The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma

By: Amit Varma
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  • The Seen and the Unseen, hosted by Amit Varma, features longform conversations that aim to give deep insights into the subjects being discussed. Timeless and bingeworthy.
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Episodes
  • Ep 403: Shikha Dalmia Is the Unpopulist

    Ep 403: Shikha Dalmia Is the Unpopulist
    Oct 28 2024
    Populism is on the rise everywhere, and the long arc of history has bent away from freedom. Shikha Dalmia joins Amit Varma in episode 403 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss the derangements of our modern times -- and the threat that Donald Trump poses. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Shikha Dalmia on Twitter, LinkedIn, Reason, The Week and ISMA. 2. Institute for the Study of Modern Authoritarianism. 3. The UnPopulist. 4. The Seen/Unseen episode on immigration with Shikha Dalmia. 5. The Populist Playbook -- Episode 42 of Everything is Everything. 6. Why Both Modi and Trump are Textbook Populists (2017) -- Amit Varma. 7. Rhinoceros -- Eugène Ionesco. 8. Stopping the Rhinoceros Takeover -- Shikha Dalmia. 9. Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India — Akshaya Mukul. 10. The Gita Press and Hindu Nationalism — Episode 139 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Akshaya Mukul). 11. Colours of the Cage: A Prison Memoir — Arun Ferreira. 12. The Reactionary Spirit -- Zack Beauchamp. 13. Narendra Modi takes a Great Leap Backwards — Amit Varma (on demonetisation). 14. Beware of the Useful Idiots — Amit Varma. 15. Stay Away From Luxury Beliefs -- Episode 46 of Everything is Everything. 16. The Good and Bad of Critical Race Theory -- Fabio Rojas. 17. The Color of Law -- Richard Rothstein. 18. Identity -- Francis Fukuyama. 19. Coleman Hughes, Glenn Loury and John McWhorter on Twitter/X. 20. The Fall of Minneapolis -- Alpha News. 21. What Really Happened to George Floyd? -- Coleman Hughes. 22. The retconning of George Floyd: Parts One, Two, an Update, Three -- Radley Balko. 23. The Murder Trial of OJ Simpson. 24. Glenn Loury & John McWhorter do a second take. 25. The Intellectual Foundations of Hindutva — Episode 115 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Aakar Patel). 26. A Typology of the New Right -- Shikha Dalmia. 27. The Flight 93 Election -- Michael Anton. 28. A Passage to India -- EM Forster. 29. Jane Austen on Amazon, Wikipedia and Britannica. 30. Thomas Hardy and W Somerset Maugham on Amazon. 31. Ayn Rand on Amazon, Wikipedia and Britannica. 32. Milton Friedman on Amazon, Wikipedia and Britannica. 33. Friedrich Hayek on Amazon, Wikipedia and Britannica. 34. Memories and Things — Episode 195 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Aanchal Malhotra). 35. Remnants of a Separation — Aanchal Malhotra. 36. Arnold Kling and the Four Languages of Politics -- Episode 394 of The Seen and the Unseen. 37. The Life and Times of Vir Sanghvi — Episode 236 of The Seen and the Unseen. 38. A Rude Life — Vir Sanghvi. 39. The Use of Knowledge in Society — Friedrich Hayek. 40. Four Papers That Changed the World -- Episode 41 of Everything is Everything. 41. Don't Mess With the Price System -- Episode 66 of Everything is Everything. 42. The Road to Serfdom -- Friedrich Hayek. 43. Dadabhai Naoroji, Mahadev Govind Ranade, Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Gopal Ganesh Agarkar. 44. Caste, Capitalism and Chandra Bhan Prasad — Episode 296 of The Seen and the Unseen. 45. Yugank Goyal Is out of the Box — Episode 370 of The Seen and the Unseen. 46. What Is Populism? -- Jan-Werner Müller. 47. The State of Indian Politics — Episode 50 of The Seen and the Unseen (w JP Narayan). 48. The Gentle Wisdom of Pratap Bhanu Mehta — Episode 300 of The Seen and the Unseen. 49. The Liberalism of Fear -- Judith Shklar. 50. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Nooran Sisters and Hadiqa Kiani on Spotify. 51. Kamli -- Hadiqa Kiani. This episode is sponsored by CTQ Compounds. Check out The Daily Reader and FutureStack. Use the code UNSEEN for Rs 2500 off. Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new 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. Amit and Ajay also bring out a weekly YouTube show, Everything is Everything. Have you watched it yet? You must! 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: ‘Unpopulist’ by Simahina.
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    3 hrs and 8 mins
  • Ep 402: Ajay Shah Brings the Dreams of the 20th Century

    Ep 402: Ajay Shah Brings the Dreams of the 20th Century
    Oct 14 2024
    He's a polymath who cares deeply about the world, tries to understand it, and straddles many fields. He's played a key role over the last few decades in India's journey towards development. Ajay Shah joins Amit Varma in episode 402 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about his life and times. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Ajay Shah on Twitter and Substack. 2. Everything is Everything -- Ajay Shah's YouTube show with Amit Varma. 3. Life Lessons -- A course taught by Ajay Shah and Amit Varma. 4. In Service of the Republic: The Art and Science of Economic Policy — Vijay Kelkar and Ajay Shah. 5. XKDR Forum. 6. The LEAP blog. 7. Previous episodes of The Seen and the Unseen with Ajay Shah: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13. 8. The Surface Area of Serendipity -- Episode 39 of Everything is Everything. 9. The Economic Lives of the Poor -- Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo. 10. The Universe of Chuck Gopal — Episode 258 of The Seen and the Unseen. 11. The Hiking Episode -- Episode 35 of Everything is Everything. 12. Declutter -- Episode 30 of Everything is Everything. 13. The Life and Times of Mrinal Pande — Episode 263 of The Seen and the Unseen. 14. Pushpesh Pant Feasts on the Buffet of Life — Episode 326 of The Seen and the Unseen. 15. The Life and Times of Ira Pande -- Episode 369 of The Seen and the Unseen. 16. A Meditation on Form -- Amit Varma. 17. A Passion for Cycling -- Episode 53 of Everything is Everything. 18. Il Lombardia: Tadej Pogačar delivers historical fourth consecutive victory. 19. Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy. 20. Seven Stories That Should Be Films -- Episode 23 of Everything is Everything (including Ajay's retelling, 'The Fat Frogs of Tatsinskaya'). 21. India’s Greatest Civil Servant — Episode 167 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Narayani Basu, on VP Menon). 22. VP Menon: The Unsung Architect of Modern India — Narayani Basu. 23. Five Epic Stories That Must Be Films -- Episode 29 of Everything is Everything (including Amit's retelling of VP Menon's story). 24. Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 — Tony Judt. 25. The God That Failed -- Edited by Richard Crossman. 26. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich -- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. 27. Free to Choose -- Milton Friedman and Rose Friedman. 28. Both Sides Now -- Joni Mitchell. 29. How to Write a Paper -- Episode 62 of Everything is Everything. 30. Jim Corbett on Wikipedia and Amazon. 31. Trek The Sahyadris -- Harish Kapadia. 32. Inflation Targeting Rocks! -- Episode 68 of The Seen and the Unseen. 33. The Heckman Equation. 34. A Deep Dive Into Education -- Episode 54 of Everything is Everything. 35. The Two Cultures -- CP Snow. 36. Shivaji and His Times -- Jadunath Sarkar. 37. Suyash Rai Embraces India’s Complexity — Episode 307 of The Seen and the Unseen. 38. Seeing Like a State — James C Scott. 39. The Tyranny of Experts — William Easterly. 40. Are You Just One Version of Yourself? -- Episode 3 of Everything is Everything. 41. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen with Ramachandra Guha: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. 42. The Life and Times of KP Krishnan — Episode 355 of The Seen and the Unseen. 43. Our Population Is Our Greatest Asset -- Episode 20 of Everything if Everything. 44. Population Is Not a Problem, but Our Greatest Strength -- Amit Varma. 45. Plato (or Why Philosophy Matters) — Episode 109 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rebecca Goldstein). 46. How to Do Development -- Episode 57 of Everything is Everything. 47. Lant Pritchett Is on Team Prosperity — Episode 379 of The Seen and the Unseen. 48. The Life and Times of Chess -- Episode 52 of Everything is Everything. 49. Fixing the Knowledge Society -- Episode 24 of Everything is Everything. 50. The Importance of the 1991 Reforms — Episode 237 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan and Ajay Shah). 51. The Reformers -- Episode 28 of Everything is Everything. 52. The Beauty of Finance -- Episode 21 of Everything is Everything. 53. What's Wrong With Indian Agriculture? -- Episode 18 of Everything is Everything. 54. The Life and Times of Montek Singh Ahluwalia — Episode 285 of The Seen and the Unseen. 55. The Importance of Finance — Episode 125 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah). 56. India in Transition: Freeing the Economy -- Jagdish Bhagwati. 57. The UNIX Episode -- Episode 32 of Everything is Everything. 58. Don't Mess With the Price System -- Episode 66 of Everything is Everything. 59. Four Papers That Changed the World -- Episode 41 of Everything is Everything. 60. The Ghost and the Darkness -- Stephen Hopkins. 61. India’s Massive Pensions Crisis — Episode 347 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah & Renuka Sane). 62. Understanding India's Pensions Disaster -- Episode 65 of Everything is Everything. 63. What Bruce Springsteen Means to Us -- ...
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    10 hrs and 27 mins
  • Ep 401: Finding Love in Modern India

    Ep 401: Finding Love in Modern India
    Sep 30 2024
    Bloody hell. The world has changed, society looks different, and men and women have to find new ways of relating to each other. We're not equipped for this. Sanjana Ramachandran and Samarth Bansal join Amit Varma in episode 401 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss how meeting and mating are both easier and, well, harder. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Sanjana Ramachandran on Twitter, Instagram, Substack, LinkedIn , FiftyTwo and her own website. 2. Samarth Bansal on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and his own website. 3. The Reflections of Samarth Bansal -- Episode 299 of The Seen and the Unseen. 4. The Romantic Idiot -- Samarth Bansal. 5. Thirty and Thriving -- Samarth Bansal. 6. The Namesakes -- Sanjana Ramachandran. 7. The 'Woman-Math' Of A 31-Year-Old, Unmarried, Bengaluru Woman -- Sanjana Ramachandran. 8. Society of the Snow -- JA Bayona. 9. Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil — Hannah Arendt. 10. This Be The Verse — Philip Larkin. 11. Quarterlife: The Search for Self in Early Adulthood -- Satya Doyle Byock. 12. A Godless Congregation — Amit Varma. 13. What’s Consolation For An Atheist? -- Amit Varma. 14. Molecules Of Emotion -- Candace B Pert. 15. Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences. 15. Womaning in India With Mahima Vashisht — Episode 293 of The Seen and the Unseen. 16. Scenes From a Marriage -- Ingmar Bergman. 17. Behave -- Robert Sapolsky. 18. Don’t think too much of yourself. You’re an accident — Amit Varma’s column on Chris Cornell’s death. 19. Determined -- Robert Sapolsky. 20. The Loneliness of the Indian Woman — Episode 259 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shrayana Bhattacharya). 21. The Loneliness of the Indian Man — Episode 303 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Nikhil Taneja). 22. Reinventing Love -- Mona Chollet. 23. Sex Is Not a Spectrum -- Colin Wright. 24. Understanding the Sex Binary -- Colin Wright. 25. The Naturalistic Fallacy. 26. The Double ‘Thank You’ Moment — John Stossel. 27. Bad Faith in Existentialism. 28. Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy. 29. Whiplash -- Damien Chazelle. 30. Narendra Modi takes a Great Leap Backwards — Amit Varma on Demonetisation. 31. Immanuel Kant’s Categorical Imperative. 32. The Gulag Archipelago — Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. 33. I Am The Best -- The Shah Rukh Khan song from Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani. 34. The Madonna–Whore Complex. 35. Ranbir Kapoor on Nikhil Kamath's show. 36. Tamasha -- Imtiaz Ali. 37. Manic Pixie Dream Girl. 38. The Art of Podcasting -- Episode 49 of Everything Everything. 39. Anatomy of a Fall — Justine Triet. 40. Anatomy of a Folly — Amit Varma. 41. Marriage Story -- Noah Baumbach. 42. The Abyss and Other Stories — Leonid Andreyev. 43. Amit Varma's BTS reel as Gitanjali. 44. Peter Cat Recording Co. on Spotify, YouTube, Instagram and their own website. 45. The Life and Times of the Indian Economy -- Episode 387 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rajeswari Sengupta). 46. Lant Pritchett Is on Team Prosperity — Episode 379 of The Seen and the Unseen. 47. How to Do Development -- Episode 57 of Everything is Everything. 48. The Pleasures and Pains of Coffee — Honoré de Balzac. 49. Sasha's 'Newsletter' -- Sasha Chapin. 50. The Evolution of Desire -- David Buss. 51. Modern Family and Friends. 52. Eve Fairbanks Examines a Fractured Society -- Episode 398 of The Seen and the Unseen. 53. The Flirting Trap — Eve Fairbanks. (Scroll down on that page for this piece). 54. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind -- Michel Gondry. 55. The Bookshop Romeo -- Amit Varma. 56. The Stranger -- Albert Camus. 57. When Harry Met Sally... -- Rob Reiner. 58. Annie Hall -- Woody Allen. 59. Late Admissions: Confessions of a Black Conservative -- Glenn Loury. 60. Rob Henderson's tweet on Glenn Loury's book. 61. The Game -- Neil Strauss. 62. On Flirting -- Rega Jha. 63. Notting Hill -- Roger Michell. 64. Postcards From Utsav Mamoria -- Episode 376 of The Seen and the Unseen. 65. Malini Goyal is the Curious One — Episode 377 of The Seen and the Unseen. 66. Unboxing Bengaluru — Malini Goyal and Prashanth Prakash. 67. Indian Matchmaking -- Created by Smriti Mundhra. 68. High Fidelity -- Nick Hornby. 69. Third Place. 70. The Pineapple Game. 71. The Razor's Edge -- W Somerset Maugham. 72. Anna Karenina -- Leo Tolstoy. 73. Mating in Captivity -- Esther Perel. 74. The State Of Affairs -- Esther Perel. 75. The Poly Couple of YouTube and Instagram. 75. The School of Life. 76. Early Indians — Tony Joseph. 77. Tony Joseph’s episode on The Seen and the Unseen. 78. Who We Are and How We Got Here — David Reich. 79. Eden Project: In Search of the Magical Other -- James Hollis. 80. Fallen Leaves -- Aki Kaurismäki. 81. I hired a Contract Killer -- Aki Kaurismäki. 82. Manhattan, ...
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    6 hrs and 26 mins

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Profile Image for Varun

Developmental Economics 101

Lant Pritchett is an economist’s economist. Comes across as more insightful about emerging markets, India and the Indian political economy than most Indian economists.

a must listen!

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