The Takshashila Podcast

Takshashila researchers Manoj Kewalramani, Anirudh Kanisetti and Shibani Mehta unpack our latest research: a report to India's Parliament about China's rise. This is part 1 of 2, exploring the sources of China's power and global influence and how they...

The Transgender Persons Bill that has been passed by Parliament has been widely decried by activists, but met with societal and political indifference. Dr Shambhavi Naik and Anirudh Kanisetti join Manoj Kewalramani to discuss some of the issues that...

Are new developments eroding the credibility of India’s no first use policy? Is North Korea going to spark a crisis in the new year? In this episode, Aditya Ramanathan and Pranav R.S. talk to Vipin Narang, Associate Professor at MIT about India's...

Annual stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana is a major cause of pollution in North India and a serious public health crisis. While the problem is well known, the solutions are not. In this episode, Anupam Manur and Pranay Kotasthane use an economic...

Do hi-tech industries create regionally unbalanced development? If so, is it a problem governments can address? In this episode, Pranay Kotasthane and Anupam Manur debate the challenges, pitfalls and paradoxes of industrial policies. You can listen to...

The post-Soviet military of Russia has evolved into a fighting force for the 21st century. How has Russia achieved this and how do the Russians spend their money on weapons? To discuss a new report talking about these issues, Aditya Ramanathan sits...

What do dolphins, artificial intelligence, and brain-machine interfaces have to tell us about the future of war? Manoj Kewalramani, Anirudh Kanisetti, and Aditya Ramanathan debate and criticise the ideas presented in the latest issue of MIT Technology...

How does China plan to use its expanding submarine fleet? And what does it mean for India? Aditya Ramanathan, Pranav RS and Suyash Desai dive into the murky world of military competition that lurks beneath the waves. Aditya Ramanathan -  Suyash...

The US-South Korea alliance is on shaky ground. China is looking to expand its nuclear arsenal. The parallels between Sri Lankan and Indian politics. And are tech companies ignoring women when designing products? Utkarsh Narain and Pranav RS join...

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s Ramnath Goenka Lecture last week was hailed by some as a landmark speech. But did it really lay out a new vision for Indian foreign policy? Sankalp Gurjar and Suyash Desai join Manoj Kewalramani to discuss....

Since the first mushroom cloud erupted over Hiroshima, there’s been a strong belief that nukes have fundamentally changed international politics. But is this true? In this special episode, political scientists Keir Lieber and Daryl Press talk to...

A New York Times report based on leaked internal Chinese documents sheds fresh light on the unprecedented crackdown on ethnic minorities in Xinjiang. Suyash Desai, Sankalp Gurjar and Manoj Kewalramani discuss the report and the global reaction to...

Why have Indian Twitter users started moving to Mastodon? What is the so-called Fediverse, and will it replace Twitter? Utkarsh Narain, Anirudh Kanisetti and Prateek Waghre break it down. Utkarsh Narain -  Anirudh Kanisetti -  Prateek Waghre...

An unwieldy coalition is set to rule Spain but will it last? What good are aircraft carriers in today’s world? How are online platforms like Netflix changing media competition? Sankalp Gurjar, Utkarsh Narain and Manoj Kewalramani talk about all this...

The IndiGen project will map genes across India's ethnic groups to discover clinically actionable genetic information. Shambhavi Naik, Pranay Kotasthane and Anirudh Kanisetti discuss the importance of this project, the opportunities it presents and...

New technologies are pushing the boundaries of how long humans beings can lead healthy lives. In this episode, Manoj Kewalramani, Shambhavi Naik, and Ganesh Chakravarthy debate the scientific and philosophical questions that stem from the human quest...

Was Jawaharlal Nehru a starry-eyed foreign policy optimist? Did he have a more realist strategy than we like to think? And how did his actions shape the future trajectory of Indian diplomacy? On the late PM’s 130th birth anniversary, Sankalp Gurjar...

How will climate change transform societies and economies? What solutions do we have ready right now? Australian climate change scholar Prof Tim Flannery joins Manoj Kewalramani and Sankalp Gurjar in today’s episode to explain. You can listen to...

Why are nuclear arms control agreement between the US and Russia falling apart or under pressure? What new dangers do they pose? And what can be done about them? In this episode, arms control expert Petr Topychkanov talks to Aditya Ramanathan and...

How is the post-election politics shaping up in Afghanistan? What is the prospect of peace after the Presidential elections in September? Pranay Kotasthane talks to Anand Arni and Sankalp Gurjar. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on...