Frontline Conversations

In this thought-provoking episode of Frontline Conversations, Professor Thomas Müller, who teaches at the University of Würzburg, reflects on one of the most fundamental yet elusive elements of social life: trust.

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In this episode of Frontline Conversations, public intellectual and activist G. N. Devy explains why India’s upcoming caste census risks repeating a historic injustice by failing to properly count denotified and nomadic tribes (DNTs)—communities criminalised under colonial rule and still living with its consequences.

In this episode of Frontline Conversations, filmmaker and theatre director Dakxin Chharra speaks about what it means to grow up in a community historically branded as “criminal”—and why that colonial stigma continues to shape policing, housing, cinema, and everyday life in India.

In this episode of Frontline Conversations, Author Asha Gopinathan speaks to Nandita Jayaraj about her book "Anna Mani: The Uncut Diamond", a biography of one of India’s most important yet overlooked scientists. The discussion traces the life and work of Anna Mani, a pioneering meteorologist whose contributions shaped India’s weather science, atmospheric research, and scientific instrumentation in the decades after Independence. Drawing on archival material, personal letters, and scientific papers, Gopinathan reflects on Mani’s journey from C.V. Raman’s laboratory to the India Meteorological Department, and on the institutional culture of science she helped build.

In this episode of Frontline Conversations, former Chief Election Commissioner Om Prakash Rawat speaks about the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the growing controversy around large-scale voter deletions across several States.

In this episode of Frontline Conversations, Vamsi Vakulabharanam, co-director of the Asian Political Economy Program and associate professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, unpacks how caste operates in Indian cities, often invisibly, but no less powerfully than in villages.

In this episode of Frontline Conversations, writer and journalist Rudraneil Sengupta speaks about his debut crime novel, “The Beast Within”, a gritty, dark work of crime fiction set in Delhi. Drawing on years of crime reportage, Sengupta explains why fiction, rather than non-fiction, allowed him to capture the deeper truths of crime, policing, and the nature of evil.

Published on September 29, 2025.

Published on September 12, 2025.

Published on September 8, 2025.

What distinguishes Truschke’s telling of South Asian history is her instinct to foreground the underdog. Whether it is the manual scavengers of the Indus Valley Civilisation, the nuns who shaped early Buddhism, or the labourers who sustained the Mughal empire, she coaxes us to look at the subcontinent’s past from the bottom up: “I think it is incumbent upon historians not to simply do the easiest thing—not to keep using the same texts over and over, telling only the most obvious stories—but instead to make a few corrective moves, and seek out lesser-told narratives”. Refusing the temptation to view the past through the low-hanging prism of the present, Truschke shows instead how yesterday’s discrimination deepens into today’s inequity.

While Truschke expertly traces the genealogy of hate in her book, she cautions against blaming history for our prevailing ills and bigotry. “I, for instance, do not think that Manu is responsible for [caste] prejudice in modern-day India. Modern Indians who exhibit those prejudices are responsible for them,” she says. Asked if India will ever move past its caste bias, her reply is firm: “Assuming our world does not come to a screeching halt, I absolutely think Indians will.” This belief in a brighter tomorrow is also underwritten by a personal hope. Truschke longs for the day when travel to India is once again safe for her. “Not being able to travel to India is one of the great sadnesses of my life,” she says. “I look forward to the day it moves to a better place, one that welcomes historians—both its own citizens and those from the international community.”

Perfect for:

1) Students of South Asian history

2) Historians

3) Sociologists

4) Anyone interested in Indian history

Credits:

Interview by Shreevatsa Nevatia

Edited by Razal Pareed

Produced by Team Frontline