NL Hafta

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Anand Vardhan, and Raman Kirpal are joined by Kanak Mani Dixit, founder-editor of Himal South Asian, and writer and podcaster Anurag Minus Verma. Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. Download the Newslaundry app.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, and Shardool Katyayan are joined by Akshay Bhambri, doctoral fellow at the Institute for Chinese Studies, Harvard Yenching Institute, and Sumeet Mhaskar, professor at OP Jindal Global University. Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. Download the Newslaundry app.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, Jayashree Arunachalam, and Anand Vardhan are joined by economist and author Vivek Kaul and sports journalist Sharda Ugra. Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. Download the Newslaundry app.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Raman Kirpal, and Shardool Katyayan are joined by Faizan Mustafa, legal scholar and VC of Chanakya National Law University, Patna, and Anuradha M Chenoy, former dean of JNU’s School of International Affairs. Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. Download the Newslaundry app.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, and Jayashree Arunachalam are joined by Priya Sahgal, editorial director at NewsX, Jasmine Damkewala, advocate on record in the Supreme Court, and senior journalist Hridayesh Joshi.The episode opens with a discussion on the opposition’s protest against the special intensive revision (SIR) exercise in Bihar. Priya states that when the opposition sets aside its differences, it can make an impact. “The fact that everybody came together, even the AAP, even though they're not part of the India Block itself, also showed there is unity. When the opposition comes in full strength, they can make an impact and a difference,” she says. Referring to Rahul Gandhi’s press conference on alleged voter fraud, Manisha notes how it is unusual for a political party to assume the role traditionally played by the media. “However journalistically sound it may be or not be, it’s still striking that political parties today also have to do the media’s job of starting a narrative through such investigations, because very few organisations have actually invested time in looking into this issue and the related complaints.”The conversation then shifts to the Supreme Court’s order to remove stray dogs from Delhi’s streets. Jasmine Damkewala notes that the dog population surged during the pandemic, when government-led sterilisation drives came to a halt. “Especially during COVID, no sterilisations were happening, or very little… The thing is, the state government is not really doing sterilisations. They do very little, and for that, too, they send the dogs to NGOs and pay them for it.” Manisha adds that the court’s solution seems unworkable as there aren’t enough shelters to house the dogs. “This is Delhi – we haven’t even figured out shelters for humans during extreme heat waves or extreme cold waves,” she says.Abhinandan agrees and says, “For the Supreme Court to pass an order that is unimplementable is ridiculous. We have to acknowledge there’s a problem, but this is certainly not the solution.”For the discussion on the Uttarakhand disaster, Hridayesh joins from ground zero. He recounts his journey to the site of the tragedy, despite being denied permission by the local authorities. He also discussed the current situation at Dharali, the village most affected by the flood. Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. Download the Newslaundry app. Timecodes00:00:00 – Introductions and announcements00:05:46 – Headlines 00:16:47 - Opposition’s protest & INDIA bloc unity00:44:31- Priya’s recommendations00:47:53 - SC’s decision on stray dogs 01:11:04 - Updates on Uttarkashi disaster01:24:27- Letters01:33:40- RecommendationsCheck out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and letters.Produced and recorded by Amit Pandey and Naresh.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Manisha Pande, Jayashree Arunachalam, and Shardool Katyayan are joined by Nitin Pai, co-founder and director of The Takshashila Institution, and senior journalist Hridayesh Joshi from Uttarkashi. Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. Download the Newslaundry app.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande and Raman Kirpal are joined by Udit Misra from The Indian Express and independent journalist Sanjeev Srivastava. Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. Download the Newslaundry app.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Anand Vardhan, Raman Kirpal, and Jayashree Arunachalam are joined by MK Venu, Founding Editor of The Wire, and award-winning investigative journalist and author Josy Joseph.Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. Download the Newslaundry app.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Raman Kirpal, and Shardool Katyayan are joined by University of Michigan’s Associate Professor Joyojeet Pal and senior journalist Radhika Ramaseshan. Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. Download the Newslaundry app.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Jayashree Arunachalam, Anand Vardhan, and Shardool Katyayan are joined by election analyst and researcher Amitabh Tiwari, along with historian and Newslaundry subscriber Swati Chawla.Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. Download the Newslaundry app.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Manisha Pande, Jayashree Arunachalam and Raman Kirpal  are joined by writer and economist Vivek Kaul and environmental journalist Hridayesh Joshi. Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. Download the Newslaundry app.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Jayashree Arunachalam, Raman Kirpal and Anand Vardhan are joined by senior journalist Neerja Chowdhury, The News Minute’s editor-in-chief Dhanya Rajendran, and Newslaundry reporter Sumedha Mittal. Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. Download the Newslaundry app. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, and Shardool Katyayan are joined by The Hindu’s diplomatic affairs editor Suhasini Haider, The News Minute’s Pooja Prasanna, and filmmaker Hansal Mehta.Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. Download the Newslaundry app. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, Manisha Pande, and Jayashree Arunachalam are joined by former Executive Director, Air India, Jitendra Bhargava, and Executive Editor of The Frontier Manipur, Paojel Choaba. Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. Download the Newslaundry app. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Jayashree Arunachalam, Shardool Katyayan and Raman Kirpal are joined by Aditya Ramanathan, geopolitical expert research analyst at The Takshashila Institution.Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. Download the Newslaundry app. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Jayashree Arunachalam, and Raman Kirpal are joined by Washington Post’s Jerusalem Bureau Chief Gerry Shih and journalist and author Jyotsna Mohan.The conversation spans global and domestic developments, with a focus on the Israel-Gaza conflict and the legacy of Indian journalism.Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. Download the Newslaundry app. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Jayashree Arunachalam, Raman Kirpal and Shardool Katyayan are joined by senior journalist and CGNet Swara’s co-founder Shubhranshu Choudhary.We start with a discussion on the killing of 27 suspected Maoists in Chhattisgarh this week and analyse if the Maoist movement in the state has declined. Shubhranshu says, “We don’t agree with the strategy, but it is hugely successful… This war has been won by the Bastariyas (residents of Bastar) themselves who gave information.”However, he warns that unresolved issues like mining and lack of development could reignite tensions, asking, “What will be our development policy? That will determine whether Maoism will be dead.”Jayashree raises concerns about the accuracy of government claims, questioning, “Should we be more suspicious when the government says it’s killed dozens of Maoists?” She highlights the lack of judicial scrutiny in encounters, citing, “I think of thousands of encounters that have happened in Bastar in the last 25 years. There’ve only been two judicial inquiries.”Abhinandan adds, “There’s an overlap of mining interests in media interests – even in ownership,” and Manisha stresses on political representation for a better future for Bastar’s residents. “If militants in the Northeast can join the BJP, why not here? Political representation matters. It gives people real options.”This and a lot more. Tune in!We have a page for subscribers to send letters to our shows. If you want to write to Hafta, click here. Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. Download the Newslaundry app. Song: Blowing in the windTimecodes00:00:00 – Introductions 00:06:51 – Headlines 00:16:59 - Operation Black Forest01:13:52 – Letters01:36:04 – RecommendationsCheck out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and letters Produced by Priyali Dhingra.Recorded by Hassan Bilal and Anil Kumar. Production assistance by Ankit Raj. This episode is outside of the paywall for now. Before it goes behind the paywall, why not subscribe? Get brand-new episodes of all our podcasts every week, while also doing your bit to support independent media. Click here to subscribe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special episode of NL Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Raman Kirpal, Anand Vardhan and Jayashree Arunachalam catch up on all the letters – over 45 of them – that we’ve received from subscribers.Hafta letters: India-Pakistan, podcast ideas, team feedback, thoughts on patriotismWe have a page for subscribers to send letters to our shows. If you want to write to Hafta, click here. Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. Download the Newslaundry app. Timecodes00:00:00 - Introductions00:02:30 - Subscriber letters01:41:30 - RecommendationsRecommendationsAbhinandanCapitalism and Its Critics: A History: From the Industrial Revolution to AIIs Trump Losing? A Debate | The Ezra Klein ShowRamanThe Way I See ItAmerican Manhunt: Osama bin LadenManishaDying For SexAnand Nehru's First Recruits by Kallol Bhattacharjee Jayashree Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green ZoneProduced by Ashish Anand and Hassan Bilal; recorded by Anil Kumar. ​​This episode is outside of the paywall for now. Before it goes behind the paywall, why not subscribe? Get brand-new episodes of all our podcasts every week, while also doing your bit to support independent media. Click here to subscribe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, and Anand Vardhan are joined by The Hindu’s Dinakar Peri, who covers defense and strategic affairs.The episode opens with a discussion on the India-Pakistan military escalation, focusing on both the media narrative and strategic implications of the recent strikes.Critiquing Indian news media’s coverage of the conflict, Manisha says, “In the middle of operations… the Army… was putting out fact checks, contrary to what these channels were doing.” She underscores how the media acted counter to national interest. “PSYOPs are directed at enemies. They're not directed at your own people drowning them down in misinformation.”Responding to a few journalists' arguments that the ‘misinformation’ was part of India’s warfare, Abhinandan adds, “It suddenly appears that it is somehow a journalist's job… to become cheerleaders for the military.”Dinakar, speaking as a defense journalist, emphasises how this hinders real reporting, “Nowadays, the bigger part of journalists is to actually defer the real news from the fake news… You spend a lot of time trying to find what is correct… because social media goes to a different level.”Anand adds, “Even if you are pedaling falsehoods, you have to look serious… If you are doing it in a melodramatic tone… no one is going to take you seriously.”The panel agrees that much of the media coverage undermined India's credibility. As Abhinandan puts it, “If you cannot trust them at war time, why should you trust them in peace time?”The conversation then shifts to military strategy and diplomacy. Dinakar says, “From a military sense, it kind of sets up a threshold… a differential between the two countries in terms of military symmetry.” Anand sees strategic gains for India, “One obvious gain… it has called out Pakistan’s nuclear bluff… and it’s a good advertisement for India’s weapons set.”This and a lot more. Tune in!We have a page for subscribers to send letters to our shows. If you want to write to Hafta, click here. Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. Download the Newslaundry app. Timecodes00:00:00 – Introductions 00:05:26 – Headlines 00:12:26 - Journalism and conflict00:33:28 – Breaking down the 5 days of conflict01:11:56 - Special AD break01:14:06 – Letters01:25:42– RecommendationsCheck out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and letters Produced and recorded by Priyali Dhingra and Ashish Anand. This episode is outside of the paywall for now. Before it goes behind the paywall, why not subscribe? Get brand-new episodes of all our podcasts every week, while also doing your bit to support independent media. Click here to subscribe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, Manisha Pande, Jayashree Arunachalam and Shardool Katyayan are joined by retired Brigadier Kuldip Singh.In this tense news week, we begin by dissecting India’s Operation Sindoor and strikes on terror camps in Pakistan on May 7. “Neither side, particularly India, wants a full-scale war,” says Brigadier Singh, referring to past confrontations like the Uri and Balakot strikes. He adds, “This time, the strike is far greater in intensity and in the number of targets.”  Jayashree, acknowledging public sentiment but questioning the nature of response, says, “What we’re seeing right now feels more like muscle-flexing.”Shardool highlights how the United States and Western nations are responding differently to the current crisis compared to earlier years. “The U.S. is far less interested now…One reason is that they don’t need Pakistan the way they did before.”Manisha points out that Operation Sindoor marks a shift in the Indian government's stance. She says what it signals is that the government “now has a clear intention: to state unambiguously that Pakistan is the enemy”.This and a lot more. Tune in!Timecodes00:00:00 – Introductions 00:05:03 – Headlines 00:13:25 - Operation Sindoor and escalating tensions between India and Pakistan00:48:22 – Brig. Kuldip’s recommendations01:29:40 – Letters01:42:25– RecommendationsCheck out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and letters Produced and recorded by Priyali Dhingra and Ashish Anand. Production assistance by Tista Roy Chowdhury.This episode is outside of the paywall for now. Before it goes behind the paywall, why not subscribe? Get brand-new episodes of all our podcasts every week, while also doing your bit to support independent media. Click here to subscribe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.