Seema Says

Modi in Bibi’s Israel, JNU VC’s Caste-Speak, Pakistan Players and Indian IPL Owners

The Wire’s Multimedia Head, Minal Saeed Khan asks The Wire’s Editor, Seema Chishti on the significance of the timing of PM Modi’s visit to Israel this week, why are the statements of JNU VC, Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit casteist, why has Lutyen’s bust been outed from Rashtrapati Bhawan and how the exclusion of Pakistani players from IPL-owner linked clubs in the UK and Australia is exposing the stranglehold of the shadow of India’s ruling party’s divisive politics on world cricket (and getting pushed back).
Seema recommends: PCCI Podcast: Project Milap, with Ahmer Naqvi, Mohammad Isam and Sharda Ugra,    • Project Milaap with Sharda Ugra, Mohammad ...  
Journey Through Time: A podcast series by David Olusega and Sarah Churchwell. The mini-series on the dark era of McCarthyism. What was the second Red Scare where government employees, creatives, and intellectuals were prosecuted for holding ‘un-American’ views? And how it echoes with today’s politics. https://www.globalplayer.com/podcasts...
Minal's Recommendation: https://www.theguardian.com/world/202...

Who is Afraid of the India-China Border + Indo-US Deal? Is it Cricket? The Many Meanings of Deepak

The Multimedia Head of The Wire, Minal Saeed Khan quizzes Seema Chishti, Editor, The Wire on goings on this week, what the censoring of the scoop by Caravan magazine on an ex army chief memoirs tells us, what is the India-US deal. One man standing for amity in Uttarakhand teaches us a lesson and is India in ICC furthering cricket’s cause or damning it?
Seema’s recommendations: 1. Absolute Jafar - graphic novel by Sarnath Banerjee
2. ⁠Aaj Jaane ki Zid na Karo: Arijit Singh’s version    • Aaj Jane Ki Zid Na Karo   Arijit Singh   L...  
Minal's recommendation: 1. Bridgerton

What does Minnesota tell us? Anti-UGC protests and the importance of Bulle Shah

In Seema Says, The Wire’s Multimedia Head, Minal Saeed Khan talks to Seema Chishti, The Wire’s Editor about key events these last few days that we need to note. The discussion ranges from debate over UGC’s new guidelines to the killings die to ICE actions in the US and the vandalisation of a Baba Bulle Shah shrine in Uttarakhand

Is Iran Next? US Holocaust Museum Report and Coping with SIR

In Seema Says, The Wire’s Editor Seema Chishti answers questions from The Wire’s Multimedia Head Minal Saeed Khan’s questions about events over this past week. What is happening in Iran? How should one read the US Holocaust Museum Report where India figures at number four among the list of nations at risk of mass violence? And how much of a threat to democracy is the SIR? Or is it just ‘procedural’ niggles?
Seema's recommendation:
1. https://www.simonandschuster.com/book... The Art of a Lie by Laura Shepherd Robinson
2. Kochi-Muziris biennale is a must-see, if you can. https://www.kochimuzirisbiennale.org/
Minal's recommendation:
1. All About Love by Bell Hooks
2. Why Is History So Controversial in Today’s India? Romila Thapar and Namit Arora Explain    • Why Is History So Controversial in Today’s...  

Bill to End MGNREGA, 14 Years Jail for Ex ISI Chief, Sinking Rupee

In this episode, The Wire’s Editor Seema Chishti talks about the new Bills introduced in parliament just before its close, the context behind the 14-year sentence to former ISI chief Faiz Hameed in Pakistan, what it means for the rupee to hit low after low, and the Netflix vs Paramount bidding on Warner Bros. Seema’s recommendations: 1. A terrifying (and terrific) read on a nuclear device put in the Himalayas by the CIA and the Indians to spy on China, that has gone missing. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2... 2. The book, ‘Slow Poison’ by Mahmood Mamdani, on issues around Idi Amin and his successor Museveni – on identity and colonialism in Africa. [Mamdani had to leave Uganda when Amin ordered Asians out in 1973.] Jahnavi’s recommendations: 1. Sukanya Shantha’s series on the NIA: https://thewire.in/tagspecial/The-For... 2. ⁠The new Knives Out film, Wake Up Dead Man: https://www.netflix.com/title/81458424

What Indigo Fiasco, SC Comment on BLOs and Putin’s Visit Have in Common

The Wire’s Editor Seema Chishti breaks down some of the big recent headlines - why we should be concerned about monopolies like Indigo, the importance of Karnataka’s hate speech Bill and what FIFA giving a ‘peace prize’ to Donald Trump says about the world. 
Seema’s recommendation:
It is the 300th anniversary of Vivaldi’s ‘Four Seasons’. But is Vivaldi Still the Soundtrack of the Seasons? A conversation With Dr Hannah French. 
https://podcasts.apple.com/dz/podcast/is-vivaldi-still-the-soundtrack-of-the-seasons/id708371900?i=1000737783585&l=fr-FR
A may-wish-to read:
Viral Acharya’s paper on monopoly capitalism in India and its ill effects https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/BPEA_Spring2023_EM-Panel_Acharya_unembargoed_updated.pdf
Jahnavi’s recommendation: 
Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/451608/enter-ghost-by-hammad-isabella/9781529919998

Getting Ready for Putin, Why Stats Being C-Grade Matters, No Snooping on Phones & MF Husain is GOAT

Minal Saeed Khan asks and Seema speaks about the Indian dilemmas around Russian President Putin’s visit to New Delhi, why the government should not be snooping on your phone. Also why Indian stats being designated C-grade by the IMF matters to ordinary Indians + the picture painted by the fact that one of the world’s finest artists, MF Husain’s museum has opened in Qatar.

The Mamdani-Trump Bromance and Lessons it Has for India

The Wire's Editor Seema Chishti talks about the Zohran Mamdani-Donald Trump meeting in the White House Oval Office, the four labour codes recently notified by the Union government and the questions they raise, and why independent filmmakers had to resort to a public plea regarding showings at multiplexes and film distribution.
Seema's recommendations:
1.⁠ ⁠A review of the just-retired Chief Justice of India, BR Gavai’s tenure by Gautam Bhatia
2.⁠ ⁠Two exhibitions: Aban Raza and film posters
Jahnavi's recommendation: Now You See Me: Now You Don't

Sheikh Hasina Verdict, Bihar Results and Indian Football

The Wire's Editor Seema Chishti takes on this week's big news in a new episode of Seema Says: a Bangladesh tribunal has given former PM Sheikh Hasina and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal the death sentence for 'crimes against humanity' during last year's protests; the NDA has swept Bihar; and India's football management is in chaos, with matches on hold.
Seema's recommendations:
A review of Heaven Lake, written by Vikram Seth on travelling in China by Jeremiah Jenne - done as part of vintage reviews on China Books Review.
Bodkin, on Netflix – A drama set in Ireland – a journalist, researcher and a podcaster in search of a real-crime story for a podcast
Jahnavi's recommendation: An easy, quick and fudgy brownie recipe for the winter, from none other than Katherine Hepburn
Around 3:20, Seema has said 2006 instead of 2008. The error is regretted