The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma

Amit Varma

All Episodes

Mar 01, 2020

Caste, Gender, Karnatik Music

So much of our culture is shaped by our social fault lines. TM Krishna joins Amit Varma in episode 162 of The Seen and the Unseen to peel the layers off the development of Karnatik music -- and Indian society i...

160 mins

Feb 23, 2020

The History of Desire in India

We may be a sexually repressed country today, but it wasn't always like this. Madhavi Menon joins Amit Varma in episode 161 of The Seen and the Unseen to elaborate on the infinite variety of our desires all thr...

136 mins

Feb 16, 2020

Participatory Democracy

In India, we have government of the people and for the people, but not by the people. How can we fix this? Polymath thinker Ashwin Mahesh joins Amit Varma in episode 160 of The Seen and the Unseen to chat about...

149 mins

Feb 09, 2020

The Theatre of the Budget

Budgets matter more than they should -- and the process of making them matters more than their contents. Ajay Shah and Vivek Kaul join Amit Varma in episode 159 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss both journe...

111 mins

Feb 02, 2020

Radically Networked Societies

From the Arab Spring to Shaheen Bagh, radically networked societies are rising up to express themselves. What do they have in common? How will a hierarchical state deal with a networked society? Pranay Kotastha...

82 mins

Jan 26, 2020

Taking Stock of Our Republic

India has endured -- but as we celebrate another Republic Day, we must remember that we cannot take this for granted. Historian Ramachandra Guha joins Amit Varma in episode 157 of The Seen and the Unseen to exa...

87 mins

Jan 20, 2020

Kerala and the Ivory Throne

Kerala has a madly interesting history. It was a hub of globalisation centuries ago, an exemplar of tolerance. Almost in contrast, it took casteism to an extreme. It also had a matrilineal system, a tradition o...

141 mins

Jan 13, 2020

Films, Feminism, Paromita

Immense changes have swept through our lives in the last three decades. Filmmaker and writer Paromita Vohra joins Amit Varma in episode 155 of The Seen and the Unseen, and turns her unique gaze both inwards and...

170 mins

Jan 06, 2020

The Art and Science of Economic Policy

Economic policy affects each of us -- and yet, India has gotten it wrong for decades. In their groundbreaking new book, Vijay Kelkar and Ajay Shah write not just how to do policy, but how to think about policy....

164 mins

Dec 30, 2019

The Indian Economy in 2019

Alongside much social unrest, the Indian economy went to hell in 2019. Vivek Kaul joins Amit Varma in episode 153 of The Seen and the Unseen to survey the damage, and to demystify the rubble.  For detailed sho...

114 mins