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PODCAST

The Wire Talks

The Wire Talks is back, but with a new look. Now, host Sidharth Bhatia will chat with guests on video as well as audio, on issues such as culture, politics, books and much more. Our guests will be well-informed domain experts. The idea is not to get crisp sound bites but to have a real discussion, resulting in an explanation that is insightful and offers the audience much to think about.

news news commentary

All Episodes

34:24

A 'Concentrated Attack' on the CJI Because of His...

The Wire Talks ·

2025/04/25

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar went “much beyond his Constitutional Role as the Presiding Officer of the Rajya Sabha” when he spoke against the Supreme Court. “His language was intemperate,” says Supreme Court Senior Advocate Sanjay Hegde in a podcast discussion with Sidharth Bhatia.“The conjecture is that he is auditioning for a higher role,” Hegde said. Pointing to the unseemly comments of BJP MP Nishikant Dubey against the Chief Justice of India, and also the social media campaign attacking

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48:47

Hindutva Hate Music (H-Pop) Is Now All Around Us |...

The Wire Talks ·

2025/04/18

Journalist and author Kunal Purohit began monitoring Hindutva WhatsApp groups several years ago and saw how they disseminated propaganda. “The things people were then scared to speak openly are now all around us,” he says to Sidharth Bhatia in a podcast discussion.Purohit, who wrote the book H-Pop about songs spreading hate, says he finds those songs being played all over the place. He followed Ram Navami processions in Mumbai recently where marchers hurled the most obscene messages openly

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35:41

Waqf Amendment is Seen as a Continuation of the...

The Wire Talks ·

2025/04/12

The Waqf (Amendment) Bill that has now come into force will effectively take control of any Waqf (Charity) property from the Muslim community wherever there is a dispute. “For example, Sambal mosque will be affected and will now come under the control of the Archeological society of India,” explains Shadan Farasat, senior advocate in the Supreme Court in this podcast discussion with Sidharth Bhatia. “It could be very problematic going forward” because in any dispute arising with a government

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51:22

Indian Govt Cancelled My OCI Twice, Courts Restored...

The Wire Talks ·

2025/04/04

Academic and commentator Dr Ashok Swain of Uppsala University in Sweden is in the unique position of having his Overseas Citizen of India status cancelled twice by the Indian government. The government did not give any public reason for doing so but said it had “sensitive information” which it submitted to the courts when Swain challenged the decision. On both occasions the courts overturned it. “I have great faith in the Indian judiciary,” Swain told Sidharth Bhatia in a podcast decision.Swain’s

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46:55

The Very Real Dangers of the Great Nicobar Project |...

The Wire Talks ·

2025/03/28

Plans to develop the Great Nicobar island, initiated by the Niti Aayog, have alarmed scientists and activists alike. A massive project, involving a transhipment terminal, port, a township, an airport and more, has been made. It is estimated to cost over Rs 70,000 crore.Pankaj Sekhsaria, who has been associated with the islands for over three decades says on every front – environmental, geological and social – the project will ruin the islands. “The township is for accommodating 3.5 lakhs people:

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48:51

Fifty-Five Years After they Broke Up, Why Are the...

The Wire Talks ·

2025/03/21

Generations have come and music genres have changed, but The Beatles and their music go on and on. In this podcast, Oliver Craske and Sidharth Bhatia, both fans of the world’s first pop group, try to crack the mystery of their enduring popularity 60 years after The Beatles broke up. “Their music sounds deceptively simple but it was actually not simple,” says Craske, who has worked on several books about the group including The Beatles Anthology: Get Back, which accompanied the Peter Jackson

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33:35

The Government is Using Every Means to Put Pressure...

The Wire Talks ·

2025/03/14

N. Ram, a journalist and media manager for over five decades, has seen Indian journalism through its ups and downs. He recalls the Emergency, when there was censorship and most of the media simply succumbed to government pressure.What he sees today is different. “It was a dictatorship then but it was not ideological. Today’s media management is toxic,” he says. He also talks about the "weaponisation of the arms of the state” by introducing new laws and regulations, such as cancelling the

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46:16

Yogi Adityanath Has Been Getting the Support of...

The Wire Talks ·

2025/03/07

Reports are emerging that after the Kumbh Mela, Yogi Adityanath’s profile has increased for holding a successful event, the stampede apart. But there are others too.“If Modi is the Alpha Hindutva Male, Adityanath is the Alpha Hindutva Male in waiting,” says Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, longtime observer and analyst of the right-wing Hindutva ecosystem. “He has been getting a lot of support from Hindutva people and even the RSS.” In a podcast with Sidharth Bhatia, Mukhopadhyay discusses a possible

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45:13

India Will Not Benefit by Being a US Ally. We Need to...

The Wire Talks ·

2025/03/03

Retired diplomat and now academic Sanjay Bhattacharya says President Donald Trump believes disruption is the only way to achieve the kind of world order he wants to. In a podcast conversation with Sidharth Bhatia, Bhattacharyya says Trump still wants a Pax Americana, but wants allies like Europe and Japan to meet their share of the expenses of being protected.According to Bhattacharyya, Trump is aiming for a reset of the global order and advancing ideas he had started in his previous presidency

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42:33

After Beer Biceps Case, Could Broadcast Bill Be...

The Wire Talks ·

2025/02/21

The crass statements made by YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia, who goes by the name of Beer Biceps, have caused outrage among the general public. The police too is after him and the Supreme Court, while giving him some relief, has made strong statements against him. But does the state have any business to get after him?Amit Varma, a veteran podcaster who also runs a YouTube show, thinks not. Describing himself as a ‘free speech absolutist', Verma says unless there is direct incitement to violence, no

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52:23

'I Am Disturbed, Disappointed at S. Jaishankar’s...

The Wire Talks ·

2025/02/11

There are established procedures to identify and return undocumented migrants from one country to another. It has to be done keeping in mind their dignity, says Vivek Katju, a former Indian diplomat, in this podcast interview with Sidharth Bhatia. He emphasised twice that he was “disappointed in Jaishankar’s statement” in Parliament explaining the manner in which the migrants were sent was according to American procedures. India too has a Standard Operating Procedure in taking back its nationals

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01:02:08

UIDAI Not Answerable to Anyone, There Has Been Only...

The Wire Talks ·

2025/02/07

The Aadhaar card, which was to be only for smooth transfer of welfare benefits, is now asked for all kinds of things, from opening bank accounts to getting a SIM card. And it has led to many problems since the first enrolment, 15 years ago.Usha Ramanathan, a legal researcher who was among those who warned of some its dangers, says that it is creating a digital economy that is for the benefit of business. While other resources, such as land or water, are tangible and can be contested, data is

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44:50

H1B Visas Still Business as Usual In Trump’s US, But...

The Wire Talks ·

2025/01/31

After his inauguration, many of US President Donald Trump’s announcements and executive orders have caused fear and anxiety among applicants and holders of the H1B visas. Of particular concern is the ending of citizenship by birthright, though this particular provision has been stayed by the courts. Indians have a particular interest because they hold the maximum number of H1B visas.Duriya Dhinojwala, who practices law with a special focus on immigration issues, talks about some of these complex

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37:31

Adding Secular, Socialist to Constitution From Start...

The Wire Talks ·

2025/01/24

The Indian Constitution came into effect on January 26, 1950 and Republic Day is a commemoration of that. The framers of the Constitution gave the nation a document that had the vision to guide matters of the Indian state.Many questions have been raised about the Constitution – some members of the BJP want to remove the words secular and socialist because they were not in the original document. “It would have superfluous to add the words then,” says veteran constitutional lawyer Raju

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40:15

Israel’s Bombing of Gaza Has Made a Bonfire of...

The Wire Talks ·

2025/01/17

Can the world ever be the same after Israel’s brutal, non-stop bombing of Gaza? That is the question author Pankaj Mishra writes about in his latest book, The World After Gaza. Mishra’s well researched book explodes several myths, not least being that Israel was formed in 1948 to provide a safe place for survivors of the Holocaust. On the contrary, he writes, the survivors who did move there were treated badly by the European Jews. Most Jews who moved there were from the Arab countries who knew

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35 results

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