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PODCAST

The Subverse

The Subverse, presented by Dark ‘n’ Light is a podcast that uncovers the hidden and marginal in stories about nature, culture and social justice. From the cosmic to the quantum, from cells to cities and from colonial histories to reimagining futures. Join Susan Mathews every fortnight on a Thursday for weird and wonderful conversations, narrated essays and poems that dwell on the evolving contingencies of life.

society & culture

All Episodes

38:32

Unequal Heat: Race, Bodies and Thermal Histories

The Subverse ·

2023/06/26

In this episode, Susan Mathews speaks with Dr. Bharat Jayram Venkat about the unequal distribution of the effects of heat. For this, we travel to 19th and early 20th century colonial India where heat is a persistent problem for the British empire and a burgeoning climate science is sutured to racial difference. These histories inform contemporary crises as knowledges of heat continue to evolve in an unequal world. Dr. Bharat Jayram Venkat is an associate professor at UCLA’s Institute for Society and

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44:33

Frankenstein and Fire: Reading from the Margins

The Subverse ·

2023/05/24

In this episode, Susan Mathews is in conversation with Prof. Robert Romanyshyn—an Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute, and an author of eight books including Victor Frankenstein, the Monster and the Shadows of Technology: The Frankenstein Prophecies (Frankenstein Prophecies). Romanyshyn’s special area of concern is the psychology of technology, especially in terms of the climate crisis and impact of digital media on our social structures. Much of his life’s work has been

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36:19

Tracing the Pyrocene: an ecological three-body problem

The Subverse ·

2023/05/11

In Season 3 of The Subverse, we are journeying into ‘fire’. In this opening episode, we speak with Prof. Stephen J. Pyne, a fire historian, urban farmer, and emeritus professor at Arizona State University, U.S.A. Pyne has written over 40 books, most of which are centred around fire. In this conversation, we focus on his book The Pyrocene: How we Created an Age of Fire, and What Happens Next, published in 2021. Apart from being such a prolific scholar of fire, Stephen J. Pyne spent 15 seasons with

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01:08:45

Water and Caste: Part Two Art, Collective Memory, and...

The Subverse ·

2023/05/03

In part two of our Water and Caste series within the Stories from the Subverse, anti-caste intersectional feminist researcher-activist Swati Kamble speaks with four remarkable Ambedkarite anti-caste creators on how Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar and the Mahad march inspired and shaped their lives, artistic journeys, and creative repertoires. We are introduced to Madhubani artist Malvika Raj, Padma Shri awardee and photojournalist Sudharak Olwe, artist Rajyashri Goody, and folk artist Shahir Nandesh

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50:17

Water and Caste: Part One - History of the Mahad...

The Subverse ·

2023/03/27

Stories from the Subverse, where we uncover hidden and marginalized stories through a more personal storytelling lens, returns with a two part series. Part one of this series has been conceptualised, scripted, and hosted by Swati Kamble, an anti-caste intersectional feminist researcher-activist. In part one, Swati guides us through the history of Mahad Satyagraha, the march for equality, dignity, and access to water, led by anti-caste leader and statesman, Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar on 20th March

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53:23

Drawing the Line: Inventing Rivers, the Dissent of...

The Subverse ·

2022/12/14

Susan Mathews speaks with architect and planner Dilip Da Cunha. He is an Adjunct Professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) and the recipient of a 2020 Guggenheim Fellowship. In 2017, Anuradha Mathur and Dilip Da Cunha founded a design platform called Ocean of Wetness. The organisation is dedicated to imaging and imagining habitation in ubiquitous wetness rather than on a land-water surface. Our chat was a wide-ranging one, starting with

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37:01

Of Relationality and Water: Stories of Kinship, Care,...

The Subverse ·

2022/12/07

We continue to explore relationality when it comes to water, and learn more from three women who have made water, and bodies of water, their life's work. The politics of kinship can be complicated, but how would we approach our bodies of water if they were kin? In this episode we go deeper into what fascinates them about water - the flow of tides; properties like its solvency; its creative force; acoustic camouflage that can soothe us; and the thrill of bioluminescence. Not all memories are

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32:02

Of Relationality and Water: Stories of Kinship, Care...

The Subverse ·

2022/11/24

Water has played a central role as a resource and property in our dominant worldviews. It has made and unmade empires. In our nation-building, watercourses, waterways, oceans, rivers and freshwaters have all played leading roles, part of a continued and relentless drive to choreograph and subjugate our waters. But it is the indigenous, the subjugated, and the oppressed who seem to best recognise water’s power as both a life force and a catastrophic threat. For them, water is kin, creator, and

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41:37

How to Breathe, and Other Survival Lessons From...

The Subverse ·

2022/11/02

In this episode, Susan speaks to Alexis Pauline Gumbs, a writer, independent scholar, poet, activist, and educator based in Durham, North Carolina, United States of America. Her most recent book Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals, 2020, part of adrienne maree brown’s Emergent Strategy Series at AK Press, flows from her previous works in a poetic continuum, with water playing a central role. In Undrowned, Alexis takes us through 19 thematic movements, lessons from marine mammals,

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38:11

Sea turtles, Island fever and Magical mysteries: the...

The Subverse ·

2022/10/19

In this episode, Susan Mathews speaks to Dr Kartik Shanker, who was inspired to begin a career in ecology by an ancient reptile, a sea turtle that crawled ashore late one night in Madras (now Chennai). As faculty at the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India, his focus is the ecology and evolution of frogs, reptiles, birds, plants, and marine fauna. His group works on evolutionary biogeography of different taxa, and on the ecology and behaviour of mixed

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30:18

Wild Learning: Yuvan Aves on nature as a classroom

The Subverse ·

2022/10/13

Welcome to Stories from The Subverse, where we uncover hidden and marginalized stories through a more personal storytelling lens. In our first story we listen to Yuvan Aves—naturalist, educator, and writer who is certain to transport you, at least briefly, to Chennai’s beaches. Painting a vivid portrait of what a meaningful education should be, Aves is convincing in his point of view of why it’s crucial for a child’s learning to be rooted in real-world engagement and lived experiences. Having been

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01:11:55

Arcx - Indra Das

The Subverse ·

2022/10/05

Arcx is all about literary inspiration. In this six episode mini-series, we talk to six South Asian sci-fi, fantasy and speculative fiction writers, tracing their ideas from conception to execution. Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of assault and the depiction of traumatic events. Listener discretion is advised. In this episode we are in conversation with Indra Das, author, critic and editor. Indra’s work crosses genres and creates intricate worlds. His writing is exploratory,

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01:01:52

Arcx - Kuzhali Manickavel

The Subverse ·

2022/09/21

Arcx is all about literary inspiration. In this six episode mini-series, we talk to six South Asian sci-fi, fantasy and speculative fiction writers, tracing their ideas from conception to execution. Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of abuse, and the depiction of traumatic events. Listener discretion is advised. Today, we talk to Kuzhali Manickavel, author, editor and columnist. Kuzhali’s short fiction is beautiful, bizarre and haunting in the best way.Her short story collections

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53:51

Arcx - SB Divya

The Subverse ·

2022/09/08

Arcx is all about literary inspiration. In this six episode mini-series, we talk to six South Asian sci fi, fantasy and speculative fiction writers, tracing their ideas from conception to execution. Today, we’re in conversation with SB Divya, author, editor and engineer with an encyclopaedic knowledge of sci-fi and speculative fiction. Divya’s work is a fascinating mix of her professional and personal backgrounds, with great science and even better storylines. Her debut novella, Runtime, was

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58:03

Arcx - Samit Basu

The Subverse ·

2022/08/25

Arcx is all about literary inspiration. In this six episode mini-series, we talk to six South Asian sci fi, fantasy and speculative fiction writers, tracing their ideas from conception to execution. In this episode, we’re talking to one of India’s best known Sci-fi and fantasy authors, Samit Basu. An incredibly versatile writer, Samit’s work has spanned mediums, with comic books, film scripts and children’s and YA novels. Samit’s first novel, the Simoquin Prophecies, was published in 2003, when he

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53:51

Arcx - Lavanya Lakshminarayan

The Subverse ·

2022/08/10

Arcx is all about literary inspiration. In this six episode mini-series, we talk to six South Asian sci fi, fantasy and speculative fiction writers, tracing their ideas from conception to execution. In this episode, we speak to Lavanya Lakshminarayan, award winning author and games designer. Her work is interesting, layered and tackles some really hard topics with ease. We discuss the books that set her on her writing journey, the importance of literary representation, access to technology, and the

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51:27

Arcx - Shiv Ramdas

The Subverse ·

2022/07/28

Arcx is all about literary inspiration. In this six episode mini-series, we talk to six South Asian sci fi, fantasy and speculative fiction writers, tracing their ideas from conception to execution. We begin the series with author, storyteller and Twitter sensation, Shiv Ramdas. Shiv's work explores serious and often historical themes in nuanced and deft ways. His debut work, India’s first mainstream Cyberpunk novel, Domechild was released in 2013. Shiv’s short fiction has been featured in Slate,

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02:08

Announcing Arcx on The Subverse

The Subverse ·

2022/07/19

At Dark ‘n’ Light we’re deeply interested in stories and the people behind them, and our podcast The Subverse is a fortnightly journey into weird and wonderful conversations with creators and thinkers. Our new six part mini-series Arcx is all about literary inspiration, tracing its roots from conception to execution. We aim to arrive at the root of that inspiration, and find the spark that ignited ideas. We seek to peel away layers of perception, memory, and impressions to find the story, line,

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56:27

Floating on a Bed of Rights: Water, Sanitation, and...

The Subverse ·

2022/06/22

Susan Mathews interviews Catarina de Albuquerque, Chief Executive Officer of Sanitation and Water for All (SWA), a global partnership which has positioned SWA as a vital contributor to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 6. In a wide-ranging conversation, they speak of what human rights as a discourse brings to water and sanitation, the realities on the ground, and the backdrop in which the General Assembly recognised not only water as a right, but sanitation also in 2010. Together, they

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42:07

Subduing Unruly Waters: Learning from South Asia’s...

The Subverse ·

2022/06/08

From Asia’s mountain core flows ten great rivers that run through 16 countries, serving a fifth of humanity. The struggle for water in modern history is a global story, but nowhere has the search for water shaped or sustained as much human life as in India and China. In this episode, Susan Mathews speaks to Sunil Amrith, historian and writer, about his book Unruly Waters: How Mountain Rivers and Monsoons have Shaped South Asia’s History published in 2018. Unruly Waters tells the story of how the

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73 results

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