We may be a sexually repressed country today, but it wasn't always like this. Madhavi Menon joins Amit Varma in episode 161 of The Seen and the Unseen to elaborate on the infinite variety of our desires all through history, Also check out: 1. Infinite Variety -- Madhavi Menon 2. Madhavi Menon's Amazon page. 3. Masala Shakespeare -- Jonathan Gil Harris 4. The Seven Basic Plots -- Christopher Booker 5. The Ascetic of Desire -- Sudhir Kakar 6. Early Indians -- Tony Joseph 7. Early Indians -- Episode 112 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Tony Joseph) 8. Being Gay, Loving Books -- Episode 141 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vivek Tejuja) 9. It is Immoral to Have Children. Here's Why -- Amit Varma 10. Everybody Lies -- Seth Stephens-Davidowitz 11. The Truth About Ourselves -- Amit Varma 12. Lihaaf -- Ismat Chugtai

India has endured -- but as we celebrate another Republic Day, we must remember that we cannot take this for granted. Historian Ramachandra Guha joins Amit Varma in episode 157 of The Seen and the Unseen to examine some of the currents of history that brought us here, and are still in flux. Also check out: 1. The books of Ramachandra Guha on Amazon. 2. Ramachandra Guha's columns in the Telegraph. 3. Understanding Gandhi: Part 1: Mohandas: Episode 104 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ram Guha). 4. Understanding Gandhi: Part 2: Mahatma: Episode 105 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ram Guha). 5. Patriotism vs Jingoism -- Ram Guha's speech at the Kerala Lit Fest. 6. The Citizenship Battles -- Episode 152 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Srinath Raghavan). 7. A Life in Indian Politics -- Episode 149 of The Seen and the Unseen (w JP Narayan). 8. The Intellectual Foundations of Hindutva -- Episode 115 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Aakar Patel). 9. Religion and Ideology in Indian Society -- Episode 124 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Suyash Rai). 10. Political Ideology in India -- Episode 131 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rahul Verma). 11. The Gita Press and Hindu Nationalism -- Episode 139 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Akshaya Mukul). 12. The Indian Conservative -- Episode 145 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Jaithirth Rao). 13. India's Lost Decade -- Episode 116 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Puja Mehra). 14. Lessons from an Ankhon Dekhi Prime Minister -- Amit Varma 15. We Must Reclaim Nationalism From the BJP -- Amit Varma  16. Where Have All the Leaders Gone -- Amit Varma 17. Why Nationalism -- Yael Tamir 18. Notes on Nationalism -- George Orwell 19. The Flaming Feet and Other Essays -- DR Nagaraj 20. Becoming the Mahatma -- Sunil Khilnani's review of Ram Guha's biography.

Alongside much social unrest, the Indian economy went to hell in 2019. Vivek Kaul joins Amit Varma in episode 153 of The Seen and the Unseen to survey the damage, and to demystify the rubble. 

For detailed show notes, head on over to seenunseen.in.

Why is India burning over the Citizenship Amendment Bill? Why does the NRC matter? What is happening in Assam? Srinath Raghavan joins Amit Varma in episode 152 of The Seen and the Unseen to give historical perspective on our current ferments. For detailed show notes, head on over to seenunseen.in.