NL Hafta

This week on Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, and Shardool Katyayan are joined by senior journalist Sreenivasan Jain and Dhanya Rajendran, editor-in-chief of The News Minute. The panel dives into the high-stakes 2026 assembly elections across Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherry. Check out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and letters.Produced by Amit Pandey with production assistance from Priyali Dhingra and Abhay Kumar. Sound by Anil Kumar

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Jayashree Arunachalam, and Manisha Pande are joined by The New York Times journalist Mujib Mashal and Aishwaria Sonavane, research analyst for Pakistan studies at the Takshashila Institution.Check out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and letters.Produced by Amit Pandey with production assistance from Priyali Dhingra and Abhay Kumar. Sound by Anil Kumar

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Jayashree Arunachalam, and Shardool Katyayan are joined by independent journalist Nidhi Suresh and Mridul Dudeja, a freelance technologist who has been engaged with queer-trans community spaces in Mumbai and across India for over 15 years. Check out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and letters.Produced by Amit Pandey with production assistance from Sourav Ranjan and Abhay Kumar. Sound by Anil Kumar

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Jayashree Arunachalam, Raman Kirpal and Anand Vardhan discuss three big themes: Nitish Kumar’s succession politics in Bihar, religion creeping into sport, and the ethics of euthanasia.Check out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and letters.Produced by Amit Pandey with production assistance from Saif Ekram and Abhay Kumar. Sound by Naresh.

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri,  Manisha Pande, Jayashree Arunachalam, and Shardool Katyayan are joined by AFP’s chief US correspondent Shaun Tandon and Aditya Ramanathan, research fellow at Takshila Institution. Check out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and letters.Produced by Amit Pandey with Production assistant by Saif Ekram. Sound by Anil Kumar 

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Manisha Pande, Jayashree Arunachalam, and Anand Vardhan are joined by academic and columnist Fahad Zuberi and Kallol Bhattacherjee, the foreign affairs editor of The Hindu.Check out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and subscriber letters.Produced by Amit Pandey & Priyali DhingraSound by Anil Kumar 

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande and Shardool Katyayan are joined by Amba Kak, a tech policy expert and researcher, and Alex Travelli, the South Asia business correspondent for The New York Times.Check out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and subscriber letters.Produced by Ashish Anand & Amit Pandey. Sound by Anil Kumar 

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Jayashree Arunachalam, Raman Kirpal and Anand Vardhan are joined by filmmaker Sudhir Mishra and senior journalist Arati Jerath.Check out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and subscriber letters.Produced by Amit PandeyAssistant production by AshishSound design by Anil Kumar

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, and Jayashree Arunachalam are joined by musician and author T.M. Krishna and defence analyst Ajai Shukla for a conversation that spans Parliament flashpoints, billionaire ownership in journalism, and the deeper cultural fight over India’s national symbols.The panel opens with a discussion around the furore in Parliament over former Army chief General M.M. Naravane’s yet-to-be-released memoir this week. Questioning Om Birla’s claim that the Opposition was planning an attack on PM Narendra Modi, Manisha says, “It’s fear-mongering… the same story as what prime time had done back when the Prime Minister got stuck in a traffic jam.”Ajai Shukla opines that the very fact that a former Army Chief’s account is stuck in clearance limbo shows how tightly the government controls uncomfortable narratives around national security and China.The discussion then transitions to the layoff purge at The Washington Post, which Jayashree describes as a symptom of a world where media outlets are “bought by a billionaire” and then “gutted to maximise profits”. Abhinandan argues that economics is not just a study of money, but a study of societies, adding that journalism is a public good that cannot be left to the mercy of a billionaire.Finally, TM Krishna discusses his new book, We, the People of India, which examines India’s anthem, flag, and other national symbols. Krishna contrasts Vande Mataram with Jana Gana Mana, arguing they reflect very different ideas of India. He also points to a deeper democratic failure. “We entirely failed in making democracy a culture,” Krishna says, arguing that constitutional values were reduced to textbook lines you “just mugged up to write in an examination.”This and a lot more. Tune in!Timecodes00:00:00 - Introductions and birthday announcements!00:05:25 - Headlines00:28:14 - T.M. Krishna on his book and being an artist today01:28:00 - Controversy over General MM Naravane’s book01:49:11 - Letters02:08:10 - RecommendationsIf you want to write to Hafta, click here. Click here to contribute to our Sena project. Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. Download the Newslaundry app. Check out Hafta recommendations, references, songs and letters.Produced by Priyali Dhingra, with assistant production by Ashish Anand. Sound by Anil Kumar