The Morning Brief

Why do nations rise - and why do they fail? In this special edition of The Morning Brief, ET’s Executive Editor Sruthijith KK speaks to James A. Robinson, co-author of the seminal Why Nations Fail and co-winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize for Economics, on the shifting architecture of power, prosperity and politics. Robinson unpacks why economists no longer lean on the term “capitalism,&rd...

Apollo Hospitals’ 42-year journey is coterminous with the story of how India has been trying to modernise its healthcare. In this episode Host Vikas Dandekar talks to Dr. Preetha Reddy, Executive vice chairperson of Apollo Hospitals and Suneeta Reddy, MD, Apollo hospitals as they take us inside the institution: history, challenges and mission. From the time a young poor patient who was unabl...

Cricket, cash and the dark web of betting — the scandal has come full circle. The Enforcement Directorate has frozen over ₹11 crore in assets belonging to former Indian cricket stars Suresh Raina and Shikhar Dhawan, who are caught in the crosshairs of a money-laundering probe. At the heart of the investigation is 1xBet, a global betting platform banned in India yet flourishing through celebr...

India’s largest retail broker is making its debut on Dalal Street - but can Groww sustain its blistering rise once the markets start asking harder questions? Founded in 2016 by four ex-Flipkart entrepreneurs, Groww has reimagined investing for young India - through clean design, relatable content, and a promise of simplicity in finance. Its ₹6,600-crore IPO now is a test of whether scale bui...

What began as a simple idea—to change how we hear and interact with voices—has turned into a global tech movement. In this brand-new limited podcast series of The Morning Brief- ET in the Valley , host Surabhi Agarwal speaks with ElevenLabs co-founder Mati Staniszewski about the company’s mission to revolutionize voice technology. From its Polish roots and multilingual vision to...

It was indeed historic — India’s women’s cricket team finally lifted their first-ever ODI World Cup trophy on home soil, ending decades of near misses and heartbreak. But can one glorious win rewrite a long, uneven story? In this episode of The Morning Brief , host Anirban Chowdhury speaks with Ace sports journalist  K. Shriniwas Rao and is joined by Divyanshu Singh CEO of J...

From indie music festivals to global comedy tours, Only Much Louder (OML) has long been the backstage engine of India’s creator revolution. In this episode of The Morning Brief, hosts Anirban Chowdhury and Aanya Thakur sit down with OML CEO Tusharr Kumar to decode the shifting dynamics of digital influence from short-form fame and creator-led brands to the fusion of online buzz with offline...

Once hailed as India’s coolest craft beer brand, Bira 91 is now facing a sobering reality, mounting losses, unpaid dues, investor mutiny and a probable drag down to bankruptcy court. What went wrong with the company that promised to make beer fun, youthful, and proudly Indian? In this episode host Anirban Chowdhury talks to ET’s Ratna Bhushan and Manu Toms also joined by Poonam Chandel...

From selling contact lenses in 2010 to building a global eyewear brand across India, Japan, and the Middle East, Lenskart's journey mirrors the rise of India’s new-age consumer startups. ET’s national editor for startups Samidha Sharma and startups tracker Pranav Mukul talk to Peyush Bansal, co-founder and CEO of Lenskart, as he traces the company’s evolution from an online retai...

India’s real estate is at an inflection point. In this episode of Corner Office Conversation, hosts Anirban Chowdhury and Kailash Babar talk to Knight Frank’s Global Chairman William Beardmore-Gray and India Chairman and MD Shishir Baijal to unpack what’s behind record-high office demand, rising cross-border capital flows, and India’s shift into the world’s promising...

Rebel Foods disrupted India’s dining landscape by proving that you don’t need high streets to build high-value brands. From Faasos and Behrouz Biryani to Oven Story and Sweet Truth, it runs 20-plus brands across 10 countries — all powered by tech, not tables. In this episode of The Morning Brief, Co-founder and Group CEO Jaydeep Barman tells Anirban Chowdhury how the company tran...

Travel is getting smarter, deeper, and more digital. Booking.com’s Asia-Pacific MD Laura Houldsworth joins Brand Equity’s Anirban Roy Choudhury to decode how global travel is changing and why India has become the industry’s biggest opportunity. She discusses the rise of digital-first travellers, the surge in spiritual and alternative stays, and how Booking is embedding AI to pers...

From Lagaan to RRR, Indian cinema has gone truly global. But behind the glitz of overseas premieres and record-breaking box offices lies a fast-changing battlefield. In this explosive conversation, Host Rajesh Naidu talk to veteran overseas distributor Pranab Kapadia to unpacks the billion-rupee world of international film distribution: how Bollywood grew from 300 screens in 2003 to 60+ countries...

In India the so-called pharmacy of the world children are dying from the very medicines meant to heal them. The Morning Brief’s latest audio deep dive travels from rural Madhya Pradesh to Tamil Nadu’s factories to uncover how a cough syrup laced with industrial chemicals like diethylene glycol killed at least 25 children and how a system built on 80-year-old drug laws allowed it. Host...

What happens when a small Indian software firm quietly evolves into a global SaaS powerhouse without external funding or data monetization? In this episode of Corner Office Conversation, ET’s tech experts and hosts Surabhi Agarwal and Suraksha P sit down with Zoho founder and chief scientist Sridhar Vembu and his leadership team to trace the company’s extraordinary rise from its humble...

India is YouTube’s fastest-growing market home to a young, ambitious generation that’s transforming from viewers into global creators. In this conversation, host Anirban Chowdhury talks to Gunjan Soni Country Managing Director of YouTube India to break down how the platform is powering this shift. She talks about the explosive rise of Shorts, the growing influence of connected TV, and...

The stage is set for one of India’s most riveting political contests, the Bihar Assembly Elections 2025. Nine-time Chief Minister Nitish Kumar faces perhaps his toughest test yet, battling fatigue and anti-incumbency. Tejashwi Yadav is going beyond RJD's traditional Muslim Yadav votebank, while political strategist turned challenger Prashant Kishor is out to disrupt the traditional equations...

What if binge-watching your favorite show took less time than making a cup of coffee? Welcome to micro dramas: Bite-sized, 90-second stories turning our scrolling habits into a global entertainment phenomenon. Born in China as duanju, this $7-billion industry blends romance, revenge, and slick and yet inexpensive production to redefine how stories are told, sold, and streamed. Host Dia Rekhi speak...

In its boldest liberalization push in years, the RBI has announced 22 deregulatory measures in a single day, the highest in its modern history. Among other things, banks can now finance corporate takeovers, investors can pledge more equity for credit, and companies can borrow up to a billion dollars abroad without prior approval. The central bank isn’t cutting interest rates, it’s cutt...

The future of India’s most ambitious overseas port project hangs in the balance. With the US reinstating its sanctions for Iran’s Chabahar Port, India faces a strategic dilemma: risk Washington’s ire or abandon years of investment, regional influence, and its only land route to Afghanistan that bypasses Pakistan. In this episode, Host Anirban Chowdhury talks to ET’s P Manoj...

Vineet Nayar, the former HCL Technologies CEO who once flipped corporate hierarchies on their head is now reimagining classrooms at scale through Sampark Foundation. In this episode of The Morning Brief, host Anirban Chowdhury and ET’s tech reporter Beena Parmar talk to Nayar on the big questions: Is AI truly disrupting India’s $100-billion IT industry, or is it just cost-cutting in a...

Tata Capital is about to drop 2025’s biggest IPO. In this episode of The Morning Brief, we bring you exclusive comments from Rajiv Sabharwal, MD & CEO of Tata Capital on the company’s plan around its ₹15,512 crore markets debut. Host Dia Rekhi also speaks to Tarun Singh, MD of Highbrow Securities and IPO expert, to unpack the company’s landmark listing set to be among India&r...

Elizabeth Reid is one of Google’s most powerful women. She also has one of its most challenging jobs. At a time when AI is reshaping how people seek information, as standalone LLMs become their foremost information sources, friends and therapists, Reid, Head of Search, has to constantly grapple with the challenge that it’s no longer the only answer to all the world’s questions An...

A quiet race is on to give India its own AI voice. From call-centre automation to defence and legal systems, Abhishek Upperwal of Soket Labs and journalist Swathi Radhakrishnan tell us why AI trained only on Western, English-heavy data cannot meet India’s needs. Translation isn’t enough; models must “think” in Hindi, Tamil or Marathi to capture nuance and reduce bias. The g...

What happens when gold, long seen as a timeless store of value, begins to redefine its place in global finance? In this episode of The Morning Brief , host Anirban Chowdhury is joined by ET’s banking editor Sangita Mehta and Ritesh Jain, founder of Pinetree Macro and a leading voice in global wealth and finance, to explore the forces behind gold’s resurgence from central banks shifting...