South Asian Studies

South Asian Studies

episodes

Interviews with scholars of South Asia about their new books.

Muslims and the Minority Question across the Indian Ocean: A Conversation With Roy Bar Sadeh

August 5, 2026

Muslims and the Minority Question across the Indian Ocean

Roy Bar Sadeh
Hosted by Ahmed Almaazmi

In this conversation, we are entering an Indian Ocean world connected by steamships, telegraphs, pilgrimage routes, and print. From Bombay and the Gul…

Monalisa Adhikari, "A Post-Liberal Peace: How Emergent Powers Are Reshaping Global Conflict Management" (Cornell UP, 2026)

August 2, 2026

A Post-Liberal Peace

Monalisa Adhikari
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In A Post-Liberal Peace: How Emergent Powers Are Reshaping Global Conflict Management (Cornell UP, 2026), Dr. Monalisa Adhikari shows how rising power…

Nabi Sahak, "Anglo-Afghan Power and Politics, 1893–1947: The Durand Line Unmasked" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2025)

July 31, 2026

Anglo-Afghan Power and Politics, 1893–1947

Nabi Sahak
Hosted by Qaseem Ahmadzai

In this episode of New Books Network, I speak with Nabi Sahak about his book, Anglo-Afghan Power and Politics, 1893–1947: The Durand Line Unmasked…

The Long Reach of the Strong Arm: Evolving Forms of Transnational Authoritarianism in Asia and Beyond

July 30, 2026

The Long Reach of the Strong Arm

Mubashar Hasan and Arild Engelsen Ruud eds.

How do authoritarian regimes silence critics across borders? And what are the repressive tools and strategies that authoritarian regimes use transnati…

Mitra Sharafi, "Fear of the False: Forensic Science and the Law of Crime in Colonial South Asia" (Cornell UP, 2026)

July 25, 2026

Fear of the False

Mitra Sharafi
Hosted by Saumya Dadoo

Fear of the False: Forensic Science and the Law of Crime in Colonial South Asia (Cornell University Press, 2026) uncovers colonial South Asia's critic…

Samantha Iyer, "Agrarian Superpower: Food, Development, and the Global Ascendancy of the United States" (Columbia UP, 2026)

July 25, 2026

Agrarian Superpower

Samantha Iyer
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

The United States’ superpower status is often associated with its industrial, financial, and military might. Yet its global power after the Second Wor…

Lily Kelting, "Against Heritage: The Reinvention of Traditional Foods" (UNC Press, 2026)

July 24, 2026

Against Heritage

Lily Kelting
Hosted by Kelly Spivey

The rise of “heritage” foods—that is, the reinvention of traditional foods—has enjoyed a high profile thanks to the oft-praised efforts of chefs such …

Dominik A. Haas, "South Asia Before Religion: Reflections on an Anachronistic Concept" (Knowledge Commons Works, 2026)

July 23, 2026

South Asia Before Religion

Dominik A. Haas
Hosted by Raj Balkaran

South Asia Before Religion: Reflections on an Anachronistic Concept (Knowledge Commons Works, 2026) critically examines the applicability of the conce…

Debolina Dutta, "A Jurisprudence of Conversations: Law, Life and Feminism in Post-colonial India" (Cambridge UP, 2026)

July 22, 2026

A Jurisprudence of Conversations

Debolina Dutta
Hosted by Saumya Dadoo

Grounded in empirical studies, this book is both a history of the emergence of feminist jurisprudence in post-colonial India and a model of innovative…

Caste as a Material Question with Rahul Sonpimple

July 20, 2026

Caste as a Material Question

Rahul Sonpimple

This episode featured a conversation with Rahul Sonpimple, founder of the All-India Independent Scheduled Castes Association. Our conversation began w…

Renisa Mawani, "Across Oceans of Law: The Komagata Maru and Jurisdiction in the Time of Empire" (Duke UP, 2018)

July 17, 2026

Across Oceans of Law

Renisa Mawani
Hosted by Helen Dewar

In 1914 the British-built and Japanese-owned steamship Komagata Maru left Hong Kong for Vancouver carrying 376 Punjabi migrants. Chartered by railway …

Luna Sabastian, "Fascism in India: Race, Caste, and Hindutva" (Harvard UP, 2025)

July 16, 2026

Fascism in India

Luna Sabastian
Hosted by Sachin Nikarge

Fascism swept the world in the 1920s and 1930s, but not only because of the seductive rhetoric of Mussolini, Hitler, and their collaborators. In India…

Ute Hüsken and Suganya Anandakichenin eds., "Pathika: Studies of South Asian Texts and Traditions" (HAS, 2026)

July 16, 2026

Pathika

Ute Hüsken and Suganya Anandakichenin eds.
Hosted by Raj Balkaran

A conversation featuring the editors of the new Heidelberg Asian Studies Publishing series Pathika - Studies of South Asian Texts and Traditions (HAS,…

Vignesh Rajahmani, "The Dravidian Pathway: The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the Politics of Transition in South India" (Hurst Publishers, 2025)

July 10, 2026

The Dravidian Pathway

Vignesh Rajahmani
Hosted by Dhiren Swain

In the rich political landscape of Tamil Nadu, few movements have had as profound and enduring an impact as the Dravidian movement. Vignesh Raja…

Monika Kirloskar-Steinbach, "Freedom to Know: Creating Community with Ambedkar, Du Bois, Iqbal, Ramabai and Tagore" (Edinburgh UP, 2025)

July 10, 2026

Freedom to Know

Monika Kirloskar-Steinbach
Hosted by Jessica Zu

Freedom to Know: Creating Community with Ambedkar, Du Bois, Iqbal, Ramabai and Tagore (Edinburgh University Press, 2025) asks how a (world) community …

Pratap Kumar Penumala and Arvind Sharma, "The Bloomsbury Handbook of Hindu Ethics" (Bloomsbury, 2026)

July 9, 2026

The Bloomsbury Handbook of Hindu Ethics

Pratap Kumar Penumala and Arvind Sharma
Hosted by Raj Balkaran

With the plurality of Hinduism in mind, The Bloomsbury Handbook of Hindu Ethics focuses on the human, sociological and situational ethical framework u…

Meena Khandelwal, "Cookstove Chronicles: Social Life of a Women's Technology in India" (U Arizona Press, 2026)

July 8, 2026

Cookstove Chronicles

Meena Khandelwal
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Stove improvers have been designing and promoting “clean” or “efficient” biomass cookstoves in India since the 1940s and have been frustrated to …

Gajendran Ayyathurai, "Tamil Buddhism and Brahminism in Modern India: Deep Resistance Against Caste" (Oxford UP, 2026)

July 4, 2026

Tamil Buddhism and Brahminism in Modern India

Gajendran Ayyathurai
Hosted by Sanjukta Poddar

Tamil Buddhism and Brahminism in Modern India: Deep Resistance Against Caste (Oxford University Press, 2026) explores Tamil Buddhism in modern India, …

Aditi Chandra, "Unruly Monuments: Disrupting the State at Delhi's Islamic Architecture" (Cambridge UP, 2025)

July 1, 2026

Unruly Monuments

Aditi Chandra
Hosted by Sohini Majumdar

Unruly Monuments: Disrupting the State at Delhi's Islamic Architecture (Cambridge University Press, 2025) examines how Delhi's Sultanate and Mughal ar…

Caste and Music with T.M. Krishna

June 29, 2026

Caste and Music

T.M. Krishna

This episode features a conversation with Carnatic vocalist, T.M. Krishna, who is also the author of two books on this musical tradition. We began wit…