Radio Edict

The Edict's Atharva Salve (UG27) sits down with Ashoka's pre-eminent filmmakers Purujit Banwasi, Vedika Khanna, Abhijato Sensarma, Vikram Tapadia, Sara Pandey (ASP25), and Enya Wadhawan (YIF25) to discuss the nascent film scene at our college. This is the first episode of a series on Performing Arts at Ashoka. CORRECTIONS : Sara Pandey was the sole director for Off-Script, while Purujit Ba...

Srijana Siri, Editor-in-Chief, speaks to Ahana Walanju, Speaker of the House of Representatives and Insha Husain, Undergraduate Councillor, members of the AUSG who have been at the forefront of recent student mobilisations in response to heightened surveillance on campus. Walanju and Husain talk about the goals of the protest and its long-term ramifications. According to them, the protest is not a...

What does it mean to draw violence? What does it take to report from conflict zones? What are the stakes of journalism in today's times? In early November, Editor-in-Chief, Srijana Siri and Arts&Culture Editor, Giya Sood spoke to Joe Sacco, a journalist who has reported from Palestine, Canada, Bolivia and India for over thirty years. His reportage is a testament to journalistic integrity and e...

Giya Sood, Arts&Culture editor speaks to Saikat Majumdar, author or Head of Department, English about his latest writings on desire and queerness. His novels, The Remains of the Body, Amateur and Firebird wrestle with the idea of writing about desire. Majumdar talks about the role of form, the body and language in writing desire. Towards the end, he promises us that he will again do something...

The Edict's Noor Sabharwal (UG'27) is in conversation with Yauvanika Chopra, Associate Director of the New India Foundation (NIF). The NIF is co-hosting Bhashavaad: National Translation Conference in collaboration with the Ashoka Centre for Translation on August 23rd and 24th, 2024. The NIF, based in Bengaluru, focuses on the writing and translation of nonfiction in India. Their conversati...

Navya Asopa (UG'24) sits down with Professor Rahul Verma, Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research and Visiting Professor at Ashoka University, to discuss the 2024 General Elections. The conversation raises important questions about the health of Indian democracy, the future of the I.N.D.I.A alliance and the media's coverage of the election. Some useful articles mentioned in the conversati...

Aggam Walia, The Edict’s politics editor, sits down with former CEO Shashank Mattoo and former President Deep Vakil to discuss all that went down in the month of June. The two alumni offer deep insights into Ashokan politics and explore the way forward from the present crisis.

As India continues to be in the throes of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Akanksha Mishra speaks to three eminent guests - Professors Gautam Menon, L.S. Shashidhara and Shahid Jameel on the topic. Tune in to hear them shed light on reasons for the second-wave, India's handling of it, the testing procedures, new variants of the virus and the vaccination strategy of India.

Hear from some of the most prolific non-cis men to enter Ashokan student politics, about their work and their motivations for the same. 

Commemorating a monumental moment, our co-Editor in Chief, Trisha Nagpal sits down for a conversation with Ashoka University's first undergraduate Rhodes scholar, the brilliant, multi-faceted, and ever humble Vighnesh Hampapura. The two talk about the Rhodes application process, Vighnesh's journey at Ashoka, the development of his academic and supra-curricular interests, the nuances of an Ashokan...

Co-managing editors of the Arts & Culture department at the Edict, Diya Isha and Nishka Mishra call in some of the best musicians at Ashoka for this episode. Together with Lari Warshong, Angad Trehan and Rukhmini Chariar, they have a conversation about the music scene on campus, the musicians' personal histories and dynamics with the art, the politicisation of the art, and the changes the musician...

Talkshila is a Radio Edict production, dedicated exclusively to politics at Ashoka. In today's episode, editor Aritro Sarkar sits down for a timely chat with the new Chief Election Commissioner, Abhay Hari. Throughout the chat, we address his Prakrit past, consider online elections, and discuss if the AUEC is becoming increasingly politicized.

Just days away from the results of elections in Bihar and in the US, Deep Vakil talks to Professor Gilles Verniers to unpack the structures and institutions that determine the election process. How does the first-past-the-post system play out in the two different contexts? Can the elections be pulled off without compromising on safety or integrity? What is dark money and how does it come into the...

Just weeks away from the results of elections in Bihar and in the US, Deep Vakil talks to Professor Gilles Verniers to understand the players in the two elections, in the context of Covid-19. Is it “unprecedented” to hold an election during a pandemic? Are the two elections simply referendums on the governments’ pandemic response? What are the different party coalitions and who are their standard-...

Journalist Neha Dixit talks everything reporting. The problems of being a reporter and the importance of it the current context and extensive opinion writing. She brings to this podcast her experience working as an independent journalist, as a woman reporting in the field. Learn how to bring issues of importance to a larger audience with this podcast.

The UEFA Champions League never fails to deliver. As football continues to provide some relief amid a global pandemic, Anantaajith Ra, our Sports Editor and Dhruvan Nair, one of our Sports Writers teamed up with Rahul Agarwal and Vedant from Ashoka's Sports Enthusiasts Club to analyse the UCL quarterfinals and map how the semi-finals would pan out. Equipped with a few strange statistics, we also e...

In the first episode at Radio Edict, our Co-Editor in Chief Aritro Sarkar sits down with translator, creative writing professor and lifelong Liverpool fan (suddenly relevant now) Arunava Sinha, and the two talk about Professor's college days in Kolkata, his role models in his vocation, and what he's learnt from teaching translation, among other things.