Ideas of India

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Naushad Forbes on Building Innovation in Industry May 12, 2022

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In this episode, Shruti speaks with Naushad Forbes about his new book, "The Struggle and the Promise: Restoring India's Potential." They discuss why Indian companies spend so little on R&D, how companies learn and innovate, protectionism vs. open markets, higher education reforms and much more. Forbes is the co-chairman of Forbes Marshall, India's leading steam engineering and control instrumentation firm. He chairs the steam engineering companies within the group. He is also the chairman of Ananta Aspen Centre and was president of the Confederation of Indian Industry in 2016-17. Further, he is the chairman of the Centre for Technology, Innovation and Economic Research in Pune.

Recorded April 30th, 2022

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Barkha Dutt on the Humans of COVID Apr 28, 2022

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In this episode, Shruti speaks with Barkha Dutt about her new book, "To Hell and Back: Humans of COVID." They discuss the tragedies of the COVID-19 pandemic in India, the failures of the Indian state, the stories of Indian migrant workers, the decline of cable news and much more. Dutt is an Indian television journalist, author and owner of the YouTube news channel Mojo Story. She is an opinion columnist with The Hindustan Times and The Washington Post. Her previous book is "This Unquiet Land: Stories from India's Fault Lines."

Recorded March 27th, 2022

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Anand Swamy and Tirthankar Roy on Law and the Economy Apr 14, 2022

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In this episode, Shruti speaks with Anand Swamy and Tirthankar Roy about their new book, "Law and the Economy in a Young Democracy: India 1947 and Beyond." They discuss India's colonial legacy, forest laws, problems with eminent domain, the messiness of Indian legislation and much more. Swamy is the Willmott Family Third Century Professor of Economics at Williams College. His research interests are the economics of institutions and land, labor and credit markets in developing countries and South Asia. Roy is a professor at the London School of Economics, teaching South Asian and global history. His research focuses on Indian capitalism, specifically whether the country's history reveals patterns that can help understand how Indian capitalism works today.

Recorded March 2nd, 2022

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Ramachandra Guha on Rebels Against the Raj Mar 31, 2022

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In this episode, Shruti speaks with Ramachandra Guha about his latest book, "Rebels Against the Raj." They discuss the influence of foreigners who renounced their native nationalities to become Indian, Gandhi's legacy, economic protectionism, constraints on free speech, cricket and much more. Guha is an Indian historian, environmentalist, writer and public intellectual whose research interests include social, political, contemporary, environmental and cricket history. For the academic year 2011–12, he held a visiting position at the London School of Economics He has also been a visiting professor at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore.

Recorded February 24th, 2022

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Lant Pritchett on Where Did Development Economics Go Wrong? Mar 17, 2022

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In this episode, Shruti speaks with Lant Pritchett about economic convergence, academic skepticism about growth, flawed methodologies in development economics, the shortcomings of India's educational system and much more. Pritchett is a development economist from Idaho. He is currently affiliated with Oxford's Blavatnik School of Government as the research director of the RISE Programme, is the Research Director at LaMP (Labor Mobility Partnerships) and is a fellow at the London School of Economics. He previously worked with the World Bank from 1988 to 2007, living in Indonesia 1998-2000 and India 2004-2007. His publications span a wide range of development topics including economic growth, state capability, education, labor mobility and development assistance.

Recorded February 21st, 2022

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Rajesh Veeraraghavan on Information Politics and Social Change Mar 03, 2022

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In this episode, Shruti speaks with Rajesh Veeraraghavan about his book, "Patching Development: Information Politics and Social Change in India." They discuss the pros and cons of centralized welfare programs, why technology is not a cure-all, academia, Tamil comedy and much more. Veeraraghavan is an assistant professor of science, technology and international affairs at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. He has a Ph.D. in information systems from the University of California, Berkeley, and he worked as a software developer at Microsoft for nearly a decade. His research interests include developing digital technology-enabled interventions to address inequality and critically examining the role of algorithms and technology and its potential harms for marginalized people.

Recorded February 11th, 2022

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Rukmini Shrinivasan on What Data Can and Cannot Tell Us Feb 17, 2022

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In this episode, Shruti speaks with Rukmini about her book, "Whole Numbers and Half Truths: What Data Can and Cannot Tell Us About Modern India." They discuss Indians' multifaceted identities, endogamy, preference falsification and much more. Rukmini is a data journalist who writes columns for Mint, IndiaSpend and other publications. She has also written for HuffPost India, The Hindu and The Times of India. Additionally, she hosts a pandemic mini-podcast called The Moving Curve.

Recorded January 24th, 2022

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Shrayana Bhattacharya on Women's Love, Longing and Labor Post-Liberalization Feb 03, 2022

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In this episode, Shruti talks with Shrayana Bhattacharya about her book, "Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh: India's Lonely Young Women and the Search for Intimacy and Independence." They discuss the symbolic resonance of Indian film star Shah Rukh Khan, women's changing social and economic status in India, the importance of supportive communities of women, Delhi as a city in transition, and much more. Bhattacharya is an economist in the World Bank's Social Protection and Labour Unit for South Asia. Her research interests include urban bureaucracy, social protection and informality. She completed her postgraduate education in public administration and economics from Harvard University.

Recorded January 21st, 2022

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Arvind Elangovan on Tensions Within the Indian Constitution Jan 20, 2022

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In this episode, Shruti talks with Arvind Elangovan about his book, "Norms and Politics: Sir Benegal Narsing Rau in the Making of the Indian Constitution, 1935-50." They discuss the tensions surrounding the making of the Indian Constitution, the legacy of colonialism, the differing viewpoints of leaders such as Nehru and B.N. Rau and much more. Elangovan is an associate professor of history at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. His research interests include the political and constitutional history of South Asia, postcolonial India and the history of political and social thought.

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Radhika Jain on Healthcare in the Public and Private Sectors Dec 30, 2021

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This episode is the twelfth in a miniseries of weekly short episodes featuring young scholars entering the academic job market who discuss their latest research. In this episode, Shruti talks with Radhika Jain about her job market paper, "Private Hospital Behavior Under Government Insurance: Evidence from Reimbursement Changes in India." They discuss the Bhamashah Health Insurance Program in Rajasthan, how hospitals are reimbursed for healthcare expenses, the effects of competition on the healthcare market and much more. Jain is the Asia Health Policy Postdoctoral Fellow for 2019-2022 at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University. Her research focuses on healthcare markets, the effectiveness of public health policy and gender disparities in health.

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