Indicast Podcast Network - Mother Feed

Sarah Thornton is a sociologist known for her writing on art, design, and society. Sarah’s latest book, Tits Up: What Our Beliefs About Breasts Reveal About Life, Love, Sex, and Society, is a fascinating account of the cultural, social and personal significance of breasts, an organ we think we understand but actually know surprisingly little about. In this podcast Sarah takes us on a fascinating journey from the neon-lit stages of strip clubs to the quiet halls of milk banks, from plastic surgery operating rooms to the boardrooms of lingerie designers. Along the way, Sarah unpacks the role of breasts in feminism, religion, fashion and media, revealing how they have been shaped and reshaped by history and society, debunking an age-old lopsided view.

Why do we behave the way we do? What is going on in our brains when we take certain decisions? How hardwired are we and what are the odds that we can change our core behaviour for the better? In this podcast neurologist Dr Guy Leschziner tries to answer some of these questions. His latest book, “Seven Deadly Sins: The Biology of Being Human” explores the complex interplay between our brain, biology and the behaviors we often attribute to morality, choice or personality.

President Trump and President Zeleksky, in front of the world media, had a go at each other when they met on February 28th. The shouting match is not what the world needed to see. It could have dire consequences. In India the world of quick commerce has shaken up the kiranas and is now a part of our daily lives. Aditya launches Beacon, a superapp purpose-built for immigrants to Canada. Indicast listeners will get preferential treatment. Listen to find out more.

Ever wondered how a dictator survives for decades? If you think he does so without a care in the world, as I did, you are in for a surprise. Tyrants are probably amongst the most paranoid people in the world. Their single-minded determination to stay in power makes them do crazy things. They need to manage those who are close to them, bodyguards and palace elites included. Citizens can go to hell. But that doesn’t make their job any easier, says Dr Marcel Dirsus, the author of his latest book, “How Tyrants Fall: And How Nations Survive”. Some like Saddam Hussain and Yasser Arafat were known to micromanage and were often more worried about internal coups than external foes. How can adversaries deal with them? How can data and analytics help countries to deal with madmen? Marcel himself had a scare when he worked in a brewery in Congo where he decided to entrench himself in the subject. In this podcast he talks about the fascinating, if depressing world of these dictators, and what can be done about it.

Sunitha Krishnan has dedicated her life to rescuing and rehabilitating victims of human trafficking. Since 1996, her outfit, Prajwala, Asia’s largest institution combating sex trafficking and sex crime, has made a difference to the lives of over 30,100 survivors. Sunitha’s book, "I am what I am" is an outstanding account of her life. In this podcast she talks about moments that shaped her mission, including her experiences when she was jailed as an activist and her time spent in a Hyderabad slum, living “like a queen”. In 2016 Sunitha was awarded the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian award.

In this podcast, Julie Sedivy’s passion for language shines through. As a linguist and polyglot, she delves into the science behind how we communicate. More crucially, she advises us not to be too hung up when people take liberties with grammar. Language, much like any other living organism, evolves over time. Julie’s most recent book, “Linguaphile: A Life of Language Love” is a beautiful read and was named among the best books of 2024 by The New Yorker.

Do animals speak and if so why do they do so? What do they say? From the evolutionary standpoint what exactly is happening there? Dr Arik Kershenbaum is a zoologist who teaches at the University of Cambridge. His most recent book, “Why Animals Talk: The New Science of Animal Communication” addresses these questions. In this podcast Dr Arik talks about his experience of studying animal sounds in their live habitats to tell us why and what they are trying to say.

Dr Tabitha Stanmore is a historian and an expert in medieval and early modern English magic and witchcraft. Her book, “Cunning Folk: Life in the Era of Practical Magic” busts myths on the subject and focuses on the cultural impact of cunning folk, who would use magic to help people find items such as a spoon or help fix their love lives.

Children’s world is by default a trippy one and books are rich fodder for the uninhibited mind. In “The Haunted Wood: A History of Childhood Reading”, Sam Leith, the literary editor of The Spectator takes us through the memory lane of authors who have defined the genre of children's books. The nature of childhood itself has changed over centuries and the books, too, were a reflection of those eras. In this podcast Sam, himself a father of two kids, has read a gazillion children’s books as part of his research for his tome. And upon each rereading, he finds new gems that were undiscovered when he had first read them as a kid. His work was also rated by The Economist as among the top five non-fiction books of 2024.

Prof Alison Taylor is a clinical professor at NYU Stern School of Business. Her book, “Higher Ground: How Business Can Do the Right Thing in a Turbulent World” is a result of decades of research and experience where she has consulted many multinational companies. She argues that maximising shareholder value can no longer be the sole purpose of an organisation’s existence. The new generation employed at various outfits have started demanding explanations if the bosses stray from their path. Doing the right thing is hard, admits Prof Taylor but those who take the path of the straight and narrow will serve well in the long run.

There are around 3trn trees on Earth, 400 for every living person. And yet arguably the arboreal world is not talked about in as much detail as the animal kingdom. Dr Daniel Lewis, a historian at the Huntington Library takes a crack at the subject. His latest book, “Twelve Trees: And What They Tell Us About Our Past, Present and Future” chronicles stories of twelve trees and their history dating back to centuries.

Rollo Romig talks about his book "I'm on the Hit List: A Journalist's Murder and the Rise of Autocracy in India". The book focuses on the life and murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh and its impact on journalism and free speech in India. Whereas Gauri spoke her mind she also lived up to the maxim, "I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." She invited folks who disagreed with her to contribute in her paper, Gauri Lankesh Patrike. She never celebrated any opponents' demise and even defended them if she saw someone's critique of them to be unfair. In this podcast, Rollo unearths her life story, his experiences researching the story, his connection to Bangalore and the challenges of uncovering the truth behind Gauri’s life and work.

How did Barack Obama, former American president know for sure whether Osama Bin Laden was in that compound in Abbottabad? Are football matches largely determined by luck? How can you measure coincidences? Sir David Spiegelhalter, the emeritus professor of statistics at the University of Cambridge explains it all. His new book, “The Art of Uncertainty: How to Navigate Chance, Ignorance, Risk and Luck” is a fascinating read even for those without any background in statistics and mathematics. Among many other things, the book is also a lesson in how to make complicated subjects interesting.

India's young adults are gambling their savings way in the stock markets. Researchers in Japan have figured out a way to regrow teeth. This month also saw the birth of the world's youngest dart champion in Luke Littler, a 17-year-old who has darted his way to the top by beating his peers consistently for the last couple of years.

What is religion? How is it intertwined with economics? Why do people who are below the poverty line feel the need to contribute some portion of their meagre income to temples or churches? What is in it for them? How big is the industry? Paul Seabright, a British economist and professor at the University of Toulouse in France, joins us to talk about his book “The Divine Economy: How religions compete for wealth, power and people”. His opinions, backed by data and research over many years, seek to answer some of these questions.

Bazball is a term that describes England cricket team’s aggressive brand of Test cricket championed by Brendon “Baz” McCullum. Lawrence Booth who writes for the Daily Mail has co-authored a brilliant account of this new phenomenon in “Bazball: The Inside Story of a Test Cricket Revolution” with Nick Hoult. In this podcast Lawrence clarifies that Bazball is not mindless slogging or fast scoring. It’s also about absorbing pressure. Whereas the team cares about winning, if they can entertain the crowds along the way and put more seats in the stadiums, all the better. Lawrence is also the youngest editor of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack in over seven decades. He talks about what it takes to put out a massive edition year after year and also explains the thrill of filing match reports at the end of last minute twists.

The human brain is a marvel of mysteries, holding answers that we are still uncovering. Dr Theodore Schwartz's book “Gray Matters: A Biography of Brain Surgery” is filled with anecdotes to help us relate to the organ that sits silently in a dark cell inside our skull. Dr Schwartz has performed over 10,000 operations working in an area as small as a one rupee coin. He reflects on the meditative state he gets into during surgery, the role of empathy in connecting with patients and the exhilarating breakthroughs that makes it all worthwhile. Dr Schwartz recounts his punishing schedule when he was a student and the physical endurance coupled with mental fortitude needed to operate for hours on end. It's a life of sacrifice, brilliance and endless curiosity.

In “Just a Mercenary? Notes from My Life and Career”, Dr Subbarao describes his eventful journey as a kid from Sainik School in Korukonda, some 50 km from Visakhapatnam to becoming the 22nd governor of the Reserve Bank of India. Armed with awareness, discipline, commitment and a quirky sense of humour, Dr Subbarao worked relentlessly within and outside the country across various postings. In 2008 he took office at the RBI amidst the global financial meltdown. For five years he led by example and enjoyed the pressure that came with the job. Today, he teaches at Yale. His post-retirement interests include learning how to Salsa. “That’s still on my bucket list. I hope I’ll get to do it sometime”.

In his book “May Contain Lies: How stories, statistics and studies exploit our biases - and what we can do about it”, Dr Alex Edmans urges us to pause and reflect before we trust any article or a fact stated in a book or in a newspaper. It doesn’t matter who wrote it. And it isn’t such a tedious process to work it out. In this podcast Alex shares his views on confirmation bias, what is wrong with our interpretation of the 10,000 hour rule (among others), how social media is playing an outsized role in disseminating information, how JFK possibly averted the third world war during the Cuban missile crisis and why some leaders encourage their teams to challenge authority and are better off for it.

Ben Yagoda is the emeritus professor of English at the University of Delaware. Relying on his rich experience of having lived both in the US and the UK, Ben's new book, "Gobsmacked! The British Invasion of American English" talks about how language can travel across the two countries. Many words and phrases that originated in the UK have made themselves more at home in America. What is their history? Ben's blog https://notoneoffbritishisms.com/ which covers many of these topics is a super-hit.