Deepanjana and Supriya sign off on the Lit Pickers with an ‘Ask Me Anything’ episode, taking questions from listeners on how, what and why to read (and write). If you want to know how to read during an existential global crisis, how to think about empathy through literature or just want some fun recommendations for romance novels, tune in. Warnings for the usual confusion about who sounds like whom, and the subtle sense that the episode was recorded underwater.   For a list of all the books mentioned in the season so far, check out: http://bit.ly/thelitpickersbooks.   You can find Supriya Nair at @supriyanair and Deepanjana Pal at @dpanjana. This is a Maed In India Production; check us out at www.maedinindia.in.

The books are good, but can we talk for a minute or thirty about these prizes, please. Does a culture of book prizes keep modern literature youthful and well-funded? Is patronage culture good at separating great books from trendy ones?    You can find Supriya Nair at @supriyanair and Deepanjana Pal at @dpanjana. This is a Maed In India Production; check us out at www.maedinindia.in.   If you have any books, reading or literature-related questions, please email us at [email protected]. For a list of all the books mentioned in the season so far, check out: http://bit.ly/thelitpickersbooks.

It’s time to talk about growing out and getting up, up and away from the most influential novels of (probably) our lifetimes. We talk about going from knowing everything about the Harry Potter universe to knowing everything that went wrong with us because of that. JK Rowling, thanks for everything, but we read ye a little too well.    You can find Supriya Nair at @supriyanair and Deepanjana Pal at @dpanjana. This is a Maed In India Production; check us out at www.maedinindia.in   If you have any books, reading or literature-related questions, please email us at [email protected]. For a list of all the books mentioned in the season so far, check out: http://bit.ly/thelitpickersbooks.

We’re in a golden age of popular history writing about the Mughals. Think of the last two years, with books about everyone from Aurangzeb to his great-great auntie coming our way. Join us as we discuss The Most Extra Family, father-son relationships and the women behind the throne.    You can find Supriya Nair at @supriyanair and Deepanjana Pal at @dpanjana. This is a Maed In India Production; check us out at www.maedinindia.in.   If you have any books, reading or literature-related questions, please email us at [email protected].

Welcome to an episode of feminist book recommendations. We pass the mic back and forth in a relay race of books we love that we think everyone should read.    You can find Supriya Nair at @supriyanair and Deepanjana Pal at @dpanjana. This is a Maed In India Production; check us out at www.maedinindia.in

Why is everyone wrong about Jane Austen all the time? We talk about how she changed the world, how she became Asian, and modern responses to her work, including works by Laaleen Sukhera and Mahesh Rao. Join us as we talk about women in love with property, girls not dying after sex, and men who are expected to be decent human beings.    You can find Supriya Nair at @supriyanair and Deepanjana Pal at @dpanjana. This is a Maed In India Production; check us out at www.maedinindia.in

This episode is about Hum Aapke Hain Koun…! Kidding. It’s about the Ramayana and its many lives in modern India, including novels by Amitabha Bagchi and Volga; AK Ramanujan (‘sup *__*), a Bengali woman’s Ramayana, and Valmiki’s other Ramayana. We discuss the epic as a very personal experience — as well as a deeply political tract.    You can find Supriya Nair at @supriyanair and Deepanjana Pal at @dpanjana. This is a Maed In India Production; check us out at www.maedinindia.in

Just a deeply uncool, unfashionable, unapologetic, almost sad episode of fannish love for JRR Tolkien. Listen, if you dare, to us revisit the fascinating history of the composition of the Lord of the Rings and its place in World War I literature. Also featured: maps, languages, Viggo Mortensen’s facial features.   You can find Supriya Nair at @supriyanair and Deepanjana Pal at @dpanjana. This is a Maed In India Production; check us out at www.maedinindia.in

She looms large in novels, academic history and art. How well do we understand India's only woman Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, in spite of all that? In this episode of The Lit Pickers, recorded in early 2019, we delve into the books, biographies and graphic novels to talk about how she is remembered in public opinion and popular culture. IDK guys, just seems important to talk about authoritarian politics randomly, no other reason.    You can find Supriya Nair at @supriyanair and Deepanjana Pal at @dpanjana.   This is a Maed In India Production; check us out at www.maedinindia.in

There's a lot of sympathy out there for the writer's block, but we'd like to talk about the reader's block. In the age of distraction and too-little time, it's easy to lose your reading habit. Once that happens, finding the bit of writing that will revive the reader in you seems impossible to find. Fear not. We wade through the wide world of literature — from Harry Potter to War and Peace; poetry to fan fiction; Noddy to Nabokov — to help you kickstart your reading habit.   You can find Supriya Nair at @supriyanair and Deepanjana Pal at @dpanjana.   This is a Maed In India Production; check us out at www.maedinindia.in