Shows
Amogh Astra PodcastHistory and Historiography in India at a glance with Chaitanya - The Drishtikon Dialogues Ep 6I invited my friend Chaitanya to discuss a little about history and how it is studied in India. Chaitanya is an engineer by profession with a passion for history, specifically medieval history of India. We talked about why to study history, how has it been written, why is there such a bias in the history departments of universities and, of course, why do certain Indologists or historians, often with bad scholarship, misrepresent history.
Listen to this podcast to get an understanding of the current situation of how history is studied in India and also...2021-03-271h 12Amogh Astra PodcastDiscussing philosophy and politics with Kushal Mehra - The Drishtikon Dialogues Ep 4Namaste!
First of all, I must apologize for being late. Second, I have finally decided upon a channel name, Amogh Astra Podcast.
In this discussion, I talk to Kushal Mehra, the host of The Carvaka Podcast. We cover issues like why he likes philosophy, what role it plays in everyday lives, why are first principles are so important. We also spoke about why people resist certain ideas that they don't like, which probably stems from a fear of being proven wrong, which in turn, makes them develop an irrational...2021-01-141h 21Amogh Astra PodcastDiscussing Farm Acts with Prashant - The Drishtikon Dialogues Ep 3In this episode 3 of The Drishtikon Dialogues, I speak with my friend Prashant about the 3 Farm Bills (now Acts) that are being discussed in the media. We have been seeing protests by thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab and a few from Haryana. In the podcast, we discuss the apprehensions these protesters and their leaders may have. The links to the three Acts are here: 1. The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 https://www.prsindia.org/billtrack/farmers-empowerment-and-protection-agreement-price-assurance-and-farm-services-bill-2020 2. The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 https...2020-12-131h 33Amogh Astra PodcastEpisode 4 - The Neutrality ConundrumIn this episode of The Tattva Monologues, I talk about why neutrality is overrated in journalism. This is only discussed because it is often seen that many journalists from the Left leaning media outlets seem to sound the funeral march of neutral, unbiased journalism, primarily since 2014, since the BJP came to power.
I talk about why excuses for bias actually do not make any sense and why one must not neutrality should not be held as the highest virtue in journalism. What should be the guiding principle is objectivity, or seeing facts as facts...2020-12-0615 minAmogh Astra PodcastMy Chat with Dr. Shivam Pandya - The Drishtikon Dialogues Ep 2In this episode of The Drishtikon Dialogues, I talk to Surgical Oncology Resident Dr Shivam Pandya. We talk about his views on challenges doctors in India often face, pseudoscience and even medicine as a career.
Shivam maintains a blog, https://thedocdiary.art.blog/, where he has written about certain aspects of his life during his preparation for higher education. He also has written about some of his most memorable cases in the form of short stories which he will publish in the form of a book, called "Cuts and Bruises".
2020-11-291h 22Amogh Astra PodcastEpisode 3 - Evolution of Democracy, The Power of The PeopleEpisode 3 of the Tattva Monologues is about the concept of democracy, meaning a system of governance where people exercise their power in the process of making policy decisions. It is nothing short of a miracle that we have evolved such an idea to rule ourselves, after ages and ages of monarchy and dictatorships and oligarchies.
In a democratic setup, the individual is sovereign. In the modern versions of democracy, every person of age, irrespective of any other factor, get a vote. But it wasn't always this way. All sorts of people were not allowed...2020-11-2326 minAmogh Astra PodcastThe Sensational Case of Arnab Goswami and 3 Burning Questions about it | featuring advocate PrashantSo, I am planning to start this series of interviews, calling the series "The Drishtikon Dialogues".
In episode 1 of this series, I discuss with advocate Prashant, the details of the case, particularly 3 questions about it.
1. How valid is the abetment of suicide case against Arnab?
2. Was Arnab's arrest legal?
3. Can Arnab's case be compared to that of the 5 Urban Maoists who were arrested in connection with the Elgaar Parishad violence in Koregaon Bhima, in January 2018.
You can follow Prashant on Twitter, his...2020-11-1546 minAmogh Astra PodcastEpisode 2 - A History of Liberty of Speech and ExpressionIn episode 2 in this series, I discuss the origins and history of the principle of liberty of speech and expression in the common law tradition. There are many whom I call heroes of liberty, who have at different times in history, mounted staunch and fervent defenses of free speech.
Every freedom and right that we take for granted today, was hard earned and fought for, against Kings, against the Church, against the Parliament. And the struggle is still ongoing. We still face a threat to the ability to speak freely in society. It pays...2020-11-0836 minAmogh Astra PodcastEpisode 1 - Paris Beheading & A Discussion Around The Deeper ProblemIn this episode, I talk about the recent terror attack in Paris and the deeper problem I think it shows. Even in India, such attacks have happened in the past. I talk about why people get so offended by words and cartoons, why they respond violently and how, we, as a society, could lend a hand into solving it at personal and societal levels.
I appreciate your support. Do consider subscribing and sharing this video with your friends. You can also follow me on Twitter, my handle is @amogh_astra. You can also read my blog...2020-11-0816 minAmogh Astra PodcastEpisode 0 - About My PodcastWelcome to my podcast! Here, I plan to discuss issues that are at the centerstage from first principles. The aim is not to tell people what to believe about anything. It is merely an exercise in self-questioning and skepticism of the orthodox point of view. And the reason to do it publicly is so that people may listen to it and think about everything I say, and by doing so, be better equipped make sense of the world.
Initially, the plan is to explore some common philosophies and talking about them, their origins...2020-10-2513 min