Best PEXPLOCITY Podcasts (2024)

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108 Reasons To Love Art and Alka Pande - A Conversation With Kamini Sawhney 48:06

4d ago48:06

48:06

Send us a text This special edition of The Literary City is a conversation about the transformative power of the arts—particularly the visual arts. Often misunderstood or overlooked, the arts hold the potential to nourish the mind and soul, offering cultural insights that resonate deeply with our lives today. In this episode, guest host Kamini Sawh…

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Anirudh Kanisetti And His Conquest Of The Mediaeval Deccan 35:08

8h ago35:08

35:08

Send us a text As writers, we know that how we say something matters as much as what we say. The right words, arranged with care, can influence thought and stir emotion—or so we hope. The divide between creative prose and academic jargon was once stark. But then came the 1970s and 80s, when scientists like Isaac Asimov, Arthur Clarke, Carl Sagan, a…

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Malcolm Gladwell And The Revenge Of The Tipping Point 43:57

9d ago43:57

43:57

Send us a text Much of what we understand about global trends is filtered through the lens of the United States. What happens there often shapes thought, culture, and society worldwide. And when it comes to shaping thought, few have had the impact of my guest today: Malcolm Gladwell. Gladwell, the bestselling author of *The Tipping Point*, *Blink*,…

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Celestial by Abhay K And 10 Indian Languages by Karthik Venkatesh 43:43

10M ago43:43

43:43

Send us a text In this episode of The Literary City, we embark on a journey with two distinguished guests—each bringing a unique perspective to our exploration of literature and language. Abhay K, a poet-diplomat, and the author of "Celestial," a poetic masterpiece comprising 100 couplets that intricately weave the enchanting tales of the 88 conste…

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The Literary Life Of Ramachandra Guha 47:47

10M ago47:47

47:47

Send us a text My guest today is a titan of Indian history, Ramachandra Guha. He is known for his monumental works on Gandhi and Indian history, but today we're taking a detour into the realm of literature. We'll be diving into his latest book, "The Cooking Of Books," a slice-of-life memoir that offers a poignant glimpse into his relationship with …

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The Lighthouse Family: A Compelling Novel From The Turkish Ambassador 41:24

11M ago41:24

41:24

Send us a text My guest today, is an author from Turkiye, Firat Sunel. He is a career diplomat. He is currently the Turkish Ambassador to India. Firat is a demonstrably fascinating novelist. His latest novel, “The Lighthouse Family”, is a wonderful example of storytelling, of craft and of everything literary. I venture to say without qualification …

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Churchill And India Fighting Retreat With Historian Walter Reid 43:48

1y ago43:48

43:48

Send us a text You know how some people just seem to have that star quality? Winston Churchill, he was one of those. No matter how many books, documentaries you may have imbibed—or, speaking of imbibed, tales you may have heard of his brandy-infused mornings, there's always an insatiable appetite for more and more Churchill. His wit, his wisdom, an…

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A Disquiet In The Queen Of All Nations With Abhijit Sengupta 40:39

1y ago40:39

40:39

Send us a text In what is meant to be his quiet and reflective corridor of retirement, my guest today, Abhijit Sengupta grapples with a disquiet that lingers. A former senior IAS officer and therefore, you might say, a custodian of order and democracy, a lifetime of service to the nation has clearly left him with a profound sense of duty that refus…

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The Secret Of More With Tejaswini Apte-Rahm 33:42

1y ago33:42

33:42

Send us a text The essence of historical fiction is telling stories set in a particular period of time. They transport us to a different place, offering insights into the past while exploring themes that are relatable across generations. In the craft of historical fiction, authors take creative liberties with places, events, and characters, using t…

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Mani Shankar Aiyar And The Memoirs Of A Very Literary Maverick 52:59

1y ago52:59

52:59

Send us a text My guest today is the remarkable Mani Shankar Aiyar. If you haven’t heard of him, let’s simply admit that you’ve been living under a rock. If you've been anywhere near the worlds of diplomacy, politics, or literature, you will know of him in detail but let me sum up his remarkable journey as succinctly as I can. Mani Shankar Aiyar jo…

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The Art Of The Thriller And The American Boyfriend With Ivy Ngeow 39:37

1y ago39:37

39:37

Send us a text In an essay, published in a 1964 edition of The Times Literary Supplement, V S Naipaul wrote: "The language was ours, to use as we pleased. The literature that came with it was therefore of peculiar authority, but this literature was like an alien mythology. There was, for instance, Wordsworth’s notorious poem about the daffodil. A p…

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What Happens When The Big Man Passes On? After Messiah With Aakar Patel 50:23

1y ago50:23

50:23

Send us a text Most of us do not colour code our threat levels. But nations do. Following 9/11, the Homeland Security Advisory System in America in 2002 came up with the warning system that we all know and love today in our TV shows—green, blue, yellow, orange and red, depending, obviously, on the severity of the threat. Government officials plan a…

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Reason And Hope In A Dark Time With History's Angel And Anjum Hasan 45:20

1+ y ago45:20

45:20

Send us a text Good literature can help us navigate our own emotions and motivations, and it helps us see the world through the eyes of the writer. The best literature touches our hearts and our minds. It triggers our emotions, and makes us think critically about the world around us, by challenging our assumptions and consequently, expanding our un…

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Prof Ganesh Devy - The Man Who Discovered Over 700 Languages In India 49:09

1+ y ago49:09

49:09

Send us a text As a curious and casual reader of linguistics, one of the first things I learned is that there is no monolithic object called a single language. Languages are like a living organism, they grow and sometimes they are said to die, and sometimes, like humans, they disappear into a bureaucracy. Age and origins of language are not straigh…

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Tree And Serpent With John Guy Curator At The Met In New York 38:14

1+ y ago38:14

38:14

Send us a text As part of Siddhartha’s awakening, he became aware of a spiritual energy in nature where trees had souls, birds had wisdom, and flowers bloomed no matter what the season. And snakes had the power of protection. And then there was all manner of mythical and hybrid creature contributing to the magical art and literature of Buddhism. Of…

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Ahmed Naji Discovers Literature In An Egyptian Prison - The Story In Rotten Evidence 43:38

1+ y ago43:38

43:38

Send us a text Today I‘m excited to be speaking with Ahmed Naji, a writer who spent two years in prison in Egypt for writing what the authorities judged to be objectionable material. But while Ahmed Naji was in prison, he discovered literature and through that, himself. It’s an amazing story of a person who finds magic and hope in the unlikely envi…

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Centres Of Power - In The Den With Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi And Chinmay Gharekhan 40:18

1+ y ago40:18

40:18

Send us a text Why were the 1980s pivotal in so many respects? Think the giddy days of glasnost and perestroika, the end of the cold war—of the whole Soviet Union in fact, liberalisation and globalisation, GATT and open borders, the assassination of Indira Gandhi, the rise of Rajiv Gandhi—who stepped on the gas and pushed the country towards a more…

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With Tenzin Dickie And The Defiance Of Tibetan Literature In The Bardo 35:54

1+ y ago35:54

35:54

Send us a text A few weeks ago, I was reading LitHub, one of the many literary magazines I enjoy greatly, and I found an essay that caught my immediate fancy. It is titled, “Literature in the Bardo: Tenzin Dickie on the Past, Present, and Future of the Tibetan Essay”. Not only was I captivated by her prose but importantly, it opened a window to the…

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Godfrey Pereira And The Insane Story Of An English Smuggler In Bombay 36:50

1+ y ago36:50

36:50

Send us a text This is the incredible but true story of an Englishman—a dockworker in Bombay in the 1940s, who became a smuggler around the time of Independence. Not far offshore from the Ferry Wharf in Mumbai is a small island. It’s only some 100 metres out by boat, and you can see it from Ferry Wharf. It’s called Cross Island. You can see Cross I…

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A Tumbleweed In Shakespeare & Company - Jeremy Mercer 41:22

1+ y ago41:22

41:22

Send us a text When George Whitman, in 1951, established a bookstore he wanted it to be more than a literary sanctuary for book lovers. He turned it into a sanctuary for writers seeking inspiration. The bookshop — as any devotee of books or, really, any of my listeners would have guessed — is the legendary Shakespeare & Company in the heart of Pari…

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Aamina Ahmad And The Return Of Faraz Ali 37:00

1+ y ago37:00

37:00

Send us a text Authors have for a long time used literary expressions of anguish as a powerful tool to connect with readers. They may use language and symbolic references to nuance the emotions associated with it, but whatever their approach, they look to inspire emotions that deliver that gut punch. My guest today, Aamina Ahmad clearly knows how t…

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John Keane And The Shortest History Of Democracy 40:38

1+ y ago40:38

40:38

Send us a text There are many who believe that the cradle of democracy was Greece. But if anything, Greece may lay claim to the etymology of the word democracy, but not to democracy itself. Whence then? The short answer by many historians is that the first evidence of democracy was in the Syrian-Mesopotamian region (Mesopotamia would be a large reg…

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The Insatiable Feminism Of The Fabulous Shobhaa De 39:12

1+ y ago39:12

39:12

Send us a text That was my guest today, the incomparable Shobhaa De. Shobhaa is one of the most famous writers in India and her reputation has travelled everywhere, but it behooves me to talk about the realpolitik of Shobhaa De’s literature. Let me tell you why Shobhaa De is so significant to English writing in India. Not only was her great success…

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Nilanjana Roy And The Literature Of The Black River 34:41

2y ago34:41

34:41

Send us a text Nilanjana Roy is the girl who, as a child, ate books — in fact, she was known to have devoured them whole. This is obviously a reference to her book The Girl Who Ate Books, a paean to writing, writers and other such pursuit. Nilanjana is, most recently, author of the novel, Black River and she is my guest on The Literary City and we …

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Jeet Thayil And The Epic Of Names Of The Women 47:01

2y ago47:01

47:01

Send us a text In the beginning of the episode, you will hear my guest Jeet Thayil read from his book, Names Of The Women — women whose paths crossed with Christ, and who, it is said, stayed by him during the crucifixion. And after. I have been fortunate to read so many books since I started hosting this podcast. Each book is as wonderful and as co…

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The Compelling Prose of Lynda Rutledge And West With Giraffes 38:47

2y ago38:47

38:47

Send us a text It is said that you don’t rescue dogs. They rescue you. This saying reflects the connection we can have with our pets. Especially dogs, who are said to have had a relationship with humans for thousands of years. When we adopt a dog, we think we're giving them a new lease on life, but in reality, they often give us so much more in ret…

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The World–A Family History With Simon Sebag Montefiore 47:09

2y ago47:09

47:09

Send us a text This interview was recorded live at Blossom Book House, Bangalore. Many years ago I saw a TV commercial that stuck with me. It showed a montage—sepia tinted portraits of older couples, with rather interesting last names: Alois and Klara Hitler Beso Jughashvili and Ekaterine Geladze (Josef Stalin’s parents) Andruta and Marie Ceausescu…

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Karen Anand - The Culinary And Literary Adventures Of The Masala Memsahib 43:02

2y ago43:02

43:02

Send us a text There’s something primal about watching food shows on TV. Or any food show. Even restaurants that have a glass pane through which you can watch the chefs in the kitchen doing their thing. It engages your attention while they ham it up. No that’s not a pun. The business of someone setting about chopping up ingredients and turning them…

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To Hell And Back With Barkha Dutt 39:41

2y ago39:41

39:41

Send us a text When the government exempted media from the lockdown, logically, this was to ensure that the media could do its job—which was to bring information and news to the people who were sequestered in their homes. My guest today did just that. She is Barkha Dutt, one of India’s best known journalists. Barkha decided that she was going to br…

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The Compelling Book Of Bihari Literature With A Poet-Diplomat Abhay K 38:12

2y ago38:12

38:12

Send us a text The ability to write well used to be a necessary qualification for high office. Whether prose or poetry, literature was important as a tool of communication. It all makes sense. The more skilled you are in the medium of instruction, the better the instruction. The highest thinkers of the realms were always great writers. The founding…

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The Amazing Reign Of Raja Raja Chola With Kamini Dandapani 39:35

2y ago39:35

39:35

Send us a text There’s much interest of late about the Chola empire. For many reasons. The reason that looms large is the recent blockbuster movie, Ponniyin Selvan, which, is all about the most famous of the Cholas, Raja Raja. The Cholas were one of the longest running empires in history. The earliest historic references to the Cholas dates back to…

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Huma Abedin The Indomitable Peace Within 44:36

2y ago44:36

44:36

Send us a text There’s something about Huma. Something happens a few seconds after you meet her. You fall in love with her. Now, this immediate attraction is not for the typical reasons—of which admittedly there are many. And it has nothing to do with things like innate goodness, inner light and such other syrup. Well, I'm putting it down to some “…

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Jerry Pinto, His Muse And The Education Of Yuri 39:08

2y ago39:08

39:08

Send us a text The way I read the book, the story is about the travails of a young Indian who must make the long and labyrinthine transition from boy to man. A difficult job when a large offset of one's opportunities in middle class India is being beholden to family, with conservative family elders and conversations in a minefield of verbal taboos.…

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Winner of The Booker Prize 2022 Shehan Karunatilaka 47:35

2y ago47:35

47:35

Send us a text There is an old saying, “Dead men tell no tales”. But how wonderful and useful it would be if we could follow a conversation into the afterlife? And what more wonderful than if you wrote about it and then won the Booker Prize for your efforts? Is this the stuff from which dreams are made? Clearly true if you consider my guest today, …

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TJS George And The Inevitability Of The Absurd 35:29

2y ago35:29

35:29

Send us a text There is a point late in the lives of the very accomplished, when they unscrew the caps of their pens and write a compelling memoir of their lives. But how does a self-effacing journalist write an autobiography? By not writing one. Not in the stock sense, anyway. My guest today is journalist TJS George. He is 94 years old. His life a…

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How To Find Draupadi With Koral Dasgupta 34:23

2y ago34:23

34:23

Send us a text In the Indian epic, the Mahabharata, the central character, the fulcrum of the story is Draupadi…in my view. But epics in mythology, the Mahabharata included, are full of tales of male valour. Mythology instills in its male protagonists, high chivalry. Men are always saving women. But whenever women are warriors, they are usually fie…

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On The Journey To Ithaca With David Davidar 39:48

2y ago39:48

39:48

Send us a text What and when was the first English language novel? There are some contenders for this honour, but the most plausible for me would be Pamela by Samuel Richardson—first published in 1740 and several times since. Widely accepted as the first English novel, it is a racy, saucy, sexually-orientated story—and , of course, for that reason …

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The Conspiracy To Love Cubbon Park Bangalore With Roopa Pai 37:10

2y ago37:10

37:10

Send us a text Different cities have different things they buy into. In Paris there’s style—you never want to look sloppy in Paris. In New York it’s the energy of movement—try walking slowly on the sidewalk and you’ll have Fran Leibowitz come up and say "Hey! Pretend it’s a city." In Bangalore, there is a buy-in to preserve trees. You can ride a mo…

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In The Freedom Struggle On A Train To Tanjore With Devika Rangachari 39:52

2+ y ago39:52

39:52

Send us a text The great author Gustav Flaubert once said, “The art of writing is the art of discovering what you believe." I am not buying that entirely. I believe that the art of writing is to make others believe what you want them to believe. And by that, I don’t mean only storytelling. I mean all writing. Direct and compelling prose can raise e…

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John Zubrzycki And The Shortest History Of India 39:31

2+ y ago39:31

39:31

Send us a text History was never considered to be a subject that would lead to gainful employment and I dare say, rewarding matrimony. Maybe that’s why we have paid little respect to it in India. Maybe that’s why our records are shoddy. Most museums and public places of history are disrespectfully maintained—and shabby when compared to those in oth…

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The Art And The Realpolitik Of Mallika Sarabhai 43:02

2+ y ago43:02

43:02

Send us a text Being raised by very famous parents has its benefits. But equally, it is difficult to emerge from their shadows in which one must twist, and then find a spot upstage—for one’s creativity. Growing up in India in the 70s was materially different from what it seems to be today. Materially being the operative expression, because there wa…

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Wadiyar Of Mysore The Maverick Maharaja With Deepti Navaratna 36:55

2+ y ago36:55

36:55

Send us a text Historically and traditionally, the arts have enjoyed the patronage of kings. We all know that culture broadens minds. It’s an important basis by which society finds expression and happiness. So it is in the larger common good that culture has been encouraged. It binds a society and gives it an identity. And a personality. And sets u…

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Aasma-i-Noor The Cursed Jewel Of Indian History With Sudipta Sen Gupta 42:17

2+ y ago42:17

42:17

Send us a text Every once in a while, you read a book, watch a gripping movie or a TV show; and you ask yourself the question, “Was that a true story?” And then you spend hours googling the hell out of it. How great would it be if you could not find the answer and not be able to reach a conclusion! As every great storyteller knows, the better you t…

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The Literature Of The Middle Finger With Saikat Majumdar 39:48

2+ y ago39:48

39:48

Send us a text Indians live in many skins. We deal with an extraordinarily diverse and multi-layered thing that we call “Indian culture”. There have been various attempts to reduce its complexities to something simple that represents the sum of its parts. Often, a fool’s errand, not easily expressed by say, a fondness for Bollywood and spicy food. …

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A Journey To The Top Of The World With Chess Legend Viswanathan Anand 40:29

2+ y ago40:29

40:29

Send us a text Chess is a finite game with finite variables. Yet, phrases like “infinite possibilities” and “unpredictable outcome” seem completely appropriate when discussing it. It begs the question, how finite is finite? Finite can be a large number. So large that it may as well be infinite. For example, they have calculated that the number of p…

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One Crimson Spring Changed History. At Jallianwala Bagh With Navtej Sarna 38:19

2+ y ago38:19

38:19

Send us a text No matter how many times you have heard it, the story of Jallianwala Bagh is terrifying. But when most of us first heard the story of the massacre, we weren’t mature enough to absorb the significance of what we were reading. As schoolboys we were only allowed a casual and dinky relationship with our history text books. Jallianwala Ba…

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The Voices Of Trauma. Reliving The Partition With Kavita Puri 37:07

2+ y ago37:07

37:07

Send us a text For those who might not know, when Pakistan was carved out of India to serve as a separate country for Muslims in the sub-continent, people on both sides—of a hasty defined border—found their lives uprooted. The tales from the Partition are many and horrific. The stories expose the raw side of a humanity filled with hatred, with mobs…

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"Guest In Another's Land." The Remarkable Literature Of Omar El Akkad 41:55

2+ y ago41:55

41:55

Send us a text What’s literary fiction? It’s not easily defined. Maybe because literary fiction is not what it is but it isn’t. Essentially, it is fiction writing that does not fit into any genre. Like crime, romance, horror, science-fiction, and other what have you genres. Another characteristic of literary fiction is that the story is driven by i…

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Are Translations The Next Big Thing? Inside The Craft Of Kalyan Raman 36:23

2+ y ago36:23

36:23

Send us a text Recently Indian author, Geetanjali Shree's book Tomb Of Sand, won the Rest Of The World version of the Booker Prize. In literary circles—as indeed with other circles—awards and prizes always set off ripples of envy and carping. The cynical argument is that prizes are geared to triggering interest in markets—in this case, I presume, t…

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The Joy Of Breaking Free With Vaasanthi. Her Life, Her Writing. And Her Muse 34:18

2+ y ago34:18

34:18

Send us a text In one of his dispatches from the front lines, in North Africa during WW2, Ernest Hemingway wrote this about Italian soldiers. When these soldiers were slightly injured, they would proclaim loudly, swearing undying loyalty to Il Duce—Mussolini. But when they were mortally wounded and lay dying on the battlefield, they would forget al…

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