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New Books in South Asian Studies

New Books Network
India
Hinduism
Colonialism
Caste
South Asia
Mahabharata
Bangladesh
Buddhism
Colonial India
Yoga
Sanskrit
Southeast Asia
Feminism
British Empire
Hindu Nationalism
Bollywood
Sri Lanka
Dharma
Pakistan
Islam

This podcast is a channel on the New Books Network. The New Books Network is an academic audio library dedicated to public education. In each episode you will hear scholars discuss their recently published research with another expert in their field. Discover our 150+ channels and browse our 28,000+ episodes on our website: ⁠newbooksnetwork.com⁠ Subscribe to our free weekly Substack newsletter to ... more

PublishesDailyEpisodes1414Founded15 years ago
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Artwork for New Books in South Asian Studies

Latest Episodes

Stove

improvers have been designing and promoting “clean” or “efficient”

biomass cookstoves in India since the 1940s and have been frustrated to

find their carefully engineered stoves abandoned in trash heaps or

repurposed as storage bins, while ... more

Tamil Buddhism and Brahminism in Modern India: Deep Resistance Against Caste (Oxford University Press, 2026) explores

Tamil Buddhism in modern India, focusing on its emergence

as a response to caste-based oppression during the late nineteenth and more

Unruly Monuments: Disrupting the State at Delhi's Islamic Architecture (Cambridge University Press, 2025) examines

how Delhi's Sultanate and Mughal architecture, dating from the twelfth

to the seventeenth centuries, became modern monuments and were... more

This episode features a conversation with Carnatic vocalist, T.M. Krishna, who is also the author of two books on this musical tradition. We began with his first book’s account of the modernization of Carnatic music through a set of social, technical... more

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Recent Guests

Nihar Gokhale
Co-author of the chapter on Agroecology in Goa
Unknown based on transcript
Episode: Christian Environmentalism in a Hindu Majoritarian Context
Kenneth Bo Nielsen
Co-author of the chapter on Agroecology in Goa
Unknown based on transcript
Episode: Christian Environmentalism in a Hindu Majoritarian Context
Hamsa Stainton
Co-editor of Sanskrit Hymns Across Traditions, Studying Stotras
University affiliation not explicitly stated in transcript
Episode: Hamsa Stainton and Anna Lee White, "Sanskrit Hymns Across Traditions: Studying Stotras" (Routledge, 2026)
Anna Lee White
Co-editor of Sanskrit Hymns Across Traditions, Studying Stotras
University affiliation not explicitly stated in transcript
Episode: Hamsa Stainton and Anna Lee White, "Sanskrit Hymns Across Traditions: Studying Stotras" (Routledge, 2026)
Carola Lorea
Author of Communities of Sound, Religion, Displacement, and Caste in the Bay of Bengal
Wesleyan University Press (publisher)
Episode: Carola E. Lorea, "Communities of Sound: Religion, Displacement, and Caste in the Bay of Bengal" (Wesleyan UP, 2026)
Manasicha Akepiyapornchai
Author of Surrender to God Across Languages
Oxford University Press, Roche Indology series
Episode: Manasicha Akepiyapornchai, "Surrender to God Across Languages: Multilingual Intellectual History of Premodern India" (Oxford UP, 2026)
Shikha Jhingan
associate professor in the School of Arts and Aesthetics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, India
Jawaharlal Nehru University
Episode: Shikha Jhingan, "The Female Playback in Bombay Cinema: Voice, Body, Technology" (Wayne State UP, 2025)
Ashok Malhotra
Historian specializing in imperial science, nutrition, and the Hunza/Shangri La narratives
Queen's University Belfast
Episode: Ashok Malhotra, "Imperial Science, the Organic Movement and the Path to Shangri La, 1900-1969" (UCL Press, 2026)
Bruno M. Shirley
Author of the book Religion, Gender, and Politics in Medieval Sri Lanka
Heidelberg University (as stated in interview)
Episode: Bruno Shirley, "Religion, Gender, and Politics in Medieval Sri Lanka: The Reconstruction of Buddhist Kingship, ca. 1070-1215" (ARC Humanities Press, 2026)

Hosts

Lilly Goren
Host of The New Books Network show
Raj Balkaran
Host of the podcast episode
Miranda Melcher
Host of The New Books Network interview series
Ajanta Subramanian
Host of The Cast Pod

Reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars from 57 ratings
  • Breadth and depth in an underrepresented (podcast-wise) region

    The podcasts certainly have the format and flare of an academic 1-on-1, but do a major service to those interested in South Asia. There are very few other podcast sources on South Asia that cover the range of topics or dive into them as well as this does.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    cyrardwp21
    United States6 years ago

Listeners Say

Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.

The show combines rigorous academic 1-on-1 interviews with in-depth exploration of South Asian topics, adding depth to scholarly discussions.
Guests are prominent, credible scholars offering nuanced insights into history, culture, and politics.
Content is accessible to educated listeners beyond academia, useful for sponsorship and guest outreach.
The breadth of topics—from books on nonprofit reform to plant humanities—demonstrates versatility and strong scholarly rigor.

Chart Rankings

How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.

Apple Podcasts
#46
Singapore/Society & Culture
Apple Podcasts
#147
India/Society & Culture

Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

Manasicha Akepiyapornchai, "Surrender to God Across Languages: Multilingual Intellectual History of Premodern India" (Oxford UP, 2026)
Q: Could you give us an example of this language-driven argument, literally where the choice of a language impacted the doctrinal developments?
Two key cases are discussed: Vedānta Deśika's work where he uses both Sanskrit and Manipuralam to present self-surrender while omitting Tamil sources in Sanskrit sections, and Meghanādari Sūri, who emphasizes Sanskrit sources and excludes Tamil materials from his self-surrender discourse, illustrating how language choice can redefine canonical boundaries.
Ashok Malhotra, "Imperial Science, the Organic Movement and the Path to Shangri La, 1900-1969" (UCL Press, 2026)
Q: What was the role of funding and Indian princes in shaping these laboratories and their research agendas?
Evidence is discussed showing that Indian princes and colonial funding bodies influenced research directions, with researchers sometimes navigating competing funds and conditions to advance agricultural and nutritional studies that aligned with imperial or nationalist aims.
Ashok Malhotra, "Imperial Science, the Organic Movement and the Path to Shangri La, 1900-1969" (UCL Press, 2026)
Q: So tell us a little bit about your background. How did you come to write the book and why are you interested in it?
The guest explains personal and scholarly motivations rooted in British-Indian history, colonial science, and the ways in which diet and imperial projects intersect with cultural narratives, shaping his approach to the material and its broader implications.
Shikha Jhingan, "The Female Playback in Bombay Cinema: Voice, Body, Technology" (Wayne State UP, 2025)
Q: To begin, how would you like to introduce the book to our listeners?
The book foregrounds the sonic production of the female voice in Bombay cinema, tracing how playback singing and the body on screen came together to create a distinct gendered soundscape across eras, including how microphones, breath, and studio practices shaped performance.
Christian Environmentalism in a Hindu Majoritarian Context
Q: And that is the context of Hindu majoritarianism. So can you also tell us a bit about in which way do you find this particular context important?
The broader political context constrains some forms of public outreach, but environmentalism remains a generally non-sectarian space that can mobilize diverse Goans, allowing the church to participate in environmental and agricultural issues despite broader pressures.

Audience Metrics

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Frequently Asked Questions About New Books in South Asian Studies

What is New Books in South Asian Studies about and what kind of topics does it cover?

This show centers scholarly interviews with authors and researchers who publish on South Asian studies, covering topics from nonprofit regulation in India to philosophy, plant humanities, publishing culture, caste and urbanism, archaeology, and music, ritual, and memory. Episodes emphasize rigorous, interdisciplinary inquiry, accessibility for a broader audience, and how new scholarship engages with politics, history, and society in South Asia and the diaspora. A notable strength is the consistent pairing of a seasoned host with leading academics to unpack complex books and ideas, often connecting theory to contemporary policy, culture, and social change. The format often includes deep dives into archival work, translation, and cross-cultur... more

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1. New Books in Critical Theory
2. The LRB Podcast
3. In Our Time
4. The Ancients
5. Empire: World History

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New Books in South Asian Studies launched 15 years ago and published 1414 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

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What guests have appeared on New Books in South Asian Studies?

Recent guests on New Books in South Asian Studies include:

1. Nihar Gokhale
2. Kenneth Bo Nielsen
3. Hamsa Stainton
4. Anna Lee White
5. Carola Lorea
6. Manasicha Akepiyapornchai
7. Shikha Jhingan
8. Ashok Malhotra

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