Rollo Romig talks about his book "I'm on the Hit List: A Journalist's Murder and the Rise of Autocracy in India". The book focuses on the life and murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh and its impact on journalism and free speech in India. Whereas Gauri spoke her mind she also lived up to the maxim, "I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." She invited folks who disagreed with her to contribute in her paper, Gauri Lankesh Patrike. She never celebrated any opponents' demise and even defended them if she saw someone's critique of them to be unfair. In this podcast, Rollo unearths her life story, his experiences researching the story, his connection to Bangalore and the challenges of uncovering the truth behind Gauri’s life and work.

How did Barack Obama, former American president know for sure whether Osama Bin Laden was in that compound in Abbottabad? Are football matches largely determined by luck? How can you measure coincidences? Sir David Spiegelhalter, the emeritus professor of statistics at the University of Cambridge explains it all. His new book, “The Art of Uncertainty: How to Navigate Chance, Ignorance, Risk and Luck” is a fascinating read even for those without any background in statistics and mathematics. Among many other things, the book is also a lesson in how to make complicated subjects interesting.

India's young adults are gambling their savings way in the stock markets. Researchers in Japan have figured out a way to regrow teeth. This month also saw the birth of the world's youngest dart champion in Luke Littler, a 17-year-old who has darted his way to the top by beating his peers consistently for the last couple of years.

What is religion? How is it intertwined with economics? Why do people who are below the poverty line feel the need to contribute some portion of their meagre income to temples or churches? What is in it for them? How big is the industry? Paul Seabright, a British economist and professor at the University of Toulouse in France, joins us to talk about his book “The Divine Economy: How religions compete for wealth, power and people”. His opinions, backed by data and research over many years, seek to answer some of these questions.

Bazball is a term that describes England cricket team’s aggressive brand of Test cricket championed by Brendon “Baz” McCullum. Lawrence Booth who writes for the Daily Mail has co-authored a brilliant account of this new phenomenon in “Bazball: The Inside Story of a Test Cricket Revolution” with Nick Hoult. In this podcast Lawrence clarifies that Bazball is not mindless slogging or fast scoring. It’s also about absorbing pressure. Whereas the team cares about winning, if they can entertain the crowds along the way and put more seats in the stadiums, all the better. Lawrence is also the youngest editor of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack in over seven decades. He talks about what it takes to put out a massive edition year after year and also explains the thrill of filing match reports at the end of last minute twists.

The human brain is a marvel of mysteries, holding answers that we are still uncovering. Dr Theodore Schwartz's book “Gray Matters: A Biography of Brain Surgery” is filled with anecdotes to help us relate to the organ that sits silently in a dark cell inside our skull. Dr Schwartz has performed over 10,000 operations working in an area as small as a one rupee coin. He reflects on the meditative state he gets into during surgery, the role of empathy in connecting with patients and the exhilarating breakthroughs that makes it all worthwhile. Dr Schwartz recounts his punishing schedule when he was a student and the physical endurance coupled with mental fortitude needed to operate for hours on end. It's a life of sacrifice, brilliance and endless curiosity.

In “Just a Mercenary? Notes from My Life and Career”, Dr Subbarao describes his eventful journey as a kid from Sainik School in Korukonda, some 50 km from Visakhapatnam to becoming the 22nd governor of the Reserve Bank of India. Armed with awareness, discipline, commitment and a quirky sense of humour, Dr Subbarao worked relentlessly within and outside the country across various postings. In 2008 he took office at the RBI amidst the global financial meltdown. For five years he led by example and enjoyed the pressure that came with the job. Today, he teaches at Yale. His post-retirement interests include learning how to Salsa. “That’s still on my bucket list. I hope I’ll get to do it sometime”.

In his book “May Contain Lies: How stories, statistics and studies exploit our biases - and what we can do about it”, Dr Alex Edmans urges us to pause and reflect before we trust any article or a fact stated in a book or in a newspaper. It doesn’t matter who wrote it. And it isn’t such a tedious process to work it out. In this podcast Alex shares his views on confirmation bias, what is wrong with our interpretation of the 10,000 hour rule (among others), how social media is playing an outsized role in disseminating information, how JFK possibly averted the third world war during the Cuban missile crisis and why some leaders encourage their teams to challenge authority and are better off for it.

Ben Yagoda is the emeritus professor of English at the University of Delaware. Relying on his rich experience of having lived both in the US and the UK, Ben's new book, "Gobsmacked! The British Invasion of American English" talks about how language can travel across the two countries. Many words and phrases that originated in the UK have made themselves more at home in America. What is their history? Ben's blog https://notoneoffbritishisms.com/ which covers many of these topics is a super-hit.

Human history is also the history of the horse, says Dr Timothy C. Winegard in his superb book, “The Horse: A Galloping History of Humanity”. He charts the story of the four legged human companion like no one has before. Horses have had an outsized cultural and practical contribution, including their influence on language, clothing and transportation. From the evolution of horses 60 million years ago to their pivotal role in shaping civilizations through trade, warfare, and culture, this podcast delves deep into the influence of these majestic creatures. Chosen as one of the best books of 2024 by The Economist, Timothy's tome is a gripping read.

Charles Dallara is the author of "EuroShock: How the Largest Debt Restructuring in History Helped Save Greece and Preserve the Eurozone". The former managing director of the Institute of International Finance, a think tank, shares his experiences as a US Navy midshipman, lessons in leadership and the intense negotiations that shaped the Greek crisis resolution. He represented the creditors and negotiated with the likes of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former French president, Nicolas Sarkozy. He explains how politics, economics and culture shaped the challenges and strategies behind this historic financial crisis while batting for the urgent need for higher standards in sovereign debt management.