This week on Hafta, Newslaundry ’s Manisha Pande, Jayashree Arunachalam, and Shardool Katyayan are joined by Nitin Pai, co-founder and director of The Takshashila Institution, and senior journalist Hridayesh Joshi from Uttarkashi. Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. Download the Newslaundry app . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Aug 09, 2025•14 min
This week on Hafta, Newslaundry ’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande and Raman Kirpal are joined by Udit Misra from The Indian Express and independent journalist Sanjeev Srivastava. Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. Download the Newslaundry app . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Aug 02, 2025•15 min
This week on Hafta, Newslaundry ’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Anand Vardhan, Raman Kirpal, and Jayashree Arunachalam are joined by MK Venu, Founding Editor of The Wire , and award-winning investigative journalist and author Josy Joseph. Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. Download the Newslaundry app . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jul 26, 2025•15 min
This week on Hafta, Newslaundry ’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Anand Vardhan, Raman Kirpal, and Jayashree Arunachalam are joined by MK Venu, Founding Editor of The Wire , and award-winning investigative journalist and author Josy Joseph. The panel begins with a discussion on the recently signed “historic” India-UK free trade agreement. Venu argues that the BJP’s intention behind this FTA is to have a “fresh start” in global trade negotiations: “In the last 11 years of the Modi government, the narrative t...
Jul 26, 2025•1 hr 53 min
This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Raman Kirpal, and Shardool Katyayan are joined by University of Michigan’s Associate Professor Joyojeet Pal and senior journalist Radhika Ramaseshan. Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. Download the Newslaundry app . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jul 19, 2025•14 min
This week on Hafta, Newslaundry ’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Jayashree Arunachalam, Anand Vardhan, and Shardool Katyayan are joined by election analyst and researcher Amitabh Tiwari, along with historian and Newslaundry subscriber Swati Chawla. Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. Download the Newslaundry app . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jul 12, 2025•15 min
This week on Hafta, Newslaundry ’s Manisha Pande, Jayashree Arunachalam and Raman Kirpal are joined by writer and economist Vivek Kaul and environmental journalist Hridayesh Joshi. Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. Download the Newslaundry app . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jul 05, 2025•17 min
This week on Hafta, Newslaundry ’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Jayashree Arunachalam, Raman Kirpal and Anand Vardhan are joined by senior journalist Neerja Chowdhury, The News Minute ’s editor-in-chief Dhanya Rajendran, and Newslaundry reporter Sumedha Mittal. Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. Download the Newslaundry app . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jun 28, 2025•16 min
This week on Hafta, Newslaundry ’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, and Shardool Katyayan are joined by The Hindu ’s diplomatic affairs editor Suhasini Haider, The News Minute ’s Pooja Prasanna, and filmmaker Hansal Mehta. Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. Download the Newslaundry app . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jun 21, 2025•18 min
This week on Hafta, Newslaundry ’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, Manisha Pande, and Jayashree Arunachalam are joined by former Executive Director, Air India, Jitendra Bhargava, and Executive Editor of The Frontier Manipur , Paojel Choaba. Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. Download the Newslaundry app . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jun 14, 2025•18 min
This week on Hafta, Newslaundry ’s Jayashree Arunachalam, Shardool Katyayan and Raman Kirpal are joined by Aditya Ramanathan, geopolitical expert research analyst at The Takshashila Institution. Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. Download the Newslaundry app . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jun 07, 2025•16 min
This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Jayashree Arunachalam, and Raman Kirpal are joined by Washington Post’s Jerusalem Bureau Chief Gerry Shih and journalist and author Jyotsna Mohan. The conversation spans global and domestic developments, with a focus on the Israel-Gaza conflict and the legacy of Indian journalism. Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. Download the Newslaundry app . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informatio...
May 31, 2025•21 min
This week on Hafta, Newslaundry ’s Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Jayashree Arunachalam, Raman Kirpal and Shardool Katyayan are joined by senior journalist and CGNet Swara ’s co-founder Shubhranshu Choudhary. We start with a discussion on the killing of 27 suspected Maoists in Chhattisgarh this week and analyse if the Maoist movement in the state has declined. Shubhranshu says, “We don’t agree with the strategy, but it is hugely successful… This war has been won by the Bastariya...
May 24, 2025•1 hr 49 min
In this special episode of NL Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Raman Kirpal, Anand Vardhan and Jayashree Arunachalam catch up on all the letters – over 45 of them – that we’ve received from subscribers. Hafta letters: India-Pakistan, podcast ideas, team feedback, thoughts on patriotism We have a page for subscribers to send letters to our shows. If you want to write to Hafta, click here . Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. Download the Newslaundry...
May 21, 2025•1 hr 49 min
This week on Hafta, Newslaundry ’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, and Anand Vardhan are joined by The Hindu ’s Dinakar Peri, who covers defense and strategic affairs. The episode opens with a discussion on the India-Pakistan military escalation, focusing on both the media narrative and strategic implications of the recent strikes. Critiquing Indian news media’s coverage of the conflict, Manisha says, “In the middle of operations… the Army… was putting out fact checks, contrary to what these c...
May 17, 2025•1 hr 34 min
This week on Hafta, Newslaundry ’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, Manisha Pande, Jayashree Arunachalam and Shardool Katyayan are joined by retired Brigadier Kuldip Singh. In this tense news week, we begin by dissecting India’s Operation Sindoor and strikes on terror camps in Pakistan on May 7. “Neither side, particularly India, wants a full-scale war,” says Brigadier Singh, referring to past confrontations like the Uri and Balakot strikes. He adds, “This time, the strike is far greater in inte...
May 10, 2025•1 hr 51 min
In a special episode for Press Freedom Day, Newslaundry ’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, Manisha Pande and Jayashree Arunachalam, are joined by historian and author Ramachandra Guha. The panel begins with a discussion on the history of press freedom in India. Ram reflects on the similarities and differences between 1975’s Emergency and today. “The Modi regime has gone farther than Indira’s regime by weaponising agencies in a much more systematic and planned way.” Commenting on the ‘downfall’ ...
May 03, 2025•1 hr 37 min
This week on Hafta, Newslaundry ’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, Manisha Pande, and Anand Vardhan are joined by diplomatic and foreign affairs expert Manoj Joshi. The Pahalgam terror attack was at the centre of the discussion, with the panel exploring various aspects of the incident, including security lapses, recent developments, India’s immediate diplomatic response, its potential long-term impact, and possible future measures India might take to handle the situation. Highlighting the sever...
Apr 26, 2025•1 hr 52 min
This week on Hafta, Newslaundry ’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, Jayashree Arunachalam, and Shardool Katyayan are joined by senior journalist Nirmalya Mukherjee and NewsX editorial director Priya Sahgal. The panel first discusses communal unrest in West Bengal’s Murshidabad, where protests against the Waqf Amendment Act turned violent this week. Nirmalya says, “This is the first time that Bengal is going to face a situation where religion has become a very important issue.” On the West Bengal...
Apr 19, 2025•1 hr 55 min
This week on Hafta, Newslaundry ’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, Manisha Pande, and Shardool Katyayan are joined by S emafor ’s business reporter Rohan Goswami and political consultant and federalism expert Tara Krishnaswamy. On Trump’s flip-flop on tariffs and the escalating trade war with China, Rohan says: “Trump created tremendous panic. He got what he wanted. World leaders are calling and begging him... but a 90-day pause is not enough.” He highlights that, unlike the COVID-19 pandemic a...
Apr 12, 2025•1 hr 56 min
This week on Hafta, Newslaundry ’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, and Manisha Pande are joined by The News Minute ’s Sudipto Mondal and Supreme Court lawyer Talha Abdul Rahman. On the controversial Waqf Amendment Bill, passed in Parliament this week after long fiery debates, Talha says: “Every Waqf that is now created will have to register themselves with the central depository.” He adds that the statute is “a translation of a WhatsApp forward.” Sudipto questions the motivation behind bringing...
Apr 05, 2025•1 hr 39 min
This week on Hafta, Newslaundry ’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, Jayashree Arunachalam, and Anand Vardhan are joined by comedian and screenwriter Anuvab Pal. The panel first discusses the Kunal Kamra controversy. Jayashree lays down the timeline of incidents and Abhinandan highlights the Supreme Court’s comments on free speech in the Imran Pratapgarhi case. Anuvab says: “We [comedians] take very special care of the names we mention, especially if the video is supposed to go up online…I don’t ...
Mar 29, 2025•2 hr 1 min
This week on Hafta, Newslaundry ’s Abhinandan Sekhri and Manisha Pande are joined by The News Minute ’s Dhanya Rajendran and The Wire ’s Seema Chishti. The panel first discusses the recent crackdown on pro-Palestine student protests in US campuses and deportation of two Indian students, Ranjani Srinivasan and Badar Khan Suri. Dhanya says, “Ranjani insisted that she was not a huge part of the protest, but Indian newspapers had already labeled her a Hamas supporter”. As the panel draws parallels b...
Mar 22, 2025•1 hr 53 min
This week on Hafta, Newslaundry ’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Raman Kirpal, Jayashree Arunachalam and Anand Vardhan are joined by writer and podcaster Amit Varma. The panel first discusses pre-Holi communal concerns, including a Sambhal cop saying Muslims should stay inside this Holi if they don’t want to be smeared with colour. Jayashree says communal provocations during Holi have become normal: “We have this delusional idea of Hindus and Muslims holding hands and celebrating Holi. But t...
Mar 15, 2025•1 hr 53 min
This week on Hafta, Newslaundry ’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Raman Kirpal, and Anand Vardhan are joined by Dr Sumeet Mhaskar, professor of sociology at Jindal School of Government and Public Policy, and Ajoy Bose, veteran journalist and author of Behenji: The Rise and Fall of Mayawati. The panel first discusses the controversy triggered by Samajwadi Party legislator Abu Azmi’s remarks on Aurangzeb while addressing the Mughal emperor’s portrayal in the film Chhava . Sumeet provides histor...
Mar 08, 2025•2 hr 7 min
This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, Jayashree Arunachalam, and Shardool Katyayan are joined by Nitin Pai, director of Takshashila Institution, and The News Minute’s Shabbir Ahmed. The panel first discusses the inception and functioning of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – a new department set up by the United States government and headed by tech billionaire Elon Musk. Nitin says the reason behind something like DOGE “is not just efficiency.” “The ide...
Mar 01, 2025•1 hr 59 min
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Feb 24, 2025•55 min
This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Raman Kirpal, Jayashree Arunachalam, and Anand Vardhan are joined by former Chief Election Commissioner Dr SY Quraishi and cartoonist Rachita Taneja. The show starts with a detailed discussion on the controversy surrounding the USAID funds allegedly released to “increase voter turnout in India” and an Indian Express fact-check that found that the said amount was meant for Bangladesh, never India. “The Election Commission is alle...
Feb 22, 2025•1 hr 43 min
This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande and Anand Vardhan are joined by The Caravan ’s Hartosh Singh Bal and Delhi University professor Tanvir Aeijaz. The panel begins the show by discussing Narendra Modi’s meeting with Donald Trump which Manisha terms “a test of statecraft” for Modi. The discussion then moves to the Delhi election result, which saw the BJP returning to power after 27 years. “This is a new BJP. It has gained strength since the 2024 Lok Sabha elections,...
Feb 15, 2025•1 hr 59 min
This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Raman Kirpal and Anand Vardhan are joined by Supreme Court advocate Mihira Sood and journalist Govindraj Ethiraj. The panel discusses the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code in Uttarakhand. Mihira says, “There are many peculiarities of the law, but the strangest is that registration of live-in relationships is more cumbersome than a marriage…The penalty for not registering a marriage is nothing, but the penalty for not regi...
Feb 08, 2025•1 hr 53 min