Podcasts by BIC TALKS
Bangalore International Centre (BIC) is a non profit, public institution which serves as an inclusive platform for informed conversations, arts and culture. BIC TALKS aims to be a regular bi-weekly podcast that will foster discussions, dialogue, ideas, cultural enterprise and more.
Further podcasts by Bangalore International Centre
Podcast on the topic Politik
All episodes
280. Histories of a Civilisation (Part 4 of 7) from 2023-12-13T08:43
The Indians is a collection of essays by some of South Asia’s foremost historians and scholars that maps the origins, evolution, and present-day reality of India's civilisati...
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279. Histories of a Civilisation (Part 3 of 7) from 2023-12-07T19:06
The Indians is a collection of essays by some of South Asia’s foremost historians and scholars that maps the origins, evolution, and present-day reality of India's civilisati...
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278. Histories of a Civilisation (Part 2 of 7 with Vinay Lal&GN Devy) from 2023-12-06T00:38
The Indians is a collection of essays by some of South Asia’s foremost historians and scholars that maps the origins, evolution, and present-day reality of India's civilisati...
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277. Histories of a Civilisation (Part 1 of 7) from 2023-11-30T19:54
The Indians is a collection of essays by some of South Asia’s foremost historians and scholars that maps the origins, evolution, and present-day reality of India's civilisati...
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276. Revisiting 1923: Tagore, Gandhi, and Ambedkar from 2023-11-28T04:23
This lecture by the critic, thinker, educator and activist Professor GN Devy, focuses on the year 1923 and recounts Rabindranath Tagore’s visit to Gujarat in October/November of that year, Mahat...
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275. Navigating Global Conflicts from 2023-11-23T19:00
Over a month into Israel’s strikes on Gaza in retaliation for Hamas terror attacks, is the world on the brink of a bigger war with repercussions across West Asia? What are the likely off-ramps t...
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274. None Wiser than the Law (Part 7 of 7) from 2023-11-22T09:15
273. None Wiser than the Law (Part 6 of 7) from 2023-11-16T19:54
272. None Wiser than the Law (Part 5 of 7) from 2023-11-14T08:42
271. None Wiser than the Law (Part 4 of 7) from 2023-11-09T20:26
270. None Wiser than the Law (Part 3 of 7) from 2023-11-06T19:25
269. None Wiser than the Law (Part 2 of 7) from 2023-11-02T18:40
None Wiser than the Law is a miniseries of in-depth conversations with Justice MN Venkatachaliah, providing an intimate exploration of the legal realm, his life journey, political insig...
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268. None Wiser than the Law (Part 1 of 7) from 2023-10-30T18:42
267. Verses Across Time from 2023-10-27T11:29
After is a collection of poems inspired by Valmiki’s Ramayana, one of Asia’s foundational epic poems and a story cycle of incalculable historical importance. But After Listen
266. Charting India's Future from 2023-10-16T19:19
India has ambitiously tasked itself to leap to the next level on the development ladder to a “developed India” tag by 2047. The country is categorised as an “Aspirational Society,” ai...
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265. Public Service&Leadership from 2023-10-12T19:00
In an illustrious career spanning over forty years in public service and culminating in the highest office in Indian bureaucracy – Union Cabinet Secretary – KM Chandrasekhar has seen,...
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264. Exploring Questions&States of Being from 2023-10-11T10:43
UR Ananthamurthy (1932–2014), writer, teacher, literary critic, and public intellectual, was born in Shivamogga district in Karnataka. In 1965, his debut novel, Samskara, too...
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263. Tales of Enchantment from 2023-10-05T19:00
India’s mythmaker and Jnanpith awardee, Chandrashekhar Kambar, has not only enriched Kannada literature but has also placed the country on the global literary map. The recent translation of his ...
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262. Challenging Traditions from 2023-10-02T19:00
Divorce has been typically framed in Indian popular culture as available mainly to upper-class urban and Anglicised people with the financial means to pursue long-winded remedies in c...
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261. An Opium Odyssey from 2023-09-28T19:28
Amitav Ghosh’s new book, Smoke and Ashes: A Writer’s Journey Through Opium’s Hidden Histories is the story of how, under the aegis of the British Empire, India became the world’s larges...
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260. Cinema Strikes 3: A Hacker Cinema from 2023-09-26T01:40
In 2015, students of the Film & Television Institute of India took the cinema to the streets with a strike. One of the first of the agitations that raged across India’s universities at that time...
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259. Cinema Strikes 2: A Satyajit Ray Plastic Bangle from 2023-09-22T01:38
In 2015, students of the Film & Television Institute of India took the cinema to the streets with a strike. One of the first of the agitations that raged across India’s universities at that time...
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258. Cinema Strikes 1: The Cinema’s Expanded Afterlife from 2023-09-18T19:00
In 2015, students of the Film & Television Institute of India took the cinema to the streets with a strike. One of the first of the agitations that raged across India’s universities at that time...
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257. Bengaluru's Civic Dance from 2023-09-17T10:19
A large citizen survey was conducted in Bengaluru to better understand the everyday practices through which citizens effectively wield their rights. This is beyond conventional measures of voter...
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256. Indigenous Education in India from 2023-09-10T19:00:29
It is generally believed that the indigenous vernacular education in India was oral, controlled by certain sections of the population and exclusive in nature. However, the archival dat...
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255. Bridging the Gulf from 2023-09-10T08:19
Much has been written and debated about the partition of India and the creation of Pakistan. It cost more than one million Hindu, Muslim and Sikh lives and bequeathed a legacy of suspicion, hatr...
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254. Melodies and Memories from 2023-09-04T18:43
Noted musician and scholar Satyasheel Deshpande, delves into and demystifies the music of his Guru, Padmavibhushan Pandit Kumar Gandharva in an illustrated talk. This rich, flavourful mehfil, in...
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253. Crises, from Classrooms to COVID from 2023-08-31T19:40
Former Kerala health minister KK Shailaja became a global icon because of her handling of the first phase of the COVID pandemic. In her memoir, My Life as a Comrade, she tells her story...
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252. Harmonies Unheard from 2023-08-30T07:06
Gaanasaraswati Kishori Amonkar was not only a vocalist of extraordinary calibre, she was also one of the greatest composers in Hindustani music in her era. Compositions like ‘Sahela Re Aa Mi...
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251. The Ideals of Democracy from 2023-08-29T18:25
Justice BV Nagarathna made a key note address during an event on a curated volume of essays, Constitutional Ideals: Development and Realisation Through Court-led Justice in May 2023. Th...
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250. Capturing Artistry from 2023-08-29T09:16
The BIC series, My Guru, My Art takes an intimate look at the Guru-Shishya tradition and hopes to capture for posterity the stories of how the magic is created. Conversations between two artiste...
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249. Legacy in Motion from 2023-08-25T15:43
The Guru-Shishya Parampara has been integral to the learning of Indian classical dance. It is a deeply immersive and rigorous tradition that holds its own even in the modern context. A profound ...
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248. Motherhood in Urban India from 2023-08-21T18:30
In the third and final episode of Being a Present Parent, Gauri and Tena talk about intersectionality and feminist motherhood. They explore how class, caste and gender impact motherhood...
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247. Lessons&Learning in Parenting from 2023-08-17T18:30
In the second episode of Being a Present Parent, our speakers Tena and Gauri reflect on the trends, surprises and lessons learnt from a year of circles and workshops on topics such as s...
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246. Feminist Parenting 101 from 2023-08-06T19:11
Parenting can be one of those challenges in life that never has any right answers. How do you enable another person to live up to their full potential in a healthy way while being mindful of the...
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245. Triumph, Trauma and the Tinderbox from 2023-08-01T05:26
The book “Memories in the Service of the Hindu Nation: The Afterli...
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244. Unlocking Invincibility from 2023-07-29T06:58
The Shaolin monks of the legendary monastery in China are famous for their skills in Kung Fu. However, Shaolin Kung Fu isn’t just a martial art but a specific way of life and conduct that can be...
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243. The Crafting of Stories from 2023-06-26T10:34
Delving into the intricate world of storytelling, author and historian Anirudh Kanisetti and author Vikram Chandra explore the fundamental questions that intrigue both readers and writers alike:...
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242. Dynamics of Rural Democracy from 2023-06-16T19:24
An ethnographic study of Indian democracy that shows how agrarian life creates values of citizenship and active engagement that are essential for the cultivation of democracy, Cultivating De...
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241. The Societal Compass from 2023-06-14T10:31
Journalism has been the beacon that illuminates the truth amidst the shadows of ignorance. How true does this adage hold in a post-truth world. Writer and columnist, Bachi Karkaria, moderates a ...
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240. The World We Bequeath from 2023-06-01T16:20
Historian Shekhar Pathak; ecologist, and author Ullas Karanth and historian and author Mahesh Rangarajan converge in this episode of BIC Talks to explore the path towards a sustainable and envir...
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239. Stories from Goa from 2023-05-25T20:45
Renowned author and Sahitya Akademi awardee Damodar Mauzo engages in a conversation with author and playwright Vivek Shanbhag discuss Mauzo's collection of 14 stories titled "Teresa's Man and Ot...
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238. The Shifting Sands of Language from 2023-05-19T18:24
What is a language and how do they make us who we are? Is an eternal question philosophers have grappled with over eras. Linguistics scholars seek to determine what is unique and universal about...
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237. Stories That Never End from 2023-05-11T18:38
In northern India, an eighty-year-old woman slips into a deep depression after the death of her husband, and then resurfaces to gain a new lease on life. Her determination to fly in the face of ...
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236. On Becoming Gods from 2023-05-06T07:24
Bhūta Kōlā, also referred to as Daiva kōlā or Nēmā, is a shamanistic ritual dance performance prevalent among the communities of Tulu Nadu and parts of Kasargod in northern Kerala, India. The da...
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235. Experiments with Living from 2023-04-30T18:02
Dancer, actor and public intellectual Mallika Sarabhai writes a memorable account about how she stumbled her way to health, fitness and sanity. In this episode of BIC Talks, Mallika speaks to au...
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234. Understanding Pashtunwali from 2023-04-27T06:34
The Pashtuns are perhaps the largest ethnic group in the world without a country of their own. They inhabit a continuous stretch of land from the Hindu Kush to the Indus, across Pakistan and Afg...
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233. Rooting a City from 2023-04-25T19:07
Over 150 years ago, in 1870, a public park was inaugurated in Bangalore. Designed by British engineer Richard Sankey, it spread over 100 acres and encompassed features typical to the city—granit...
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232. Modern India and Cricket from 2023-04-23T18:44
Pradeep Magazine's memoir is a story of lived, real experiences, of joy, sorrow, fear, loss and hope, and about how an uprooted identity shapes one's attitude towards society and the nation. Fro...
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231. Freedom beyond Independence from 2023-04-14T10:36
So who really spearheaded India’s Freedom Struggle? Millions of ordinary people-farmers, labourers, homemakers, forest produce gatherers, artisans and others-stood up to the British. People who ...
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230. Footlights and Fervour from 2023-03-29T07:23
Since 1962 World Theatre Day has been celebrated by International Theatre Institute Centres, ITI Cooperating Members, theatre professionals, theatre organizations, theatre universities and t...
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229. Female Cinematic Universe from 2023-03-18T11:57
With the coming of age of independent cinema and stories portraying lives across the spectrum in India, the focus has shifted from the protagonist to the writers and makers.
In this episo...
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228. Moving towards Inclusivity from 2023-03-16T10:34
The reading down of Section 377 by the Supreme Court in 2018 has led to a fundamental shift in the rights of India’s LGBTQ citizens and necessitated policy changes across the board—not least in ...
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227. The Sangam of Poetry with Nature from 2023-02-27T04:32
Forrest Gander, a writer and translator with degrees in geology and literature, was born in the Mojave Desert. He has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize and fellowships from the Guggenheim, Whiting...
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226. Appreciating a Classical Tradition from 2023-02-19T19:08
Until recently, classical music around the world has loved to project itself as being beyond the grasp of the masses. Carnatic music has been no exception to this self-created aura of inscrutabi...
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225. The Harrowing versus the Humane from 2023-02-13T18:16
Samanth Subramanian is a senior writer for Quartz, covering the future of capitalism, and a contributing writer for the Guardian Long Read. He is also the author of three books: “Listen
224. The Question of Design from 2023-02-08T08:30
Urban Design is a discipline that forms a bridge between architecture and urban planning. Architecture examines three-dimensional form, culture, aesthetics and experience, but does not examine t...
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223. India's Rulers from 2023-02-05T12:56
India’s colonial experience was a complex phenomenon, which often took different shapes in different places, through layers of caste, religious identity, and much else. In this episode of BIC Talks...
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222. Journalism Unfiltered from 2023-01-31T11:13
osy Joseph is an award winning journalist based in New Delhi and was the National Security Editor of The Hindu newspaper until 2018.
Josy’s stories have fostered greater public debate and...
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221. The Wielding of Power from 2023-01-26T03:55
This talk by lawyer Gautam Bhatia considers the Indian Constitution as a terrain of contestation between different visions of power. It will ask how the Constitution creates power, who wields po...
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220. A World Between Orders from 2023-01-22T07:31
Over the last decade the world has seen the politicisation of interstate relations, a rekindling of great power rivalries, pushback against globalisation, and an increasingly ineffective global ...
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219. The World of Indian Science Fiction from 2023-01-16T19:00
From being the preserve of a handful of American and British authors in the late-20th century, science fiction (SF) today is a global phenomenon. From Afrofuturism to the popular Chinese Science...
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218. Our India from 2023-01-12T19:29
India, the world’s largest democracy, the land of yoga, spirituality and a rich civilizational past, has one of the youngest demographics and is without a doubt an exciting place to be in the tw...
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217. Rebels against the Raj from 2023-01-10T02:47
Rebels Against the Raj tells the little-known story of seven people who chose to struggle for a country other than their own: foreigners to India who, from the late nineteenth century, ...
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216. Restoring India’s Potential from 2023-01-06T09:00
Our diverse culture has something for everyone. Our young population is thirsty for education and achievement. And a strong private sector is our engine of growth. We can lead the world in the f...
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215. Understanding Human Impact on the Earth from 2023-01-02T19:25
Climate change and the Anthropocene: both terms are commonplace, but their consequences are contested as their origins continue to be studied. Nobel Laureate Paul Crutzen’s idea that humans came...
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214. Why Protest? from 2022-12-31T13:56
Democracy does not begin or end at the polling booth. It takes a committed government and an alert society to make it work. Our passive belief that we are helpless is a self-imposed delusion, fo...
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213. Speaking a Story from 2022-12-30T19:08
Anuk Arudpragasam’s first novel, The Story of a Brief Marriage was called an unflinching debut - a feat of extraordinary sensitivity and imagination, a meditation on the fundamental ele...
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212. Radical Science and Restless Politics from 2022-12-28T19:23
When JBS Haldane died in 1964 in Bhubhaneswar, he was an Indian scientist. He had the passport, but he also had a deep and abiding love for the country. His move ...
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211. How Karnataka Votes from 2022-12-26T19:30
Karnataka will be holding Assembly elections in the middle of 2023. This BIC series - Karnataka Votes 2023 – highlights the various elements of state politics, its culture and history that are o...
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210. Court Politics in Early Modern South India from 2022-12-22T07:09
The Heirs of Vijayanagara: Court Politics in Early Modern South India by Lennart Bes is a comparative study investigating court politics in four kingdoms that succeeded the south Indian...
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209. Life in an Attention Economy from 2022-12-14T09:31
Across the world, people watch more than a billion hours of video on YouTube every day. Every minute, more than five hundred additional hours of footage are uploa...
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208. The Unlikely Minister from 2022-12-08T16:50
Dr. Palanivel Thiaga Rajan or PTR as he is more commonly known, has had a interesting journey thus far. He comes from a family with strong political roots in Tamilnadu – his Grandfather, PT Raja...
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207. A Life of SEWA from 2022-12-06T00:58
Ela Ramesh Bhatt, affectionately called Elaben, was one of India’s most impactful daughters. She was a tireless activist for women’s livelihood and rights and passed away in November 2022 at the...
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206. Vachana and the Philosophy of Siddha and Nirguna from 2022-11-29T09:59
This series of lectures attempts to critique the more popular and currently accepted accounts of Vachana
205. Exploring Vachana Bhakti from 2022-11-25T10:06
The composition of a rich and huge body of Vachanas is one of th...
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204. Philosophy of the Artisan Vachanakaara from 2022-11-21T21:00
Vachana expression has till now been identified with a sect of Shaivism called Virashaivism/Lingayatism. Its histo...
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203. Vachana Efflorescence of Karnataka from 2022-11-18T03:00
The composition of a large and rich body of vachanas is one of the most impressive expressions of Indian spiritual heritage. Both the quantity and quality of this corpus is unparalleled elsewher...
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202. Irrationally Rational from 2022-11-02T09:48
Neoclassical economics tells us that because both individuals are assumed rational, their regret levels ought to be identical since their economic consequences are identical. Behavioural economi...
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201. Journalism Holding Big Tech Accountable from 2022-10-28T09:32
Journalist Venkat Ananth talks to ...
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200. What Makes an 'Indian' Poet | Featuring 9 Poets from 2022-10-27T11:53
The Penguin Book of Indian Poets, the definitive anthology of Indian poetry in English for the next decade and more edited by Jeet Thayil, returns the forgot...
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199. Vivartana from 2022-10-27T11:25
Through the last two millennia, Indian poets and philosophers have addressed existential questions surrounding the individuals role in society, dealing with inequ...
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198. Negotiating the Path from Farms to Tables from 2022-10-20T04:06
The recent proposal by the current government to reform agricultural markets through three controversial farm laws, the farmer protests that ensued, and the ultim...
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197. A Man for All Seasons from 2022-10-11T14:08
Today, Kalki R Krishnamurthy (1899-1954) is best known for his historical fiction—Sivakamiyin Sapatham, Ponniyin Selvan and Parthiban Kanavu—rec...
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196. How to Revive the Indian Economy from 2022-10-06T03:45
With India in its seventy-fifth year of independence, conventional policy is unlikely to combat the breadth of its economic challenges. Does India need the state ...
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195. Mahabharata: The Epic and the Nation from 2022-09-30T07:11
The Ramayana and the Mahabharata have exerted immense influence on the life and thought of Indians. If the Ramayana is a ‘unitary’ saga, the Mahabahrata is a ‘federal epic’. I...
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194. When Memory Dies from 2022-09-27T19:44:39
Has the artificial memory already taken a complete possession of the human memory? Have Indians altogether forgotten from where they arrived here? Where does one locate the beginning of India as...
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193. When a Culture Dies from 2022-09-22T18:52:18
Indians belong either to castes or to tribes. What makes the tribal people tribal or adivasis? What have been there cultural traditions, their thought patterns and their philosophy of life? What...
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192. When a Language Dies from 2022-09-17T14:37:54
The Census of India had listed 1652 ‘Mother Tongues’ in its 1961 language report. In 1971, this number was brought down to just 108. Where did the remaining 1455 mother tongues disappear? This l...
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191. How Disasters Can Shape Marriage from 2022-09-13T10:14:22
Marriages in India are a universal phenomenon that continue to be characterized by rigid social and cultural norms. 90% of marriages in India are family-arranged. Individuals have a strong pref...
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190. Ordinary Children, Extraordinary Circumstances from 2022-09-10T07:55:48
Listen to the young changemakers who have weathered incredible adversities and pioneered programs that are changing the world.
Bringing awareness to the plight of disadvantaged c...
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189. Art Cinema and India’s Forgotten Futures from 2022-08-31T07:21:41
The project of Indian art cinema began in the years following independence in 1947, at once evoking the global reach of the term “art film” and speaking to the aspirations of the new nation-stat...
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188. India and the Bangladesh Liberation War from 2022-08-26T09:50:07
India and Bangladesh ac...
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187. Indian Poetry for the World from 2022-08-24T07:04:29
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186. Castaway Mountain from 2022-08-16T19:33:56
All of Mumbai’s memories and castaway possessions come to die at the Deonar garbage mountains. And among these vas...
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185. Knowing Your Rights in the Digital World from 2022-08-14T02:30:10
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184. Nation-Building in the Aftermath of Empire from 2022-08-10T10:01:56
India’s Five-Year Plans were one of the developing world’s most ambitious experiments. After nearly two centuries ...
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183. #GirishKarnad(9/9): The River Has No Fear of Memories | Taking a Stand: How to Live in Troubled Times from 2022-08-04T18:42:36
In the 1990s, Girish’s work and his public persona took a distinctly political turn as he began to respond overtly to what was happening around him. Here, Girish talks about how he created stron...
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182. #GirishKarnad(8/9): The River Has No Fear of Memories | Being an Existentialist from 2022-07-28T18:40:28
Does god exist? What is the source of morality? Girish’s plays often take on big moral and philosophical questions, questions that he asked himself about how to live in the world and how to be a...
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181. #GirishKarnad(7/9): The River Has No Fear of Memories | Making of Modern Indian Theatre ft. Shanta Gokhale and Sunil Shanbag Part II from 2022-07-21T20:06:36
What was Girish’s impact on the national theatre scene? Did his plays influence or inspire other playwrights and theatre makers? In Part 2 of this episode, Shanta Gokhale and Sunil Shanbag talk ...
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180. #GirishKarnad(6/9): The River Has No Fear of Memories|Making of Modern Indian Theatre ft. Shanta Gokhale and Sunil Shanbag Part I from 2022-07-14T17:20:36
What was Girish’s impact on the national theatre scene? Did his plays influence or inspire other playwrights and theatre makers? Part 1 of this 2-part episode features Shanta Gokhale and Sunil S...
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179. #GirishKarnad(5/9): The River Has No Fear of Memories | The Art and Craft of Playwriting Part II from 2022-07-08T03:28:24
Girish talks more about his dramatic and literary influences which range from classical Sanskrit plays like Mricchakatika to such avant garde practitioners as Jerzy Grotowski.
178. #GirishKarnad(4/9): The River Has No Fear of Memories | The Art and Craft of Playwriting Part I from 2022-06-30T19:51:04
Girish was a Kannada playwright, but his knowledge of theatre came from all over the world and from many languages. We explore his relationship with English and other languages and literatures. ...
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177. #GirishKarnad(3/9): The River Has No Fear of Memories | Geographies of Kannada part II ft. Vivek Shanbhag from 2022-06-23T17:16:37
The conversation with Vivek Shanbhag continues, touching upon the literary groups and movements that animated Kannada literature in the 1950s and 1960s. Girish talks about some of the people and...
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176. #GirishKarnad(2/9): The River Has No Fear of Memories | Geographies of Kannada part I ft. Vivek Shanbhag from 2022-06-16T17:56:47
Girish had a long friendship with the Kannada writer, Vivek Shanbhag, our special guest for this episode. Vivek prods Girish to talk about his challenges with writing contemporary plays. They al...
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175. #GirishKarnad(1/9) The River Has No Fear of Memories: An Introduction from 2022-06-09T19:07:28
In June 2019, a few days before his death, Girish Karnad and Arshia Sattar had extensive conversations about his work, his life, and the concerns that had occupied him over almost sixty years as...
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174. Seating Histories from 2022-06-09T07:59:33
Are you sitting down? Have you thought of what you are sitting on? What your favourite chair’s history is? Why do certain seats make us feels a certain way and make us gravitate towards them in ...
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173. Cricket and the Sub-Continent from 2022-05-31T18:04:47
War Minus the Shooting,talks about the 1996 Cricket World Cup and was published in 1998.
Combining personal reflecti...
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172. Understanding a Generation from 2022-05-12T10:15:13
Vivaan Marwaha talks about his learning in the process of writing his book, What Millennials Want, in a conversation with writer, poet and executive director of India Foundation for the...
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171. If Gandhi Were an Economist (with Jaithirth Rao&Rajni Bakshi) from 2022-04-06T02:18:08
Author & Founder of Ahimsa Conversations Rajni Bakshi engages Author, Poet & Entrepreneur Jaithirth Rao in a conversation based on his book Economist Gandhi – the first book on Gandhi t...
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170. When Private is Public from 2022-04-01T05:29:43
What is data? And why is it important that citizen have a right to privacy over their data?
As it turns out, We are data.
Digital rights activist, journalist and founder of Median...
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169. South Africa, Cricket and Social Transformation from 2022-03-18T09:31:05
South Africa has imposed transformation targets (quotas) in sports for over a decade. These aim to correct the under-representation of people of colour due to his...
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168. An Uplifting Mosaic from 2022-03-10T10:49:54
At Tokyo 2020, the Indian women’s hockey team made history by reaching their maiden Olympic semifinals. There was heart break in the semi finals. However, irrespective of the result, these playe...
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167. Public Reason versus Religious Authority from 2022-03-01T11:55:58
Examining the challenges posed by the present-day global order—-including political instability, the rise of authoritarianism, the epidemic of fake news and subve...
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166. Struck by Data from 2022-02-27T15:56:54
How do you see India?
Fuelled by a surge of migration to cities, the country's growth appears to be defined by urbanisation and by its growing, prosperous middle class. It is also defined...
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165. What's Shah Rukh Got to Do with It? from 2022-02-22T08:48:54
For more than a decade, from the villages of Uttar Pradesh to the night clubs of Delhi, Shrayana Bhattacharya followed the economic and personal lives of a diverse group of Indian women. Divided...
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164. Leadership Shastra from 2022-02-18T14:06:11
In his book Leadership Shastra, Pradeep Chakravarthy asks the question - What if history could be made to work for us in very real ways? And he answers it in a substantial rese...
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163. Acing the Odds from 2022-02-15T11:17:45
Former Doubles No.1, Sania Mirza became an instant sensation when she won the Wimbledon Championships girls’ doubles title at the age of sixteen. From 2003 until ...
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162. Stories from the Margins of History from 2022-02-11T06:12:43
The Scrolls & Leaves podcast is a labour of love for Mary Rose and Gayath...
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161. Stumbling onto Sustainable Farming from 2022-02-08T05:00
With an increasing number of urban, city dwellers finding their way back to agriculture, there’s a small but definite movement towards natural, organic, alternative methods of sustainable farmin...
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160. A Capital Budget from 2022-02-04T05:00
Historically the country’s annual budget exercise has been a major event and spectacle in the annual economic calendar. There was a time when the post budget analysis by people like Nani Palkiwa...
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159. The Impossible Indian from 2022-02-01T05:00
In this conversation with Vaibhav Vats, Dr. Faisal Devji, Professor of Indian History at St.Anthony’s College, University of Oxford, provides a glimpse into the ...
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158. Empire History through Family Narratives from 2022-01-28T08:43:08
Centring the narrative around a lively, erudite and thoroughly enjoyable history of one family from Malwa in Central India which held substantial land and various...
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157. The Multicultural War from 2022-01-25T05:00
On 28 May 1940, in the early days of the Second World War, Major Akbar Khan marched at the head of 299 soldiers along a beach in northern France. They were the on...
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156. All the Drama around K-Dramas from 2022-01-21T06:57:33
In recent times, with the proliferation of Over the Top Entertainment platforms and increased access to content from all over the world in various languages, If there’s has been a clear and visi...
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155. Theatre Now and Forever from 2022-01-17T09:49:43
In mid December, 2021, Dramaturg, Writer, Director & Cultural Critic Rustom Bharucha facilitated a week-long workshop for a cohort of 12 participants on Dramaturg...
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154. Following Your Calling from 2022-01-14T05:00
This episode of BIC Talks features Srikrishna Ramamoorthy in conversation with founder and chairman of Marico, Harsh Mariwala. While there’s a small chance his na...
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153. Understanding the Altruistic Imagination from 2022-01-11T05:00
What does it mean to devote yourself wholly to helping others? In her book Strangers DrowningListen
152. Talking Climate Change from 2022-01-07T05:00
Perhaps no other issue today is as confronting as our warming earth. What we need are thousands - millions - of everyday c...
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151. The Taliban Factor from 2022-01-04T05:00
India has been one of the biggest contributors towards global efforts at reconstructing Afghanistan. Over the last two decades, India’s development partnership wi...
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150. Colonial Art and the Museum from 2021-09-24T09:58:12
Art historian, writer and educator Alice Procter embarks on everything that a historian in mainstream establishment shuns. She speaks about colonial loot, whitene...
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149. Balancing the Bench from 2021-09-22T08:33:22
The question of judicial diversity has long featured in global discourse, encompassing demographic characteristics such as gender, race, ethnicity, religion, soci...
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148. Born a Muslim from 2021-09-15T11:50
Who are the Indian Muslims? Are they a monolithic community practising a faith alien to India? Or are they a diverse people, geographically rooted in the cultural...
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147. Singing the Vachanas from 2021-08-31T17:01:17
Vachana Sahitya is a form of literature unique to the Sharanas of the 11th to 13th Century CE in Karnataka. Vachana means speech. The Sharanas chose to use everyd...
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146. A Rude Life from 2021-08-26T12:25:34
History is famously unkind and there are few who witness a changing world and can set the record straight.
In this n...
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145. Musically Speaking from 2021-08-24T18:05:41
When musicians of two proudly distinct though overlapping traditions encounter each other as two contemplative artists and thinking people of music, the conversat...
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144. Evolution of Science and Innovation in India from 2021-08-22T05:35:08
In this episode of BIC Talks, historian of science Jahnavi Phalkey speaks with eminent scientist Raghunath Mashelkar about his journey in scientific-industrial research, his leadership style, t...
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143. Following the Brahmaputra from 2021-08-19T03:29:34
The Brahmaputra born as Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet transforms into the Dihang R...
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142. Constitutional Morality from 2021-08-15T11:11:02
“The diffusion of constitutional morality, not merely among the majority of any community but throughout the whole, is the indispensable condition of a government”.
... Listen
141. Sing of Life from 2021-08-11T13:21:21
Rabindranth Tagore’s profound meditations on life, nature, grace and brokenness in the Gitanjali Listen
140. Medicine Women from 2021-08-08T05:37:36
Ever wondered why there so few scientific discoveries, breakthroughs and inventions are attributed to women? A historically occurring problem of erasure and prevention of female presence in majo...
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139. The Right Honourable VS Srinivasa Sastri from 2021-08-04T07:29:53
A celebrated politician, scholar and diplomat in his lifetime, V.S. Srinivasa Sastri (1869-1946) is now a largely forgotten figure. Hailed as the ‘very voice of i...
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138. Vikram Sarabhai’s Legacy from 2021-07-29T12:38:35
Known as the Father of India's Space Programme, Vikram Sarabhai's interests included space and nuclear energy, architecture, industry and business, institution bu...
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137. Cemetery Labour During the Pandemic from 2021-07-25T11:46:47
As COVID-19 raged through Bangalore, the city’s crematoria and burial grounds were overwhelmed with the dead and their grieving kin. The hard labour of processing...
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136. 'Begunah Qaidi' | Innocent Prisoners from 2021-07-21T18:50:55
On July 11, 2006 tragedy struck when a series of bombs went off along the Western line of the suburban train network in Mumbai killing and injuring commuters by the hundreds. In the investigatio...
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135. Karunanidhi: A Life from 2021-07-16T17:36:25
Writer-politician Muthuvel Karunanidhi is amongst the most important political figures India has ever seen. He was the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for five terms...
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134. Understanding the Indian Identity from 2021-07-13T09:52:13
Neha Sahgal, Associate Director, Pew Research Center walks us through the major new Pew Research Center survey of religion across India that has been subject to m...
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133. Jamaica’s Greatest Export (with Bob Santelli) from 2021-07-09T22:55:59
Bob Santelli, the Founding Executive Director of the GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles and a noted blues and rock historian takes us on a journey of understanding the ...
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132. Festschrift for Ram Guha from 2021-07-03T18:12:48
Ramachandra Guha has been an astute and lucid guide to Indian history, with an ability to paint both the broad canvas as well fill in the minute details. Most peo...
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131. The Light of Asia from 2021-07-01T03:01:18
The Light of Asia is an epic poem by Sir Edwin Arnold that was first published in 1879. It is a narrative of the life and message of the Buddha. It quickly became...
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130. The Essence of Sufism from 2021-06-26T14:22:21
In this episode of BIC Talks author Moin Mir and historian Rana Safvi discuss ‘The Lost Fragrance of Infinity’, a historical novel by Moin that glows with the ess...
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129. Gandhi&Broadcasting from 2021-06-22T16:12:23
‘Do I talk into this thing?’ These were the first words ever broadcast live, albeit inadvertently, by Mohandas Gandhi ahead of his speech to the USA. The year was 1931 ...
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128. Relevance of a Story Writer from 2021-06-19T11:45:42
Saadat Hasan Manto was born on 11 May, 1912 in Ludhiana. Bangalore International Centre and Bangalore Literature Festival marked the author and playwright’s birth...
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127. India’s Infrastructure Laws and its Practice from 2021-06-15T15:31:12
This conversation around understanding India’s investments in infrastructure links recent laws and practices relating to these projects, and provides an approach to these issues from a commercia...
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126. K Balagopal: The Conscience of the Collective Self from 2021-06-11T06:06:09
This episode of BIC Talks remembers an individual who has been described as “the conscience of the collective self known as Andhra society”. Arvind Narrain in a c...
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125. The Spirit of Enquiry from 2021-06-08T07:26:40
The word Dissent in its various misinterpretations has been in use for a while; within the zeitgeist of uncertainty that we are now living in, the immediacy of an engaged artist, citize...
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124. Remembering Vanraj Bhatia's Music from 2021-06-05T18:30:27
This episode of BIC talks is an extract from a BIC Streams session, where Zubin Balaporia and Shwetant Kumar take us on a journey celebrating Vanraj Bhatia's music and memory on what would have ...
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123. The Coming of Age of Indian Science from 2021-06-01T07:34:04
How do you build a scientifically and te...
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122. Solving Period Poverty from 2021-05-26T14:24:11
We are well into the 21st century, and yet 50% of women and girls in developing countries, including India, cannot afford basic sanitary products to manage their periods, and rely on unhygienic ...
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121. Trade&Faith from 2021-05-23T13:56:26
Between the twelfth and sixteenth centuries, a distinct form of Islamic thought and practice developed among Muslim trading communities of the Indian Ocean. In th...
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120. The Art of a Happy Exit from 2021-05-19T15:23:09
'So, what's your exit strategy?' The question often leaves most entrepreneurs stumped as running a business leaves little time to think about anything else.
While business owners recognis...
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119. Learning from Epidemics Past from 2021-05-15T18:56:10
The enduring persistence, resurgence and mutation of many epidemic diseases have made apparent the problematic nature of the ‘epidemic disease narrative’ in the 2...
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118. The Premier In Our Lives from 2021-05-11T17:42:31
Memories of a city and its unique brand of life come from the people who make it memorable and places that work as pegs for those memories. One such person who cr...
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117. The Experiments of a Young Gandhi from 2021-05-08T15:23:24
Gandhi’s autobiography is famous for the austerity of its narration, and its veracity. Less known are his autobiographical observations made, almost incidentally,...
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116. The First Battle of Indian Liberalism from 2021-05-04T13:39:16
This episode of BIC Talks with author and historian Tripurdaman Singh and lawyer Siddharth Raja contextualises and discusses the lead up to the first ever amendme...
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115. The Art of Mediation from 2021-05-01T10:47:51
In this episode renowned lawyer Sriram Panchu, pioneer of Mediation in India speaks with Kamala Naganand on the evolution of Mediation as a successful dispute res...
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114. Life in the Sciences from 2021-04-27T10:21:25
Is India obsessed with IT & engineering studies and are we ignoring investment in pure science education? With the limited resources we have shouldn’t we be focus...
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113. The Black Panther Files 2 from 2021-04-24T09:45:46
After five years of trying to spot the elusive black panther – Karia – of the Kabini forest, author and philanthropist Rohini Nilekani completes her story after finally sighting the black panthe...
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112. Finding Common Ground from 2021-04-20T18:28:25
While stating that Hinduism is not a religion but a collection of practices associated with the space now called India, MK Raghavendra, critic, film scholar and w...
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111. Innovating Government from 2021-04-15T22:00
In this episode Vivek Wadhwa author, academic, entrepreneur explores the ideas in his book 'From Incremental to Exponential: How Large Companies Can See the Future and Re...
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110. The Queer Politics of Postcoloniality from 2021-04-13T14:45:20
Rahul Rao, scholar and author of Out of Time: The Queer Politics of Postcoloniality, in conversation with writer Kavya Murthy talks about the inheritance that the former colonies are living with...
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109. India’s Violent Borderlands from 2021-04-10T04:19:16
Suchitra Vijayan, author of Midnight’s Borders: A People’s History of Modern India, talks about what propelled her to travel 9,000 miles along India’s borderlands. In conversation with Vaibhav V...
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108. Lineages of the Present from 2021-04-06T09:59:18
Manu V Devadevan interviews HS Shivaprakash on the beginning of his life as a poet, his influences and his evolution - personal and literary - over half a century...
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107. Memories of Libraries and Archives from 2021-04-02T12:57:42
In this spirited lecture, which was originally a LISA distinguished lecture delivered in March 2021, the historian Ramachandra Guha recalls some memorable experie...
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106. The People’s Process from 2021-03-29T22:00
Bilal Zaidi, founder of the political tech start up, OurDemocracy.in, is in conversation with Sweta Daga, as he gets to the brass tacks of the electoral campaign system in India. This conversati...
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105. Talking US Politics from 2021-03-27T06:31:03
Edward Luce, one of the most highly regarded commentators on US politics, talks about the dynamics of US politics, and the impact of the newly elected US governme...
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104. Fish Have No Borders from 2021-03-24T04:49:19
Researcher Siddharth Chakravarty and anthropologist & researcher Vani Sreekanta exchange notes on their most recent visit to West Bengal post the lifting of the lockdown. They talk about complex...
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103. Vitality of Verse from 2021-03-18T22:00
The elemental relevance of poetry in lives and times such as ours is what binds this conversation with poet Ranjit Hoskote and Journalist Supriya Nair together. R...
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102. A Pivot to Podcasting from 2021-03-16T04:04:48
Pavan Srinath talks to Lekha Naidu about creating BIC Talks and releasing 100 episodes of the podcast since March 2020, when the pandemic lockdowns began in India...
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101. Scandal in the Time of Corona from 2021-03-13T14:50:47
In early March 2020 as the shadow of the pandemic loomed large and uncertainty - financial and otherwise was the order of the day, Yes Bank joined a long parade o...
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100. The Life and Art of MS Subbulakshmi from 2021-03-11T05:50:52
Author Keshav Desiraju and music enthusiast Vishnu Vasudev discuss Mr. Desiraju’s latest book Of Gifted Voice that looks at MS Subbulakshmi’s life and times, and the great musical tradi...
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99. Rediscovering Dadabhai Naoroji from 2021-03-05T15:01:22
Historians Dinyar Patel and Prashant Kidambi discuss the life and legacy of Dadabhai Naoroji, who Gandhi referred to as the ‘Father of the Nation’. Dinyar has aut...
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98. Glimpses of Kabul from 2021-03-01T23:00
Authors Taran Khan and Samhita Arni share personal experiences and stories from their time spent in Kabul, peeling away the many layers that make up the city and ...
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97. Bengal Politics in Flux from 2021-02-25T23:00
Jawhar Sircar and Siddharth Raja discuss the political dynamics of West Bengal, in the run up to the state assembly elections of 2021. They discuss the political ...
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96. Fire-Proofing Our Cities from 2021-02-22T23:00
Fire safety engineer Sumit Khanna and Vasanthi Hariprakash talk about how each of us can play our role in reducing the risk of fire accidents as we lead our lives...
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95. Dancing Women in Indian Cinema from 2021-02-18T23:00
Author and scholar Usha Iyer talks to dancer Poorna Swami about the rich history of women dancing in Hindi cinema. Usha and Poorna explore the agency and power dy...
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94. Succeeding in Business Ethically from 2021-02-16T12:38:26
Author and business leader Hema Hattangady talks to editor Karthik Venkatesh and shares her personal and professional journey from when she Listen
93. Mass Media and Public Engagement from 2021-02-11T22:00
This podcast episode features a presentation by poet, cultural theorist, writer, translator and independent curator, Ranjit Hoskote, followed by a discussion with...
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92. India's Nuclear Energy Journey from 2021-02-09T05:52:14
Padma Vibhushan & Atomic Energy Guru Dr MR Srinivasan and Science Historian Dr Jahnavi Phalkey discuss the rich story of India’s nuclear programme and its develop...
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91. Towards Real Climate Action from 2021-02-05T16:19:33
Zaid Hassan and Sweta Daga discuss how systemic climate action is possible, and how significant climate change mitigation is possible by building thousands of tea...
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90. Budget 2021: Promise and Reality from 2021-02-02T23:10:48
Columnist and Emerging Markets investor Narayan Ramachandran returns to BIC Talks to talk to host Pavan Srinath about the Government of India budget, from a large...
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89. Music and South Asia from 2021-01-29T04:45:11
Ambassador Nirupama Menon Rao speaks to artists and scholars Ahmad Naser Sarmast, Neil Nongkynrih and Ravibandhu Vidyapathi about how a South Asian identity can b...
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88. A Test Series for the Ages from 2021-01-25T16:34:11
India is yet to get over its giddy excitement with the recently completed cricket Test series that was truly one for the ages. After being written off by all experts post the Adelaide Test (wher...
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87. Kesavananda Bharati and the Basic Structure Doctrine from 2021-01-21T23:30
Sudhir Krishnaswamy and Shruti Viswanathan unpack the enduring impact of the Indian Constitution’s Basic Structure doctrine on India’s socio-political and judicia...
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86. South Asian Identity through Music from 2021-01-18T23:30
Ambassador Nirupama Menon Rao speaks to musicians TM Krishna and Ali Sethi about how a South Asian identity can be expressed through music.
85. Malik Ambar and African Origin Leaders in India from 2021-01-15T15:46:15
Historian Omar H Ali talks about African origin leaders and shapers of medieval India on Episode 85 of BIC Talks.
Af...
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84. A Harsh Winter in Ladakh from 2021-01-11T23:30
Strategic affairs analyst, journalist, and former Indian Army officer Sushant Singh talks to host Pavan Srinath about the India-China conflict in Ladakh, eight mo...
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83. Women's Sexuality from Colonial to Modern India from 2021-01-07T23:00
Durba Mitra and Sreeparna Chattopadhyay discuss Durba’s book, “Indian Sex Lif...
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82. Working with Kahn from 2021-01-05T09:13:55
In this episode, Architect Bijoy Ramachandran speaks to Prof. Rabindra Vasavada, a celebrated practitioner, conservationist, teacher and historian about his time at the IIM Ahmedabad site office...
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81. Food and Faith from 2021-01-01T14:16:29
In this episode author Shoba Narayan discusses her new book- Food and Faith - A Pilgrim's Journey Through India with poet and scholar Mani Rao.
What is the role of religion in y...
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80. Romancing the Black Panther from 2020-12-30T08:31:56
The elusive Kariya or Saya, resident of the Nagarahole forests has become the stuff of folklore and legends, sending sighters into a tizzy. He even has his own film.
79. Masala Lab from 2020-12-25T14:03:36
This podcast is based on a talk that author Krish Ashok gave at the Bangalore Literature Festival 2020 at the Bangalore International Centre.
Ever wondered why your grandmother threw a te...
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78. The Story of Suprabhatam from 2020-12-22T10:06:52
Author Venkatesh Parthasarathy talks to Karthik Venkatesh about his first book around the history of one of India's most loved prayer, Suprabhatam.
Prativadi Bhayankaram Anna...
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77. Liveable Cities and Vibrant Commons from 2020-12-17T23:00
In this episode Sociologist Amita Baviskar discusses her book Uncivil City: Ecology, Equity and the Commons in Delhi.
Cities are now habitat for most of humanity. But do they ha...
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76. Of Vajpayee and Advani from 2020-12-16T05:43:13
Political scientist, lawyer and journalist Vinay Sitapati speaks to entrepreneur Manish Sabharwal on his book Jugalbandi.
Narendra Modi has been a hundred years in the making. Vi...
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75. India’s Endless Rural Crisis from 2020-12-10T23:30
Economist Narendar Pani talks to journalist Anusha Ravi Sood about rural India’s enduring economic and social crisis that does not seem to have an end in sight. <...
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74. British Rapacity from 2020-12-08T12:12:19
In this podcast William Dalrymple and Moin Mir discuss The East India Company through their books The Anarchy and Surat: Fall of a Port. Rise of a Prince...
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73. Vaccines Ahead from 2020-12-03T23:00
Medical Scientist Dr Gagandeep Kang returns to BIC Talks and speaks to host Pavan Srinath about the latest news on COVID-19 vaccines, and the road ahead for publi...
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72. Girls Out of School from 2020-12-01T15:04:44
Jyotsna Jha talks to host Pavan Srinath about how Indian girl children have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
71. The Police and the Politician from 2020-11-27T07:45:50
India's police forces have long been under the direct control of state politicians, but the challenge of police politicisation is coming the fore increasingly in rece...
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70. The Tale of a Colonial Shikhari from 2020-11-24T07:35:38
Joshua Mathew talks to Sheila Kumar about the life and story of Donald Anderson (1934-2014), one of the last colonial hunters or shikharis, who was a resident of ...
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69. How far has COVID-19 really spread in Karnataka? from 2020-11-20T09:00:14
The COVID-19 pandemic has always spread faster than we can test for, and it’s all the more true in India. We have known for a while now that f...
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68. Civil Liberties Ignored from 2020-11-17T08:33:47
Mayur Suresh talks to host Pavan Srinath about the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), and how thousands of Indians are in prison or in custody, without re...
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67. Sovereignty before the Indian Republic from 2020-11-13T07:33:16
Caleb Simmons and Manu S Pillai talk about how sovereignty was conceived in India in the 18th and 19th centuries. They explore how two very different rules of Mys...
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66. Relationships in Modern India from 2020-11-09T23:00
Simran Mangharam and Dipti Ramesh talk about how modern relationships and marriages are evolving in urban India. They explore how gender and personal dynamics are...
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65. Maryada: Moral Compass in Individuals from 2020-11-06T09:16:48
Scholar and translator Arshia Sattar speaks to editor and critic Somak Ghoshal about her new book Maryada: Searching for Dharma in the Ramayana<...
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64. From Lincoln to Trump from 2020-11-03T05:41:07
In this podcast Professor Zelizer in conversation with Prateeti Punja Ballal examines the origins of the Republican Party, the GOP, since the 1950s, focusing on how it changed from becoming the ...
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63. HP Gandhi and the World of Diatoms from 2020-10-30T13:03:06
Researcher Karthick Bala talks to host Pavan Srinath about the microscopic world of diatoms, and discusses the life and work of HP Gandhi, a pioneer in the study ...
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62. Sex in Indian Epics & Literature from 2020-10-26T22:00
Authors Devi Yesodharan and Samhita Arni talk about how sex is depicted in literature and epics and how they can inform healthier conversations in the 21st centur...
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61. Chowdiah and the Music of Mysore from 2020-10-23T12:42:40
Musician and Museum Director Manasi Prasad joins host Pavan Srinath to talk about the life and work of Mysore T Chowdiah (1885 – 1967), violin maestro, innovator,...
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60. Indian Americans in US Politics from 2020-10-19T22:30
Milan Vaishnav joins host Pavan Srinath to talk about the rise of Indian Americans in US politics. They discuss how Indian Americans might vote in the upcoming 2020 US Presidential Elections, polit...
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59. Making of Cultures in Early India from 2020-10-15T22:30
Romila Thapar as part of 'The Satish Chandra Memorial Lecture' discusses two categories of migrants, the pastoralists and the traders up to about the fourteenth century. The interface between the h...
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58. Farm Reforms Need Farmers' Trust from 2020-10-13T09:55:16
Economist Ajit Ranade talks to host Pavan Srinath about the recent national legislations on farming and agricultural markets, and the reason for widespread farmer protests across the country.
...
57. Moulding a Musician from 2020-10-08T22:30
Musician and scholar Dr Sumathi Krishnan talks to host Pavan Srinath about what makes a great musician and performer. She discusses how the Carnatic classical music tradition approaches training an...
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56. 'The Immortal Beloved' from 2020-10-05T22:30
This podcast presents the final segment of our four-part series ‘Beethoven Variations: A Poet’s Journey through the Music and Life of Beethoven’.
Poet Ruth Padel and Pianist Karl Lutchmaye...
55. 'The Essence of Romanticism' from 2020-10-01T22:30
In Part 3 of the series, poet Ruth Padel and pianist Karl Lutchmayer take us through the time when Beethoven is thirty-five, and Napoleon’s army captures and occupies Vienna and its Empire. Along w...
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54. Artistic Triumph, Failure in Love from 2020-09-28T22:30
This podcast presents the second segment of our four-part series ‘Beethoven Variations: A Poet’s Journey through the Music and Life of Beethoven’ with renowned British poet Ruth Padel and eminent p...
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53. The Young Beethoven from 2020-09-24T22:30
This is the first segment of our four-part series ‘Beethoven Variations: A Poet’s Journey through the Music and Life of Beethoven’ with renowned British poet Ruth Padel and eminent pianist Karl Lut...
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52. State of Housing in India from 2020-09-21T22:30
Architects, educators and curators Rahul Mehrotra and Kaiwan Mehta talk to host Pavan Srinath about the ideas behind the ongoing ‘State of Housing – Aspirations, Imaginaries and Realities in India’...
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51. The Life and Work of MM Kalburgi from 2020-09-17T22:30
Historian and Infosys Prize Winner Manu V. Devadevan talks about the life and work of MM Kalburgi.
Born in a peasant family in 1938, Professor MM Kalburgi became one of the most influenti...
50. Conservation and Conflict in Hampi from 2020-09-14T22:30
Heritage practitioner-scholar Krupa Rajangam talks to host Pavan Srinath about how a noble effort like heritage conservation can end up displacing and inflicting everyday violence on people living ...
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49. A New Deal for City Governments from 2020-09-10T22:30
Why are Indian city governments so weak and toothless? Is it because Indian has failed to implement the 74th Constitutional Amendment, or are there fundamental flaws with the amendment itself?
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48. Pastoralism: Living and Working on the Move from 2020-09-07T22:30
Vasant Saberwal from the Centre for Pastoralism talks to Aarati Halbe about the life, livelihood and challenges of pastoral communities of India.
Vasant and Aarati discuss how pastoral co...
47. Can the Indian Economy bounce back? from 2020-09-04T17:25:53
Columnist and emerging markets investor Narayan Ramachandran returns to BIC Talks to talk to host Pavan Srinath about how the US Fed’s actions have given a breather for the Indian economy.
46. The US Fed's Great Shift: Employment over Inflation from 2020-09-01T00:59:18
Columnist and emerging markets investor Narayan Ramachandran talks to host Pavan Srinath about the US Federal Reserve and its monumental recent announcements.
What does a shift from infla...
45. Looking Back: Cholera Control and Colonialism from 2020-08-28T04:52:09
BIC Talks is pleased to present the first episode of a brand new podcast, Scrolls and Leaves, on Pandemics and Borders.
Scrolls & Leaves is a podcast featuring stories from the margins of...
44. Period Leave from 2020-08-25T09:39:24
Can Indian companies start providing period leave for women, following Zomato and others’ lead? Radhika Radhakrishnan talks to Padmini Ray Murray about this important aspect of making workplaces be...
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43. An Evening in the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel from 2020-08-22T12:30
Did you know that Deborah Moggach’s book ‘These Foolish Things’ was based in Bangalore? This was made into the movie The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and became Jaipur’s gain!
Deborah Moggac...
42. Justice Frustrated from 2020-08-17T22:30
Harish Narasappa and Sarayu Natarajan explore the wide-ranging implications of judicial delays on Indian society, delve into why delayed justice is such a pernicious problem and how it can be addre...
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41. The Pandemic in Focus from 2020-08-15T08:29:18
Anthropologists Veena Das and Maya Ratnam explore what sociology and anthropology can inform us about the ongoing pandemic and crisis, how it affects the everyday lives of people, the nature of the...
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40. The Future of Meat from 2020-08-11T08:17:35
Varun Deshpande and Ramya Ramamurthy of the Good Food Institute discuss the future of meat and the viability of plant-based substitutes with researcher and journalist Shailesh Rai.
They ta...
39. Insurgent Empire from 2020-08-06T22:30
Writers Priyamvada Gopal and Salil Tripathi talk about about Priyamvada’s latest book, Insurgent Empire: How rebellious slave colonies changed British attitudes to Empire (2019).
Insurgent Empi...
38. Land in Conflict (with Kumar Sambhav) from 2020-08-04T08:29:47
Kumar Sambhav from Land Conflict Watch talks to host Pavan Srinath about the trends, nature and root causes of land conflicts in India.
They discuss land conflicts that arise from infrastr...
37. Every Creature Has a Story to Tell from 2020-07-30T22:30
Janaki Lenin shares tales from her latest book,¸Every Creature Has a Story, with host Pavan Srinath. Janaki and Pavan also discuss nature writing, the challenges of connecting readers to the strang...
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36. The Life and Legacy of VKRV Rao from 2020-07-27T22:30
Economists SL Rao, Uma Kapila and Ravi Kanbur discuss the life and work of V.K.R.V. Rao. V.K.R.V. Rao (1908-1991) was an eminent Indian economist, politician and institution builder. The founder of...
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35. Identity, Belonging and Dislocation from 2020-07-23T22:30
Author Annie Zaidi and writer Poorna Swami discuss home, belonging, displacement and identity on Episode 35 of BIC Talks. Annie Zaidi won the Nine Dots Prize for 2019-20 by exploring the question, ...
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34. Nandi Hills through the Ages from 2020-07-20T22:30
Siddharth Raja walks host Pavan Srinath and listeners through the rich history of the Nandi Hills, north of the city of Bangalore. Siddharth shares glimpses of the region’s rich geological, medieva...
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33. Women who shaped the Indian Republic from 2020-07-16T22:30
Priya Ravichandran and Shruti Viswanathan discuss the role of women in the Constitution making and nation building process. They explore the contributions of individual women members of the Constit...
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32. India in the Persianate Age from 2020-07-14T10:08:14
Historian Richard M. Eaton talks to Prashant Keshavmurthy about his latest book, India and the Persianate Age: 1000 to 1765. Richard and Prashant discuss how the complex interaction, coexistence, a...
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31. Trans Lives: Quest for Dignity from 2020-07-09T22:30
Trans rights activist and academic Bittu, and research communicator Tejas AP discuss the challenges faced by the Trans community in India, the politics and policies around trans rights, and the que...
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30. Navigating the US Visa ban from 2020-07-06T22:30
Noted US Immigration Attorney Sheela Murthy talks to Strategic HR Advisor Hema Ravichandar on navigating the latest ban and restrictions of US Visas.
In June 2020, the Trump Administratio...
29. Japan and the Writer's Life from 2020-07-04T09:30
Pico Iyer talks to fellow author and journalist Samanth Subramaniam about his 32 years of living in Japan, learning from an ancient culture that remains hauntingly familiar and entirely impenetrabl...
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28. The Statues are Falling! from 2020-06-29T22:30
Rahul Rao and Poorna Swami discuss whether cities, nations and communities should retain statues honouring 18th or 19th century slave traders and imperialists.
There are movements to brin...
27. Winding Path to Trans Equality from 2020-06-25T22:30
Supreme Court Advocate Jayna Kothari and Tejas AP talk about trans rights, important legal judgments in India, the US and elsewhere in recent years, and the path towards gender equity and inclusion...
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26. Mapping the India - China border from 2020-06-22T22:30
Aeronautical engineer and retired test pilot Joseph Thomas talks to host Pavan Srinath about aerial survey and mapping of the India-China border, the evolution of mapping technology, and explains t...
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25. Discovering a New Species in 2020 from 2020-06-18T22:30
Evolutionary biologist and herpetologist Ishan Agarwal talks to host Pavan Srinath about discovering new species of geckos and other wildlife in India.
India’s ecosystems and biodiversity...
24. Novels and Writers are Here to Stay from 2020-06-15T22:30
Bestselling author Chetan Bhagat talks to Journalist Shrabonti Bagchi about the COVID-19 pandemic, his reactions to it as a writer, and about the future of books and publishing beyond 2020.
Thi...
23. Glimpses of India's Deep Natural History from 2020-06-12T06:30:54
Pranay Lal returns to BIC Talks and regales host Pavan Srinath with numerous stories from India and the World’s deep past.
Did you know that the granite slab in your kitchen is cut from a bill...
22. A Chief of Defence Staff for India from 2020-06-08T22:30
Admiral Arun Prakash and Lt General (Dr) Prakash Menon discuss the creation of a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) position in India in 2019-2020, a reform idea that is even older than the Republic of I...
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21. Re-wilding Cities from 2020-06-04T22:30
Author and scholar Harini Nagendra joins host Pavan Srinath and BIC’s Raghu Tenkayala to discuss how to re-wild India’s cities, for the World Environment Day episode of BIC Talks.
The di...
20. Treating Cancer from 2020-06-02T00:30
Oncologist Dr. Hari Menon of Cytecare Cancer Hospital, Bengaluru talks to host Pavan Srinath about how treatable cancer is today, and a how cancer diagnosis is no longer always terminal.
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19. The Natural History of Viruses from 2020-05-29T00:30
Author, environmentalist and biochemist Pranay Lal talks to host Pavan Srinath about the curious world of viruses, their natural history, biology, and their role in maintaining human and global sys...
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18. The Search for a Coronavirus Cure from 2020-05-26T00:30
Dr. Gagandeep Kang talks to host Pavan Srinath about ongoing drug development efforts against COVID-19. She discusses the challenges of developing antiviral medicines, unpacks the drug discovery pr...
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17. Cultural Metaphors from 2020-05-22T00:30
Indian Ambassador Nirupama Menon Rao and Pakistani singer/writer Ali Sethi engage on the meaning of South Asian identity today. Is there a logic that makes for greater South Asian integration?
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16. Being a Smart City CEO from 2020-05-19T00:30
Raj Cherubal, CEO of Chennai Smart City Limited, talks to Pavan Srinath and Ravichandar about his life as an outsider, now working in an executive role within government - he is the first 'non Gove...
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15. Aarogya Setu protocol from 2020-05-15T08:00:07
Arghya Sengupta, Founder and Research Director at the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, talks to host Pavan Srinath about the Aarogya Setu app. He discusses how the app works, its benefits to health s...
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14. Legislating a Pandemic Response from 2020-05-12T00:30
M.R. Madhavan, President of PRS Legislative Research, talks to host Pavan Srinath about how the Indian State and Union legislatures have been missing in action during the COVID-19 pandemic.
13. Migrants in Torment from 2020-05-08T00:30
Journalist Rohini Mohan talks to Clifton D’Rozario and Rajendran Narayanan on the dire challenges faced by millions of migrant workers stranded across India during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdow...
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12. WhatsUp With Media from 2020-05-05T00:30
Journalist Krishna Prasad talks to Ravichandar about the disturbing present and future of news media in India. India ranks 140 out of 180 in press freedom in 2020, and the COVID-19 pandemic and loc...
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11. The Fiscal Action We Need Now from 2020-05-01T00:30
Eminent economist and former member of the 13th Finance Commission, Dr. Indira Rajaraman, talks to host Pavan Srinath about what immediate fiscal action can be taken by Union and State governments ...
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10. Pandemics in Prose from 2020-04-28T00:30
Samhita Arni and Gautham Shenoy discuss pandemic literature and what they reveal about the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, with host Pavan Srinath.
Stories set during pandemics reveal a lot abou...
9. The Future of Performing Arts from 2020-04-24T00:30
Arundhati Nag, Nandita Das and V Ravichandar join host Pavan Srinath for a conversation on the future of arts and culture in India.
They discuss how artists from all walks of Indian socie...
8. Quest for a Vaccine from 2020-04-21T00:30
Award-winning Medical Scientist Dr. Gagandeep Kang talks to host Pavan Srinath about the development of vaccines, ongoing efforts on COVID-19, and the challenges of developing immunity and resistan...
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7. A Pandemic and American Politics from 2020-04-17T00:30
DC-based Chidanand Rajghatta talks to Ravichandar and Pavan Srinath.
New York City and the United States are the global centres of the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020, with 500,000+ infect...
6. Locked in: Mental Health, circa Covid-19 from 2020-04-14T07:17:09
Dr. Shyam K Bhat and Anna Chandy in conversation with host Pavan Srinath.
Mental health remains a stigma 2020. How can Indians overcome anxiety and depression? What are the new challenges...
5. Double Trouble: A Pandemic meets India's Banking Crisis from 2020-04-11T04:00:39
The world in 2020 is facing an unprecedented health crisis and a daunting economic crisis. India has a festering banking crisis that makes dealing with the economic fallout of COVID-19 all the more...
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4. A Reformer We Forgot: VP Menon from 2020-04-06T23:30
Ambassador Nirupama Menon Rao talks to historian Narayani Basu about Narayani’s latest book: VP Menon: The Unsung Architect of Modern India.
Who was VP Menon, and how did history forget th...
3. Hospital Preparedness for Covid-19 in India from 2020-04-02T23:30
Dr. H Sudarshan Ballal, Chairman of the Manipal Group of Hospitals, speaks to host Pavan Srinath and provides clarity about what the Indian Health system needs to do handle Covid-19. Dr. Ballal is ...
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2. Ramping up India's Covid-19 testing from 2020-03-30T17:57:42
Dr. Vijay Chandru, Chairman Strand Life Sciences is in conversation with Pavan Srinath. Dr. Chandru talks about the nature of the SARS-COV-2 genome and the race to ramp up testing in India.
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1. Tackling Covid-19 with Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw from 2020-03-27T17:47:11
Dr. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw talks to Pavan Srinath on day 1 of the 21 day lock down in India. She talks about the need for the lock down, the need for more focussed testing, the availability of test ki...
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Episode 0: Starting Out from 2020-03-26T17:00:52
BIC Talks continues the BIC ethos - to inform, engage and delight listeners. Episode 1 is a soft launch. Ravichandar, Raghu Tenkayala and Lekha Naidu of BIC are in conversation with host, Pavan Sri...
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