Ramie Targoff, author of "Renaissance Woman: The Life of Vittoria Colonna", in conversation with Lakshya Datta, recorded live at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2020 on Jan 26. Ramie Targoff’s scholarly area of interest is the English Renaissance with a strong secondary interest in the Italian Renaissance. An award-winning writer, she is the author of three books on Renaissance English literature titled Common Prayer: The Language of Public Devotion, John Donne, Body and Soul and Posthumous Love:...
Jan 26, 2020•14 min•Season 2Ep. 20
David Wallace-Wells, Marcus Moench and Navroz K. Dubash in conversation with Prem Jha. Climate change is no longer impending. We are currently in the throes of a grave environmental, and existential, crisis and frighteningly aware of it. David Wallace-Wells’ latest book, expanded from his viral article in The New York Times , alerts us in unsparing detail to the extent of damage and despair awaiting us, and presses us to imagine more effective ways to negotiate the future. An urgent session that...
Jan 26, 2020•45 min•Season 2Ep. 19
Swapan Dasgupta’s recent book Awakening Bharat Mata: The Political Beliefs of the Indian Right draws on a variety of sources to trace the evolution of right-wing thought in India. Citing a spectrum of thinkers and writers, it identifies the significant threads that constitute an ideology that has increasingly gained traction and dominated vote banks across the nation. A spirited conversation that discusses and debates the history and influences that forged the vortex of Hindu nationalism with Da...
Jan 26, 2020•51 min•Season 2Ep. 18
Jonathan Phillips, author of "The Life and Legend of the Sultan Saladin", in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta, recorded live at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2020 on Jan 25. Jonathan Phillips is Professor of Crusading History at Royal Holloway, University of London. He is the author of numerous books including The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople, Holy Warriors: A Modern History of the Crusades and his latest, The Life and Legend of the Sultan Saladin ( buy it on A...
Jan 26, 2020•11 min•Season 2Ep. 17
How did the Constitution of India, the world’s longest one till date and 70 years old in 2020, come into being? In his forthcoming book, Madhav Khosla, Ambedkar Visiting Associate Professor at Columbia Law School, explores the means India's founders used to foster a democratic ethos. The ideas behind this edifying and meticulous document, which lays the foundations of India as a democratic republic, are a natural reference point for nations, and remind us of the incredible promise that self-rule...
Jan 25, 2020•47 min•Season 2Ep. 16
Rakesh K. Kaul, author of "Dawn: The Warrior Princess of Kashmir", in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta, recorded live at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2020 on Jan 25. Rakesh is an IIT gold medallist, migrated to the US in 1972. He was a founding contributor to the first Chair of India Studies at University of California, Berkeley, the Center for the Advanced Study of India at University of Pennsylvania and the Mattoo Center for India Studies at the State University of New York....
Jan 25, 2020•24 min•Season 2Ep. 15
Geeta Gopalakrishnan is the Founder and Managing Trustee of Ma Foundation. She has channeled years of advertising experience into fundraising for Sadhana School for Special Children and underprivileged children with cancer. All proceeds of her book My Grandmother’s Tweets go towards MA Foundation, which supports desperate mothers with children afflicted by cancer at Tata Medical Centre in Kolkata. In this book, author Geeta Gopalakrishnan presents 109 sayings by the seventh-century saint Avvaiya...
Jan 25, 2020•12 min•Season 2Ep. 14
Harish Bhat, author of "An Extreme Love of Coffee", in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta, recorded live at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2020 on Jan 25. Harish Bhat is an author, columnist and marketer. He works with the Tata Group. His first book, the bestselling Tata Log continues to enthrall readers with stories from the modern history of Tata. His second book, The Curious Marketer, addresses the intriguing topic of curiosity. His latest work is his debut novel, An Extreme Lo...
Jan 25, 2020•15 min•Season 2Ep. 13
A session that searches how to reconcile economic growth with systemic problems of social inequality and environmental unsustainability. Even as millions of young Indians enter the workforce and entrepreneurs strike out in new parts, policymakers face the challenges and responsibilities to create a web of trust that can sustain institutions and processes. A distinguished panel from government, industry and academics seeks answers and solutions on how to build an environment that nurtures a trans...
Jan 25, 2020•44 min•Season 2Ep. 12
A woman’s work is never done. Indian women’s participation in the workforce is decreasing steadily, even as figures rise in the rest of the world. A deep discussion on women and work, with anecdotal insights and perspectives, to analyse current realities and ponder how to understand, respect and revive the role of women in the economic sphere. A panel of women from diverse backgrounds, including an iconic chef, an ex-marine, a social entrepreneur and a rural activist speak to journalist Namita B...
Jan 24, 2020•52 min•Season 2Ep. 11
Writer, politician and public intellectual Shashi Tharoor is the award-winning author of 19 books of fiction and non-fiction. A third-term Member of Parliament, representing Thiruvananthapuram, Dr. Tharoor has served as Minister of State in the Government of India and also as Under-Secretary General of the United Nations. His unerring sense of humour lightens up the serious oeuvre of his work, which includes a powerful indictment of colonialism. His predilection for long words and telling phrase...
Jan 24, 2020•46 min•Season 2Ep. 10
Lisa Ray, author of "Close to the Bone", in conversation with festival director Sanjoy K. Roy. Lisa Ray is one of India’s first supermodels, an actor, a mother of twins through surrogacy and a cancer-survivor. Her memoir is an unflinching and a deeply moving account of her nomadic existence, her mentors, friends, lovers, her healing and spiritual quest. In conversation with Jaipur Literature Festival producer Sanjoy K. Roy, she discusses her riveting life story.
Jan 24, 2020•49 min•Season 2Ep. 9
In this podcast-exclusive, Host Lakshya Datta chats with Ján Tompkins about VRwandlung - an immersive experience, a virtual reality installation adapting Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis by the Goethe Institut. Recorded live at the #ZEEJaipurLitFest2020.
Jan 24, 2020•10 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Actor and model Sonali Bendre Behl decided to rekindle her passion for reading by connecting with other like-minded readers. She established ‘Sonali’s Book Club’, an inspirational space to interact with book lovers from around the globe. Other bibliophiles and friends from the film industry joined in as she battled cancer in New York. An exciting and eclectic set of books come up for live-streamed readings and discussion, providing the community of readers and writers an online platform to inter...
Jan 23, 2020•22 min•Season 2Ep. 7
Ashwin Sanghi, author of The Vault of Vishu (part of the Bharat Series) in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta, recorded live at the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival 2020 at the Diggi Palace on January 23. Ashwin Sanghi ranks among India’s highest selling English fiction authors. He has written the bestsellers, The Rozabal Line, Chanakya’s Chant, The Krishna Key, The Sialkot Saga and Keepers of the Kalachakra as well as two New York Times bestselling crime thrillers with James Patter...
Jan 23, 2020•18 min•Season 2Ep. 6
Polyglot Prasoon Joshi is a poet, lyricist, author, advertising icon, screenwriter and CBFC chairman. In conversation with actor and theatre person Vani Tripathi Tikoo, he speaks of his ideas on culture, cinema and social narratives as well as his abiding love for classical music.
Jan 23, 2020•57 min•Season 2Ep. 5
Filmmaker and author Nandita Das in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta, recorded live at the ZEE Jaipur LIterature Festival 2020 in Diggi Palace on January 23. Nandita has acted in more than 40 feature films in ten different languages. Her directorial debut in 2008 was Firaaq, which won many accolades and appreciation in India and abroad. Manto , Nandita’s second directorial film premiered in 2018 at the Cannes Film Festival and travelled to many other festivals around the world. ...
Jan 23, 2020•19 min•Season 2Ep. 4
Elizabeth Gilbert is the number one New York Times bestselling author of Eat, Pray, Love as well as the short story collection Pilgrims , a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award and winner of the 1999 John C. Zacharis First Book Award from Ploughshares. A Pushcart Prize-winner and National Magazine Award-nominated journalist, she works as writer-at-large for GQ. Her journalism has been published in Harper's Bazaar, Spin and The New York Times Magazine , and her stories have appeared in Esquire, S...
Jan 23, 2020•34 min•Season 2Ep. 3
William Dalrymple, festival co-director of #JaipurLitFest2020 and author of "The Anarchy", in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive, William talks to Lakshya about the year that has been, and why this year's programme is the festival's finest.
Jan 14, 2020•19 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Sanjoy K. Roy, Producer of Jaipur Literature Festival and Managing Director of Teamwork Arts, in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive chat, Sanjoy talks to Lakshya about what you can expect from the festival in its 13th edition and the many ways you can experience it when it returns to the Diggi Palace in Jaipur from January 23 to 27, 2020. Learn more about this year's programme and the speakers at https://jaipurliteraturefestival.org/...
Jan 08, 2020•20 min•Season 2Ep. 1
In the 100th episode (and 2019 season finale) of Jaipur Bytes, host Lakshya Datta speaks with Jaipur Literature Festival co-director Namita Gokhale about her upcoming novel 'Jaipur Journals'. Partly a love letter to the greatest literary show on earth, partly a satire about the glittery set that throngs this literary venue year on year, and partly an ode to the millions of aspiring writers who wander the earth with unsubmitted manuscripts in their bags, ' Jaipur Journals' is a light-footed romp ...
Dec 27, 2019•25 min•Season 1Ep. 100
A sense of belonging is an essential component to the notion of identity. In conversation with Mridula Nath Chakraborty, Roanna Gonsalves and Shameem Black read from their work and discuss the multiplicities of identity in their writings. This episode is a live session from JLF Adelaide 2019.
Dec 17, 2019•44 min•Season 1Ep. 99
Dr. James Onley, Director of Historical Research and Partnerships at the Qatar National Library, in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive, James and Lakshya talk about the 4000+ years long history between India and the Gulf, how the dynamics between the two regions changed after 1947, and the work he and his team at QNL having been doing to archive this rich history. Dr. Onley holds a D.Phil. in History from Oxford and specializes in the Gulf Arab states an...
Dec 11, 2019•26 min•Season 1Ep. 98
In conversation with James Crabtree, writers Peter Verghese, Shashi Tharoor & Tony Birch examine social realities nd the conflicts of today. This episode is a live session from JLF Adelaide 2019.
Dec 04, 2019•44 min•Season 1Ep. 97
Author Intan Paramaditha in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive chat, Intan talks to Lakshya about her academic career, Indonesian films, why she chooses to write in her native language, and how she wrote a choose your own adventure novel. Intan is an Indonesian fiction writer and currently a lecturer in Media and Film Studies at Macquarie University, Sydney. Her first book was the short story collection titled " Apple and Knife" . Her novel The Wandering...
Nov 14, 2019•25 min•Season 1Ep. 96
Frank Dikötter, author of "How to Be a Dictator: The Cult of Personality in the Twentieth Century", in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive chat, Frank talks to Lakshya about his career, The People’s Republic of China, The people of Hong Kong, and dictators. Frank has been Chair Professor of Humanities at the University of Hong Kong since 2006. He is the author of the People's Trilogy, a series of books that document the impact of communism on the lives of...
Nov 07, 2019•24 min•Season 1Ep. 95
Tony Joseph, author of " Early Indians: The Story of Our Ancestors and Where We Came From", in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive, Tony tells Lakshya about the research that went into writing the book, how the modern indian population came to be composed as it is, and what we can learn about ourselves and our current times from our ancestors. Tony has been a journalist, columnist and contributor to leading newspapers and magazines for over three decades....
Nov 01, 2019•27 min•Season 1Ep. 94
Writer and editor Tom Cho in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive chat, Tom talks to Lakshya about his first book, his next book, and where and how he finds the words to fill them. Tom’s debut collection of fiction, titled " Look Who’s Morphing" , was shortlisted for multiple awards, including the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book. He also has over 70 fiction publications in journals. His current project is a novel on the meaning of life. Ori...
Oct 24, 2019•30 min•Season 1Ep. 93
Ryan Stoa, author of " Craft Weed: Family Farming and the Future of the Marijuana Industry”, in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive, Ryan tells Lakshya about what drew him to studying and teaching law, how he found himself writing a book about the cannabis and marijuana industry, how he proposes for quality regulation in the form of Marijuana Appellation System (akin to the wine industry), and what the international possibilities are once regulation evolv...
Oct 11, 2019•28 min•Season 1Ep. 92
André Aciman, author of " Call Me by Your Name " and its upcoming sequel " Find Me ", in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta. In this podcast-exclusive, André and Lakshya talk about why he drawn to writing these characters again, how the success of the film affected his writing process on "Find Me", why he chose to tell this story from three perspectives, while also sharing some great advice on how to write believable characters and emotions. André is a memoirist, essayist and New ...
Sep 28, 2019•40 min•Season 1Ep. 91
