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Amit Varma

Do you want to ignite your reading habit? Do you wish you read more books? Tune in every week to "The Book Club with Amit Varma". Every Sunday, our host will fill you in on the merits of one particular book, and the many contexts that make it worth reading. We will cover all genres and account for all tastes – and hey, you could use it as a catalyst to start your own little book club!

In the first episode of The Book Club, Amit Varma explains why there are so many great reasons to read Orwell’s essays. George Orwell may be better known for his novels 1984 and Animal Farm, but his collected essays are a masterclass of writing and an invaluable window to the middle years of the 20th century.

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The Book Club with Amit Varma

Published in 1792, The Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft is not just a pioneering work of feminism, but also a step forward for political philosophy in general. Amit Varma explains how it drove liberalism forward with its argument, radical at the time, that human rights extended to all humans, and not just to men.

The Vindication of the Rights of Woman

Mary Shelley’s 'Frankenstein' was published when she was 20 years old, but it is more than just a precocious book of early science fiction. In Episode 3 of The Book Club, Amit Varma explains how Shelley fearlessly tackled big themes and delved as deep into human nature as the best literature of the time. Her book gave birth to many tropes that still exist – and showed an ambition that has since characterised the best writing in a genre she helped create.

Frankenstein

Economic policy sounds boring – but it affects all our lives. In episode 4 of The Book Club, Amit Varma raves about 'In Service of the Republic', a masterful book by Vijay Kelkar and Ajay Shah that distils decades of experience of shaping public policy. In their book, Kelkar and Shah write not about how to make policy, but about how to think about policy, in clear lucid prose that makes its complex subject suddenly seems so clear.

In Service of the Republic

Politics in India is deeply complex, and nowhere is this as apparent as in Maharashtra, where centuries-old fault lines of caste, region and ideology collide. In episode 5 of The Book Club, Amit Varma raves about Sujata Anandan’s ‘Maharashtra Maximus’, the perfect guide to this complex subject.

Maharashtra Maximus

What is the purpose of the law? What should be the role of the state? Are we subjects or citizens? In episode 6 of The Book Club, Amit Varma argues that we have normalised oppression by the state, and we need to examine it anew with clear eyes. There is no better guide to this than Frédéric Bastiat’s 19th-century masterpiece, ‘The Law.’

The Law

Public discourse has become toxic, and there is no better illustration of this than snark. We don’t talk to people any more, we mock. We don’t engage any more, we ridicule. In episode 7 of The Book Club, Amit Varma speaks about ‘Snark’, David Denby’s prescient book about the degeneration of our conversations.

Snark

Humans are the only species who can reprogram themselves. This is astounding. In episode 8 of The Book Club, Amit Varma recommends you read ‘Hacking Darwin’ by Jamie Metzl, a lucid summation of the technological implications of genetic science – and the ethical questions they raise.

Hacking Darwin

Indian society is toxic, sexist, misogynist -- and it has always been this way. In episode 9 of The Book Club, Amit Varma raves about 'Yuganta', Irawati Karve's masterpiece about the sociology of the Mahabharata.

Yuganta

India may seem sexually repressed and prudish – but in the past, we just been just the opposite. In episode 10 of The Book Club, Amit Varma discusses ‘Infinite Variety’, Madhavi Menon’s eye-opening history of desire in India.

Infinite Variety

The GDP is today more a political tool than a statistical one. In episode 11 of The Book Club, Amit Varma recommends ‘GDP: A Brief But Affectionate History” by Diane Coyle, a perfect primer on the origin and drawbacks of this controversial measure.

GDP: A Brief But Affectionate History

What does Shaheen Bagh have in common with Tahrir Square in Egypt and Gezi Park in Istanbul? A lot! In episode 12 of The Book Club, Amit Varma discusses ‘Twitter and Tear Gas’ by Zeynep Tufekci, which looks at the similarity in citizen protests across the world over the last decade.

Twitter and Tear Gas

"It is one of the strengths of families to pretend that they desire what is inevitable." In episode 13 of The Book Club, Amit Varma talks about Vivek Shanbhag's masterpiece Ghachar Ghochar, a moving portrait of the innards of an Indian family.

The Book Club with Amit Varma - The book series

The Book Club with Amit Varma - The book series

The Book Club with Amit Varma books in order

Listen and read