A few days ago, under the bright skies of Paris, four men sauntered into the Louvre museum after climbing onto its balcony, picked up a few glittering jewels that belonged to French royalty, hopped onto a scooter and drove away. This episode was recorded on the 2nd of Nov, 2025. Four young kids from India joined me to discuss

- what they found most fascinating about this robbery

- what they link of European museums hoarding artifacts taken away from their former colonies

Guests: 11-yr old Dhruv from Kolkata, 13-yr old Aditya from Mumbai, 11-yr old Devansh from Kolkata and 12-yr old Shaarav from Mumbai.

Other stuff you'd like to check out

1. Read ⁠my newsletter 'Lighter Side'⁠

2. Subscribe to our childen's magazine in print and digital ⁠- 'Lighter Side'⁠

3. We run Writing Courses for kids that help them become published authors. ⁠Find out more on the writing courses.

The Secret Garden is a story that combines elements of adventure like an Enyd Blyton's Famous Five story, pieces of climate fiction like an episode of 'Planet Earth' and some elements of magic like a Harry Potter story. The story revolves around a household with children living in a manor on the moors. Amongst the many secrets that the manor holds is a secret and locked garden. Through working in the garden, healthy friendships form and lives are redeemed.

Young reader who joins in reviewing this book: Prakriti (11 yr old, Mumbai)

Related links

1. The Book 'Secret Garden' available on Amazon

2. Read my newsletter 'Lighter Side'

3. Subscribe to the hard copy of the children's magazine 'Lighter Side'

4. We also run Writing Courses for kids that help them become published authors. Find out more on the writing courses.

How did the global war on terror reshape the Kashmir conflict? This podcast episode explores the dramatic shifts that transformed the players and stakes in the Kashmir dispute over the past decade and a half.

• Post-9/11 Relations: How Pakistan went from key US ally to regional pariah

• Aid Cuts: American military aid and weapon sales to Pakistan come to an abrupt halt

• Pakistan's New Patron: How China stepped in to fill the void left by American withdrawal

• Leadership Change: Narendra Modi's election and his hardline Kashmir promises

During the Cold War, the US sought allies to support it during the war against the Soviets. Pakistan was one of those allies. In exchange, Pakistan received financial aid and military support from the US. How did the state of Jammu and Kashmir become an unintended recipient of trouble during this cold war?

Source material for my research

1. 'India after Gandhi' by Ramachandra Guha

2. Sarah Paine's lectures on the ⁠'War for India⁠'

3. How to constrain the Pakistani Jihadi Complex - research piece by Pranay Kothasthane from Takshashila Institution

4. Tarekh Fatah's '⁠The Bloody Partition seen through a Pakistani's eyes'⁠

Read other pieces by ⁠Sangeetha on the 'Lighter Side'⁠ on Substack.

Drop your questions or comments via email to [email protected]

When the British left India in 1947, they decided to leave one lasting impression - divide the lands between two factions that had different views of the world. The partition of India and Pakistan had a large impact on the hills and valleys of Jammu and Kashmir. The most recent massacre in Pahalgam in Apr 2025 has left many of us wondering - why a conflict that began in 1947 still remains unresolved? I went back to the pages of Ramachandra Guha's 'India after Gandhi' to find answers to some of my questions. This episode is part 1 of 3, where I narrate the story of how this conflict began in 1947.

Source material for my research

1. 'India after Gandhi' by Ramachandra Guha

2. Sarah Paine's lectures on the 'War for India'

3. William Dalrymple's piece 'The Great Divide'

4. Article in Awaz the Voice by Saquib Salim 'When brothers were pitted against each other'

5. Tarekh Fatah's 'The Bloody Partition seen through a Pakistani's eyes'

Read other pieces by Sangeetha on the 'Lighter Side' on Substack.

Drop your questions or comments via email to [email protected]

Pope Francis, a man who embraced the need for environmental protection, a man who sought to undo some of the past damages done to indigenous tribes across the world, a man who tried hard to help immigrant refugees, recently passed away.

The 1.4 billion Roman Catholics across the world now need a new leader. How will they elect their next leader? 11-yr old Dheer from Surat, India tries to find out more about this.

Explore more

1. Listen to the episode recommended by Dheer - about refugee Olympics

2. We have a newsletter for kids and families about current affairs. You can read recent posts here for free.

3. If you are 8-14 years old and would like to join this podcast, (just like Dheer did), write to us via email at [email protected].

4. We have a printed magazine for kids about news stories, written through comic strips. To ⁠⁠⁠⁠buy our most recent edition for INR 399/-, please click here⁠⁠⁠

For any comments or questions, please write to Sangeetha at [email protected]

If you ever wondered if there was any place on earth without mosquitoes, or about how big the largest library on earth looked like, or about where you would bump into the most number of English speakers in the world - you have landed upon the right podcast episode.

This summer special features a quiz between two sixth graders (Advik and Devansh).

More things to check out

1. Listen to the episode on Captain Underpants and its author

2. Listen to the episode on wheat and lemon in Yemen

3. To join Sangeetha as a young cohost on a podcast episode, ⁠⁠⁠please register here⁠⁠

4. We publish news stories for children as a children's magazine. To ⁠⁠⁠buy our most recent edition for INR 399/-, please click here⁠⁠⁠

For any comments or questions, please write to Sangeetha at [email protected]

In this episode, we review a book ‘the Immortals of Meluha’ by Amish Tripathi. This is the first book in a 3-part series, and is based on Lord Shiva. Earlier this month, a group of kids signed up to read this book along with me, and we got together at the end of the month, to discuss what we felt about the stories, the characters, the author’s writing style and the opinions of some critics.

Co-hosts: Prakriti (11 yrs), Agastya (12 yrs), Smyan (10 yrs), Shambhavi (15 yrs)

Additional info

1. More about the book 'Immortals of Meluha'

2. To join Sangeetha as a young cohost on a podcast episode, ⁠⁠please register here⁠

3. We publish news stories for children as a children's magazine. To ⁠⁠buy our most recent edition for INR 399/-, please click here⁠⁠

For any comments or questions, please write to Sangeetha at [email protected]

A photo with sled dogs of Greenland wading through knee-deep water, surrounded by pristine glaciers and mountains, has gone viral. The scientist who took this photo realised that most people who saw it on social media found the picture scenic, but he realised that something about the picture was scary. If the same place were photographed year after year, we would notice all that is unusual. Aesthetics aside, these photos would show us a changing trend in many corners of the earth. Climate change is real. If you want to find out exactly what about the photo is scary, listen to the episode where middle-schooler Darsh solves this puzzle.

Explore More

1. To join Sangeetha as a young cohost on a podcast episode, ⁠please register here

2. To listen to the episode on healthy foods for children, please click here

3. We publish news stories for children as a children's magazine. To ⁠buy our most recent edition for INR 399/-, please click here⁠

4. To view the photo of sled dogs that has gone viral, please click here

5. For any comments or questions, please write to Sangeetha at [email protected]

Darjeeling's zoo recently got a rare upgrade. Its zoo will serve two purposes: on one side, it will house creatures that tourists can visit and watch as they stroll around; on the other side there will be something rare and new housed in these premises. This makes it the first of its kind in India. This episode is along the lines of a 20-questions game, where 13-year old Sathwik joins the host Sangeetha, asks a series of questions and finds out what is rare and new in this zoo.

Explore More

1. To join Sangeetha as a young cohost on a podcast episode, please register here

2. To listen to the episode on S.Korea with more dogs on strollers than babies, please click here

3. We publish news stories for children as a children's magazine. To buy our most recent edition for INR 399/-, please click here

4. For any comments or questions, please write to Sangeetha at [email protected]