Newslaundry Interviews

By Newslaundry.comNews

Newslaundry Interviews episodes

June 14, 2020 NL Interview: Bharatbala on documenting India under lockdown, patriotism, and Maa Tujhe Salaam
Filmmaker Bharatbala, who produced the iconic video for AR Rahman’s 'Maa Tujhe Salaam', is known for the beauty of his visual frames. His Virtual Bharat initiative aims to document stories from across India through 1,000 films. His most recent initiative was a short film, titled 'Uthenge Hum', capturing visuals of India during the lockdown.

In this edition of NL Interviews, Bharatbala joins Abhinandan Sekhri to talk about what motivated him to document India during the nation-wide lockdown to contain the Covid-19 outbreak.

To watch the full unedited interview, subscribe to Newslaundry.com
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6 min
June 09, 2020 NL vs NL Ep 10: Are we living in a simulation?
Tired of loud frothy-mouth, potty-mouth debates on primetime TV? Tired of sad character-limited fights on Twitter where you don't really learn anything?

We have something that might excite you. Newslaundry presents a new podcast: NL vs NL.

Let's make debates great again!

In this episode, Newslaundry subscribers Sahej Rahal and Parminder Kaur fight it out over that very existential question: are we all living in a simulation?

Parminder thinks we are, Sahej disagrees.

Listen and tell us who you agree or disagree with, and why.

Write to us at [email protected], or tweet to Parminder, Meghnad and Parikshit. Sahej prefers if you contact him on Instagram.
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31 min
June 06, 2020 NL Conversation: Anand Patwardhan on the Centre’s apathy towards the poor, and the Ayodhya verdict
In the latest episode of NL Conversations, Newslaundry’s Mehraj D Lone speaks to Anand Patwardhan, one of India’s most prominent filmmakers and the director of documentaries like Ram Ke Naam, War and Peace, and Reason.

Discussing the migrant worker crisis following the lockdown, Anand argues that the government is “incapable of feeling anything for the poor, anything for minorities, anything for people other than their own crony capitalist class.” He adds,“This has been their policy from day one, long before the coronavirus.”

Anand is particularly impassioned in his criticism of the Babri Masjid judgement, suggesting that the Supreme Court “rewarded the people who demolished the Babri Mosque. When there is still a case going on about the demolition of the mosque, we know who the guilty are because they have said so themselves; they have hardly been reticent about the fact that they demolished the mosque.” He also discusses the historical context of the dispute, referring to a lesser-known pre-independence narrative of the site.

Defending his conception of Mahatma Gandhi and Balasahab Ambedkar as “liberation theologists”, Anand suggests that recent criticism of Gandhi is ahistorical, especially with regards to the latter’s views on caste. He points out Gandhi’s campaigns against untouchability and his consistent advocacy of inter-caste marriages. He concludes, “Both Ambedkar and Gandhi were so important because both had to go hand in hand. One changing the law and the other changing hearts.”

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49 min
June 02, 2020 NL vs NL Ep 9: Is Twitter good for journalism?
Tired of loud frothy-mouth, potty-mouth debates on primetime TV? Tired of sad character-limited fights on Twitter where you don't really learn anything?

We have something that might excite you. Newslaundry presents a new podcast: NL vs NL.

Let's make debates great again!

In this episode, Newslaundry subscribers Mayukh Roy and Khushee Chauhan debate whether Twitter is good for journalism or not.

Mayukh thinks it is, Khushee disagrees.

Listen and tell us who you agree or disagree with, and why.

Write to us at [email protected], or tweet to Mayukh and Khushee.
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23 min
May 30, 2020 NL Conversation: Tongam Rina on racism and Big Media’s ignorance about the Northeast
Tongam Rina, an award-winning journalist, is an editor at the Arunachal Times. A credible and critical voice from India’s Northeast, she has had to deal with state hostility, online outrage, and a near-fatal attack.

In this interview with Snigdha Sharma, she discusses how the very landscape of the Northeast has shaped her journey as an environmental journalist, how journalists in the region struggle to obtain information, the environment, and the coronavirus pandemic.

“I have seen enough hydropower projects in my life to say rivers die,” Tongam says, discussing the controversy around the Etalin hydel project in the Dibang Valley. She rues how governments see the environment as simply a means of revenue generation.

Tongam recently reported how there has been a spike in wildlife hunting during the lockdown. The report stirred online backlash. Her critics felt she was “shaming the state” and encouraging racism against people from the Northeast. “India has always been very racist towards the people of the Northeast. I know that. Many of us have faced it,” says Tongam. “With regards to the report, social media really took it to a very different level.”

Talking about the increasing government hostility towards journalists who demand accountability, Tongam says, “It is hugely problematic not only for the media, but for us as a country.”

Speaking about the assault on her nine years ago, and the case arising out of it which is ongoing, Tongam says she has lost faith in the police and the judiciary.

Tune in.

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47 min
May 29, 2020 NL Interview: Sanjaya Baru on Modi’s excessive self-confidence, and why India’s coronavirus response is faltering
As a veteran journalist, editor, author, former secretary general of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and media advisor to former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Sanjaya Baru has closely followed, and been involved in, India’s economic policymaking for many decades.

As India grapples with the coronavirus pandemic and its socioeconomic fallout, Baru sits down with Mehraj D Lone to discuss the crisis and how the country can pull out of it. In a wide-ranging conversation, he also talks about his time in government, the Indian state’s capacity to govern, and why the poor and the marginalised have been abandoned in this time of crisis.

Though India’s handling of the pandemic has been “reasonable compared to many other countries”, Baru argues, the “inability of the system as a whole” to address the resultant economic challenges is worrying. India has a “strong leader, weak state” system that is unable to “take care of the health needs of the people, their employment needs, their basic necessities”.

He decries the delay in preparing for the outbreak, suggesting that losing the “10-12 weeks” from January until late March was “a major policy failure on the part of the government”. “The problem with the Modi government has been an excessive sense of self-confidence that we can manage everything. That confidence isn’t reflected in the capability,” he adds.

Baru criticises the government’s handling of the migrant crisis, describing it as an example of the absence of “dialogue between the Centre and the states” despite the prime minister’s frequent exhortations of “cooperative federalism”. “Each state government is behaving like an island,” he says. “And there is no Centre looking at the migrant issue.”

On the recent economic package announced by the government, Baru says an increase in fiscal spending, regardless of magnitude, should be welcomed. “But my basic view as far as the economic solution to the crisis is concerned: how do you restore confidence and credibility of policy?” The problem with this government, in my judgment, is that it has lost credibility,” Baru adds. “When Nirmala Sitharaman is speaking, she no longer carries the weight that a finance minister of the government of India has to carry, for a very good reason.”

The conversation also touches upon Indian federalism, the government’s communication strategies, how decision making in the Manmohan Singh government differed from that in the Modi government, class interests of the ruling establishment, and why India isn’t investing in public health and education.
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9 min
May 26, 2020 NL vs NL Ep 8: Which is truly cosmopolitan, Mumbai or Delhi?
Tired of loud frothy-mouth, potty-mouth debates on primetime TV? Tired of sad character-limited fights on Twitter where you don't really learn anything?

We have something that might excite you. Newslaundry presents a new podcast: NL vs NL.

Let's make debates great again!

In this episode, Abhinandan Sekhri and Newslaundry subscriber Shivangi Chaturvedi fight it out over that unanswerable question: which city is truly cosmopolitan, Mumbai or Delhi?

While Shivangi bats for Mumbai, Abhinandan defends Delhi.

Listen and tell us who you agree or disagree with, and why.

Write to us at [email protected], or tweet to Abhinandan and Shivangi.
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30 min
May 26, 2020 NL Interview: Sudhir Krishnaswamy on joining Facebook’s oversight board, and the ‘cultural difficulties’ of moderation
Over the past few years, Facebook has been embroiled in a number of controversies, especially those pertaining to the tech giant’s moderation policy. To address the latter issue, the company recently appointed a 20-member oversight board which will have the final say over content moderation issues.

In this episode of NL Interviews, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri talks to Dr Sudhir Krishnaswamy, the only Indian member of the oversight board. Sudhir is the vice-chancellor of the National Law School of India University, Bengaluru, and the co-founder of the Centre for Law and Policy Research.

Sudhir explains Facebook’s moderation process and the role of the oversight board. “Facebook and Instagram have already set up two layers of content moderation, of policy review. They have a technological layer and they have a human moderation layer. Those things will not change,” he says. “It is fair to say those layers will handle the vast majority of cases.”

He continues: “The range of parties who may be unhappy may be again large, so those users or others who have complaints about Facebook content will have the opportunity to take this up one more level [to the oversight board].”

Abhinandan asks about the cultural difficulties of moderation, and how the oversight board will be able to grapple with such diverse contextual issues. Sudhir says that when the oversight board is unsure of a certain meaning, it will “call on people within those communities of users, or cultural, linguistic or ethnic communities, to understand that meaning before decision-making is carried out”. He concedes that this may delay decision-making.

Sudhir and Abhinandan also discuss the formation and operation of the oversight board, reconciling local law with Facebook policies, and much more.
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10 min
May 20, 2020 NL vs NL Ep 7: Tea or coffee?
Tired of loud frothy-mouth, potty-mouth debates on primetime TV? Tired of sad character-limited fights on Twitter where you don't really learn anything?
We have something that might excite you. Newslaundry presents a new podcast: NL vs NL.
Let's make debates great again!
In this episode, Newslaundry subscribers Goonj Mohan and Aishwarya Mahesh battle it out over the age-old question: which is better, tea or coffee?
Goonj bats for tea, Aishwarya is all for coffee.
Listen and tell us who you agree or disagree with, and why.
Write to us at [email protected], or tweet to Aishwarya and Goonj.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
29 min
May 13, 2020 NL Conversation: Are public-private partnerships the solution to India’s healthcare woes?
The coronavirus pandemic has revealed in tragic detail the inadequacies of India’s healthcare system. While public healthcare, especially outside of major cities, is at best rudimentary, the private health sector, which accounts for the bulk of the nation’s healthcare facilities, has come up short in this time of crisis.Why is it so? What are the deficiencies in the health sector the pandemic has revealed? How have they affected the country’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak? What needs to be done now to minimise the damage from the pandemic? How can the health sector be strengthened in the long run? Do public-private partnerships offer a solution?To discuss such questions, Newslaundry organised a webinar, hosted by Abhinandan Sekhri and featuring as panellists Dr Naresh Trehan, chairman and managing director of Medanta; K Sujata Rao, former union health secretary; Oommen C Kurian, head of health initiative at the Observer Research Foundation.Asked whether Indian hospitals have the excess capacity to deal with the outbreak, Trehan points out how hospitals dedicated to treating coronavirus patients have been set up in every district and how private hospitals such as Medanta, Fortis and Artemis have collectively adopted a hospital in Manesar, Haryana, and turned it into a Covid treatment facility.Citing the example of Gurugram, he says there appear to be enough hospital beds to deal with a medium-sized surge. It’ll depend a great deal on how the lockdown is lifted as well, he adds, “As important as the lockdown was, even more important is in what sequence and what manner it is lifted.” (Disclosure: Dr. Trehan is married to Madhu Trehan, the co-founder and former editor-in-chief of Newslaundry.)Asked about the treatment costs in private hospitals, Trehan explains that those with insurance are being charged under it, and those who cannot afford treatment are being treated for free.To understand how the public-private model works, Abhinandan asked Rao to explain its intricacies and its shortcomings. “When it comes to infectious diseases,” she explains, “it’s a public good and it is something that the government is completely responsible for.” The private sector, she adds, cannot work on “charity basis” for long.She mentions how in some states the governments have taken over private hospitals to deal with the coronavirus outbreak, “I don’t necessarily buy that, I really feel that whatever facilities the government has, we should exploit them fully.” Moreover, the numbers right now are manageable and providing for the extreme cases is where the government is coming up short. She doesn’t think it’s a sustainable solution for the government to expect the private sector to provide free care, but “they can come up with a fair rate that will have to be worked out and negotiated”.Kurian argues that the policy debate in India is very polarised. He agrees that there is a problem of resources in the medical sector but adds that “there are ongoing public-private partnerships which can be leveraged to fit our needs for Covid response”.He suggests making the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna universal. The insurance scheme covers around 50 percent of India’s population currently, he adds, but the “problem with it’s that most private hospitals get paid pretty late”.Watch.This stakeholder consultation is part of a project supported by the Thakur Family Foundation. The Thakur Family Foundation has not exercised any editorial control over the project.
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1 hr 11 min