Episodes

  • Ep 442: A Masterclass on Regulation (and Deregulation)

    Ep 442: A Masterclass on Regulation (and Deregulation)
    Apr 20 2026
    We keep using the terms 'regulation' and 'deregulation' -- and now it's time for a primer. Shruti Rajagopalan joins Amit Varma in episode 442 of The Seen and the Unseen go discuss first principles AND get into the weeds. What is regulation? When do we need it? When do we not? What's India's journey been like? And finally, why is deregulation both important and difficult? (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out 1. Shruti Rajagopalan on Twitter, Substack, Instagram, her podcast, Ideas of India and her own website. 2. Emergent Ventures India, which is run by Shruti. 3. The 1991 Project. 4. Shruti Rajagopalan Remembers the Angle of the Light -- Episode 410 of The Seen and the Unseen. 5. The Importance of the 1991 Reforms — Episode 237 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan and Ajay Shah). 6. Shruti Rajagopalan Dives Into Delimitation -- Episode 336 of The Seen and the Unseen. 7. All past episodes of The Seen and the Unseen w Shruti Rajagopalan, in reverse chronological order: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21. 8. Urinal regulation in the Factories Act, 1948. 9. Four Seasons in Rome -- Anthony Doerr. 10. Premature Imitation and India’s Flailing State — Shruti Rajagopalan & Alexander Tabarrok. 11. Elite Imitation in Public Policy -- Episode 180 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan and Alex Tabarrok). 12. The Curse of Knowledge. 13. Every Act of Government Is an Act of Violence -- Amit Varma. 14. Understanding the State -- Episode 25 of Everything is Everything. 15. The Wealth of Nations -- Adam Smith. 16. The Double ‘Thank You’ Moment — John Stossel. 17. Profit = Philanthropy — Amit Varma. 18. Traffic -- Tom Vanderbilt. 19. Tonight Is the Night I Fell Asleep at the Wheel -- Barenaked Ladies. 20. Driving in a Foreign Country -- My Italian Diaries: 7 -- Amit Varma. 21. Marching For Salt -- Amit Varma. 22. The Transitional Gains Trap -- Gordon Tullock. 23. Interventionism: An Economic Analysis -- Ludwig von Mises. 24. Mises's dynamics of interventionism: Lessons from Indian agriculture -- Shruti Rajagopalan. 25. Gandhi -- Richard Attenborough. 26. Anton Howes on Trade, Innovation, and the Forgotten History of Salt -- The Ideas of India podcast. 27. Age of Invention, by Anton Howes. 28. A People's Constitution -- Rohit De. 29. The Life and Times of Montek Singh Ahluwalia — Episode 285 of The Seen and the Unseen. 30. The Forgotten Greatness of PV Narasimha Rao — Episode 283 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vinay Sitapati). 31. The Life and Times of the Indian Economy -- Episode 387 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rajeswari Sengupta). 32. The Road to the 1991 Industrial Policy Reforms and Beyond: A Personalized Narrative from the Trenches -- Rakesh Mohan. 33. The Use of Knowledge in Society -- Friedrich Hayek. 34. Four Papers That Changed the World -- Episode 41 of Everything is Everything. 35. A Sixth Of Humanity -- Devesh Kapur and Arvind Subramanian. 36. Entry and Exit in Agriculture -- Episode 1 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pavan Srinath and Karthik Shashidhar). 37. Bootleggers and Baptists-The Education of a Regulatory Economist — Bruce Yandle. 38. Farmers, Technology and Freedom of Choice: A Tale of Two Satyagrahas -- Amit Varma. 39. The State of Our Farmers — Episode 86 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Gunvant Patil). 40. Talking to an Empty Room -- Sharad Joshi's speeches in the Rajya Sabha. 41. Raees: An Empty Shell of a Gangster Film — Amit Varma. 42. The Loneliness of the Indian Woman — Episode 259 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shrayana Bhattacharya). 43. Public Choice Theory Explains SO MUCH -- Episode 33 of Everything is Everything. 44. Public Choice Theory -- Episode 121 of The Seen and the Unseen. 45. Blendjet. 46. The Whole Truth Foods protein powder that Amit has. 47. The Reflections of Samarth Bansal — Episode 299 of The Seen and the Unseen. 48. The Bad and Complex Tax -- Episode 74 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan). 49. India’s Supreme Court -- Episode 123 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan). 50. Restaurant Regulations in India — Episode 18 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Madhu Menon). 51. India’s MSME Landscape — Some Useful Frameworks -- Episode 419 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Sudhir Sarnobat and Naren Shenoy). 52. What Ails Indian Manufacturing? -- Episode 104 of Everything is Everything. 53. Commands and controls: Planning for Indian industrial development, 1951–1990 -- Rakesh Mohan and Vandana Aggarwal. 54. Futures Markets in Agriculture -- Episode 12 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Shashidhar). 55. Naushad Forbes Wants to Fix India — Episode 282 of The Seen and the Unseen. 56. The Life and Times of KP Krishnan — Episode 355 of The Seen and the Unseen. 57. The Reformers -- Episode 28 of Everything is Everything. 58. The Economics of Derivatives -- TV ...
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    4 hrs and 36 mins
  • Ep 441: Ravikumar Kashi Is in Play Mode

    Ep 441: Ravikumar Kashi Is in Play Mode
    Apr 6 2026
    He's one of India's great artists, and a Renaissance man you cannot put inside a box. Ravikumar Kashi joins Amit Varma in episode 441 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about life and art. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Ravikumar Kashi on Instagram, LinkedIn and his own website. 2. Flexing Muscles -- Ravikumar Kashi. 3. Engaging With Visuals -- Ravikumar Kashi's 15-part lecture series. 4. Handmade Paper Making Process (English parts one and two; Kannada parts one and two)-- Ravikumar Kashi. 5. 12 Layers of Hanji -- Ravikumar Kashi. 6. Paper Trails: Reflections on Practice -- Ravikumar Kashi. 7. We don’t end at our edges -- Exhibition by Ravikumar Kashi. 8. Understanding India Through Its Languages — Episode 232 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Peggy Mohan). 9. Wanderers, Kings, Merchants: The Story of India through Its Languages — Peggy Mohan. 10. Francisco Goya's Black Paintings. 11. The Light in Winter — Episode 97 of Everything is Everything, where Amit talks about Goya. 12. The Life and Times of Gurcharan Das — Episode 425 of The Seen and the Unseen. 13. Self-Portrait as a Coffee-Pot -- William Kentridge. 14. Songs of Surrender — U2. 15. Varun Grover Is in the House — Episode 292 of The Seen and the Unseen. 16. Paris, Texas -- Wim Wenders. 17. What Do You Say After You Say Hello? -- Eric Berne. 18. The Blind Watchmaker -- Richard Dawkins. 19. Wounds -- Somnath Hore. 20. Roger Von Oech’s Four Roles of Creativity. 21. The Garden of Forking Paths -- Jorge Luis Borges. 22. The Overton Window. 23. Puliyabaazi -- Pranay Kotasthane, Saurabh Chandra and Khyati Pathak’s Hindi podcast. 24. Sturgeon’s Law. 25. Marysia on Twitter/X. 26. From Strength to Strength — Arthur Brooks. 27. Ways of Seeing -- John Berger. 28. How to Have Creative Ideas -- Edward de Bono. 29. Gut -- Giulia Enders. 20. The Selfish Gene -- Richard Dawkins. 21. The Nutmeg's Curse -- Amitav Ghosh. 22. Sapiens -- Yuval Noah Harari. 23. Immortality -- Milan Kundera. 24. Jagjit Singh, Rammstein and Agam on Spotify. 25. William Kentridge, Sudhir Patwardhan, Rameshwar Broota and Arpita Singh. This episode is sponsored by CTQ Compounds. Check out The Daily Reader and FutureStack. Use the code UNSEEN for Rs 2500 off. Amit is travelling through Italy these days and blogging every day from there. Follow his Italian Dairies here. Amit Varma runs a course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here. Also check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. Episode art: Detail from 'Untitled, 2008’ by Ravikumar Kashi.
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    3 hrs and 36 mins
  • Ep 440: Ram and Friends

    Ep 440: Ram and Friends
    Mar 23 2026
    We are shaped by the people we let into our lives -- and sometimes only realise this in hindsight. Ramachandra Guha joins Amit Varma in episode 440 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about some of the friends who changed his life. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Ramachandra Guha on Amazon, Twitter and his own website. 2. Ram Guha Writes a Letter to a Friend -- Episode 371 of The Seen and the Unseen. 3. Ram Guha Reflects on His Life — Episode 266 of The Seen and the Unseen. 4. A Cricket Tragic Celebrates the Game — Episode 201 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ram Guha). 5. Taking Stock of Our Republic — Episode 157 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ram Guha). 6. Understanding Gandhi. Part 1: Mohandas — Episode 104 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ram Guha). 7. Understanding Gandhi. Part 2: Mahatma — Episode 105 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ram Guha). 8. The Last Liberal and Other Essays -- Ramachandra Guha's collection, which includes his essay on Dharma Kumar. 9. Patriots and Partisans -- Ramachandra Guha's collection, which includes his essay on Krishna Raj. 10. ‘The real Chipko’: How Shekhar Pathak wrote the first exhaustive, people’s history of the movement -- Ramachandra Guha. 11. An Anthropologist among the Marxists and other Essays -- Ramachandra Guha's collection, which includes his essay on DR Nagaraj. 12. The Ecumenical Marxist -- Ramachandra Guha on Anjan Ghosh. 13. Land and Caste in South India -- Dharma Kumar. 14. Colonialism, Property and the State -- Dharma Kumar. 15. The Chipko Movement: A People's History -- Shekhar Pathak. 16. The Flaming Feet and Other Essays -- DR Nagaraj. 17. Ramachandra Guha's 2024 tribute to Andre Béteille. 18. Penelope Fitzgerald, Barbara Pym and Shirley Hazzard on Amazon. 19. Original Spin: Misadventures in Cricket -- Vic Marks. 20. Late Cuts: Musings on cricket -- Vic Marks. 21. The Gate of Angels -- Penelope Fitzgerald. 22. The Light in Winter -- Episode 97 of Everything is Everything. 23. Beyond A Boundary -- CLR James. 24. India After Gandhi -- Ramachandra Guha. 25. Time Out of Mind -- Bob Dylan. 26. From Strength to Strength — Arthur Brooks. 27. The Good Boatman: A Portrait of Gandhi -- Rajmohan Gandhi. 28. The Age of the Partial Outsider — Janan Ganesh. 29. The Book of Indian Essays -- Edited by Arvind Krishna Mehrotra. 30. Ranjit Hoskote is Dancing in Chains -- Episode 363 of The Seen and the Unseen. 31. The Life and Times of Gurcharan Das — Episode 425 of The Seen and the Unseen. 32. Salman Rushdie interviewed by Mishal Husain. 33. Joseph Anton: A Memoir -- Salman Rushdie. 34. Economic and Political Weekly. 35. The India Forum. 36. The Mantle of the Prophet -- Roy Mottahadeh. 37. ChatGPT's investigative work on unnamed Calcutta Marxist. 38. The Role of Rumour in History Writing -- Anjan Ghosh. 39. Who are the Guilty? -- Report on the 1984 riots by PUDR and PUCL. 40. Sharafat Hussain Khan, Latafat Hussain Khan, Shrikrishna Narayan Ratanjankar, Dinkar Kaikini, Malini Rajurkar, Radhika Mohan Maitra and Buddhadev Das Gupta. 41. The Call of Music -- Priya Purushothaman. 42. The Secret Master: Arun Kashalkar and a Journey to the Edge of Music -- Sumana Ramanan. Amit Varma runs a course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here. And have you read Amit’s newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free! Also check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. Episode art: ‘Koshy's’ by Simahina.
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    2 hrs and 24 mins
  • Ep 439: Janhavi Nilekani Threw the Other Shoe

    Ep 439: Janhavi Nilekani Threw the Other Shoe
    Mar 9 2026
    She is a thinker and doer who takes on difficult problems, whether it's maternal care in India or a dangerous ideological cult. Janhavi Nilekani joins Amit Varma in episode 439 of The Seen and the Unseen to chat about her work in healthcare -- and her gender-critical thinking. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Janhavi Nilekani on Instagram, Twitter, Substack and Aastrika. 2. Aastrika Foundation. 3. Aastrika Midwifery Centre. 4. Janhavi Nilekani’s Substack. 5. Janhavi Nilekani on Maternal Healthcare and Evidence-Based Decision-Making -- The Ideas of India podcast by Shruti Rajagopalan. 6. Understanding Indian Healthcare — Episode 225 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Muralidharan). 7. Essays at the Intersection of Environmental and Development Economics -- Janhavi Nilekani. 8. Rohini Nilekani Pays It Forward — Episode 317 of The Seen and the Unseen. 9. Natasha Badhwar Lives the Examined Life — Episode 301 of The Seen and the Unseen. 10. Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality -- Helen Joyce. 11. Yuganta -- Irawati Karve. 12. Maxims for Thinking Analytically: The wisdom of legendary Harvard Professor Richard Zeckhauser -- Dan Levy. 13. The Skeptical Environmentalist -- Bjorn Lomborg. 14. The Practice of Medicine — Episode 229 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Lancelot Pinto). 15. Informed Consent is Meaningless if the Information is False and the Consent is Coerced -- Janhavi Nilekani. 16. Beyond too little, too late and too much, too soon -- Suellen Miller et al. 17. What These Labels Mean -- Episode 107 of Everything is Everything. 18. The Positive Birth Book -- Milli Hill. 19. The Word is Woman -- Milli Hill's Substack. 20. The Cass Report. 21. Inclusivity In Healthcare Should Not Be Valued Above Our Paramount Mandate: First, Do No Harm -- Janhavi Nilekani. 22. Understanding the Sex Binary -- Colin Wright. 23. Irreversible Damage -- Abigail Shrier. 24. The Famous Five and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. 25. Sense and Sensibility -- Jane Austen. 26. The Grand Sophy -- Georgette Heyer. 27. Ilona Andrews on Amazon. 28. The Liaden series by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. 29. Lupa. This episode is sponsored by CTQ Compounds. Check out The Daily Reader and FutureStack. Use the code UNSEEN for Rs 2500 off. Amit Varma runs a course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here. And have you read Amit’s newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free! Also check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. Episode art: ‘Compassion’ by Simahina.
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    4 hrs and 3 mins
  • Ep 438: V Ravichandar is Heading North by Northwest

    Ep 438: V Ravichandar is Heading North by Northwest
    Feb 23 2026
    What can one man do for a city in a lifetime of work? A lot! V Ravichandar joins Amit Varma in episode 438 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss his life, his times and what he has learnt as a civic evangelist for Bangalore. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. V Ravichandar on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and Feedback Consulting. 2. Reforming Urban Governance — Episode 48 of The Seen and the Unseen (w V Ravichandar). 3. The Greater Bengaluru Governance Act. 4. BLR Habba. 5. Bangalore International Center. 6. Bangalore Literature Festival. 7. Bangalore Agenda Task Force. 8. Gautam John is Figuring it Out -- Episode 437 of The Seen and the Unseen. 9. Inside the Hearts of Men and Women — Episode 118 of Everything is Everything. 10. Understanding Human Sexuality — Episode 126 of Everything is Everything. 11. The Life and Times of Gurcharan Das — Episode 425 of The Seen and the Unseen. 12. Participatory Democracy — Episode 160 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ashwin Mahesh). 13. Cities and Citizens — Episode 198 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ashwin Mahesh). 14. Helping Others in the Fog of Pandemic — Episode 226 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ashwin Mahesh). 15. Urban Governance in India — Episode 31 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan). 16. The Age of the Partial Outsider — Janan Ganesh. 17. Unboxing Bengaluru — Malini Goyal and Prashanth Prakash. 18. Malini Goyal is the Curious One — Episode 377 of The Seen and the Unseen. 19. The Rooted Cosmopolitanism of Sugata Srinivasaraju — Episode 277 of The Seen and the Unseen. 20. The Covenant of Water -- Abraham Verghese. 21. Breaking Bad. Amit Varma and Mohit Satyanand run a course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here. And have you read Amit’s newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free! Also check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. Episode art: ‘Bangalorean Man’ by Simahina.
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    4 hrs and 7 mins
  • Ep 437: Gautam John is Figuring it Out

    Ep 437: Gautam John is Figuring it Out
    Feb 9 2026
    He studied law, found success as an entrepreneur, and has since spent almost two decades in the social sector trying to make the world a better place. Gautam John joins Amit Varma in episode 437 of The Seen and the Unseen to share his reflections on society, technology, gender, friendships, fatherhood, the crisis of masculinity and his journey towards figuring out the world and himself. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Gautam John on LinkedIn, Twitter, IDR, Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies and Substack. 2. From Strength to Strength — Arthur Brooks. 3. An Ode to Meanderness -- Episode 434 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan and Pranay Kotasthane). 4. The Final Episode -- Episode 128 of Everything is Everything. 5. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen with Mohit Satyanand: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. 6. The Surface Area of Serendipity -- Episode 39 of Everything is Everything. 7. Hikikomori. 8. Laayak. 9. The Loneliness of the Indian Man — Episode 303 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Nikhil Taneja). 10. The Loneliness of the Indian Woman — Episode 259 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shrayana Bhattacharya). 11. India Moving — Chinmay Tumbe. 12. India = Migration — Episode 128 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Chinmay Tumbe). 13. Dreamers: How Young Indians Are Changing Their World — Snigdha Poonam. 14. Young India — Episode 83 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Snigdha Poonam). 15. Of Boys and Men -- Richard Reeves. 16. Inside the Hearts of Men and Women -- Episode 118 of Everything is Everything. 17. Understanding Human Sexuality -- Episode 126 of Everything is Everything. 18. Everything that turned out well in my life followed the same design process — Henrik Karlsson. 19. Unboxing Bengaluru — Malini Goyal and Prashanth Prakash. 20. Malini Goyal is the Curious One — Episode 377 of The Seen and the Unseen. 21. Testaments Betrayed — Milan Kundera. 22. Ken Wilber's Integral Theory. 23. Pucar. 24. Everybody's Free To Wear Sunscreen -- Baz Luhrmann. 25. Pratham Books. 26. The Center for Internet and Society. 27. Bistecca Tuscan Steakhouse. 28. The Life and Times of Shanta Gokhale — Episode 311 of The Seen and the Unseen. 29. The Incredible Curiosities of Mukulika Banerjee — Episode 276 of The Seen and the Unseen. 30. The Life and Times of Gurcharan Das -- Episode 425 of The Seen and the Unseen. 31. Seeing Like a State — James C Scott. 32. Rohini Nilekani Pays It Forward — Episode 317 of The Seen and the Unseen. 33. Bridging toward Belonging -- Brian Stout's Substack. 34. Relational State Capacity -- Dan Honig. 35. Team of Teams -- Stanley McChrystal. 36. Emergent Strategy -- adrienne maree brown. 37. Mother Mary Comes to Me -- Arundhati Roy. 38. Stain -- Sarah Joseph. 39. Heart Lamp -- Banu Mushtaq. 40. Babel -- RF Kuang. 41. Quarterlife -- Devika Rege. 42. Brotherless Night -- VV Ganeshananthan. 43. Exhalation -- Ted Chiang. 44. The Glass Hotel -- Emily St John Mandel. 45. Nilgiris - A Shared Wilderness -- Sandesh Kadur. Amit Varma and Mohit Satyanand run a course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here. And have you read Amit’s newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free! Also check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. Episode art: ‘Figuring’ by Simahina.
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    4 hrs and 13 mins
  • Ep 436: Rukmini and the Numbers

    Ep 436: Rukmini and the Numbers
    Jan 26 2026
    The world is complex, India contains multitudes, and we need more numbers, better numbers, to make sense of it all. Rukmini S joins Amit Varma in episode 436 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about Data For India -- and to share some surprising insights. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Rukmini S on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. 2. Data For India. 3. Whole Numbers And Half Truths — Rukmini S. 4. The Importance of Data Journalism — Episode 196 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rukmini S). 5. Rukmini Sees India’s Multitudes — Episode 261 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rukmini S). 6. India's Demographic Dilemmas: Part 1. Part 2. Part 3 -- Rukmini S. 7. Anaemia in India -- Rukmini S. 8. How one village swung India's workforce numbers in 2022-23 -- Pramit Bhattacharya and Nandlal Mishra. 9. The rise of 'custom tailoring' -- Nileena Suresh. 10. Everything that turned out well in my life followed the same design process — Henrik Karlsson. 11. Homebound -- Neeraj Ghaywan. 12. Taking Amrit Home -- Basharat Peer. 13. Railsong -- Rahul Bhattacharya. 14. A Suitable Boy -- Vikram Seth. 15. Many Roads to Paradise -- Shyam Selvadurai. 16. Funny Boy -- Shyam Selvadurai. 17. When Memory Dies -- A Sivanandan. 18. Our World in Data. 19. After the Spike -- Dean Spears and Michael Deruso. 20. Films, Feminism, Paromita — Episode 155 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Paromita Vohra). 21. Caste, Capitalism and Chandra Bhan Prasad — Episode 296 of The Seen and the Unseen. 22. Pramit Bhattacharya Believes in Just One Ism — Episode 256 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pramit Bhattacharya). 23. Martin Wickramasinghe and Anuja Chauhan. 24. Pride and Prejudice -- Jane Austen. 25. Kaathal – The Core -- Jeo Baby. 26. Olivia Dean on Spotify and YouTube. This episode is sponsored by CTQ Compounds. Check out The Daily Reader and FutureStack. Use the code UNSEEN for Rs 2500 off. Amit Varma runs a course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here. And have you read Amit’s newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free! Also check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. Episode art: ‘Play With Numbers’ by Simahina.
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    2 hrs and 51 mins
  • Ep 435: A Primer on China

    Ep 435: A Primer on China
    Jan 12 2026
    China looms large in our modern world -- and yes, is misunderstood, or not understood at all. Manoj Kewalramani joins Amit Varma in episode 435 of The Seen and the Unseen to put together a primer on China, from ancient times through all the kingdoms through Mao and Deng to Xi and this present moment. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Manoj Kewalramani on LinkedIn, Twitter, Google Scholar, Amazon, Takshashila, Substack and his own website. 2. The Takshashila Institution. 3. The Great Power Show on Spotify, Apple and Substack. 4. Tracking People's Daily -- Manoj Kewalramani's Substack Newsletter. 5. Eye on China -- Anushka Saxena's Substack newsletter (formerly written by Manoj). 6. China in the Changing Geo-economic Landscape -- A Takshashila course on China that begins later this month. 7. The China Dude Is in the House -- Episode 231 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Manoj Kewalramani). 8. What Does China Want? — Episode 143 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Manoj Kewalramani). 9. Chinese Foreign Policy — Episode 81 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Manoj Kewalramani). 10. Foreign Policy is a Big Deal — Episode 170 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pranay Kotasthane & Manoj Kewalramani). 11. The Dragon and the Elephant — Episode 181 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Hamsini Hariharan & Shibani Mehta). 12. Keeping India Safe — Episode 219 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Sushant Singh). 13. Kanti Bajpai on India vs China -- Episode 234 of The Seen and the Unseen. 14. The History of Indian Cricket -- Mihir Bose. 15. The Invention of China -- Bill Hayton. 16. When Marx Met Confucius. 17. Red Roulette -- Desmond Shum. 18. Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China -- Ezra Vogel. 19. China's New Red Guards -- Jude Blanchette. 20. Factional Model-making in China -- Olivia Cheung. 21. America against America -- Wang Huning. 22. The Lying Flat Movement. 23. China Media Project. 24. Probal DasGupta Goes to the Himalayas With Books in His Bag — Episode 412 of The Seen and the Unseen. 25. Wealth and Power -- Orville Schell and John Delury. 26. Rethinking Chinese Politics -- Joseph Fewsmith. 27. The Party's Interests Come First -- Joseph Torigian. 28. Prestige, Manipulation, and Coercion -- Joseph Torigian. 29. John Fairbank, Alastair Iain Johnston and Vijay Gokhale on Amazon. 30. The Long Game -- Vijay Gokhale. 31. China Talk -- Jordan Schneider. 32. Sinica -- Kaiser Kuo. 33. The Third Revolution -- Elizabeth Economy. 34. End of an Era -- Carl Minzner. 35. Hrithik Roshan on Dhurandhar. This episode is sponsored by The Six Percent Club. Join them to go from content idea to launch in just 45 days! Amit Varma runs a course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here. And have you read Amit’s newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free! Also check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. Episode art: ‘A Maze’ by Simahina.
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    3 hrs and 48 mins