The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma cover art

The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma

The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma

Written by: Amit Varma
Listen for free

About this listen

 The Seen and the Unseen, hosted by Amit Varma, features longform conversations that aim to give deep insights into the subjects being discussed. Timeless and bingeworthy.All Rights Reserved Political Science Politics & Government Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Ep 432: Vasant Dhar's Lifetime in Artificial Intelligence

    Ep 432: Vasant Dhar's Lifetime in Artificial Intelligence
    Dec 1 2025
    He's been working in AI since the late 1970s, and started a pioneering machine learning hedge fund in the 1990s. Now he's a professor, a podcaster, a Substacker, a yoda -- and has just written a cracking book on the subject. Vasant Dhar joins Amit Varma in episode 432 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss the life and times of AI through the life and times of Vasant Dhar. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Vasant Dhar on Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Scholar and NYU Stern. 2. Thinking With Machines: The Brave New World of AI -- Vasant Dhar. 3. Brave New World -- Vasant Dhar's podcast. 4. Vasant Dhar's Brave New World on Substack. 5. Brave New World — Episode 203 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vasant Dhar). 6. Brave New World -- Aldous Huxley. 7. Death of a Salesman -- Arthur Miller. 8. Aldous Huxley interviewed by Mike Wallace. 9. Anil Seth On The Science of Consciousness – Episode 94 of Brave New World. 10. How the Mind Works -- Steven Pinker. 11. Anthony Zador on How our Brains Work — Episode 35 of Brave New World. 12. The Naked Sun -- Isaac Asimov. 13. Human and Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare — Episode 4 of Brave New World (w Eric Topol). 14. Daniel Kahneman on How Noise Hampers Judgement — Episode 21 of Brave New World. 15. The Nature of Intelligence — Episode 7 of Brave New World (w Yann LeCun). 16. Philip Tetlock on the Art of Forecasting — Episode 31 of Brave New World. 17. Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction — Philip Tetlock and Dan Gardner. 18. "When you control the mail..." -- Clip from Seinfeld. 19. The Future of Liberal Education — Episode 11 of Brave New World (w Michael S Roth). 20. The Surface Area of Serendipity -- Episode 39 of Everything is Everything. 21. When Should We Trust Machines? -- Vasant Dhar's TEDx talk from 2018. 22. From Strength to Strength -- Arthur Brooks. 23. The Innovator's Dilemma -- Clayton Christensen. 24. Raghu Sundaram on Building a Great University -- Episode 88 of Brave New World. 25. Power and Prediction -- Ajay Agrawal, Joshua Gans and Avi Goldfarb. 26. The Paperclip Maximiser. 27. The Wealth of Nations -- Adam Smith. 28. The Theory of Moral Sentiments -- Adam Smith. 29. Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister — Jonathan Lynn and Antony Jay. 30. Aswath Damodaran on Investing — Episode 33 of Brave New World. 31. The Damodaran Bot. 32. Dmitry Rinberg on the Mysteries of Smell — Episode 62 of Brave New World. 33. Alex Wiltschko on the Sense of Smell — Episode 81 of Brave New World. 34. Sandeep Robert Datta on Smell and the Brain -- Episode 90 of Brave New World. 35. Alex Wiltschko on Digitizing Scent -- Episode 97 of Brave New World. 36. A Billion Wicked Thoughts -- Ogi Ogas and Sai Gaddam. 37. Being You: A New Science of Consciousness -- Anil Seth. 38. Noise -- Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony and Cass Sunstein. 39. Thinking, Fast and Slow -- Daniel Kahneman. This episode is sponsored by CTQ Compounds. Check out The Daily Reader and FutureStack. Use the code UNSEEN for Rs 2500 off. Amit Varma runs a course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here. Amit and Ajay Shah also bring out a weekly YouTube show, Everything is Everything. Have you watched it yet? You must! And have you read Amit’s newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free! Also check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. Episode art: ‘The Mage’ by Simahina.
    Show More Show Less
    3 hrs and 28 mins
  • Ep 431: Ghazala Wahab and the Hindi Heartland

    Ep 431: Ghazala Wahab and the Hindi Heartland
    Nov 17 2025
    Our Hindi Heartland has more people than the USA and Western Europe combined -- and is arguably more diverse. Ghazala Wahab joins Amit Varma in episode 431 of The Seen and the Unseen to describe her research into those states -- and much else, including being an outspoken Muslim woman in India, and the future of warfare. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Ghazala Wahab on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Amazon, the Wire and Force. 2. The Hindi Heartland -- Ghazala Wahab. 3. Born a Muslim: Some Truths About Islam in India — Ghazala Wahab. 4. Dragon On Our Doorstep — Pravin Sawhney and Ghazala Wahab. 5. The Peacemakers -- Edited by Ghazala Wahab. 6. Force — The magazine edited by Ghazala Wahab. 7. Being Muslim in India — Episode 216 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ghazala Wahab). 8. The Future of War -- Episode 112 of Everything is Everything. 9. A Deep Dive Into the Indian Military -- Episode 31 of Everything is Everything. 10. A Deep Dive Into Ukraine vs Russia — Episode 335 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ajay Shah). 11. The State of the Ukraine War — Episode 14 of Everything is Everything. 12. The Innovator's Dilemma -- Clayton Christensen. 13. Tanhaiyaan and Parchaiyan. 14. What Just Happened Between India & Pakistan? -- Episode 418 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Pranay Kotasthane & Aditya Ramanathan). 15. The Age of Hybrid Warfare -- Episode 84 of Everything is Everything. 16. The Broken Script — Swapna Liddle. 17. Swapna Liddle and the Many Shades of Delhi — Episode 367 of The Seen and the Unseen. 18. The Refreshing Audacity of Vinay Singhal — Episode 291 of The Seen and the Unseen. 19. Stage.in. 20. Gods, Guns and Missionaries: The Making of the Modern Hindu Identity — Manu Pillai. 21. The Forces That Shaped Hinduism — Episode 405 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Manu Pillai). 22. Early Indians: The Story of Our Ancestors and Where We Came From — Tony Joseph. 23. Early Indians — Episode 112 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Tony Joseph). 24. Who We Are and How We Got Here — David Reich. 25. Caste, Capitalism and Chandra Bhan Prasad — Episode 296 of The Seen and the Unseen. 26. How the BJP Wins — Prashant Jha. 27. The BJP’s Magic Formula — Episode 45 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Prashant Jha). 28. We Are All Amits From Africa — Episode 343 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Krish Ashok and Naren Shenoy). 29. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen that touched on women's participation in the labour market with Namita Bhandare, Shrayana Bhattacharya and Ashwini Deshpande. 30. Another India -- Pratinav Anil. 31. Influence of Islam on Indian Culture -- Tara Chand. 32. Political Economy of Colonial and Post-Colonial India -- Aditya Mukherjee. 33. The Identity Project -- Rahul Bhatia. 34. Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa -- Kundan Shah. 35. Ahmad Faraz on Wikipedia and Rekhta. 36. Pretty Woman -- Garry Marshall. 37. Harry Potter : The Complete Collection -- JK Rowling. 38. Home Fire -- Kamila Shamsie. 39. Yeh Hawa Yeh Raat Yeh Chandni -- Song from Sangdil. 40. Madhumati -- Salil Chowdhury. 41. Andaz -- Naushad. 42. Amar -- Naushad. 43. Elvis Presley and Perry Como on Spotify. 44. Na To Karvan Ki Talash Hai -- Song from Barsaat ki Raat. This episode is sponsored by CTQ Compounds. Check out The Daily Reader and FutureStack. Use the code UNSEEN for Rs 2500 off. Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here. Amit and Ajay also bring out a weekly YouTube show, Everything is Everything. Have you watched it yet? You must! And have you read Amit’s newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free! Also check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. Episode art: ‘Heartland’ by Simahina.
    Show More Show Less
    3 hrs and 39 mins
  • Ep 430: Aneesh Pradhan: A Life in Hindustani Music

    Ep 430: Aneesh Pradhan: A Life in Hindustani Music
    Nov 3 2025
    When it comes to Hindustani music, he is both a doer and a thinker. A great tabla player, he has written books about the history and theory of music. Aneesh Pradhan joins Amit Varma in episode 430 of The Seen and the Unseen to chat about his life, his music and this world we inhabit. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Aneesh Pradhan on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Scroll, Amazon, Spotify and his own website. 2. Chasing the Raag Dream: A Look into the World of Hindustani Music -- Aneesh Pradhan. 3. Hindustani Music in Colonial Bombay -- Aneesh Pradhan. 4. Tabla: A Performer's Perspective -- Aneesh Pradhan. 5. The Life and Music of Shubha Mudgal -- Episode 426 of The Seen and the Unseen. 6. The Light in Winter -- Episode 97 of Everything is Everything. 7. From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life -- Arthur Brooks. 8. The Heckman Equation — a website based on James Heckman’s work. 9. The Instagram reel about The Godfather. 10, The interview with Vasant Pradhan. 11. Dehachi Tijori -- Sudhir Phadke. 12. Chal Chal Chal Mere Saathi -- Song from Haathi Mere Saathi. 13. Categories of Music -- Ashok D Ranade. 14. Nationalism Is Bad for the Nation -- Episode 122 of Everything is Everything. 15. The Populist Playbook -- Episode 42 of Everything is Everything. 16. Tawaif — Episode 174 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Saba Dewan). 17. The Refreshing Audacity of Vinay Singhal — Episode 291 of The Seen and the Unseen. 18. Stage.in. 19. How Music Works — David Byrne. 20. The Changing Forms of Creativity -- Episode 72 of Everything is Everything. 21. Em and the Big Hoom — Jerry Pinto. 22. The Life and Times of Jerry Pinto — Episode 314 of The Seen and the Unseen. 23. The War Against Cliche — Martin Amis. 24. Bridge of Dreams -- Various artists. 25. Out of the Shruti Box -- Anuja K's YouTube channel. 26. Malini Goyal is the Curious One — Episode 377 of The Seen and the Unseen. 27. The Disciple — Chaitanya Tamhane. 28. Niranjan Rajadhyaksha Is the Impartial Spectator — Episode 388 of The Seen and the Unseen. 29. Why Hindustani Musicians are Good Cooks: Analogies between Music and Food in North India -- Adrian McNeil. 30. Sangeet Kosh. 31. Begum Akhtar, Siddheshwari Devi, Kesarbai Kerkar, Faiyaz Khan, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Amir Khan, Sharadchandra Arolkar, Ahmed Jan Thirakwa, Amir Hussain Khan, Alla Rakha, Kishan Maharaj, Samta Prasad, Zakir Hussain, Anindo Chatterjee, Swapan Chaudhuri, Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis on Spotify. 32. Music Contexts: A Concise Dictionary of Hindustani Music -- Ashok D Ranade. Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here. Amit and Ajay also bring out a weekly YouTube show, Everything is Everything. Have you watched it yet? You must! And have you read Amit’s newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free! Also check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. Episode art: ‘Play’ by Simahina.
    Show More Show Less
    4 hrs and 46 mins
All stars
Most relevant
Philips was transparent and honest on the different medicines currently prevailing and why medicine is called as medicine.

The liver doctor

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.