The Hindu On Books

Aug 28 2024 68 ep. 170

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The Hindu on Books is a weekly podcast from India's national newspaper on the latest and the best from the world of literature.

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Ira Mukhoty on the history of the Awadh empire

Aug 28 2024 33 mins

The book brings in granular detail about the Awadh Nawabs, their political history, culture and their struggle with the British. It also captures the echoes of the French and English rivalry in the Indian courts, chronicling the various French men who worked in Awadh, Delhi and Mysore. Equally it is a story of two powerful women- Nawab Begum and Bahu Begum, who assert their agency

Joseph Stiglitz on the role of government in the economy

Aug 19 2024 35 mins

In the 20th century, free market economists such as Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek argued that a limited government that allows markets to flourish can lead a country down the road to economic prosperity. But in his latest book "The Road to Freedom: Economics and the Good Society", American economist and 2001 Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz argues that we should not place

Tim Walker on his book commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy

Jul 16 2024 35 mins

Tim Walker took to writing children’s novels at the age of 45 and became popular with his series of action-adventure stories published as a trilogy in 2007. The books -- Shipley Manor, The Flying Fizzler and Rise of the Rattler – unbottled his thoughts on everything, from corporate greed to religious extremism. The award winning designer-turned author has now published his seco

Duvvuri Subbarao on his journey as a civil servant | The Hindu On Books podcast

Jun 25 2024 27 mins

Each year, some of the brightest young Indians join the civil services with the desire to serve the nation. But very soon they find out the steep challenges ahead as they need to battle, among other things, politicians who have other interests to serve. In "Just A Mercenary?: Notes from my Life and Career", former RBI Governor Duvvuri Subbarao chronicles his journey as a civil serv

Karthik Muralidharan on how to accelerate India’s development

Jun 04 2024 27 mins

It has been over 75 years since India attained independence and became the world's largest democracy. But there is still a huge unfinished task that is holding back India's economic growth potential, and that is the task of strengthening the capacity of the Indian state to deliver public goods and services to citizens, argues Karthik Muralidharan, the Tata Chancellor's professor of

Ruskin Bond: Ninety and counting

May 18 2024 7 mins

He started writing his first novel at the age of 17. When he was 23, he won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize for The Room on the Roof. In his mid-20s, he returned to India and continued to do what he loved best — writing — while trying to make a living with other jobs. But, finally, he retreated to the place he was most at home — the hills of northern India — and continued to

Dalit literature: Decoding voices of resistance and despair | The Hindu On Books podcast

Apr 29 2024 16 mins

Celebrated as the Dalit History Month, April is the time to reflect upon Dalit literature. There are many books in multiple Indian languages that raise issues related to caste and casteist patriarchy, oppression of the marginalised communities and their quest for equality. The Dalit history month was started in India in 2015 by a group of young women activists who came together to

Reading Ram Vilas Paswan, the ‘weathervane’ of Indian politics

Mar 15 2024 48 mins

Ram Vilas Paswan was a steady presence in national politics for more than four decades. He has held Cabinet posts in several governments, including stints in key ministries such as Railways and Telecom. He is one of the faces associated with the historic implementation of the Mandal Commission report on OBC reservations. As someone adept at sensing shifts in political climate befor

Brinda Karat on the struggles of working as a woman activist and politician | The Hindu On Books podcast

Jan 26 2024 33 mins

Brinda Karat has been working with the CPI(M) for the last 53-years. And this memoir by her is primarily about the ten-years from imposition of emergency in 1975 till 1985 when she lived under the assumed name of Rita. It is also a story of a young upper middle class girl, who left her job with Air India in London to join the communist movement and struggles of working as a woman a

Decoding global semiconductor geopolitics and India’s strategic options | The Hindu On Books podcast

Nov 20 2023 48 mins

Most of us would remember the sudden shortage of semiconductor chips during the pandemic – how it affected automobile manufacturing, delaying deliveries, and in many cases, even caused manufacturers to deliver cars without some features. But semiconductors form an integral component of not just cars but almost any high tech device we use today – from smartphones and laptops to