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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

36:49

We've never seen such an escalation of bad language...

The Wire Talks ·

2026/10/02

The free bandying around of insulting language, not just by trolls but also by leaders has become a virtual epidemic. Cockroach, presstitute, Dimagi Naxal-these were not phrases used by small time party foot soldiers but by people in high office.“There were previous incarnations, (of using such language), but we've never seen such an escalation of it in recent times,” says Dilip Cherian, former journalist turned Image Guru who has been an observer of the public and political scene for a long

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32:00

Indian states are welcoming massive data centres with...

The Wire Talks ·

2026/09/25

There is competition among Indian states to welcome multi-billion dollar data centres with subsidies, tax holidays and electricity grid and water priorities. But does this translate into jobs, or some other form of social service payments for the local communities. “No one is looking into that,” says Sharmila Chavaly, a former civil servant and an expert on infrastructure projects.“All we are looking at is, how can I incentivise a data centre to be set up in my state? We are not looking at what are

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45:58

An India-Pakistan cricket match today is like...

The Wire Talks ·

2026/09/11

Recently Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar and Dilip Vengsarkar were among those who signed a letter along with 18 other captains to the Pakistani prime minister, appealing for more humane treatment to Imran Khan.It comes at a time when relations between the two countries are fraught and rival captains don’t even shake hands on the field.Things were different when players like Gavaskar and Kapil Dev and Imran Khan were active, says veteran cricket writer Ayaz Memon. On the field, they were rivals and off

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38:27

The Mecca Pact Could Tempt Pakistan Towards More...

The Wire Talks ·

2026/09/04

Three Muslim-majority countries — Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan have come together and signed a mutual defence agreement — popularly called the “Mecca Pact“. What are the implications?“The primary impact of the Pact is diplomatic and psychological. It gives a sense of security,” says Navdeep Suri, Indian diplomat and former Ambassador to UAE and Egypt, who knows the region well. “The military impact of this could come in due course once you start seeing the convergence of their respective

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40:36

There is Fear in the BJP and RSS and They Don’t Know...

The Wire Talks ·

2026/08/21

After the Jantar Mantar protests, Narendra Modi and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat tried to reach out to Gen Z. But these have not been successful because “Gen Z knows that the RSS is part of the problem,” says Dhirendra Jha, journalist and author of several books on Hindutva and the RSS. “Why is Gen Z hesitating? Because RSS is trying to capture institutions, RSS is trying to capture whatever jobs are created,” he said to Sidharth Bhatia in a podcast discussion. “ That is why whatever drama he sought to

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41:38

Doing away with Article 370 Has Hurt India’s Secular...

The Wire Talks ·

2026/08/14

Seven years ago Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir was read down and done away with and the region was converted to two Union Territory-J & K and Ladakh. The BJP had then said that this would fully integrate the state into the country and that it would bring peace.“Article 370 was there from the 1950s. And there was no terrorism in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, until things changed and Pakistan got an opportunity. So, to say that Article 370 has anything to do with the terrorism and separatism, I don't

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65:58

The Cockroaches’ Protest Has Been one of the Most...

The Wire Talks ·

2026/08/05

“The youth movement consisted of many who were supporters of this government and that is significant”, says Tariq Ali, the icon of protest movements in the 1960s and after.“This is not a movement orchestrated by China, or Pakistan, or internal opposition parties. This is a movement that has risen from below,” he said in a podcast discussion with Sidharth Bhatia.Ali, apart from being a campaigner and activist, is also a film maker and author of novels, biographies and even a play. He closely follows

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46:20

If Satluj had been shown in the theatres two years...

The Wire Talks ·

2026/07/31

The sudden takedown of the film Satluj from an OTT platform within 48 hours of release sparked a lot of discussion. The film was made four years ago and the censors had asked for 127 cuts which the director Honey Trehan refused. Once it was pulled down, it was distributed all over Punjab for free for audiences to watch. “I'm quite surprised at the way the government has behaved in the whole thing”, veteran journalist Kanwar Sandhu said in a podcast discussion with Sidharth Bhatia.He said the manner

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35:05

The Govt’s Reaction to the Students Has Been Strong...

The Wire Talks ·

2026/07/24

Actor and activist Shabana Azmi was among those who joined the protestors at Jantar Mantar and says she saw “hope and anger” among them. “I and Javed saab (Javed Akhtar) wrote a letter directly to the prime minister appealing initiate a dialogue with the students. We got an acknowledgement” but nothing else, so she joined the protests.In a podcast discussion with Sidharth Bhatia, Azmi said the students had insisted they wanted the protest to be peaceful. But “I saw the tear gas and then the lathi

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31:15

The Iranians Did Not Express Any Disappointment to us...

The Wire Talks ·

2026/07/17

Congress leader Salman Khurshid, was among those who attended the funeral of Ayatollah Khamenei in Tehran in early July. He was invited personally and was also representing the Congress party.“I saw a lot of resilience and confidence in Iran. There was no sense of victimhood,” he said to Sidharth Bhatia in a discussion. “There weren’t policemen everywhere. It looked like very relaxed, but an extremely disciplined populace. Despite what people say about women not being involved in public life in

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49:57

Did Hyderabad Almost Become the Spiritual Epicentre...

The Wire Talks ·

2026/07/10

A new book, Indian Caliphate: Exiled Ottomans and the Billionaire Princes floats the tantalising possibility that the Nizam of Hyderabad’s dynasty came close to becoming the Caliphs in the 20th century.“With the wealth of the Asaf Jahi dynasty, Mukarram Jha, the son, the grandson of the last Ottoman caliph, and the grandson of the seventh Nizam of Hyderabad, when he became the Nizam, he could then have claimed the title”, according to the author Imran Mulla, a London-based journalist.“it would have

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51:52

India Must Ask Itself, Do We Want to Take a Stand on...

The Wire Talks ·

2026/07/03

The new report by the UN appointed Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory has revealed shocking details about Israeli attacks on Gaza and specifically the torture and killings of Palestinian children. Several instances of children being shot, tortured and sexually abused have been recorded in the report. “This includes a girl who was stripped. So, you know, this public shaming, we call it public nudity. If you subject children to this kind of, it's actually a very deep

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24:14

"There is no indication India raised the issue of...

The Wire Talks ·

2026/06/26

When three Indian nations on neutral merchant ships were killed in attacks by the US forces at the Strait of Hormuz, it created an uproar in India. The Indian government called the US Charge d’Affaire, and PM Modi mentioned it to US President Trump. But was it enough? Admiral Arun Prakash, former Naval chief of staff and now a commentator, does not think so. “Mr Trump is not just an unpredictable person. He can be quite intimidating also as we've seen in the past. So one can understand our statesmen

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44:53

Fatty Liver is Becoming the Number One Cause of Liver...

The Wire Talks ·

2026/06/24

The definition of obesity has changed. Even those who look slim, without a big belly, may be obese. And this leads to many other health problems. The definition now includes a waist circumference of “about 80 cms for females and 90 centimetres for males, and this correlates with the amount of fat in your vital organs,” said Dr Aabha Nagral, who is, Director of Gastroenterology at Jaslok Hospital in Mumbai and also runs their Fatty Liver programme, in a podcast discussion with Sidharth Bhatia. She

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27:01

"I think Penguin India Is Looking For Excuses To Drop...

The Wire Talks ·

2026/06/24

Joe Sacco is An internationally known cartoonist journalist famous for his books on Palestine and Gaza. His first book on India — The Once and Future Riot — was published last year, about the Muzaffarnagar riots of 2013 between Jats and Muslims that ended in the death of 60 people and the displacement of 60000, mainly Muslims. The book was set to be sold from August onwards, but last week, the distributors Penguin Random House India stepped back from it. He got a five page list of queries from

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39:53

The Heat Wave in India is an Emergency. And Its Only...

The Wire Talks ·

2026/05/30

India is extremely hot right now. Recently, it was reported that 50 of the world’s hottest cities in the world were in India. The media calls it a “heat wave.” This is only going to continue and get worse, says Amita Baviskar, Professor of Environmental Studies and Sociology and Anthropology at Ashoka University. “We're going to see many, many more deaths of workers on building sites… We're talking about huge levels of distress, including fatalities, including people dying. And I think people are

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51:38

“The Election Commission Is The Key Player In This...

The Wire Talks ·

2026/04/17

Crucial elections will take place in West Bengal in two phases on April 23 and 29. Mamata Bannerjee’s Trinamool Congress has to fight anti-incumbency, because it has been in power since 2011, and the main challenger the Bharatiya Janata Party sees its best opportunity to win the state. This time, the Special Intensive Revision ordered by the Election Commission has also complicated matters since over 90 lakh voters have been struck off the rolls and between 30 and 34 lakh have appealed their

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49:34

The Amount Of Censorship Of Online Content Has...

The Wire Talks ·

2026/04/10

The recent proposed amendments to IT rules inviting public comments has been explained by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology as just procedural but this is not the case. Activists say that if passed, the new rules will further tighten censorship of online content. Rules were already there and takedown orders were being issued in large numbers, but now it will further expand to censor not just publications but also comments by citizens, said Nikhil Pahwa, founder and editor of

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39:20

Indian Americans Are Very Afraid in a Way That, They...

The Wire Talks ·

2026/02/23

With the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) picking up immigrants especially brown looking people, and even deporting them, a climate of fear has built up among the Indian community, says Sravya Tadepalli. “Indians are the third most undocumented community in America,” says Tadepalli, deputy executive director of Hindus for Human Rights (HfHR). “Among Indians there is a perception that we are all here legally, as tech workers, doctors, but many Indians are not in a position of privilege,” she

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49:29

A Political Element Cannot be Ruled Out in the Lack...

The Wire Talks ·

2026/01/16

Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam have been in prison for the last five years. Their bail has been denied repeatedly. Last week their five colleagues, also arrested in the Delhi riot case of 2020, were granted bail. Why haven’t they?Lawyer Sarim Naved, who fights both civil and criminal cases, analyses this in a podcast discussion with Sidharth Bhatia. While bail not jail is a general principle, “the courts have a lot of discretion in this matter”, he said. But he says, “the way the current

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