The Point Blank Show

Brendan Greeley is the Web 2.0 Guy of The Economist. Currently, a week old in the organisation (at the time of the conversation) literally this one man army is spending his time to help The Economist embrace the nuances of the new media! He has shuffled many roles over the past few years and had also served as the Blogger in Chief of the public radio show, Open Source of which he was the founding member. In this candid conversation, Brendan and his sense of humor reign throughout!

The beatific smile of Gurcharan Das is a function of myriad personalities that live within him. In this podcast, he is his modest self, describing his early life and his time as a the VP and MD of PG Worldwide and more. An unabashed supporter of capitalism, he believes that the business of the Government is not to be in business. However, he maintains throughout that healthy competition is a result of strong governance and enlightened regulation. He says, Our economy grows at night when theGovernment is asleep. Unlike china, where the success is induced by the state, ours is a success despite the state.

Anns work is akin to intense method acting which actors like Robert De Niro and Al Pacino use to get under the skin of the character that they play. While the two actors do that once or twice a year for a role and a few million dollars, Ann has mastered the art week after week by writing about anyone who is merely famous (read: Anna Nicole Smith) or unexpectedly facinating like Inder Jit Rikhye, the peacemaker from India.

In this talk about telecom convergence and the mesmerising magical world of mobile telephony, broadband, and Internet TV, Tom orchestrates a perfect symphony by explaining in a jargon free language that the distinctions between these technologies are blurring. He believes utility and substance coupled with stlye and grace in products such as iPhone makes them a beautiful combination. And then, the talk reaches a crescendo when he responds to my diffident accusation that technology is overwhelming us and that we are growing too fast for our own comfort.

This week, we chat up with James Astill from The Economist, the recepient of the annual Gerald R. Ford prize for distinguished reporting in National Defence. James business card a few months ago read, Defence and Terrorism Correspondent. Meeting terrorists or fairly rough characters as he likes to call them is an occupational hazard for someone who bears the tag of a Defence Correspondent. Over the past decade, hes visited Cuba, Sudan, Congo, Afghanistan and many more places including a 6 year stint with Islamabad. In this 20 min talk, James gives us his hands on insights on Pakistan. James feels that Indias sometimes friendly neighbour is changing and that it is Indias turn to extend its hand for peace.

This week, listen to us chat up with Andreas Kluth , the award winning journalist from The E onomist, who has been lauded for his contribution in Media reporting. His survey on New Media is reader friendly, crisp and interspersed with humor. Go read the series of articles here . They are a gold mine of information for anyone wanting to know about the new media!

Avnish Bajaj, co-founder of Baazee.com and now with Matrix Partners. He agreed to have an informal conversation about enterpreneurship, VC funding and about his journey as an entrepreneur to a VC. The interview is a bit long (40 mins) but contains a lot of experiential thoughts.