    35. The Trees -- Philip Larkin.
    36. Who We Are and How We Got Here — David Reich.
    37. Early Indians — Tony Joseph.
    38. Tony Joseph’s episode on The Seen and the Unseen.
    39. A Life in Indian Politics — Episode 149 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Jayaprakash Narayan).
    40. The BJP Before Modi — Episode 202 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vinay Sitapati).
    41. Jugalbandi -- Vinay Sitapati.
    42. Perfect Days -- Wim Wenders.
    43. The Loneliness of the Indian Woman — Episode 259 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shrayana Bhattacharya).
    44. The Loneliness of the Indian Man — Episode 303 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Nikhil Taneja).
    45. Mary Wollstonecraft and bell hooks.
    46. If India Was Five Days Old -- Devdutt Pattanaik.
    47. The Road to Freedom — Arthur C Brooks.
    48. The Master and His Emissary -- Iain McGilchrist.
    49. This Be The Verse — Philip Larkin.
    50. Human -- Michael Gazzaniga.
    51. The Elephant in the Brain — Kevin Simler and Robin Hanson.
    52. The Blank Slate -- Steven Pinker.
    53. Amitava Kumar Finds the Breath of Life — Episode 265 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    54. Wanderers, Kings, Merchants — Peggy Mohan.
    55. Understanding India Through Its Languages — Episode 232 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Peggy Mohan).
    56. The Reformers -- Episode 28 of Everything is Everything.
    57. The Golden Bough -- James Frazer.
    58. Myth And Reality: Studies In The Formation Of Indian Culture -- DD Kosambi.
    59. Srimad Bhagavatam -- Kamala Subramaniam.
    60. Boris Vallejo on Instagram, Wikipedia and his own website.
    61. The Last Temptation Of Christ -- Nikos Kazantzakis.
    62. The Last Temptation Of Christ -- Martin Scorcese.
    63. Jeff Bezos on The Lex Fridman Podcast.
    64. The Poem of the Killing of Meghnad -- Michael Madhusudan Dutt.
    65. Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil — Hannah Arendt.
    66. The Crown -- Created by Peter Morgan.
    67. Profit = Philanthropy — Amit Varma.
    68. Imaginary Number — Vijay Seshadri.
    69. The Buddha's Footprint -- Johan Elverskog.
    70. A Prehistory of Hinduism -- Manu Devadevan.
    71. The ‘Early Medieval' Origins of India -- Manu Devadevan.
    72. Unmasking Buddhism -- Bernard Faure.
    73. The Red Thread -- Bernard Faure.
    74. The Power of Denial -- Bernard Faure.
    75. The Thousand and One Lives of the Buddha -- Bernard Faure.
    76. A Modern Look At Ancient Chinese Theory Of Language -- Chad Hansen.
    77. Hermann Kulke, Umakant Mishra and Ganesh Devy on Amazon.
    78. The Hours -- Michael Cunningham.
    79. The Hours -- Stephen Daldry.
    79. Ancestral Dravidian languages in Indus Civilization -- Bahata Ansumali Mukhopadhyay.
    80. Myth -- Laurence Coupe.

    This episode is sponsored by Rang De, a platform that enables individuals to invest in farmers, rural entrepreneurs and artisans.

    Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here.

    Amit and Ajay also bring out a weekly YouTube show, Everything is Everything. Have you watched it yet? You must!

    And have you read Amit’s newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free!

    Also check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing.

    Episode art: ‘Story’ by Simahina.

  • Populism is on the rise everywhere, and the long arc of history has bent away from freedom. Shikha Dalmia joins Amit Varma in episode 403 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss the derangements of our modern times -- and the threat that Donald Trump poses.

    (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.)

    Also check out:
    1. Shikha Dalmia on Twitter, LinkedIn, Reason, The Week and ISMA.
    2. Institute for the Study of Modern Authoritarianism.
    3. The UnPopulist.
    4. The Seen/Unseen episode on immigration with Shikha Dalmia.
    5. The Populist Playbook -- Episode 42 of Everything is Everything.
    6. Why Both Modi and Trump are Textbook Populists (2017) -- Amit Varma.
    7. Rhinoceros -- Eugène Ionesco.
    8. Stopping the Rhinoceros Takeover -- Shikha Dalmia.
    9. Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India — Akshaya Mukul.
    10. The Gita Press and Hindu Nationalism — Episode 139 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Akshaya Mukul).
    11. Colours of the Cage: A Prison Memoir — Arun Ferreira.
    12. The Reactionary Spirit -- Zack Beauchamp.
    13. Narendra Modi takes a Great Leap Backwards — Amit Varma (on demonetisation).
    14. Beware of the Useful Idiots — Amit Varma.
    15. Stay Away From Luxury Beliefs -- Episode 46 of Everything is Everything.
    16. The Good and Bad of Critical Race Theory -- Fabio Rojas.
    17. The Color of Law -- Richard Rothstein.
    18. Identity -- Francis Fukuyama.
    19. Coleman Hughes, Glenn Loury and John McWhorter on Twitter/X.
    20. The Fall of Minneapolis -- Alpha News.
    21. What Really Happened to George Floyd? -- Coleman Hughes.
    22. The retconning of George Floyd: Parts One, Two, an Update, Three -- Radley Balko.
    23. The Murder Trial of OJ Simpson.
    24. Glenn Loury & John McWhorter do a second take.
    25. The Intellectual Foundations of Hindutva — Episode 115 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Aakar Patel).
    26. A Typology of the New Right -- Shikha Dalmia.
    27. The Flight 93 Election -- Michael Anton.
    28. A Passage to India -- EM Forster.
    29. Jane Austen on Amazon, Wikipedia and Britannica.
    30. Thomas Hardy and W Somerset Maugham on Amazon.
    31. Ayn Rand on Amazon, Wikipedia and Britannica.
    32. Milton Friedman on Amazon, Wikipedia and Britannica.
    33. Friedrich Hayek on Amazon, Wikipedia and Britannica.
    34. Memories and Things — Episode 195 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Aanchal Malhotra).
    35. Remnants of a Separation — Aanchal Malhotra.
    36. Arnold Kling and the Four Languages of Politics -- Episode 394 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    37. The Life and Times of Vir Sanghvi — Episode 236 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    38. A Rude Life — Vir Sanghvi.
    39. The Use of Knowledge in Society — Friedrich Hayek.
    40. Four Papers That Changed the World -- Episode 41 of Everything is Everything.
    41. Don't Mess With the Price System -- Episode 66 of Everything is Everything.
    42. The Road to Serfdom -- Friedrich Hayek.
    43. Dadabhai Naoroji, Mahadev Govind Ranade, Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Gopal Ganesh Agarkar.
    44. Caste, Capitalism and Chandra Bhan Prasad — Episode 296 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    45. Yugank Goyal Is out of the Box — Episode 370 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    46. What Is Populism? -- Jan-Werner Müller.
    47. The State of Indian Politics — Episode 50 of The Seen and the Unseen (w JP Narayan).
    48. The Gentle Wisdom of Pratap Bhanu Mehta — Episode 300 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    49. The Liberalism of Fear -- Judith Shklar.
    50. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Nooran Sisters and Hadiqa Kiani on Spotify.
    51. Kamli -- Hadiqa Kiani.

    This episode is sponsored by CTQ Compounds. Check out The Daily Reader and FutureStack. Use the code UNSEEN for Rs 2500 off.

    Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here.

    Amit and Ajay also bring out a weekly YouTube show, Everything is Everything. Have you watched it yet? You must!

    And have you read Amit’s newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free!

    Also check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing.

    Episode art: ‘Unpopulist’ by Simahina.

  • He's a polymath who cares deeply about the world, tries to understand it, and straddles many fields. He's played a key role over the last few decades in India's journey towards development. Ajay Shah joins Amit Varma in episode 402 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about his life and times.

    (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out:
    1. Ajay Shah on Twitter and Substack.
    2. Everything is Everything -- Ajay Shah's YouTube show with Amit Varma.
    3. Life Lessons -- A course taught by Ajay Shah and Amit Varma.
    4. In Service of the Republic: The Art and Science of Economic Policy — Vijay Kelkar and Ajay Shah.
    5. XKDR Forum.
    6. The LEAP blog.
    7. Previous episodes of The Seen and the Unseen with Ajay Shah: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13.
    8. The Surface Area of Serendipity -- Episode 39 of Everything is Everything.
    9. The Economic Lives of the Poor -- Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo.
    10. The Universe of Chuck Gopal — Episode 258 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    11. The Hiking Episode -- Episode 35 of Everything is Everything.
    12. Declutter -- Episode 30 of Everything is Everything.
    13. The Life and Times of Mrinal Pande — Episode 263 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    14. Pushpesh Pant Feasts on the Buffet of Life — Episode 326 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    15. The Life and Times of Ira Pande -- Episode 369 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    16. A Meditation on Form -- Amit Varma.
    17. A Passion for Cycling -- Episode 53 of Everything is Everything.
    18. Il Lombardia: Tadej Pogačar delivers historical fourth consecutive victory.
    19. Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy.
    20. Seven Stories That Should Be Films -- Episode 23 of Everything is Everything (including Ajay's retelling, 'The Fat Frogs of Tatsinskaya').
    21. India’s Greatest Civil Servant — Episode 167 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Narayani Basu, on VP Menon).
    22. VP Menon: The Unsung Architect of Modern India — Narayani Basu.
    23. Five Epic Stories That Must Be Films -- Episode 29 of Everything is Everything (including Amit's retelling of VP Menon's story).
    24. Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 — Tony Judt.
    25. The God That Failed -- Edited by Richard Crossman.
    26. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich -- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. 27. Free to Choose -- Milton Friedman and Rose Friedman.
    28. Both Sides Now -- Joni Mitchell.
    29. How to Write a Paper -- Episode 62 of Everything is Everything.
    30. Jim Corbett on Wikipedia and Amazon.
    31. Trek The Sahyadris -- Harish Kapadia.
    32. Inflation Targeting Rocks! -- Episode 68 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    33. The Heckman Equation.
    34. A Deep Dive Into Education -- Episode 54 of Everything is Everything.
    35. The Two Cultures -- CP Snow.
    36. Shivaji and His Times -- Jadunath Sarkar.
    37. Suyash Rai Embraces India’s Complexity — Episode 307 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    38. Seeing Like a State — James C Scott.
    39. The Tyranny of Experts — William Easterly.
    40. Are You Just One Version of Yourself? -- Episode 3 of Everything is Everything.
    41. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen with Ramachandra Guha: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
    42. The Life and Times of KP Krishnan — Episode 355 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    43. Our Population Is Our Greatest Asset -- Episode 20 of Everything if Everything.
    44. Population Is Not a Problem, but Our Greatest Strength -- Amit Varma.
    45. Plato (or Why Philosophy Matters) — Episode 109 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rebecca Goldstein).
    46. How to Do Development -- Episode 57 of Everything is Everything.
    47. Lant Pritchett Is on Team Prosperity — Episode 379 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    48. The Life and Times of Chess -- Episode 52 of Everything is Everything.
    49. Fixing the Knowledge Society -- Episode 24 of Everything is Everything.
    50. The Importance of the 1991 Reforms — Episode 237 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan and Ajay Shah).
    51. The Reformers -- Episode 28 of Everything is Everything.
    52. The Beauty of Finance -- Episode 21 of Everything is Everything.
    53. What's Wrong With Indian Agriculture? -- Episode 18 of Everything is Everything.
    54. The Life and Times of Montek Singh Ahluwalia — Episode 285 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    55. The Importance of Finance — Episode 125 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah).
    56. India in Transition: Freeing the Economy -- Jagdish Bhagwati.
    57. The UNIX Episode -- Episode 32 of Everything is Everything.
    58. Don't Mess With the Price System -- Episode 66 of Everything is Everything.
    59. Four Papers That Changed the World -- Episode 41 of Everything is Everything.
    60. The Ghost and the Darkness -- Stephen Hopkins.
    61. India’s Massive Pensions Crisis — Episode 347 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah & Renuka Sane).
    62. Understanding India's Pensions Disaster -- Episode 65 of Everything is Everything.
    63. What Bruce Springsteen Means to Us -- Episode 13 of Everything is Everything.
    64. Distance From Delhi -- The Takshashila Institution.
    65. Beyond A Boundary -- CLR James.
    66. Letters for a Nation: From Jawaharlal Nehru to His Chief Ministers 1947-1963 -- Jawaharlal Nehru.
    67. Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister — Jonathan Lynn and Antony Jay.
    68. The Long Road to Change -- Episode 36 of Everything is Everything.
    69. The Tragedy of Our Farm Bills — Episode 211 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah).
    70. Government's End: Why Washington Stopped Working -- Jonathan Rauch.
    71. Understanding deviations from the fiscal responsibility law in India -- Pratik Datta, Radhika Pandey, Ila Patnaik and Ajay Shah.
    72. Who Lends to the Indian State? -- Aneesha Chitgupi, Ajay Shah, Manish Singh, Susan Thomas and Harsh Vardhan.
    73. The Percy Mistry report.
    74. Bare Acts.
    75. Subhashish Bhadra on Our Dysfunctional State — Episode 333 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    76. Shruti Rajagopalan on our constitutional amendments.
    77. The First Assault on Our Constitution — Episode 194 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Tripurdaman Singh).
    78. Sixteen Stormy Days — Tripurdaman Singh.
    79. Caged Tiger: How Too Much Government Is Holding Indians Back — Subhashish Bhadra.
    80. Subhashish Bhadra on Our Dysfunctional State — Episode 333 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    81. The Matrix -- Lana Wachowski & Lilly Wachowski.
    82. How Family Firms Evolve -- Episode 34 of Everything is Everything.
    83. From Imperial to Adaptive Firms -- Episode 37 of Everything is Everything.
    84. Graduating to Globalisation -- Episode 48 of Everything is Everything.
    85. Jeff Bezos on The Lex Fridman Podcast.
    86. Born to Run -- Bruce Springsteen.
    87. Go to the root cause (2007) -- Ajay Shah.
    88. Bhargavi Zaveri-Shah Will Not Wear a Blue Tie to Work — Episode 389 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    89. Understanding the State -- Episode 25 of Everything is Everything.
    90. Every Act of Government Is an Act of Violence -- Amit Varma.
    91. When Should the State Act? -- Episode 26 of Everything is Everything.
    92. Public Choice Theory Explains SO MUCH -- Episode 33 of Everything is Everything.
    93. Public Choice – A Primer -- Eamonn Butler.
    94. The Journey of Indian Finance -- Ajay Shah.
    95. Amrita Agarwal Wants to Solve Healthcare -- Episode 393 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    96. Fortress and Frontier in American Health Care -- Robert Graboyes.
    97. We Love Vaccines! We Love Freedom! -- Episode 27 of Everything is Everything.
    98. The Art and Science of Economic Policy — Episode 154 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vijay Kelkar & Ajay Shah).
    99. Pranay Kotasthane on Amazon.
    100. A blog post is a very long and complex search query to find fascinating people and make them route interesting stuff to your inbox -- Henrik Karlsson.
    101. For Whom the Bell Tolls -- Ernest Hemingway.
    102. Essays in Persuasion -- John Maynard Keynes.
    103. The Ascent Of Man -- Jacob Bronowski.
    104. How to Modernise the Working of Courts and Tribunals in India -- Many authors including Ajay Shah.
    105. How to Modernise the Working of Courts and Tribunals in India -- Ajay Shah.
    106. The lowest hanging fruit on the coconut tree — Akshay Jaitly and Ajay Shah.
    107. Climate Change and Our Power Sector — Episode 278 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Akshay Jaitley and Ajay Shah).
    108. The Brave New Future of Electricity -- Episode 40 of Everything is Everything.
    109. False Alarm: How Climate Change Panic Costs Us Trillions, Hurts the Poor, and Fails to Fix the Planet -- Bjorn Lomborg.
    110. Stay Away From Luxury Beliefs -- Episode 46 of Everything is Everything.
    111. Nuclear Power Can Save the World -- Joshua S Goldstein, Staffan A Qvist & Steven Pinker.
    112. But Clouds Got In My Way -- Ayush Patnaik, Ajay Shah, Anshul Tayal and Susan Thomas.
    113. Everybody Lies — Seth Stephens-Davidowitz.
    114. The Truth About Ourselves — Amit Varma.
    115. Capitalism and Freedom -- Milton Friedman.
    116. Against the Grain -- James C Scott.
    117. The Beatles, Dire Straits, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and Bruce Springsteen on Spotify.

    Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here.

    Amit and Ajay also bring out a weekly YouTube show, Everything is Everything. Have you watched it yet? You must!

    And have you read Amit’s newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free!

    Also check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing.

    Episode art: ‘Dreaming’ by Simahina.

  • Bloody hell. The world has changed, society looks different, and men and women have to find new ways of relating to each other. We're not equipped for this. Sanjana Ramachandran and Samarth Bansal join Amit Varma in episode 401 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss how meeting and mating are both easier and, well, harder.

    (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.)

    Also check out:
    1. Sanjana Ramachandran on Twitter, Instagram, Substack, LinkedIn , FiftyTwo and her own website.
    2. Samarth Bansal on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and his own website.
    3. The Reflections of Samarth Bansal -- Episode 299 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    4. The Romantic Idiot -- Samarth Bansal.
    5. Thirty and Thriving -- Samarth Bansal.
    6. The Namesakes -- Sanjana Ramachandran.
    7. The 'Woman-Math' Of A 31-Year-Old, Unmarried, Bengaluru Woman -- Sanjana Ramachandran.
    8. Society of the Snow -- JA Bayona.
    9. Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil — Hannah Arendt.
    10. This Be The Verse — Philip Larkin.
    11. Quarterlife: The Search for Self in Early Adulthood -- Satya Doyle Byock.
    12. A Godless Congregation — Amit Varma.
    13. What’s Consolation For An Atheist? -- Amit Varma.
    14. Molecules Of Emotion -- Candace B Pert.
    15. Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences.
    15. Womaning in India With Mahima Vashisht — Episode 293 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    16. Scenes From a Marriage -- Ingmar Bergman.
    17. Behave -- Robert Sapolsky.
    18. Don’t think too much of yourself. You’re an accident — Amit Varma’s column on Chris Cornell’s death.
    19. Determined -- Robert Sapolsky.
    20. The Loneliness of the Indian Woman — Episode 259 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shrayana Bhattacharya).
    21. The Loneliness of the Indian Man — Episode 303 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Nikhil Taneja).
    22. Reinventing Love -- Mona Chollet.
    23. Sex Is Not a Spectrum -- Colin Wright.
    24. Understanding the Sex Binary -- Colin Wright.
    25. The Naturalistic Fallacy.
    26. The Double ‘Thank You’ Moment — John Stossel.
    27. Bad Faith in Existentialism.
    28. Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy.
    29. Whiplash -- Damien Chazelle.
    30. Narendra Modi takes a Great Leap Backwards — Amit Varma on Demonetisation.
    31. Immanuel Kant’s Categorical Imperative.
    32. The Gulag Archipelago — Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
    33. I Am The Best -- The Shah Rukh Khan song from Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani.
    34. The Madonna–Whore Complex.
    35. Ranbir Kapoor on Nikhil Kamath's show.
    36. Tamasha -- Imtiaz Ali.
    37. Manic Pixie Dream Girl.
    38. The Art of Podcasting -- Episode 49 of Everything Everything.
    39. Anatomy of a Fall — Justine Triet.
    40. Anatomy of a Folly — Amit Varma.
    41. Marriage Story -- Noah Baumbach.
    42. The Abyss and Other Stories — Leonid Andreyev.
    43. Amit Varma's BTS reel as Gitanjali.
    44. Peter Cat Recording Co. on Spotify, YouTube, Instagram and their own website.
    45. The Life and Times of the Indian Economy -- Episode 387 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rajeswari Sengupta).
    46. Lant Pritchett Is on Team Prosperity — Episode 379 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    47. How to Do Development -- Episode 57 of Everything is Everything.
    48. The Pleasures and Pains of Coffee — Honoré de Balzac.
    49. Sasha's 'Newsletter' -- Sasha Chapin.
    50. The Evolution of Desire -- David Buss.
    51. Modern Family and Friends.
    52. Eve Fairbanks Examines a Fractured Society -- Episode 398 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    53. The Flirting Trap — Eve Fairbanks. (Scroll down on that page for this piece).
    54. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind -- Michel Gondry.
    55. The Bookshop Romeo -- Amit Varma.
    56. The Stranger -- Albert Camus.
    57. When Harry Met Sally... -- Rob Reiner.
    58. Annie Hall -- Woody Allen.
    59. Late Admissions: Confessions of a Black Conservative -- Glenn Loury.
    60. Rob Henderson's tweet on Glenn Loury's book.
    61. The Game -- Neil Strauss.
    62. On Flirting -- Rega Jha.
    63. Notting Hill -- Roger Michell.
    64. Postcards From Utsav Mamoria -- Episode 376 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    65. Malini Goyal is the Curious One — Episode 377 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    66. Unboxing Bengaluru — Malini Goyal and Prashanth Prakash.
    67. Indian Matchmaking -- Created by Smriti Mundhra.
    68. High Fidelity -- Nick Hornby.
    69. Third Place.
    70. The Pineapple Game.
    71. The Razor's Edge -- W Somerset Maugham.
    72. Anna Karenina -- Leo Tolstoy.
    73. Mating in Captivity -- Esther Perel.
    74. The State Of Affairs -- Esther Perel.
    75. The Poly Couple of YouTube and Instagram.
    75. The School of Life.
    76. Early Indians — Tony Joseph.
    77. Tony Joseph’s episode on The Seen and the Unseen.
    78. Who We Are and How We Got Here — David Reich.
    79. Eden Project: In Search of the Magical Other -- James Hollis.
    80. Fallen Leaves -- Aki Kaurismäki.
    81. I hired a Contract Killer -- Aki Kaurismäki.
    82. Manhattan, Husbands and Wives, Crimes and Misdemeanors & Bullets Over Broadway -- Woody Allen.
    83. New York Stories -- Woody Allen, Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorcese.
    84. Running with Scissors -- Augusten Burroughs.
    85. Aftersun -- Charlotte Wells.
    86. Elena Ferrante on Amazon.
    87. Bloodline -- Todd Kessler, Glenn Kessler & Daniel Zelman.
    88. Sex and the City -- Darren Star, based on Candace Bushnell's columns and book.
    89. She's Gotta Have It -- Spike Lee.
    90. She Said -- Maria Schrader.
    91. The Take on YouTube.
    92. Succession’s Shiv - The Real “Woman Problem" in Business -- The Take.
    93. We Are All Amits From Africa — Episode 343 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Krish Ashok and Naren Shenoy).
    92. You’re Ugly and You’re Hairy and You’re Covered in Shit but You’re Mine and I Love You -- Episode 362 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Krish Ashok and Naren Shenoy).
    93. Dance Dance For the Halva Waala — Episode 294 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Jai Arjun Singh and Subrat Mohanty).
    94. The Adda at the End of the Universe — Episode 309 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vikram Sathaye and Roshan Abbas).

    This episode is sponsored by The 6% Club, which will get you from idea to launch in 45 days!

    Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here.

    Amit and Ajay also bring out a weekly YouTube show, Everything is Everything. Have you watched it yet? You must!

    And have you read Amit’s newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free!

    Also check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing.

    Episode art: ‘Meetings and Matings’ by Simahina.

  • It's episode 400, and on this special and unlikely occasion, Shruti Rajagopalan gets Amit Varma to chat about all the life lessons he has learnt during these eight years -- and favourite books, films, music and poetry.

    (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.)

    Also check out:
    1. Amit Varma on Twitter, India Uncut, Substack, The Art of Clear Writing, The Seen and the Unseen and Everything is Everything.
    2. Shruti Rajagopalan on Twitter, Substack, Instagram and her podcast, Ideas of India.
    3. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen w Shruti Rajagopalan, in reverse chronological order: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18.
    4. The Hunter Becomes the Hunted -- Episode 200 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    5. The Art of Podcasting -- Episode 49 of Everything is Everything.
    6. A Meditation on Form -- Amit Varma.
    7. Why Are My Episodes So Long? -- Amit Varma.
    8. If You Are a Creator, This Is Your Time -- Amit Varma.
    9. 'How We Spend Our Days Is How We Spend Our Lives' -- Amit Varma.
    10. 'I Play to Play' -- Amit Varma.
    11. How We Do the Small Things -- Amit Varma.
    12. New York Stories -- The anthology film including Martin Scorcese's Life Lessons.
    13. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen w Pranay Kotasthane, in reverse order: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.
    14. Arnold Kling and the Four Languages of Politics -- Episode 394 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    15. Dead Poets Society -- Peter Weir.
    16. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time -- Mark Haddon.
    17. Biju Rao Won’t Bow to Conventional Wisdom -- Episode 392 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    18. He Tells Her -- Wendy Cope.
    19. Not Waving but Drowning -- Stevie Smith.
    20. Runaway -- Alice Munro.
    21. Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage -- Alice Munro.
    22. The Bear Came Over the Mountain — Alice Munro.
    23. Lives of Girls and Women -- Alice Munro.
    24. Gulliver's Travels -- Jonathan Swift.
    25. How To Know a Person -- David Brooks.
    26. Fierce Attachments -- Vivian Gornick.
    27. The Odd Woman and the City -- Vivian Gornick.
    28. Shephali Bhatt Is Searching for the Incredible -- Episode 391 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    29. The Dead — John Huston.
    30. Dubliners -- James Joyce.
    31. Amit Varma's thread on The Dead.
    32. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich -- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
    33. The Gulag Archipelago -- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
    34. You Can Always Get There From Here — Mark Strand.
    35. Father Returning Home — Dilip Chitre.
    36. PG Wodehouse on Wikipedia, Britannica and Amazon.
    37. Finding Nemo -- Andrew Stanton.
    38. Deepak VS and the Man Behind His Face — Episode 373 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    39. Praise for intelligence can undermine children’s motivation and performance — Claudia Mueller and Carol Dweck.
    40. Atomic Habits -- James Clear.
    41. The City — CP Cavafy.
    42. René Girard on Amazon and Wikipedia.
    43. Wanting — Luke Burgis.
    44. Luke Burgis Sees the Deer at His Window — Episode 337 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    45. The Gentle Wisdom of Pratap Bhanu Mehta — Episode 300 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    46. My Top 10 Tips for Aspiring YouTubers — Ali Abdaal.
    47. Bhargavi Zaveri-Shah Will Not Wear a Blue Tie to Work -- Episode 389 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    48. Louie — Louis CK.
    49. You’re Missing — Bruce Springsteen.
    50. The Blank Slate -- Steven Pinker.
    51. Behave -- Robert Sapolsky.
    52. Robert Sapolsky’s biology lectures on YouTube.
    53. Anatomy of a Fall -- Justine Triet.
    54. Anatomy of a Folly -- Amit Varma.
    55. The Use of Knowledge in Society — Friedrich Hayek.
    56. Four Papers That Changed the World -- Episode 41 of Everything is Everything.
    57. Individualism and Economic Order -- Friedrich Hayek.
    58. Jeff Bezos on The Lex Fridman Podcast.
    59. The Wealth of Nations -- Adam Smith.
    60. Trickle-up, not trickle-down -- Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar.
    61. “Trickle Down” Theory and “Tax Cuts for the Rich” -- Thomas Sowell.
    62. Beware of These Five Fallacies! -- Episode 45 of Everything is Everything.
    63. Stay Away From Luxury Beliefs -- Episode 46 of Everything is Everything.
    64. This Passing Moment — Amit Varma’s Housefull Economics piece on Opportunity Cost.
    65. The Surface Area of Serendipity -- Episode 39 of Everything is Everything.

    Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here.

    Amit and Ajay also bring out a weekly YouTube show, Everything is Everything. Have you watched it yet? You must!

    And have you read Amit’s newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free!

    Also check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing.

    Episode art: ‘Life is Here’ by Simahina.

  • He's a bestselling writer who's brought Hindi literature into a modern age -- and he also writes films and tells stories. Divya Prakash Dubey joins Amit Varma in episode 399 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss his life, his language, his society and his art.

    (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.)

    Also check out:
    1. Divya Prakash Dubey on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, IMDb, Amazon and his own website.
    2. Musafir Cafe -- Divya Prakash Dubey.
    3. October Junction -- Divya Prakash Dubey.
    4. Ibnebatuti -- Divya Prakash Dubey.
    5. Aako Baako -- Divya Prakash Dubey.
    6. Sharten Laagoo -- Divya Prakash Dubey.
    7. Masala Chay -- Divya Prakash Dubey.
    8. The first episodes of Hum Log, Buniyaad and Byomkesh Bakshi.
    9. Maya Memsaab -- Ketan Mehta.
    10. Raja Hindustani -- Dharmesh Darshan.
    11. Deep Work and Slow Productivity -- Cal Newport.
    12. Memories, Dreams, Reflections -- Carl Gustav Jung.
    13. Private Truths, Public Lies — Timur Kuran.
    14. How Not To Get Trolled -- Amit Varma.
    15. Kya Bhulu Kya Yaad Karu -- Harivansh Rai Bachchan.
    16. Mujhe Chand Chahiye -- Surendra Verma.
    17. Shekhar: Ek Jeevani (Hindi) (English) — Agyeya.
    18. Self-Portrait — AK Ramanujan.
    19. Young India — Episode 83 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Snigdha Poonam).
    20. Dreamers: How Young Indians Are Changing Their World — Snigdha Poonam.
    21. Husain Ki Kahani, Apni Zubani -- MF Husain.
    22. Mrityunjaya -- Shivaji Sawant.
    23. Yugandhar -- Shivaji Sawant.
    24. जिन मुश्किलों में मुस्कुराना हो मना -- Gopaldas Niraj.
    25. Rahi Masoom Raza on Amazon, Wikipedia, Hindwi, Rekhta and IMDb.
    26. Kissi Se Na Kehna -- Hrishikesh Mukherjee.
    27. Scene: 75 (Hindi) (English) -- Rahi Masoom Raza.
    28. Cinema Aur Sanskriti -- Rahi Masoom Raza.
    29. Aadha Gaon -- Rahi Masoom Raza.
    30. Manohar Shyam Joshi on Amazon, Wikipedia, Hindwi and IMDb.
    31. Kathasaritsagara -- Somadeva.
    32. Bimal Mitra on Wikipedia, Amazon and IMDb.
    33. Chitralekha -- Bhagwaticharan Verma.
    34. Nayi Kahani Andolan.
    35. Hindi Nationalism -- Alok Rai.
    36. The Life and Times of Ira Pande — Episode 369 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    37. The Art of Podcasting -- Episode 49 of Everything is Everything.
    38. Imaginary Number — Vijay Seshadri.
    38. A Piece of String -- Guy de Maupassant.
    39. Divya Prakash Dubey's tweet about his influence for dialogue writing.
    40. Ponniyin Selvan -- Mani Ratnam.
    41. Humankind -- .
    42. Bela Sheshe.
    43. Anand -- Hrishikesh Mukherjee.
    44. 96 -- S Prem Kumar.
    45. Notting Hill -- xxx.
    46. Ten Years with Guru Dutt -- Abrar Alvi in conversation with Sathya Saran.
    47. Tamsoma Jyotirgamay and Peevat Ram Ras Lagi Khumari -- Rajnish aka Osho.
    48. Urdu Ki Aakhiree Kitab -- Ibne Insha.
    49. कल चौदहवीं की रात थी -- Ibne Insha.
    50. Humesha Der Kar Deta Hoon Main — Muneer Niazi.
    51. Kunwar Narayan, Vinod Kumar Shukla and Kedarnath Singh.
    52. Deewar Mein Ek Khidki Rahti Thi -- Vinod Kumar Shukla.
    53. Complete Short Stories -- Guy de Maupassant.
    54. Pyramid Ka Sapna -- Jack Harte.

    This episode is sponsored by The 6% Club, which will get you from idea to launch in 45 days!

    Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube.

    Amit’s newsletter is active again. Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free!

    Check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing.

    Episode art: ‘Naye Waale Writer’ by Simahina.

  • She learnt journalism in America and spent many years in South Africa writing a portrait of their troubled society, where everything is complicated and nothing is settled -- much like anywhere else. Eve Fairbanks joins Amit Varma in episode 398 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about her life, her work, her craft and the world around her.

    (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.)

    Also check out:
    1. Eve Fairbanks on Twitter, LinkedIn and her own website.
    2. The Inheritors -- Eve Fairbanks.
    3. The Dispossession of District Six -- Eve Fairbanks.
    4. From Cairo to Delhi With Max Rodenbeck — Episode 281 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    5. Wendell Berry on Wikipedia and Poetry Foundation.
    6. Get Married -- Brad Wilcox.
    7. The Four Loves -- CS Lewis.
    8. The World in a World Cup -- Eve Fairbanks.
    9. Robert George's thread on his rhetorical question to his students.
    10. Natasha Badhwar Lives the Examined Life — Episode 301 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    11. Harmony in the Boudoir — Mark Strand.
    12. The Seven Basic Plots -- Christopher Booker.
    13. Maharashtra Politics Unscrambled — Episode 151 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Sujata Anandan).
    14. The Flirting Trap -- Eve Fairbanks. (Scroll down on that page for this piece).
    15. The Art of Gathering -- Priya Parker.
    16. Common Sense -- Thomas Paine.
    17. On Tyranny -- Timothy Snyder.
    18. The Origins of Political Order -- Francis Fukuyama.
    19. A Meditation on Form — Amit Varma.
    20. The Power Broker — Robert Caro.
    21. Beautiful Thing — Sonia Faleiro.
    22. The Good Girls — Sonia Faleiro.
    23. Two Girls Hanging From a Tree — Episode 209 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Sonia Faleiro).
    24. The Broken Script — Swapna Liddle.
    25. Swapna Liddle and the Many Shades of Delhi — Episode 367 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    26. RRR -- SS Rajamouli.
    27. Here Comes The Groom: A (conservative) case for gay marriage -- Andrew Sullivan.
    28. Eric Weinstein Won’t Toe the Line — Episode 330 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    29. This Be The Verse — Philip Larkin.
    30. William Prince and Khwezi on Spotify.
    31. Love: A History -- Simon May.
    32. How Far Can Amapiano Go? -- Kelefa Sanneh.

    This episode is sponsored by The 6% Club, which will get you from idea to launch in 45 days!

    Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube.

    Amit’s newsletter is active again. Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free!

    Check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing.

    Episode art: ‘This Town’ by Simahina.

  • We take money and banking and finance for granted -- but the way they exist in the world is not the only way they could exist. Lawrence H White joins Amit Varma in episode 397 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss ideas, ideologies, money, crypto and the field he pioneered, free banking.

    (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.)

    Also check out:
    1. Lawrence H White on Twitter, Wikipedia, Cato, GMU, Amazon and Google Scholar.
    2. Free Banking in Britain – Theory, Experience and Debate 1800-1845 -- Lawrence H White.
    3. The Clash of Economic Ideas -- Lawrence H White.
    4. Better Money: Gold, Fiat, or Bitcoin? -- Lawrence H White.
    5. The Incredible Insights of Timur Kuran — Episode 349 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    6. The Long Divergence — Timur Kuran.
    7. The Problem With Digital Public Goods -- Episode 56 of Everything is Everything.
    8. Seeing Like a State — James C Scott.
    9. Javier Milei's speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
    10. For a New Liberty -- Murray Rothbard.
    11. Laissez Faire Books.
    12. Capitalism and Freedom -- Milton Friedman.
    13. Power and Market -- Murray Rothbard.
    14. Economics in One Lesson — Henry Hazlitt.
    15. Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal -- Ayn Rand.
    16. Man, Economy and State -- Murray Rothbard.
    17. Gold and Economic Freedom -- Alan Greenspan.
    18. The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution -- Bernard Bailyn.
    19. Is Nonprice Competition in Currency Inefficient? -- Lawrence H White & Donald J Boudreaux.
    20. Demonetisation and welfare -- Shruti Rajagopalan and Lawrence H White.
    21. Narendra Modi takes a Great Leap Backwards — Amit Varma.
    22. Anarchy, State and Utopia -- Robert Nozick.
    23. Civilization III.
    24. The Fatal Conceit — Friedrich Hayek.
    25. The Private Mint In Economics: Evidence from American Gold Rushes -- Lawrence H White.
    26. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass -- Frederick Douglass.
    27. Lombard Street - A Description of the Money Market -- Walter Bagehot.
    28. Has Government Any Role in Money? -- Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz.
    29. Antifragile -- Nassim Nicholas Taleb.
    30. What Really Happened? — Lawrence H White on the 2008 Financial Crisis.
    31. Gambling with Other People's Money -- Russell D Roberts.
    32. The Financial Crisis and the Free Market Cure -- John Allison.
    33. Check Your Financial Privilege -- Alex Gladstein.
    34. Resistance Money: A Philosophical Case for Bitcoin -- Andrew Bailey, Bradley Rettler and Craig Warmke.
    35. Bitcoin, Blockchain and Cryptoassets -- Fabian Schär and Aleksander Berentsen.
    36. The Denationalisation of Money -- Hayek.
    37. The Theory of Free Banking -- George Selgin.
    38. Money: Free and Unfree -- George Selgin.
    39. The Experience of Free Banking -- Kevin Dowd.
    40. Fixing the Knowledge Society -- Episode 24 of Everything is Everything.
    41. The Four Quadrants of Conformism — Paul Graham.
    42. The Outlaws -- Episode 61 of Everything is Everything.
    43. Guru -- Mani Ratnam.
    44. Sholay -- Ramesh Sippy.
    45. Don -- Chandra Barot.
    46. Red Plenty -- Francis Spufford.
    47. Not I: Memoirs of a German Childhood -- Joachim Fest.
    48. The Madeira, Lords of Atlantis, Man Or Astro-Man?, Satan's Pilgrims and Badmarsh & Shri on Spotify.
    49. Godzilla Minus One -- Takashi Yamazaki.
    50. Amarcord -- Federico Fellini.
    51. Roma -- Federico Fellini.
    52. I Vitelloni -- Federico Fellini.

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    Episode art: ‘Money on the Mind’ by Simahina.

  • They started out busting misinformation. Then, as fake news became weaponized at an industrial scale, they become warriors not just for truth, but for a better society. Mohammed Zubair and Pratik Sinha join Amit Varma in episode 396 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about their life, their work and their country.

    (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.)

    Also check out:
    1. Mohammed Zubair on Twitter, Instagram and Alt News.
    2. Pratik Sinha on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Alt News.
    3. Alt News.
    4. Fighting Fake News — Episode 133 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pratik Sinha).
    5. Sample SSR conspiracy theory: He’s alive!
    6. PeerTube and BigBlueButton.
    7. India Needs Decentralization -- Episode 47 of Everything is Everything.
    8. Mohammed Zubair interviewed by Alishan Jafri.
    9. Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India — Akshaya Mukul.
    10. The Gita Press and Hindu Nationalism — Episode 139 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Akshaya Mukul).
    11. Whatever happened To Ehsan Jafri on February 28, 2002? — Harsh Mander.
    12. Hussain Haidry, Hindustani Musalmaan — Episode 275 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    13. Kashi Ka Assi — Kashinath Singh.
    14. Kaveri's thread about the new scam in town.
    15. BR Ambedkar's BBC interview.
    16. The Life and Times of Teesta Setalvad — Episode 302 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    17. Aakar Patel Is Full of Hope — Episode 270 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    18. The Swiss Family Robinson -- Johann David Wyss.
    19. The Historybook -- Jannik Hastrup.

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    Check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing.

    Episode art: ‘Fighting Leviathon’ by Simahina.

  • She's an authority in the field of foreign policy -- and what makes her such a force is her deep curiosity about, well, everything. Tanvi Madan joins Amit Varma in episode 395 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about her life, her learnings and this changing world.

    (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.)

    Also check out:
    1. Tanvi Madan at Brookings, War on the Rocks and Twitter.
    2. Fateful Triangle: How China Shaped US-India Relations During the Cold War -- Tanvi Madan.
    3. The Global India Podcast, hosted by Tanvi Madan.
    4. War on the Rocks, where Tanvi Madan is a contributing editor.
    5. Previous episodes of The Seen and the Unseen touching on foreign policy: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17.
    6. Tanvi Madan's paper on the Quad for Rand.
    7. A Meditation on Form — Amit Varma.
    8. We, The Citizens: Strengthening the Indian Republic — Khyati Pathak, Anupam Manur and Pranay Kotasthane.
    9. Making Policy Fun with Khyati Pathak and Friends — Episode 374 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    10. Kavitha Rao and Our Lady Doctors — Episode 235 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    11. Lady Doctors: The Untold Stories of India’s First Women in Medicine — Kavitha Rao.
    12. John Lewis Gaddis, Stephen Cohen and James Steinberg.
    13. Government’s End: Why Washington Stopped Working — Jonathan Rauch.
    14. The Ideas Industry -- Dan Drezner.
    15. Blind Oracles -- Bruce Kuklick.
    16. India and The United States: Estranged Democracies -- Dennis Kux.
    17. The Cold War on the Periphery -- Robert McMahon.
    18. Promoting the National Interest -- Condoleezza Rice.
    19. Mungerilal Ke Haseen Sapne -- Prakash Jha.
    20. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty -- James Thurber.
    21. The Four Quadrants of Conformism — Paul Graham.
    22. The Geopolitics of the Bangladesh War — Episode 113 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Srinath Raghavan).
    23. 1971: A Global History of the Creation of Bangladesh -- Srinath Raghavan.
    24. Is there going to be an India-China deal? -- Tanvi Madan.
    25. The Metaphysical Club -- Louis Menand.
    26. The Life and Times of Montek Singh Ahluwalia — Episode 285 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    27. The Importance of the 1991 Reforms — Episode 237 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan and Ajay Shah).
    28. The Reformers — Episode 28 of Everything is Everything.
    29. War and Peace in Modern India -- Srinath Raghavan.
    30. The Liberal Nationalism of Nitin Pai — Episode 318 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    31. Seeing Like a State — James C Scott.
    32. Slow Horses, A Spy Among Friends, The Sandbaggers, Deutschland 83 and Shadow Lines.
    33. John le Carré on Amazon.

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    Episode art: ‘The Kid Who Asked Why’ by Simahina.

  • Why is our political discourse so polarised? Why do we shout past each other instead of talking to each other? Arnold Kling joins Amit Varma in episode 394 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss his life, the state of the world and how a fourth language has joined the three he mentioned in his seminal book on political discourse.

    (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.)

    Also check out:
    1. Arnold Kling on Wikipedia, Twitter, Amazon and his own website.
    2. In My Tribe -- Arnold Kling on Substack.
    3. The Three Languages of Politics -- Arnold Kling.
    4. Specialization and Trade: A Re-introduction to Economics -- Arnold Kling.
    5. Invisible Wealth: The Hidden Story of How Markets Work -- Arnold Kling and Nick Schulz.
    6. Not What They Had in Mind: A History of Policies that Produced the Financial Crisis of 2008 -- Arnold Kling.
    7. Crisis of Abundance: Rethinking How We Pay for Health Care -- Arnold Kling.
    8. What is Libertarianism? — Episode 117 of The Seen and the Unseen (w David Boaz).
    9. David Boaz and the state of libertarianism -- Arnold Kling.
    10. Splinter Groups -- Arnold Kling.
    11. Seeing Like a State -- James C Scott.
    12. A Million Mutinies Now -- VS Naipaul.
    13. The Median Voter Theorem.
    14. India Needs Decentralization -- Episode 47 of Everything is Everything.
    15. Understanding India Through Its Languages — Episode 232 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Peggy Mohan).
    16. The Refreshing Audacity of Vinay Singhal — Episode 291 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    17. Stage.in.
    18. The Indianness of Indian Food — Episode 95 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vikram Doctor).
    19. The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution -- CP Snow.
    20. Fixing the Knowledge Society -- Episode 24 of Everything is Everything.
    21. Arnold Kling's extended biographical note on himself.
    22. The Best and the Brightest -- David Halberstam.
    23. The Wind in the Willows -- Kenneth Grahame.
    24. The State of AI with Marc & Ben -- The A16Z Podcast.
    25. The Cash Nexus -- Niall Ferguson.
    26. Marginal Revolution -- Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok's blog.
    27. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen w Alex Tabarrok: 1, 2, 3, 4.
    28. Stubborn Attachments -- Episode 106 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Tyler Cowen).
    29. Conversation and Society — Episode 182 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Russ Roberts).
    30. This Be The Verse — Philip Larkin.
    31. Free to Choose -- The documentary series by Milton Friedman.
    32. The Anxious Generation -- Jonathan Haidt.
    33. The Life and Times of the Indian Economy — Episode 387 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rajeswari Sengupta).
    34. Fixing Indian Education — Episode 185 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Muralidharan).
    35. Arnold Kling's July 19 post on JD Vance.
    36. The Intellectual Foundations of Hindutva — Episode 115 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Aakar Patel).
    37. Eric Weinstein Won’t Toe the Line — Episode 330 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    38. Meet the Renegades of the Intellectual Dark Web -- Bari Weiss.
    39. Every Act of Government Is an Act of Violence — Amit Varma.
    40. The Experience Machine.
    41. What is Populism? — Jan-Werner Müller.
    42. The Populist Playbook — Episode 42 of Everything is Everything.
    43. The Rooted Cosmopolitanism of Sugata Srinivasaraju — Episode 277 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    44. Matt Y's Declaration of Independence -- Arnold Kling.
    45. Lies, Damned Lies, and Productivity Data -- Arnold Kling.
    46. Everything Is Amazing & Nobody Is Happy -- Louis CK.

    Amit’s newsletter is active again. Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free!

    Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube.

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    Episode art: ‘Don't Fight’ by Simahina.

  • She grew up reading three books a day, became a high-flying consultant, and then became hyperfocused on healthcare. Amrita Agarwal joins Amit Varma in episode 393 of The Seen and the Unseen to share her learnings from years of studying the field. Also discussed: first-principles thinking, consulting, philanthropy, longevity and sunscreen.

    (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.)

    Also check out:
    1. Amrita Agarwal at LinkedIn.
    2. Lant Pritchett Is on Team Prosperity — Episode 379 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    3. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen with Ajay Shah: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13.
    4. How to Do Development -- Episode 57 of Everything is Everything.
    5. Understanding Indian Healthcare — Episode 225 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Muralidharan).
    6. The Life and Times of Chess -- Episode 52 of Everything is Everything. 7. Strong Medicine -- Arthur Hailey.
    8. Atlas Shrugged -- Ayn Rand.
    9. The Life and Times of KP Krishnan — Episode 355 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    10. The Acting Life — Episode 189 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rasika Dugal and Mukul Chadda).
    11. The case for Universal Health Care is weak -- Jeffrey S Hammer.
    12. In Service of the Republic — Vijay Kelkar & Ajay Shah.
    13. Sanjiv Sharma Sails Through 45 Years of Indian Entertainment -- Episode 390 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    14. A Deep Dive Into Education -- Episode 54 of Everything is Everything.
    15. The Importance of the 1991 Reforms — Episode 237 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan and Ajay Shah).
    16. The Life and Times of Montek Singh Ahluwalia — Episode 285 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    17. The Forgotten Greatness of PV Narasimha Rao — Episode 283 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vinay Sitapati).
    18. The Reformers — Episode 28 of Everything is Everything.
    19. The Practice of Medicine — Episode 229 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Lancelot Pinto).
    20. The Dark Side of Indian Pharma — Episode 245 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Dinesh Thakur).
    21. The Truth Pill: The Myth of Drug Regulation in India -- Dinesh Thakur and Prashant Vaidya.
    22. Distribution of self-reported health in India: The role of income and geography -- Ila Patnaik, Renuka Sane, Ajay Shah and SV Subramanian.
    23. Our Unlucky Children (2007) -- Amit Varma.
    24. India Needs Decentralization -- Episode 47 of Everything is Everything.
    25. Economic Learnings of India for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Bihar — Episode 345 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Mohit Satyanand and Kumar Anand).
    26. What's Wrong With Indian Agriculture? -- Episode 18 of Everything is Everything.
    27. Karthik Muralidharan and the Bureaucrat’s Burden -- Episode 375 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    28. The Life and Times of the Indian Economy -- Episode 387 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rajeswari Sengupta).
    29. Abby Philips Fights for Science and Medicine — Episode 310 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    30. Why We Sleep -- Matthew Walker.
    31. Everybody's Free To Wear Sunscreen -- Baz Luhrmann.
    32. Sandman -- Neil Gaiman.
    33. Dune -- Frank Herbert.
    34. Ender's Game -- Orson Scott Card.
    35. Speaker for the Dead -- Orson Scott Card.

    This episode is sponsored by CTQ Compounds. Check out The Daily Reader and FutureStack. Use the code UNSEEN for Rs 2500 off.

    Amit’s newsletter is active again. Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free!

    Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube.

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    Episode art: ‘Solve’ by Simahina.

  • He's an economist who cares more about people than numbers -- and he thinks his field needs more sociology and anthropology in it. Vijayendra (Biju) Rao joins Amit Varma in episode 392 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about what makes him angry, what drives him forward and what brings him peace.

    (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.)

    Also check out:
    1. Vijayendra (Biju) Rao on Twitter, Google Scholar, The World Bank and his own website.
    2. Biju Rao's blog at the World Bank.
    3. Localizing Development: Does Participation Work? -- Ghazala Mansuri and Vijayendra Rao.
    4. Oral Democracy: Deliberation in Indian Village Assemblies -- Paromita Sanyal and Vijayendra Rao.
    5. Can Economics Become More Reflexive? -- Vijayendra Rao.
    6. Vamsha Vriksha -- Girish Karnad.
    7. ‘I want absolute commitment to our gharana’: A tribute to Rajshekhar Mansur and his music -- Vijayendra Rao.
    8. The Life and Work of Ashwini Deshpande — Episode 298 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    9. Two Hundred and Fifty-Thousand Democracies: A Review of Village Government in India -- Siddharth George, Vijaendra Rao and MR Sharan.
    10. Last Among Equals : Power Caste And Politics In Bihar's Villages -- MR Sharan.
    11. Lant Pritchett Is on Team Prosperity — Episode 379 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    12. National Development Delivers: And How! And How? — Lant Pritchett.
    13. The Perils of Partial Attribution: Let’s All Play for Team Development — Lant Pritchett.
    14. The Rising Price of Husbands: A Hedonic Analysis of Dowry Increases in Rural India -- Vijayendra Rao.
    15. The Life and Times of Jerry Pinto — Episode 314 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    16. Shephali Bhatt Is Searching for the Incredible -- Episode 391 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    17. Jiddu Krishnamurti on Wikipedia, Britannica and Amazon.
    18. Biju Rao listens to Jiddu Krishnamurthy.
    19. Ben Hur -- William Wyler.
    20. Trade, Institutions and Ethnic Tolerance: Evidence from South Asia -- Saumitra Jha.
    21. Memories and Things — Episode 195 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Aanchal Malhotra).
    22. Remnants of a Separation — Aanchal Malhotra.
    23. Deliberative Democracy -- Jon Elster.
    24. A Life in Indian Politics — Episode 149 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Jayaprakash Narayan).
    25. Subhashish Bhadra on Our Dysfunctional State — Episode 333 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    26. Caged Tiger: How Too Much Government Is Holding Indians Back — Subhashish Bhadra.
    27. Urban Governance in India — Episode 31 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan).
    28. Understanding Gandhi. Part 1: Mohandas — Episode 104 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ram Guha).
    29. Understanding Gandhi. Part 2: Mahatma — Episode 105 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ram Guha).
    30. Accelerating India’s Development — Karthik Muralidharan.
    31. The Added Value of Local Democracy -- Abhishek Arora, Siddharth George, Vijayendra Rao and MR Sharan.
    32. Some memories of VKRV Rao -- Vijayendra Rao.
    33. The Foundation Series — Isaac Asimov.
    34. Lawrence of Arabia -- David Lean.
    35. Gandhi -- Richard Attenborough.
    36. The Story of My Experiments with Truth -- Mohandas Gandhi.
    37. Bhagavad Gita on Wikipedia and Amazon.
    38. KT Achaya on Amazon.
    39. The Emergency: A Personal History — Coomi Kapoor.
    40. My Varied Life in Management: A Short Memoir -- SL Rao.
    41. The Incredible Curiosities of Mukulika Banerjee — Episode 276 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    42. Ram Guha Writes a Letter to a Friend -- Episode 371 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    43. Terror as a Bargaining Instrument : A Case Study of Dowry Violence in Rural India -- Francis Bloch and Vijayendra Rao.
    44. Domestic Violence and Intra-Household Resource Allocation in Rural India: An Exercise in Participatory Econometrics -- Vijayendra Rao.
    45. Immanuel Kant’s Categorical Imperative.
    46. Narrative Economics -- Robert J Shiller.
    47. Culture and Public Action -- Edited by Vijayendra Rao and Michael Walton.
    48. The Capacity to Aspire -- Arjun Appadurai.
    49. Aspiration: The Agency of Becoming -- Agnes Callard.
    50. Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind -- Tom Holland.
    51. PV Sukhatme in EPW.
    52. India Needs Decentralization -- Episode 47 of Everything if Everything.
    53. Deliberative Inequality: A Text-As-Data Study of India’s Village Assemblies -- Ramya Parthasarathy, Vijayendra Rao and Nethra Palaniswamy.
    54. A Method to Scale Up Interpretive Qualitative Analysis with An Application to Aspirations among Refugees and Hosts in Bangladesh -- Julian Ashwin, Vijayendra Rao, Monica Biradavolu, Aditya Chhabra, Afsana Khan, Arshia Haque and Nandini Krishnan.
    55. Using Large-Language Models for Qualitative Analysis Can Introduce Serious Bias -- Julian Ashwin, Aditya Chhabra and Vijayendra Rao.
    56. This Be The Verse — Philip Larkin.
    57. Audacious Hope: An Archive of How Democracy is Being Saved in India -- Indrajit Roy.
    58. Poverty and the Quest for Life -- Bhrigupati Singh.
    59. Recasting Culture to Undo Gender: A Sociological Analysis of Jeevika in Rural Bihar, India -- Paromita Sanyal, Vijayendra Rao and Shruti Majumdar.
    60. We Are Poor but So Many -- Ela Bhatt.
    61. Premature Imitation and India’s Flailing State — Shruti Rajagopalan & Alexander Tabarrok.
    62. James Wolfensohn in Wikipedia and The World Bank.
    63. Arati Kumar-Rao Took a One-Way Ticket -- Episode 383 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    64. Marginlands: Indian Landscapes on the Brink — Arati Kumar-Rao.
    65. Amitav Ghosh on Amazon.
    66. Adam Smith: An Enlightened Life -- Nicholas Phillipson.
    67. Elinor Ostrom on Amazon, Britannica, Wikipedia and EconLib.
    68. Jane Mansbridge on Amazon, Wikipedia, and Google Scholar.
    69. Albert O Hirschman on Amazon and Wikipedia.
    70. Mughal-e-Azam -- K Asif.
    71. Samskara -- Pattabhirama Reddy.
    72. The Wire -- David Simon.
    73. Deadwood -- David Milch.
    74. Biju Rao on Democracy, Deliberation, and Development -- the Ideas of India podcast with Shruti Rajagopalan.

    Biju Rao's Specially curated music recommendations:

    1. The Senior Dagar Brothers (Moinuddin & Aminuddin Dagar) performing (Komal Rishab) Asavari and Kamboji.
    2. Raghunath Panigrahi performing Ashtapadi from the Geeta Govinda and Lalita Lavanga.
    3. Amir Khan performing Lalit and Jog.
    4. Vilayat Khan performing Sanjh Saravali and Hameer.
    5. Ravi Shankar performing Jaijaiwanti and Tilak Shyam (full concert) and Durga.
    6. Faiyaz Khan performing Raga Darbari and Raga Des.
    7. N Rajam performing a full concert with Gorakh Kalyan, Sawani Barwa, Hamir, Malkauns.
    8. Kumar Gandharva performing Tulsidas – Ek Darshan and Surdas – Ek Darshan.
    9. Bhimsen Joshi performing Ragas Chhaya and Chhaya Malhar & Jo Bhaje Hari Ko Sada – Bhajan in Raga Bhairavi (original recording from 1960).

    The Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana:
    1. Mallikarjun Mansur in a guided Listening Session by Irfan Zuberi, and performing Basanti Kedar and Tilak Kamod.
    2. Kesarbai Kerkar performing Lalit and Bhairavi.
    3. Moghubai Kurdikar performing Kedar and Suddha Nat.
    4. Kishori Amonkar performing Bhimpalas and Bhoop(ali).
    5. Some performances by Rajshekhar Mansur are linked in Biju Rao's piece on him.

    Karnatic Music:
    1. TM Krishna performing Krishna Nee Begane Baaro, Yamuna Kalyani (Yaman Kalyan) and Nalinakanthi (closest Hindustani equivalent is Tilak Kamod).
    2. MD Ramanathan performing Bhavayami – Raga Malika and Samaja Vara Gamana – Ragam Hindolam (Malkauns).
    3. Aruna Sairam performing a full concert.
    4. Madurai Mani Iyer performing Taaye Yoshade.
    5. MS Subbulakshmi performing a full Concert from 1966 and Bhaja Govindam (Ragamalika).
    6. TR Mahalingam performing Swara Raga Sudha – Shankarabharanam.

    Jugalbandis:
    1. Ali Akbar Khan and Vilayat Khan performing Marwa.
    2. Ali Akbar Khan and Ravi Shankar performing Jaijaiwanti.
    3. N Rajam with her brother TN Krishnan performing Raga Hamsadhwani.

    Amit’s newsletter is active again. Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free!

    Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube.

    Check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing.

    Episode art: ‘The Iconoclast' by Simahina.

  • The internet has changed the way we live -- and someone needs to make sense of it all. Shephali Bhatt joins Amit Varma in episode 391 of The Seen and the Unseen to describe all that she has learnt through her deep dives into popular culture, the creator economy, this turbulent society and her Mamaji's library.

    (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.)

    Also check out:
    1. Shephali Bhatt on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Economic Times, Mint and Instagram.
    2. Santosh Desai is Watching You — Episode 356 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    3. Indian Society: The Last 30 Years — Episode 137 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Santosh Desai).
    4. The plays of Maxim Gorky: 1, 2.
    5. Bollywood Masala and a French Art Film -- Amit Varma.
    6. Enter, tastefluencer: The rise of a curator economy -- Shephali Bhatt.
    7. The Artist -- Michel Hazanavicius.
    8. Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga -- Shelly Chopra Dhar.
    9. Gaming the algorithm to ‘manifest’ -- Shephali Bhatt.
    10. Search Party -- Shephali Bhatt.
    11. The Experience Machine.
    12. Badtime Stories -- Shephali Bhatt.
    13. Lentil Powerhouse at Pret a Manger.
    14. Brave New World — Episode 203 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vasant Dhar).
    15. Brave New World -- Vasant Dhar's podcast.
    16. When the third-party cookie crumbles -- Shephali Bhatt.
    17. Digital Minimalism and Slow Productivity -- Cal Newport.
    18. Range Rover — The archives of Amit Varma’s column on poker for the Economic Times.
    19. Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas — Natasha Dow Schüll.
    20. Cache Cab: Taxi Drivers' Brains Grow to Navigate London's Streets -- Ferris Jabr.
    21. The Life and Times of Jerry Pinto — Episode 314 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    22. Em and the Big Hoom — Jerry Pinto.
    23. Behave — Robert Sapolsky.
    24. Grave of the Fireflies -- Isao Takahata.
    25. Cosmos -- Carl Sagan.
    26. Irfan, the Keeper of Memories -- Episode 368 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    27. Voice Wide Web -- Shephali Bhatt.
    28. Ishaan Chintamani on Instagram and YouTube.
    29. Breaking Bad, House of Cards, The Wire, Harry Potter, Friends.
    30. All the President's Men -- Alan J Pakula.
    31. Surabhi on Wikipedia and IMDb.
    32. The unplanned glory of Surabhi -- Shephali Bhatt.
    33. Alt News.
    34. Fighting Fake News — Episode 133 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pratik Sinha).
    35. Don't Choose Tribalism Over Principles -- Amit Varma.
    36. Caste, Capitalism and Chandra Bhan Prasad — Episode 296 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    37. Multiverse of food-fluencers -- Shephali Bhatt.
    38. The Refreshing Audacity of Vinay Singhal — Episode 291 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    39. Stage.in.
    40. Shephali Bhatt's story on how Koffee With Karan inspired many Indians to learn English.
    41. Young India — Episode 83 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Snigdha Poonam).
    42. Dreamers: How Young Indians Are Changing Their World — Snigdha Poonam.
    43. The Disciple -- Chaitanya Tamhane.
    44. The Loneliness of the Indian Man — Episode 303 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Nikhil Taneja).
    45. How Instagram reels are transforming Indian weddings -- Shephali Bhatt.
    46. The Parenting Influencers Who Won’t Stop Posting Their Children -- Fortesa Latifi.
    47. “We’re Never Doing This Again”: What It Took for These Parenting Influencers to Pull Their Kids Offline -- Fortesa Latifi.
    48. Luke Burgis Sees the Deer at His Window — Episode 337 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    49. The Influencer Diaries -- Shephali Bhatt.
    50. 1000 True Fans — Kevin Kelly.
    51. 1000 True Fans? Try 100 — Li Jin.
    52. The Streisand Effect.
    53. Varun Mayya on YouTube.
    54. The YouTube Election -- Shephali Bhatt.
    55. With content king, creators trying hard to be kingmakers this Lok Sabha elections -- Shephali Bhatt.
    56. The Life and Times of Shanta Gokhale — Episode 311 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    57. The Life and Times of Mrinal Pande — Episode 263 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    58. The Life and Times of Urvashi Butalia — Episode 287 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    59. Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 -- Cho Nam-Joo.
    60. Rasidi Ticket (Punjabi) (English) -- Amrita Pritam.
    61. The Good Girls Revolt -- Lynn Povich.
    62. Jagte Raho -- Amit Maitra and Sombhu Mitra.
    63. Zakhm -- Mahesh Bhatt.
    64. Shephali Bhatt's Spotify playlists.
    65. The Life and Times of Nilanjana Roy — Episode 284 of The Seen and the Unseen.

    Amit’s newsletter is active again. Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free!

    Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube.

    Check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing.

    Episode art: ‘Search' by Simahina.

  • He started in advertising in 1979, became a pioneering ad filmmaker, broke new ground in Indian television, and is the managing trainee of his own life. Sanjiv Sharma joins Amit Varma in episode 390 of The Seen and the Unseen to share his frameworks for living.

    (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.)

    Also check out:
    1. Sanjiv Sharma on Instagram, Twitter, IMDb and LInkedIn.
    2. Divya Prakash Dubey on Instagram, Wikipedia, LinkedIn, IMDb, Twitter, Amazon and his own website.
    3. The Surface Area of Serendipity -- Episode 39 of Everything is Everything.
    4. Deepak VS and the Man Behind His Face — Episode 373 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    5. Mansoor Khan on Wikipedia, Amazon and IMDb.
    6. Umberto -- Mansoor Khan.
    7. American Cinematographer.
    8. Idhar Udhar.
    9. Chalti Ka Naam Antakshari.
    10. Khul Ja Sim Sim.
    11. The Evolution of Cricket -- Episode 97 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Harsha Bhogle).
    12. Television Price Controls -- Episode 27 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ashok Malik).
    13. Yeh Meri Life Hai.
    14. Urban Discoveries for Ford Ecosport.
    15. Crime Patrol Season 2.
    16. Comedy Circus Season 1.
    17. My Cancer is Me -- Vijay Bhat and Nilima Bhat.
    18. Sakshi.
    19. The Rakshin Project.
    20. Smita Bharti interviewed by Radio One.
    21. We Should Celebrate Rising Divorce Rates (2008) — Amit Varma.
    22. Profit = Philanthropy — Amit Varma.
    23. Rohini Nilekani Pays It Forward — Episode 317 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    24. The Double ‘Thank You’ Moment — John Stossel.
    25. Lectures by Swami Sarvapriyananda: 1, 2, 3, 4 plus a full series of them here.
    26. Spiral Bound -- Screenwriting with Boman Irani.

    Sanjiv's Recommendations: Movies
    1. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest -- Miloš Forman.
    2. As Good as It Gets -- James L Brooks.
    3. Roman Holiday -- William Wyler.
    4. Anne of the Thousand Days -- Charles Jarrott.
    5. Kramer vs Kramer -- Robert Benton.
    6. The Shawshank Redemption -- Frank Darabont.
    7. The Godfather -- Francis Ford Coppola.
    8. Oppenheimer -- Christopher Nolan.
    9. The Dark Knight -- Christopher Nolan.

    Sanjiv's Recommendations: Books
    1. The Covenant of Water -- Abraham Verghese.
    2. The Untethered Soul -- Michael A Singer.
    3. The Craving Mind -- Judson Brewer.
    4. The Ascent of Humanity -- Charles Eisenstein.
    5. Essence of the Upanishads -- Eknath Easwaran.
    6. The Mind Illuminated -- Culadasa (John Yates).
    7. Same as Ever -- Morgan Housel.
    8. The Ascent of Money -- Niall Ferguson.
    9. The Ending of Time -- Jiddu Krishnamurti.

    Amit’s newsletter is active again. Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free!

    Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube.

    Check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing.

    Episode art: ‘Sailing’ by Simahina.

  • The world is complex. The state is primitive. Regulation is where they meet. Bhargavi Zaveri-Shah joins Amit Varma in episode 389 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss her experiences with the regulatory state at the intersection of law & economics.

    (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.)

    Also check out:
    1. Bhargavi Zaveri Shah on Twitter, LinkedIn, The Leap Blog and her own website.
    2. The accountability framework of UIDAI: Concerns and solutions -- Vrinda Bhandari and Renuka Sane and Bhargavi Zaveri.
    3. Institutionalise formal regulatory independence -- Bhargavi Zaveri.
    4. Regulators don't need constitutional status -- Bhargavi Zaveri.
    5. Measuring Regulatory Responsiveness in India: A Framework for Empirical Assessment -- Anirudh Burman and Bhargavi Zaveri.
    6. Participatory governance in regulation making: How to make it work? -- Bhargavi Zaveri.
    7. IBBI's draft framework sets new standards of regulatory governance in India -- Bhargavi Zaveri.
    8. FIU’s Penalty on PayPal: The Wisdom of Jurisprudence by Committee -- Bhargavi Zaveri.
    9. Survey-based measurement of Indian courts -- Pavithra Manivannan, Susan Thomas, and Bhargavi Zaveri-Shah.
    10. Helping litigants make informed choices in resolving debt disputes -- Pavithra Manivannan, Susan Thomas, and Bhargavi Zaveri-Shah.
    12. Judicial triage in the lockdown: evidence from India's largest commercial tribunal -- Anjali Sharma and Bhargavi Zaveri.
    13. The Loneliness of the Indian Woman — Episode 259 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shrayana Bhattacharya).
    14. Young India -- Episode 83 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Snigdha Poonam).
    15. Dreamers: How Young Indians Are Changing Their World -- Snigdha Poonam.
    16. The Loneliness of the Indian Man — Episode 303 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Nikhil Taneja).
    17 Alice Evans on Twitter and The Seen and the Unseen.
    18. The End of History? — Francis Fukuyama’s essay.
    19. The End of History and the Last Man — Francis Fukuyama’s book.
    20. Economic Facts and Fallacies — Thomas Sowell.
    21. The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression -- Amity Shlaes.
    22. Public Choice Theory Explains SO MUCH -- Episode 33 of Everything is Everything.
    23. Parkinson’s Law.
    24. Statutory Regulatory Authorities and the Federal System in India -- KP Krishnan, Amrita Pillai and Karan Gulati.
    25. Suits on Netflix.
    26. The Accidental Prime Minister -- Sanjaya Baru.
    27. The Life and Times of KP Krishnan — Episode 355 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    28. The Life and Times of Montek Singh Ahluwalia — Episode 285 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    29. The Four Quadrants of Conformism — Paul Graham.
    30. Stay Away From Luxury Beliefs -- Episode 46 of Everything is Everything.
    31. The Anxious Generation -- Jonathan Haidt.
    32. Concrete Island -- JG Ballard.
    33. High-Rise -- JG Ballard.
    34. Judicial Reforms -- Episode 62 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Alok Prasanna Kumar).
    35. Noise -- Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony and Cass R. Sunstein.
    36. Court on Trial: A Data-Driven Account of the Supreme Court of India -- Aparna Chandra, Sital Kalantry and William HJ Hubbard.
    37. Fixing the Knowledge Society -- Episode 24 of Everything is Everything.
    38. The Plague -- Albert Camus.
    39. The Outsider -- Albert Camus.
    40. The Life and Times of the Indian Economy -- Episode 387 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rajeswari Sengupta).
    41. Shoe Dog -- Phil Knight.
    42. Laapataa Ladies -- Kiran Rao.
    43. The Incredible Curiosities of Mukulika Banerjee — Episode 276 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    44. The Life and Times of Mrinal Pande — Episode 263 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    45. Caste, Capitalism and Chandra Bhan Prasad — Episode 296 of The Seen and the Unseen.

    Amit’s newsletter is active again. Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free!

    Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube.

    Check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing.

    Episode art: ‘Warrior’ by Simahina.

  • He's an elder statesman in the worlds of journalism, policy and economics in India -- and he takes the long view. Niranjan Rajadhyaksha joins Amit Varma in episode 388 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about his life and learnings.

    (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.)

    Also check out:
    1. Niranjan Rajadhyaksha on Twitter, Mint and Artha Global.
    2. The Rise of India -- NIranjan Rajadhyaksha.
    3. Niranjan Rajadhyaksha interviewed in Marathi by Think Bank: Part 1. Part 2.
    4. MV Rajadhyaksha and Vijaya Rajadhyaksha.
    5. The Times of India obituary of MV Rajadhyaksha.
    6. The Song of Life -- Vijaya Rajadyaksha.
    7. Adventures of a Bystander -- Peter F Drucker.
    8. The Theory of Moral Sentiments -- Adam Smith's book that contains the concept of the impartial spectator.
    9. The Impartial Spectator columns by Niranjan Rajadhyaksha and Shruti Rajagopalan.
    10. Ratatouille -- Brad Bird.
    11. The Overton Window.
    12. John Maynard Keynes on Alfred Marshall.
    13. The Rooted Cosmopolitanism of Sugata Srinivasaraju — Episode 277 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    14. The Rise and Fall of the Bilingual Intellectual -- Ramachandra Guha.
    15. Understanding India Through Its Languages — Episode 232 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Peggy Mohan).
    16. Wanderers, Kings, Merchants: The Story of India through Its Languages — Peggy Mohan.
    17. The Heckman Equation -- a website based on James Heckman's work.
    18. Select episodes of The Seen and the Unseen with Suyash Rai (1, 2) and Rahul Verma (1, 2).
    19. Stri Purush Tulana by Tarabai Shinde on Amazon and Wikipedia.
    20. Kalyanche Nishwas by Vibhavari Shirurkar (Malati Bedekar) on Amazon and Wikipedia.
    21. Makers of Modern India -- Ramachandra Guha.
    22. Simone de Beauvoir (Wikipedia, Britannica, Amazon) and Germaine Greer (Wikipedia, Britannica, Amazon).
    23. Gopal Ganesh Agarkar's essay on education for girls.
    24. The omnibus volume of BR Nanda’s biographies of Gokhale, Gandhi and Nehru.
    25. The Adda at the End of the Universe — Episode 309 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vikram Sathaye and Roshan Abbas).
    26. This Be The Verse — Philip Larkin.
    27. Rohit Lamba Will Never Be Bezubaan -- Episode 378 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    28. Volga Se Ganga (Hindi) (English) -- Rahul Sankritayan.
    29. In Service of the Republic — Vijay Kelkar & Ajay Shah.
    30. Turning Over the Pebbles: A Life in Cricket and in the Mind -- Mike Brearley.
    31. Slow Horses (book one of Slough House) -- Mick Herron.
    32. Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 -- Tony Judt.
    33. On Warne -- Gideon Haigh.
    34. The Essential Keynes -- John Maynard Keynes.
    35. The Age of Uncertainty — John Kenneth Galbraith.
    36. Asian Drama -- Gunnar Myrdal.
    37. Aneesh Pradhan on Spotify, Amazon, Instagram, Twitter and his own website.
    38. Malini Goyal is the Curious One — Episode 377 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    39. The UNIX Episode -- Episode 32 of Everything is Everything.
    40. The O-Ring Theory of Economic Development -- Michael Kremer.
    41. Why Abhijit Banerjee Had to Go Abroad to Achieve Glory -- Amit Varma.
    42. Why Talent Comes in Clusters -- Episode 8 of Everything is Everything.
    43. The Dark Knight Rises -- Christopher Nolan.
    44. Thinking it Through -- The archives of Amit Varma's column for Mint.
    45. Remembering Mr. Shawn's New Yorker -- Ved Mehta.
    46. Videhi -- Vijaya Rajadhyaksha.
    47. Select pieces on the relationship between Raymond Carver and Gordon Lish: 1, 2, 3, 4.
    48. Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy -- Joseph Schumpeter.
    49. Maharashtra Politics Unscrambled — Episode 151 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Sujata Anandan).
    50. Complaint Resolution Systems: Experimental Evidence from Rural India -- Chinmaya Kumar and MR Sharan.
    51. Parkinson’s Law — C Northcote Parkinson.
    52. The Importance of the 1991 Reforms — Episode 237 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan and Ajay Shah).
    53. The Life and Times of Montek Singh Ahluwalia — Episode 285 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    54. The Forgotten Greatness of PV Narasimha Rao — Episode 283 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vinay Sitapati).
    55. The Life and Times of KP Krishnan — Episode 355 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    56. Lant Pritchett Is on Team Prosperity — Episode 379 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    57. The Reformers — Episode 28 of Everything is Everything.
    58. The Tragedy of Our Farm Bills — Episode 211 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah).
    59. Public Choice Theory Explains SO MUCH -- Episode 33 of Everything is Everything.
    60. The Logic of Collective Action — Mancur Olson.
    61. Ashutosh Salil and the Challenge of Change — Episode 312 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    62. Rational Ignorance.
    63. The State of Our Farmers — Ep 86 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Gunvant Patil, in Hindi).
    64. India’s Agriculture Crisis — Ep 140 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Barun Mitra & Kumar Anand).
    65. The Indian State Is the Greatest Enemy of the Indian Farmer — Amit Varma.
    66. The Worldly Philosophers -- Robert Heilbroner.
    67. The Clash of Economic Ideas — Lawrence H White.
    68. Capital-Labor Substitution and Economic Efficiency -- Kenneth Arrow, Hollis Chenery, Bagicha Singh Minhas and Robert Solow.
    69. Room 666 -- Wim Wenders.
    70. Laapataa Ladies -- Kiran Rao.
    71. The Brave New Future of Electricity -- Episode 40 of Everything is Everything.
    72. What I, as a development economist, have been actively “for” — Lant Pritchett.
    73. National Development Delivers: And How! And How? — Lant Pritchett.
    74. Economic growth is enough and only economic growth is enough — Lant Pritchett with Addison Lewis.
    75. Smoke and Ashes -- Amitav Ghosh.
    76. Sata Uttarachi Kahani -- GP Pradhan.
    77. Gopal Ganesh Agarkar and Bal Gangadhar Tilak.
    78. Collections of VD Savarkar's Marathi essays: 1, 2.
    79. Savarkar and the Making of Hindutva -- Janaki Bakhle.
    80. Savarkar Te BJP -- SH Deshpande.
    81. Sarvakarancha Buddhiwad Ani Hindutvawad -- Sheshrao More.
    82. Swatantryaveer Savarkar Ek Rahasya -- DN Gokhale.
    83. Shodh Savarkarancha -- YD Phadke.
    84. The Taking of Pelham 123 -- Tony Scott.
    85. Sriram Raghavan (IMDb) (Wikipedia) and Vijay Anand (IMDb) (Wikipedia).
    86. Manorama Six Feet Under -- Navdeep Singh.
    87. Agatha Christie and Frederick Forsyth on Amazon.
    88. Salil Chowdhury and RD Burman on Spotify.
    89. Haikyu -- Haruichi Furudate.
    90. Pramit Bhattacharya Believes in Just One Ism — Episode 256 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    91. Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister — Jonathan Lynn and Antony Jay.
    92. Dilip José Abreu: an elegant and creative economist — Rohit Lamba.

    Niranjan would like to inform listeners that Spontaneous Order would be translated to Marathi as उत्सफूर्त व्यवस्था.

    This episode is sponsored by CTQ Compounds. Check out The Daily Reader and FutureStack. Use the code UNSEEN for Rs 2500 off.

    Amit’s newsletter is active again. Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free!

    Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new video podcast. Check out Everything is Everything on YouTube.

    Check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing.

    Episode art: ‘The Impartial Spectator’ by Simahina.

  • Our greatest moral imperative is to solve the problem of poverty -- and after over 75 years, we still have some distance to travel. Rajeswari Sengupta joins Amit Varma in episode 387 of The Seen and the Unseen for a deep dive into how we got here, where we went wrong, what we got right, and how we should look at the Indian economy going forward.

    (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.)

    Also check out:
    1. Rajeswari Sengupta's homepage.
    2. Demystifying GDP — Episode 130 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rajeswari Sengupta).
    3. Twelve Dream Reforms — Episode 138 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan, Rajeswari Sengupta & Vivek Kaul).
    4. Two-and-a-Half Bengalis Have an Economics Adda -- Episode 274 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rajeswari Sengupta and Shrayana Bhattacharya).
    5. Talks & Discussions on the Indian Economy featuring Rajeswari Sengupta.
    6. Rajeswari Sengulta's writings on the Indian economy.
    7. Rajeswari Sengupta's writing for Ideas for India.
    8. Rajeswari Sengupta's writing on the Leap Blog.
    9. Rajeswari Sengupta's pieces on GDP: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
    10. Rajeswari Sengupta's pieces on fiscal policy: 1, 2, 3.
    11. Rajeswari Sengupta's pieces on the banking crisis: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
    12. Rajeswari Sengupta's pieces on the financial sector: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.
    13. Rajeswari Sengupta's pieces on Covid: 1, 2, 3, 4.
    14. Getting the State out of Our Lives -- Rajeswari Sengupta's TEDx talk.
    15. Why Freedom Matters -- Episode 10 of Everything is Everything.
    16. The Reformers -- Episode 28 of Everything is Everything.
    17. The Importance of the 1991 Reforms — Episode 237 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan and Ajay Shah).
    18. The Life and Times of Montek Singh Ahluwalia — Episode 285 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    19. The Forgotten Greatness of PV Narasimha Rao — Episode 283 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vinay Sitapati).
    20. India’s Lost Decade — Episode 116 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Puja Mehra).
    21. The Life and Times of KP Krishnan -- Episode 355 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    22. Lant Pritchett Is on Team Prosperity -- Episode 379 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    23. Josh Felman Tries to Make Sense of the World — Episode 321 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    24. Rohit Lamba Will Never Be Bezubaan -- Episode 378 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    25. Yugank Goyal Is out of the Box — Episode 370 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    26. The State of Our Farmers — Ep 86 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Gunvant Patil, in Hindi).
    27. India’s Agriculture Crisis — Ep 140 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Barun Mitra & Kumar Anand).
    28. The Tragedy of Our Farm Bills — Episode 211 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah).
    29. The Art and Science of Economic Policy — Episode 154 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vijay Kelkar & Ajay Shah).
    30. Two Economic Crises (2008 & 2019) — Episode 135 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Mohit Satynanand).
    31. The Indian Economy in 2019 — Episode 153 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vivek Kaul).
    32. Subhashish Bhadra on Our Dysfunctional State -- Episode 333 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    33. The Importance of Data Journalism — Episode 196 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rukmini S).
    34. Rukmini Sees India’s Multitudes — Episode 261 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rukmini S).
    35. Pramit Bhattacharya Believes in Just One Ism — Episode 256 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    36. Understanding the State -- Episode 25 of Everything is Everything.
    37. When Should the State Act? -- Episode 26 of Everything is Everything.
    38. Public Choice Theory Explains SO MUCH -- Episode 33 of Everything is Everything.
    39. Our Population Is Our Greatest Asset -- Episode 20 of Everything is Everything.
    40. What's Wrong With Indian Agriculture? -- Episode 18 of Everything is Everything.
    41. The Long Road to Change -- Episode 36 of Everything is Everything.
    42. India Needs Decentralization -- Episode 47 of Everything is Everything.
    43. Beware of These Five Fallacies! -- Episode 45 of Everything is Everything.
    44. Stay Away From Luxury Beliefs -- Episode 46 of Everything is Everything.
    45. Graduating to Globalisation -- Episode 48 of Everything is Everything (on I18N).
    46. Ask Me ANYTHING! -- Episode 50 of Everything is Everything.
    47. Four Papers That Changed the World -- Episode 41 of Everything is Everything.
    48. The Populist Playbook -- Episode 42 of Everything is Everything.
    49. The 1991 Project.
    50. The quest for economic freedom in India — Shruti Rajagopalan.
    51. What I, as a development economist, have been actively “for” — Lant Pritchett.
    52. National Development Delivers: And How! And How? — Lant Pritchett.
    53. Economic growth is enough and only economic growth is enough — Lant Pritchett with Addison Lewis.
    54. Is India a Flailing State?: Detours on the Four Lane Highway to Modernization — Lant Pritchett.
    55. Is Your Impact Evaluation Asking Questions That Matter? A Four Part Smell Test — Lant Pritchett.
    56. The Perils of Partial Attribution: Let’s All Play for Team Development — Lant Pritchett.
    57. Some episodes of The Seen and the Unseen on the state of the economy: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
    58. Accelerating India’s Development — Karthik Muralidharan.
    59. Unshackling India -- Ajay Chhibber and Salman Soz.
    60. India Grows At Night -- Gurcharan Das.
    61. India’s Problem is Poverty, Not Inequality -- Amit Varma.
    62. Mohit Satyanand's newsletter post on the informal sector.
    63. Pratap Bhanu Mehta's column on mission mode interventions.
    64. The Hedonistic Treadmill.
    65. 77% low-income households saw no income increase in the past 5 yrs -- Vasudha Mukherjee.
    66. Pandit’s Mind — The 1951 Time magazine cover story on Jawaharlal Nehru.
    67. Economic Facts and Fallacies -- Thomas Sowell.
    68. An Autobiography -- Jawaharlal Nehru.
    69. The Double 'Thank You' Moment -- John Stossel.
    70. Profit = Philanthropy — Amit Varma.
    71. India After Gandhi -- Ramachandra Guha.
    72. The China Dude Is in the House -- Episode 231 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Manoj Kewalramani).
    73. The Dragon and the Elephant -- Episode 181 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Hamsini Hariharan and Shibani Mehta).
    74. Caste, Capitalism and Chandra Bhan Prasad — Episode 296 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    75. The Collected Writings and Speeches of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar.
    76. Population Is Not a Problem, but Our Greatest Strength -- Amit Varma.
    77. How to assess the needs for aid? The answer: Don’t ask -- William Easterly.
    78. The White Man's Burden -- William Easterly.
    79. The Elusive Quest for Growth -- William Easterly.
    80. The Tyranny of Experts -- William Easterly.
    81. Planners vs. Searchers in Foreign Aid — William Easterly.
    82. Pandit’s Mind — The 1951 Time magazine cover story on Jawaharlal Nehru.
    83. 75 Years of India’s Foreign Exchange Controls -- Bhargavi Zaveri Shah.
    84. Breaking the Mould: Reimagining India’s Economic Future — Raghuram Rajan and Rohit Lamba.
    85. The History of the Planning Commission — Episode 306 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Nikhil Menon).
    86. Adam Smith on The Man of System.
    87. The Use of Knowledge in Society — Friedrich Hayek.
    88. Price Controls Lead to Shortages and Harm the Poor -- Amit Varma.
    89. The Great Redistribution -- Amit Varma.
    90. Backstage: The Story behind India’s High Growth Years -- Montek Singh Ahluwalia.
    91. The Indian State Is the Greatest Enemy of the Indian Farmer -- Amit Varma piece, which contains the Sharad Joshi shair.
    92. India’s Massive Pensions Crisis — Episode 347 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah & Renuka Sane).
    93. The Economic Legacies of Colonial Rule in India -- Tirthankar Roy.
    94. The Semiconductor Wars — Episode 358 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pranay Kotasthane & Abhiram Manchi).
    95. BR Shenoy on Wikipedia and Indian Liberals.
    96. BR Shenoy: Stature and Impact -- Peter Bauer.
    97. The Foreign Exchange Crisis and India's Second Five Year Plan -- VKRV Rao.
    98. India’s Water Crisis — Episode 60 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vishwanath S aka Zenrainman).
    99. The Delhi Smog — Episode 44 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vivek Kaul).
    100. Fixing Indian Education — Episode 185 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Muralidharan).
    101. Education in India — Episode 77 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Amit Chandra).
    102. The Profit Motive in Education — Episode 9 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Parth Shah).
    103. Our Unlucky Children (2008) — Amit Varma.
    104. Where Has All the Education Gone? — Lant Pritchett.
    105. Every Act of Government Is an Act of Violence -- Amit Varma.
    106. Narendra Modi takes a Great Leap Backwards -- Amit Varma on DeMon & Mao killing sparrows.
    107. The Emergency: A Personal History — Coomi Kapoor.
    108. Coomi Kapoor Has the Inside Track — Episode 305 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    109. Seven Stories That Should Be Films -- Episode 23 of Everything in Everything, in which Amit talks about the Emergency.
    110. Milton Friedman on the minimum wage.
    111. The Commanding Heights -- Daniel Yergin and Joseph Stanislaw.
    112. Bootleggers and Baptists: The Education of a Regulatory Economist -- Bruce Yandle.
    113. Raees: An Empty Shell of a Gangster Film — Amit Varma.
    114. Josh Felman on Twitter, Project Syndicate, JH Consulting and The Marginal Economist.
    115. Obituaries of SV Raju by Niranjan Rajadhyaksha and Samanth Subramanian.
    116. Breaking Out -- Padma Desai.
    117. Breaking Through -- Isher Judge Ahluwalia.
    118. India’s Far From Free Markets (2005) — Amit Varma in the Wall Street Journal.
    119. Naushad Forbes Wants to Fix India — Episode 282 of The Seen and the Unseen.

    120. The Struggle And The Promise — Naushad Forbes.
    121. Half-Lion -- Vinay Sitapati's biography of PV Narasimha Rao.
    122. A Game Theory Problem: Who Will Bell The Congress Cat? — Amit Varma.
    123. India Transformed -- Rakesh Mohan.
    124. Highway to Success: The Impact of the Golden Quadrilateral -- Ejaz Ghani, Arti Grover Goswami and William R Kerr.
    125. The Cantillon Effect.
    126. The Lost Decade -- Puja Mehra.
    127. Modi’s Domination – What We Often Overlook — Keshava Guha.
    128. XKDR Forum.
    129. Beware of the Useful Idiots — Amit Varma.
    130. Some of Amit Varma's pieces and episodes against Demonetisation: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
    131. Episode of The Seen and the Unseen on GST: 1, 2, 3.
    132. Miniature episodes of The Seen and the Unseen on PSBs, NPAs and NBFCs.
    133. The Bankable Wisdom of Harsh Vardhan -- Episode 352 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    134. Politics of Economic Growth in India, 1980-2005 -- Atul Kohli.
    135. The Economic Consequences of the Peace -- John Maynard Keynes.
    136. India's GDP Mis-estimation: Likelihood, Magnitudes, Mechanisms, and Implications -- Arvind Subramanian.
    137. What a Long Strange Trip It’s Been -- Episode 188 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Arvind Subramanian).
    138. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen on Covid-19: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14.
    139. A Venture Capitalist Looks at the World -- Episode 213 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Sajith Pai).
    140. The Indus Valley Playbook — Sajith Pai.
    141. India’s Trade Policy Is Working Great — for Vietnam -- Andy Mukherjee.
    142. A Trade Deficit With a Babysitter -- Tim Harford.
    143. The City & the City — China Miéville.
    144. A Decade of Credit Collapse in India -- Harsh Vardhan.
    145. The Low Productivity Trap of Collateralised Lending for MSMEs -- Harsh Vardhan.
    146. Economic Learnings of India for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Bihar -- Episode 345 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Mohit Satyanand and Kumar Anand).
    147. They Stole a Bridge. They Stole a Pond -- Amit Varma.
    148. Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister -- Jonathan Lynn and Antony Jay.
    149. The Right to Property — Episode 26 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan).
    150. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen on agriculture: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
    151. Some of Amit Varma's pieces on agriculture: 1, 2, 3.
    152. The Crisis in Indian Agriculture — Brainstorm on Pragati.
    153. Where are the Markets? — Kumar Anand.
    154. Empower Women Farmers -- Mrinal Pande.
    155. The Mystery of Capital — Hernando De Soto.
    156. India Unbound -- Gurcharan Das.
    157. In Service of the Republic — Vijay Kelkar & Ajay Shah.
    158. We, The Citizens: Strengthening the Indian Republic — Khyati Pathak, Anupam Manur and Pranay Kotasthane.
    159. Making Policy Fun with Khyati Pathak and Friends -- Episode 374 of The Seen and the Unseen.
    160. Seeing Like a State — James C Scott.
    161. Free To Choose — Milton Friedman and Rose Friedman.
    162. Classical Liberalism- A Primer -- Eamonn Butler.
    163. Friedrich Hayek: The ideas and influence of the libertarian economist -- Eamonn Butler.
    164. Milton Friedman: A concise guide to the ideas and influence of the free-market economist -- Eamonn Butler.
    165. Public Choice – A Primer -- Eamonn Butler.
    166. Adam Smith – A Primer: Eamonn Butler.
    167. The Clash of Economic Ideas -- Lawrence H White.
    168. Just a Mercenary?: Notes from My Life and Career -- D Subbarao.
    169. Who Moved My Interest Rate? -- D Subbarao.
    170. Advice & Dissent: My Life in Public Service -- YV Reddy.
    171. A Business History of India -- Tirthankar Roy.
    172. Courage to Act: A Memoir of a Crisis and Its Aftermath -- Ben Bernanke.
    173. Whole Numbers And Half Truths -- Rukmini S.
    174. Fragile by Design -- Charles Calomiris and Stephen Haber.
    175. Universal Man: The Seven Lives of John Maynard Keynes -- Richard Davenport-Hines.
    176. A Life in Our Times -- John Kenneth Galbraith.
    177. The Age of Uncertainty -- John Kenneth Galbraith.
    178. Fixing the Knowledge Society -- Episode 24 of Everything is Everything.

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    Episode art: ‘It's Complicated’ by Simahina.