Augustus

Hi team, 

I find the recommendations at the end of Hafta quite interesting. Please elaborate on the process. Are you guys perpetually reading a new book every week? Do you sit before a Hafta and prepare what you are going to recommend? Are there weeks when you can't think of anything much? 

A suggestion – please inform the guests that you will ask for a recommendation so that they can plan and come. Sreenivasan Jain felt suddenly lost when asked for one in the last Hafta. 

Also tell me about the process of choosing the song at the end. Who does it…what are the factors…is there an editorial level discussion on that too? The songs are very pertinent most of the time.

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Aditya

Dear NL,

The PK interview was a massive missed opportunity. Sreenivasan for some reason was sidetracked into asking questions (and continuously refusing) about 11 crore for 2 hours or some such – I mean it is blatantly obvious that PK was playing to a gallery. The thumbnail was even worse – BIG PK ERROR. Does it matter in the larger scheme of things?

In that vein, the profile of Nikhil Kamath was SO random. What is the question the article is trying to answer? I think there is a wider story to be written about trading and credit in India, but that requires nuance and not this gotcha approach.

I have so much respect and admiration for you all, but sometimes also have to give you the bad.

Best

Aditya

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Varun 

Hi NL team, I wanted to make three points:

(1) App experience

The mobile app remains unusable for podcasts. The only reliable workaround is a six-step detour through the desktop site → embedded YouTube player → “Watch on YouTube”. If the native code is months away from stability, one solution is to publish every episode on your YT channel. Subscribers should not pay to beta-test an app.

(2) Thumbnail optics

A subscriber’s letter in NL 561 flagged the thumbnails for the Prashant Kishor and Tejashwi Yadav interviews. The selects are impossible to defend as neutral. These are editorial choices. Do keep in mind that independence is measured in pixels as well as paragraphs.

(3) Interview moderation

Abhinandan’s anti-govt asides have become a tic: predictable, repetitive, and interruptive. A well-placed follow-up can illuminate; a reflexive riff only derails the discussion and doesn't add anything of value. 

Keep up the good work! 

Best, 

Varun

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Srinath 

Not sure my last email from September 30 was acknowledged in a recent episode, but apologies if I missed it.  I have another couple of questions for the panel, especially Mr Vardhan about the issue of “पलायन” that Mr Kishor of Jun Suraj has tried to make a centerpiece of his campaign in the Bihar elections. I think Mr Vardhan mentioned only ~2 percent of Bihar’s population lives outside the state. My questions are: How does this 2 percent compare to other states, especially those with similar GSDP? Are there other root causes or consequences of this emigration issue that are unique to Bihar? Thanks for all you do. 

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