Thinking People

We break down Taylor Swift’s ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ song-by-song, talk about its hits and misses, and discuss how the album’s themes relate to broader cultural discourses.

Hosts:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Ketaki Sharma⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Sanaya Chandar⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Production:⁠ ⁠Sourav Das⁠⁠

Music: Aksheya Chandar (aka⁠⁠⁠⁠ The Multiverse Concept⁠⁠⁠⁠)

Recorded just before The Life of a Showgirl dropped, this episode is our look back at Taylor Swift’s first 11 studio albums - from Debut to The Tortured Poets Department. We talk about our personal favourites and dive into the storied discography of arguably the biggest pop artist, songwriter, and business mind of the 21st century.

Hosts:⁠⁠⁠⁠ Ketaki Sharma⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠ Sanaya Chandar⁠⁠⁠⁠

Production: ⁠Sourav Das⁠

Music: Aksheya Chandar (aka⁠⁠⁠ The Multiverse Concept⁠⁠⁠)

We discuss ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty,’ the coming-of-age TV series that has captivated the minds and hearts of millennial women all summer. We talk about the sweet spot the show has created for itself – one that lives at the intersection of beloved tropes, a resurgence in appointment viewing, and the added flavour of 2020s dialogue and character development. 

Hosts:⁠⁠⁠⁠ Ketaki Sharma⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠ Sanaya Chandar⁠⁠⁠⁠

Production: ⁠Sourav Das⁠

Music: Aksheya Chandar (aka⁠⁠⁠ The Multiverse Concept⁠⁠⁠)

We unpack Materialists and its sharp take on love, dating, and desire. Is it a rom-com? What is its central message about love and dating? Do love stories need to have a message? Join us as we explore what happens when a film is hyper-aware of the discourses it's both drawing from and contributing to.

Hosts:⁠⁠⁠⁠ Ketaki Sharma⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠ Sanaya Chandar⁠⁠⁠⁠

Production: ⁠Sourav Das⁠

Music: Aksheya Chandar (aka⁠⁠⁠ The Multiverse Concept⁠⁠⁠)

We think about how every aspect of our lives—social, work, and personal—is dependent on tech platforms today. We ask ourselves: can we renegotiate our relationship with technology?

Hosts:⁠⁠⁠⁠ Ketaki Sharma⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠ Sanaya Chandar⁠⁠⁠⁠

Production: ⁠Sourav Das⁠

Music: Aksheya Chandar (aka⁠⁠⁠ The Multiverse Concept⁠⁠⁠)

Social Media: Ayushi Bindra

We unpack why Severance the TV show of the 2020s, what sets it apart from other prestige TV, and the questions it poses about our lives – what is work, who we are, and how do we perform our different selves?

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Hosts:⁠⁠⁠⁠ Ketaki Sharma⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠ Sanaya Chandar⁠⁠⁠⁠

Production: ⁠Sourav Das⁠

Music: Aksheya Chandar (aka⁠⁠⁠ The Multiverse Concept⁠⁠⁠)

Social Media: Ayushi Bindra

We explore almost two decades of social media use and our evolving sense of “self” against the backdrop of wider technological and socio-cultural transformations. In Part 2, we go back to 2016 to understand the evolution of social networks into social media, and the political and commercial behemoths they are today.

Hosts:⁠⁠⁠⁠ Ketaki Sharma⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠ Sanaya Chandar⁠⁠⁠⁠

Production: ⁠Sourav Das⁠

Music: Aksheya Chandar (aka⁠⁠⁠ The Multiverse Concept⁠⁠⁠)

We explore almost two decades of social media use and our evolving sense of “self” against the backdrop of wider technological and socio-cultural transformations. In Part 1, we go back to 2006 to offer a millennial perspective on social media use and relive what it meant to be the first generation to come of age online.

Hosts:⁠⁠⁠⁠ Ketaki Sharma⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠ Sanaya Chandar⁠⁠⁠⁠

Production: ⁠Sourav Das⁠

Music: Aksheya Chandar (aka⁠⁠⁠ The Multiverse Concept⁠⁠⁠)

We talk about what makes Sally Rooney one of the zeitgeist defining English language authors of the 21st century and what her popularity says about modern love, intimacy, desire, and relationships. Guest: Ash Shah (Screenwriter and Fiction Writer).

Hosts:⁠⁠⁠⁠ Ketaki Sharma⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠ Sanaya Chandar⁠⁠⁠⁠

Photo:⁠⁠⁠ Ketaki Sharma⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Production: ⁠Sourav Das⁠

Music: Aksheya Chandar (aka⁠⁠⁠ The Multiverse Concept⁠⁠⁠)

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References:

Books:

Intermezzo (2024) by Sally Rooney

Normal People (2018) by Sally Rooney

Conversations with Friends (2017) by Sally Rooney

Articles:

Sally Rooney: ‘Falling in love when I was very young transformed my life’ (The Guardian)

The Cult of Sally Rooney (Vox)

Sally Rooney on Normal People, with Kishani Widyaratna (London Review Bookshop)

“Reader, I Married Him” by Alice Evans

The relationship recession is going global (The Financial Times)

Good on Paper: Are Young Men Really Becoming More Sexist? (The Atlantic)

Follow us on social media:⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠ |⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠ |⁠⁠ ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠

Write to us at[email protected]

We unpack the cult of ‘me time’ and our changing relationship with time five years after the pandemic, why we choose to spend most of it alone, and what makes up our diet of social interactions today.

Hosts:⁠⁠⁠⁠ Ketaki Sharma⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠ Sanaya Chandar⁠⁠⁠⁠

Artwork:⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Sanaya Chandar⁠⁠⁠⁠

Production: ⁠Sourav Das⁠

Music: Aksheya Chandar (aka⁠⁠⁠ The Multiverse Concept⁠⁠⁠)

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References:

The Anti-Social Century⁠ by Derek Thompson (The Atlantic)

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Follow us on social media:⁠ ⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠ |⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠ |⁠ ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠

Write to us at[email protected]