Desi Academia Podcast

Megh is joined by Professor Rituparna Patgiri to talk about the challenges of creating an academic brand, the public scrutiny of marginalised faculty, the neoliberal university, and the tragedy of Professor Jason Arday.

Sources:

• https://www.instagram.com/reel/Db3YLAlNpXw/?igsh=NWo4ZmI1M2Yzd2hr
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdvnhmeMHBU
• Original blog: https://ncofnas.com/p/dei-fraud-and-cover-up-at-cambridge
• Retraction watch: https://retractionwatch.com/2026/07/27/cambridge-jason-arday-plagiarism-allegations-times-higher-education-exclusive/

• https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/10/books/review/jason-arday-memoir-takeaways.html

• https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/aug/06/rise-and-fall-of-jason-arday
• https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/05/books/review/cambridge-jason-arday-resignation-investigation.html
• https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1e146jw618o
• https://www.theatlantic.com/books/2026/08/jason-arday-cambridge-academic-memoir-resignation/688206/

Articles by Rituparna:

• https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/four-year-undergraduate-course-delhi-university-faculty-nep-2020-10146873/
• https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/social-sciences-sociology-relevance-of-social-sciences-iits-10279804/
• https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/tezpur-university-assam-accord-student-portest-public-university-10402123/

In this episode of DAP, Megh, Vatsal and Indranil are joined by Dr. Shakuntala Mahanta to continue our discussions around linguistics.

Dr. Mahanta is a professor at IIT Guwahati. An expert in phonology, her research interests involve documentation and phonetic/ phonological analysis of tone, intonation and other phonological and computational learnability phenomena in (mostly, but not restricted to) South Asian languages and the Tibeto-Burman languages spoken in Northeast India.

We talk about Dr. Mahanta’s academic journey, her research and how it evolved into phonology, what it takes to do field work for phonology and how she formulates her research hypothesis. We also discuss some basics of phonology like the importance of stress in languages, ambiguity, tonal languages, vowel harmony.

We also discuss careers in speech technology, field linguistics versus lab linguistics and the roles and responsibilities of language scientists in the North East.

Recommendations:

• ​Sound Patterns of English, by Noam Chomsky

• The Oxford Handbook of Vowel Harmony, edited by Harry van der Hulst and  Nancy A. Ritter.

•   Indranil

• How Language Began: The Story of Humanity's Greatest Invention (confirm)

• Shakuntala

• The discovery of spoken language, by Peter W. Jusczyk

• A Manual of Linguistic Field Work and Structures of Indian Languages by Anvita Abbi

•  Handbook of Descriptive Linguistic Fieldwork by Shobhana L. Chelliah and Willem J. de Reuse

• Megh

• Haasil

• Fractured Communities by Umar Khalid

• The new Spiderman movie

• “Divine Female”, standup comedy special Prashasti Singh 

• Anirban Dasgupta

• https://www.anthropic.com/news/claude-text-watermark

• The Odyssey movie

• “An Uncomplicated Man”, essay by Emily Wilson

• Vatsal

• Drishayam 3

In this episode, we continue our deep dive into language science. We are joined by a fantastic panel of linguists to unpack the foundational debates shaping modern linguistics and cognitive science.

We explore how studying human and animal communication helps define the boundaries of Language, why the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis continues to spark debates over language as a universal human trait versus a product of culture, and how phenomena like the Bouba/Kiki effect fuel the controversy over whether language is innate or acquired. The conversation also tackles the socio-political aspects of defining of languages and dialects, the field's complex ties to colonialism, nationalism, and racism, and the founder effect on linguistics by controversial figures like Noam Chomsky and Steven Pinker.

Professor Indranil Dutta serves as the Dean of the School of Languages and Linguistics, Jadavpur University. He is a computational linguist by training with interests in speech acoustics, motor control, and automatic methods of grammar induction. His research spans areas within acoustic phonetics, computational phonology, and natural language processing.

Dr Remo Nitschke is A postdoctoral researcher in the Distributional Linguistics Lab at the Institute for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution (ISLE), University of Zurich. His research interests include the intersection of machine learning and linguistic theory, animal communication, and emergent sign languages.

Dr. Charles Redmon is a Lecturer at the School of Language, Literature, and Media (SLLaM), University of Essex. He is a phonologist by training and his research aims to understand the structure and evolution of speech systems, linking the low-level articulatory, acoustic and auditory structures in speech with the higher-level word structures the system must encode.

Recommendations:

• Remo

• Linguistics Wars

• Calvin and hobbs comics 

• Soviet bus stops - book 

• Charlie

• Rana Dasgupta, "After nations"

• Murder mystery novels 

• Indranil

• Ira Mukhoti

• Orbital -samantha harvey

• La conquête de la Terre par les chats by by Alberto Montt 

• Vatsal 

• “I No Longer Think GLP-1s Are the Answer” https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/second-opinions/114009

• Megh

• The Boys - Amazon Prime

• The Awful German Language by Mark Twain

• Biswa Kalyan Rath’s stand up clips

• Indranil’s past podcast episodes:

• https://open.spotify.com/episode/44KV59s9wlQhWIxDdoUvdb “S4E3- Mandal, Mandir and the 90s with Sunil Menon and Indranil Dutta”

• https://open.spotify.com/episode/19VqPH5LbJdq9B2TOy9vsp “S10E2: "Dissertation Research is a Team Sport"- Megh's Defense Experience”

This is our Linguistics 101 episode, where we talk about what linguistics actually is, who a linguist is, and why linguistics research goes far beyond the textbook. Our guests play a big role in shaping linguistics education at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and we sit down to discuss what shaping future linguists looks like.

This episode is co-hosted by Professor Indranil Dutta, Dean of the School of Languages and Linguistics at Jadavpur University. As a computational linguist and phonologist, Professor Dutta’s research focuses on sound patterns of speech across languages like Malayalam and Mongolian, as well as the development of computational datasets and models for human languages and bird songs.

We are joined by Professor Chandan Narayan, an Associate Professor and the Undergraduate Program Director of Linguistics at York University, Toronto, Canada, whose research focuses on the production and perception of human speech. He also shares how his background and training in Sanskrit help him apply linguistic principles to reconstructing ancient forms of Indic languages from archives and stone carvings.

Recommendations:

• Vatsal

• Movie: Obsession 

• Show: Widow’s bay

• Megh

• Book: Course in phonetics, Peter Ladefocet

• Book: Consonants and vowels Peter Ladefocet

• Article: "What Will It Take to Get A.I. Out of Schools?" https://www.newyorker.com/culture/progress-report/what-will-it-take-to-get-ai-out-of-schools 

• Article: "The End of Reading Is Here" https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/08/reading-crisis-postliterate-age/687618/

•  Chandan

• Book: Language Instinct by Steven Pinker

• Movie: My Fair Lady

• Indranil

• Book: Metaphors we live by, by  George Lakeoff

• Battle in the Mind Fields by John A. Goldsmith & Bernard Laks

In this episode of DAP, Megh, Vatsal, Aditya, and friend of the pod Sumaira talk about their post-doctoral lives. In this rant session, we discuss the uniqueness of this title, why this job treats us like trainees, who trains and builds a postdoc, and what there is to build. We also talk about the problems in academia, our backup plans, and much more. Join us for a freewheeling conversation, and if you relate, DM us on our Twitter!

• ​Recommendations

◦Aditya

▪Are we smart enough to know how smart animals are' - Frans de Waal

▪Attenborough's 100th bday, the Netflix Documentary `Gorilla Story' (not to be confused with Kerala Story)

◦Sumaira

▪Dapaan: Tales from Kashmir's ConflictBook by Ipsita Chakravarty

▪Hari Sarkar Parsai

◦Vatsal

▪Cobalt Red- How the blood of Congo powers our lives

▪Your friends and neighbors

◦Megh

▪The Boys

▪Wildlife trade drives animal-to-human pathogen transmission over 40 years

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adw5518?__cf_chl_f_tk=Ss78lNpRMCYFYsv8.XyhEAhkUA5QvUtaw6RPDFRsN6c-1783283683-1.0.1.1-LqKFdHYN6foCerdZg5ipzkl6shAEPdxg.LAP6JAw6oo

In this episode of DAP, Megh and Vatsal are joined by Dr. G. V. Pavan Kumar. Dr. Kumar is a Professor of Physics at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune, India. In his own words, he is a student of science, its history, and its philosophy.

In this episode, we talk about a very important and often ignored aspect of science: the philosophy of science. Join us as Dr. Kumar answers our questions about what it entails, why it is essential, what it means to humanize science, and much more.

Dr. Kumar's blog post: https://historyofscience.in/

Podcast: Pratidhavni

https://open.spotify.com/show/14ArkETgfASwpoVXJNFkcF?si=ab835aabe9b5457c

Recommendations:

Pavan

◦Hessen Chang Realism for Realistic people, a paradigm for phil of science

◦Inventing temperature

◦Horizons: global history of science

◦Ram guha’s the cooking of books

◦podcast : History of Philosophy without any gapsMegh

◦Cobra Kai

◦The Life of Charlotte Brontë by Elizabeth Gaskell 1857

◦Terry Eagleton, Literary Theory: An Introduction

◦Lingthusiasm Podcast, Episode 109, “On the Nose”

◦The Linguistics Wars Randy A. HarrisVatsal

◦jamhoor.org

We are joined by friend of the pod, Hassaan Saleem as we talk about the anti-SciComm grift economy in the physics and mathematics space, why billionaires need everyone to know that they are mathematics/ physics geniuses, Cosmism and the falsifiability of science. We ask Hassaan why he keeps fighting with people on Twitter, and discuss ways to escape belief systems.

Recommendations:

• The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley's Pursuit of Power by Max Chafkin

• The works of Andre Grekoff 

• The Peter Theil episode from Tech Won’t Save Us

• The work of Sonia Contera

• Talking to Strangers, Malcolm Gladwell

• Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell

• Youtube video: “conspiracy physics and you (and also me), Angela Collier, “https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miJbW3i9qQc

• The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail – But Some Don't,  Nate Silver 

• “The Penicillin Myth” https://press.asimov.com/articles/penicillin-myth

• Steven Pinker : when everyone knows

• Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism by Anne Applebaum

Aman Bhargava is a UI/UX designer by training, who found his calling in data visualisation. He works for Revisual Labs,  an information design agency based in India that specialises in data storytelling and design. In today’s episode we talk about his journey from an R stats and plotting class at Shrishti School of Design to building a career creating high-impact data graphs for clients like Reuters and UNHCR, the intersection between data analysis and policy, and what motivates him to seek new projects on the internet. We also discuss the impact AI has had on reducing the entry costs into this field, hallucinations, and what the future holds. Aman also walks us through his recent passion project, “Analyzing Film Censorship in India: CBFC Watch”, and how he was able to go from publicly available information to a searchable, robust and user-friendly dashboard.

Recommendations:

• Megh

• A Complete Unknown

• FOOD, CULTURE AND SOCIETY IN INDIA: Social, Political, Economic and Cultural Perspectives, Edited by Rituparna Patgiri and Gurpinder Singh Lalli

• Freakerier Friday

• Nehru’s India 

• Sounds like a Cult podcast

• Vatsal

• All Her Fault - show

• Aman

• Visionscarto - Blog about map visualization.

• https://pudding.cool/

• https://orangedatamining.com/

• Aman’s newsletter, Diagram Chasing, https://diagramchasing.fun/

• The Powerbroker

• Fall of Civilizations- book/podcast

In this new episode of DAP, Megh and Vatsal are joined by Dr. Robin Sharma. A friend of the pod, Dr. Sharma is a creator of science-based Digital Learning Environments (DLEs). He studies the effects of such DLEs on academic achievement, attitudes, and acceptance. He has more than seven years of professional experience in Ed.Tech. at international non-profits, the video game industry, and of course, academia.

He talks to us about his academic journey that started from a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics to learning science. We also get a quick primer on learning science, DLEs, and what it takes to develop games to aid learning. Join us for an enriching conversation!

Recommendations:

• ​Megh

◦Book: Rebel with a Cause: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/rebel-with-a-clause-ellen-jovin?variant=43095339040802

◦Movie: Minsara Kanavu “spring mudi”

◦26th Jan parade

◦Boardgames - Through the Ages, John Company, T’zolkin The Mayan Calendar, Indonesia, SplendorRe-recommendation: Pluribus

• ​Vatsal

◦Movie: Bugonia

• ​Robin

◦Website: https://chaturbhuj.notion.site/Robin-Sharma-1130d1f78dfe806bb041dd8c97c84bf3

◦The Mathematical Universe - Max Tegmark

◦Explaining Life through Evolution - Prosanta Chakrabarty

◦Game: Assassin Creed* Robin's DLEs can be found here: https://chaturbhuj.notion.site/Learning-Environments-1ef0d1f78dfe80dabfd2d90ff6d822cc

We are joined once again by Ajay and Harsha, as we discuss the major tech breakthroughs of 2025 and the major theme of this progress: AI.

Recommendations and References:

• ⁠It’s surprisingly easy to stumble into a relationship with an AI chatbot

• The MIT List

• Anthropic Coverage:

• Trump orders government to stop using Anthropic in battle over AI use

• Trump Orders Government to Stop Using Anthropic After Pentagon Standoff

• Anthropic boss rejects Pentagon demand to drop AI safeguards

• Anthropic refuses Pentagon’s new terms, standing firm on lethal autonomous weapons and mass surveillance

• OpenAI Coverage: 

• OpenAI: "Our agreement with the Department of War"

• OpenAI’s Sam Altman announces Pentagon deal with ‘technical safeguards’

  
  

Previous Episodes with Harsha and Ajay:

• S11E1: Pivoting from a PhD- navigating an alternative career path with Harsha
• Supplementary Materials 4: Tech Wrap 2024 with Ajay and Harsha
• S4E1- Conversation around Drug discovery Ft. Harsha