Jaipur Bytes

As Artificial Intelligence takes over human narratives, Marcus du Sautoy questions the shape of our future. In his book The Creativity Code: How AI is Learning to Write, Paint and Think, he expounds on how algorithms work, the nature of creativity and how engineers are tracking our emotional responses to art. In a riveting session, du Sautoy, the Simonyi Professor for Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University, discusses intuition, the creative process and its correlation with mathematics. In conversation with Jaipur Literature Festival producer Sanjoy K. Roy.

Abhijit V. Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer were awarded the Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences 2019 for ‘their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty’ by breaking down a complex problem into ‘smaller, more manageable questions’. Abhijit Banerjee returns to the Jaipur Literature Festival to speak of his RCT research-based approach to development economics. In conversation with journalist Sreenivasan Jain, he explains the need to understand and measure what happens in the real world to alleviate poverty and the necessity of making the poor and their decision-making central to the process. An inspirational session of insights and learnings vital to understanding our world.

Ravish Kumar, a much- awarded and fearless journalist, is also the author of tender nano storie  and the Ramon Magsaysay awardee in 2019. In a thoughtful and probing session with writer and columnist Nilanjana S. Roy, he speaks of his books and beliefs, his poems and love stories, the compulsions of prime-time news and the duties of responsible journalism.

Deepa Agarwal, author of "Journey to the Forbidden City" and "The Begum", in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta, recorded live at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2020 on Jan 26.

Deepa Agarwal is an author, poet and translator who writes for both children and adults. She has over 50 published books to her credit and is the recipient of the NCERT National Award for Children’s Literature, among other honours. Her recent books are The Begum, Blessed, Friendship Stories and Journey to the Forbidden City.

Ramie Targoff, author of "Renaissance Woman: The Life of Vittoria Colonna", in conversation with Lakshya Datta, recorded live at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2020 on Jan 26.

Ramie Targoff’s scholarly area of interest is the English Renaissance with a strong secondary interest in the Italian Renaissance. An award-winning writer, she is the author of three books on Renaissance English literature titled Common Prayer: The Language of Public Devotion, John Donne, Body and Soul and Posthumous Love: Eros and the Afterlife in Renaissance England. Most recently, she has written a biography of the 16th century Italian poet Vittoria Colonna titled Renaissance Woman: The Life of Vittoria Colonna and has completed the first English translation of Colonna’s 1538 book of sonnets, entitled Sonnets of Widowhood. Her forthcoming book, Shakespeare’s Sisters, is a group biography of four women writers in Renaissance England: Mary Sidney Herbert, Aemilia Lanyer, Elizabeth Cary and Anne Clifford.

David Wallace-Wells, Marcus Moench and Navroz K. Dubash in conversation with Prem Jha. 

Climate change is no longer impending. We are currently in the throes of a grave environmental, and existential, crisis and frighteningly aware of it. David Wallace-Wells’ latest book, expanded from his viral article in The New York Times, alerts us in unsparing detail to the extent of damage and despair awaiting us, and presses us to imagine more effective ways to negotiate the future. An urgent session that brings together a panel of environmental researchers and activists, and analyses measures to mitigate the greatest challenge humanity faces today.

Swapan Dasgupta’s recent book Awakening Bharat Mata: The Political Beliefs of the Indian Right draws on a variety of sources to trace the evolution of right-wing thought in India. Citing a spectrum of thinkers and writers, it identifies the significant threads that constitute an ideology that has increasingly gained traction and dominated vote banks across the nation. A spirited conversation that discusses and debates the history and influences that forged the vortex of Hindu nationalism with Dasgupta alongside writers and journalists Makarand R. Paranjape, Saba Naqvi in conversation with Pragya Tiwari.

Jonathan Phillips, author of "The Life and Legend of the Sultan Saladin", in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta, recorded live at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2020 on Jan 25.

Jonathan Phillips is Professor of Crusading History at Royal Holloway, University of London. He is the author of numerous books including The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople, Holy Warriors: A Modern History of the Crusades and his latest, The Life and Legend of the Sultan Saladin (buy it on Amazon). His works are widely translated. Phillips has also presented many radio and television programmes including The Cross and the Crescent and The Road From Christ to Constantine. 

How did the Constitution of India, the world’s longest one till date and 70 years old in 2020, come into being? In his forthcoming book, Madhav Khosla, Ambedkar Visiting Associate Professor at Columbia Law School, explores the means India's founders used to foster a democratic ethos. The ideas behind this edifying and meticulous document, which lays the foundations of India as a democratic republic, are a natural reference point for nations, and remind us of the incredible promise that self-rule continues to embody and its challenges therein. In this session, Khosla along with India’s former Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla, astute politician and a former state governor Margaret Alva and advocate Saif Mahmood, aim to deconstruct this onerous text, which continues to define the workings of modern India.

Rakesh K. Kaul, author of "Dawn: The Warrior Princess of Kashmir", in conversation with Jaipur Bytes host Lakshya Datta, recorded live at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2020 on Jan 25. 

Rakesh is an IIT gold medallist, migrated to the US in 1972. He was a founding contributor to the first Chair of India Studies at University of California, Berkeley, the Center for the Advanced Study of India at University of Pennsylvania and the Mattoo Center for India Studies at the State University of New York. He is the author of the bestseller The Last Queen of Kashmir. Kaul has had a distinguished business career as CEO and held leadership positions of publicly traded companies in the US. He serves as the Vice Chair of the Indo-American Arts Council.