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Amit Varma

The Seen and the Unseen, hosted by Amit Varma, features longform conversations that aim to give deep insights into the subjects being discussed. Timeless and bingeworthy.

The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma

He's been working in AI since the late 1970s, and started a pioneering machine learning hedge fund in the 1990s. Now he's a professor, a podcaster, a Substacker, a yoda -- and has just written a cracking book on the subject. Vasant Dhar joins Amit Varma in episode 432 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss the life and times of AI through the life and times of Vasant Dhar.
 
 (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.)
 
 Also check out:
 1. Vasant Dhar on Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Scholar and NYU Stern.
 2. Thinking With Machines: The Brave New World of AI -- Vasant Dhar.
 3. Brave New World -- Vasant Dhar's podcast.
 4. Vasant Dhar's Brave New World on Substack.
 5. Brave New World — Episode 203 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vasant Dhar).
 6. Brave New World -- Aldous Huxley.
 7. Death of a Salesman -- Arthur Miller.
 8. Aldous Huxley interviewed by Mike Wallace.
 9. Anil Seth On The Science of Consciousness – Episode 94 of Brave New World.
 10. How the Mind Works -- Steven Pinker.
 11. Anthony Zador on How our Brains Work — Episode 35 of Brave New World.
 12. The Naked Sun -- Isaac Asimov.
 13. Human and Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare — Episode 4 of Brave New World (w Eric Topol).
 14. Daniel Kahneman on How Noise Hampers Judgement — Episode 21 of Brave New World.
 15. The Nature of Intelligence — Episode 7 of Brave New World (w Yann LeCun).
 16. Philip Tetlock on the Art of Forecasting — Episode 31 of Brave New World.
 17. Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction — Philip Tetlock and Dan Gardner.
 18. "When you control the mail..." -- Clip from Seinfeld.
 19. The Future of Liberal Education — Episode 11 of Brave New World (w Michael S Roth).
 20. The Surface Area of Serendipity -- Episode 39 of Everything is Everything.
 21. When Should We Trust Machines? -- Vasant Dhar's TEDx talk from 2018.
 22. From Strength to Strength -- Arthur Brooks.
 23. The Innovator's Dilemma -- Clayton Christensen.
 24. Raghu Sundaram on Building a Great University -- Episode 88 of Brave New World.
 25. Power and Prediction -- Ajay Agrawal, Joshua Gans and Avi Goldfarb.
 26. The Paperclip Maximiser.
 27. The Wealth of Nations -- Adam Smith.
 28. The Theory of Moral Sentiments -- Adam Smith.
 29. Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister — Jonathan Lynn and Antony Jay.
 30. Aswath Damodaran on Investing — Episode 33 of Brave New World.
 31. The Damodaran Bot.
 32. Dmitry Rinberg on the Mysteries of Smell — Episode 62 of Brave New World.
 33. Alex Wiltschko on the Sense of Smell — Episode 81 of Brave New World.
 34. Sandeep Robert Datta on Smell and the Brain -- Episode 90 of Brave New World.
 35. Alex Wiltschko on Digitizing Scent -- Episode 97 of Brave New World.
 36. A Billion Wicked Thoughts -- Ogi Ogas and Sai Gaddam.
 37. Being You: A New Science of Consciousness -- Anil Seth.
 38. Noise -- Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony and Cass Sunstein.
 39. Thinking, Fast and Slow -- Daniel Kahneman.
 
 This episode is sponsored by CTQ Compounds. Check out The Daily Reader and FutureStack. Use the code UNSEEN for Rs 2500 off.
 
 Amit Varma runs a course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here.
 
 Amit and Ajay Shah also bring out a weekly YouTube show, Everything is Everything. Have you watched it yet? You must!
 
 And have you read Amit's newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It's free!
 
 Also check out Amit's online course, The Art of Clear Writing.
 
 Episode art: 'The Mage' by Simahina.

Ep 432: Vasant Dhar's Lifetime in Artificial Intelligence

Our Hindi Heartland has more people than the USA and Western Europe combined -- and is arguably more diverse. Ghazala Wahab joins Amit Varma in episode 431 of The Seen and the Unseen to describe her research into those states -- and much else, including being an outspoken Muslim woman in India, and the future of warfare. 
 
 (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.)
 
 Also check out:
 1. Ghazala Wahab on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Amazon, the Wire and Force.
 2. The Hindi Heartland -- Ghazala Wahab.
 3. Born a Muslim: Some Truths About Islam in India — Ghazala Wahab.
 4. Dragon On Our Doorstep — Pravin Sawhney and Ghazala Wahab.
 5. The Peacemakers -- Edited by Ghazala Wahab.
 6. Force — The magazine edited by Ghazala Wahab.
 7. Being Muslim in India — Episode 216 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ghazala Wahab).
 8. The Future of War -- Episode 112 of Everything is Everything.
 9. A Deep Dive Into the Indian Military -- Episode 31 of Everything is Everything.
 10. A Deep Dive Into Ukraine vs Russia — Episode 335 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah).
 11. The State of the Ukraine War — Episode 14 of Everything is Everything.
 12. The Innovator's Dilemma -- Clayton Christensen.
 13. Tanhaiyaan and Parchaiyan.
 14. What Just Happened Between India & Pakistan? -- Episode 418 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pranay Kotasthane & Aditya Ramanathan).
 15. The Age of Hybrid Warfare -- Episode 84 of Everything is Everything.
 16. The Broken Script — Swapna Liddle.
 17. Swapna Liddle and the Many Shades of Delhi — Episode 367 of The Seen and the Unseen.
 18. The Refreshing Audacity of Vinay Singhal — Episode 291 of The Seen and the Unseen.
 19. Stage.in.
 20. Gods, Guns and Missionaries: The Making of the Modern Hindu Identity — Manu Pillai.
 21. The Forces That Shaped Hinduism — Episode 405 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Manu Pillai).
 22. Early Indians: The Story of Our Ancestors and Where We Came From — Tony Joseph.
 23. Early Indians — Episode 112 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Tony Joseph).
 24. Who We Are and How We Got Here — David Reich.
 25. Caste, Capitalism and Chandra Bhan Prasad — Episode 296 of The Seen and the Unseen.
 26. How the BJP Wins — Prashant Jha.
 27. The BJP's Magic Formula — Episode 45 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Prashant Jha).
 28. We Are All Amits From Africa — Episode 343 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Krish Ashok and Naren Shenoy).
 29. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen that touched on women's participation in the labour market with Namita Bhandare, Shrayana Bhattacharya and Ashwini Deshpande.
 30. Another India -- Pratinav Anil.
 31. Influence of Islam on Indian Culture -- Tara Chand.
 32. Political Economy of Colonial and Post-Colonial India -- Aditya Mukherjee.
 33. The Identity Project -- Rahul Bhatia.
 34. Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa -- Kundan Shah.
 35. Ahmad Faraz on Wikipedia and Rekhta.
 36. Pretty Woman -- Garry Marshall.
 37. Harry Potter : The Complete Collection -- JK Rowling.
 38. Home Fire -- Kamila Shamsie.
 39. Yeh Hawa Yeh Raat Yeh Chandni -- Song from Sangdil.
 40. Madhumati -- Salil Chowdhury.
 41. Andaz -- Naushad.
 42. Amar -- Naushad.
 43. Elvis Presley and Perry Como on Spotify.
 44. Na To Karvan Ki Talash Hai -- Song from Barsaat ki Raat.
 
 This episode is sponsored by CTQ Compounds. Check out The Daily Reader and FutureStack. Use the code UNSEEN for Rs 2500 off.
 
 Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here.
 
 Amit and Ajay also bring out a weekly YouTube show, Everything is Everything. Have you watched it yet? You must!
 
 And have you read Amit's newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It's free!
 
 Also check out Amit's online course, The Art of Clear Writing.
 
 Episode art: 'Heartland' by Simahina.

Ep 431: Ghazala Wahab and the Hindi Heartland

When it comes to Hindustani music, he is both a doer and a thinker. A great tabla player, he has written books about the history and theory of music. Aneesh Pradhan joins Amit Varma in episode 430 of The Seen and the Unseen to chat about his life, his music and this world we inhabit.
 
 (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.)
 
 Also check out:
 1. Aneesh Pradhan on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Scroll, Amazon, Spotify and his own website.
 2. Chasing the Raag Dream: A Look into the World of Hindustani Music -- Aneesh Pradhan.
 3. Hindustani Music in Colonial Bombay -- Aneesh Pradhan.
 4. Tabla: A Performer's Perspective -- Aneesh Pradhan.
 5. The Life and Music of Shubha Mudgal -- Episode 426 of The Seen and the Unseen.
 6. The Light in Winter -- Episode 97 of Everything is Everything.
 7. From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life -- Arthur Brooks.
 8. The Heckman Equation — a website based on James Heckman's work.
 9. The Instagram reel about The Godfather.
 10, The interview with Vasant Pradhan.
 11. Dehachi Tijori -- Sudhir Phadke.
 12. Chal Chal Chal Mere Saathi -- Song from Haathi Mere Saathi.
 13. Categories of Music -- Ashok D Ranade.
 14. Nationalism Is Bad for the Nation -- Episode 122 of Everything is Everything.
 15. The Populist Playbook -- Episode 42 of Everything is Everything.
 16. Tawaif — Episode 174 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Saba Dewan).
 17. The Refreshing Audacity of Vinay Singhal — Episode 291 of The Seen and the Unseen.
 18. Stage.in.
 19. How Music Works — David Byrne.
 20. The Changing Forms of Creativity -- Episode 72 of Everything is Everything.
 21. Em and the Big Hoom — Jerry Pinto.
 22. The Life and Times of Jerry Pinto — Episode 314 of The Seen and the Unseen.
 23. The War Against Cliche — Martin Amis.
 24. Bridge of Dreams -- Various artists.
 25. Out of the Shruti Box -- Anuja K's YouTube channel.
 26. Malini Goyal is the Curious One — Episode 377 of The Seen and the Unseen.
 27. The Disciple — Chaitanya Tamhane.
 28. Niranjan Rajadhyaksha Is the Impartial Spectator — Episode 388 of The Seen and the Unseen.
 29. Why Hindustani Musicians are Good Cooks: Analogies between Music and Food in North India -- Adrian McNeil.
 30. Sangeet Kosh.
 31. Begum Akhtar, Siddheshwari Devi, Kesarbai Kerkar, Faiyaz Khan, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Amir Khan, Sharadchandra Arolkar, Ahmed Jan Thirakwa, Amir Hussain Khan, Alla Rakha, Kishan Maharaj, Samta Prasad, Zakir Hussain, Anindo Chatterjee, Swapan Chaudhuri, Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis on Spotify.
 32. Music Contexts: A Concise Dictionary of Hindustani Music -- Ashok D Ranade.
 
 Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here.
 
 Amit and Ajay also bring out a weekly YouTube show, Everything is Everything. Have you watched it yet? You must!
 
 And have you read Amit's newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It's free!
 
 Also check out Amit's online course, The Art of Clear Writing.
 
 Episode art: 'Play' by Simahina.

Ep 430: Aneesh Pradhan: A Life in Hindustani Music

He wrote the definitive history of Indian wrestling. His longform reportage has taken him into strange territories. He embedded himself with the Delhi police and has now come out with his first crime novel. Rudraneil Sengupta joins Amit Varma in episode 429 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about he throws himself into both his life and his work.
 
 (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.)
 
 Also check out:
 1. Rudraneil Sengupta on Instagram, Twitter, Mint and Amazon.
 2. The Beast Within -- Rudraneil Sengupta.
 3. Enter the Dangal -- Rudraneil Sengupta.
 4. The Girl From Haryana -- Amit Varma's feature story on Sakshi Malik (2016).
 5. Aadha Gaon — Rahi Masoom Raza.
 6. Amitava Kumar Finds the Breath of Life — Episode 265 of The Seen and the Unseen.
 7. From Cairo to Delhi With Max Rodenbeck — Episode 281 of The Seen and the Unseen.
 8. Kind of Blue -- Miles Davis.
 9. Wall-E -- Andrew Stanton.
 10. The Complete Adventures of Feluda (Volume 1) (Volume 2) -- Satyajit Ray.
 11. The Adventures Of Kakababu -- Sunil Gangopadhyay.
 12. More Adventures Of Kakababu -- Sunil Gangopadhyay.
 13. Sandesh.
 14. Paar -- Goutam Ghose.
 15. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? -- Philip K Dick.
 16. Philip K Dick and Ursula K Le Guin on Amazon.
 17. Sandman -- Neil Gaimon.
 18. Persepolis -- Marjane Satrapi.
 19. The Buddha -- Osamu Tezuka.
 20. The Solitary Writer Meets the Impossible Man -- Episode 428 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Narayani Basu).
 21. A Man For All Seasons: The Life Of KM Panikkar — Narayani Basu.
 22. Understanding India Through Its Languages — Episode 232 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Peggy Mohan).
 23. Wanderers, Kings, Merchants: The Story of India through Its Languages — Peggy Mohan.
 24. Frank Zappa, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Muddy Waters and Django Reinhardt on Spotify.
 25. Satyaki Banerjee and Paban Das Baul on Spotify.
 26. The Indianness of Indian Food — Episode 95 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vikram Doctor).
 27. The Refreshing Audacity of Vinay Singhal — Episode 291 of The Seen and the Unseen.
 28. Stage.in.
 29. Tom Waits, Mark Strand and Mary Oliver.
 30. The Golden Age of Murder -- Martin Edwards.
 31. Roseanna -- Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö.
 32. Ian Rankin (of Inspector Rebus fame) on Amazon.
 33. Six Four -- Hideo Yokoyama.
 34. Raag Darbari -- Shrilal Shukla (translated by Gillian Wright).
 35. Saans -- Neena Gupta.
 36. Anne Tyler on Amazon.
 37. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas -- Hunter S Thompson.
 38. The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved -- Hunter S Thompson.
 39. The Life and Times of Gurcharan Das -- Episode 425 of The Seen and the Unseen.
 40. Meet Suyash Dixit, the man who would be king -- Rudraneil Sengupta.
 41. The Autopsy Report -- Rudraneil Sengupta.
 42. Court -- Chaitanya Tamhane.
 43. The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind -- Gustave Le Bon.
 44. Invisible Man -- Ralph Ellison.
 45. The Is-Ought Problem and the Naturalistic Fallacy.
 46. V for Vendetta -- Alan Moore and David Lloyd.
 47. Murder in Mahim -- Jerry Pinto.
 48. The Life and Times of Jerry Pinto — Episode 314 of The Seen and the Unseen.
 49. Hayao Miyazaki, Satyajit Ray and Martin Beck.
 50. Disgrace -- JM Coetzee.
 51. Moby Dick -- Herman Melville.
 52. Julian Lage and Bill Frisell on Spotify.
 
 This episode is sponsored by CTQ Compounds. Check out The Daily Reader and FutureStack. Use the code UNSEEN for Rs 2500 off.
 
 Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here.
 
 Amit and Ajay also bring out a weekly YouTube show, Everything is Everything. Have you watched it yet? You must!
 
 And have you read Amit's newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It's free!
 
 Also check out Amit's online course, The Art of Clear Writing.
 
 Episode art: 'Delhi' by Simahina.

Ep 429: Rudraneil Sengupta is Embedded

Writing biographies is solitary and difficult -- even when the subject is way more interesting than anything you could make up. Narayani Basu joins Amit Varma in episode 428 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss writing, friendship, hustling, ageing, intentionality and the subject of her latest book, the impossible KM Panikkar.
 
 (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.)
 
 Also check out:
 1. Narayani Basu on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Amazon.
 2. A Man For All Seasons: The Life Of KM Panikkar -- Narayani Basu.
 3. VP Menon: The Unsung Architect of Modern India -- Narayani Basu.
 4. Allegiance: Azaadi and the End of Empire -- Narayani Basu.
 5. India's Greatest Civil Servant — Episode 167 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Narayani Basu).
 6. Kavitha Rao Chases Chatto and Roy -- Episode 416 of The Seen and the Unseen.
 7. When Harry Met Sally -- Rob Reiner.
 8. Can men and women be just friends? — The Economist.
 9. Malini Goyal is the Curious One — Ep 377 of The Seen and the Unseen.
 10. Unboxing Bengaluru — Malini Goyal & Prashanth Prakash.
 11. Finding Love in Modern India — Ep 401 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Sanjana Ramachandran and Samarth Bansal).
 12. Inside the Hearts of Men and Women -- Episode 118 of Everything is Everything.
 13. Heart Tantrums: A Feminist's Memoir of Misogyny and Marriage -- Aisha Sarwari.
 14. The Life and Times of Gurcharan Das -- Episode 425 of The Seen and the Unseen.
 15. Ambassador -- Narayani Basu on CB Muthamma.
 16. Five Epic Stories That Must Be Films -- Episode 29 of Everything is Everything.
 17. The Cripps Version: The Life of Sir Stafford Cripps 1889-1952 -- Peter Clarke.
 18. Lady Doctors : The Untold Stories Of India's First Women In Medicine — Kavitha Rao.
 19. Kavitha Rao and Our Lady Doctors — Episode 235 of The Seen and the Unseen.
 20. The Heckman Equation — a website based on James Heckman's work.
 21. The Ferment of Our Founders — Episode 272 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Kapila).
 22. Gods, Guns and Missionaries: The Making of the Modern Hindu Identity — Manu Pillai.
 23. The Forces That Shaped Hinduism -- Episode 405 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Manu Pillai).
 24. The First Assault on Our Constitution — Episode 194 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Tripurdaman Singh).
 25. The Surface Area of Serendipity -- Episode 39 of Everything is Everything.
 26. Understanding India Through Its Languages — Episode 232 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Peggy Mohan).
 27. Wanderers, Kings, Merchants: The Story of India through Its Languages — Peggy Mohan.
 28. Impossible Germany — Wilco.
 29. Coolie No 1 -- David Dhawan.
 30. Anne de Courcy, Sonia Purnell and Ben Macintyre on Amazon.
 31. Clementine: The Life of Mrs. Winston Churchill -- Sonia Purnell.
 32. A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of Virginia Hall, WWII's Most Dangerous Spy -- Sonia Purnell.
 33. Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, Bookish and Department Q.
 
 Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here.
 
 Amit and Ajay also bring out a weekly YouTube show, Everything is Everything. Have you watched it yet? You must!
 
 And have you read Amit's newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It's free!
 
 Also check out Amit's online course, The Art of Clear Writing.
 
 Episode art: 'Solitary and Impossible' by Simahina.

Ep 428: The Solitary Writer Meets the Impossible Man

Cricket isn't just what happens across 22 yards, and great cricket writers always go beyond the boundary. Vijay Lokapally joins Amit Varma in episode 427 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss the joys and heartbreaks of a lifetime of writing about cricket -- and much else.
 
 (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.)
 
 Also check out:
 1. Vijay Lokapally on Amazon, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Wikipedia, The Hindu and Sportstar.
 2. Pen, Paper and Podcast -- Vijay Lokapally's podcast.
 3. The Virender Sehwag Story -- Vijay Lokapally.
 4. The Hitman: The Rohit Sharma Story -- Vijay Lokapally.
 5. Driven: The Virat Kohli Story -- Vijay Lokapally.
 6. Speed Merchants: The Story of Indian Pace Bowling 1886 to 2019 -- Gulu Ezekiel and Vijay Lokapally.
 7. Net Flicks: India's Smashing Affair with the Shuttle -- Akshay Lokapally and Vijay Lokapally.
 8. Housefull:The Golden Years Of Hindi Cinema -- Edited by Ziya Us Salam, with writing by Vijay Lokapally.
 9. Vijay Lokapally's episodes on 81 All Out: 1, 2.
 10. India vs Australia, 3rd Test at Delhi, Nov 28, 1969.
 11. Bishan Singh Bedi's letter to Vijay Lokapally.
 12. The Evolution of Cricket — Episode 97 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Harsha Bhogle).
 13. Hatari -- Howard Hawks.
 14. Roger Federer's commencement address at Dartmouth, 2024.
 15. Pundits from Pakistan -- Rahul Bhattacharya.
 16. The Fire Burns Blue: A History of Women's Cricket in India -- Sidhanta Patnaik and Karunya Keshav.
 17. Triumph in Bombay: Travels during the Cricket World Cup -- Vaibhav Vats.
 18. Wrist Assured -- Gundappa Vishwanath with R Kaushik.
 19. Apradh -- Feroz Khan.
 20. Kaagaz Ke Phool -- Guru Dutt.
 21. Anand -- Hrishikesh Mukherjee.
 22. Kala Bazar -- Vijay Anand.
 23. Mackenna's Gold -- J Lee Thompson.
 24. The Magnificent Seven -- Antoine Fuqua.
 25. The Ten Commandments -- Cecil B DeMille. 26. Ben Hur -- William Wyler. 27. Safar -- Asit Sen.
 28. Teesri Kasam -- Basu Bhattacharya.
 29. Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi -- Satyam Bose.
 
 This episode is sponsored by CTQ Compounds. Check out The Daily Reader and FutureStack. Use the code UNSEEN for Rs 2500 off.
 
 Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here.
 
 Amit and Ajay also bring out a weekly YouTube show, Everything is Everything. Have you watched it yet? You must!
 
 And have you read Amit's newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It's free!
 
 Also check out Amit's online course, The Art of Clear Writing.
 
 Episode art: 'The Boy in the Stands' by Simahina.

Ep 427: The Boy Who Loved Cricket -- The Vijay Lokapally Story

She's straddled the worlds of Hindustani classical and popular music, and is a legend in both spaces. Shubha Mudgal joins Amit Varma in episode 426 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss her life, her music and this changing world.
 
 (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.)
 
 Also check out:
 1. Shubha Mudgal on Spotify, Instagram, Twitter, Wikipedia and her own website.
 2. Looking for Miss Sargam: Stories of Music and Misadventure -- Shubha Mudgal.
 3. Kavitha Rao and Our Lady Doctors — Episode 235 of The Seen and the Unseen.
 4. Lady Doctors : The Untold Stories Of India's First Women In Medicine — Kavitha Rao.
 5. The Heckman Equation — a website based on James Heckman's work.
 6. The Disciple — Chaitanya Tamhane.
 7. A Chess Story (previously published as The Royal Game) — Stefan Zweig.
 8. The Light in Winter -- Episode 97 of Everything is Everything.
 9. The Köln Concert (YouTube, Spotify) -- Keith Jarrett.
 10. Danish Husain and the Multiverse of Culture — Episode 359 of The Seen and the Unseen.
 11. Aneesh Pradhan on Scroll, Amazon, Instagram, Twitter and his own website.
 12. Stories in a Song -- Sunil Shanbag, Shubha Mudgal and Aneesh Pradhan.
 13. Nothing Without You/Tery Bina -- Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.
 14. How Music Works -- David Byrne.
 15. Acoustic analysis of two Hindu temples in Southern India -- Shashank Aswathanarayana & Braxton Boren.
 16. Begum Akhtar on Spotify and YouTube.
 17. Uzr Aane Mein Bhi Hai -- Begum Akhtar.
 18. Woh Jo Ham Men Tum Men Qarar Tha -- Begum Akhtar.
 19. Siddheshwari Devi on Spotify and YouTube.
 20. Shayam Prem Gagariyaa Bhaari -- Siddheshwari Devi.
 21. Latcho Drom -- Tony Gatlif.
 22. Yeh Kothewaliya -- Amritlal Nagar.
 
 Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here.
 
 Amit and Ajay also bring out a weekly YouTube show, Everything is Everything. Have you watched it yet? You must!
 
 And have you read Amit's newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It's free!
 
 Also check out Amit's online course, The Art of Clear Writing.
 
 Episode art: 'Song' by Simahina.

Ep 426: The Life and Music of Shubha Mudgal

He reached the top of the corporate world -- and then gave it up to become a writer, with books that probed our deepest questions, and influenced millions of people. Gurcharan Das joins Amit Varma in episode 425 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss his life and learnings.
 
 (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out:
 1. Gurcharan Das on Amazon, Wikipedia, Twitter, LinkedIn, Times of India and his own website.
 2. Another Sort of Freedom -- Gurcharan Das.
 3. India Unbound -- Gurcharan Das.
 4. The Difficulty of Being Good -- Gurcharan Das.
 5. Kama: The Riddle of Desire -- Gurcharan Das.
 6. Three Plays: Larins Sahib, Mira, 9 Jakhoo Hill -- Gurcharan Das.
 7. A Fine Family -- Gurcharan Das.
 8. The Elephant Paradigm -- Gurcharan Das.
 9. India Grows At Night -- Gurcharan Das.
 10. The Dilemma of an Indian Liberal -- Gurcharan Das.
 11. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.
 12. Rashomon -- Akira Kurosawa.
 13. Toba Tek Singh -- Sadat Hasan Manto.
 14. Imagined Communities -- Benedict Anderson.
 15. A Treatise of Human Nature -- David Hume.
 16. Tales from the Kathasaritsagara -- Soma Deva (translated by Arshia Sattar).
 17. What These Labels Mean -- Episode 107 of Everything is Everything.
 18. Economic Facts and Fallacies -- Thomas Sowell.
 19. The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression -- Amity Shlaes.
 20. In Search of Lost Time -- Marcel Proust.
 21. Anna Karenina -- Leo Tolstoy.
 22. War and Peace -- Leo Tolstoy.
 23. Pedro Páramo -- Juan Rulfo.
 24. Don Quixote -- Miguel De Cervantes.
 25. The Great Books of the Western World -- Edited by Mortimer J Adler.
 26. The Double 'Thank You' Moment -- John Stossel.
 27. From Imperial to Adaptive Firms -- Episode 37 of Everything is Everything.
 28. The Life and Times of Montek Singh Ahluwalia — Episode 285 of The Seen and the Unseen.
 29. The Nature of the Firm -- Ronald Coase.
 30. The Reformers — Episode 28 of Everything is Everything.
 31. The Importance of the 1991 Reforms — Episode 237 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan and Ajay Shah).
 32. The Life and Times of Montek Singh Ahluwalia — Episode 285 of The Seen and the Unseen.
 33. The Forgotten Greatness of PV Narasimha Rao — Episode 283 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vinay Sitapati).
 34. Naushad Forbes Wants to Fix India — Episode 282 of The Seen and the Unseen.
 35. The 1991 Project.
 36. The Future of War -- Episode 112 of Everything is Everything.
 37. Perpetual Peace -- Immanuel Kant.
 38. The Bhagawad Gita.
 39. Four Quartets -- TS Eliot.
 40. Walden -- Henry David Thoreau.
 41. Essays on the Gita -- Sri Aurobindo.
 42. Sri Bhagavadgita Rahasya -- Bal Gangadhar Tilak.
 43. Many Threads of Hinduism -- Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyaya.
 44. Bourgeois Dignity -- Deirdre McCloskey.
 45. The Makropulos Case -- Karel Capek.
 46. The Makropulos case: reflections on the tedium of immortality -- Bernard Williams.
 47. Don't Punish Victimless Crimes -- Episode 73 of Everything is Everything.
 48. The Mahabharata.
 48. Plato, Aristotle and Karl Marx.
 49. Charulata -- Satyajit Ray.
 50. The Apu Trilogy -- Satyajit Ray.
 51. The Calcutta Trilogy -- Satyajit Ray.
 52. Shatranj ke Khiladi -- Satyajit Ray.
 53. Duvidha -- Mani Kaul.
 54. Cinema Paradiso -- Giuseppe Tornatore.
 55. Amarcord -- Federico Fellini.
 56. Stolen Kisses -- François Truffaut.
 57. Last Year at Marienbad -- Alain Resnais.
 58. The Garden of the Finzi-Continis -- Vittorio De Sica.
 59. The Prince -- Niccolò Machiavelli.
 60. The Leopard -- Giuseppe Tomasi Di Lampedusa.
 61. The Leopard -- Luchino Visconti.
 62. Mozart, Bach, Chopin, Debussy, Kishori Amonkar and Mallikarjun Mansur on Spotify.
 63. The plays of Anton Chekhov.
 64. The short stories of Anton Chekhov.
 65. Four Major Plays -- Federico García Lorca.
 66. The Great Gatsby -- F Scott Fitzgerald.
 67. Waiting for Godot -- Samuel Beckett.
 68. Madame Bovary -- Gustave Flaubert.
 69. The Brothers Karamazov -- Fyodor Dostoevsky.
 70. The Stranger -- Albert Camus.
 71. The Black Paintings -- Francisco Goya.
 72. The Light in Winter -- Episode 97 of Everything is Everything.
 73. Virasat-e-Khalsa.
 
 This episode is sponsored by CTQ Compounds. Check out The Daily Reader and FutureStack. Use the code UNSEEN for Rs 2500 off.
 
 Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here.
 
 Amit and Ajay also bring out a weekly YouTube show, Everything is Everything. Have you watched it yet? You must!
 
 And have you read Amit's newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It's free!
 
 Also check out Amit's online course, The Art of Clear Writing.
 
 Episode art: 'Two Birds' by Simahina.

Ep 425: The Life and Times of Gurcharan Das

Trained as a journalist, but driven by a desire to make a difference, she spent over a decade working with sex workers in Delhi to understand and improve their lives. Gitanjali Babbar joins Amit Varma in episode 424 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss her learnings about GB Road -- and our strange and twisted society.
 
 (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.)
 
 Also check out
 1. Gitanjali Babbar on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.
 2. Kat Katha (also on Facebook and Instagram.)
 3. Donate to Kat Katha. (Alternate link).
 4. Select talks by and interviews of Gitanjali Babbar: 1, 2, 3, 4.
 5. The Fat Girl -- Andre Dubus.
 6. Aashayein -- song from Iqbal.
 7. Talks on the Gita -- Vinobha Bhave.
 8. The Forty Rules of Love -- Elif Shafak.
 9. Tu Jhoom -- Naseebo Lal and Abida Parveen.
 10. Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar -- Mansoor Khan.
 11. Saathiya -- Shaad Ali.
 12. Anurag Garg on Amazon.
 
 Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here.
 
 Amit and Ajay also bring out a weekly YouTube show, Everything is Everything. Have you watched it yet? You must!
 
 And have you read Amit's newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It's free!
 
 Also check out Amit's online course, The Art of Clear Writing.
 
 Episode art: 'The Street' by Simahina.

Ep 424: Gitanjali Babbar and the Didis of GB Road

He founded the iconic organisation Yuva 50 years ago when he was in his early 20s, pioneered social work in India, and went on to drive change for the UN and Amnesty. Minar Pimple joins Amit Varma in episode 423 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about his life, his learnings and the ceaseless tumult in our society.
 
 (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.)
 
 Also check out:
 1. Minar Pimple at Yuva and Instagram.
 2. An ISDM case study of Yuva.
 3. Sudhir Sarnobat Works to Understand the World — Episode 350 of The Seen and the Unseen.
 4. India's MSME Landscape — Some Useful Frameworks -- Episode 419 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Sudhir Sarnobat and Narendra Shenoy).
 5. The Atheism Episode -- Episode 83 of Everything is Everything.
 6. Ayn Rand, Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Mao Zedong and Friedrich Engels.
 7. The Communist Manifesto -- Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
 8. The Annihilation of Caste -- BR Ambedkar.
 9. Paulo Freire and Saul Alinsky.
 10. Towards a Philosophy of Social Work in India -- Sugata Dasgupta.
 11. Hussain Haidry, Hindustani Musalmaan — Episode 275 of The Seen and the Unseen.
 12. India's Problem is Poverty, Not Inequality -- Amit Varma.
 13. Stay Away From Luxury Beliefs -- Episode 46 of Everything is Everything.
 14. The Gate of Angels -- Penelope Fitzgerald.
 15. The Moral Animal -- Robert Wright.
 16. Young India — Episode 83 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Snigdha Poonam).
 17. Dreamers: How Young Indians Are Changing Their World — Snigdha Poonam.
 18. The Loneliness of the Indian Man — Episode 303 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Nikhil Taneja).
 19. Adolescence — Created by Stephen Graham & Jack Thorne.
 20. The Mayor of Casterbridge -- Thomas Hardy.
 21. All My Sons -- Arthur Miller.
 22. Sowmya Dhanaraj Is Making a Difference — Episode 380 of The Seen and the Unseen.
 23. Salil Tripathi and the Gujaratis -- Episode 409 of The Seen and the Unseen.
 24. The Gujaratis: A Portrait of a Community — Salil Tripathi.
 25. The Intellectual Foundations of Hindutva — Episode 115 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Aakar Patel).
 26. Aakar Patel Is Full of Hope — Episode 270 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Aakar Patel).
 27. The Case for Nuclear Electricity -- Episode 78 of Everything is Everything.
 28. Pyaasa -- Guru Dutt.
 29. Samna -- Jabbar Patel.
 30. Phule -- Anant Mahadevan.
 31. Long Walk To Freedom -- Nelson Mandela.
 32. Why I am an Atheist -- Bhagat Singh.
 33. Selected Writings of Jotirao Phule -- Edited by GP Deshpande.
 34. IPTA Mumbai.
 35. Kishore Kumar and Mohammed Rafi on Spotify.
 
 And here are the episodes mentioned by Amit in the introduction:
 1. The Art of Podcasting -- Episode 49 of Everything is Everything.
 2. The Life and Times of Shanta Gokhale — Episode 311 of The Seen and the Unseen.
 3. The Life and Times of Jerry Pinto — Episode 314 of The Seen and the Unseen.
 4. The Life and Times of KP Krishnan — Episode 355 of The Seen and the Unseen.
 5. Devdutt Pattanaik and the Stories That Shape Us — Episode 404 of The Seen and the Unseen.
 6. Ajay Shah Brings the Dreams of the 20th Century -- Episode 402 of The Seen and the Unseen.
 7. The Life and Times of the Indian Economy -- Episode 387 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rajeswari Sengupta).
 
 This episode is sponsored by CTQ Compounds. Check out The Daily Reader and FutureStack. Use the code UNSEEN for Rs 2500 off.
 
 Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here.
 
 Amit and Ajay also bring out a weekly YouTube show, Everything is Everything. Have you watched it yet? You must!
 
 And have you read Amit's newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It's free!
 
 Also check out Amit's online course, The Art of Clear Writing.
 
 Episode art: 'Praxis' by Simahina.

Ep 423: Minar Pimple's Life in Social Work

In 2008, India was growing at 8.8% and was described as a miracle economy. It all went downhill in the next 10 years. Puja Mehra, author of The Lost Decade, joins Amit Varma in episode 116 of The Seen and the Unseen to describe the random events, political imperatives and human dramas that collided to bring us to the brink of a crisis.
 
Also check out:
 
 • 

The Lost Decade -- Puja Mehra
 • 
 • 

DeMon, Morality and the Predatory Indian State -- ep 85 of The Seen and the Unseen
 • 
 • 

Most of Amit Varma's writing on DeMon, collected in one Twitter thread
 • 
 • 

Narendra Modi Takes a Great Leap Backwards — Amit Varma
 • 
 • 

Demonetisation -- Ep 2 of The Seen and the Unseen
 • 
 • 

The Bad and Complex Tax -- Ep 74 of The Seen and the Unseen (on GST)
 • 
 • 

Is KitKat a Chocolate or a Biscuit? -- ep 28 of The Seen and the Unseen (on GST)
 • 
 • 

The State of Our Farmers -- ep 86 of The Seen and the Unseen (in Hindi)
 • 
 • 

Where Are the Jobs? -- ep 87 of The Seen and the Unseen
 • 
 
You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the new and improved IVM Podcast App on Android: https://ivm.today/android
 or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios

Ep. 116: India's Lost Decade

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