Jack Of All Knowledge

In this episode I am speaking with second time guest on the show, Dr. Ajay Shah about {x}kdr forum and the problems it solves. We speak about how the organisation chooses problems to solve, how they contribute to the Indian developmental story, how Ajay manages to be as enthusiastic about solving big problems as he was 20 years ago, and much more.

In this episode, I am speaking with Bhargavi Zaveri Shah. She is currently pursuing a doctorate degree in law at the National University of Singapore. Her core research interests are the working of central banks and courts in developing countries. She has also done a lot of work on financial regulation, bankruptcy law, regulatory governance and the land market, all in the Indian context. In the conversation, we speak about a range of fascinating topics such as her journey from law to finance, and how she left her law firm job to dedicate herself to public policy research, legal education, and the justice system. We speak at length about her data-backed scholarship on analysing various debt resolution fora and how it can help litigants make better and more equipped choices in the justice system. You can find links to her work here: Bhargavi's Google Scholar page: https://scholar.google.co.in/citations?user=bDvivMIAAAAJ&hl=en Bhargavi's articles on the LEAP blog: https://blog.theleapjournal.org/2015/12/author-bhargavi-zaveri.html#gsc.tab=0 Bhargavi's research on future of court metrics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28800jhftMg&t=1s&ab_channel=xKDR Bhargavi is present on twitter @bhargavizaveri

Roshan Abbas doesn't need much introduction. He's an enigma of creativity and a brilliant person. It was a pleasure to pick out his brains for an hour. The episode features timeless wisdom, poignant stories from his life, advice for creators and curious individuals, and much more a reflection of the great human being he is. Roshan is on Twitter as @roshanabbas

Ajay Shah and I speak about a range of issues - how to better our state capacity, what battles are worth for the state to take up, how to improve our governance models, how to align incentives in the governance institutions, what is the role of the modern state, how to bring out better outcomes for the society, what are in fact better outcomes and much more. Ajay's work can be found at: https://www.mayin.org/ajayshah/

In this episode, I'm speaking with two of my favorite writers about a host of issues. From choosing which college to go to, to understanding what good parenting is, we talk about everything that makes the human brain go tick. We speak extensively about being curious, keeping your learning self alive, how to learn better, how to accumulate knowledge etc. It is a thoroughly enjoyable conversation, and I hope you enjoy listening to this as well! This podcast was recorded with the help of Emergent Ventures grant from Mercatus Center, George Mason University.

I'm talking to Amit Varma, host of the immensely popular podcast seen and the unseen; on a range of issues. We talk about his creative process, the making of seen and the unseen as an oral history project, politics, conversation & disagreements, policy etc.

In the 15th episode of Jack of all knowledge, I'm talking to Shruti Rajagopalan - senior research fellow at Mercatus center, George Mason University and fellow at classical liberal institute NYU law. She is also the lead of Indian vertical of Emergent ventures (a grant making initiative) at GMU. She writes prolifically and also hosts the popular podcast Ideas of India. She's by far, one of the most brilliant people I know - with deep expertise in areas of law and economics. She did her undergraduate degree in economics from Hansraj college, DU and then went to do her LLB from CLC, DU. She then do her masters in law and economics as an Erasmus scholar and then did her PhD in economics from GMU. We talk about her intellectual and personal journey, her interests, research and how she looks at the world. We also talk about intersection of law and economics, what does it mean to think like an economist, how to critically look at economics, and much more. This conversation is one of the best I've had on the podcast - I hope you enjoy this episode. Links: 1. Mercatus center: https://www.mercatus.org/ 2. Ideas of India: https://www.mercatus.org/tags/ideas-india 3. Emergent ventures: https://www.mercatus.org/emergent-ventures 4. Econ4everybody: https://econforeverybody.com/ 5. Fast grants: https://fastgrants.org/

In the 14th episode of Jack of all knowledge, I'm talking to Alok Prasanna Kumar, co founder of Vidhi center for legal policy. Vidhi works on various law and justice issues and is committed to drafting good laws, strengthening public institutions, and realising fundamental rights. Alok did his undergraduate from NALSAR and then went to do his BCL from Oxford. After a brief career in litigation, he was part of the founding team of Vidhi - a think tank that has come a long way since the winter of 2013 when it was started. In the following conversation we talk about many things. We extensively talk about Alok's earlier days, during school and the later, law school, his interests and experiences. We have an insightful discussion on legal education - both undergraduate and masters and how both impacted him as a legal scholar and a person. We then dive deep into the Vidhi story. We talk about the genesis of the think tank, how did they scale up, the values and culture that drives Vidhi, how they take up new projects and measure progress. Producing this podcast takes a lot of my time and effort. From finding the right guests, to recording and editing. If you enjoy listening to the podcast, I would encourage you to support my work by buying me a coffee! Basically for each coffee you buy, I get 375 rupees - and all of this will help me focus on producing high quality conversations for free. I've included the link in the description. Consider supporting (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/divyanshudembi) Vidhi Center of legal policy - https://vidhilegalpolicy.in/

In the 13th episode of the Jack of all knowledge I'm talking to Abhinav Sekhri. Abhinav is a practicing lawyer based in Delhi. He graduated from NLS Bangalore in 2014 and since then has been litigating. He is especially interested in criminal law, evidence and procedure and also edits and writes about the same on his blog Proof of Guilt. He attended HLS for his masters on an Inlaks Shivdasini scholarship. We extensively talk about section 66A,of the IT act the history behind how section 66A was struck down in the now famous judgement of Shreya Singhal v UOI, and also how it has now become a legal zombie - a law that despite being struck down is continually being used to prosecute individuals. We then talk about section 69A of the IT act, which although was challenged in Shreya Singhal but was ruled to be constitutionally firm. The section is back in the public discourse after its use became frequent by the present government to take down certain types of online content. We also talk about his passion for writing, his views on what reforms are needed in the Indian criminal justice system, what would his advice be to aspiring criminal lawyers and lastly - which books should law students read to gain a better knowledge of the law. Abhinav is on twitter as @abhinavsekhri10 I hope you enjoy the conversation. Relevant links: 1. Proof of guilt: https://theproofofguilt.blogspot.com/ 2. Section 66A and other legal zombies: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3275893 3. Shreya Singhal on the case: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2Gj8hUd2DJ03LDxVNCzru2?si=GxdE3iSuQz60oWhkh7DNEA&dl_branch=1 4. Section 69A of the IT act must go: https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/section-69a-of-it-act-must-also-go-1012522.html?utm_source=pocket_mylist 5. Disintegration of Criminal Justice System: https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-disintegration-of-the-criminal-justice-system/article32785928.ece?utm_source=pocket_mylist

In this episode, I'm talking with Sukhnidh Kaur about a range of tech policy issues - from data governance, platform regulation, free speech and private power, and most importantly - about her work as the Digital Literacy fellow at the Internet Freedom Foundation. If you're buzzing in and around the Indian tech policy scene, chances are that you've seen Sukhnidh's brilliant explainer videos about complex legal and technological issues which she did on behalf of IFF. We talk about how she broke down these complex issues into accessible chunks of media, how memes can help generate awareness, and why we need people other than lawyers in Indian tech policy. In the later half of our conversation, we talk about how she approached these issues of tech policy coming from a space of Instagram influencing, about how the platform i.e. Instagram itself is evolving, and about how can organizations cultivate sustained change making movements. Sukhnidh is on twitter as @skhndh. References: 1. Sukhnidh's Privacy 101 explainer video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ykl8bcxFdxo&t=21s&ab_channel=InternetFreedomFoundation 2. Anja Kovack's piece on Identity and data: https://deepdives.in/when-our-bodies-become-data-where-does-that-leave-us-906674f6a969?gi=c62f48e15b67 3. Sukhnidh's Medium page: https://sukhnidh.medium.com/

In the 11th episode, I'm talking to Ashish Kulkarni – someone who genuinely embodies the title of this show ‘Jack of all knowledge'. Ashish is an assistant professor at the Gokhle Institute of Politics and economics, Pune. He also writes at his blog econ4everybody about economics, ideas, perspectives and everything under the sun. He also hosts a podcast called back to college in which he talks to college graduates about what they would do differently if they were again in college. Ashish had been a dream guest for the show for a long time and it was very exciting for me to be able to host him, you'll see shortly why. I talked to Ashish about a lot of things – about how he dropped engineering to study economics, about his passions and philosophy for education and the education system, what it means to be curious and how one can become more curious, why everyone should write, how his ideal university looks like, how he optimises for time and attention in the internet age and finally his sound advice on how to maximise soul. By far this was the best conversation on my podcast yet, I hope you enjoy! Ashish is on twitter at @shish2727. Links: Econ4everybody: https://econforeverybody.com/ Back to college: https://open.spotify.com/show/250XSqf7sfLJNAg5gL1u5U?si=d0BGsrThSnm5k4xn11CPYQ&dl_branch=1 Maximising soul: https://econforeverybody.com/2021/03/08/maximizing_soul/ Ashish's interview on philosophy and future of education part I: https://praneetsinghbutran.substack.com/p/on-the-philosophy-and-future-of-education Ashish's interview on philosophy and future of education part II: https://praneetsinghbutran.substack.com/p/on-the-philosophy-and-future-of-education-590 On Interning: https://econforeverybody.com/2021/03/05/on-interning/ Unbundling college: https://econforeverybody.com/2020/07/14/unbundling-college/ Long, slow, but inevitable death of classroom: https://econforeverybody.com/2021/01/28/the-long-slow-but-inevitable-death-of-the-classroom/ How to optimise twitter as a learning tool: https://divyanshu99.substack.com/p/why-twitter-is-the-single-most-important-21-06-06 Marginal Revolution: https://marginalrevolution.com/ Conversations with Tyler: https://conversationswithtyler.com/ Almost ideal university, part I: https://econforeverybody.com/2021/07/09/the-almost-ideal-university/ At Tyler Cowen university, no one would have tenure: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-07-05/what-would-your-fantasy-university-look-like

In this episode of Jack of all knowledge, I'm joined by my dear friend and senior Nirmal Bhansali. Nirmal is a 5th year law student at NLUJ, and will be graduating from college this summer. I talk to him about a range of issues, from his experience of hosting two different podcasts, to curiosity and how learning happens inside and outside college. We go off on a bunch of different interesting tangents which makes the conversation richer. Nirmal is on twitter as @NirmalSBhansali. 1. Curiousect: https://open.spotify.com/show/3xy0CTHMOHTvuYy2sKNvGA?si=tB-K8hPCQNKPVzC5gpknSg&utm_source=copy-link 2. Legal Synthesis (with Sandesh Atyam): https://open.spotify.com/show/22uItKBeS0gcABpxgTrCiQ?si=GR6crqvqR2-o1MZ_2jvSLw&utm_source=copy-link 3. 99% Invisible: https://open.spotify.com/show/2VRS1IJCTn2Nlkg33ZVfkM?si=a2vTqf40T42n_sH-67Pi7Q&utm_source=copy-link 4. This American Life: https://open.spotify.com/show/41zWZdWCpVQrKj7ykQnXRc?si=vxLJpGRaRyu49bKyTmUG9g&utm_source=copy-link 5. More perfect: https://open.spotify.com/show/6iVxbLoqDofkNpXYO4mt2W?si=45m9LFftShOhCxW5V5-aQQ&utm_source=copy-link 6. Hello Internet: https://open.spotify.com/show/6qJxqNeEbtFpRVkUchWTRr?si=ta_-LmSDT8WoF85ds_lo2Q&utm_source=copy-link 7. The undismal paradox: https://open.spotify.com/show/0E5PReAJtDkKFBhbMKzo4n?si=lOuv0VCSQvSy1rZmFIuQDg&utm_source=copy-link 8. Ways of hearing: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5sovOkTvSVAi1VDgKKi74d?si=9rRsh4d8Sh61M6iJu89GcQ&utm_source=copy-link 9. Roman Mars's Ted Talk: https://youtu.be/pnv5iKB2hl4 10. Paul Graham's essay on Curiosity: http://www.paulgraham.com/think.html 11. Nirmal's episode titled 'A longing to read': https://open.spotify.com/episode/7BhjVdVNIYLkhGZl7SkI0B?si=Vq6OShcUTNOKlqWFexJ9jw&utm_source=copy-link 12. Max Joseph's video about Bookstore and reading: https://youtu.be/lIW5jBrrsS0 13. Ashish Kulkarni's (v cool) blog: https://econforeverybody.com/ My essays on some related topics: 1. The knowledge tradeoff: https://impatientlycurious.blogspot.com/2021/03/the-knowledge-trade-off.html 2. Bring back long-form: https://impatientlycurious.blogspot.com/2021/03/bring-back-long-form.html 3. Procrastination kills knowledge: https://impatientlycurious.blogspot.com/2021/03/procrastination-kills-knowledge.html 4. Inadequacy of knowledge: https://impatientlycurious.blogspot.com/2021/03/inadequacy-of-knowledge.html 5. Advice to my 18 y/o self: https://impatientlycurious.blogspot.com/2021/04/advice-to-my-18-year-old-self.html

In this episode, I'm joined by Apar Gupta, executive director and founder of Internet Freedom Foundation. IFF works on a range of issues including net neutrality, free expression, privacy and innovation through advocacy and strategic litigation. We talk about how IFF was born out of save our internet movement and how it works to advance democratic visions in a digital society. We also talk about how technology impacts our liberty and freedom, and how Apar's passion to work for public interest led him to leave his quite successful practice to establish IFF. Apar is on twitter as @apar1984

In this episode I'm joined by Sagnik Das, Asst Professor at Jindal Global Law School to talk about his wide range of experiences from learning the law, to practising it, and now to teaching it, and the wisdom he's gathered along the way. We talk about his time as an undergraduate student at NLUJ and later as a master's candidate at the prestigious Harvard Law School. We also talk about his interest in International Law and his experience as a judicial clerk in the Delhi HC.

In this episode of Jack of all knowledge, I'm talking to Nikhil Purohit, a final year student at NLS about the cat and mouse chase between scientific publishing industries and open access websites like SciHub, and LibGen. These websites have been sued for copyright infringement by major publishing companies in the Delhi HC recently. We talk about how the scientific publishing industry works, why people find their business model questionable, and most importantly - what is the legitimate case for SciHub and Libgen. Nikhil is a fellow at SpicyIP and this episode is based around the three part series of articles he wrote on this issue, posted below: 1. https://spicyip.com/2020/12/sci-hub-and-libgen-up-against-academic-publishers-a-death-knell-for-access-to-research-part-i.html 2. https://spicyip.com/2020/12/sci-hub-and-libgen-up-against-academic-publishers-a-death-knell-for-access-to-research-part-ii.html 3. https://spicyip.com/2020/12/sci-hub-and-libgen-up-against-academic-publishers-a-death-knell-for-access-to-research-part-iii.html

In the sixth epsiode of Jack of all knowledge, I'm taking to Shohini Sengupta, Asst. Professor of Research at the Jindal School of Banking and Finance. We talk extensively about Fin-tech companies and how technology has changed the face of financial regulation and regulators, broader financial laws in India & their intersection with privacy, and the architect of India stack. Shohini has done her BA. LLB. from NLIU Bhopal and went on to do her MSc. In Law & Finance from university of Oxford. She's previously worked at the Vidhi Center for legal policy, ESYA Center and also as a government energy lawyer.

In the 5th episode of Jack of all knowledge, I talk to Hamsini Marada, lecturer at Jindal Global Law School, around a range of issues regarding how art and law interact with each other. We talk about how art is used as means of resistance, about how protest art works, what happens when provocative art attracts obscenity laws & the paradigm of free speech in India with respect to freedom to indulge in art. We also talk about her experience as a judicial clerk at the Delhi HC, how teaching has changed due to the pandemic, and the recent criminal law reforms commitee. Hamsini has done her BSL LLB from ILS Pune, and then went on to do her LLM from University of Cambridge. She's interested in Comparative Constitution Law, Philosophy of Art and Aesthetics & Criminal law.

In the 4th episode of Jack of All Knowledge, I talk to Medianamas's correspondent on drones, surveillance and privacy - Soumyarendra Barik on the evolving drone ecosystem in India - it's challenges and promises. MediaNama is the premier source of information and analysis on Technology Policy in India. We talk about a range of issues from facial recognition technology, to privacy and the state's apparent obsession with using technology to 'solve' all issues. Here's Soumya's fantastic reporting on the drone ecosystem and associated privacy concerns: 1. https://www.medianama.com/2020/07/223-drone-guide-india/ 2. https://www.medianama.com/2020/11/223-tn-police-catch-criminal-using-facial-recognition-issues/ 3. https://www.medianama.com/2020/09/223-indian-automated-facial-recognition-system-face-mask-detection/ 4. https://www.medianama.com/2020/07/223-afrs-revised-tender-ncrb/

In the third episode of Jack of all knowledge, I talk to Anushka Jain of the Internet Freedom Foundation to understand the usage of Facial Recognition Technology in India and the various problems associated with it. We also talk about how FRT is a tool in creating a culture of mass surveillance which has harmful consequences such as the chilling effect on protests, dissent and the free speech of people. Link to the Notion document with all the research Resources: https://www.notion.so/Facial-recognition-Technology-in-India-and-the-threat-to-Privacy-Ep-3-Jack-of-all-knowledge-4736ba3285284ea5bb622600d87cffda

In the second episode of Jack of all knowledge, I use tools of behavioral economics and Game theory to try to understand why we Indians, behave a certain way. I also talk about the role that heuristics & cognitive biases play in determining what type of decisions we take and what the central clash between classical and behavioural economics is. This episode is based on the book 'Games Indians Play' by V Raghunathan. Link to the broadcast: https://chat.whatsapp.com/IInZ5GIhjNRLWcKXubqBOy

'You may take the Indian out of India, but you cannot take India out of the Indian'. Have you ever wondered, why? Why we, Indians behave the way we do? In the second episode of Jack of all knowledge, I dive into the world of game theory and behavioural economics to try to understand what drives our behavioural patterns and makes us behave and react a certain way. What makes us, Indians, who we are!

With the NEP, Education and Educational policy is the talk of the town. Sankalp Vohra joins me in episode 1 of Life and Stuff to discuss the normative educational ecosystem in India and the promise of multidisciplinary studies, both as a novel concept and it's practical application in programs like the Young India Fellowship. Also check out my blog 'Life and Everything in between' at https://lifeandstuff194723870.wordpress.com/ AND Sankalp's Paper 'Why art can be a meme but Internet memes are not Art' at http://rb.gy/e1jfji