Watching the Wheels

Gulliver’s Travels, published in 1726, is a modern masterpiece. Its themes resonate as much today as they did then, its satire is as relevant — and it’s bloody entertaining!Welcome to episode 13 of Watching the Wheels, hosted by Amit Varma, Shruti Rajagopalan and Pranay Kotasthane.In this episode, Shruti shares her love for Jonathan Swift’s great book, which is such a perfect novel for these times. The chart of the week explores sporting success, and The Infinite Game reveals human failure. Much fun!TABLE OF CONTENTS00:00 Hype the Episode!00:30 Intro00:65 Main Course04:44 About Gulliver’s Travels22:56 Odyssey and Hitchhiker’s Guide26:44 Publishing History & Editions30:26 Books as Comfort Food35:47 A Modern Book45:56 Chart of the Week1:06:07 TIL (Trivia I Love)1:17:33 The Infinite Game1:31:27 RecommendationsFor full show notes, please click here!

Who doesn’t love quotes? Everyone loves quotes! Quotes are the best! Welcome to episode 12 of Watching the Wheels, hosted by Amit Varma, Shruti Rajagopalan and Pranay Kotasthane.In this episode, Amit, Shruti & Pranay share 20 quotes they turn to again and again — on mobility, human nature, reading, excellence & humour. You will find Ambedkar & Rawls on caste and fairness, Pinker & EO Wilson on human nature, Schelling on models, Schopenhauer on reading, and Finding Dory. There’s a Swades couplet, two lines from Newton, & poems in Tamil & Urdu. In the Infinite Game, we will witness the follies of male self-confidence — and the recommendations at the end will keep you awake at night in a good way!TABLE OF CONTENTS00:00 Hype the Episode!00:21 Intro: That’s What She Said01:54 Main Course02:29 Haves, Have-Nots and Want-To-Haves05:41 Caste as a Division of Laborers11:11 Nature, Nurture & the Middle Stage14:14 Pinker, Axelrod & the Blank Slate23:45 Models, Mentors & Being Interesting33:04 Plans, Progress & Public Life47:09 The Art of Not Reading51:48 Favourite Films & Hindi Movie Lines1:02:07 Excellence, Pratchett & Brecht1:07:58 Poems in Tamil & Urdu1:12:28 The Infinite Game1:27:14 RecommendationsFor the greatest show notes in YouTube history, click here!

There are so many people! There are so few things! Are we going to run out? Is the earth going to hell? How on earth (pun intended) can markets help?People are brains, not stomachs. No, we’re not running out of things. Yes, markets can solve these problems.Welcome to episode 11 of Watching the Wheels, hosted by Amit Varma, Shruti Rajagopalan & Pranay Kotasthane.In this episode, Amit busts the myths around too many people & too few things. Shruti steelmans the environmental position before elaborating on how markets & voluntary action can be a force for good. The Infinite Game this week will delight lovers of Indian cities, which is all of us, right? Right?TABLE OF CONTENTS00:00 Hype the Episode!00:22 Intro00:39 Main Course 13:52 Are We Running Out of Things?34:15 Markets & the Environment1:45:03 The Infinite Game2:10:00 RecosFor full show notes with many fantastic resources, click here!

Mohandas Gandhi lived a life of action, wrote furiously for decades, constantly examined himself & the world, & kept changing. He contained multitudes.Welcome to episode 10 of Watching the Wheels, hosted by Amit Varma, Shruti Rajagopalan and Pranay Kotasthane.In this episode, our hosts discuss what we can learnt from Gandhi — and what we should not. His genius, his contradictions, his morality, his failures, his will, his multitudes. There is also The Infinite Game at the end of this episode — can Amit redeem himself?TABLE OF CONTENTS00:00 Hype the Episode!00:28 Intro01:09 Main Course04:47 Means Over Ends20:32 Nonviolence43:11 The Self-Taught Man52:07 Gandhi the Blogger55:10 Bias For Action56:02 Skin in the Game1:00:38 The Problem With Top-Down Change1:19:36 The System is the Problem, Not the People1:27:20 The Power of Symbols1:37:35 The Big Tent1:43:30 Patriotism and Nationalism1:55:44 The Infinite Game2:07:38 RecommendationsFor full comprehensive show notes, please go to the YouTube page for this episode!

Do you own your own body? Your own land? Your own money? The State has, at some point, told someone no to all three. This episode is about such PolicyWTFs. Your head will spin as you watch the wheels go around. Welcome to episode 9 of Watching the Wheels, hosted by Amit Varma, Shruti Rajagopalan and Pranay Kotasthane.We pick one Policy WTF each from our hall of shame. Pranay traces how an anti-dumping duty on a chemical input gutted India’s textile exports and women’s factory jobs. Shruti tells the story of a legitimate 1979 land sale in West Bengal, overturned in court 25 years later under an obscure right of pre-emption still on the books today. Amit recounts Romania’s Decree 770, Ceaușescu’s ban on abortion, and its human cost. Plus a nail-biting Infinite Game, & recommendations spanning jazz, Romanian cinema & British satire.TABLE OF CONTENTS00:00 Hype the Episode!00:20 Intro02:38 Main Course 03:39 Policy WTF #1: Protectionism and India’s Textile Exports12:47 Policy WTF #2: West Bengal’s Right of Pre-emption28:46 Policy WTF #3: Romania’s Decree 77059:23 Infinite Game1:16:57 RecommendationsFor full & compehensive show notes, click here!