Family Firms get a bad rap -- but the professional CEO is often not the solution, but an added problem. The modern firm has evolved to solve this.

Welcome to Episode 34 of Everything is Everything, a weekly podcast hosted by Amit Varma and Ajay Shah.

In this episode, Ajay gives us a masterclass in the different ways in which is family firm can be structured, and the incentives those structures bring with them. He takes us through the four stages of its evolution, from a one-person business to the modern company with dispersed shareholders and a board of directors. This is particularly important an an Indian context, where family firms abound -- and so do misconceptions about them.

This episode was first published on YouTube on February 16, 2024. For magnificent, detailed, juicy show notes, click here.

We tend to think of the government as the solution to all our problems. But governments are people. And people respond to incentives.

Welcome to Episode 33 of Everything is Everything, a weekly podcast hosted by Amit Varma and Ajay Shah.

In this episode, Amit and Ajay talk about a branch of economics that they both love: Public Choice Theory. This is the study of how politicians, bureaucrats, special interests and voters all respond to incentives -- and why this often goes against the interest of We the People. This is why government failure is ubiquitous.

This episode was first published on YouTube on February 9, 2024. For magnificent, detailed, juicy show notes, click here.

Unix is the backbone of the world's technology. It is also a way of living that can help us discover purpose and beauty.

Welcome to Episode 32 of Everything is Everything, a weekly podcast hosted by Amit Varma and Ajay Shah.

This is the long-awaited episode in which Ajay explains to the world, with an incredible screencast, how to use Unix. But before that, Ajay and Amit discuss the history and philosophy of Unix -- and why it contains life lessons that are priceless.

This episode was first published on YouTube on February 2, 2024. For magnificent, detailed, juicy show notes, click here.

Is the Indian military well-equipped for the challenges that face India? What's wrong with it -- and how do we fix it?

Welcome to Episode 31 of Everything is Everything, a weekly podcast hosted by Amit Varma and Ajay Shah.

In this conversation, Ajay uses an analysis by cult YouTuber Perun to launch an educational deep dive into how we should think about the Indian Armed Forces.

This episode was first published on YouTube on January 26, 2024. For magnificent, detailed, juicy show notes, click here.

Are we slaves to the things that own us? To find ourselves, do we need to lose the mess around us? Do we need to declutter?

Welcome to Episode 30 of Everything is Everything, a weekly podcast hosted by Amit Varma and Ajay Shah.

In this conversation, Amit and Ajay share their philosophies towards decluttering -- and towards things. What should we buy? What should we give away? Do we need... stuff? Can Bengalis run?

This episode was first published on YouTube on January 19, 2024. For magnificent, detailed, juicy show notes, click here.

They are grand. They are intimate. They're incredible stories, and they need to be told!

Welcome to Episode 29 of Everything is Everything, a weekly podcast hosted by Amit Varma and Ajay Shah.

This week, carrying on from episode 23's dream of presenting stories that should be films, Amit and Ajay talk about the hardest decision of WW2, a couple that drifts apart because they hear the world differently, air raids into Japan, the making of a nation and a man who refused to flee. The fate of the world is at stake -- till you zoom in, and its one person and one problem, and that person is you. The power of storytelling!

This episode was first published on YouTube on January 12, 2024. For magnificent, detailed, juicy show notes, click here.

India did not become completely free in 1947. For decades after that, a group of people worked behind the scenes to reform our oppressive state and expand our freedoms -- especially our economic liberty.

Welcome to Episode 28 of Everything is Everything, a weekly podcast hosted by Amit Varma and Ajay Shah.

This week, carrying on from episode 23's dream of presenting stories that should be films, Amit and Ajay lay out the plan for what could be an incredible web series -- the story of a silent Freedom Movement that still continues. The story of The Reformers.

This episode was first published on YouTube on January 5, 2024. For magnificent, detailed, juicy show notes, click here.

Vaccines are a modern miracle. Individual freedom is a value we shoud cherish. We love both!

Welcome to Episode 27 of Everything is Everything, a weekly podcast hosted by Amit Varma and Ajay Shah.

In this episode, Ajay and Amit rave about how beautiful vaccines are -- and ask the thorny question, should the state step in to produce vaccines, & coerce people into getting them? They use the toolkit laid out in the previous two episodes to dig deep into when state coercion is justified. Spoiler alert: most of the time, it's not.

This episode was first published on YouTube on December 29, 2023. For magnificent, detailed, juicy show notes, click here.

What is the duty of the state? It's limited. When should it intervene? Only at specific times. In this episode, we lays out a framework for looking at this question, with freedom as a default.

Welcome to Episode 26 of Everything is Everything, a weekly podcast hosted by Amit Varma and Ajay Shah.

This episode was first published on YouTube on December 22, 2023. For magnificent, detailed, juicy show notes, click here.

What do we mean when we use the words 'the state'? Why did it evolve? What should its limits be? What have we normalized about it that should terrify us? Are we all part-time slaves?

Welcome to Episode 25 of Everything is Everything, a weekly podcast hosted by Amit Varma and Ajay Shah.

In this episode, Amit and Ajay talk about how the existence of the state is itself an act of violence -- a necessary one, as we need it to protect our rights. But we should consider, whenever we recommend government action, that every act of government is an act of violence. It carries a moral cost, and so we should set its limits accordingly. A useful prism to think of this is the one of scope and strength. Oh, and Ajay walked into a glass wall!

This episode was first published on YouTube on December 15, 2023. For magnificent, detailed, juicy show notes, click here.