Our cities have changed -- but the ways in which they are governed and imagined can take time to catch up. Shashi Verma joins Amit Varma in episode 386 of The Seen and the Unseen to describe his journey in thought and action -- and his pioneering work in reshaping urban transport. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN. ) Also check out : 1. Shashi Verma on LinkedIn and Centre for London . 2. Shashi Verma on Transport in the 21st Century -- Episode 83 of Brave New World, hosted by Vasa...
Jun 17, 2024•5 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 386
To understand modern India, we must understand the history of Hindutva -- and we must wrestle with Savarkar. Vinayak Chaturvedi joins Amit Varma in episode 385 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss his life and work as a historian -- and the importance of history in shaping the present moment. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN. ) (This episode was recorded in March, 2024.) Also check out : 1. Vinayak Chaturvedi at UC Irvine and Amazon . 2. Hindutva and Violence: VD Savarkar and th...
Jun 10, 2024•5 hr 39 min•Season 1Ep. 385
He has lived two lives: first he reached the top of the corporate ladder and became a top banker; and now he is embarked upon the long game of changing India. Narayan Ramachandran joins Amit Varma in episode 384 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about stimulating change, building institutions -- and making ideas and serendipity come together. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN. ) Also check out : 1. Narayan Ramachandran at LinkedIn , Takshashila and Mint . 2. Narayan Ramachandran'...
Jun 03, 2024•4 hr 59 min•Season 1Ep. 384
She gave up a corporate career to live a slow life: to travel, to immerse, to write, to learn to see. Arati Kumar-Rao joins Amit Varma in episode 383 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about her writing, her photography and the lessons she has learnt by standing still and looking. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN. ) Also check out : 1. Arati Kumar-Rao on Instagram , Twitter , LinkedIn and her own website . 2. Marginlands: Indian Landscapes on the Brink -- Arati Kumar-Rao. 3. The ...
May 27, 2024•3 hr 25 min•Season 1Ep. 383
He describes himself as a dharmik skeptic, and has written a book about how atheism evolved within Hindu philosophy. Kushal Mehra joins Amit Varma in episode 382 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss his intellectual evolution-- and his journey as a podcaster. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN. ) Also check out : 1. Kushal Mehra on Twitter , Instagram , Facebook and his own website . 2. Nastik: Why I Am Not an Atheist -- Kushal Mehra. 3. The Cārvāka Podcast -- Kushal Mehra's podca...
May 19, 2024•6 hr 30 min•Season 1Ep. 382
He created the iconic Simputer, and has lived a life that married science and its applications. V Vinay joins Amit Varma in episode 381 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about his journey and what it taught him. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN. ) Also check out : 1. V Vinay on Twitter , LinkedIn , IISC and Google Scholar . 2. The UNIX Episode -- Episode 32 of Everything is Everything. 3. Calculus Made Simple -- H Mulholland. 4. India vs West Indies, 1st Test, Bengaluru, Novembe...
May 13, 2024•4 hr 13 min•Season 1Ep. 381
How do women live in India? How do workers live? What impact can economics have in the real world? Sowmya Dhanaraj joins Amit Varma in episode 380 of The Seen and the Unseen to describe her life, her work and the churn in our society. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN. ) Also check out : 1. Sowmya Dhanaraj on LinkedIn , Twitter , Google Scholar , Good Business Lab and her own website . 2. Male Backlash and Female Guilt: Women’s Employment and Intimate Partner Violence in Urban Ind...
May 06, 2024•4 hr 28 min•Season 1Ep. 380
He's one of the great economists of our times, always focussed on the big questions, no matter how hard they are. Lant Pritchett joins Amit Varma in episode 379 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about his life, his work and what he has learnt about the world. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN. ) Also check out: 1. Lant Pritchett on Google Scholar and his own website . 2. Building State Capability: Evidence, Analysis, Action -- Matt Andrews, Lant Pritchett and Michael Woolcock. 3....
Apr 29, 2024•4 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 379
He is an economist with the soul of a poet. He has studied number theory and is an expert on policy. He has studied Urdu and and dreams in shairi. Rohit Lamba joins Amit Varma in episode 378 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss economics, politics, society and our human condition. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN. ) Also check out : 1. Rohit Lamba links at Penn State , LinkedIn , Twitter , Google Scholar , YouTube and his own website . 2. Breaking the Mould: Reimagining India's ...
Apr 22, 2024•7 hr 31 min•Season 1Ep. 378
As a journalist, she always went deep. As an author, she has peeled off layers of Bengaluru -- and Indian society. Malini Goyal joins Amit Varma in episode 377 of The Seen and the Unseen to share her insights -- and the values that shape her work. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN. ) Also check out : 1. Malini Goyal at Twitter , LinkedIn , Instagram and Economic Times . 2. Unboxing Bengaluru: The City of New Beginnings -- Malini Goyal and Prashanth Prakash. 3. Unboxing Bengaluru -...
Apr 15, 2024•4 hr 55 min•Season 1Ep. 377
When he travels, he's a man of reflection. When he creates, he's a man of action. Utsav Mamoria joins Amit Varma in episode 376 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about his philosophy towards travel, creating and living. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN. ) Also check out 1. Utsav Mamoria on Twitter , LinkedIn and Instagram . 2. Postcards From Nowhere -- Utsav Mamoria's podcast. 3. The 6% Club .. 4. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen on the creator ecosystem with Roshan Abbas , V...
Apr 08, 2024•4 hr 17 min•Season 1Ep. 376
To reform India, you must reform the Indian state. Karthik Muralidharan joins Amit Varma in episode 375 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about his much-awaited new book that has finally released -- and the chapters on it that deal with our bureaucracy. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN. ) Also check out : 1. Karthik Muralidharan on Twitter , LinkedIn , Google Scholar , UCSD and CEGIS . 2. Accelerating India's Development -- Karthik Muralidharan. 3. Fixing Indian Education — Epis...
Apr 01, 2024•5 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 375
Economics and public policy touch all our lives, and have humanitarian consequences. But isn't it damn boring? No! Khyati Pathak, Anupam Manur and Pranay Kotasthane join Amit Varma in episode 374 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk policy and comics -- and how they came together in their book, We the Citizens. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN. ) I strongly recommend that you check out the courses and the output of the Takshashila Institution . What they do is nothing less than a g...
Mar 25, 2024•4 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 374
He's an entrepreneur who thinks deeply about the world, and some of his ideas could make your brain explode. Deepak VS joins Amit Varma in episode 373 of The Seen and the Unseen to share his thoughts on entrepreneurship, education, morality, life and the old hag who sits on your chest. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN. ) Also check out : 1. Deepak VS at Twitter , LinkedIn and his own website . 2. Tilt . 3. Everything flows: Looking back on six years of Tilt -- Deepak VS. 4. Deepa...
Mar 18, 2024•4 hr 47 min•Season 1Ep. 373
She's a comic-strip artist, a playwright, a science fiction author -- a creator who doesn't fit into any box. Manjula Padmanabhan joins Amit Varma in episode 372 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about her life and learnings. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN. ) Also check out : 1. Manjula Padmanabhan on. Amazon , Wikipedia , Instagram , Substack and her own website . 2. Getting There -- Manjula Padmanabhan. 3. Harvest -- Manula Padmanabhan. 4. Escape -- Manjula Padmanabhan. 5. T...
Mar 11, 2024•6 hr 42 min•Season 1Ep. 372
His latest book looks back at a friendship -- and at a world gone by. Ramachandra Guha joins Amit Varma in episode 371 of The Seen and the Unseen to shoot the breeze and share some memories. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN. ) Also check out : 1. Ramachandra Guha on Amazon , Twitter and his own website . 2. The Cooking of Books: A Literary Memoir -- Ramachandra Guha. 3. Ram Guha Reflects on His Life -- Episode 266 of The Seen and the Unseen. 4. A Cricket Tragic Celebrates the Gam...
Mar 04, 2024•2 hr•Season 1Ep. 371
So what if he is an academic? He is also an an original thinker with deep insights about education, elections, colonisation, politics, history, society. Yugank Goyal joins Amit Varma in episode 370 of The Seen and the Unseen to throw thought-bomb after thought-bomb at all of us. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN. ) Also check out : 1. Yugank Goyal on Twitter , LinkedIn , EPW , Flame University and Google Scholar . 2. Who Moved My Vote? -- Yugank Goyal and Arun Kumar Kaushik. 3. Do...
Feb 26, 2024•5 hr 34 min•Season 1Ep. 370
She's a writer. She's a translator. She's as old as this Republic, and she knows it well. Ira Pande joins Amit Varma in episode 369 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about her life and her learnings. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN. ) Also check out : 1. Ira Pande on Amazon , Goodreads and The Tribune .. 2. Diddi: My Mother's Voice -- Ira Pande. 3. Amader Shantiniketan -- Shivani (translated by Ira Pande). 4. Dhano Dhanne — Jaya Varma and the Chandigarh Choir. 5. Pitch Perfect ...
Feb 19, 2024•3 hr 11 min•Season 1Ep. 369
He's a master of the longform conversation, a connoisseur of the past, a man steeped in culture. Syed Mohd Irfan joins Amit Varma in episode 368 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss his life, his times, his learnings -- and Guftagoo! (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN. ) Also check out : 1. Syed Mohd Irfan on Twitter , Instagram , Facebook , LinkedIn and YouTube . 2. Guftagoo with Irfan . 3. Guftagoo at Sansad TV . 4. Guftagoo at Rekhta . 5. Interviewing as a tool of archiving of ...
Feb 12, 2024•5 hr 32 min•Season 1Ep. 368
Delhi has had a mad history -- and that history has shaped our culture, our art, our languages, our society. Swapna Liddle joins Amit Varma in episode 367 of The Seen and the Unseen to take us on a walk through space and time. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN. ) Also check out: 1. Swapna Liddle on Facebook , Instagram , Wikipedia and Amazon .. 2. The Broken Script -- Swapna Liddle. 3. Chandni Chowk: The Mughal City of Old Delhi -- Swapna Liddle. 4. 14 Historic Walks of Delhi -- S...
Feb 05, 2024•4 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 367
He's been an important force in shaping legal policy over the last decade. He's written an essential book on our constitution. He's worked closely with government -- but done so with a sense of public purpose. Arghya Sengupta joins Amit Varma in episode 366 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about his life, his work and his learnings. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN. ) Also check out 1. Arghya Sengupta on Twitter , LinkedIn , Times of India and Vidhi Center for Legal Policy . 2....
Jan 29, 2024•4 hr 43 min•Season 1Ep. 366
You could think of her as someone who tries to preserve a fading world -- or to chronicle a changing one. Rakhshanda Jalil joins Amit Varma in episode 365 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about literature, language and loss. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN. ) Also check out : 1. Rakhshanda Jalil on Twitter , Wikipedia , The Wire , Scroll and Amazon . 2. But You Don't Look Like a Muslim -- Rakhshanda Jalil. 3. Invisible City: The Hidden Monuments of Delhi -- Rakhshanda Jalil. 4...
Jan 22, 2024•4 hr 22 min•Season 1Ep. 365
Writing helps you find yourself, and shape yourself. Nothing illustrates this better than the life & work of our guest today. Amitava Kumar joins Amit Varma in episode 364 of The Seen and the Unseen to continue his journaling in the form of this conversation. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN. ) Also check out : 1. Amitava Kumar on Instagram , Substack , Twitter , Amazon , Vassar and his own website .. 2. The Yellow Book: A Traveller's Diary -- Amitava Kumar. 3. The Blue Book: A W...
Jan 15, 2024•3 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 364
He's a poet, art critic, curator, translator, cultural theorist -- and someone who helps make sense of our world. Ranjit Hoskote joins Amit Varma in episode 363 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about his life, his times and his work. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN. ) Also check out : 1. Ranjit Hoskote on Twitter , Instagram and Amazon . 2. Jonahwhale -- Ranjit Hoskote. 3. Hunchprose -- Ranjit Hoskote. 4. I, Lalla: The Poems of Lal Dĕd -- Translated by Ranjit Hoskote. 5. Poet'...
Jan 08, 2024•4 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 363
What is the difference between ch*tiya and dusht? Why are vegetarians evil? Why do Indians do the best bench pressing? Krish Ashok and Naren Shenoy join Amit Varma in episode 362 of The Seen and the Unseen for the most fun conversation ever. Really, ever. We got it certified. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN. ) Also check out : 1. Krish Ashok on Twitter , Instagram , YouTube , his own website and Spotify / Apple Music / Soundcloud . 2. Naren Shenoy on Twitter , Instagram and Blog...
Jan 01, 2024•6 hr 24 min•Season 1Ep. 362
Cities are that miraculous technology that bring people together to make us all better, richer, happier. But bad planning, or even too much planning, can turn them into hellholes. Pritika Hingorani joins Amit Varma in episode 361 of The Seen and the Unseen to share her insights on how we should think about cities, how governments do policy, and what economics can bring to urban planning. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN. ) Also check out : 1. Pritika Hingorani at Artha Global and...
Dec 25, 2023•4 hr 40 min•Season 1Ep. 361
The world is changing fast. Technology can be used to empower us -- and also to hack our brains & our lives. What laws do we need to protect our freedoms? Rahul Matthan joins Amit Varma in episode 360 of The Seen and the Unseen to share his work on privacy -- and on a new, subtle approach towards data governance. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN. ) Also check out : 1. Rahul Matthan on Twitter , Instagram , LinkedIn , Trilegal , Substack and his own website . 2. Privacy 3.0: Unloc...
Dec 18, 2023•5 hr 11 min•Season 1Ep. 360
He is a writer, an actor, a poet, a storyteller, an anti-storyteller -- and he cares about both the world outside and the one inside. Danish Husain joins Amit Varma in episode 359 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. Danish Husain on Twitter , Instagram , Facebook , Wikipedia and IMDb . 2. TheHoshrubaRepertory , Qisse baazi and Poetrification . 3. Danish Husain interviewed by Irfan for Jashn-e-Rek...
Dec 11, 2023•6 hr 18 min•Season 1Ep. 359
Semiconductors power much of modern technology -- and thus, our lives and our politics. Pranay Kotasthane and Abhiram Manchi join Amit Varma in episode 358 of The Seen and the Unseen to shed light on how so much geopolitics today centres around chips -- and why its such a big deal. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN. ) Also check out 1. Pranay Kotasthane on Twitter , LinkedIn , Amazon and the Takshashila Institution . 2. Abhiram Manchi on Twitter , LinkedIn , Instagram and the Taks...
Dec 04, 2023•3 hr 24 min•Season 1Ep. 358
She's covered US-India relations as a foreign correspondent for more than 30 years -- and now she's told that momentous story in a book. Seema Sirohi joins Amit Varma in episode 357 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about her life as a journalist -- and the love-hate relationship between countries that she saw at close quarters. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN. ) Also check out 1. Seema Sirohi on Twitter , Economic Times , India Today and Amazon . 2. Friends with Benefits: The ...
Nov 27, 2023•4 hr 41 min•Season 1Ep. 357
