Indicast Podcast Network - Mother Feed

It's a tough gig... to work for one of the most acclaimed publications of the century during the day time, work everyday independently towards writing a book in a half lotus position, research like hell so as to get all the facts and the perspectives right, update a book blog almost daily, then come home late at night to crash on the bed! Andreas Kluth, the humble tech correspondent from The Economist joins us to talk about Hannibal, the Carthaginian general from about 200 BC who marched with an army of elephants over the Alps, defeated the Romans over and over again, but his life ended with an anti-climax; he lost everything and committed suicide! In his book, Andreas intends to draw parallels between Hannibal's life and that of our contemperories like Steve Jobs, Al Gore,and may be even Heath Ledger! No, you won't find it in the 'Self Help' aisle of your book store. In this podcast Andreas shares all his views on this very eventful journey of writing his first book which is slated to come out sometime in 2

When they asked Tom about his occupation, he balked. He wanted to keep that as a secret. But they persisted wanting to know about what Tom does for a living. He finally relented, "I work as a piano man in a brothel." He had lied. He was too ashamed to admit that he was an investment banker. This podcast is dedicated to all the innocent Toms from the unsinkable 'Titanic' like industry in the US called Investment banking where the lifeboats are afloat with people who's jobs and families are on the line. We would love to know your take on this unceremonius downfall of goliaths likeLehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, etc. How bad is it out there?

China can make cheap goods. We all know that. What we did not know was that China could host the biggest event on he face of the earth in the grandest form ever imagined. We are of course talking about the Olympics which brought us all good news. Heck India won the first individual Olymipic Gold medal in 108 years. Abhinav Bindra, Vijendar Kumar, Sushil Kumar and Akhil Kumar covered the front pages. This podcast is dedicated to all sport lovers. Er we also digressed just a wee bit to talk about Mobica Bedi, condoms and a couple of movies.

Any fool can make things bigger, more complex and more violent. It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction. Prof Kanu Doshi is back. This time he fires away on India's convoluted tax structure in a user friendly manner that makes a technical subject like taxation lnteresting and entertaining. All our finance ministers from Chanakya to Chidambaram have steered India through a very eventful journey in the field of taxation and Kanu bhai pulls out fascinating anecdotes from his hat to take us through this ride. Hope you enjoy it!

We are back after getting stuck in a rather unhealthy habit of not being on time. The last month was plump with a number of mergers and acquisitions on a national and an international scale. Spice married Idea in the telecom sector. On the global front, Anil bhais ADAG and MTN, the South African telecom giant are contemplating a merger of sorts, but Mukesh Ambani comes in his younger bro's way yet again. Ranbaxy, the Indian pharmaceutical major has been acquired by its Japanese Counterpart, Daiichi Sankyo in a landmark deal. This season, in India, as the rains pour, so do the mergers.

Though I have huge complaints in most departments, I cant deny that it's perfect packaging for kids in the 3-12 age group. With hardly any sad moments, the characters are mostly colorful and chirpy. But, given my reservations, should I actually encourage my kids to watch this when not too long ago Taare Zameen Par was around? Oh, why not? There's enough room for everybody.

While India battles double digit inflation, our politicians find a unique way to protest against the increasing fuel prices, but the plan hilariously backfires! While in one story, a small time waiter works his ass off to clear the UPSE exams, another intelligent kid tops the IIT entrance test only to flee his hometown due to the paparazzi pressure. Shiv sena now wants to enter the hearts of the ordinary Mumbaikar by selling vada pavs. Aditya is not too happy with the air hostesses from Delta Airlines and for good reason!

The epidemic is back. It is called inflation. USA, India, China, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Haiti, Egypt are searching for the medicine to cure themselves. The medicine itself is not only bitter, but sometimes fatal! Among the developing economies, India leads the pack. In this podcast, we talk about how relavent is this whole issue to the common man or the housewife who buys vegetables on the street in a city in India. We recorded this episode when the inflation was around 7 per cent. Two weeks later, now, as I type, it has notched up to 9 per cent. We would love to know your take on this issue that has perplexed economists from around the world.

Big B has a new meaning now. Amitabh has a blog now and he receiving a response similar to Aamir Khan's Blog . Moving on, Who say's money cant buy happiness? With the growing affluence, atleast in the urban areas, a lot of single women have cut the middle man. The sex toy business in brazil is taking off and the same business in India is seeing a surge too. Although, the goods are legally not allowed to be sold but are easily accessible in grey market. Also, while "researching" Abhishek found the greatest iPod accessory ever and he tells us a bit about it.

It is said that having a good conversation is one of the great joys of being human. When Zanny Minton Beddoes, the Economics Editor of The Economist ruthlessly dismembers jargons like foreclosures, sub prime crisis, inter bank rates, etc, all I can say is that I enjoyed every bit of it. Economics is a fascinating field and Zanny makes it palatable for all of us who do not have a background in the subject. In the first few minutes, she lays a solid foundation giving us the whole build up to the current situation in the US followed by where she thinks it will all culminate into. All this and much more in these 30 minutes that Zanny squeezed in from her busy day which she attributes to America facing pretty interesting times. Presenting to you, economics for the common man.

We cover the awesome stories submitted by our beloved listener, Anuj and encourage you to send us stories too using this page (needs you to be logged in). The episode starts with Gujrat being a dry state and then we spent sometime talking about the great indian pot belly followed by how Shivpuri district is giving out gun licenses for people who agree to get a vasectomy done. Believe it or not but its true. Abhishek and I talk about our mixed feeling for the IPL. I believe it's all money and he says he saw a speck of passion for the home team when he attended Mumbai Indians first match at Wankhede. We are also pleased to announce that Economist has setup an Intelligence office in New Delhi, India.

Our first guest, Andreas Kluth from The Economist is back. The man closest to all the action at the Silicon Valley switches gears to talk about the social and charming side of technology rather than the geeky one. His Special Report on Mobility published in the April 12 issue of The Economist is circled around how the internet mobile telephony has changed the way we interact with our friends, loved ones, colleagues and strangers and has an Indian connection too. The podcast was recorded at midnight India time and hence please bear with some unintended background score of a few agitated dogs barking away outside my house once in a while.

Tom Standage, the Business Editor of The Economist is back... Here is a little behind the scene story. I ask him in my email whether he would want to talk about anything beyond our main topic of discussion of the eventful 2007 that Google, Apple and Facebook have had. His two word reply to my mail reads, Potatoes perhaps... In this podcast, Tom fires away on the technological implications of the potato and how it led to the industrial revolution. As a keen baker and roaster of potatoes, Toms genuine fascination of the vegetable is evident and what more he is also writing a book on the technological implication of food as well. Edward De Bonos concept of Lateral Thinking gets a new meaning here. I will not reveal anything more. Get yourself a drink of your choice (and a potato perhaps) and enjoy the chat.

Episode number 69 is here with lot of stories from India as well as a few weird stories from the UK. The sixth pay commission report dominates the episode after the stories about the rising divorce rates and then make a segway into US wanting hindi teacher. The railway cops have got a new revenue stream and are coning people into getting them to pay for having porn on their cell phone which is not illegal.

The first TKM with as many as four participants discussing the latest arguements and happenings taking place on the internet. The participants leanding their voice in this episode include Gaurav Mishra , Aditya Mishra , and Veer Chand Bothra. I had more than 5 topics for this episodes but we managed to cover only 2 which is an indicastion how much these people have to contribute.

Richard Branson does a James Bond like stunt again. To announce his tie up with Tata Teleservices, he jumped from some high rise building to get to the front pages of all leading publications here in India. He made a bigger splash when he experimented flying one of his planes on Alternative fuel. VISA has announced its intensions for the world's biggest IPO and in another news, the Indian Banking industry boasted of the biggest deal ever.

Every year, on the last day of February, all the guns are out aiming at two men, the Railway Minister and the Finance Minister of India. This year was no different. We attempt to give you a run down of the Railway Budget presented by the flamboyant Lalu Prasad Yadav and the Union Budget announced by the calm and composed Chidambaram, the CFO of India. Everything from the huge Rs. 60,000 crore agricultural debt waiver to increasing the income tax slabs unabashedly knocked the voter's doors to draw their attention. We have our share of light moments where Ritika does a Lalu impersonation. No kidding!

Adam Roberts, the News Editor of economist.com is fresh from having penned a brilliant Special Report (published at least once a month) on 'Migration' and its impact on the lives of billions from across the planet. His report estimates that there are around 200 million migrants across the world which make up 3 per cent of the population. This number will only grow and so will the xenophobia surrounding it. Adam opens up 4 minutes into his candid talk and we end up talking about the lighter side of Migration as well - It's called Chicken Tikka Masala! Listen to know what we mean!

Its dark and it's abstract and it'll make you think. What is it that will liberate you from the trappings of life? An outstanding performance by Rajat Kapoor and some thoughtful yet simple background music keep you company in this extremely slow-paced film.

The episode starts with us being proud of a countryman who gave his life just a day after getting sena medal and then how Mumbai was ashmed over the actions of a Mumbai based political party lead by Raj Thackeray. Cabbies, bhelpuriwallas were brutally beaten up by MNS party worker for being norh Indian! Then to make matters worse for the reputation of gurgaon, a 100 cr Kidney scam has been unearthed. We thought these heavy topics were enough for this episodes and moved on to some lighter topics