The world is complex. The state is primitive. Regulation is where they meet. Bhargavi Zaveri-Shah joins Amit Varma in episode 389 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss her experiences with the regulatory state at the intersection of law & economics. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Bhargavi Zaveri Shah on Twitte…

He's an elder statesman in the worlds of journalism, policy and economics in India -- and he takes the long view. Niranjan Rajadhyaksha joins Amit Varma in episode 388 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. Niranjan Rajadhyaksha on Twitter, Mint and Arth…

Our greatest moral imperative is to solve the problem of poverty -- and after over 75 years, we still have some distance to travel. Rajeswari Sengupta joins Amit Varma in episode 387 of The Seen and the Unseen for a deep dive into how we got here, where we went wrong, what we got right, and how we should look at the Indian economy going forward. (F…

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…

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.) (Thi…

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…

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…

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 Twi…

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 …

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 …

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 G…

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: …

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, LinkedI…

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. Postcar…

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 T…

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 SEEN…

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 o…

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, …

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 Liter…

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. …

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 --…

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, Facebo…

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 Am…

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 LIN…

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, Scr…