Episodes
At least 100 people have died due to heatwaves in the country this year. Aditya Pillai, who researches extreme heat-related policies at Sustainable Futures Collaborative, explains why we need to prepare for worse heatwaves in the coming years, the challenges of making plans to deal with heat and what might be the best options before us. 
Published 06/24/24
Published 06/24/24
Political scientist and chief editor of Studies in Indian Politics, Suhas Palshikar, had explained his and Yogendra Yadav's campaign to have their names removed from re-edited NCERT textbooks. He also explains his concerns with how the textbooks were edited and why parents should also read their kids' textbooks.
Published 06/21/24
Dr Arun Gupta from Nutrition Advocacy in Public Interest explains how we need to regulate our packaged food better so that we're not just eating sugar .
Published 06/17/24
At least nine people were killed when terrorists attacked a bus filled with pilgrims in Jammu's Raesi district. Shakir Mir - who writes on Jammu and Kashmir - explains the spike in terror attacks in Jammu and what security officials are saying about what they might indicate.
Published 06/14/24
Patricia Mukhim, Editor of The Shillong Times, explains why it will be an uphill task to achieve peace in Manipur, a year after clashes broke out in the state. 
Published 06/12/24
Political scientist Suhas Palshikar talks about the role the allies could play in the functioning of the new government, how Narendra Modi could deal with unfamiliar coalition politics and the impact on upcoming state polls. 
Published 06/10/24
Senior Fellow at Centre for Policy Research and political scientist Neelanjan Sircar explains why BJP lost what it thought were its strongholds and whether the INDIA coalition had a chance at forming the government.  
Published 06/07/24
TOI Plus political columnist and author Sugata Srinivasaraju decodes the 2024 poll verdict, Rahul Gandhi's success and the BJP's limited success in southern states despite a concerted push. 
Published 06/05/24
Great-grandson of MK Gandhi, Tushar Gandhi talks to TOI's Alka Dhupkar about the influence of the Mahatma beyond India's borders and his enduring appeal. 
Published 06/03/24
Author and mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik talks about the idea of a non-biological birth across faiths, why the idea exists and how it has been used to shape history. 
Published 05/31/24
Two cases - one in Pune and the other in Uttarakhand - bring to the spotlight juveniles and the criminal justice system again. Sidharth Pillai, co-founder of the Rati Foundation, talks to TOI's Ambika Pandit about the challenges of tackling online sexual abuse that involves teenagers. Then Monica Kumar from the Manas Foundation talks about why the reformation of underage accused shouldn't be ignored. And finally, Gitanjali Prasad from the Azim Premji Foundation talks about what the Pune case...
Published 05/29/24
At a time the serial Heeramandi is making waves, Manish Gaekwad - who wrote the 'The Last Courtesan' - talks about chronicling his mother's life, the death of kothas in Mumbai and how his mother adapted to life after leaving the kotha.
Published 05/27/24
Political scientist and author Hilal Ahmed from CSDS explains what we get wrong about the Muslim voter and what's wrong with the many preconceived notions that are there about Muslims and politics.   
Published 05/24/24
The Indian cricket board is seeking a new coach for the men's cricket team as Rahul Dravid's tenure winds down. Columnist and author Anand Vasu talks about Dravid's tenure, explains who are the frontrunners to replace him, what sort of candidate the board is seeking and the benefits (and pitfalls) of being Team India's coach. 
Published 05/22/24
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.   
Published 05/15/24
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
Published 05/13/24
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.
Published 05/10/24
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.
Published 05/08/24
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. 
Published 05/06/24
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.
Published 05/03/24
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. 
Published 05/01/24
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.
Published 04/29/24
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.
Published 04/26/24
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  
Published 04/24/24