The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma

Amit Varma

All Episodes

Jan 22, 2018

Caste in Modern India

Modern India's greatest shame is that even after 70 years of Independence, we still haven't solved the problem of caste. Shruti Rajagopalan joins Amit Varma in episode 52 of the Seen and the Unseen to shed ligh...

71 mins

Jan 15, 2018

Alpha Zero

The chess program Alpha Zero made waves recently when it taught itself chess in four hours -- and then thrashed the strongest chess engine in the world, Stockfish. This illustrated a dramatic advance in Artific...

43 mins

Jan 08, 2018

Ep. 50: The State of Indian Politics

Indian politics is complex to the point of being almost unfathomable. JP Narayan, that rare public intellectual who also embraced electoral politics, joins Amit Varma in episode 50 of The Seen and the Unseen to...

47 mins

Jan 01, 2018

Ep. 49: Political Discourse

Social media has enabled everyone to have a voice -- but no one listens any more. In episode 49 of The Seen and the Unseen, Amit Varma examines why our political discourse is so polarised. One particular bugbea...

16 mins

Dec 25, 2017

Ep. 48: Reforming Urban Governance

For almost two decades, V Ravichandar has been "a civic evangelist and a patron saint of lost causes" fighting to reform local government in our cities. He joins Amit Varma in episode 48 of The Seen and the Uns...

51 mins

Dec 18, 2017

Ep. 47: Poker and Stock Markets

Poker and stock markets are very similar -- and both holds lessons for life. Ace investor Mohit Satyanand joins former poker pro Amit Varma in episode 47 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss how both disciplin...

46 mins

Dec 11, 2017

Ep. 46: The State of the Media

We live in times when media is fragmented and there is no consensus on the truth any more. Journalism has become a race to give people what they want to believe. What are we to do? Prem Panicker joins Amit Varm...

62 mins

Dec 04, 2017

Ep. 45: The BJP's Magic Formula

Over the last few years, the BJP has built the most formidable election machine in human history. Prashant Jha, author of the book 'How the BJP wins', joins Amit Varma in episode 45 of The Seen and the Unseen t...

45 mins

Nov 27, 2017

Ep. 44: The Delhi Smog

It is well known that the key cause of Delhi's smog is the 'stubble' burnt every year by Punjab's farmers. Vivek Kaul joins Amit Varma to discuss the bad incentives in play, how government sops might have cause...

20 mins

Nov 20, 2017

Ep. 43: Parenthood

Natasha Badhwar, the author of a celebrated parenting column, recently released her moving book, 'My Daughter's Mum.' In episode 43 of The Seen and the Unseen, she joins Amit Varma to discuss the process of par...

35 mins