NL Hafta

In this week’s NL Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri is joined by Meghnad, Raman Kirpal, and Manisha Pande. The panel also features Newslaundry reporters Amit Bhardwaj and Prateek Goyal who are covering the elections from Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh respectively.Amit gives us insight into the election rallies in Rajasthan that are being dominated by PM Narendra Modi and Yogi Adityanath instead of Vasundhara Raje. He says yes when Abhinandan asks whether a reporter gets new insight when on the ground. He adds that people would assume that the fight in the state is between the BJP and the Congress but in as many as 20 seats, the BSP dominates the other two parties.Prateek shares his experience from Madhya Pradesh. He says the people in the state would vote for the BJP despite their dissatisfaction with the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led government.Moving on, the panel discusses the anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition, which Right-wing groups popularly call "Shaurya Diwas". Abhinandan says that unlike countries like Germany, people fail to acknowledge the immorality of the violence that followed the events of December 6, 26 years ago. He adds that as a society, we are a couple of decades behind. Raman talks about his reporting experience during the demolition. He says, “They pulled down this decades-old structure despite Advani making a feeble attempt there, leading, trying to stop them from bringing down the structure. Whereas other leaders were happy about it. And it was an illegal act. And some people got injured and this led to riots. So how can you celebrate it?”The panel also discusses the violence in Bulandshahr where a policeman was allegedly killed by cow vigilantes. They discussed how the media covered the event, especially TV channels during primetime. Pointing out the absurdity in the investigation, Meghnad says, “The weird part of all of this is going into the specifics of which meat was it, was it on the transformer or whether it was in the fridge. But in this whole scenario, a very vital element of this is lost: that a person lost their life for a stupid reason.” Manisha remarks that all this is because of bad investigation and bad reporting.Listen up! There's more.

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This week’s episode brings you an action-packed discussion with our hosts Abhinandan Sekhri and Rajyasree Sen on Relatable, season 2 of Making A Murderer, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Kareena Kapoor’s What Women Want, Honey Singh’s Makhna, the trailer of Thackeray and three commercials.Rajyasree and Abhinandan start by exchanging views on Ellen DeGeneres’s Relatable and how she’s hitting hard on the social stereotype against lesbians. They talk about the payment of $20 million Ellen received for the 68-minute show. Moving on, they discuss the Netflix series Making A Murderer Season 2, written and directed by Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos. They discuss the American phenomenon of making celebrities out of criminals, to which Rajyasree says, “Although in America, I feel they are a little off, so they don’t have much happening in their own lives. So they get sucked into these kind of things.”The discussion moves on to Kareena Kapoor Khan’s radio show What Women Want on Ishq: 104.8, which is also a video show. They talk about how, unlike a radio show, the show sounds scripted. Abhinandan adds, “Radio is only compelling because it’s a conversation that’s unfiltered and unrehearsed. That’s what makes good talk radio”.Abhinandan and Rajyasree then discuss the trailer of the upcoming movie Thackeray, directed by Abhijit Panse. Abhinandan expresses his curiosity, saying, “The good thing about such films is that now there will be filmmakers getting into political commentary through their cinema. Which is fantastic! And then you’ll have a counter-narrative.”This and more, so listen up!

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एनएल चर्चा अपने 50वें अध्याय पर पहुंच गई. इस लिहाज से इस बार की चर्चा बेहद ख़ास रहीं. 50वीं चर्चा को हमने न्यूज़लॉन्ड्री के यूट्यूब चैनल पर लाइव प्रसारित किया.इस बार की चर्चा का मुख्य विषय रहा 1984 के सिख विरोधी दंगों के एक मामले में कांग्रेस नेता सज्जन कुमार को हुई उम्रकैद की सज़ा. इसके अलावा सुप्रीम कोर्ट द्वारा राफेल डील के मामले में हुए कथित घोटाले के आरोपों से जुड़ी सारी याचिकाओं को ख़ारिज करना, दक्षिण भारतीय राज्य तमिलनाडु के नेता एमके स्टालिन द्वारा राहुल गांधी को अगला प्रधानमंत्री पद का उम्मीदवार बनाने की घोषणा और साथ ही फ्रांस में बीते डेढ़ महीने से चल रहे यलो वेस्ट आंदोलन पर हमारी चर्चा केंद्रित रही.इस बार की चर्चा में बतौर मेहमान द वायर की सीनियर एडिटर आरफा खानम शेरवानी हमारे साथ जुड़ी साथ ही साथ न्यूज़लॉन्ड्री के ओपिनियन राइटर व स्तंभकार आनंद वर्धन भी इस चर्चा का हिस्सा रहे. इसके अलावा न्यूज़लॉन्ड्री के असिस्टेंट एडिटर राहुल कोटियाल भी चर्चा में शामल हुए. चर्चा का संचालन न्यूज़लॉन्ड्री के कार्यकारी संपादक अतुल चौरसिया ने किया.

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NL Hafta has gone behind the paywall, but we love our listeners. So here's a little sneak peek into the complete episode.In this week’s podcast, our regular Hafta gang of Abhinandan Sekhri, Madhu Trehan, Manisha Pande and Raman Kirpal are joined by Newslaundry subscriber Anushka Shah who is a researcher with MIT Media Lab. The podcast kicks off with a discussion on the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 after Indira Gandhi’s assassination. The team talks about how even today, media coverage of communal riots has been limited to political whataboutery where journalists only cover how a political party accuses the other. They talk about the Delhi High Court’s judgement convicting Congress politician Sajjan Kumar for his role in the riots.Talking about political parties offering farm loan waivers to please voters, Manisha says loan waivers are only a short-term solution and we need to look at the root causes of farmer distress. The panel also discusses the recent court ruling on the Rafale deal and Rajiv Gandhi's role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.Listen to the full episode here: https://www.newslaundry.com/2018/12/21/hafta-203-sajjan-kumar-1984-anti-sikh-riots-farm-loan-waivers-rafael-deal-and-more

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Celebrating the 200th episode of Hafta, we recorded the episode live in the presence of our subscribers, at Anti Social in Delhi's Hauz Khas.For this special episode, journalist and writer Manu Joseph joins our regular Hafta gang of Abhinandan Sekhri, Madhu Trehan, Manisha Pande, and Anand Vardhan.Kicking off the event, Abhinandan talks about the history of NL Hafta and how it has evolved over time. The podcast then moves on to discuss all the news that happened this week, from the Kisan rally in Delhi to the debate over Rahul Gandhi’s gotra, and much more.The Hafta gang begins by discussing which news model is better, one that is advertisement-driven or one that is driven purely by subscribers. The panel deliberates on the pros and cons of both these models.Talking about the problems faced by the advertising model, Manu says: “Advertising is not a flawed model, the human being in itself is a flawed model.” Madhu goes on to say that the subscription model is a huge challenge primarily because the audience only wants to consume information that they agree with.Moving on, the panel discusses the recent debate around Rahul Gandhi's gotra and how relevant is it in today’s politics. Manu talks about the strong bond between one’s caste and one’s identity. Quoting P. Sainath, he says: “If you don’t know your caste you are probably upper caste.”Manu and the Hafta gang also talk about novels being made into TV series and movies, and to what extent does this transition do justice to its original form. To this, Anand Vardhan points out that novels are unique in their ability to depict the thoughts of its characters, and this is where the visual medium fails. Manu, on the other hand, feels that novels fail on their part to show life realistically.While taking questions from our subscribers, the panel answers some interesting ones on the economics of the Right-wing governments, weak and strong leaders and much more. On the question of citizen journalism, Manisha says that user-generated content is not favourable since news requires “a certain professional experience”.Towards the end, the panel talks about the recent development in Indo-Pak relations after the recent inaugural for construction of Kartarpur corridor and the outpour of different political reactions. Manu, Abhinandan and Madhu share their conflicting experiences in Pakistan. The panel also shares their opinion on resolving Indo-Pak conflict.Tune in to listen to all this and more.

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This week's Reporters Without Orders features our host Amit Bhardwaj with Rahul Kotiyal, special correspondent Prateek Goyal and Snigdhendu Bhattacharya from Hindustan Times.Amit starts the podcast by asking Snigdhendu about the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Rath Yatra in Kolkata, which was supposed to be hosted on December 7 but was blocked by the Trinamool Congress. They discuss how the whole thing was rebranded from a Rath Yatra to a "Save Democracy" programme.The panel moves on to the rumours surrounding Varun Gandhi leaving the BJP and joining the Congress and how news reports constantly feed these rumours. Rahul adds: “In the Congress, the sky is the limit for Varun Gandhi and he’ll be a threat to Rahul Gandhi if he joins.”Amit talks about Kamal Nath becoming the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh and his race for the position. The panel also talks about the cut-throat competition between the two parties and how the BJP's anti-incumbency factor played out in the state. Rahul notes: “The BJP’s strategy is to praise the Modi-Shah duo and blame it on local leaders if they lose elections.”Next, they discuss the reason behind the strong win of the Congress in Rajasthan, and where Vasundhara Raje failed and Sachin Pilot succeeded. Amit says the unemployment factor amongst the youth and the farmer crisis contributed. Prateek quotes people of Rajasthan saying, “Modi tujhse bair nahi, Vasundhra teri khair nahi” which the Congress claims was given by the RSS while the BJP blames the Congress. Nevertheless, the slogan claims that Narendra Modi still has a certain hold in Rajasthan, but Amit says Modi's charm has diminished as “voters of Modi are in a toxic relationship which you know is not working out, but you just don’t want to quit it”.For this and more, listen up!

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This week’s episode of Awful and Awesome brings you an action-packed discussion with our hosts Abhinandan Sekhri and Rajyasree Sen on the short film Detour, the new Brexit trailer, Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma and two commercials.Rajyasree and Abhinandan start the podcast with the semi-autobiographical film Roma, written, directed and produced by Alfonso Cuarón. Rajyasree notes that the movie is set in 1971 Mexico and tells the story of characters that are usually ignored by cinema and society. Appreciating the director’s work, Abhinandan says, "There are two things that make cinema survive—the stars and the craftsmen who crafts cinema", and Cuarón is one of those craftsmen who’s keeping it alive. Rayasree believes Roma is all set to win an Oscar.The discussions moves to a Netflix documentary, The Innocent Man, based John Grisham’s book—which Rajyasree notes is Grisham's only non-fiction book—and how the movie portrays the criminal justice system in America in relation to sending people to jail. They then talk about the trailer of the upcoming HBO film Brexit starring Benedict Cumberbatch. Cumberbatch plays Dominic Cummings, the man known to be the architect of Brexit, and how he used social media to bring out the most unlikely outcome. Abhinandan expresses his excitement for the movie but also says, “In the interest of making a compelling narrative, writers and podcast makers are overstating what social media interventions do.”Moving on, Abhinandan and Rajyasree talk about the new Baggit commercial starring Shraddha Kapoor where she promotes the hashtag #PutItOnTheTable. They think it doesn’t resemble a feminist campaign. Abhinandan says, “If this is what a feminism campaign looks like, then good luck, feminism.”Tune in to listen to more.

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इस बार की चर्चा का केंद्र पांच राज्यों में हुए विधानसभा चुनाव में आए नतीजे रहे. इसके आलावा आरबीआई गवर्नर उर्जित पटेल का समय से पहले अपने पद से इस्तीफा देना, नए गवर्नर के रूप में शक्तिकांता दास का पद संभालना, रफेल विमान सौदे पर सुप्रीम कोर्ट का निर्णय आदि विषय इस बार की चर्चा के मुख्य बिंदु रहे.इस बार की चर्चा में बतौर मेहमान न्यूज़ 24 चैनल की पत्रकार साक्षी जोशी और वरिष्ठ पत्रकार हर्षवर्धन त्रिपाठी शामिल हुए. इसके अलावा न्यूज़लॉन्ड्री के असिस्टेंट एडिटर राहुल कोटियाल भी चर्चा का हिस्सा रहे. चर्चा का संचालन न्यूज़लॉन्ड्री के कार्यकारी संपादक अतुल चौरसिया ने किया.चर्चा की शुरुआत अतुल चौरसिया ने पांच राज्यों के विधानसभा के चुनावी नतीजों से की. उन्होंने पैनल के सामने एक सवाल रखा, “जिस रूप में भाजपा पिछले 4-5 सालों में बदली है, हमने देखा कि हर विधानसभा चुनाव के नतीजों के बाद नरेंद्र मोदी दिल्ली की सड़कों पर विजय परेड निकालते थे. उस दौरान मोदी जो भाषण देते थे उसमें एक विचित्र सी साम्यता दिखाई देती थी. वो अमित शाह को जीत का पूरा श्रेय देते थे बजाय पूरी पार्टी और उसके संगठन के. ये एक अलग तरीके की रणनीति दोनों नेताओं के बीच में विकसित हुई थी. अब इस हार से क्या उस जुगलजोड़ी के ऊपर किसी तरह का दबाव बढ़ा है?”इसके जवाब में हर्षवर्धन त्रिपाठी ने कहा, “जब हम माध्य प्रदेश, छत्तीसगढ़, राजस्थान के चुनावी नतीजों की बात करते हैं तो इससे पहले के भारतीय जनता पार्टी के जितने भी चुनाव हैं उसकी स्थिति में और इसमें एक बड़ा बेसिक सा अंतर है. फर्क ये हैं की ये वो 3 राज्य हैं जहां की मुख्यमंत्रियों को समय-समय पर नरेंद्र मोदी के कद का नेता समझा जाता रहा. यहां तक की अगर आप लोगों ने ध्यान दिया हो तो 2013 -14 के दौरान कई बार चर्चा चली कि शिवराज सिंह चौहान भी प्रधानमंत्री पद के एक ताकतवर दावेदार हैं.”हर्षवर्धन आगे कहते हैं, “पर शायद ऐसा नहीं हो सका. मैं ये नहीं मानता कि अमित शाह और नरेंद्र मोदी ने इन चुनावों में उस तरह से अपनी भूमिका नहीं निभाई जैसे बाकी राज्यों में करते थे. उसके बावजूद वे चुनाव हारे. मेरा मानना है कि मध्य प्रदेश छत्तीसगढ़ से बहुत अच्छा सन्देश है कि एक अरसे के बाद मतलब मुझे नहीं याद है की कब इस तरह से कोई चुनाव पूरी तरह स्थानीय मुद्दों पर लड़ा गया. राजस्थान एक बहुत बुरा चुनावी कैंपेन रहा. वहां कोई जमीनी मुद्दा नहीं था. विपक्ष के अभियान का एकमात्र मुद्दा था वसुंधरा अहंकारी हैं. यानी सब हवा हवाई मुद्दे थे.”नतीजों पर हो रही बहस का दूसरा पहलू था राहुल गांधी और कांग्रेस पार्टी को मिली चमत्कारिक सफलता. क्या इससे राहुल गांधी की नेतृत्व क्षमता स्थापित हो गई है या फिर इसे सिर्फ तुक्के में मिली जीत और एंटी इंकंबेंसी का नतीजा मानकर खारिज किया जा सकता है? साक्षी जोशी इस पर हस्तक्षेप करती हैं, “राहुल गांधी एक परिपक्व नेता के तौर पर साल भर पहले ही स्थापित हो गए थे. गुजरात चुनावों के दौरान उन्होंने जिस तरह से चुनाव अभियान की कमान संभाली वह ध्यान देने लायक है. उन्होंने. उन्होंने बार-बार एक बात कही कि आप (भाजपा के लोग) मुझे पप्पू कहते हैं. आप मुझे चाहे जो भी कहें लेकिन मेरे सवालों का जवाब जरूर दें. वो सवाल बहुत जरूरी हैं. तो जिस तरह से उन्होंने मुद्दों को पकड़े रखा और विपक्ष के उकसावे में बिना फंसे अपना अभियान चलाया वह उनकी क्षमता को साबित करता है.”राहुल कोटियाल ने इसके एक और पहलू पर रोशनी डाली, “राहुल गांधी की जो छवि साल भर पहले थी, ऐसा नहीं है कि उन्होंने उसमें कोई बड़ा बदलाव किया है. इन 3-4 सालों में मोदी की अपनी असफलताओं का इन नतीजों में भूमिका ज्यादा है. जिस तरह से उन्होंने अपनी छवि बनाई थी कि वो सबकुछ हल कर देंगे और बाद में जिस तरह से विधवा के संबंध में उनके अटपटे बयान आए, जिस तरह से प्रधानमंत्री की बातों को संसद की कार्यवाही से हटाना पड़ा, उन सबने मिलकर मोदी के लिए एक नकारात्मक माहौल बनाना शुरू कर दिया है.”राफेल डील और उर्जित पटेल के इस्तीफे पर भी दिलचस्प सवाल और निष्कर्ष के साथ साक्षी जोशी और राहुल कोटियाल ने इस चर्चा में हस्तक्षेप किया. हर्षवर्धन जी ने भी कुछ जरूरी, ज़मीनी जानकारियां साझा की. उनका पूरा जवाब और अन्य विषयों पर पैनल की विस्तृत राय जानने के लिए पूरी चर्चा सुने.

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In this episode of Hafta, we have Shipra Garg, our subscriber from the United States, and Meghnad joining our in-house panel of Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, and Raman Kirpal to discuss news that made headlines this week.Abhinandan begins the podcast by discussing the recent CBI 'leak'. The panel discusses the role of media in covering a crisis that involves the country’s central investigation agency. They also touch upon CJI Ranjan Gogoi’s statement: “You don’t deserve a hearing.”The panel then talks about the outrage against Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, after a picture of him holding a poster reading ‘Smash Brahminical Patriarchy’ was circulated. Manisha discusses television debates and hashtags like #BoycottTwitter that followed. Shipra adds how this news has also erupted in the US where channels are reporting that “Hindus in India are angry with Jack Dorsey”.Moving on, the panel talks about the death of American citizen John Allen Chau, who was killed by Sentinelese tribe in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Meghnad says “[It’s the] arrogance of the civilised man that is at play [when they say] that our way of living is the best and others who are not doing it like that are somehow doing it wrong.” Abhinandan disagrees, he argues that since some customs of these aboriginal tribes are primitive it’s desirable that they should be integrated into modern society.Hear the panel discuss the dissolution of Jammu & Kashmir Assembly where decisions were made on Twitter rather than Assembly floor. Raman sums up the situation saying, “It is only in this government that the fax machine stops working, or the ink is changed or the EVM machines don’t function properly.”Listen to all this and more!

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NL Hafta has gone behind the paywall, but we love our listeners. So, here's a little sneak peek into the complete episode. In this episode of NL Hafta 202, the regular Hafta gang of Manisha Pande, Abhinandan Sekhri, and Anand Vardhan is joined by Saurabh Dwivedi, founder-editor of Lallantop.Saurabh, who travelled for a month in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan in the run-up to the elections, has some great insights to share. The team discusses the reasons for Congress’ victory in the Hindi heartland and whether it will have any bearing on the 2019 general election.Saurabh explains how PM Modi failed as a communicator in Chhattisgarh and why his speeches didn’t click with the masses.Anand tells us why political analysis as we see in news media is overrated. Abhinandan says the Assembly results were not Rahul Gandhi’s Pappu-pass-ho-gaya moment, but more a failure of the BJP government.The Hafta gang also discusses the resignation of RBI chief Urjit Patel and his successor Shaktikanta Das. Abhinandan says: "...the way everyone is dismissing him on his degree, I disagree with that...I will not diss him on that."Finally, the team discusses the Ambani wedding.

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