The Sandip Roy Show

You can listen to the series at: 3 Things - https://bit.ly/34jEQbp Express Elections - https://bit.ly/3gvzDQ1

A lot of us can relate to the idea that increasingly, we are finding it harder to focus and are more distracted. Many blame themselves and their smartphones for shorter attention spans, but a new book claims that there is another reason why we can’t pay attention the way we used to. In this episode, best-selling author Johann Hari speaks to Sandip about his new book, Stolen Focus, in which he writ...

How bad is India's water crisis? What has led us to this place? And what can be done to solve it? In this episode, Sandip is joined by Mridula Ramesh to talk about India's groundwater crisis. From the Indus Valley civilisation, to British policies that still affect us, Ramesh tells us about all that has caused India's grave water crisis. Ramesh is the author of the new book, Watershed: How We Dest...

The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation has said that eating insects can help us fight hunger and malnutrition. This is considering they are rich in protein, and farming them can be more sustainable and environment-friendly. Now, even though the idea can invoke disgust, perhaps even shame, in many people, insects have been part of the human diet for centuries. In this episode, host S...

Are all countries obliged to tighten their belts equally for the sake of climate change? Based on our current efforts, have we reached a point of no return? And do we need a new narrative to change that? In this episode, Sandip Roy is joined by Jnanpith award winner and writer Amitav Ghosh to answer these questions, and to talk about his latest book, The Nutmeg's Curse: Parables for a Planet in Cr...

In their latest book, Nehru: The Debates that Defined India, Adeel Hussain and Tripurdaman Singh look at four men debated the first Prime Minister – Muhammad Iqbal, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Sardar Patel and Syama Prasad Mookerjee – and how theses exchanges came to shape India as we know it today. In this episode, they both join Sandip to discuss what they found out during their research, and what we c...

What is ailing India's democratic institutions today? – This question is at the heart of investigative journalist Josy Joseph's latest book, The Silent Coup: A History of India's Deep State. In this episode, host Sandip Roy talks to him about it, along with how the deep state threatens our democracy, and what has led us to this place.

The arrival of the monsoon is always big news in India. But its drama and romance is also accompanied by anxiety and tension, especially now, with the rains growing more erratic, and some places getting less of it while others experience floods and cloudbursts. In this episode, Sandip speaks to one of the world's foremost monsoon meteorologists, Dr Sulochana Gadgil about the myths and realities su...

While it isn’t unusual to have women doctors in India now, and the rise of women in the medical field seems to have been steady, the road that led us to this place wasn’t easy. India’s first "lady doctors" battled everything from unsupportive husbands and over supportive husbands to widowhood, caste rules, and divorce. Kavitha Rao’s new book, ‘Lady Doctors’ tells the inspiring stories of these wom...

Mahatma Gandhi is known around the world as the apostle of non-violence, but what did his insistence on ahimsa actually mean for him? In this episode, Sandip talks to Jyotirmaya Sharma, professor of political science at the University of Hyderabad, about his new book – Elusive Nonviolence: The Making and Unmaking of Gandhi’s Religion of Ahimsa. They discuss what influenced Gandhi’s idea of non-vio...

How does information warfare shape our realities? Has the problem of alternate realities worsened now? Does fake news or Whatsapp forwards create the problem or only add to it? And to what extent does fact-checking help? In this episode, Shivam Shankar Singh and Anand Venkatanarayanan join Sandip to answer these questions and talk about their book, 'The Art of Conjuring Alternate Realities: How In...

In this episode, Sandip talks to Vidya Dehejia, Barbara Stoler Miller Professor of Indian and South Asian Art at Columbia University, about her latest book, India: A Story through 100 Objects.

What leverage points does the international community have over the Taliban right now? In what way does the situation in Afghanistan affect India? And what will a Pak-China-Afghan axis mean for India? In this episode, Sandip Roy talks to Professor C Raja Mohan about the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan, and its implications for India. Professor Mohan is the Director of the Institute of South Asian St...

How have the three Khans of Bollywood helped shape how Indians see themselves? How have their characters helped us grapple with a changing India? How have they negotiated their religious identities on screen? And is the age of the Khans finally over? In this episode, Sandip talks to veteran journalist Kaveree Bamzai about all this and more, along with her latest book, 'The Three Khans: And the Eme...

How does the conflict-ridden state of Kashmir affect the everyday lives of people? How does the trauma get processed? And what stories get lost in the usual reportage of the area? In this episode Sandip talks to author Farah Bashir about her memoir 'Rumours of Spring', which is an intimate history of Kashmir told through the eyes of a young girl.

Manoj Kewalramani on whether China has successfully spun the Covid-19 narrative to its advantage, and his latest book Smokeless War: China's Quest for Geopolitical Dominance.

Sandip Roy talks to Chinmay Tumbe about the pandemics India has witnessed in the past, how they changed the country, and what we can learn from them.

Chef Nik Sharma breaks down the science of taste, talks about the joy of cooking, and discusses his latest book – The Flavor Equation.

In this episode, Sandip talks to Dr Gagandeep Kang, who addresses the concerns around India’s vaccine policy.

Discussing the the changing face of Indian Islam, and what it really means to be an ‘Indian Muslim’ today.

Renowned actor Sharmila Tagore joins Sandip to celebrate this occasion, take a look back at his films, and talk about what made him stand apart from others.

Sandip talks to the co-founder of Edible Archives, a restaurant-cum-research centre in Goa that is spearheading a new way to think about food memory and food heritage.

In this episode, Sandip is joined by political analyst Sajjan Kumar and Neelajan Sircar, assistant professor of political science at Ashoka University, to talk about the West Bengal state polls 2021.

Anuja Chauhan joins Sandip to talk about her new novel, the politics of Delhi (and Bangalore) clubs, the perils of writing romance in the time of ‘love-jihad’, and more.

Sandip talks to Indian Express' Associate Editor Santosh Singh about what Bihar politics will look like after Nitish Kumar, Lalu Prasad's lasting impact on the state, and his latest book – JP to BJP: Bihar After Lalu and Nitish.