Indian politics has always been a beast I’ve been afraid of broaching both on the show and in my personal conversations. There are countless nuances that are often difficult for listeners outside the country—including myself—to understand. And the debate is so fluid and rampant that it’s easy for opinions to be misconstrued and cast-aside. A conversation about Indian Politics cannot simply be restricted to that, instead the far-reaching issues extend into culture, art, and many other aspects of daily life and require a somewhat holistic view. In the same way that the writer Gore Vidal believed that his criticism of the United States was sharper when he was observing from abroad, I think the best perspectives of the political scene in India contain simultaneous analysis from the ground and from afar. There is no better guest to have this conversation with than journalist Samanth Subramanian.
His work has appeared in several publications including The New Yorker, The Guardian, and New York Times Magazine. He is also Global News Editor at Quartz. Samanth wrote a piece in October in The New Yorker titled “When The Hindu Right Came for Bollywood.” This study of a cultural conflict in India highlights some key agitating issues entrenched in today’s political system. We use that piece as a starting point and move on to discuss some of the concerning trends emerging from the current regime. Samanth grew up in India and worked there for many years; but is now based in London. This gives his coverage the unique duality that I think enhances his discerning analysis of his home-country.
But Samanth’s beat doesn’t just cover politics. A quick look at his output leads to pieces about finance, cricket, travel, so on and so forth. The magazine pieces that he writes are deep dives into intriguing human stories in places we’d not think to look. So our conversation today reflects this, and as we move from India to several other stories, he paints a portrait of a rigorous journalism that is required to tell authentic stories in today’s world.
A few notes: There are two specific pieces that we mention that could benefit from some prefacing. one titled “How Hindu supremacists are tearing India apart” which was published in The Guardian, focuses on protests and riots that took place at universities in Delhi.
An another piece in New York Times Magazine titled “Two Wealthy Sri Lankan Brothers Became Suicide Bombers. But Why?” requires little inference, but essentially focuses on Samanth’s survey of a community from which two brothers became radicalized terrorists.
Websites
Articles Mentioned
"When the Hindu Right Came for Bollywood"
- "How Hindu supremacists are tearing India apart"
- "Two Wealthy Sri Lankan Brothers Became Suicide Bombers. But Why?"
- "Hand dryers v paper towels: the surprisingly dirty fight for the right to dry your hands"
Recommendations
The Novels of Yasunari Kawabata