In our sixth episode this season, FACT OF THE MATTER, rounds off the year by diving straight into the Awards Season - with a difference!! In Main Course, Joy and Rathin stay off the regular award season and focus on a few off-beat ones for a change - like the Ig-Nobel, the Darwin and the Turnip awards. Get to know more about bad sex in fiction, weird book titles, automobile inspired sex scenes and a garter or two as Joy skillfully unravels story after story!! So award yourself a quick break,...

In our fifth episode this season, FACT OF THE MATTER, decides to go back a step and find out the many wonderful facets of words and their meanings!! In Main Course, hear about words of the year like woman, goblin mode and homer and why they were searched and checked worldwide - and get a load of quirky trivia on the origin of words like sideburn, testament and salary among others. Kick off the Christmas holidays by doing nothing except putting on your earphones and block off every other noise...

Jack Reacher ordered espresso, double, no peel, no cube, foam cup, no china, and before it arrived he saw a man’s life change forever. Opening lines of The Hard Way – a book by Lee Child where the central character is Jack Reacher, a retired military investigator. In our fourth episode this season, FACT OF THE MATTER, enters the shadowy world of murder, detection, macabre plots and pure crime!! In Main Course, learn about inspirations and connections - as Joy links in Lord Mountbatten and...

"You had me at hello." Renee Zellweger's iconic dialog in the movie Jerry Maguire. In our third episode this season, FACT OF THE MATTER, gets onto the love bandwagon with great enthusiasm!! In Main Course, let Joy tell you how love for Patty Boyd helped create monster audio hits and get a bite of ancient history as Rathin shares details about the world's earliest known love song and a really ancient pop singer-songwriter !!  In Believe It or Not, we have some crazy love stories from across...

"You've heard of the golden rule, haven't you? Whoever has the gold makes the rules." The evil Vizier, Jafar, in Aladdin. In our second episode this season, FACT OF THE MATTER, makes a darting run into the dark side!!. In Main Course, get introduced to a tough baddie from the great Indian epic, Mahabharata and also find out interesting stories about legendary screen villains like Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff and Christopher Lee!! Listen to national award winning Indian writer, Balaji Vittal,...

When the seagulls follow the trawler, they think sardines will be thrown into the sea - Eric Cantona, France and Manchester United football legend, on his controversial rant at media trying to feed of his words to create sensational stories. In this brand new season opener, FACT OF THE MATTER, stunned by the Novak Djokovic affair at the Australian Open, decides to console itself by focusing on key sporting controversies over the years!!. In Main Course, listen to Joy and Rathin do a...

There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children - Nelson Mandela. In this episode, FACT OF THE MATTER, celebrates the month of November by checking out stories around children who took their childhood by the scruff of the neck and left an indelible impression on the rest of us. In Main Course, listen to Joy and Rathin talk about child actors from Hollywood and Bollywood - Jackie Coogan, Shirley Temple and Meena Kumari and others - how they...

Demoralize the enemy from within by surprise, terror, sabotage, assassination. This is the war of the future. - Adolf Hitler. In this episode, FACT OF THE MATTER, focuses on famous assassination plots in history - the rationale, the planning, the many operational goof-ups and the often violent repercussions. In Main Course, listen to Joy and Rathin talk about two key political figures from the previous century - the Archduke Francis Ferdinand and Reinhard Heydrich - and how their deaths...

In this  episode, FACT OF THE MATTER, celebrates the festival season of Durga Puja and Dussehra by taking off in style!!. In Main Course, listen to Joy and Rathin talk about Air India and its connection with the surrealist genius, Salvador Dali, how airlines sometime lay out a special offer for casino lovers and a Broadway musical about a small town called Gander in Newfoundland and its special position in the 9-11 aftermath!! In Believe It or Not, learn why bars in Rwanda may surprise you...

A short clip where Joy and Rathin decide to explain why they started FACT OF THE MATTER - from their college day hunting for obscure facts to their love of trivia and how that ultimately led to the genesis of this pod!! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/factofthematter/message

In this  episode, FACT OF THE MATTER, dives into the fascinating origins of a couple of Russian football clubs (one of whom is making headlines as we speak!!) as Sheriff Tiraspol rubs shoulders with Dynamo Moscow - albeit with some "secret service" involvement!!. In Main Course, listen to Joy as he digs deep into his cricketing archives and connects cricket and politics through carefully crafted snippets about Tiger Pataudi and Tejasvi Yadav!! In Believe It or Not, revel in the exploits of a...

In this episode, the spotlight is on connections and intersections between sports, politics, history and current affairs as FACT OF THE MATTER, embarks on a wild journey traversing football clubs in Russia and Moldova, sporting superstars and their political ambitions and much more. Listen to Joy and Rathin as they move seamlessly from cricket and football to chess and pole vault without missing a beat!! Get ready as the weekend is going to get better and better!! Catch the trailer and get...

" A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves." - Lao Tzu, ancient Chinese Philosopher In this  episode, it’s all about leaders - from humble to arrogant, from dictatorial to democratic and from the eccentric to home grown simple as FACT OF THE MATTER, lays out a feast of anecdotes about a few such incredible luminaries who stood above their fellow brethren and stood well!!. In Main Course, listen to Joy...

In this  episode, the spotlight is on leaders from different walks of life as FACT OF THE MATTER, focuses on tales from Indian mythology and the American Civil War to find out all about different leaders and what made people believe in them so blindly. Listen to Joy and Rathin as they move seamlessly from cricket's infamous Bodyline series to Carthaginian general, Hannibal Barca's life long fight against the Romans and then reveal some strange quirks about key world political...

" Beware of barking at underdogs; don't fight with people who have nothing to lose." - Dory Previn - Lyricist, song writer and poet. In this  episode, it’s all about surprise winners and underdogs as FACT OF THE MATTER, focuses on tales of amazing victories, crushing upsets and stunning comebacks in the face of insurmountable odds. In Main Course, feast on stories from the world of tennis and cricket as Joy sings paeans about a few unlikely super stars who shot their way to stardom!! Rathin...

"When you're an underdog, you're forced to try things you would never otherwise have attempted." - Malcolm Gladwell - journalist, author and public speaker. In this  episode, it’s all about surprise winners and underdogs as FACT OF THE MATTER, focuses on tales of amazing victories, crushing upsets and stunning comebacks in the face of insurmountable odds. From tennis and cricket, hear about amazing tales of sporting super stars who came out of nowhere!! Rathin talks about medieval battles...

"Information is not knowledge. Knowledge is not wisdom. Wisdom is not truth. Truth is not beauty. Beauty is not love. Love is not music. Music is THE BEST." - Frank Zappa In this SPECIAL episode, it’s all about the wide and wonderful world of Music as FACT OF THE MATTER, like ABBA, tries to embark on a comeback journey of sorts. Find out how dying is a great career option for certain musical gods and how a Bollywood music composer pretended to be a tailor to ensure his wedding! Learn about a...

"Information is not knowledge. Knowledge is not wisdom. Wisdom is not truth. Truth is not beauty. Beauty is not love. Love is not music. Music is THE BEST." - Frank Zappa In this SPECIAL episode, it’s all about the wide and wonderful world of Music as FACT OF THE MATTER, like ABBA, tries to embark on a comeback journey of sorts. In Main Course, find out how dying is a great career option for certain musical gods and how a Bollywood music composer pretended to be a tailor to ensure his...

"...unless you made your life a turning point, there was no reason for existing." Saul Bellow In this episode, it’s all about turning points - seemingly trivial events that changed the course of world history!! In Main Course, we discuss two massive breakthroughs in 1869 which forever changed the way of travel in two different continents. We learn about a Scottish scientist who discovered a game changer in medicine purely by accident. Joy starts off with a stray arrow that changed Mughal...

“Afghanistan—where empires go to die. ” ― Mike Malloy In this episode, we turn our attention to the ruggedly beautiful land-locked nation of Afghanistan and its glorious history!!  In Main Course, we talk about Kipling's Kim and the Great Game, chat about spies and the Koh-I-Noor Diamond and even draw out a cricket connection with the Anglo-Afghan Wars!! Joy tracks down some interesting nuggets from the world of Arthur Conan Doyle and discovers a Afghan lady who helped win a battle and...

"When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains, and the women come out to cut up what remains, jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains and go to your gawd like a soldier." - Rudyard Kipling. In episode 8, FACT OF THE MATTER focuses on Afghanistan, a land locked country often referred to as a "roundabout" in the geopolitical maelstrom of Central Asia through the ages. Catch the trailer as it drops now!! Get a sneak preview of the rich fare we have in store for you in the main...

A sneak preview to episode 7 as Joy and Rathin take a hard look at food - be it gourmet or grotesque!! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/factofthematter/message

In this episode, we celebrate all things Food!! In Main Course (for once totally apt!!), we talk about the sinful and fully illegal way of eating a sweet song bird, discover how the humble omelette became a legend in a small restaurant in France and closer home find out how the Rajasthani specialty Dal Bati Choorma was actually battle food!!. Joy tracks down some intriguing recipes involving birds' nests and shares how a Japanese delicacy can literally be your Last Supper!!! In Believe It Or...

In this episode, we celebrate India's iconic lady dacoit, Phoolan Devi's birthday by discussing her life and times along with that of Pearl Hart, a Wild West outlaw who got lost in the desert after successfully robbing a stagecoach!! All this in the Main Course!  In Believe it or Not, Joy and Rathin talk about a sumo wrestler cut-out which spooked participating horses in the show jumping event at Tokyo 2020!! In Cute Words and Phrases, the focus is on sports as Rathin shares the meaning of...