Shortcast over Coffee

Welcome to yet another episode of Shortcast over Coffee. Today my guest is Prof Aswath Damodaran. He is a Professor of Finance at the Stern School of Business at New York University teaching corporate finance and valuation. He is dubbed the "dean of valuation" but calls himself more a dabbler who teaches because he loves it. Check out more about Dr Damodaran hereBookshttps://amzn.to/40CQ8jWhttps://amzn.to/4aJ2Gv1https://amzn.to/3WQX0cvhttps://amzn.to/3CCqvrEWebsitehttps://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~adamodar/https://www.linkedin.com/in/aswathdamodaran/https://aswathdamodaran.blogspot.com/00:00 Introduction and Inefficiencies in Education, Publishing, and Financial Services08:07 Valuation, Intellectual Property, and Market Predictions19:06 Country Risk, Climate Risk, and Corporate Lifecycles31:19 Private Equity in Real Estate and the Role of Technology44:05 Reasoning, Cognitive Skills, and the Role of AI48:41 Nvidia Valuation and the Impact of DeepSeek on AI

Today we have with us Manu Pillai. Manu is the author of the recently released book Gods, Guns, and Missionaries, which explores how European missionaries and colonialism shaped modern Hinduism. In addition to this latest work, he has authored five other remarkable books. He is, without a doubt, one of my favorite voices to listen to these days—a historian who has truly made talking about history exciting and, dare I say, cool. About Manu https://www.instagram.com/waatcoconut/ https://x.com/UnamPillai

Today, I have the pleasure of hosting Karthik Reddy, the Co-founder and Managing Director of Blume Ventures, one of India’s leading early-stage venture capital funds based in Mumbai. Since its inception in late 2010, Blume Ventures has established itself as a prominent player in India’s startup ecosystem, investing in over 50 startups alongside notable angel investors and peer funds. Before founding Blume, Karthik was an active angel investor through Mumbai Angels, where he continues to contribute as a board member for select companies. His professional journey spans diverse sectors, including financial services—working with esteemed organizations like American Express Bank, ABN Amro, and Instinet—and media, with a stint at The Times Group in India. Karthik holds an MBA from the prestigious Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an engineering degree from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee. His wealth of experience and strategic vision have made him a pivotal figure in shaping India’s entrepreneurial landscape.

Today, my guest is Khyati Pathak. Khyati is a Singapore-based IT consultant turned cartoonist. She has co-authored the recent release titled "We the Citizens" co-authored along with Pranay Kotasthane and Anupam Manur. The book aims to make basic principles of public policy and economics easy to understand for everyone. Khyati is also involved in multiple open-source projects, most notably Snakeadoo available at snakeadoo.wordpress.com, which aims to educate rural Indian schools about snakes and snake bites. She is someone who has dabbled in multiple roles throughout her life, and we will talk about all that in this episode and what inspired her to write the book "We the Citizens." Khyati's book and recommendations https://www.amazon.com/We-Citizens-Pranay-Kotasthane/dp/0143463551 https://artofcharliechan.com/ Persepolis I & II by Marjane Satrapi

Welcome to yet another episode of Shortcast Over Coffee. Today, my guest is Prakash Wakankar. Prakash has been a familiar voice on radio across the world for over 30 years, covering cricket for All India Radio, BBC's iconic Test Match Special, ABC, among others. In his corporate avatar, Prakash has held leadership roles across industries and geographies, working with renowned companies like Pfizer, Perfetti, Coca-Cola, and the Mahindra Group. In this episode Prakash reflects back on his 30 year cricket commentary career , his relationships with contemporaries and the next generation of cricket journalists and his excitement for the T20 World Cup to be held in the US and the West Indies.

Today, I'm excited to have Saurabh Chandra join me. Saurabh co hosts the famous podcast puliyabaazi with Pranay Kotasthane. This episode, however, is all going to be about Saurabh and his exciting startup Ati Motors. Ati Motors is a Bengaluru-based startup founded in 2017 with the vision of developing autonomous vehicles. I will talk to Saurabh about how the idea behind Ati Motors germinated and what he thinks of autonomous vehicles in a controlled environment like an industrial setting. So without further ado, let's dive right in.

Today, I'm thrilled to have Indraneel Chitale join me. Indraneel is the managing partner of Chitale Bandhu Mithaiwale, a company with an annual turnover exceeding 200 crores, based out of Pune, India. The Chitale story began over 60 years ago when Late Shri Bhaskar Ganesh Chitale started a small milk business in Sangli district. Indraneel represents the fourth generation of the Chitale family, which has propelled this business to remarkable heights. Thanks to their unwavering focus on quality and exceptional service, the Chitale brand enjoys immense popularity across India and is exported globally to countries such as the US, Europe, and Australia. With his innovative ideas, Indraneel is steering the family legacy toward new horizons. In this episode, I delve into how Chitale became the household name it is today, the challenges encountered while building a multi-crore brand, and Indraneel's perspectives on international expansion and quality control.

Today, my guest is Rukmini S. Rukmini is an independent data journalist based in Chennai. She and her team have built DataForIndia.com, which aims to expand everyone’s understanding of India through data. The project takes public data, makes it usable, and helps consumers derive descriptions and insights about the country. Rukmini has also authored the book “Whole Numbers and Half Truths: What Data Can and Cannot Tell Us About Modern India”. In this episode, I will talk to Rukmini about the monumental effort behind Data for India and why it is important now, her experience working as a data journalist in newsrooms, and the challenges faced along the way during building the project. Please do like, share, and subscribe to this podcast, Shortcast Over Coffee, on top podcast platforms like YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.

Today, my guest is Angad Daryani. Angad is the founder of Praan.io, a deep tech startup bringing clean air to corporate spaces and homes. Praan’s products Hive and Mach 2, have delighted its customers. Praan is the epitome of the Make in India mission, sourcing close to 95% of its parts in India, completely manufactured and assembled in India. Angad is an entrepreneur to watch out for. In this episode, I sit down with Angad to talk about his long-term mission for a cleaner world with Praan, his struggles building such an innovative hardware company ground up, and his philosophy around hiring and retaining top talent. Please like, share, and subscribe to this podcast Shortcast Over Coffee on top podcast platforms like Spotify, Apple, etc https://praan.io/

oday, I'm delighted to have Guy Kawasaki as my guest. Guy is the Chief Evangelist of Canva and the host of the Remarkable People Podcast. With a remarkable career journey, he has served as the Chief Evangelist of Apple, a trustee of the Wikimedia Foundation, and the Brand Ambassador of Mercedes Benz. He holds a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from the University of California, Los Angeles. In this episode, Guy shares insights from his early days at Apple, his experiences working alongside Steve Jobs, his perspectives on what makes people remarkable, and his passion for surfing. Don't forget to check out the link in the description for the free course Guy and Canva have collaborated on. Make sure to like, share, and subscribe to Shortcast Over Coffee on platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more https://www.canva.com/learn/guy-kawasaki/#lessons

Today my guest is Tea Scientist Ajit Bhaskar. Ajit has been researching on tea for over a decade. Ajit is also a marathon runner, a podcast host and a foodie. In this episode I talk to him about his journey towards the current role and everything about tea! I still cannot believe we spent an hour just talking about tea. Ajit has wealth of knowledge about the industry and the best part is that he loves sharing it too. So what are you waiting for? Ek cup chai banao aur video start karo!

Today, my guest is Raffi Krikorian. Raffi has had a distinguished career in tech, a career most would dream of. He graduated from MIT and went on to work in senior leadership positions at Twitter and Uber. He was the Senior Director of Engineering at Uber’s Advanced Technologies Center and the first-ever Chief Technology Officer of the Democratic National Committee. Raffi is currently serving as the Chief Technology Officer of Emerson Collective, where he works on developing opportunities and solutions in education, environment, immigration, and many more pressing problems in the world today. Check out Raffi’s work at www.emersoncollective.com and do check out this podcast on technology and governance, Technically Optimistic, wherever you get your podcasts. In this episode, I talk to him about his days at Twitter and Uber, his days with the Democratic National Committee, and his thoughts on ethics and policymaking around artificial intelligence. Please do like, share, and subscribe to this podcast, Shortcast Over Coffee, on top podcast platforms like Spotify, Apple, etc.

My guest today is Utkarsha Agwan. Utkarsha is a core team member of Climate Change AI, a global nonprofit that catalyzes impactful work at the intersection of climate change and machine learning. CCAI has led the creation of a global movement in climate change and machine learning, encompassing researchers, engineers, entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, companies, and NGOs. She holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences from UC Berkeley, where her research focused on distributed energy resources, specifically batteries, electric vehicles, and flexible loads, and how they can participate in the larger power grid. In this episode, I talk to Utkarsha about AI ethics in climate tech, the top problems in climate change being tackled using machine learning, and solving nuclear fusion. In the last part of this episode, both Utkarsha and I mistakenly say "nuclear fission" instead of "nuclear fusion"... and I hope you guys excuse us for the slip of the tongue. https://www.climatechange.ai/

Today my guests are the co founders of the startup Voltpost Jeff Prosserman and Luke Maira. Voltpost is a hardware-as-a-service company that transforms lampposts into smart electric vehicle charging stations. In today's episode, I talk to Jeff and Luke about how they started Voltpost, how different the North American EV charging infra structure is compared to Europe and how they look forward to working with cities and policy makers to enable fast, convenient and reliable charging to the urban environment. Please do like share and subscribe this channel shortcast over coffee on top podcast platforms like Spotify, Apple etc. Checkout more https://www.voltpost.com/ https://techcrunch.com/2023/07/24/ev-charging-voltpost-3-6m-seed-round/

Today, my guests are Chinmay Malaviya and Charlie Depman, the co-founders of the exciting startup Ridepanda. Ridepanda is a digital platform offering e-bikes, e-scooters, and e-mopeds as a way to promote eco-friendly transportation. In this episode, I talk to Chinmay and Charlie about their inspiration behind starting Ridepanda, their shift from micromobility to leasing bikes at an enterprise scale, and their observations and learning about the state of urban transportation in the U.S. Please do like, share, and subscribe to this channel, Shotcast Over Coffee, on YouTube and all podcast platforms.

Today my guest is Akash Banerjee. Akash is political and social satirist. He established and hosts #TheDeshbhakt, recognized as India's most influential and widely viewed political satire platform. The Deshbhakt distinguishes itself by blending factual analysis with a mix of sarcasm and dark humor, addressing the myriad challenges facing modern India. Prior to venturing into the digital realm, Akash had an extensive career spanning over 15 years in traditional media. His diverse roles included working as a Radio Jockey, News Reporter, Anchor, and Author. Akash's educational background is equally impressive, having attended La Martiniere College in Lucknow for his schooling, followed by a Graduation and Masters in History from the prestigious Hindu and St. Stephens Colleges.

Today my guest is Gaurav Mittal. Gaurav Mittal is a Researcher in Mobility Governance. His research interests lie at the intersections of urban transformations, political economy, and transport governance. He works on investigating the policies that shape material urban mobilities in small and medium size cities in the Global South. In today's episode, Gaurav on his current research and his PhD work on urban transportation in Indian cities. https://www.tsu.ox.ac.uk/person/dr-gaurav-mittal

Today my guest is Andrew Revkin. Andrew is best known for his groundbreaking work at The New York Times, where he covered climate change and environmental issues, bringing complex scientific topics to the public. Throughout his career, Andrew has traveled from the Amazon rainforests to the Arctic, witnessing the world's environmental triumphs and crises, and has sat down with world leaders and activists alike. In today's episode, Andrew tells us why carbon capture, though important may not be the only thing climate scientists and venture capitalists should be after. He also shares with us his early journalism career and reporting from Brazil on the environmental effects caused on the amazon rainforest. Please do like share and subscribe this channel shortcast over coffee on top podcast platforms like Spotify, Apple etc. More on Andrew's work: https://revkin.substack.com/p/with-billions-of-dollars-to-invest-22-09-23https://revkin.substack.com/p/after-reporting-on-global-warming-22-01-14?utm_source=%2Fsearch%2Fscariest%2520science&utm_medium=reader2https://archive.nytimes.com/dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/02/23/bill-gates-the-impatient-optimist-lays-out-his-clean-energy-innovation-agenda/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/23/opinion/bill-gatess-clean-energy-moon-shot.htmlulio Friedmann: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCn5vl6zouA

Today's guest is David Roberts, an influential writer and communicator on clean energy and climate change policy. David Roberts has spent over 15 years covering energy and climate change, most prominently at Vox. His insightful analysis and commentary have made him one of the leading voices on the urgency of decarbonizing our economy. David has a knack for breaking down complex policy problems and clearly explaining clean energy solutions to a mass audience. From the intricacies of the Green New Deal and carbon pricing, to the politics holding solutions back, his writing brings much-needed clarity to debates that will shape our future. More on David @drvolts on X https://www.volts.wtf/ Checkout the Volts podcast on Apple, Spotify and wherever you get your podcast!

Today my guest is Karthik Kumar. Karthik is an actor, director, writer, standup comedian, and an entrepreneur. He is the well known founder of Evam. He has acted in popular movies like Alaipayuthe, Yaaradi Nee Mohini, Poi Solla Porom and recently Rocketry. Karthik will be touring in the last leg of his tour with his 4th comedy special "Mansplaining" which will cover multiple cities across the US, culminating in London between February and March. Check out the show notes for more. In this episode I will talk to Karthik about his life as an actor and entrepreneur and everything about his venture Evam. About Karthik and Evam https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/karthik-kumars-latest-show-aansplaining-is-therapy-disguised-as-stand-up-comedy/article65602619.ece https://www.karthikkumar.live/ https://www.instagram.com/evamkarthik/?hl=en

Dr. Taya Cohen, Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior and Business Ethics at Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business. An award-winning researcher published widely in top management and psychology journals, Dr. Cohen focuses her work on critical issues like honesty, ethics, negotiation, and conflict management. Recently named one of the best 40 under 40 professors in her field, Dr. Cohen has made significant contributions to the study of moral character and ethical decision-making. Her research has been featured extensively in major media outlets like the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, BBC, NPR, and Time Magazine.

Today my guest is Apar Gupta. Apar Gupta is a lawyer who serves as the executive director of the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), a nongovernmental organization that advocates for digital rights and liberties. In 2015, Gupta and others launched SaveTheInternet.in, a public campaign that fought for net neutrality and stopped the introduction of Facebook's Free Basics initiative in India. Gupta and his team at IFF file petitions and undertake advocacy campaigns to defend online freedom, privacy, and net neutrality. I have linked Apar's works in the shownotes so please do check them out. In today's episode, I talk to him about his early exposure to technology, successful career as a lawyer and his initiatives on net neutrality and other social causes Apar's works IFF's Organisation Development Plan : https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iAx0B5y2zsJPNiP1hS0SdQ-9wpc3GyXSDobAaLW9498/edit?usp=sharingIFF's Year End Donor Meetup : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eICRyLuF_o8Video with links to the Internet Shutdowns in Manipur: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBsUleQ-aoQ&t=6sOp-ed on data protection : https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/an-act-to-cement-digital-authoritarianism/article67202493.eceOp-ed on the broadcasting services bill : https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/old-censorship-on-a-new-medium/article67576676.ece

Today, my guests are Clinton Cerejo and Bianca Gomes of the band Shor Police. The duo has composed music for notable recent movies like "Jane Jaan," "Bob Biswas," and "Dobaara." In this episode, I will talk to them about their work as a male-female band, which is quite rare, and also their experience with projects like Coke Studio and ad jingles. We will also discuss Clinton's associations with AR Rahman and Vishal Bharadwaj, and how early exposure to Western music influenced Bianca's career. Please do like, share, and subscribe to this channel as it will help us get such great guests on the show. For all the audiophiles, do check out the show Shortcast Over Coffee on top podcast platforms like Spotify, Apple, etc.

https://www.nathanpgoodman.com/

Today my guest is Pranay Kotasthane. Pranay is deputy director of the Takshashila Institution and chairs the High Tech Geopolitics Programme. He co-writes "Anticipating the Unintended," a newsletter on public policy ideas and frameworks, and co-hosts "Puliyabaazi," a popular Hindi-Urdu podcast on politics, policy, and technology. Pranay is an alumnus of NIT Surathkal and worked in multiple Fortune 500 hardware companies before joining Takshashila. Pranay’s recent book that has come out is titled “When the Chips Are Down: A Deep Dive into a Global Crisis” and is available on Amazon. In this episode we will talk about the semiconductor industry, its impact on geopolitics, and India’s foray into semiconductor manufacturing. Please like, share and subscribe to this channel, as it will help us get such great guests on. And for all the audiophiles, do check out the show "Shortcast Over Coffee" on top podcast platforms like Spotify and Apple. Puliyabaazi on Photolithography https://open.spotify.com/episode/5rrMQqur3WDsGjq5cU6Akt?si=lkdaxAm3SrmpoCFR102leQ

Today my guest is Prem Panicker. Prem has been a journalist for over 30 years and was one of the seven journalists who were part of the Rediff.com start-up team. He has extensively written and edited features for different publications. In this episode, I talk to Prem about his growing up days, his journey with addiction and how he overcame it, his early career in journalism, covering cricket and climate change. It’s a long 2 hour episode, so brace yourself for a fantastic journey through Prem’s life. Please like, share and subscribe to this channel as it will help us get more great guests on the show. For all the audiophiles, do check out the show Shortcast Over Coffee on top podcast platforms like Spotify and Apple. Now without further ado, let’s dive right in! More on Prem 1. Smoke Signals — Prem Panicker’s blog.2. The Peepli Project — Edited by Prem Panicker

Dr. Sanjay Nagral is a prominent Indian surgeon and expert in medical ethics, specializing in hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery. He is based in Mumbai and holds the position of a professor and postgraduate teacher. Dr. Nagral has contributed significantly to the field through extensive publications on surgery, public health, and medical ethics issues. We invite you to like, share, and subscribe to our channel, as your support will enable us to feature more esteemed guests like Dr. Nagral. For all the audiophiles out there, don't forget to check out our show, Shortcast Over Coffee, available on top podcast platforms such as Spotify and Apple. Your engagement is invaluable in bringing insightful discussions to a broader audience.

Today it's my great honor to have T.T. Jagannathan on the show. T.T.J., as people call him, is a gold medalist from IIT Madras. He was pursuing his PhD at Cornell when his parents, T.T. Narasimhan and Padma, visited him. They had bad news - their business was struggling and they were borrowing at 40% interest. Jagannathan had to leave everything and come back to India to steady the ship. And he did that with aplomb. We bring his story of passion, resilience, common sense, and hard work in building the brand that is now TTK Prestige and turning it into a multi-million dollar business. Please do like, share, and subscribe to this channel, as it will help us get such great guests on. And for all the audiophiles, do check out the show Shortcast Over Coffee on top podcast platforms like Spotify and Apple. More on TT Jagannathan https://www.amazon.com/Disrupt-Conquer-Prestige-Billion-Company/dp/0143457225 https://www.forbes.com/profile/tt-jagannathan/ https://ttkprestige.com/people/t-t-jagannathan/

Today my guest is Jagan Krishnan. Jagan is a stand up comedy artist and writer based in Chennai and currently touring with his piece Jagane Thandhiram. In this episode I talk to Jagan about his early days in standup comedy, tamil film music and standup comedy in regional languages More about Jagan https://www.eventz.co.in/events-list/jagane-thandhiram---tamil-standup-comedy https://www.instagram.com/iamjaggenius/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/iamjaggenius/

Today my guest is Amit Varma. Amit hosts one of India's most popular podcasts, touching on economics, public policy, history, and culture. The podcast is called The Seen and the Unseen. Amit also co-hosts the popular YouTube show 'Everything is Everything' with his close friend, economist Dr. Ajay Shah. A prolific writer, Amit blogs at India Uncut and authors the must-read newsletter 'India Uncut Newsletter.' He is a two-time winner of the Bastiat Prize for journalism and a leading libertarian voice. In today's episode, I talk to him about his early exposure to reading, the influence his dad had on him, and his writing stints at MTV, Channel V, and Cricinfo. We also talk about his life as a professional poker player before diving deep into his podcasting journey. I'm thrilled to have Amit on the show. Please like, share and subscribe to this channel as it will help us get such great guests. More on Amit 1. Amit Varma on Twitter, India Uncut and Substack.2. The Seen and the Unseen — Amit Varma’s podcast.

Today my guest is Prof Sachidanand Tripathi. Dr Tripathi is an acclaimed Indian scientist in atmospheric sciences. He is a professor at IIT Kanpur and has won India's top science award, the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, for his work. He is an elected fellow of the country's major science academies and holds the prestigious J.C. Bose Fellowship. His research focuses on Earth's atmosphere, oceans, and climate. In this episode we discuss the recent news about the air quality in Delhi, Findings of his research in this field and the measures that are being taken to improve the air quality in India.

My guest today is Dinesh Thakur. Dinesh Thakur trained as a chemical engineer before becoming a whistleblower against the pharmaceutical company Ranbaxy. While working at Ranbaxy, he witnessed extensive data fraud and reported this wrongdoing. His actions led Ranbaxy to plead guilty in an American court in 2013 to violating US law. The company paid a $500 million dollar penalty as part of its guilty plea. For his whistleblowing efforts, he received the Joe A. Callaway Award for Civic Courage and the ACFE Cliff Robertson Sentinel Award. Since 2014, he has advocated reforming India's outdated Drugs & Cosmetics Act from 1940. He founded an advocacy group called Citizens for Affordable, Safe & Effective Medicine (CASEM) to campaign for these reforms. Dinesh also established the Thakur Family Foundation, a philanthropic organization that funds public health research and health journalism in India. He serves as the Foundation's President.In this episode I talk to Dinesh about the work of Y K Hameid and Cipla, How india became the generic drug manufacturing capital of the world and pros and cons of it. We also talk about the Ranbaxy case and few other important cases which expose the shady side of big pharma companies, the lack of regulations for clinical trials in India and many more things. So stay tuned to the episode. Do show your support to this show by subscribing on Spotify or wherever you get your podcast and buy me a coffee at buymeacoffee.com/shortcastovercoffee More about Dinesh https://dineshthakur.com/about-2/ https://twitter.com/d_s_thakur?lang=en https://magazine.unh.edu/issue/winter-2021/the-whistleblower/ https://www.wellesley.edu/albright/about/faculty/dinesh-thakur https://www.reuters.com/article/india-pharma-whistleblower/pharma-crusader-dinesh-thakur-takes-indias-drug-regulators-to-court-idUSKCN0W90C8

Today my guest is Baradwaj Rangan. Baradwaj is a National Award winning Film Critic and the Editor-in-Chief of @GalattaPlus. He is also the author of two books 'Conversations with Mani Ratnam' and Dispatches from the Wall Corner: A Journey through Indian Cinema. Support me here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/shortcas... About Baradwaj https://twitter.com/baradwajranganhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baradwa...https://baradwajrangan.wordpress.com/ (00:00) Introduction (00:50)⁠ Love for writing and the movies : Early days (30:32)⁠ Star Ratings in movie reviews (38:41)⁠ Should there be an Embargo for movie reviews? (46:23)⁠ Why does India loves its movies (50:17)⁠ Is there too much content these days? (1:03:12)⁠ Mani Ratnam, favoritism and bias (1:15:44)⁠ Interviewing with Respect and Dignity (1:23:38)⁠ Who was hard to interview? (1:30:36)⁠ National Award and staying relevant in changing times (1:33:34)⁠ Conclusion

Today my guest is Pranav Radhakrishnan. Pranav is a terrific science communicator and the man behind the popular YouTube channel Science is Dope, where he talks about pseudoscience and analyzes some popular conspiracy theorists. Pranav is an engineering graduate from the National Institute of Technology Calicut. I found out that he also grew up in Kozhikode, the city where I did a lot of my schooling. I talk to Pranav about atheism, debunking pseudoscience, alternative medicine, and of course Sadhguru Pranav's channel Main Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/ScienceIsDope Support Pranav here One-time support: UPI: scienceisdope@icici https://buymeacoffee.com/scienceisdope Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scienceisdope_ To join his WhatsApp community: https://nas.io/scienceisdope Discord: https://discord.gg/BQrBAUkA33 Subbreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/scienceisdope/ Pranav and Abby https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUKl63cSSSg

Salaam-e- Krish Ashok! Ashok has been a part of the show earlier where we spoke at length about food homeopathy veganism and Carnatic music and I highly recommend you check the episodes out . I’ll link them in the show notes. Ashok recently made a food trip to Lucknow and I thought I need to ask him in detail about the Mughal and the awadhi dishes he tried there. So here we are. Like most of my episodes we do digress quite a bit but I hope the episode is engaging and entertaining as we talk about Lucknow the city and how the Mughals influenced Indian cooking. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUdZxrU5HDA&ab_channel=ShortcastoverCoffee https://youtu.be/74Q41P37ReA https://youtu.be/UUdZxrU5HDA Support me here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/shortcastovercoffee 📈 Get FREE Stocks in US https://a.webull.com/hMq1FXwqDxNxXGto77 https://a.webull.com/NcH1FXwqDxNxXGtk2b I use WeBull & RobinHood for stock trading which are legal. Link subject to change depending on the expiry of the offer Use Fiverr to Hire Top Talent : https://tinyurl.com/mxsyw37y https://tinyurl.com/3scu66p9 Enjoy 75% off + 3 Extra months with PureVPN. Limited time offer, act now! https://tinyurl.com/ymwc4ttj Contact the host and leave feedback : https://instagram.com/bala.deva06 Masala Lab on Amazon : https://www.amazon.com/Masala-Lab-Science-Indian-Cooking/dp/0143451375

Today my guest is Parth MN. Parth is an independent journalist based in Mumbai, India. He mainly covers rural India for multiple publications. His work has appeared in the LA Times, The Washington Post, Al Jazeera, People's Archive of Rural India, Times of India Digital, among other outlets. He is the recipient of the Indian Express group's Ramnath Goenka Award, as well as the European Commission's Lorenzo Natali Media Prize. Quoting the legendary P. Sainath, "National daily five-year average gives 0.67 percent of its Front Page News to news of rural origin. 69 percent of the country's population gets 0.67 percent." This pretty much sums up the state of rural reporting in India. So, in this episode I thought I will talk to Parth about his experience reporting in Vidharbha and Manipur, lessons he learned and also about the state of press freedom in India among many other things. More about Parth MN https://ruralindiaonline.org/en/authors/parth-mn/ https://x.com/parthpunter?s=20 (0:00) Introduction (01:31) Growing up and Cricket days (12:00) Shiv Sena and Press (14:55) Learning from sport (21:33) Education and early days in Journalism (27:30) Freelancing and Reporting Rural India (30:52) Deep dive into Rural Reporting (40:38) Farmer Suicide and Climate change (45:20) Mental Health programs in rural India (51:47) Reporting from Manipur (1:01:07) Freedom of the Press (1:08:00) Parth and I talk about reliable media sources (1:13:00) Conclusion

📈 Get FREE Stocks in US https://a.webull.com/hMq1FXwqDxNxXGto77 https://a.webull.com/NcH1FXwqDxNxXGtk2b I use WeBull & RobinHood for stock trading which are legal. Link subject to change depending on the expiry of the offer Use Fiverr to Hire Top Talent : https://tinyurl.com/mxsyw37y https://tinyurl.com/3scu66p9 Today my guest is Ankit Agarwal. Ankit is the co-founder of Topmate.io, a promising startup based in Bengaluru, along with his friend and colleague Dinesh Singh. Topmate empowers professionals to seamlessly manage requests for advice or guidance by letting others reach out for a personalized interaction while keeping complete control over every aspect of it. Check out the link in the description for more. In this episode, we will unveil Ankit's fascinating journey from a small town in Rajasthan to IIT Bombay, working in Iraq during civil unrest, traveling 650 km everyday for work in Saudi Arabia, leaving everything to prepare for UPSC, and all the way to co-founding Topmate. His is a story of resilience, clarity of thought, and hard work, and I can't wait to present this episode to you guys. More about Topmate.io https://www.linkedin.com/in/ankitagarwal6/ https://topmate.io/ https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ankitagarwal6_startup-entrepreneur-topmate-activity-7051083982096003072-dMn-?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop 00:00 Introduction 4:33 Growing up 10:20 Choosing IIT Bombay 12:35 Civil Engineering 15:50 Learning through Events and Leadership at IIT-B 23:00 Iraq Life, Civil Unrest and ISIS 30:00 Saudi Arabia 37:34 UPSC Prep 40:00 First startup idea 45:30 IIT Bombay- The brand the safety net 47:56 Second startup and lessons learned 53:05 Family Support System 56:21 Topmate.io deepdive 1:00:19 What makes Topmate unique 1:03:27 First Customers 1:14:00 Conclusion

Today my guest is Dr Shruti Rajagopalan. She is a Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, where she leads the Indian Political Economy Program and Emergent Ventures India. In this episode I talk to Shruti about the initiatives she works on at Mercatus, economics research in India and the US and we dive deep into the good and the bad aspects of the goods and services tax in India also known as GST More about Shruti https://www.mercatus.org/scholars/shruti-rajagopalan https://www.mercatus.org/emergent-ventures https://www.linkedin.com/in/shruti-rajagopalan-3b9228202/ https://substack.com/@srajagopalan https://srajagopalan.substack.com/about https://twitter.com/srajagopalan?lang=en https://www.mercatus.org/ideasofindia

Today my guest is Nitin Sundar. Nitin was a sub-editor with Cricinfo and has been an avid follower of the game since the mid 90s. I will talk to Nitin about his career at Cricinfo and everything cricket pretty much… from stadium experience to commentators to the 2023 World Cup More about Nitin https://linktr.ee/knittins Reach out to the host https://www.instagram.com/bala.deva06/

My guest today is Sreedhar Pillai. Sreedhar is a trade analyst and film critic and has been a journalist in the movie industry for over 35 years. I will talk to Sreedhar about the economics of the South Indian movie industry today - from ticket pricing to film distribution to OTT and satellite rights. We'll discuss the changes that have occurred in the business side of South Indian cinema over the past few decades. Sreedhar's depth of knowledge and experience covering the entertainment industry will provide insightful perspective on the financial landscape and strategies of South Indian movie studios and distributors. I look forward to an interesting conversation about the numbers, deals, and dollars behind Kollywood and the other regional film industries in South India. More on Sreedhar https://x.com/sri50?s=20 https://www.instagram.com/sreedharpillai/

Meghnad or meghnerd on YouTube is one of India’s most recognized political analyst and commentator. Now an independent content creator, previously Meghnad was a writer and a journalist for Newslaundry. His show for them called Consti-tution is filled with wacky humor along with a lucid explanation of things you missed in your civics class. Before Newslaundry, Meghnad was a part of PRS Legislative Research where he worked as the legislative aide for many members of parliament across various states in India. Please do check out part 1 before moving onto part 2. In this part I talk to Meghnad about the merits and demerits of democracy, how we can make it better, reservations, looking back at the last 10 years of the government and all the different aspects related to propaganda or as Meghnand loves to call it Fluffoganda I get to grow a lot as a person doing this podcast but it also involves a lot of research behind the scenes so it would lovely if you could support this podcast with a cup of coffee on https://www.buymeacoffee.com/shortcastovercoffee More about Meghnad https://x.com/Memeghnad?s=20 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPFaO_qIQDIVXCatr63vpvQ https://substack.com/@memeghnad Consti-tution https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKSaIE11x9Q&ab_channel=newslaundry Reach out to the host https://www.instagram.com/bala.deva06/ Check out my other content here https://linktr.ee/shortcastovercoffee?utm_source

Meghnad or meghnerd on YouTube is one of India’s most recognized political analyst and commentator. Now an independent content creator, previously Meghnad was a writer and a journalist for Newslaundry. His show for them called Consti-tution is filled with wacky humor along with a lucid explanation of things you missed in your civics class. Before Newslaundry, Meghnad was a part of PRS Legislative Research where he worked as the legislative aide for many members of parliament across various states in India. This is a two part episode and in this part we will talk to Meghnad about his journey to be an independent creator and important happenings that led him here. I get to grow a lot as a person doing this podcast but it also involves a lot of research behind the scenes so it would lovely if you could support this podcast with a cup of coffee on https://www.buymeacoffee.com/shortcastovercoffee More about Meghnad https://x.com/Memeghnad?s=20 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPFaO_qIQDIVXCatr63vpvQ https://substack.com/@memeghnad Consti-tution https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKSaIE11x9Q&ab_channel=newslaundry Reach out to the host https://www.instagram.com/bala.deva06/ Check out my other content here https://linktr.ee/shortcastovercoffee?utm_source

Donate to this podcast at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/shortcastovercoffee Check out my material at https://linktr.ee/shortcastovercoffee?utm_source Our guest today is Shruti Jahagirdar, a passionate fitness trainer, entrepreneur, and nutritionist. Shruti was a competitive national level volleyball player and holds an MBA from ESMT Berlin. She specializes in low-carb, high-fat diets. Shruti and I planned this episode to be a workout 101. She is really passionate about exercising and nutrition, and she has happily agreed to do another episode on nutrition which I am really looking forward to. But in this episode, I will learn from her how to motivate oneself to work out and why we even work out, what are the right breathing techniques, and why even do staple moves like deadlifts and squats, and so on. So stay tuned for all of this and more. Oh yeah, I recently found out that Shruti’s mom was a Marathi actress, and we will ask her about that too! So let's now get into it. More on Shruti https://www.instagram.com/shrutijahagirdar/ https://twitter.com/Shruti_my_voice

As the relations between India and Canada hit an all time low, here is a brief history about Sikh Immigration to Canada

Slipping on a banana peel is a cliché, a vintage vaudeville gag. But its origins weren’t just slapstick comedy. Before it became a comedy trope, banana peels menaced New Yorkers for decades. This is how bad the trash situation was in the early 1900s. Today, all we need to do is segregate waste and the trucks comes to pick it up certain days of the week like clockwork. But how did we get here? Thats exactly what I am going to talk about with my guests today. We have Patricia Strach and Kathleen Sullivan, authors of the book “politics of trash” on the show Today. Patricia is a professor in the Departments of Political Science and Public Administration & Policy at the state university of New York at Albany and Kathleen is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Ohio university. Both experts in the field of political science public policy and law. Support my work at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/shortcastovercoffee About Patricia and Kathleen https://www.ohio.edu/cas/sullivak https://www.albany.edu/rockefeller/faculty/patricia-strach https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501766985/the-politics-of-trash/ Reach out to the author at @bala_devarajan on Twitter or https://www.instagram.com/bala.deva06/

Today we have a very special guest who is inspiring thousands across India to rethink how we manage waste. My guest is none other than Vani Murthy, aka "Worm Rani." On Instagram. Vani's unlikely journey from homemaker to an environmentalist began a decade ago. While visiting the massive landfill on the outskirts of Bangalore, she was moved by the millions of tons of rotting garbage. Vani vowed never to let her household waste end up in the landfill again. Through tireless trial and error, she mastered the art of composting at home using simple bins. Vani recognized that wet organic waste makes up the bulk of what we throw away. But left to fester in landfills, it releases dangerous greenhouse gases and leachate that pollutes soil and water. As waste generators, she urges, we must take responsibility to compost kitchen scraps and avoid these harms. In her 40s, after living as a traditional homemaker, Vani stepped out of her comfort zone into community activism. She led campaigns on waste segregation and helped catalyze major policy changes in Bangalore. But it was through social media that Vani discovered her true calling to inspire young people. Under her handle "Worm Rani," Vani shares practical, good-humored videos on Instagram that have gained her over 200,000 followers. She says some 70% are under 30, the generation she hopes most to impact. With authenticity and excitement, Vani motivates young people to reduce plastic usage, make natural cleaners, take up gardening, and turn food waste into black gold through composting. In turn, Vani says she gains energy from the feedback loop with her young green-minded fans. She especially enjoys connecting with college students who are receptive to lifestyle changes. Her informal tone and use of classic rock songs also help Vani stand out from traditional lecturers. At 60 years old, Vani proves that social media holds power to catalyze change when used consciously. She is living proof that ordinary citizens can have an outsized impact by inspiring others. More on Vani https://www.instagram.com/wormrani/ https://www.swmrt.com/ Reach out to the host https://www.instagram.com/bala.deva06/?hl=en Support https://www.buymeacoffee.com/shortcastovercoffee

I talk about the origin of Google Maps and how people navigated in sparsely populated countries like US and Australia pe-GPS era Support me here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/shortcastovercoffee https://venmo.com/u/shortcastovercoffee

My guest today is Murali Neelakantan. Murali is a graduate of the '96 batch of the NLSIU and was one of the first India educated lawyers to have become a partner in an English law firm. After moving back to India, he worked as a Senior Partner at Khaitan and Co before joining Cipla as a Global General Counsel. After Cipla, Murali is currently focusing on a variety of policy, education, and other projects. Murali has a wealth of experience in pharma and the Indian judicial system which we will uncover in this two episode series. Unfortunately, this will be an audio only episode as we faced some bandwidth issues, but as Murali jokingly put it once "I have a great face for the radio." But I really hope the quality of the conversation makes up for it. Support me here https://www.buymeacoffee.com/shortcastovercoffee https://venmo.com/u/shortcastovercoffee About Murali https://www.legallyindia.com/in-house-counsel/cipla-gc-ex-biglaw-partner-murali-neelakantan-resigns-for-new-phase-of-career-adventure-filled-with-strategy-policy-teaching-20150212-5595 http://amicus.net.in/ https://x.com/grumpeoldman?s=20 https://seenunseen.in/episodes/2023/5/16/episode-329-murali-neelakantan-looks-at-the-world/ Reach out to the host

My guest today is Murali Neelakantan. Murali is a graduate of the '96 batch of the NLSIU and was one of the first India educated lawyers to have become a partner in an English law firm. After moving back to India, he worked as a Senior Partner at Khaitan and Co before joining Cipla as a Global General Counsel. After Cipla, Murali is currently focusing on a variety of policy, education, and other projects. Murali has a wealth of experience in pharma and the Indian judicial system which we will uncover in this two episode series. Unfortunately, this will be an audio only episode as we faced some bandwidth issues, but as Murali jokingly put it once "I have a great face for the radio." But I really hope the quality of the conversation makes up for it. About Murali https://www.legallyindia.com/in-house-counsel/cipla-gc-ex-biglaw-partner-murali-neelakantan-resigns-for-new-phase-of-career-adventure-filled-with-strategy-policy-teaching-20150212-5595 http://amicus.net.in/ https://x.com/grumpeoldman?s=20 https://seenunseen.in/episodes/2023/5/16/episode-329-murali-neelakantan-looks-at-the-world/ Reach out to the host

Today my guest is standup comedian GK. He is not just a standup comedian though; he is a full time engineer and a part time theater artist and movie maker based out of the Bay Area in California. In this episode I will talk to him about his journey to standup comedy and his recent venture, Bldg 18 comedy club, where GK, along with other co-founders, offers a great platform for budding comics. More about GK https://www.instagram.com/gkthecomic/ https://twitter.com/GKtheComic Do checkout https://www.instagram.com/bldg18comedy/ on Instagram!