x

75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

PODCAST

Desi Academia Podcast

Desi Academia Podcast

A space for discussing the trials and tribulations that make research and academic life interesting. This podcast offers the perspective of early-career Desi researchers navigating their futures both in India and abroad. Episodes include our insights on critical thinking, scientific temper, new scientific developments, research funding policies, and a lot more.

science

All Episodes

01:32:06

S10E3: The Second Postdoc- Vatsal's life in outside...

Desi Academia Podcast ·

2025/12/19

Aditya, Megh, and Vatsal are back to discuss their major life changes in 2025. Vatsal shares his shift from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease to fibrosis, the scientific and ethical training needed to work with live human doner tissue, and the challenges navigating the visa system in Canada. We also discuss the challenges of postdoc onboarding, HR in academia (or the lack thereof), 9-5 life after the PhD, 'dry lab privilege vs wet lab reality', the impact of being gym-pilled on intellectual

en

02:27:48

S10E2: "Dissertation Research is a Team Sport"-...

Desi Academia Podcast ·

2025/11/26

We continue this season with another friend-of-the-pod Professor Indranil Dutta, as we discuss Megh's dissertation defense and thesis writing experience, and the value of a supportive research experience. Recommendations:MeghThe Rosie ProjectIndranilTV show: OrbitalParts UnknownKitchen ConfidentialVatsalAnthony Bordain’s ‘No Reservation’

en

01:54:47

S10E1: Desi Academia Podcast founders meet: Postdoc...

Desi Academia Podcast ·

2025/10/24

It's season 10 (Yes, we can't believe it either!) and the OG gang (Megh, Aditya, and Vatsal) gets together after a very long time to vent about all things academia. In this episode of Desi "postdoctoral" podcast, we catch up with Aditya and discuss how academia has been treating him over the past year or so. We talk about what's going on in our lives, things plaguing academia, and much more!Join us for this fun conversation!

en

02:04:34

S9E4: What is Islamic Studies? Wrong answers only,...

Desi Academia Podcast ·

2025/10/03

Have you ever wondered what it's like to explain your research to an immigration and customs officer? Today, Manan and Sumaira join us to discuss their work on trans-continental poetry and periodicals respectively, what it means to study the history of Islamic communities and literary traditions in Western Academia, the different aims and focii of sociology, anthropology, literature, religious studies and Islamic studies, and what it means to impart all this knowledge and passion in college

en

02:04:06

Supplementary Materials 6: Fighting for Research...

Desi Academia Podcast ·

2025/07/27

We have a thought-provoking discussion on how to fight for research ethics with Dr. Achal Agarwal. We discuss different kinds of unethical behaviour in academic publishing, how retractions happen, and the institutional reform needed to uphold academic standards. Learn more about the Indian Research Watch https://irw.co.inRecommendationsAchalFreakonomicsHitchhikers’ Guide to the GalaxyCourse: Calling BullshitVatsalAlzhimers’ paper retraction

en

02:01:29

S9E3: Biology of human reproduction and endocrinology...

Desi Academia Podcast ·

2025/06/30

Join us in this episode of DAP as we talk about the research of Professor Deepak Modi. Prof. Modi is an independent researcher at the ICMR National Institute for Research in Reproductive and Child Health. To conclude this pride month, he gives us a masterclass on the biology and genetics of human reproduction and fertility. We talk about his cutting edge research that involves 'organs on a chip' to evaluate safety of drugs during pregnancy, molecular pathways he discovered that play an

en

02:00:57

S9E2: Ethnography of masculinity and gender with Dr....

Desi Academia Podcast ·

2025/06/10

In this episode of DAP, Megh, Harsha and Vatsal are joined by Dr. Shannon Philip. Dr. Philip is an Assistant Professor in the Sociology of Gender and Sexuality at the University of Cambridge. His research focuses on the relationship between masculinities, femininities and sexualities in cities of the Global South.In this riveting conversation, Dr. Philip takes us through his academic journey and while doing so, gives us a masterclass on his intersectional research. We talk about masculinity in

en

01:20:03

S9E1: Understanding boyhood, singleism, society and...

Desi Academia Podcast ·

2025/06/01

Its pride month 2025 and DAP is back with a new episode. In this episode we are joined by Dr. Ketaki Chaukhani. Dr. Chowkhani is an Assistant Professor at Manipal Centre for Humanities where she teaches India’s first ever course on Singles Studies. Join us in this riveting conversation where she explains what is single studies or "singleism" and her research that attempts to understand boyhood, sexuality and society. Recommendations Dr. Chaukhani's selected works: 1.

en

01:51:36

S8E5: A Career in Conservation: The human-wildlife...

Desi Academia Podcast ·

2025/04/25

In this episode, we are joined by Amit Kaushik, A PhD candidate in the Integrative Conservation and Anthropology, University of Georgia. We talk about his pre-doctoral experiences with wetland conservation in Delhi, GIS work in Ladakh, and human-tiger interactions in Madhya Pradesh. Amit tells us how he found himself in an interdisciplinary program, living his dream to work with wolves with a funding partnership with National Geographic. We discuss his school and college transition from commence to

en

03:42:01

Supplementary Materials 5: SIR Group and Academia

Desi Academia Podcast ·

2025/04/02

In this special episode, the hosts of Small India Radio (SIR) Podcast Group: Raj, Nishant, Megh, Vatsal, Richa, and MV; talk about their professional experiences in education and workplaces. We talk about how we got here: our degree choices and motivations, experiences growing up in different parts of India, exposure, and moving away from home. We discuss the impact of Liberalisation and 2014, creating reliable knowledge sources and reading, visiting India, the thoughts of moving back, and the

en

01:54:52

S8E4: Physics masterclass with Superconformal Hassaan

Desi Academia Podcast ·

2025/03/16

In this episode of DAP, Hassaan joins Megh and Vatsal. Hassaan is a Ph.D. student at the University at Albany, studying Theoretical Physics. Specifically, he is working on problems in String Theory and Quantum Field Theory. Hassaan also has an amazing YouTube channel called "Phymaths," where he makes videos about all things related to theoretical physics and mathematics. In this episode, Hassaan takes us through his academic journey, what it takes to study theoretical physics, and the fascinating

en

01:07:00

Supplementary Materials 4: Tech Wrap 2024 with Ajay...

Desi Academia Podcast ·

2025/03/04

In this special episode, friends of the podcast Ajay and Harsha join Megh to discuss the MIT Tech review, 2024. We discuss major innovations in GenAI, biotech, astronomy, and sustainable technology.We also consider the impact of the defunding of scientific bodies in the US and the deregulation of BigTech, and whether the innovations of 2024 will have a chance to scale.Recommendations and References:Google CEO Sundar Pichai on AI-powered search and the future of the web:

en

01:36:48

S8E3: Bridging ecology and human behaviour systems...

Desi Academia Podcast ·

2025/02/25

In this episode of DAP, Megh, Vatsal, and a friend of the pod, Dr. Harish Prakash, are joined by Dr. Vivek Nityananda. Dr. Nityananda is an outstanding behavioral ecologist and a senior lecturer at Newcastle University. His multidisciplinary research aims to understand animal behavior by combining psychology, evolutionary biology, neuroscience, and ecology. Join us as Dr. Nityananda discusses his academic journey, motivations, and research on bees, praying mantis, crickets, and other insects

en

01:32:41

S8E1: Human Development and Sibling Studies with Dr....

Desi Academia Podcast ·

2025/01/18

In this episode of DAP, we are joined by Professor Mamta Saxena , associate professor at the State University of New York (Oswego). We learn about the field of Human Development and Sibling Studies, and it's relationship with other fields in social sciences. Professor Saxena tells us about her PhD journey, and ongoing research projects. Recommendations Megh All that we imagine as light Vettayan Vatsal Severance

en

01:32:30

S8E2: Media Theory and writing about Technology with...

Desi Academia Podcast ·

2025/01/18

This episode, we are joined by Professor Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal (@ranjodhd), from the Digital Humanities Lab, University of Basel. We learn about his transition from engineering to literature, and how his foundation in STEM education contributes to his work in science and technology studies.We discuss his work on how science is shaped by narratives and capital, and how technical experts and scientists invent many means to express what they observe and find. Our conversation leads to a discussion

en

01:49:18

S7E4: Radiology and Deep Learning with Dr. Ishaan Bhat

Desi Academia Podcast ·

2024/12/28

In this episode, we are joined by recent PhD graduate Dr. Ishaan Bhat who shares his experience dissertating in European academia. Ishaan walks us through his specialisation in image recognition and ML/DL algorithms, his interdisciplinary collaboration with medical doctors, and his doctoral research on uncertainty estimation and improving reliability in predictions made by image recognition algorithms. We also chat about his dissertation defence experience. We cover the unique challenges and joys

en

01:31:31

S7E3: The Language of sport and nostalgia with Aman...

Desi Academia Podcast ·

2024/10/28

Aman tells us about how he combined his passion for sport with his lived experience in India, and professional experience as a sports journalist. We discuss how he moved from the fast-paced life of journalistic publication, to slow and measured academic knowledge creation. We also talk about the nuances of researching and teaching about sports journalism and disability, and how to cover a para sportsperson on their term.Aman also shares with us the amazing experience of his field work: covering

en

01:56:42

S7E2: Researching bats and ecology with Dr. Harish...

Desi Academia Podcast ·

2024/10/02

In this episode of DAP, Megh and Vatsal are joined by Dr. Harish Prakash. Dr. Prakash is an assistant professor at GITAM University, and his research interests include ecology and animal behavior. Join us in this fun conversation, where we take a deep dive into his academic journey and his motivations. We tackle questions like why the study of ecology is essential, his research involving studying bats in the wild ecosystems of India, and much more. Recommendations Harish Resident Alien

en

00:49:35

Supplementary Materials 3: CRISPR and how not to do...

Desi Academia Podcast ·

2024/10/01

In this episode, we discuss the resurgence of He Jiankui on the Twitter trends, the research that made CRISPR a Nobel-worthy discovery, and the various reasons why scientists don't go around gene-editing human embryos to create super species. Readings: Scientist who gene-edited babies is back in lab and ‘proud’ of past work despite jailing China to begin first in-human CRISPR trial next month CRISPR genome editing gets 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry He Jiankui’s tweet CCR5 is a suppressor

en

01:49:29

S7E1: Demystifying the academic publication process...

Desi Academia Podcast ·

2024/09/05

Join us in this episode of Desi Academia Podcast where we discuss the ins and out of an academic publication. Megh and Vatsal are joined by the friend of the pod Dr. Rituparna Patgiri where they talk about all the basics of an academic publication. We tackle questions like what is an academic publication, where do we publish, who is an author, what is peer review and more!RecommendationsMegh“What’s app got to do with it? Premium love in times of emotional capitalism”

en

47 results

Similar Podcasts

Classic Radio Science Fiction

solgoodmedia.com

Mission to Mars

Inception Point Ai

The 365 Days of Astronomy

365DaysOfAstronomy.org

Creek Devil

william Jevning

UFO Chronicles Podcast

Nik Hunter