Desi Academia Podcast

We continue this season with another friend-of-the-pod Professor Indranil Dutta, as we discuss Megh's dissertation defense and thesis writing experience, and the value of a supportive research experience. Recommendations:MeghThe Rosie ProjectIndranilTV show: OrbitalParts UnknownKitchen ConfidentialVatsalAnthony Bordain’s ‘No Reservation’

It's season 10 (Yes, we can't believe it either!) and the OG gang (Megh, Aditya, and Vatsal) gets together after a very long time to vent about all things academia. In this episode of Desi "postdoctoral" podcast, we catch up with Aditya and discuss how academia has been treating him over the past year or so. We talk about what's going on in our lives, things plaguing academia, and much more!Join us for this fun conversation!

Have you ever wondered what it's like to explain your research to an immigration and customs officer? Today, Manan and Sumaira join us to discuss their work on trans-continental poetry and periodicals respectively, what it means to study the history of Islamic communities and literary traditions in Western Academia, the different aims and focii of sociology, anthropology, literature, religious studies and Islamic studies, and what it means to impart all this knowledge and passion in college classrooms.RecommendationsSumairaIdea of the Muslim WorldOttoman History PodcastWhen only God can see: the Muslim Faith of Political Prisoners Walaa Quisay & Asim QureshiThe Writings of Sharjeel Imam, Gyanendra Pandey, Papihah GhoshAdul Manān Bhat Genealogies of Religion Talal AsadThe Venture of Islam, Marshall HodsonPolitics of Piety,Saba MahmoodWhat is Islam? Importance of being Islamic, Shahab AhmedThe work of IqbalMeghBecoming Young Men in a New India, Shannon PhilipAfter I Was Raped: The Untold Lives of Five Survivors Urmi BhattacheryyaVatsalOzarc, Netflix

Join us in this episode of DAP as we talk about the research of Professor Deepak Modi. Prof. Modi is an independent researcher at the ICMR National Institute for Research in Reproductive and Child Health. To conclude this pride month, he gives us a masterclass on the biology and genetics of human reproduction and fertility. We talk about his cutting edge research that involves 'organs on a chip' to evaluate safety of drugs during pregnancy, molecular pathways he discovered that play an important role in fertility, doing 'wet-lab' research in India and much more!RecommendationsDeepakUterex, Biological basis of sexualityEmperor of all maladies, Siddhart MukherjeeThe gene machine, Venky Ramakrishnan‘Science is about doing what everyone has done, but seeing what no one has seen’HarshaThe last lecture, Randy PostVatsalWar, Bob WoodwardMeghBehind the graduate mental health crisis in science https://www.nature.com/articles/s41587-024-02457-zwhat OnlyFans' billions reveal about the market value of male desire: https://maalvika.substack.com/p/what-onlyfans-billions-reveal-aboutTouch grass podcastBoring Bedtime stories

In this episode of DAP, Megh, Harsha and Vatsal are joined by Dr. Shannon Philip. Dr. Philip is an Assistant Professor in the Sociology of Gender and Sexuality at the University of Cambridge. His research focuses on the relationship between masculinities, femininities and sexualities in cities of the Global South.In this riveting conversation, Dr. Philip takes us through his academic journey and while doing so, gives us a masterclass on his intersectional research. We talk about masculinity in global south and how to study this subject, ethnography, patriarchy, feminism and much more...Listen in!Dr. Philip's book title: Becoming Young Men in a New India: Masculinities, Gender Relations and Violence in the Postcolony RecommendationsVatsalConclaveHarshaThick: And Other Essays by Tressie McMillan CottomSense of StyleShannonLiving a feminist life, Nivedita MenonBadhai DoThe great indian kitchenThappadMeghDelhi a Novel, kushwant SinghAge of Vice,How to talk to your cat about gun violenceNetflix relationship advice, Ananya Pandey

Its pride month 2025 and DAP is back with a new episode. In this episode we are joined by Dr. Ketaki Chaukhani. Dr. Chowkhani is an Assistant Professor at Manipal Centre for Humanities where she teaches India’s first ever course on Singles Studies. Join us in this riveting conversation where she explains what is single studies or "singleism" and her research that attempts to understand boyhood, sexuality and society. Recommendations Dr. Chaukhani's selected works: 1. https://www.theswaddle.com/marriage-is-letting-us-down-should-there-be-a-right-not-to-marry2. Her book: The Limits of Sexuality EducationLove, Sex, and Adolescent Masculinities in Urban IndiaDr. Ketaki Chaukhani:Bella de PauloVatsalFlop showMeghPushpa 2Rebecca Watson, violencehttps://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/11/25/should-a-country-speak-a-single-language

In this episode, we are joined by Amit Kaushik, A PhD candidate in the Integrative Conservation and Anthropology, University of Georgia. We talk about his pre-doctoral experiences with wetland conservation in Delhi, GIS work in Ladakh, and human-tiger interactions in Madhya Pradesh. Amit tells us how he found himself in an interdisciplinary program, living his dream to work with wolves with a funding partnership with National Geographic. We discuss his school and college transition from commence to anthropology and conservation, and how art, theatre, people, and administrators contribute to his research work .Recommendations:AmitRadhika Govindarajan, Animal Intimacies"Jatikaran: Caste, Rats, and the control of space at the Karni Mata Mandir" https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/25148486221094132Raghu Chandawat, The rise and fall of the emeraldsforest"Protecting India’s tigers and wolves through art, collaboration and conservation | Franklin College of Arts and Sciences" https://www.franklin.uga.edu/news/stories/2024/protecting-indias-tigers-and-wolves-through-art-collaboration-and-conservation

In this episode of DAP, Hassaan joins Megh and Vatsal. Hassaan is a Ph.D. student at the University at Albany, studying Theoretical Physics. Specifically, he is working on problems in String Theory and Quantum Field Theory. Hassaan also has an amazing YouTube channel called "Phymaths," where he makes videos about all things related to theoretical physics and mathematics. In this episode, Hassaan takes us through his academic journey, what it takes to study theoretical physics, and the fascinating fundamentals of physics that make up his thesis work. Hassaan's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3nAENP4F5GKrGk9BLNFLvwRecommendations: HassaanHalliday Resnick, CraneUniversity PhysicsBrief History of TimeDerak belt trickKKLTDine Seiberg problemStephen WinebergWhat we owe to the futureWhat is Real, Adam BeckerTheory and RealityTwilight of DemocracyA Scout MindsetPuzzles to Unravel the UniverseA very Short introduction series: game theory, religionPunjab ka BatwaraProofsMegh4 LionsRace, Science, and the Continuing Education of Razib Khan https://undark.org/2017/02/28/race-science-razib-khan-racism/Yo Yo Honey Singh, FamousVatsalVlog brothers news letters: We are HereThe Man Who Took LSD and Changed The World

In this episode of DAP, Megh, Vatsal, and a friend of the pod, Dr. Harish Prakash, are joined by Dr. Vivek Nityananda. Dr. Nityananda is an outstanding behavioral ecologist and a senior lecturer at Newcastle University. His multidisciplinary research aims to understand animal behavior by combining psychology, evolutionary biology, neuroscience, and ecology. Join us as Dr. Nityananda discusses his academic journey, motivations, and research on bees, praying mantis, crickets, and other insects. Moreover, he takes us through his fascinating current research that dissects the evolutionary persistence of “overconfidence,” which is also the subject of his new book titled “Beyond Doubt.”Recommendations: Vivek The Empire Podcast, William Darlymple and Anita Anand The Last of Us Harish Daryl Dickson Vatsal Aeons: Surviving Deep Time Vettaiyan Megh Sabrina Scent of a Woman

This episode, we are joined by Professor Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal (@ranjodhd), from the Digital Humanities Lab, University of Basel. We learn about his transition from engineering to literature, and how his foundation in STEM education contributes to his work in science and technology studies. We discuss his work on how science is shaped by narratives and capital, and how technical experts and scientists invent many means to express what they observe and find. Our conversation leads to a discussion of the technical aspects of science communication, building video games for research, and the impact of social media on how science is transmitted and popularised. Recommendations Ranjodh A Professor Doctor Von Legal Smith, Alexander McCall Smith Pentiment, video game Megh Fabulous Lives vs Bollywood Wives Vir Das, Wanted (live) Neural Networks, by Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal, Théo Lepage-Richer, and Lucy Suchman Vatsal “On contemporary Image Making” by Prof Dhaliwal "Incorporation of photosynthetically active algal chloroplasts in cultured mammalian cells towards photosynthesis in animals"

In this episode of DAP, we are joined by Professor Mamta Saxena , associate professor at the State University of New York (Oswego). We learn about the field of Human Development and Sibling Studies, and it's relationship with other fields in social sciences. Professor Saxena tells us about her PhD journey, and ongoing research projects. Recommendations Megh All that we imagine as light Vettayan Vatsal Severance

In this episode of DAP we sit down with our guest and a friend of the pod, Kaustub Naik. A scholar and historian, Kautubh's academic journey spans the intriguing transition from STEM to MPhil in Theatre and Performance Studies at the School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). He is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Pennsylvania. We discuss Kautubh's deeply personal motivations for studying the history of Portuguese colonialism in Southwestern India. As always, we also discuss his research methodology and the research "deliverables." Kaustubh also shares his first hand experience of JNU and how that defined his research trajectory. Join us as we discuss all this and more! Recommendations Megh Lingthusiasm E88: No such thing as the oldest language https://soundcloud.com/lingthusiasm Towards acoustic monitoring of bees: wingbeat sounds are related to species and individual traits https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.2023.0111 Why doing social science research is difficult in India today https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-01214-1 Producing and consuming desi gay porn in India https://www.queerbeat.org/stories/producing-and-consuming-desi-gay-porn-in-india Stardew Valley, october update Kaustub Fernando Pessoa, The Book of Disquiet trans. Richard Zenith Poetry of Namdeo, Arun Kuladkar Vilas Sarang Prachi Deshpande Creative Past Sara Maaza Thinking About History History and Historiography in Modern India Movie- Bakurao Movie In the House (French) Movie- A Touch of Sin Movie- Maamla Legal Hai Vatsal Evil Genius https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/11/astrazeneca-covid-vaccine-jab-coronavirus-saved-lives-humanitarian-crises

In this episode, we are joined by recent PhD graduate Dr. Ishaan Bhat (@Doctor_Woah) who shares his experience dissertating in European academia. Ishaan walks us through his specialisation in image recognition and ML/DL algorithms, his interdisciplinary collaboration with medical doctors, and his doctoral research on uncertainty estimation and improving reliability in predictions made by image recognition algorithms. We also chat about his dissertation defence experience. We cover the unique challenges and joys of applied research, the complications of working with protected data, and the importance of open science, reproducibility, and code+paper style publications. Recommendations Ishaan The Good Research Code Handbook: https://goodresearch.dev The Wager , by David Grann Megh Honey Singh's interview by Lallantop Movie: Sarfarosh The Vulgarity of Caste: Dalits, Sexuality, and Humanity in Modern India, by Shailaja Paik Vatsal A scientific fraud. An investigation. A lab in recovery: https://www.thetransmitter.org/science-and-society/a-scientific-fraud-an-investigation-a-lab-in-recovery/ Podcast: Gastropod

Aman tells us about how he combined his passion for sport with his lived experience in India, and professional experience as a sports journalist. We discuss how he moved from the fast-paced life of journalistic publication, to slow and measured academic knowledge creation. We also talk about the nuances of researching and teaching about sports journalism and disability, and how to cover a para sportsperson on their term. Aman also shares with us the amazing experience of his field work: covering and publishing on the Paris para-olympics. Aman Dan Goodly Shampa Sengupta Crib camp: A Disability Revolution Pitching Around Fidel: A Journey Into the Heart of Cuban Sports On National Sports Day today, Aman Misra recommends a few sports books that can inspire children Vatsal The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King  Megh Linguini: A benchmark for language-agnostic linguistic reasoning The promise of Ambedkar University Delhi is in tatters. Professors are quitting & Suing Movie: The Reluctant Fundamentalist TV Series Rings of Power Movie: The Sound of Metal

In this episode of DAP, Megh and Vatsal are joined by Dr. Harish Prakash. Dr. Prakash is an assistant professor at GITAM University, and his research interests include ecology and animal behavior. Join us in this fun conversation, where we take a deep dive into his academic journey and his motivations. We tackle questions like why the study of ecology is essential, his research involving studying bats in the wild ecosystems of India, and much more. Recommendations Harish Resident Alien Letter to an ecologist Hugh Wilson An environmental history of India, Micheal H fisher https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/an-environmental-history-of-india/20102711CAD02F7D3CC090D2E283E006 Malayalam movies- Avesham, Brahmoyugam, Manjumel Boys, Premalu Megh Dr. Fatima: the Sokal Affair: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESEFUaEA7kk Importance of stupidity in science: https://journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/121/11/1771/30038/The-importance-of-stupidity-in-scientific-research Book: Magnifera Indica:a biography of the mango Vatsal Tartrazine makes skin see through: https://www.sciencealert.com/incredible-experiment-reveals-a-way-to-make-skin-transparent

Join us in this episode of Desi Academia Podcast where we discuss the ins and out of an academic publication. Megh and Vatsal are joined by the friend of the pod Dr. Rituparna Patgiri where they talk about all the basics of an academic publication. We tackle questions like what is an academic publication, where do we publish, who is an author, what is peer review and more!RecommendationsMegh“What’s app got to do with it? Premium love in times of emotional capitalism” https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/medialse/2024/08/12/whats-app-got-to-do-with-it-premium-love-in-times-of-emotional-capitalism/Grey Zone: How to swear like a linguisthttps://www.jstor.org/stable/community.28035108?seq=165“Exploring dialogic interactions in grandparent-grandchild conversations over video chat in the United States” https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/ZSQM4M84CUIXZZ7IW4FN/full?target=10.1080/17482798.2024.2384977Movie: Close to YouRituparnaDoing Sociology- Rituparna’s article on publishing in sociologyResearch assistant wanted: The outsourcing of intellectual labour reveals academia’s colonial roots https://scroll.in/article/1061526/research-assistant-wanted-the-outsourcing-of-intellectual-labour-reveals-academias-colonial-rootsLSE How publishing has changed over timeNature- removing journal names from CVs https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-02596-yVatsalEric, NetflixCity of Djins

The gang returns to discuss what makes academics divorce their intellect and rationality from their political positions? Recommendations: Megh ChatGPT is bullshit https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10676-024-09775-5 Romance Scammers Find a New Way To Prey on Indian Women https://newlinesmag.com/reportage/romance-scammers-find-a-new-way-to-prey-on-indian-women/ LLMs Can't Plan, But Can Help Planning in LLM-Modulo Frameworks https://arxiv.org/abs/2402.01817 Do Scientists Make Good Presidents? https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/do-scientists-make-good-presidents In bed with the Right podcast https://gender.stanford.edu/inbed Vatsal China has become a scientific superpower https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2024/06/12/china-has-become-a-scientific-superpower#:~:text=Today%20China%20leads%20the%20world,general%20biology%20and%20medical%20science Aditya Godzilla vs Kong Friendship With Science - Episode 2 - Arvind Gupta, Shashi Thutupalli, Biswa Kalyan Rath https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZItgy0yKP0

In this episode Palomi, shares her journey in psychology. She discusses her experiences with fieldwork and in clinical settings in Karnataka, Andhra, Florida, and the East Coast. We talk about how researchers of the human mind manage human subject data, building a portfolio and online presence for pursuing research opportunities, and the impact of social media, science communication, and AI tools on the academic community.   Recommendations: Palomi Cindy B Veldhuis’s Profile (Northwestern, ISGMH Lab): https://www.feinberg.northwestern.edu/faculty-profiles/az/profile.html?xid=56819 Heartstopper, Netflix Book: Queer Studies, by Kaustav Bakshi, Rohit K. Dasgupta Nikita Ghodke: https://x.com/nikitaghodke04 Anushka Kumar: https://www.anushkakumar.com/ Palomi’s website: https://www.palomikurade.com/ Harsha Book: The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine by Alina Bronsky Vatsal F1: Drive to  Survive Megh The Boys on Amazon Prime Yoko and the Beetles, by Lindsey Ellis on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMOABV_zgrk Activity: dumb Arcade games

In this episode of DAP, we discuss the national entrance exam controversy, which impacts millions of students and academics in the country. Apart from NEET/NET exams, we discuss our first impressions of the controversy, what it means to the students, the general examination and coaching culture surrounding it, and the ramifications of this absolute blunder, amongst many other things. Recommendations Antara ⁠https://thewire.in/education/if-not-net-then-what⁠ ⁠https://thewire.in/education/cbse-examinations-education-india⁠ ⁠https://thewire.in/192566/absurdity-national-eligibility-test/⁠ Ankit ⁠https://theprint.in/opinion/i-attempted-ugc-net-thrice-now-i-understand-why-students-look-abroad-for-phd/2147662/⁠ ⁠https://www.newslaundry.com/2019/11/27/saurabh-kumar-sharma-appointed-as-faculty-in-jnu-amid-speculations-of-undemocratic-employment⁠ ⁠https://punemirror.com/pune/education/pune-students-in-rural-areas-see-red-over-ugc-decision-on-phd-admission/cid1711697821.htm⁠ Jasmine The Two Dogmas of Hindu Philosophy Megh The Boys Elsbeth Pew research, "Key findings about religion in India" ⁠https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/06/29/key-findings-about-religion-in-india/⁠ "NET is far from perfect but its cancellation matters more than you think" ⁠https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/voices/net-is-far-from-perfect-but-its-cancellation-matters-more-than-you-think/⁠ Vatsal "Saurabh Kumar Sharma appointed as faculty in JNU amid speculations of undemocratic employment⁠" ⁠https://www.newslaundry.com/2019/11/27/saurabh-kumar-sharma-appointed-as-faculty-in-jnu-amid-speculations-of-undemocratic-employment⁠ Maheshwar Peri's Youtube Channel https://youtu.be/ovt9C1NyaSs?si=IXJ3Z9VATg8ap9-P

We are joined by Ravi and Tara, two incredible alumni of a private university in India. They talk to us about their experience ideating, researching and writing their undergraduate theses, and how their pre-doctoral work in India sparked their ongoing research journeys in the fields of economics and culture studies. Recommendations Megh Inside Out-2 Baby Reindeer Bridgerton Season 3 Part 2 "Real Versus Imagined Gender Harassment" "Animal homosexual behaviour under-reported by scientists, survey shows" "Email responsiveness varies based on the pronouns in the requesters’ email signature: The role of they/them pronouns" Vatsal "Science must right a historical wrong", by Henrietta Lacks https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02494-z The Gas Man https://open.spotify.com/show/6edrtr63RobTNRuLvU2sfj Aditya Not all ‘open source’ AI models are actually open: here’s a ranking https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-02012-5 Franz Deval Different Tara  Siddhartha Mukherjee Emperor of All Maladies https://www.parnassusbooks.net/book/9781439170915 Ravi Ben Lambert https://www.youtube.com/@SpartacanUsuals