In a complex world where the truth is up for grabs, we need narrative nonfiction. Samanth Subramanian joins Amit Varma in episode 183 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about the art and craft of this form of literature. Also discussed: A Dominant Character, Samanth's book on JBS Haldane, and the intersection of science and politics.  Also check out: 1. A Dominant Character -- Samanth Subramanian. 2. Samanth Subramanian's website, Amazon page and his work at the Guardian and the New Yorker.  3. The Intersection -- the podcast hosted by Padmaparna Ghosh and Samanth Subramanian. 4. Psmith, Journalist -- PG Wodehouse. 5. Question Time: My Life as a Quiz Obsessive -- Samanth Subramanian. 6. Quizzing is Not Just a Trivial Pursuit -- Amit Varma. 7. Neville Cardus on Amazon. 8. Darwin's Dangerous Idea -- Daniel Dennett. 9. The Perfect Murder -- HRF Keating. 10. Conversation and Society -- Episode 182 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Russ Roberts). 11. Cricket as a novelty, an obsession, and as literature -- Samanth Subramanian on Siddhartha Vaidyanathan's podcast, 81 all out. 12. On Writing Well -- Sarah Farooqui's interview with Samanth Subramanian. 13. The Complete New Yorker. 14. AJ Liebling, Calvin Trillin and Joan Didion on Amazon. 15. The Confidence Man -- Samanth Subramanian (on Lalit Modi). 15. The New New Journalism -- Robert Boynton. 16. The Secret of Excess -- Bill Buford (on Mario Batali). 17. The Power Broker -- Robert A Caro. 18. Robert A Caro on Amazon. 19. What Ails Indian Science -- JBS Haldane. 20. The Evolution of Everything -- Episode 96 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Matt Ridley). 21. The Man of System -- Adam Smith (excerpted from The Theory of Moral Sentiments). 22. The Papers of JBS Haldane -- Samanth Subramanian. 23. A talk by Samanth Subramanian on JBS Haldane at Archives@NCBS.    And hey, do check out Amit Varma's writing course, The Art of Clear Writing.

In a complex world where the truth is up for grabs, we need narrative nonfiction. Samanth Subramanian joins Amit Varma in episode 183 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about the art and craft of this form of literature. Also discussed: A Dominant Character, Samanth's book on JBS Haldane, and the intersection of science and politics. Also check out: 1. <a href="https://www.amazon.in/Dominant-Character-Science-Politics-Haldane-ebook/dp/B081ZFTW91/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=samanth+subramanian&qid=1595718766&sr=8-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.in/Dominant-Character-Science-Politics-Haldane-ebook/dp/B081ZFTW91/ref%3Dsr_1_1?keywords%3Dsamanth%2Bsubramanian%26qid%3D1595718766%26sr%3D8-1&source=gmail&ust=1595808202696000&usg=AFQjCNGN_c37B3AZuRo6sb9MWHyhgepXyQ">A Dominant Character</a> -- Samanth Subramanian. 2. <a href="http://samanth.in/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://samanth.in/&source=gmail&ust=1595808202696000&usg=AFQjCNFxOIYmPbx0XEbPCIF_8KKwxcnrsA">Samanth Subramanian's website</a>, <a href="http://amazon.in/Samanth-Subramanian/e/B007FYCD5O/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://amazon.in/Samanth-Subramanian/e/B007FYCD5O/ref%3Ddp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1&source=gmail&ust=1595808202696000&usg=AFQjCNGbhfM11YDJjVx5t14xFilQDbKsKA">Amazon page</a> and his work at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/profile/samanth-subramanian" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.theguardian.com/profile/samanth-subramanian&source=gmail&ust=1595808202696000&usg=AFQjCNE_N0xkYH-LxlNmKQJc-OBefIzY-Q">the Guardian</a> and <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/contributors/samanth-subramanian" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.newyorker.com/contributors/samanth-subramanian&source=gmail&ust=1595808202696000&usg=AFQjCNFRtK-5TGko2dWZ4XbwZfnnPOhZyA">the New Yorker</a>.  3. <a href="http://www.audiomatic.in/category/the-intersection/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.audiomatic.in/category/the-intersection/&source=gmail&ust=1595808202696000&usg=AFQjCNGhnyGvFyCx_uxOvzgcjZcmMyYK0w">The Intersection</a> -- the podcast hosted by Padmaparna Ghosh and Samanth Subramanian. 4. <a href="https://www.amazon.in/Psmith-Journalist-P-G-Wodehouse-ebook/dp/B0786QKQYT/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=psmith+journalist&qid=1595718903&s=digital-text&sr=1-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.in/Psmith-Journalist-P-G-Wodehouse-ebook/dp/B0786QKQYT/ref%3Dsr_1_1?dchild%3D1%26keywords%3Dpsmith%2Bjournalist%26qid%3D1595718903%26s%3Ddigital-text%26sr%3D1-1&source=gmail&ust=1595808202696000&usg=AFQjCNH-hF-H9qFZingoeNN825EghcbQlw">Psmith, Journalist</a> -- PG Wodehouse. 5. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2020/jan/28/question-time-my-life-as-a-quiz-obsessive" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2020/jan/28/question-time-my-life-as-a-quiz-obsessive&source=gmail&ust=1595808202696000&usg=AFQjCNGXKfW4T8ilpOQj7kSGUDNrvOsHSg">Question Time: My Life as a Quiz Obsessive</a> -- Samanth Subramanian. 6. <a href="https://indiauncut.com/quizzing-is-not-just-a-trivial-pursuit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://indiauncut.com/quizzing-is-not-just-a-trivial-pursuit/&source=gmail&ust=1595808202696000&usg=AFQjCNFn_rAn2n5UpvL4geTdJ7rCr-h-Aw">Quizzing is Not Just a Trivial Pursuit</a> -- Amit Varma. 7. <a href="https://www.amazon.in/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B001KD0IYO?_encoding=UTF8&node=976389031&offset=0&pageSize=12&searchAlias=stripbooks&sort=author-sidecar-rank&page=1&langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.in/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B001KD0IYO?_encoding%3DUTF8%26node%3D976389031%26offset%3D0%26pageSize%3D12%26searchAlias%3Dstripbooks%26sort%3Dauthor-sidecar-rank%26page%3D1%26langFilter%3Ddefault%23formatSelectorHeader&source=gmail&ust=1595808202696000&usg=AFQjCNGN4yUsfRFVsbIVlB9z04O-jrRprQ">Neville Cardus</a> on Amazon. 8. <a href="https://www.amazon.in/Darwins-Dangerous-Idea-Evolution-Meanings-ebook/dp/B002RI996O/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=daniel+Dennett&qid=1595719439&sr=8-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.in/Darwins-Dangerous-Idea-Evolution-Meanings-ebook/dp/B002RI996O/ref%3Dsr_1_1?keywords%3Ddaniel%2BDennett%26qid%3D1595719439%26sr%3D8-1&source=gmail&ust=1595808202696000&usg=AFQjCNHbnWwDxuwJXJV4Ty7zswxi7N3hQA">Darwin's Dangerous Idea</a> -- Daniel Dennett. 9. <a href="https://www.amazon.in/Perfect-Murder-First-Inspector-Mystery-ebook/dp/B004TRQA8Q/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=a+perfect+murder+hrf+keating&qid=1595719504&sr=8-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.in/Perfect-Murder-First-Inspector-Mystery-ebook/dp/B004TRQA8Q/ref%3Dsr_1_1?keywords%3Da%2Bperfect%2Bmurder%2Bhrf%2Bkeating%26qid%3D1595719504%26sr%3D8-1&source=gmail&ust=1595808202697000&usg=AFQjCNHEZP_3q0RKjKvjYA2trK6q-h56cw">The Perfect Murder</a> -- HRF Keating. 10. <a href="https://seenunseen.in/episodes/2020/7/19/episode-182-conversation-and-society/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://seenunseen.in/episodes/2020/7/19/episode-182-conversation-and-society/&source=gmail&ust=1595808202697000&usg=AFQjCNEAxDWopqDwCYr8zGZA6WrhdYkRWg">Conversation and Society</a> -- Episode 182 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Russ Roberts). 11. <a href="http://www.81allout.com/cricket-as-a-novelty-an-obsession-and-as-literature-interview-with-samanth-subramanian/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.81allout.com/cricket-as-a-novelty-an-obsession-and-as-literature-interview-with-samanth-subramanian/&source=gmail&ust=1595808202697000&usg=AFQjCNGZLFnLbLB18ABaH26TdHauAbafvA">Cricket as a novelty, an obsession, and as literature</a> -- Samanth Subramanian on Siddhartha Vaidyanathan's podcast, 81 all out. 12. <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/punditry/on-writing-well-115082001240_1.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.business-standard.com/article/punditry/on-writing-well-115082001240_1.html&source=gmail&ust=1595808202697000&usg=AFQjCNHQe0xvuCqbaijCSglaOJc6BHXL3A">On Writing Well</a> -- Sarah Farooqui's interview with Samanth Subramanian. 13. <a href="https://www.amazon.in/Complete-New-Yorker-Greatest-Magazine/dp/1400064740/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=the+complete+new+yorker&qid=1595719900&sr=8-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.in/Complete-New-Yorker-Greatest-Magazine/dp/1400064740/ref%3Dsr_1_2?dchild%3D1%26keywords%3Dthe%2Bcomplete%2Bnew%2Byorker%26qid%3D1595719900%26sr%3D8-2&source=gmail&ust=1595808202697000&usg=AFQjCNEYFoiCKMqkcNFucvnx74nveeEQiQ">The Complete New Yorker</a>. 14. <a href="https://www.amazon.in/A-J-Liebling/e/B001HCWY86?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_3&qid=1595719992&sr=8-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.in/A-J-Liebling/e/B001HCWY86?ref%3Dsr_ntt_srch_lnk_3%26qid%3D1595719992%26sr%3D8-3&source=gmail&ust=1595808202697000&usg=AFQjCNECMRi8o-BpOgUCOfaj3WOtP-05WA">AJ Liebling</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.in/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B005Q0IJPM?_encoding=UTF8&node=976389031&offset=0&pageSize=12&searchAlias=stripbooks&sort=author-sidecar-rank&page=1&langFilter=default#formatSelectorHeader" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.in/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B005Q0IJPM?_encoding%3DUTF8%26node%3D976389031%26offset%3D0%26pageSize%3D12%26searchAlias%3Dstripbooks%26sort%3Dauthor-sidecar-rank%26page%3D1%26langFilter%3Ddefault%23formatSelectorHeader&source=gmail&ust=1595808202697000&usg=AFQjCNHFseQuJVxQf5eL0bUlL9X65pYL-Q">Calvin Trillin</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.in/Joan-Didion/e/B000AQ4ZD2?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_4&qid=1595720123&sr=1-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.in/Joan-Didion/e/B000AQ4ZD2?ref%3Dsr_ntt_srch_lnk_4%26qid%3D1595720123%26sr%3D1-4&source=gmail&ust=1595808202697000&usg=AFQjCNEPRf0t7WHgHlA1T5Te37RWOw2AYg">Joan Didion</a> on Amazon. 15. <a href="https://caravanmagazine.in/reportage/confidence-man" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://caravanmagazine.in/reportage/confidence-man&source=gmail&ust=1595808202697000&usg=AFQjCNGJlk0KbRJivOAkwuToV8RR58Rpag">The Confidence Man</a> -- Samanth Subramanian (on Lalit Modi). 15. <a href="https://www.amazon.in/New-Journalism-Conversations-Americas-Nonfiction/dp/140003356X/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=the+new+new+journalism+robert+boynton&qid=1595720452&s=digital-text&sr=1-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.in/New-Journalism-Conversations-Americas-Nonfiction/dp/140003356X/ref%3Dsr_1_1?dchild%3D1%26keywords%3Dthe%2Bnew%2Bnew%2Bjournalism%2Brobert%2Bboynton%26qid%3D1595720452%26s%3Ddigital-text%26sr%3D1-1&source=gmail&ust=1595808202697000&usg=AFQjCNHOYsXdGkYNa6YGEl79-a-ZT6T_Vw">The New New Journalism</a> -- Robert Boynton. 16. <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2002/08/19/the-secret-of-excess" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2002/08/19/the-secret-of-excess&source=gmail&ust=1595808202697000&usg=AFQjCNFek_lXq4QTgO-PIKaxH49CICSMJQ">The Secret of Excess</a> -- Bill Buford (on Mario Batali). 17. <a href="https://www.amazon.in/Power-Broker-Robert-studies-biography/dp/0394720245/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2KL43O4IHIOHQ&dchild=1&keywords=the+power+broker+by+robert+caro&qid=1595720655&sprefix=the+power+broker%2Caps%2C292&sr=8-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.in/Power-Broker-Robert-studies-biography/dp/0394720245/ref%3Dsr_1_1?crid%3D2KL43O4IHIOHQ%26dchild%3D1%26keywords%3Dthe%2Bpower%2Bbroker%2Bby%2Brobert%2Bcaro%26qid%3D1595720655%26sprefix%3Dthe%2Bpower%2Bbroker%252Caps%252C292%26sr%3D8-1&source=gmail&ust=1595808202697000&usg=AFQjCNH8LSsGVrHy7POKszC24VTU-2--RQ">The Power Broker</a> -- Robert A Caro. 18. <a href="https://www.amazon.in/Robert-A-Caro/e/B000AP80S4/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.in/Robert-A-Caro/e/B000AP80S4/ref%3Ddp_byline_cont_pop_book_1&source=gmail&ust=1595808202697000&usg=AFQjCNHuyerPniHrK2IMv-4Eybmd8c97vA">Robert A Caro</a> on Amazon. 19. <a href="http://www.iisc.ernet.in/currsci/jul25/articles30.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.iisc.ernet.in/currsci/jul25/articles30.htm&source=gmail&ust=1595808202697000&usg=AFQjCNFRaE3AMrBo_53Eo_0kDIbX1uhkrA">What Ails Indian Science</a> -- JBS Haldane. 20. <a href="https://seenunseen.in/episodes/2018/11/25/episode-96-the-evolution-of-everything/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://seenunseen.in/episodes/2018/11/25/episode-96-the-evolution-of-everything/&source=gmail&ust=1595808202697000&usg=AFQjCNEG3FaNSoQsAliXLRQW-58PFZL6mw">The Evolution of Everything</a> -- Episode 96 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Matt Ridley). 21. <a href="https://www.libertarianism.org/publications/essays/man-system" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.libertarianism.org/publications/essays/man-system&source=gmail&ust=1595808202697000&usg=AFQjCNHonerLuDrPUzYS7T_Br6nn6T8tTQ">The Man of System</a> -- Adam Smith (excerpted from <a href="https://www.amazon.in/Theory-Moral-Sentiments-Adam-Smith-ebook/dp/B004UOAJ76/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=adam+smith+theory+of+moral+sentiments&qid=1595128098&sr=8-6?tag=maswe-21" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.in/Theory-Moral-Sentiments-Adam-Smith-ebook/dp/B004UOAJ76/ref%3Dsr_1_6?dchild%3D1%26keywords%3Dadam%2Bsmith%2Btheory%2Bof%2Bmoral%2Bsentiments%26qid%3D1595128098%26sr%3D8-6?tag%3Dmaswe-21&source=gmail&ust=1595808202697000&usg=AFQjCNE7emp1Z2miy09Gd8syUTRStn4Rqg">The Theory of Moral Sentiments</a>). 22. <a href="https://www.aesop.com/dk/r/the-fabulist/the-papers-of-jbs-haldane" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.aesop.com/dk/r/the-fabulist/the-papers-of-jbs-haldane&source=gmail&ust=1595808202697000&usg=AFQjCNGaSBUMRbvsRPG0S3CJLfuIDe6uYw">The Papers of JBS Haldane</a> -- Samanth Subramanian. 23. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_rWkMvuq20" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3Di_rWkMvuq20&source=gmail&ust=1595808202697000&usg=AFQjCNHzYEaTx9uAsbmtQkEC5H7kiaPD7g">A talk by Samanth Subramanian</a> on JBS Haldane at Archives@NCBS.    And hey, do check out Amit Varma's writing course, <a href="https://indiauncut.com/clear-writing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://indiauncut.com/clear-writing/&source=gmail&ust=1595808202697000&usg=AFQjCNH77q8gDI4qJ37BHz9dvH5pFLhNwQ">The Art of Clear Writing</a>.

The Seen and the Unseen, hosted by Amit Varma, features longform conversations that aim to give deep insights into the subjects being discussed. Timeless and bingeworthy.

The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma

In a complex world where the truth is up for grabs, we need narrative nonfiction. Samanth Subramanian joins Amit Varma in episode 183 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about the art and craft of this form of literature. Also discussed: A...

Advertisement