The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma

By: Amit Varma
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  • Summary

  • The Seen and the Unseen, hosted by Amit Varma, features longform conversations that aim to give deep insights into the subjects being discussed. Timeless and bingeworthy.
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Political Science Politics & Government Social Sciences
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Episodes
  • Ep 415: Ramki and the Ocean of Stories

    Ep 415: Ramki and the Ocean of Stories
    Apr 14 2025
    He observed our society from up close as an advertising man -- and then became an iconic storyteller on Twitter. Ramakrishna Desiraju aka Ramki joins Amit Varma in episode 415 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about his journey, and all that it taught him. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Ramakrishna Desiraju aka Ramki on LinkedIn and Twitter. 2. Cartwheel Creative Consultancy. 3. Selected legendary threads by Ramki. 4. Ramki's commercial for Kotak Mahindra Bank featuring Ranveer Singh. 5. Celluloid Man -- Shivendra Singh Dungarpur. 6. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty -- James Thurber. 7. Mungerilal Ke Haseen Sapne -- Prakash Jha. 8. All We Imagine as Light -- Payal Kapadia. 9. Heere Ko Kya Pata -- SBI Life Insurance commercial by Prasoon Pandey. 10. The Prem Panicker Files — Episode 217 of The Seen and the Unseen. 11. Dead Poet's Society -- Peter Weir. 12. The Spectacular Life of Prahlad Kakar -- Episode 414 of The Seen and the Unseen. 13. Rumble Fish -- Francis Ford Coppola. 14. John Collison's tweet on the world being a museum of passion projects. 15. The Fisher King -- Terry Gilliam. 16. The Grand Central Station scene from The Fisher KIng. 17. The Wheel commercial with Govinda. 18. Alchemy: The Surprising Power of Ideas That Don't Make Sense -- Rory Sutherland. 19. Hausla Hai Toh Ho Jayega -- Kotak commercial. 20. Anora -- Sean Baker. 21. Dr Seuss, Roald Dahl and John le Carre on Amazon. 22. The Grapes of Wrath -- John Steinbeck. 23. Perfect Days -- Wim Wenders. 24. Dance Dance For the Halva Waala — Episode 294 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Jai Arjun Singh and Subrat Mohanty). 25. Chhannulal Mishra on Spotify and YouTube. Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here. Amit and Ajay also bring out a weekly YouTube show, Everything is Everything. Have you watched it yet? You must! And have you read Amit’s newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free! Also check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. Episode art: ‘Waves' by Simahina.
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    4 hrs and 49 mins
  • Ep 414 : The Spectacular Life of Prahlad Kakar

    Ep 414 : The Spectacular Life of Prahlad Kakar
    Mar 31 2025
    He learnt his craft from Shyam Benegal, became a pioneer & a legend of advertising filmmaking, learnt & taught scuba diving, started the Prithvi Cafe, and lived every moment to the full in a million different ways. Prahlad Kakar joins Amit Varma in episode 414 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about his long and wondrous life. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Prahlad Kakar on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, IMDb and his own website. 2. Adman Madman: Unapologetically Prahlad -- Prahlad Kakar. 3. Genesis Film Production. 4. Probal DasGupta Goes to the Himalayas With Books in His Bag -- Episode 412 of The Seen and the Unseen. 5. Watershed 1967: India’s Forgotten Victory Over China — Probal DasGupta. 6. Sahil Bloom's tweet on preparation vs planning. 7. Big City Blues -- Mervyn LeRoy. 8. Does India take its national symbols too seriously? — Jan 2008 episode of We the People. 9. Au Hasard Balthazar -- Robert Bresson. 10. The Bicycle Thief -- Vittorio De Sica. 11. Blade Runner -- Ridley Scott. 12. 2001: A Space Odyssey -- Stanley Kubrick 13. Straw Dogs -- Sam Peckinpah. 14. Prahlad Kakar's Bombay Dyeing commercial from 1983. 15. Ankur -- Shyam Benegal. 16. Bhumika -- Shyam Benegal. 17. Manthan -- Shyam Benegal. 18. Dekho Dekho, Duniya Dekho -- Prahlad Kakar's commercial for Air India. 19. Modesty Blaise, The Saint, Harry Potter and the work of Tom Clancy, Wilbur Smith and Louis L'Amour. This episode is sponsored by CTQ Compounds. Check out The Daily Reader and FutureStack. Use the code UNSEEN for Rs 2500 off. Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here. Amit and Ajay also bring out a weekly YouTube show, Everything is Everything. Have you watched it yet? You must! And have you read Amit’s newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free! Also check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. Episode art: ‘Shoot’ by Simahina.
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    3 hrs and 37 mins
  • Ep 413: Shaheen Mistri Goes to School

    Ep 413: Shaheen Mistri Goes to School
    Mar 17 2025
    One of India's tragedies lies in the schooling of our children. We have let our kids down. Can we fix this problem? Shaheen Mistri joins Amit Varma in episode 413 of The Seen and the Unseen to describe her journey -- and what she has learnt about education. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Shaheen Mistri on Instagram, LinkedIn, Wikipedia and Facebook. 2. Redrawing India: The Teach For India Story -- Kovid Gupta and Shaheen Mistri. 3. Teach For India. 4. Akanksha Foundation. 5. The City and the City -- China Miéville. 6. The Rooted Cosmopolitanism of Sugata Srinivasaraju — Episode 277 of The Seen and the Unseen. 7. Teach For America. 8. Indicorps. 9. Sahil Bloom's tweet on planning and preparation. 10. Lighthouse Studios. 11. Third Space. 12. The Conference of the Birds by Teach For India. 13. Slam Out Loud. 14. Kahani Tree. 15. What Feelings Do When No One’s Looking -- Tina Oziewicz and Aleksandra Zajac. 16. Charlotte's Web -- EB White. 17. Oh, The Places You'll Go! -- Dr Seuss. 18. Education in India — Episode 77 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Amit Chandra). 19. Fixing Indian Education — Episode 185 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Muralidharan). Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here. Amit and Ajay also bring out a weekly YouTube show, Everything is Everything. Have you watched it yet? You must! And have you read Amit’s newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free! Also check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. Episode art: ‘Learn’ by Simahina.
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    3 hrs and 13 mins
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Developmental Economics 101

Lant Pritchett is an economist’s economist. Comes across as more insightful about emerging markets, India and the Indian political economy than most Indian economists.

a must listen!

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