Ep 247: The Business of Winning Elections

10/18/21 • 213 min

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The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma

Our political parties suck at governance but excel at narratives, as that's what wins them elections. Shivam Shankar Singh joins Amit Varma in episode 247 of The Seen and the Unseen to describe his experiences at the heart of different political machines. Also check out: 1. How to Win an Indian Election -- Shivam Shankar Singh. 2. The Art Of Conjuring Alternate Realities -- Shivam Shankar Singh and Anand Venkatanarayanan. 3. LAMP Fellowships. 4. The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha websites. 5. Why I Am Resigning From the BJP -- Shivam Shankar Singh. 6. Is Parliament’s questions system broken? — Here’s how to fix it! -- Shivam Shankar Singh. 7. Episode of The Seen and the Unseen on China, in reverse chronological order: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. 8. In Absentia: Where are India’s conservative intellectuals? -- Ramachandra Guha. 9. The Gita Press and Hindu Nationalism -- Episode 139 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Akshaya Mukul). 10. Political Ideology in India -- Episode 131 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rahul Verma). 11. Dreamers: How Indians are Changing the World -- Snigdha Poonam. 12. Young India -- Episode 83 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Snigdha Poonam). 13. Maharashtra Politics Unscrambled -- Episode 151 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Sujatha Anandan). 14. The Lost Decade — Puja Mehra. 15. India's Lost Decade -- Episode 116 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Puja Mehra). 16.

Previous Episode

Ep 246: The Life and Times of Ayaz Memon

Over the last few decades, India has changed, cricket has changed, our media has changed -- and one man has seen it all. Ayaz Memon joins Amit Varma in episode 246 of The Seen and the Unseen to reflect on some of what he has seen and learnt. Also check out: 1. Indian Innings: The Journey of Indian Cricket from 1947 -- Edited by Ayaz Memon. 2. Cricket-related episodes of The Seen and the Unseen with Harsha Bhogle, Sharda Ugra, Ramachandra Guha, Prem Panicker and Gideon Haigh+Prem Panicker. 3. The Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack. 4. The Wisden Book of Test Cricket (1877-1977) -- Compiled & edited by Bill Frindall. 5. The Test where India beat Australia at Brabourne Stadium, 1964. 6. Sachin Tendulkar's first Test, Sunil Gavaskar's last Test, Kapil Dev's 175 and the 1983 World Cup final. 7. Opportunity, Choice and the IPL (2008) -- Amit Varma. 8. What cricket can learn from poker -- Amit Varma. 9. The Tamasha All Purists Should Love -- Amit Varma. 10. Beyond a Boundary -- CLR James. 11. Neville Cardus and Jack Fingleton on Amazon. 12.

Next Episode

Ep 248: The Decline of the Congress

The Congress Party once dominated Indian politics. Today, it's on the outside looking in. Rahul Verma joins Amit Varma in episode 248 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss the complex social and political factors behind this massive decline. Also check out: 1. Political Ideology in India -- Episode 131 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rahul Verma). 2. Ideology and Identity: The Changing Party Systems of India -- Pradeep K Chhibber and Rahul Verma. 3. Taking Stock of Our Republic -- Episode 157 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ramachandra Guha). 4. The Gita Press and Hindu Nationalism -- Episode 139 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Akshaya Mukul). 5. Religion and Ideology in Indian Society — Episode 124 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Suyash Rai). 6. The BJP Before Modi -- Episode 202 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vinay Sitapati). 7. The BJP’s Magic Formula — Episode 45 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Prashant Jha). 8. The First Assault on Our Constitution — Episode 194 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Tripurdaman Singh). 9. Who Broke Our Republic? — Episode 163 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Kapil Komireddi). 10. The Life and Times of Vir Sanghvi -- Episode 236 of The Seen and the Unseen. 11. The Emergency of 1975 -- Episode 103 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Gyan Prakash). 12. India’s Lost Decade -- Episode 116 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Puja Mehra). 13. The Business of Winning Elections -- Episode 247 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shivam Shankar Singh). 14. The Importance of the 1991 Reforms -- Episode 237 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Shruti Rajagopalan and Ajay Shah). 15. The Baptist, the Bootlegger and the Dead Man Walking -- Amit Varma. 16. Caste in Indian Politics -- Rajni Kothari. 17. Politics In India -- Rajni Kothari. 18. Lessons from an Ankhon Dekhi Prime Minister -- Amit Varma. 19.