The Morning Brief

The Economic Times

To make sense of the week’s hottest stories in business, economy, politics and markets, journalists from the Economic Times chat with reporters and industry leaders in this thrice-weekly (Tuesday, Thursday, Friday) podcast.

  • 26 minutes 12 seconds
    The Return to Analog

    From twin bell alarm clocks to vinyl records, why are Millennials and Gen Z ditching screens for tactile experiences? In this episode of The Morning Brief, host Dia Rekhi speaks with David Sax, author of "The Revenge of Analog" and "The Future is Analog," about the curious resurgence of analog living in our hyper-digital age. The conversation explores whether this trend is mere Y2K nostalgia or genuine digital disillusionment, how social media paradoxically fuels analog hobbies like knitting and pottery, and why vinyl sales surged the year Spotify launched. From Google employees taking drawing courses to escape software constraints to the pandemic revealing digital life's limitations, Sax examines what defines an analog lifestyle beyond aesthetic choices. As AI matures and screen fatigue deepens, the episode questions whether our craving for physical books, face-to-face interactions, and hands-on creativity signals a fundamental reassessment of technology's promises—and whether balance, not rejection, holds the answer.

    You can follow Dia Rekhi on social media: Linkedin & X

    Check out other interesting episodes like: How Will a Volatile ₹ Impact You in 2026?, How Quick Commerce is Triggering a Health Crisis for Gen Z, India’s Labour Law Reboot, Viral to Valuation: Building Women’s Cricket as a Brand and much more.

    Catch the latest episode of ‘The Morning Brief’ on The Economic Times Online, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, Amazon Music and Youtube.

    Credits
    @brittanyyharmon Kingavriel @MotheringHappily @Brynneanika @CelynHaf @Westendstore @skypescoop @VidhuVinodChopraFilms @slush

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    10 February 2026, 12:20 am
  • 31 minutes 28 seconds
    Corner Office Conversation with Rajan Anandan, Managing Director, Peak XV & Surge

    India's AI revolution demands strategic vision beyond enthusiasm. Host Anirban Chowdhury talks to Rajan Anand, Managing Director of Peak XV and Surge a former Microsoft India head and Google VP shaping India's venture landscape. With 120 unicorns and 300 IPOs last year, India is poised for transformation. Anand's thesis: India needs localized, hyper-affordable AI models—not trillion-parameter ones. Predicting fifty AI unicorns by 2030, he advocates computational sovereignty through infrastructure investments in firms like Sarvam. Rajan also talks about Peak XV’s path after its split with Sequoia Capital, past governance issues at its investees and guardrails to avoid them and the recent spate of senior level exits in the company.

    Listen in:

    You can follow Anirban Chowdhury on his social media: Twitter and Linkedin

    Listen to Corner Office Conversation: Corner Office Conversation with Knight Frank’s William Beardmore-Gray and Shishir Baijal, Corner Office Conversation with Sridhar Vembu, CEO, of Zoho Corporation, Corner Office Conversation with Gunjan Soni, Country Managing Director, Youtube India, Corner Office Conversation with Elizabeth Reid, Head of Search, Google and much more.


    Catch the latest episode of “Corner Office Conversation” on: Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts,and wherever you get your podcasts from.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    9 February 2026, 12:20 am
  • 29 minutes 34 seconds
    Indo-US Trade Deal: Strategy or Surrender?

    On February 2nd, Trump announced a trade deal with India via a social media post, with no signed agreement, no formal text. Trump says India has committed to stop buying Russian oil, purchase $500 billion in American goods, and grant zero-tariff access while the US merely reduces tariffs from 50% to 18%. India is quiet on specifics. Host Anirban Chowdhury examines this imbalanced framework with International Trade Policy and WTO Expert Abhijit Das and Edward Alden, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Subsidized US agriculture threatens Indian farmers, pharmaceutical patent pressures undermine generic drug makers, and Trump's emergency powers bypass Congress entirely. Unlike India's comprehensive EU FTA, this deal has no legal enforceability and can be renegotiated through Trump's next social media post.

    Listen in.

    You can follow Anirban Chowdhury on his social media: X and Linkedin

    Check out other interesting episodes like: How Will a Volatile ₹ Impact You in 2026?,Capital Pains: Budget 2026's Loud Silences, India’s Labour Law Reboot, Viral to Valuation: Building Women’s Cricket as a Brand, Why are Music Labels Buying Into Film Companies? and much more.

    Catch the latest episode of ‘The Morning Brief’ on The Economic Times Online, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, Amazon Music and Youtube.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    6 February 2026, 12:20 am
  • 16 minutes 34 seconds
    Tamil Nadu 2026: Can Stardom Trump Strategy?

    Tamil Nadu's 234-seat assembly election hinges on an unprecedented question: can superstar Vijay's TVK disrupt the established DMK-AIADMK duopoly? Host Anirban Chowdhury talks to political analyst Sumanth Raman, who dissects the math Vijay polls around 15% vote share but may win zero seats, potentially acting as a spoiler splitting anti-DMK votes. The AIADMK-led NDA gains ground after securing PMK and TTV Dhinakaran's crucial Thevar community votes, while DMK battles anti-incumbency yet holds firm thanks to Stalin's personal appeal. The magic number: 40% vote share. With caste equations and celebrity politics injecting chaos, Tamil Nadu's outcome remains defiantly unpredictable.

    You can follow Anirban Chowdhury on his social media: X and Linkedin

    Check out other interesting episodes like: How Will a Volatile ₹ Impact You in 2026?,Capital Pains: Budget 2026's Loud Silences, India’s Labour Law Reboot, Viral to Valuation: Building Women’s Cricket as a Brand, Why are Music Labels Buying Into Film Companies? and much more.

    Catch the latest episode of ‘The Morning Brief’ on The Economic Times Online, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, Amazon Music and Youtube.

    Credits: TheHinduOfficial

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    5 February 2026, 12:20 am
  • 11 minutes 38 seconds
    Why Are Labour Laws Denting Corporate Profits?

    India's new labor codes just cost three companies in corporate India over ₹4,373 crore in a single quarter. TCS, Infosys, and HCLTech are reeling from retrospective gratuity provisions that go back decades. The government says it's modernizing—one unified wage definition, digital compliance, formalized workforce. Companies say it's a compliance nightmare with twenty-four states at different stages of implementation. In this episode, host Anirban Chowdhury asks Puneet Gupta, Partner, People Advisory Services-Tax, EY to break down why your basic salary just became 50% of your paycheck, how a twenty-year employee's gratuity calculation changed overnight, and whether this reform will create seventy-seven lakh jobs or simply tax the ones that already exist. Short-term pain or structural transformation?

    Listen in.

    You can follow Anirban Chowdhury on his social media: X and Linkedin

    Check out other interesting episodes like: How Will a Volatile ₹ Impact You in 2026?,Capital Pains: Budget 2026's Loud Silences, India’s Labour Law Reboot, Viral to Valuation: Building Women’s Cricket as a Brand, Why are Music Labels Buying Into Film Companies? and much more.

    Catch the latest episode of ‘The Morning Brief’ on The Economic Times Online, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, Amazon Music and Youtube.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    3 February 2026, 12:20 am
  • 23 minutes 53 seconds
    Capital Pains: Budget 2026's Loud Silences

    No big changes—but does that hide the biggest shifts? 

    Budget 2026 surprised few with bold moves, yet its quiet continuity may reshape how India's investors and taxpayers think about stability. In this episode of The Morning Brief, host Kayezad E Adajania, editor, ET Wealth, speaks to Homi Mistry, Partner, Deloitte India, and Aashish P. Somaiyaa, ED & CEO, WhiteOak Capital Asset Management, to unpack what an unchanged tax landscape truly signals.

    The discussion navigates the old versus new tax regime's evolving future, untouched capital gains structures and their impact on India's global competitiveness, and a new amnesty scheme encouraging disclosure of undeclared foreign assets. From a strategic pivot toward semiconductors, AI, and data centers to revised sovereign gold bond rules and rising STT concerns, the episode examines whether Budget 2026's stability is genuinely reassuring—or simply a pause before inevitable change as India braces for an uncertain global economic landscape.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    2 February 2026, 12:30 am
  • 19 minutes 33 seconds
    Fast, Not Furious: DTDC’s Case Against the 10-Minute Delivery Rush

    As India’s quick-commerce frenzy collides with labour unrest and tightening economics, the race for ever-faster deliveries is being forced to slow down. Earlier this year, mass protests by gig workers exposed the hidden costs of the 10-minute promise. One logistics company, however, argues it anticipated the reckoning.

    In this episode, Host Anirban Chowdhury speaks with DTDC CEO Abhishek Chakraborty about why the 35-year-old firm stepped away from the dark-store arms race and instead backed what it calls “rapid commerce”: 4 - 6 hour deliveries powered by co-located dream stores. Now back to profitability after years of investment-driven pressure, DTDC is betting that operational discipline can outlast headline-grabbing speed. Abhishek unpacks early BCG research that flagged an impending labour crunch, the rise of AI in customer operations, the rapid consumption growth of tier-2 and tier-3 cities, and the hard realities of EV adoption and overseas expansion beyond tariff-hit US markets.

    In logistics, winning may depend on knowing when not to race.

    You can follow Anirban Chowdhury on his social media: Linkedin & X

    Check out other interesting episodes from the host like
    Iran On The Edge, BRICS at the Helm: India’s Moment, and Its Multilateral Test, ET in the Valley: Apoorva Pandhi, MD at Zetta Venture Partners Silicon, India's Mega QSR Merger


    Catch the latest episode of ‘The Morning Brief’ on The Economic Times Online, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, Amazon Music and Youtube.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    30 January 2026, 12:30 am
  • 17 minutes 1 second
    Why are Music Labels Buying Into Film Companies?

    Are music labels about to dictate the terms of Indian cinema? What began as strategic investments—Saregama's ₹325 crore stake in Sanjay Leela Bhansali Productions and Universal Music's acquisition of 30.8% in Excel Entertainment—has sparked questions about consolidation, control, and the future of India's entertainment ecosystem. In this episode of The Morning Brief, host Anirban Chowdhury speaks with ET’s film journalist Rajesh N Naidu and Nirmika Singh, founder of MOX Asia, former Editor, Rolling Stone India to decode the financial mechanics behind these deals.The discussion explores whether this signals industry consolidation or smart cost control, how music labels are securing IP at cheaper rates while expanding global reach, and what differentiated strategies—Universal's premium content scaling versus Saregama's long-haul domestic focus—reveal about competitive dynamics. 

    You can follow Anirban Chowdhury on his social media: X and Linkedin

    Check out other interesting episodes like: How Will a Volatile ₹ Impact You in 2026?, How Quick Commerce is Triggering a Health Crisis for Gen Z, India’s Labour Law Reboot, Viral to Valuation: Building Women’s Cricket as a Brand and much more.

    Catch the latest episode of ‘The Morning Brief’ on The Economic Times Online, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, Amazon Music and Youtube.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    29 January 2026, 12:30 am
  • 14 minutes 35 seconds
    Gold Crosses $5,000, Silver Doubles:What Investors Need to Know

    India's precious metals explosion defies gravity as equities stumble. While the Nifty crawls at 10.5% and bleeds 4% this year, gold has rocketed from $2,700 to over $5,000. Silver from $28 to $100. That's a 200% surge in twelve months. Geopolitical chaos, tariff wars, and safe-haven demand are fueling this unprecedented rally. In this episode, host Kairavi Lukka talks to Naveen Mathur, Director - Commodities & Currencies, Anand Rathi Share and Stock Brokers Ltd, who warns: gold remains your portfolio anchor, but silver's volatility demands caution. With targets eyeing $5,500 for gold and ₹3.45 lakh/kg for silver, the question isn't whether precious metals outshine stocks, but whether investors can stomach the wild swings ahead. The metals revolution is here.

    You can follow Kairavi Lukka on his social media:X and Linkedin

    Check out other interesting episodes like: When Grinch Almost Stole Gig Workers' Christmas, How Will a Volatile ₹ Impact You in 2026?, How Quick Commerce is Triggering a Health Crisis for Gen Z, India’s Labour Law Reboot, Viral to Valuation: Building Women’s Cricket as a Brand and much more.

    Catch the latest episode of ‘The Morning Brief’ on The Economic Times Online, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, Amazon Music and Youtube.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    27 January 2026, 12:20 am
  • 27 minutes 27 seconds
    Corner Office Conversation With Prashant Warier, Ankit Modi and Preetham Putha of Qure.ai

    Qure.ai is transforming routine medical imaging into early disease detection at unprecedented scale. Processing nearly 1,000 patients per hour across 105 countries, the startup has made preliminary radiology reports at India’s AIIMS and CMC Vellore AI-powered often flagging diseases physicians weren’t even looking for. In this conversation, Vikas Dandekar speaks with Prashant Warier Co-founder & CEO, Ankit Modi, Founding Member and Chief Product Officer and Preetham Putha, Founding Member and Chief AI Officer about how Qure.ai is reimagining diagnostics. Their breakthrough includes risk-scoring algorithms that detect high-risk lung nodules on standard chest X-rays, achieving a 54% CT-confirmed malignancy rate. From TB screening programs in Mumbai. where their tools uncovered 35% more cases for lung cancer detection in US hospitals, Qure.ai now holds 19 FDA clearances and WHO endorsement for autonomous AI diagnosis. Founded in 2016 and trained on over 1.5 billion anonymized images, Qure.ai has published clinical evidence in The Lancet and Nature. With current revenues of ₹200 crore, the company is targeting profitability within two years while scaling toward its ambition of impacting 1 billion lives by 2030.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    26 January 2026, 12:30 am
  • 16 minutes 17 seconds
    ET@Davos: Demis Hassabis on China, Apple and AGI

    In this episode of ET@Davos, ET’s Sruthijith KK speaks to Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind and Nobel Laureate 2024, on the future of AI. The chess prodigy-turned scientist-turned-AI pioneer explains how DeepMind balances frontier research with a billion-user scale. Hassabis says Google’s Apple partnership followed direct model comparisons where Gemini prevailed; China is now only months behind the West but lacks frontier breakthroughs; and AGI could arrive within a decade, triggering “post-scarcity” abundance. He defends AI’s energy demands, citing AI-designed fusion and grid optimisation. From Transformers to AlphaFold, Hassabis argues Google pioneered modern AI but moved too slowly. His bottom line: within 5–10 years, machines will be doing original science. The stakes couldn’t be higher.

    You can follow Sruthijith K.K. on his social media: X and Linkedin

    Check out other interesting episodes like: When Grinch Almost Stole Gig Workers' Christmas, How Will a Volatile ₹ Impact You in 2026?, How Quick Commerce is Triggering a Health Crisis for Gen Z, India’s Labour Law Reboot, Viral to Valuation: Building Women’s Cricket as a Brand and much more.

    Catch the latest episode of ‘The Morning Brief’ on The Economic Times Online, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, Amazon Music and Youtube.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    23 January 2026, 12:20 am
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