Newslaundry Podcast

This week on NL Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal and Anand Vardhan are joined by Karma Paljor, editor in chief of EastMojo, and Patricia Mukhim, editor of Shillong Times. The discussion begins with the killing of 14 civilians in Nagaland by security forces. Patricia says, “Until you have the army along with AFSPA, there will always be an excuse for them to kill innocents, especially when the region is declared ‘disturbed’.” The panel also compares Kashmir and Nagaland, and discusses the multiple issues with AFSPA.To listen to the full episode, subscribe to Newslaundry. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week on NL Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Raman Kirpal and Meghnad S are joined by multimedia artist Anurag Verma.While discussing Munawar Faruqui’s decision to quit his stand-up comedy career, Anurag says, “The real question is of the majority’s expectations, it wasn’t about Munawar’s identity. But the real anger was because of the expectations they have from the identity.” The panel also talks about the cancellation of comedian Kunal Kamra’s shows and the backlash that Vir Das received after his ‘Two Indias’ monologue at Washington DC. To listen to the full episode, subscribe to Newslaundry. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Aakar talks about his new book, Price of the Modi Years, and highlights anti-Muslim laws that were introduced by the Modi government. “We have taken this country to a very dark place which I don’t think we can ever come out of,” he says. Jayashree points out different ways in which the government targets minorities, saying, “This is a way of calling out a particular community without naming them.”On the repeal of the farm laws, Raman says there were “clear indications” that it would happen. He adds, “The media amplified this rollback to glorify Modi, whereas he just stated that the farmers failed to understand his perspective in the laws.” Aakar says, “When you pass a bill that is against the public, and the public retaliates with resistance, then it’s habitual of this government to take it all back, whether publicly or not.”RecommendationsAakarGreat Singers on Great SingingRaman‘No benefit, too late’: For many farmers in North Delhi, AAP bio-decomposer drive makes ‘no difference’JayashreeThe Gone WorldThe Un

This week on NL Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal and Manisha Pande are joined by Sujit Nair, co-founder and managing editor of HW News, and independent journalist Sandhya Ravishankar. Sandhya talks about floods in Tamil Nadu, and how infrastructural developments led to the issue in Chennai city. The conversation shifts to pollution in the capital and other Indian cities, and the harm it causes. “It’s not just Diwali and stubble burning,” Manisha says. “It’s more than that.”To listen to the full episode, subscribe to Newslaundry. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week on NL Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal and Manisha Pande are joined by Subir Bhaumik, former correspondent with BBC and Reuters, and Vivek Kaul, journalist and economics commentator. Starting with the violence in Tripura, Subir offers some background and explains the roles of social media and the state police. “Tripura’s clashes have never been communal,” he says. “It’s the regional differences that initiate such issues. But this time, it’s clearly Hindu-Muslim...Fake news and misinformation is the core reason of any such riot in Tripura.”To listen to the full episode, subscribe to Newslaundry. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week on NL Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal and Jayashree Arunachalam are joined by Harjeet Singh, senior advisor for Climate Action Network International, and Lou Del Bello, climate and energy journalist.During a discussion on the ongoing COP26 summit, Abhinandan points out Barbados PM Mia Mottley’s speech and takes a dig at issues linked to climate finance. “Rich countries don’t want to give up that money, which is not aid or favour but an obligation because they are the ones who caused the crisis,” Harjeet says.To listen to the full episode, subscribe to Newslaundry. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week on NL Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal and Manisha Pande are joined by Sudhir Suryawanshi, assistant editor at the New Indian Express.Sudhir takes the panel through the “drug bust” on the cruise ship in Mumbai and how the Narcotics Control Bureau works.He also explains how the Aryan Khan case has “drawn the line between how things work and how they are preferably ignored with the help of power”.To listen to the full episode, subscribe to Newslaundry. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week on NL Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal and Jayashree Arunachalam are joined by historian S Irfan Habib.In the context of Fabindia’s ad campaign “Jashn-e-Riwaz”, which the company withdrew after backlash, Irfan points out that Urdu is not a religious language. “This whole association of language with religion is a political agenda,” he says. He also explains how languages survive when they’re “linked with bread and butter”. To listen to the full episode, subscribe to Newslaundry. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week on NL Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal and Manisha Pande are joined by Kashmir-based journalist, Azaan Javaid. They discuss the civilian killings in Kashmir and the fear among minority Hindus and Sikhs. “A lot of families have left but we don’t have the exact number because it is an embarrassment for the government as well,” says Azaan. Azaan also talks about the media in Kashmir has been covering the killings and the state of press freedom in the Valley, “They would talk about meat pickles rather than focus on real issues,” he says.To listen to the full episode, subscribe to Newslaundry. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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This week on NL Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal and Manisha Pande are joined by Rohan Venkat, deputy editor at Scroll, and Shivam Vij, columnist at Gulf News.The conversation starts with Modi’s visit to the United States and how Indian TV news made it a topic of celebration. Rohan points out that it wasn’t “just an India-US story or about how the two countries met; the actual deal was the Quad summit.”To listen to the full episode, subscribe to Newslaundry. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week on NL Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal and Manisha Pande are joined by Aunindyo Chakravarty, journalist and former managing editor of NDTV Profit, and independent journalist Vrinda Gopinath. The discussion kicks off with recent data on layoffs and job losses in the media industry and what led to the losses. Aunindyo talks about how these layoffs are not related to Covid but have been happening since 2018. “Almost 78 percent of jobs were lost in the media and publishing industry in five years,” he says. To listen to the full episode, subscribe to Newslaundry. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Timecodes2:42 - Headlines14:25 - Tamil Nadu’s NEET bill32:09 - IT ‘surveys’ at Newslaundry and Newsclick56:55 - Subscriber mails1:18:43- RecommendationsThis week on NL Hafta, it’s the in-house panel of Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, Manisha Pande, Jayashree Arunachalam, and Mehraj D Lone.They discuss Tamil Nadu’s bill exempting state board students from the national medical entrance test NEET, and what led to the government bringing it. Jayashree and Mehraj explain how and why standardised tests such as NEET tend to disadvantage students from poor and marginalised communities. The discussion then moves to last week’s Income Tax “surveys” targeting Newslaundry and Newsclick. Abhinandan provides a brief account of the day the ‘survey’ happened at Newslaundry and kickstarts a discussion about how the institutions of state operate in India and how they wield the power they have over the public. Gamechanger subscribers, click here to get a private RSS link to listen to NL Hafta on Apple Podca

This week on NL Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kripal and Manisha Pande of Newslaundry are joined by Suhasini Haidar, diplomatic affairs editor of the Hindu. They discuss the situation in Afghanistan and how media platforms have been covering it. Suhasini points out that considering the risks involved in going to the ground, most foreign journalists have been relying on activists and a few reporters who are still in the country to get a sense of what’s happening. Some foreign journalists such as Lyse Doucet and Sikander Krimani, however, have been able to report from the ground with the aid of security agencies and advisors, she says. RecommendationsSuhasiniQuest for a Stable Afghanistan: A View From Ground Zero  Antonio Giustozzi: The Taliban at WarAntonio Giustozzi: The Islamic State of Khorasan The favored daughter: One woman’s fight to lead Afghanistan Fawzia Koofi: Letters to My Daughters RamanPaul Theroux: Tao of Travel Upcoming Newslaundry story on Osho Ashram. 

This week on NL Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande and Anand Vardhan are joined by Govindraj Ethiraj, the founder of IndiaSpend and BOOM.The conversation begins with the floods in Bihar and Assam. While these usually dominate headlines every year, this year there’s been very little attention from the mainstream media. “Only local media has been reporting on it,” Anand says, “and there have been lives lost, but maybe because of the Taliban, it has not been in the headlines.”To listen to the full episode, subscribe to Newslaundry. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week on NL Hafta, Ahinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Mehraj D Lone are joined by Josy Joseph, an investigative journalist and author of The Silent Coup.Josy explains the central idea of his book, that India is in the hold of the “Deep State”, by citing the “actual Gujarat Model” that Narendra Modi implemented nationally after taking power in New Delhi. “Those officers who are willing to serve the causes of their political masters have great careers," he says, explaining the model. He points out, by way of an example, how the police officials who investigated the Godhra train fire and subsequent anti-Muslim carnage in Modi’s Gujarat went on to have national careers.To listen to the full episode, subscribe to Newslaundry. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week on NL Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal Manisha Pande, Jayashree Arunachalam, and Anand Vardhan are joined by Kriti Shah, associate fellow, strategic studies, Observer Research Foundation. Talking about the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, Kriti argues that there was never an appropriate time for America to exit the country after 20 years of war. She, however, adds that “the manner in which Joe Biden has gone about it has been very surprising, given that his entire campaign has been around human rights”. To listen to the full episode, subscribe to Newslaundry. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week on Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, Manisha Pande and Mehraj D Lone of Newslaundry are joined by Chander Shekhar Luthra, seasoned sports journalist and secretary of the Press Club of India.Talking about how sports journalism in India has been reduced to access journalism, Chander rues the passing of a time when “there was space for everyone”, from those writing about and investigating sports administration to those interviewing celebrity sportspeople. Today’s media platforms and their audiences, Chander argues, are not as receptive to serious discussions around sports and their administration. To listen to the full episode, subscribe to Newslaundry. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week on Hafta, the inhouse panel of Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, Manisha Pande, Anand Vardhan, and Jayashree Arunachalam talk about the Tokyo Olympics, monsoon session of the parliament, and the change of guard in Karnataka. Talking about the Olympics, Anand explains the enthusiasm around hockey as compared to other sports. Raman remarks, “Hockey was a national sport...until the rules changed.”To listen to the full episode, subscribe to Newslaundry. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week on NL Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Raman Kirpal and Mehraj Lone are joined by journalist Karma Paljor, editor-in-chief of EastMojo and co-founder of Atvi Infotainment.In the context of the recent Assam-Mizoram border conflict, the panel discusses the history of the border and the significance of the tribal identities of the Mizos. Karma says, “They’ve fought for independence, they’ve been bombed by the air force. So they stick to each other and support each other.”To listen to the full episode, subscribe to Newslaundry. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.