Suggesting you podcasts, week after week since the lockdown began, has been fun. For we got a chance to listen to a lot of fantastic episodes from podcasts we mightn’t have discovered otherwise. We hope you have found this column helpful too. This is going to be its last listicle. So, we bring you four of our favourite podcasts from our recommendations.
Mission ISRO
The podcast starts with this whistle-worthy dialogue:-
“ Upar se Bharat kaisa dikta hain aapko? [How does India look from above?]” Prime Minister Indira Gandhi asks squadron leader Rakesh Sharma.
The squadron leader — the first person from his country to be in outer space — replies, quoting poet Muhammad Iqbal, “ Saare jahaan se achcha! [Better than the whole world!]”.
This well-research podcast, featuring the delightful narration of Harsha Bhogle, tells us the story of how (and why) a fledgling nation, which was even struggling to feed its people, managed to kickstart a space mission. This is our must-listen recommendation for this year.
Episode length: 40 minutes (on average) Available on: Exclusively on Spotify
The Happiness Lab
Psychology and the Good Life, taught by Laurie Santos, is the most popular class in over three centuries of Yale University. Laurie, when she started the course, didn’t expect this overwhelming interest in the subject. The Happiness Lab is a way of taking the subject to people outside Yale. It’s a much-needed podcast for these times. It reveals the misconceptions about happiness and talks about habits that would help you increase your well-being. If you like the podcast, you can enrol for her Yale University course, which is now available for free on the online learning platform Coursera .
Episode length: 30 minutes (on average) Available on: Google podcast, Apple podcast, happinesslab.fm and more
Philosophize This!
Stephen West’s podcast discusses the thinkers and their ideas that shaped our world. His podcast won’t be enough if you are looking to get a PhD on the works of Plato. But this podcast will introduce you to different schools of philosophy across the world. It is ideal, albeit not necessary, to start listening from the first episode as West covers philosophers through the ages — from the shabbily clothed Socrates, who roamed the streets of ancient Greece to the more fashionable 20th-century American philosopher Robert Nozick and others.
Episode length: 30+ minutes (on average). Available on: philosophizethis.org, Spotify, Google Podcast and more.
Future Perfect
The world slowly resumes after the pandemic-induced pause. But global problems — like climate change, poverty, animal cruelty and migrant crisis — continue to mount. This podcast examines the complicated problems facing the world and the most efficient ways to solve them. Future Perfect covers the world through the lens of effective altruism. The ongoing season, for instance, tells stories about how meat affects humans (farmers, factory workers, consumers), animals and climate. The episodes feature discussions on how the meat industry can be more environmentally sustainable and humane.
Episode length: 30 minutes (on average). Available on: Google Podcast, Apple Podcast, vox.com, and more.
Published - October 27, 2020 08:20 pm IST
