Shows
Jack Of All KnowledgeEp 18: Ajay Shah on state capacity, governance and institutionsAjay Shah and I speak about a range of issues - how to better our state capacity, what battles are worth for the state to take up, how to improve our governance models, how to align incentives in the governance institutions, what is the role of the modern state, how to bring out better outcomes for the society, what are in fact better outcomes and much more.
Ajay's work can be found at: https://www.mayin.org/ajayshah/ 2023-07-232h 10Jack Of All KnowledgeE 17: Asking the right questions with Ashish Kulkarni & Navin KabraIn this episode, I'm speaking with two of my favorite writers about a host of issues. From choosing which college to go to, to understanding what good parenting is, we talk about everything that makes the human brain go tick. We speak extensively about being curious, keeping your learning self alive, how to learn better, how to accumulate knowledge etc. It is a thoroughly enjoyable conversation, and I hope you enjoy listening to this as well!
This podcast was recorded with the help of Emergent Ventures grant from Mercatus Center, George Mason University. 2023-07-181h 38Jack Of All KnowledgeEp 16: Amit Varma on being the oral historian of our timesI'm talking to Amit Varma, host of the immensely popular podcast seen and the unseen; on a range of issues. We talk about his creative process, the making of seen and the unseen as an oral history project, politics, conversation & disagreements, policy etc. 2022-08-152h 33
Jack Of All KnowledgeEp 15: Shruti Rajagopalan on law, state power & economicsIn the 15th episode of Jack of all knowledge, I'm talking to Shruti Rajagopalan - senior research fellow at Mercatus center, George Mason University and fellow at classical liberal institute NYU law. She is also the lead of Indian vertical of Emergent ventures (a grant making initiative) at GMU. She writes prolifically and also hosts the popular podcast Ideas of India. She's by far, one of the most brilliant people I know - with deep expertise in areas of law and economics. She did her undergraduate degree in economics from Hansraj college, DU and then went to do her...2022-05-012h 37Jack Of All KnowledgeEp 14: Alok Prasanna on building Vidhi, state of governance, law & legal educationIn the 14th episode of Jack of all knowledge, I'm talking to Alok Prasanna Kumar, co founder of Vidhi center for legal policy. Vidhi works on various law and justice issues and is committed to drafting good laws, strengthening public institutions, and realising fundamental rights. Alok did his undergraduate from NALSAR and then went to do his BCL from Oxford. After a brief career in litigation, he was part of the founding team of Vidhi - a think tank that has come a long way since the winter of 2013 when it was started.
In t...2022-02-142h 26Jack Of All KnowledgeEp 13: Abhinav Sekhri on section 66A & 69A IT Act, Shreya Singhal v UOI & Legal zombiesIn the 13th episode of the Jack of all knowledge I'm talking to Abhinav Sekhri. Abhinav is a practicing lawyer based in Delhi. He graduated from NLS Bangalore in 2014 and since then has been litigating. He is especially interested in criminal law, evidence and procedure and also edits and writes about the same on his blog Proof of Guilt. He attended HLS for his masters on an Inlaks Shivdasini scholarship.
We extensively talk about section 66A,of the IT act the history behind how section 66A was struck down in the now famous judgement of Shreya Singhal v...2021-08-221h 19Jack Of All KnowledgeEp 12: Sukhnidh Kaur on digital rights, cultivating movements and platform regulationIn this episode, I'm talking with Sukhnidh Kaur about a range of tech policy issues - from data governance, platform regulation, free speech and private power, and most importantly - about her work as the Digital Literacy fellow at the Internet Freedom Foundation. If you're buzzing in and around the Indian tech policy scene, chances are that you've seen Sukhnidh's brilliant explainer videos about complex legal and technological issues which she did on behalf of IFF. We talk about how she broke down these complex issues into accessible chunks of media, how memes can help generate awareness, and why...2021-08-151h 40Jack Of All KnowledgeEp 11: Ashish Kulkarni on education, educating, learning and maximising soulIn the 11th episode, I’m talking to Ashish Kulkarni – someone who genuinely embodies the title of this show ‘Jack of all knowledge’. Ashish is an assistant professor at the Gokhle Institute of Politics and economics, Pune. He also writes at his blog econ4everybody about economics, ideas, perspectives and everything under the sun. He also hosts a podcast called back to college in which he talks to college graduates about what they would do differently if they were again in college.
Ashish had been a dream guest for the show for a long time and it was very...2021-07-132h 07Jack Of All KnowledgeEp 10: Nirmal Bhansali on hosting podcasts, being curious & learningIn this episode of Jack of all knowledge, I'm joined by my dear friend and senior Nirmal Bhansali. Nirmal is a 5th year law student at NLUJ, and will be graduating from college this summer. I talk to him about a range of issues, from his experience of hosting two different podcasts, to curiosity and how learning happens inside and outside college. We go off on a bunch of different interesting tangents which makes the conversation richer. Nirmal is on twitter as @NirmalSBhansali.
1. Curiousect: https://open.spotify.com/show/3xy0CTHMOHTvuYy2sKNvGA?si=tB-K8hPCQNKPVzC5gpknSg&utm_source=copy-link
2. Legal...2021-05-271h 28
CuriousectTime Capsule | Ft. ExamsOver the years, I've come to associate a lot of memories with examinations. The period of 2 weeks entailed a lot of moments, where despite all the chaos, stress and worry around me, I would inevitably find joy by spending time with my friends.
As I finish giving my last set of exams as a student, I made this episode which contains different memories, rituals and all the things we miss about giving exams together.
I requested people to send in messages and voice notes sharing their favourite moments and memories around giving exams. What you'll li...2021-05-2410 minJack Of All KnowledgeEp 09: Apar Gupta on building IFF and a democratic vision for a digital societyIn this episode, I'm joined by Apar Gupta, executive director and founder of Internet Freedom Foundation. IFF works on a range of issues including net neutrality, free expression, privacy and innovation through advocacy and strategic litigation. We talk about how IFF was born out of save our internet movement and how it works to advance democratic visions in a digital society. We also talk about how technology impacts our liberty and freedom, and how Apar's passion to work for public interest led him to leave his quite successful practice to establish IFF. Apar is on twitter as @apar19842021-04-1141 minJack Of All KnowledgeEp 08: Learning & Life in LawIn this episode I'm joined by Sagnik Das, Asst Professor at Jindal Global Law School to talk about his wide range of experiences from learning the law, to practising it, and now to teaching it, and the wisdom he's gathered along the way. We talk about his time as an undergraduate student at NLUJ and later as a master's candidate at the prestigious Harvard Law School. We also talk about his interest in International Law and his experience as a judicial clerk in the Delhi HC.2021-02-2549 minJack Of All KnowledgeEp 07: SciHub, The Indian copyright regime & access to knowledgeIn this episode of Jack of all knowledge, I'm talking to Nikhil Purohit, a final year student at NLS about the cat and mouse chase between scientific publishing industries and open access websites like SciHub, and LibGen. These websites have been sued for copyright infringement by major publishing companies in the Delhi HC recently. We talk about how the scientific publishing industry works, why people find their business model questionable, and most importantly - what is the legitimate case for SciHub and Libgen. Nikhil is a fellow at SpicyIP and this episode is based around the three part series of...2021-02-171h 31Jack Of All KnowledgeEp 06: Financial regulation, Privacy & The India stack modelIn the sixth epsiode of Jack of all knowledge, I'm taking to Shohini Sengupta, Asst. Professor of Research at the Jindal School of Banking and Finance. We talk extensively about Fin-tech companies and how technology has changed the face of financial regulation and regulators, broader financial laws in India & their intersection with privacy, and the architect of India stack. Shohini has done her BA. LLB. from NLIU Bhopal and went on to do her MSc. In Law & Finance from university of Oxford. She's previously worked at the Vidhi Center for legal policy, ESYA Center and also as a government energy...2021-02-091h 06Jack Of All KnowledgeEp 05: Art, Resistance and Criminal lawIn the 5th episode of Jack of all knowledge, I talk to Hamsini Marada, lecturer at Jindal Global Law School, around a range of issues regarding how art and law interact with each other. We talk about how art is used as means of resistance, about how protest art works, what happens when provocative art attracts obscenity laws & the paradigm of free speech in India with respect to freedom to indulge in art. We also talk about her experience as a judicial clerk at the Delhi HC, how teaching has changed due to the pandemic, and the recent criminal law...2021-02-021h 34Jack Of All KnowledgeEp 04: Drone ecosystem in India - Regulation, Surveillance and Tech SolutionismIn the 4th episode of Jack of All Knowledge, I talk to Medianamas's correspondent on drones, surveillance and privacy - Soumyarendra Barik on the evolving drone ecosystem in India - it's challenges and promises. MediaNama is the premier source of information and analysis on Technology Policy in India. We talk about a range of issues from facial recognition technology, to privacy and the state's apparent obsession with using technology to 'solve' all issues. Here's Soumya's fantastic reporting on the drone ecosystem and associated privacy concerns:
1. https://www.medianama.com/2020/07/223-drone-guide-india/
2. https://www.medianama.com/2020/11/223-tn-police-catch-criminal-using-facial-recognition-issues/
3. https://www.medianama.com/2020/09/223-indian-automated-facial-recognition-system-face-mask-detection/
4...2021-01-221h 20Jack Of All KnowledgeEp 03: Facial Recognition Technology in India - Uses and the threat to Privacy.In the third episode of Jack of all knowledge, I talk to Anushka Jain of the Internet Freedom Foundation to understand the usage of Facial Recognition Technology in India and the various problems associated with it. We also talk about how FRT is a tool in creating a culture of mass surveillance which has harmful consequences such as the chilling effect on protests, dissent and the free speech of people. Link to the Notion document with all the research Resources: https://www.notion.so/Facial-recognition-Technology-in-India-and-the-threat-to-Privacy-Ep-3-Jack-of-all-knowledge-4736ba3285284ea5bb622600d87cffda2020-09-2645 minJack Of All KnowledgeEp 02: The Science behind Indian-nessIn the second episode of Jack of all knowledge, I use tools of behavioral economics and Game theory to try to understand why we Indians, behave a certain way. I also talk about the role that heuristics & cognitive biases play in determining what type of decisions we take and what the central clash between classical and behavioural economics is. This episode is based on the book 'Games Indians Play' by V Raghunathan. Link to the broadcast: https://chat.whatsapp.com/IInZ5GIhjNRLWcKXubqBOy2020-09-1232 minJack Of All KnowledgeTrailer | The Science behind Indian-ness'You may take the Indian out of India, but you cannot take India out of the Indian'. Have you ever wondered, why? Why we, Indians behave the way we do? In the second episode of Jack of all knowledge, I dive into the world of game theory and behavioural economics to try to understand what drives our behavioural patterns and makes us behave and react a certain way. What makes us, Indians, who we are!2020-09-0802 minJack Of All KnowledgeEp 01: The Education Problem and The Multidisciplinary SolutionWith the NEP, Education and Educational policy is the talk of the town. Sankalp Vohra joins me in episode 1 of Life and Stuff to discuss the normative educational ecosystem in India and the promise of multidisciplinary studies, both as a novel concept and it's practical application in programs like the Young India Fellowship. Also check out my blog 'Life and Everything in between' at https://lifeandstuff194723870.wordpress.com/ AND Sankalp's Paper 'Why art can be a meme but Internet memes are not Art' at http://rb.gy/e1jfji2020-08-061h 48