Cyclones are a characteristic feature of the Indian coastline and every year we see a few cyclones create severe damage to the east as well as the west coast. As we deal with the havoc left by Cyclone Biparjoy, on this episode of The Big Story, we want to understand what happens to the communities, people, and their livelihoods once they are rehabilitated. What does that process look like? What kind of mental health problems can come up? Are the long-term effects of cyclones properly...

Are AI apps the future of mental health support? Can these applications truly understand and address the complexities of our emotional well-being? What can a user expect when they get on such an application? And perhaps the most provocative question of all—can AI truly replace human therapists? Join us as we unravel the captivating potential of AI apps in mental health, guided by the expertise of Dr. Samir Parikh, a renowned psychiatrist at Fortis Hospital, and Dr. Megha Gupta, the head of...

Heatwaves. Literally and metaphorically the “hottest” topic in climate change research. While heatwaves are becoming more and more common in India, are they still dismissed without proper knowledge? More than what we can as individuals do to save ourselves, what is being done at national and international levels? Have we understood it enough and are our plans actionable? On this episode of The Big Story, our hosts Prateek and Anoushka are joined by Aditya Pillai, fellow with the Initiative...

What will be the consequence of Congress’ victory in the Karnataka elections? What are the prominent factors that lead to BJP’s setback in the south? What issues mattered to the voters? We are joined by Fatima Khan, principal correspondent with The Quint who was on the ground in the run-up to the elections, and Aditya Menon, our political editor to discuss what actually happened that lead to this result. In this podcast, we closely examine what issues mattered in this election, what...

In this episode of The Big Story, our hosts Anjali and Prateek talk about money. Now, we don't have a lot of money, but we do have a lot of questions about money. About UPI, precisely. Are we spending more money because of UPI? How does UPI make money? And is UPI just another startup that'll eventually flop? Because it used to give us so many freebies at one point, but now there's a conversation about charging for payments.To answer these questions, we have Ateesh Tankha, founder and CEO of...

Do you sometimes look back at your schooling years and wonder if its changed at all? Do you wish you were taught differently? Have you ever considered the role a child’s environment plays in their education? And how different really are government schools from a private school? We know, education has become such a dynamic phenomenon that it’s hard to keep up sometimes, but we’ve got you!  On the Big Story, catch us while we discuss education with Neeti Bhalla Saini, a consultant with the...

Did you know microplastics are intentionally added in our products? Or the fact that neither non- vegetarians nor vegetarians are safe from microplastics being found in their food? And why did we discuss Plankton from SpongeBob SquarePants? We bet you’re curious! So, on this episode of The Big Story, we attempt to uncover the truth about microplastics. We sit down in conversation with Shreya Sharma, a researcher pursuing her masters from Imperial College, London and Sadhika Tiwari, an...

Have you been wondering if you should switch from white sugar to jaggery? Is fast food actually harmful? Do diets like Keto and Paleo work? In this episode of The Big Story, we try to find the answers.  We discuss the changing food habits of young people in India with special guests Krish Ashok, a food influencer and author of 'Masala Lab', and Dr. Priyanka Rohatgi, chief nutritionist at Apollo Hospitals. They talk about the rise of fast food culture and their impact on eating habits, while...

In the second episode of The Big Story, our hosts, Anjali and Prateek discuss media trials with Manisha Pande, the Executive Editor of Newslaundry, and Satish Maneshinde, a lawyer with more than forty years of experience. Media trials involve using the press and television to create a public opinion about an accused individual, which may influence the outcome of their court case. In the last 3-4 years, the media has been said to run 'kangaroo courts' and hamper the due judicial...

If you've spoken to a friend or a colleague for over an hour in the past month, it is highly likely that the words Artificial Intelligence (AI) have come up. While we have been hearing about these technologies for a while, there are some new AI tools which have blown up in the social media world. Cases in point – Chat GPT, DALL-E, Mid Journey and more. So, we got together with Shamim Mokles, a graphic designer and YouTuber who recently did some interesting experiments with AI, and Dr. Anupam...

The Big Story is back with a second season! The news culture of our times is noisy, crowded, and honestly so confusing. This is why we are coming every fortnight on your podcast platforms to help you make sense of the new and now.  With two new hosts, Anjali and Prateek, the second season of The Big Story will feature longer and well-rounded discussions with experts across science, culture, technology, politics, and more. Tune in on your preferred podcast platform!

After the marvelous Thomas cup win, India has another reason to celebrate as Telangana-born boxer Nikhat Zareen bagged the gold medal in the 52-kg category at the Women's World Boxing Championship after defeating Thailand's Jitpong Jutamas in the fly-weight final in Istanbul. With this, the 25-year-old became only the fifth Indian woman to bag a gold at the World Boxing Championships after six-time champion MC Mary Kom, Sarita Devi, Jenny RL, and Lekha KC. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi,...

On 18 May, Hardik Patel who gained popularity during the Patidar agitation, quit the party. Taking swipes at senior leaders, he accused the party of lacking strong leadership both at the state and central levels. He said that Congress only plays the role of a “roadblock” when it comes to serious issues — be it about Ram Mandir, abrogation of Article 370 or GST. While it’s not yet clear where Hardik will be headed next, resignations within the Congress party have been on the rise. There have...

After enforcing a ban on wheat exports, India announced some relaxations on 18 May. The surprise decision had led to a lot of chaos as hundreds of thousands of tonnes of wheat were reportedly left stranded at Gujarat’s Kandla Port after the ban was announced. But the new notification from the Ministry of Commerce has said, "It has been decided that wherever wheat consignments have been handed over to Customs for examination and have been registered into their systems on or prior to...

The decades-old Gyanvapi Mosque-Kashi Vishwanath dispute has sprung back in the news once again. While there are several chapters to this long-drawn dispute, which goes back as far as 1991, let's look at the recent developments first. On Monday, 16 May, a Varanasi court directed for a spot within the mosque complex to be sealed after a court-appointed advocate commissioner, Ajay Kumar Mishra, made a sensational claim that a shivlinga was found in a pond during a videography survey. This...

15th May was not just any Sunday, it was a historic Sunday for Indian sports as the Indian men's Badminton team defeated 14-time winners – Indonesia, to clinch their first ever Thomas Cup title in Bangkok. Praise is still pouring in for the players who together helped India win the prestigious tournament for the first time in its 73 year history.  Senior stalwarts Kidami Srikanth and HS Prannoy remained unbeaten in the tournament, despite playing higher ranked opponents at...

The RBI’s unscheduled hike in repo rates on 5 May confirmed that the central bank was behind the curve in controlling inflation and now new data released by the National Statistical Office on 12 May shows exactly how behind. Retail inflation in India soared to its highest since May 2014 to 7.79 percent in April, almost double the RBI’s mandate of 4 percent and above the bank's estimates for the fourth straight month. Here are a few numbers to indicate the current state of inflation: food...

On the long-standing question of criminalising marital rape, the Delhi High Court on 11 May delivered a split verdict in a batch of petitions challenging the exception provided to marital rape in the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Justice Rajiv Shakdher of the two-judge bench held that Exception 2 under Section 375, which says that any sexual acts by a husband with his wife are not rape, is unconstitutional, while Justice C Hari Shankar held that the provision is valid and that there's no...

Are we as a society practicing inclusivity and showing sensitivity towards people with disabilities? A video from Ranchi airport that went viral on social media platforms recently is raising this question. This said video captured an incident where a teenage boy with disability was purportedly mistreated by IndiGo airlines. This incident took place on 7 May.  In the video, several passengers in the airport are seen asking the IndiGo staff to let the boy and his family board the flight...

This time around marks a year to the deadly second wave of Covid. While  officially 5.42 lakh people lost their lives to the virus in India since 2020, there have been many repercussions of the pandemic. This episode of The Big Story is not going to be about the headline making news, it's going to be about an issue which is very close to us here at The Quint. Two years since the onset of Covid, India's schools have almost re-opened, but millions of underprivileged students aren't...

In the backdrop of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrapped up his first foreign visit of the year to Europe on 5 May with visits to Germany, Denmark, and France. PM Modi’s first port of call was Berlin, where he met the new German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose government has decided to make economic sacrifices by reducing its energy dependence on Russia and even changing its decades-old stance on defence spending. PM Modi then travelled to Copenhagen,...

In a surprise move on Wednesday, 4 May, the Reserve Bank of India hiked the benchmark repo rate for the first time in four years by 40 basis points to 4.4 percent. Alongside this, the central bank also raised the cash reserve ratio or CRR by 50 basis points to 4.50 percent. Unveiling the new policy on Wednesday, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said the bank is aiming to keep inflation – which is already close to 7 percent – at the desired level in the wake of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war...

The wait is over! India’s biggest ever Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) kicked off for subscription for retail institutional investors today, that is on 4 May. Since it's completely an offer for sale, all the proceedings will directly go to the government which is expecting to raise Rs 21,000 crores by selling a 3.5% stake of LIC, in a bid to replenish the public coffers that have been drained out by the pandemic. But moving on to the pricing...

A month after taking office in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India's "democracy will not sustain if we can't guarantee freedom of speech and expression". However, 8 years on, the freedom of one of the fundamental pillars of democracy – the press – has taken a nosedive. In 2015, the World Press Freedom Index, which is compiled annually by Reporters Without Borders, ranked India at 136 out of 180 countries. This number in 2021 reached the all-time low of 142. While India has...