#SouthAsia@podcasts - our podcast recommendations

Podcasts gained more and more importance in academia over the last years. Researchers are interviewed about their careers, research projects and book publications are discussed in conversation, the use of digital methods is examined - research is not only visible, but also audible. Open your ears to research in South Asian Studies!

 

Here we have compiled a list of podcast recommendations for you.

 

Another Pakistan

Journalist Christopher Lydon travelled to Pakistan in 2011, microphone in hand, ready to take the pulse of the embattled nation. The result is Another Pakistan, a candid and thought-provoking series of podcast conversations brought to you by the Asia Society and the Watson Institute at Brown University, produced by Zarminae Ansari and Ben Mandelkern, with support on the ground from Aman ki Asha.


ANUBhasha - Textual Digitisation and Repatriation in South Asia

Dr. Christopher Diamond and Dr. Stephanie Majcher, lecturers at the Australian National University in Canberra, in conversations with researchers, archivists, curators and practitioners, discuss possible contributions of digitisation for the restitution of cultural property.


The Bridge Project Podcast

The Bridge Project offers conversations with academics, practitioners and entrepreneurs, typically with a focus on Australia-India relations.


The Buddhist Studies Podcast

In-depth explorations into the field of Buddhist Studies. Featuring candid conversations and interviews with scholars of Buddhism across the disciplines of Religious Studies, Indology, Art History, South Asian Studies, Anthropology, and more. Hosted by Dr. Kate Hartmann, who is an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Wyoming.


Centre of South Asian Studies: Seminars

Audio files of the weekly seminars held at the Centre of South Asian Studies at University of Cambridge, as well as of other events in the Centre's academic programme.


The Channel - the podcast of the IIAS at Leiden University

The Channel is the flagship podcast from IIAS at Leiden University. Each episode delves into a particular Asian Studies topic from across the social sciences and humanities. Through a mixture of interviews, lectures, discussions, readings, and more, The Channel is a platform to connect scholars, activists, artists, and broader publics in sustained conversation about Asia and its place in the contemporary world.


Empire

How do empires emerge? Why do they fall? And how have they shaped today's world? William Dalrymple and Anita Anand explore stories, personalities and events of empires in the course of history. In the first episode the focus is put on the British in India: the East India Company, India as crown colony, Mahatma Gandhi, the Independence Movement and Partition of India.


Gandhāra: Die ältesten Handschriften des Buddhismus (German)

In the 1990s, the oldest manuscripts of Buddhism and the oldest manuscripts of South Asia were found in the ancient region Gandhāra, in today's Pakistan and Afghanistan. These manuscripts are edited and researched upon in the research project "Frühbuddhistische Handschriften aus Gandhāra" (Early Buddhist Manuscripts from Gandhāra) at the Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften. The project leader, Dr. Stefan Baums, offers insights in this research project.


Gebundene Schönheit - Tell me a history (tmah021) (German)

Dr. Friederike Weis, who leads a DFG project on Indian albums at the Berlin Museum for Asian Arts, allows insights in the historical origins of collector's albums, a format which emerged in the 15th century in Persian-speaking regions. These gorgeous albums, illustrated with miniatures, were circulated in India as well and were quite popular in the Mughal Empire.


The Heritage as Placemaking Podcast

This series is presented by the international research project Heritage as Placemaking. The project is organised into four theoretical strands - decolonisationerasurecommoning, and bureaucracy - and the accompanying podcast follows the same overarching themes. For the second year of the podcast series the project focuses on erasure and collaborates with Nepal Conversations. Erasure is curated by Dr. Stefanie Lotter, Senior Research Fellow at SOAS University of London, and Dr. Uma Pradhan, lecturer at University College London.


The History of India Podcast

Kit Patrick, a teaching fellow at the University of Bristol, offers a guided walk through Indian history. The podcast ran for five seasons and allows insights into ancient India.


Lekh Review

A podcast featuring conversations with authors and writers who have published new books covering South Asia. Hosted by Karthik Nachiappan, who has a PhD in South Asian Studies from King's College, University of London and is currently a Fellow at the National University of Singapore.


M.A.P // A.M.P Podcast

A project by Goethe-Institute seeking to capture, document, explore and invite music, poetry, research and discourse on the intersections of music and activism in South Asia. The thematic frame of M.A.P // A.M.P interfaces with other topics, especially pertaining to civil society, minorities, feminism, and queer activism.


Masala History

A multidisciplinary podcast that hosts scholarly and expert content on South Asia. Focusing on fields within humanities and social sciences, the content is curated for those interested in a deeper engagement with topics related to South Asia.


Das Mogulreich - Tell me a history (tmah012) (German)

In this episode, Prof. Dr. Eva Orthmann, who has been Professor of Iranian Studies at the University of Göttingen since 2018, explores the question of what life was like for people of the many different ethnicities and religions in the Mughal Empire, how their artistic self-representation can be distinguished, and how it was subsequently perceived.


Nepal Conversations

Nepal Conversations is a podcast series is presented together where Dr. Uma Pradhan, lecturer at the University College London, talks to scholars and researchers about their interesting work on various aspects of Nepali society. For the fourth season of the podcast with a focus on erasure, Dr. Uma Pradhan collaborates with Dr. Stefanie Lotter from the international research project Heritage as Placemaking.


New Books Network - South Asian Studies

In this podcast researchers present their latest book publications.


Online Gods - A Podcast about Digital Cultures in India and beyond

Online Gods is part theoretical exploration into some of the key concepts in the anthropology of media, and part research into how increased online interaction is changing the public sphere. Taking India and the India diaspora as its focal point, the podcast continues in the great anthropological tradition of bringing the global and the specific into conversation with one another as it analyses what online discussions do to political participation, displays of faith and feelings of national belonging.


The Partition of British India

The Mittal Institute at Harvard University presents a series of podcasts in which distinguished faculty and visiting scholars explore the history, context, and continuing impact of the Partition of India and Pakistan. The episodes were recorded during the Mittal Institute's Partition Seminars, featuring a range of Harvard faculty from various disciplines and schools presenting on themes including humanitarian consequences, nationalism, cities and settlements, long-term impacts, and more.


The Sanskrit Studies Podcast

Dr. Antonia Ruppel, research assistant at the Institute of Indology and Tibetology at LMU Munich, in conversation with Sanskrit researchers.


SASSpod - South Asian Studies at Stanford Podcast

This podcast covers a wide range of topics, from poetry to politics, from manuscript collections to music, from science to Bollywood.


Sensing the Sacred

Dr. Finnian Gerety, professor at the Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia at Brown University, talks with colleagues from around the world about Hindu nationalism, street shrines in India, stories of saints in Afghanistan, mantras, astrology in Jainism and much more.


South Asia - University of Oxford Podcast
This podcast offers lectures, panel discussions and book presentations on South Asian topics.South Asia Chat - National University of Singapore

A weekly podcast covering important political developments in South Asia.


South Asian Conversations Podcast - Centre of South Asian Studies, University of Cambridge

Dr. Edward Anderson, Dr. Partha Pratim Shil and Dr. Anjali Bhardwaj-Datta in conversation with international South Asian studies researchers. The conversations were recorded in Spring 2020.