The Next Edition with Mallika Kapur

What happens when Death tells a story about life? Twenty years after the publication of The Book Thief, Markus Zusak revisits the novel that transformed his career and became one of the defining works of contemporary fiction. He reflects on language, imagination, history, and the unlikely creative decisions that gave the book its singular voice and lasting impact. A 20 year Legacy : Markus Zusak w...

Host Mallika Kapur sits down with some of the world’s most celebrated storytellers to revisit the works that define them. They return to abandoned drafts, imagine alternate endings, and explore one enduring question: If you could do it again, what would the next edition hold? Because a story is never truly done.

Author and poet Jeet Thayil’s work moves fluidly between fiction, poetry and memoir. He reflects on the Booker-prize shortlisted Narcopolis years after its release, the emotional intensity of writing it, and how his latest book The Elsewhereans marks a shift—from stories of addiction and survival to deeply personal explorations of family, memory and loss.    Epigraph: More th...

When Deepa Mehta began filming Water in Varanasi, India, protesters burned the sets and forced production to a halt. The film, the final chapter in her trilogy exploring fire, earth, and water as metaphors for social realities across the Indian subcontinent, was eventually made in Sri Lanka. Twenty years later, Mehta and actor Lisa Ray look back on what they built, what it cost, and why the story...

Lara Love Hardin lost everything. Writing helped her find her way back. In this conversation, the author of the New York Times bestseller  and Oprah’s book club pick reflects on The Many Lives of Mama Love, a memoir of addiction, incarceration, motherhood, and recovery. She talks  about reading as her first addiction, writing as a survival tool within prison walls, and what it take...

Indian journalist, historian and bestselling author Shrabani Basu has spent her career rescuing stories that history forgot. She talks about uncovering the extraordinary bond between Queen Victoria and Abdul Karim, bringing spy and SOE agent Noor Inayat Khan into the light, and why these stories matter more than ever.   Preface: From researching the story of curry, to writing about Abdul Kari...

Pulitzer winning photojournalist Lynsey Addario has spent her career documenting war and covering conflict. She discusses her commitment to capturing hard truths and opens up about what happens when she puts the camera down and steps back into life as a wife and mother.    Aperture : She captured images of the moon as a child. That sense of wonder and beauty guides Lynsey as she travels...

Award-winning British-Turkish novelist, political scientist and activist Elif Shafak discusses  her bestselling novel The Island of Missing Trees, her multicultural upbringing and the fragile bond between humans and nature. Prologue: Elif opens with a daring narrative choice: choosing a fig tree as storyteller.  Roots: Moving between countries, cultures, and languages, Elif grew up feeli...

Indian journalist Barkha Dutt is one of the most fearless reporters of her generation. Not just for the conflicts she's covered, but for her unflinching commitment to the stories others simply won't tell.    Breaking : From the peaks of Kargil to covering India’s COVID crisis, Barkha Dutt has had a front row seat to India’s defining moments – bearing witness to war, ter...

Canadian author Yann Martel talks about his Booker Prize winning novel, Life of Pi, a fantastical and philosophical tale of a boy stranded on a boat with a tiger, the power of faith, and how stories help us make sense of the world.    What happens when a boy, a Bengal tiger, and the vast Pacific Ocean become an unlikely story of survival and faith? Canadian author Yann Martel revisits hi...

Welcome to The Next Edition , a show that dives headfirst into the glorious creative mess that lies behind every masterpiece. In this season, writers, journalists, filmmakers, newsmakers and artists revisit their most iconic works and reveal how they would reimagine it, if they were given a chance.  Because a story is never truly done.