Twinkle Khanna's been writing the Mrs Funnybones column for a decade now and has a collection of columns from over the years compiled into a new book titled 'Mrs Funnybones Returns'. In this episode she's in conversation with The Sunday Times editor Neelam Raaj - who got her to start writing the column and has edited it for a decade. Twinkle talks about how she got started on the column, how it evolved, why women write women and men better, criticism she takes seriously and more....
Nov 25, 2025•27 min
Journalist-columnist Harinder Baweja talks about writing about conflict over four decades, terrorism in Punjab, her multiple trips to Pakistan, exposing Pakistan’s claims on Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and more that are documented in her new book.
Sep 27, 2025•38 min
The Prime Minister has resigned, political leaders were attacked in the streets, the Nepal Army is now in charge. Roman Gautam, editor of magazine Himal Southasian and resident of Kathmandu, explains why 'Gen Z' protests in Nepal erupted, why it brought down a government and what next for Nepal.
Sep 12, 2025•38 min
Poet, lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhtar was recently invited to a Urdu literature festival in Kolkata and then saw the invite withdrawn after Muslim groups objected to his presence, on the grounds that he is an atheist. In this episode, he speaks with Alka Dhupkar about his atheism, why a community can't claim ownership over a language and why he's happy to receive abuse for his views from all religious groups.
Sep 05, 2025•32 min
The preliminary report on the Air India flight’s crash in Ahmedabad has raised more questions instead of answering them. Captain Amit Singh, co-founder of aviation safety think-tank Safety Matters Foundation, explains the problems with the report, what it should have done and what India can do to make its skies safer.
Jul 19, 2025•51 min
There has been a lot of opposition to the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls from opposition parties and there are multiple petitions against it in the Supreme Court. One of the petitioners, Prof Jagdeep Chhokar, co-founder of the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), explains why they have opposed the Election Commission's drive and the many problems they see in this initiative.
Jul 09, 2025•37 min
Author and security analyst Sudeep Chakravarti - a long-time observer of the Maoist rebellion - explains what the Indian state really needs to do to end Maoism completely.
Jun 01, 2025•42 min
Even as the central government plans to conduct a caste census across the country, Karnataka has data on the socio-economic data of backward castes in the states for nearly a decade that it hasn't released fully. Political analyst and author Sugata Srinivasaraju explains the partial release of data and why the state may have inspired caste-based reservations in India in the past, it hasn't done very well with the current survey's data.
May 23, 2025•29 min
Strategic affairs analyst Manoj Joshi decodes the ceasefire between India and Pakistan, how much both sides gained and lost with Operation Sindoor, the role the US played, China's role in the conflict and what it means for the future of ties between the two nations.
May 14, 2025•22 min
Commodore (retd) C Uday Bhaskar, director of think-tank Society for Policy Studies, talks about the significance of Operation Sindoor, what will decide how high tensions go between India and Pakistan and which country will decide if Pakistan escalates things.
May 08, 2025•22 min
A conversation with Amitav Ghosh, after the release of his latest book Wild Fictions, in which he tells us about the turning point for him as a writer and more
Jan 20, 2025•40 min
Suhas Palshikar, co-director of electoral think-tank Lokniti and an eminent political scientist, explains what this Maharashtra electoral verdict means for the future of opposition parties and why the BJP would want to get rid of its allies in the state.
Dec 04, 2024•26 min
Eminent historian and author Ramchandra Guha talks about his latest book 'Speaking with Nature' about individuals who could be called India's first environmentalists, documenting noble failures, and whether environmentalists are destined to be ignored.
Nov 01, 2024•32 min
First, Sanjay Kumar from Lokniti-CSDS talks with Alka Dhupkar about what a Lokniti-MIT SOG survey says about political parties' prospects in the upcoming election. Then, co-director of Lokniti and eminent political scientist Suhas Palshikar explains why this election won't sort out the political chaos in the state. He also explains why this election will be a very high-stakes one for two leaders.
Oct 25, 2024•35 min
The killing of former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique has raised questions about the revival of gang violence in Mumbai. Rashmi Rajput, who writes on crime and investigating agencies for The Economic Times, explains the impact of the killing and how it changes things in a city that had gotten used to not hearing about extortion calls.
Oct 18, 2024•17 min
Journalist Sukanya Shantha was recently thanked by the Supreme Court for her reporting on caste-based labour practices and caste-based segregation in many of India's prisons. She speaks with Alka Dhupkar and Arun George about how caste determines what you do in jails, why these practices still exist and the challenge with ending them.
Oct 11, 2024•29 min
Political scientist Suhas Palshikar explains the issues with the Prime Minister turning up at the Chief Justice's residence for Ganeshotsav. He also explains the problem with judges and government employees talking about links with the RSS and what it means for the RSS to be making statements that seem to target the PM.
Sep 26, 2024•29 min
Shakir Mir, who writes on Jammu and Kashmir for TOI+ and other publications, talks about why this year's assembly elections are so important in the region despite full statehood unlikely to be restored any time soon. He explains why there's so much enthusiasm for this election and which parties are expected to make an impact.
Sep 15, 2024•24 min
Patruni Chidananda Sastry talks to Labanya Maitra about the challenges of being a drag queen and parent and dealing with the hate that comes with publicly acknowledging one's unconventional choices.
Sep 05, 2024•17 min
Bina Paul - one of the founding members of the Women in Cinema Collective - talks about the fallout of the Justice Hema committee report on the Malayalam film industry. She explains why the report matters, why sexual harassment is rampant in the film industry and what needs to be done now to correct things.
Aug 28, 2024•25 min
Supreme Court lawyer Disha Wadekar explains the apex court's latest verdict that deals with the contentious subject of sub-quotas within reservations for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. She also decodes the Supreme Court's handling of reservations over the decades and what's worrying about multiple judgements regarding reservations.
Aug 14, 2024•49 min
Vijayendra Mohanty - better known as Vimoh online - talks about why influencers and content creators are seeking clarity over a proposed law that is reportedly set to limit who can say what on platforms like YouTube and social media.
Aug 02, 2024•19 min
At least 100 people have died due to heatwaves in the country this year. Aditya Pillai, who researches extreme heat-related policies at Sustainable Futures Collaborative, explains why we need to prepare for worse heatwaves in the coming years, the challenges of making plans to deal with heat and what might be the best options before us.
Jun 24, 2024•35 min
Political scientist and chief editor of Studies in Indian Politics, Suhas Palshikar, had explained his and Yogendra Yadav's campaign to have their names removed from re-edited NCERT textbooks. He also explains his concerns with how the textbooks were edited and why parents should also read their kids' textbooks.
Jun 21, 2024•29 min
Dr Arun Gupta from Nutrition Advocacy in Public Interest explains how we need to regulate our packaged food better so that we're not just eating sugar .
Jun 17, 2024•22 min
At least nine people were killed when terrorists attacked a bus filled with pilgrims in Jammu's Raesi district. Shakir Mir - who writes on Jammu and Kashmir - explains the spike in terror attacks in Jammu and what security officials are saying about what they might indicate.
Jun 14, 2024•17 min
Patricia Mukhim, Editor of The Shillong Times, explains why it will be an uphill task to achieve peace in Manipur, a year after clashes broke out in the state.
Jun 12, 2024•20 min
Political scientist Suhas Palshikar talks about the role the allies could play in the functioning of the new government, how Narendra Modi could deal with unfamiliar coalition politics and the impact on upcoming state polls.
Jun 10, 2024•25 min
Senior Fellow at Centre for Policy Research and political scientist Neelanjan Sircar explains why BJP lost what it thought were its strongholds and whether the INDIA coalition had a chance at forming the government.
Jun 07, 2024•40 min
TOI Plus political columnist and author Sugata Srinivasaraju decodes the 2024 poll verdict, Rahul Gandhi's success and the BJP's limited success in southern states despite a concerted push.
Jun 05, 2024•21 min
