The Times Of India Podcast

Shakir Mir, who writes for TOI Plus on Kashmir, explains the high turnout in the first phase of polling in Kashmir reveals about politics in the region.   

Former RBI governor and IAS officer Duvvuri Subbarao talks his new book, what the civil services need, centre-state clashes over finances and what worries him about India's economy

Former diplomat and minister Mani Shankar Aiyar spoke with Harinder Baweja about why he has always favoured people-to-people ties with Pakistan. He also talks about controversies sparked by statements made by him, and Rajiv Gandhi, and why he thinks they're overblown.

It's been half a century since delimitation or the reorganisation of Parliamentary constituencies took place in India. Former IAS officer and founder of the Lok Satta movement, JP Narayan, spoke with TOI's Alka Dhupkar about the need to reorganise India's electoral map and what needs to be done to ensure no region feels shortchanged.

Editor of The Shillong Times Patricia Mukhim explains why it will be an uphill task to achieve peace in Manipur, a year after clashes broke out in the state. 

The Times of India's Shivani Azad explains the worrying spread of forest fires in Uttarakhand this year and what experts say are the bigger lessons to be learned from such calamities.

Journalist and author of 'H-Pop: The Secretive World of Hindutva Pop Stars' Kunal Purohit explained the emergence and rise of a popular subculture, and its political implications. 

Neelanjan Sircar, senior fellow at Centre for Policy Research, explains why turnouts may be low this election and why the political parties' campaigns feel more low-energy. He also explains the implications of this for the results of this election.

Two actors have already filed cases over fake videos of them endorsing a party during the ongoing elections. Karen Rebelo, deputy editor at fact-checking organisation Boom Live, had decoded how misinformation has evolved over the years in India and why artificial intelligence tools will make it so much harder to detect misinformation.

It turns out packaged baby food and 'health' drinks may have the same problem. Dr Arun Gupta from Nutrition Advocacy in Public Interest explains how we can regulate our packaged food better so that we're not just eating sugar  

Retired diplomat and expert on the Middle East, Talmiz Ahmad decodes the attacks by Iran and Israel and how to read into the pause of hostilities that the two countries seem to have settled for.     

Author and mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik explains why the attempts to make faith and rituals scientific are unnecessary and why being scientific shouldn't mean a discarding of faith.   

Vikram Doctor, one of India's best chroniclers of the food industry, explains why we may pay more for chocolate-based treats this year and whether we are going to face a chocolate apocalypse.

Zeba Sikora from Project 39A at the National Law University in Delhi explains the concerns with the three new criminal law bills that are expected to be implemented later this year and how much they really reform the criminal justice system

Dr Jayesh Lele, honorary secretary general of the Indian Medical Association, talks about why a petition was filed against Ramdev and Patanjali and what action the case should have prompted.  

The screening of 'Kerala Story' has prompted a political furore ahead of elections. Kabir Taneja, who's an author and Fellow at Observer Research Foundation, had explained why Islamic State failed to gain ground in India

Defence minister Rajnath Singh has said India will target its enemies on foreign soil if needed.

Professor Rory Cormac from the University of Nottingham, who specialises in the study of covert action, and Ajai Sahni, who is Executive Director of the Institute of Conflict Management, explain the fallout of operations that take place outside India.

Policy analyst and commentator N Sathiya Moorthy explains why the agreement on Katchatheevu island was arrived at between India and Sri Lanka and why the campaign over the island isn't a great political or diplomatic strategy. 

Author and journalist Sudheendra Kulkarni, who worked closely with LK Advani, talks about the lessons the former deputy prime minister's career offers for Indian democracy today. 

Advocate Ramprasad Gupta, whose 18-year-long legal battle over his brother's killing resulted in the conviction of Mumbai 'encounter specialist' Pradeep Sharma, talks to TOI's Sunil Baghel about the challenges he faced.

Trade unionist and human rights lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj, who was arrested in the Elgar Parishad case in Maharashtra, talks to TOI Plus's Alka Dhupkar about her new book (that just won an award), life in jail and why she's still an optimist.

Eminent political scientist Suhas Palshikar explains what worries him about Arvind Kejriwal's arrest, what the opposition hasn't done right and what it could mean beyond the national elections.

Dr Zahid Badroodien who works in the city administration of Cape Town talks about how they dealt with the worry of 'Day Zero' and dry taps, and the lessons other water-stressed cities like Bengaluru can take from them.  

The Godfather released on March 24, 1972, inspiring films everywhere since. Filmmaker Vikramaditya Motwane and critic Jai Arjun Singh talk about why a film about an Italian mafia family remains relevant over 50 years later and why it remains an inspiration to filmmakers

Rama Bijapurkar, one of India's most respected voices on consumer behaviour, talks about what firms continue to get wrong about the Indian consumer and her worries about the Indian economy

Maj Gen (retd) Anil Verma from Association for Democratic Reforms, which petitioned the Supreme Court against electoral bonds, explains what the data released about electoral bonds has revealed so far.

Supriya Sule, who has represented the NCP for three terms in Parliament, talks to TOI's Alka Dhupkar about her upcoming Lok Sabha campaign and how she will run it, even if her opponent is Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra. 

Dr Guha Pradeepa from the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation explains the worrying trends for India in a recent Lancet report on obesity and malnutrition.   

AS Dulat was R&AW chief and a former advisor to the Prime Minister's office on Kashmir. He talks about his good friend Ajit Doval and what can be done to earn Kashmir's trust after abrogating Article 370.

Could the Mahabharata have taken place at a time before horses were used in India? Author and mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik talks about the unusual problems that arise when you start to link myths with historical dates.

Sadia Hasan's son died when he was eight. She talks to TOI's Ambika Pandit about living with loss, and a chance meeting that resulted in her producing the film 'Yes Papa' which targets child sexual abuse.

Accused of murdering her daughter and out on bail, Indrani Mukerjea is presently the subject of a docu-series. In this interview, she spoke about not seeking to change people's opinions of her and why the high-life wasn't all fun and games.

In light of Zerodha CEO Nithin Kamath's public statement on suffering a stroke, Mumbai-based neurologists - Dr Shirish Hastak and Dr Pawan Ojha - talk about causes, first aid tips and why public figures talking about the condition is a good thing.

Recently, a two-year-old was killed in Delhi by a pack of stray dogs, raising questions about how cities should deal with the issue. Dr Gowri Yale, a veterinarian who works on the issue, spoke with TOI's Alka Dhupkar about how we can deal with stray dogs without resorting to extreme measures.

TOI's Rudroneel Ghosh speaks with Lithuania's foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis and Dr. Rajorshi Roy at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses to decode where the Russia-Ukraine war is headed and its continuing impacts.

Sreehari Aney, former advocate general of Maharashtra, talks to TOI's Bhavika Jain about the legal challenges the bill to grant a 10% quota for Marathas seems set to face.

India's announcement to fence the border with Myanmar hasn't been met with support from three states. Journalist and author Rajeev Bhattacharya - who has travelled into Myanmar through the open border - explains the situation on the ground and why there's limited support for the decision

Political scientist and author Suhas Palshikar explains the importance of ideology for political parties and why parties ignoring it isn't a good sign for Indian politics.

Sexologist and author Dr Rajan Bhonsle talks about the dangers of 'supplements' that promise to solve sexual problems and the dangers of self-medicating to solve problems.

As a state doubles down on its decision to teach school children parts of the Gita, author and mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik talks about why the holy text may not be for children. He talks about its complexities and also why he believes it shouldn't be viewed outside the context of the Mahabharata.

After Pakistan's national elections throw up a result that defies all pre-poll predictions, academic and author Ayesha Siddiqa explains what this means for Nawaz Sharif, Imran Khan, the Pakistan Army and ties with India.

Mihira Sood, Executive Director of the Centre for Child Rights & Juvenile Justice at the National Law University in Delhi, first decodes how much Uttarakhand's uniform civil code changes things. She also explains why the state's proposal on handling live-in relationships is very problematic. (15:50)

TOI+ columnist and journalist Radhika Ramaseshan talks about Bharat Ratna awardee LK Advani's contribution to the Ram temple cause and his own political fall. Then she decodes the BJP's campaign strategy ahead of the 2024 polls.

TOI Plus's Lata Mishra speaks with doctors and patients about hypersensitivity pneumonitis, why a bird's being blamed for its rise and how to prevent it.

Sanjay Kumar, co-director of Lokniti, talks to Alka Dhupkar about why he wrote off the 2024 national election after Nitish Kumar's departure, what explains the Bihar chief minister's political survival and what the INDIA alliance needs to do quickly.

Sociologist Dr Suryakant Waghmore talks to TOI Plus's Bhavika Jain about how the Maratha demand for a quota changed over decades, what it means for politics in the state and what its latest success means for the community.

A recent report said AI-driven misinformation is the second biggest risk to the world in 2024 and India is at the highest risk. Karen Rebelo, deputy editor at fact-checking organisation Boom Live, decodes how misinformation has evolved over the years in India and why artificial intelligence tools will make it so much harder to detect misinformation.

Former police officer Julio Ribeiro, former editor Rahul Singh and prominent gynaecologist Dr Rustom Soonawala reflect on India's successes over seven decades and where it could have done better.

As the origin story of the dish is contested, food historian and columnist Anoothi Vishal decodes how butter chicken became so popular (not just because of the taste) and the dishes it eclipsed on the way to becoming a global superstar.

Retired ambassador and West Asia geopolitics expert, Talmiz Ahmad talks to Jairaj Singh about the Iran-Pakistan missile strikes, what could spread the conflict in West Asia and what tensions in the region mean for India.