In your Ears

By Shradha Aswani

The world has a habit of going around in circles. We go back to the same fashion every few decades, reinvent traditional taste to suit contemporary palettes, and have the same emotional crux line in fairytales, since time immemorial.

The return to audio, then, should be no surprise. While music lovers might disagree, the truth is that audio has been on the back burner ever since its attention-seeking content counterpart gained popularity. The fact that people choose to listen, even when they have the option to arguably engage themselves more deeply through videos, must mean that podcasts have something interesting to offer.

With this in mind, I compiled this list and discovered intellectual, thought-provoking, soul-stirring conversations that have now become a part of my daily routine. Take a look at these Indian podcast gems that’ll allow you to put your Airpods to better use!

RESPECTFULLY DISAGREE (pictured above)
(SPOTIFY AND APPLE PODCASTS)

In an age where coming to a consensus is nearly impossible, learning how not to agree is a skill the world could use. An interesting take on all things popular, this podcast series by The Swaddle, a Mumbai-based media company, gets three to four team members with varying opinions to respectfully talk about the different perspectives they hold. The questions in discussion range from cultural aspects of wokeness, body positivity, and PDA, to personal facets of emotional cheating vs physical cheating, unconditional kindness, and being friends with political differences.

THE INVISIBLE INDIA PODCAST
(ALL LEADING PODCAST PLATFORMS)

The podcast explores little-known aspects of Indian culture from the viewpoints of an American ex-pat, Jessica Kumar and her husband, Abhishek, a former NRI. While the podcast is in English, its fondness for Hindi and other South-Asian languages is visible in many of its episodes. The series covers interview-style conversations with various guests that share an outside-in view of the country and the couple’s experience of being in a cross-cultural marriage.

THE SEEN AND THE UNSEEN
(ALL LEADING PODCAST PLATFORMS)

Host Amit Varma, a celebrated journalist, writing coach, and authority on all things communication, describes this podcast as a deep dive into the visible and latent pieces of life as we experience it, and the
many political, intellectual, spiritual and emotional parts that form the whole. One of the best interview-style podcasts to come out of India, it touches upon an array of topics relevant to the Indian diaspora worldwide. Currently standing on a track record of 225,000 downloads a month, the most beautiful thing about the show is that it zooms into the micro details of everything it covers, while remaining universally relatable.

ADVERTISING IS DEAD
(ALL LEADING PODCAST PLATFORMS)

With disruption being the most significant reality in today’s business ecosystem, it is hard to keep up with the trends as a professional, even with social media storming your phones every day. Advertising is Dead approaches existential business questions one at a time. Host Varun Duggirala explores ideas of growth, branding, and community while talking to business leaders and change makers. In his own words, his content
revolves around “work, life and everything in between.”

THE RANVEER SHOW
(SPOTIFY EXCLUSIVE)

Any Indian podcast listicle is incomplete without the mention of Beer Biceps, the famed virtual name that Ranveer Allahbadia is now known as. A milestone for all interview-style podcasts in India, the show has hosted celebrities from all walks of life, including entrepreneurs, sports personalities, actors, musicians,
motivational speakers, and more. The show’s primary focus is to leave the listener inspired, and Ranveer’s engagement with the guests help you derive both value and pleasure out of the conversation.

THE DESI CRIME PODCAST
(ALL LEADING PODCAST PLATFORMS)

A gripping true crime podcast and one of the most authentic in South Asia, the Desi Crime Podcast sheds light on brown crime stories that give your insides quite a jolt. Well-researched and articulate, each of the
show’s episodes explores a true crime from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, or Nepal. Brought to you by Aryaan Misra and Aishwarya Singh, the show is a great audio in-road if you want to feed your intrigue about the crazy crime that lines the sub-continent.

THE INTERNET SAID SO
(ALL LEADING PODCAST PLATFORMS)

If comedy is your genre, you won’t regret the time you spend listening to this. Comedians Aadar Malik, Neville Shah, Varun Thakur, and Kautuk Srivastav come together to put out one episode per week and give you fodder to think, wonder, and laugh endlessly. The raw material, as the name suggests, are random, weird and shocking facts they find online.