A Book A Day - A Literary Podcast from India

There has been a long tradition of philosophers who explored the question of suicide. In this podcast, I read a chapter from Albert Camus's famous work The Myth of Sisyphus.

Sir Roger Scruton, in his book Beauty, explores the concept of beauty, asking what makes an object — either in art, in nature, or the human form — beautiful. Let's discuss.

One of the greatest novels of the 20th century One Hundred Years of Solitude is a classic example of magical realism. There is the historical element in it, there is magic, and there is a beautiful use of the language with long sentences, powerful imagery and subtle humour. I read the first couple of pages in this episode.

In this episode, I read an excerpt from Clayton Christensen's bestselling book How Will You Measure Your Life.

In this episode, I read out a few pages of Salman Rushdie's Booker-winning novel, Midnight's Children.

Toba Tek Singh is one of the most popular short stories of Manto. I narrate the story in this podcast.

Saadat Hasan Manto was among the most powerful Urdu writers of all times. In this podcast, I read one of his satirical pieces where he is mocking the idea of a religious state.

Narrating the story of Shvetaketu, a young boy who learns some profound lessons on the Hindu ideas of the Self from his father, Rishi Uddalaka.

Ibn Battutah was a traveller from Morocco who travelled across Africa, middle-East, Europe, central Asia, India and China. Let's travel through his travels.

Let's discuss the story of tea and how it became such an important part of our lives.

In this episode, I discuss the causes and various theories of rape. Author Tara* Kaushal joins me with her expertise on the subject.

India just celebrated its idependence day and it's worth looking at the history of colonialism in India and how the country got its freedom.

Rabindranath Tagore was a poet, lyricist, novelist, playwright, short story writer, philosopher among many other things. In order to understand the vast body of works that he has left behind, we must learn what it is all about.

Richard Dawkins has spent his life advocating the value of reason as opposed to organised religion. Let's understand his ideas through the books that he has written.

As the monsoon arrives, what books can we look forward to? Especially that so many of us are stuck in our homes, it presents a perfect time to read more books as we watch the rains.

I discuss the books that were banned in India in the last one hundred years and the reasons why they were banned.

We don't witness history. But, through books, we can understand it. Let's visit the life of Prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam.

Upanishads are important texts in Hinduism. In this episode, I discuss the shortest of them, perhaps most complicated. The Aum sound is important part of this text and is used to represent the states of consciousness.

I go through the works of Alain de Botton and discuss some of his books which you should read.

Is morality subjective or objective? Can we have right and wrong answers on morality? I discuss Sam Harris's book The Moral Landscape and try to answer these questions.

Let's understand the philosophy of liberals and conservatives through the lens of morality, psychology, and social behaviour.

Thank goodness! If not for books, we would find it so hard to experience the joys of travelling during the lockdown. But, what to read? Don't worry. We will help you out.