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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

47:55

India Badly Needs a Zohran Mamdani to Take On the...

The Wire Talks ·

2025/11/07

India’s left parties are no longer as influential as they used to be. In her new book, Comrades and Comebacks: The Battle of the Left to Win the Indian Mind, Saira Shah Halim, CPI(M) candidate in the 2024 elections, analyses the reasons for this and suggests the way forward.“There have been strategic decisions that went wrong, but morally the Left has never made a mistake,” she said in a podcast conversation with Sidharth Bhatia. Halim talks of the need to bring in the youth and look at

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44:44

Religion is a No-Go Area in Stand Up Comedy, Now Even...

The Wire Talks ·

2025/10/31

Comedians and satirists have borne the brunt of the state and of people who are offended by something or the other, but even so, the stand up comedy scene is quite active with many faces. One such is Punit Pania, who left his corporate job 10 years ago and is now a very successful stand up comic.His topics range from poor roads and civic architecture, know-all bhakt uncles, and NRIs, but he also talks about social issues. “In my first open mic, I had two minutes and talked about domestic violence

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49:55

Senior Citizens Are the Most Vulnerable to Online...

The Wire Talks ·

2025/10/17

Why have digital scams become so commonplace? And why are senior citizens falling prey to scamsters?“We can say that a vast number of people who fall for cyber scams are senior citizens,” says Ruby Dhingra, a former journalist who co-founded Saksham Senior which works to digitally empowers senior citizens. “There are a number of reasons for this, ranging from neurological factors and the fact that seniors have money in the bank, property etc.,” Dhingra said in a podcast conversation with

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52:59

More Young Indians Are Opting for Therapy as Mental...

The Wire Talks ·

2025/10/10

It is no longer unusual to hear of someone, especially from a younger generation, who is undergoing therapy from a mental health professional, which is a big change from some years ago. The Covid lockdown increased “stress, depression and anxiety for many” says Maherra Desai, clinical psychologist in Mumbai’s Jaslok Hospital on World Mental Health Day. “Social media too has increased a sense of isolation,” she says during a podcast discussion with Sidharth Bhatia. Desai explains there are many

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41:02

Donald Trump is a Bully and He Sees India as a Weaker...

The Wire Talks ·

2025/09/26

In President Trump’s second term, he has imposed several sanctions against India, starting from 50% tariffs on Indian exports for importing oil from Russia and the latest one of a massive $100,000 fee for new H1B applications. Considering that Indians get 70% of new H1B visas, it will affect professionals from India the most.What is the reason behind these decisions, especially since many countries, including China, import oil from Russia? Does he have anything against India, more so since he

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43:15

Indians in Australia are Becoming More Visible and...

The Wire Talks ·

2025/09/19

There has been growing anti-immigration and anti-Indian sentiment in many countries, including in Australia. A Member of Parliament recently claimed that the government was bringing in too many Indians so that they would vote for it. The government criticised her and her own party demoted her status. A government report in 2021 called Indians a “national asset”. “The educated people and those in white collar jobs know this, but the rest of the populace does not,” says Surjeet Dhanji, an academic

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48:57

The Violence in Nepal Was Very Well Planned, by...

The Wire Talks ·

2025/09/14

The agitation in Nepal last week had three dimensions—the total collapse of the state machinery, multiple forces joining the GenZ agitators and unprecedented destruction of public and private property, says Mahendra P. Lama, senior professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi and an astute observer of Nepal for several decades. Lama was in Kathmandu during the agitation and also spoke to several local citizens.“There was a huge gap between GenZ and the government,” he said in a podcast

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39:30

Flooding Will Continue in Immediate and Maybe...

The Wire Talks ·

2025/09/12

What is the cause of the severe flooding seen in northern states and cities? “Climate change and its impact is intensifying rainfall pattern. The bigger failure is how our cities are designed, planned and managed and continue to grow,” says Mihir Bhatt, Ahmedabad based architect and urban planner. Bhatt is the director of the All India Disaster Management Institute, which works on initiatives in risk reduction and climate resilience. He said there was a “design mismatch.” “Our stormwater

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50:47

Maharashtra Govt’s Resolution Won’t By Itself do Much...

The Wire Talks ·

2025/09/05

The reason why the Marathas have begun agitating for reservations in recent years is because there is a “rural as well as urban crisis” in the state’s political economy, says Sumeet Mhaskar, professor of sociology in OP Jindal University. Marathas are getting no access to economically secure jobs because more and more government jobs are contractual.Mhaskar explains the process for getting reservations is not the Government Resolution (GR) such as the Maharashtra government has done

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48:52

How Would Gandhiji React to a PM Dogwhistling From...

The Wire Talks ·

2025/08/22

A rupture has taken place within our community relationships and this will take a long time to heal even if the government changes. This is the candid analysis by Manoj Kumar Jha, academic and one of the more articulate Indian parliamentarians.“Dogwhistling has moved from the fringe to the centre,” he says in a podcast conversation with Sidharth Bhatia. Jha’s collection of columns has recently been published under the title In Praise of Coalition Politics and Other Essays on Indian Democracy

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39:43

India Will Never Get Rid of the Mughals, Their...

The Wire Talks ·

2025/08/08

Historian Richard M Eaton says he is “very concerned” at the erasure of the Mughals — “one of the most spectacular empires in the world” — from school history books. Eaton, one of the most eminent historians of pre-modern Indian history, debunks some myths about the Mughals in this podcast conversation with Sidharth Bhatia. He pointedly says that though the Mughals were Muslims, “they saw religion as a very personal affair and rarely tried to convert non-Muslims.” According to him, “they saw

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44:29

Guru Dutt, Raj Kapoor and the Golden Age of Hindi...

The Wire Talks ·

2025/07/25

There is a widespread belief that the 1950s were a time of great Hindi films, in terms of stories, songs and film-making. Seventy-five years later, fans still remember those songs, those stars and, most of all, those directors. We look back and call it the Golden age. What does that mean?“I think it’s partly because the 1950s are also seen as a kind of Golden Age of India,” according to Rachel Dwyer, a former professor of film at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) who has written

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31:22

If a Large Number Are Excluded From Voting in Bihar,...

The Wire Talks ·

2025/07/11

The Election Commission’s announcement in Bihar that a citizen should prove his or her credentials to vote has sparked outrage among political parties. They say that a large number of marginalised communities will lose their right to vote.“It is indeed very problematic. To shift the onus of establishing identity or citizenship on the voter is fraught on principle in a democratic country,” says Ashwani Kumar, senior advocate and a former minister for law and justice and also former Additional

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39:08

BJP’s Push for Hindi in Different States Has a Larger...

The Wire Talks ·

2025/07/04

The Devendra Fadnavis government has withdrawn its proposal to introduce Hindi in the early classes in schools in Maharashtra because of the opposition’s pressure. In Tamil Nadu too, there has been pushback on the introduction of Hindi by the Modi government.“In Maharashtra the BJP cannot afford to take electoral risks,” says Professor Alok Rai, academic and author who has taught in universities in India and in the US and has written a book called Hindi Nationalism. But, he points out, the BJP

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46:02

It is Very Easy to Say that We Want to be a World...

The Wire Talks ·

2025/06/26

India’s stand on global events is becoming increasingly unclear. Whether on the Israel Iran war or the Ukraine-Russia war, India has not taken a clear position, though in recent years, India has been supportive of Israel, giving up the country’s long standing support of Palestine. Nor has prime minister Modi clearly repudiated President Trump’s repeated statements that it was he who brought an end to the India-Pakistan conflict. Does India have a voice in global affairs? Salman Khurshid, a former

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39:00

Post Degree Jobs Won’t be Available Any More in the...

The Wire Talks ·

2025/06/26

India sends students to the US in record numbers, but this academic year, applicants are feeling anxious before they head out. The changing policies of the Trump administration is likely to cause delays and tougher immigration questioning, among other things. Moreover, it is likely that the Optional Practical Training (OPT) programme, which allows F-1 visa holding students to work for a year or more, will be modified if not terminated. That was one of the great attractions for foreign students in

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45:05

Planning in Mumbai has Come to Mean Only Real Estate...

The Wire Talks ·

2025/06/26

Every year, parts of Mumbai’s streets and tracks get flooded after the rains, but this year, the floods happened in the southern parts of the city. South Mumbai is generally considered immune to this kind of monsoon flooding, but this year, things were different. Citizens of Mumbai have got used to such inconveniences during the rainy season, especially in the first few days and weeks, but things are getting worse year after year. “Poor planning is part of it,” says Hussain Indorewala, teacher and

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44:36

India’s Reaction to Turkey Understandable, But We...

The Wire Talks ·

2025/05/23

Veteran Indian diplomat Talmiz Ahmad, who is an authority on the Middle East, says Turkey has been bringing up Kashmir for a long time but relations were slowly warming up.“But it helped Pakistan during its conflict with India” and that was too much for India, he said in a podcast discussion with Sidharth Bhatia. “Turkey is on a high and wants to expand its footprint to South Asia,” he said. “Pakistan brings geopolitical value to Turkey and if they get together, they will form a formidable

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52:12

New Canadian PM Carney a Technocrat, Will Want to...

The Wire Talks ·

2025/05/09

With the election of a new prime minister in Canada, there are hopes that relations between India and Canada will improve. Under Justin Trudeau, the previous one, ties had plummeted after he made allegations that India had a role in the killing of a Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar.“Trudeau had five Sikhs in his cabinet and was responding to diaspora politics,” says veteran journalist Daniel Lak in a podcast discussion with Sidharth Bhatia. Lak was with Al Jazeera as the US and Canada

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42:10

Beneath the Modi Government’s Push for Tourism in...

The Wire Talks ·

2025/05/02

The killing of 26 tourists in Pahalgam on April 23 came as a ‘shock’, because never before had terrorists targeted tourists, says Anuradha Bhasin, an astute observer of events in the Union Territory.It's not that terrorism had disappeared after the removal of Article 370 in 2019, as the Modi government constantly claimed, Bhasin said in a podcast discussion with Sidharth Bhatia. The reaction among ordinary Kashmiris was one of grief, she said. “They came out to help, as they have on every

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35 results

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