Vanessa R. Sasson, author of “Yasodhara: A Novel About the Buddha’s Wife”, in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive, Vanessa and Lakshya talk about why she wanted to tell this story, what it was like to write in Yasodhara’s voice, and how the process of writing this book changed how she felt about the Buddha. Vanessa is a professor of Religious Studies in the Liberal and Creative Arts and Humanities Department at Marianopolis College, Quebec. She is also a ...
Sep 28, 2019•29 min•Season 1Ep. 90
Author, activist, psychotherapist Farzana Doctor in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive, Farzana and Lakshya talk about her life and career - both as a novelist and as a psychotherapist - as well as the work she does with WeSpeakOut, a global group that is working to ban female genital cutting in her Dawoodi Bohra community. Farzana Doctor is the award-winning author of Stealing Nasreen, Six Metres of Pavement and All Inclusive . Doctor was recently named...
Sep 27, 2019•23 min•Season 1Ep. 89
David Moscrop, author of "Too Dumb for Democracy? Why We Make Bad Political Decisions and How We Can Make Better Ones”, in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. David and Lakshya talk about politics, the currently ongoing Canadian elections, his new book, and what sort of topics he and his guests will be debating on his new podcast "Open to Debate with David Moscrop". David is a political theorist and a post doctoral fellow in the Department of Communication at the University of Ott...
Sep 27, 2019•23 min•Season 1Ep. 88
Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, 2010 Nobel Peace Prize nominee and internationally recognized human rights and inspirational peace activist, in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. Dr. Abuelaish talks to Lakshya about what hatred does to a person and to a community, where he gets his strength to deliver his message of hope and forgiveness, why political leaders need to humanize and not politicize, how health and peace are inter-connected, and why he started the Daughters For Life Foundatio...
Sep 26, 2019•20 min•Season 1Ep. 87
Marcus Moench, founder of The Institute for Social and Environmental Transition-International, in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive conversation, Marcus tells Lakshya about the connection between literature and science that he found in India, why he was drawn to work on social and environmental issues, how JLF gives scientists and activists a platform to talk about universal issues like water scarcity and climate change, and what role he thinks the medi...
Sep 21, 2019•31 min•Season 1Ep. 86
Kent Nerburn, author of “Neither Wolf Nor Dog”, in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive conversation, Kent and Lakshya talk about how “Neither Wolf Nor Dog” came to be, how it became a cult classic that is used as a bridge to connect non-natives to the Native-American experience, how Robert Plant (lead singer of Led Zeppelin) found the book and ended up writing the foreword of the 25th anniversary edition of the book, how the book’s film adaptation came to...
Sep 21, 2019•40 min•Season 1Ep. 85
Author Maaza Mengiste in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive conversation, Maaza and Lakshya talk about how she was drawn to storytelling as a kid, what it was like to take the unknown path of becoming a writer, the research and multiple drafts that led to “The Shadow King”, and why she loves telling stories. Maaza is an Ethiopian-American writer and author of the 2010 novel “Beneath The Lion’s Gaze". Her new book, "The Shadow King", comes out on Septembe...
Sep 20, 2019•27 min•Season 1Ep. 84
Scholar-translator Linda Hess in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive conversation, Linda talks to Lakshya about what drew her to come to India in her 20s, how she fell in love with Kabir and his words, and why 500 year old songs created by an illiterate poet are still relevant today. Linda’s publications include "The Bijak of Kabir", "Singing Emptiness: Kumar Gandharva Performs the Poetry of Kabir", and "Bodies of Song: Kabir Oral Traditions and Performat...
Sep 20, 2019•38 min•Season 1Ep. 83
Chiké Frankie Edozien, author of "Lives of Great Men: Living and Loving as an African Gay Man", in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive conversation, Frankie talks to Lakshya about his time at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2019, what it was like to be in India soon after Section 377 was abolished, what the ruling in India meant for the LGBTQ community in African countries where they’re still fighting for legality and equality, and why the journey from leg...
Sep 19, 2019•31 min•Season 1Ep. 82
Mira Jacob, author of "Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations", in conversation with writer/host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive, Mira and Lakshya talk about her new book - why she wrote it, what it was like to re-live these talks from her past, and what conversations she hopes it starts. About the book: Inspired by her viral BuzzFeed piece '37 Difficult Questions from My Mixed-Raced Son', Mira Jacob responds to: her six-year-old, Z, who asks if the new president hates brown boys like him...
Sep 14, 2019•29 min•Season 1Ep. 81
Sohaila Abdulali, author of "What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape", in conversation with writer/host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive episode, Sohaila talks to Lakshya about what it has been like to share this book with people around the world, and what stories readers have shared with her along the way. Sohaila has also published two novels, "The Madwoman of Jogare" and "Year of the Tiger", three children’s books, short stories and many non-fiction pieces. She will be speaking at ...
Sep 13, 2019•31 min•Season 1Ep. 80
Michael Patrick MacDonald, author of the New York Times Bestselling memoir “All Souls: A Family Story From Southie”, in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. Lakshya speaks with Michael about what drew him to tell stories, the writing process behind his memoirs, how his family and his community reacted to his books, and how he uses storytelling as a tool to talk about justice and healing. You can learn more about his work at www.michaelpatrickmacdonald.com. Michael will be at #ZEEJL...
Sep 03, 2019•21 min•Season 1Ep. 79
Ranju Roy and Dave Charlton in conversation with Tara Fraser. Understanding Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras is the key to understanding yoga itself and yet relatively few of today’s practitioners know how to apply these ancient Sanskrit aphorisms to contemporary life. Yoga Teachers Ranju Roy and David Charlton, both practitioners within the tradition of TKV Desikachar of Chennai, discuss some of the most important sutras in their new book Embodying the Yoga Sutra and show how each one illuminates a diff...
Aug 29, 2019•47 min•Season 1Ep. 78
Santanu Das and Shrabani Basu in conversation with Yasmin Khan. Santanu Das's India, Empire and First World War Culture: Writings, Images and Songs recovers the experience of combatants, non-combatants and civilians from undivided India trying to make sense of home and the world in times of war. Shrabani Basu’s For King and Another Country also takes into account India’s First World War through the eyes of those who fought it. This episode is a live session from #ZEEJLFatBL2019....
Aug 19, 2019•40 min•Season 1Ep. 77
The inaugural address by Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee at JLF Belfast 2019. She has held the position of Vice-Chairperson of Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti for nearly nine years. Gandhi Smriti is the site of the martyrdom of her grandfather, Mahatma Gandhi, for truth and non-violence. She is also involved with the movement to protect rivers and the environment in India. She is the Chairperson of the Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust, one of the oldest pre-independence, non-governmental insti...
Aug 06, 2019•16 min•Season 1Ep. 76
Vasuki Shastry, Steve Tsang, Ellen Barry and Lijia Zhang in conversation with Salil Tripathi. While the phenomenal economic rise of India and China is of key interest to economists around the world, the civilisational links between these two ancient cultures are equally fascinating. A session on how the ‘elephant’ and the ‘dragon’ negotiate their relationship with each other and the ways in which their growing influence is reshaping the world. Author and expert on Asian economies and public poli...
Jul 30, 2019•51 min•Season 1Ep. 75
Navin Chawla and Mukulika Banerjee in conversation with John Elliott. India is the world’s largest democracy. It has faced daunting challenges, sustaining democratic institutions against all odds. Its vigorous political system remains credible and sound in its fundamentals with nearly 900 million citizens, young and old, exercising their constitutionally given freedom to choose in what remains a disciplined and peaceable process. A session that examines the results of the recent national electio...
Jul 23, 2019•53 min•Season 1Ep. 74
Helena Kennedy, Avi Singh and Sunita Toor in conversation with Bee Rowlatt. Helena Kennedy QC’s ground-breaking book Eve Was Shamed offers an impassioned, personal critique of the British legal system. “The smell of the gentlemen’s club permeates every crevice of the Inns of Court,” writes Kennedy. A session which focuses on the treatment of women in the legal system with Kennedy, academic and women’s rights activist Sunita Toor and international lawyer Avi Singh in conversation with writer Bee ...
Jul 18, 2019•45 min•Season 1Ep. 73
Eric Ngalle Charles (poet, author, playwright) in conversation with Lakshya Datta (Founder of Launchora). Eric Ngalle was born in Cameroon. After nearly a decade seeking sanctuary as a refugee, he eventually reached south Wales, where he studied modern history and popular culture at Cardiff Metropolitan University. A fellow of the leadership network British-American Project, he currently sits on the board of directors for Literature Wales. Ngalle Charles is one of the Hay 30 - young writers who ...
Jul 10, 2019•37 min•Season 1Ep. 72
Lucy Caldwell (award-winning novelist and playwright) in conversation with Lakshya Datta (founder of Launchora). Lucy Caldwell was born in Belfast in 1981. She studied English at Queen's College, Cambridge, and for an MA in Creative and Life Writing at Goldsmith's, University of London. She is the author of three novels: Where They Were Missed (2006); The Meeting Point (2011), set in Bahrain immediately prior to the Iraq War; and All the Beggars Riding (2013). Her first novel was shortlisted for...
Jun 27, 2019•31 min•Season 1Ep. 71
William Dalrymple transports us back to a bygone era of matchless splendour – the period of the last Mughal. This evocative session features readings by award-winning author and historian Dalrymple from his book The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty, Delhi, 1857 and the vocals of Vidya Shah celebrating the poignant and robust folk poetry of the time and ghazals of the Mughal court. This episode is a live session from #JLFBelfast2019.
Jun 22, 2019•55 min•Season 1Ep. 70
Pico Iyer, Christina Lamb, Carlo Pizzati and Monisha Rajesh in conversation with William Dalrymple. This episode is a live session from #ZEEJLFatBL2019.
Jun 21, 2019•45 min•Season 1Ep. 69
James Crabtree and Avi Singh in conversation with Mukulika Banerjee. This episode is a live session from #ZEEJLFatBL2019.
Jun 20, 2019•32 min•Season 1Ep. 68
Chris Power, Namita Gokhale and Navtej Sarna in conversation with Paul McVeigh. This episode is a live session from #ZEEJLFatBL2019.
Jun 20, 2019•53 min•Season 1Ep. 67
Navtej Sarna in conversation with Amrit Kaur Lohia. This episode is a live session from #ZEEJLFatBL2019.
Jun 19, 2019•49 min•Season 1Ep. 66
David Levy, Irving Finkel and Michael Erdman in conversation with Pragya Tiwari. This episode is a live session from #ZEEJLFatBL2019.
Jun 19, 2019•45 min•Season 1Ep. 65
Anita Anand and Kim A. Wagner in conversation with Navtej Sarna. Anita Anand’s The Patient Assassin tells the remarkable story of one Indian's 20 year quest for revenge, taking him around the world in search of those he held responsible for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919, which cost the lives of hundreds. Kim A. Wagner’s Jallianwala Bagh: An Empire of Fear and the Making of the Amritsar Massacre is a dramatic telling of the event and its aftermath situating the massacre within the 'deep' ...
Jun 17, 2019•41 min•Season 1Ep. 64
Anjali Joseph, Lijia Zhang and Romesh Gunesekera in conversation with Catharine Morris. Three writers speak about ways of seeing and recording, and how they navigate words across countries and cultures. Romesh Gunesekera is the acclaimed Sri Lankan-born British author and finalist for the Man Booker Prize. Award-winning Anjali Joseph has written three novels, including her recent The Living. China-born writer and journalist Lijia Zhang has written memorable books that include China Remembers, So...
Jun 16, 2019•47 min•Season 1Ep. 63
Jonathan Gil Harris, Rachel Dwyer and Varsha Panjwani in conversation with Cary Sawhney. Shakespeare’s Indian avatar has taken deep root in Bollywood and popular culture. Poet and lyricist Gulzar along with directors Sanjay Leela Bansali and Vishal Bharadwaj have all taken inspiration from the Bard. A lively panel explores the profound resonance between Shakespeare’s craft and Indian cinema and cultural forms. Jonathan Gil Harris, professor of English at Ashoka University, Rachel Dwyer, professo...
Jun 16, 2019•41 min•Season 1Ep. 62
Shashi Tharoor, Wajahat S. Khan, Romesh Gunesekera and Prashant Kidambi in conversation with Mukulika Banerjee. Cricket in South Asia has become a symbol of national identity and a surrogate battleground between competing nationalisms. Prashant Kidambi’s Cricket Country: An Indian Odyssey in the Age of Empire tells the story of the first all Indian cricket tour of Britain and Ireland and how the idea of India took shape on the cricket field. Emmy-nominated multimedia journalist Wajahat S. Khan h...
Jun 16, 2019•48 min•Season 1Ep. 61
