Polis Project Conversation Series
Episodes
Technologies of Genocide: Suchitra Vijayan in Conversation with Abduweli Ayup
29 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Suchitra Vijayan speaks with Abduweli Ayup, writer, linguist, and one of the most significant chroniclers of the Uyghur genocide. Their conversation t...
Technologies Of Genocide X Abdullahi Halakhe
30 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Suchitra Vijayan speaks with Abdullahi Boru Halakhe in a conversation that traces the longue durée of exploitation and violence in the Congo from the...
The Trial of Julian Assange: A conversation with Stella Assange
18 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Since 11 April 2019, Julian Assange has been held in the UK’s notorious Belmarsh prison that was once known as Britain’s Guantanamo Bay. This year...
Technologies of Genocide: Suchitra Vijayan in Conversation with Tech Global Institute, Bangladesh
16 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Suchitra Vijayan speaks with Sabhanaz Rashid Diya, Sams Wahid Shahat, Mohammad Arafat and Apon Das of the Tech Global Institute. They unpack the after...
Technologies of Genocide: Suchitra Vijayan in Conversation with 7amleh
15 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Suchitra Vijayan speaks with Eric Sype and Jalal Abukhater from 7amleh, The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media. They interrogate how Isra...
UK’s racialized immigration policies: Francesca Recchia in conversation with Helidah Ogude Chambert
15 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this podcast, Francesca Recchia sits down with Helidah Ogude Chambert to discuss the racism and xenophobia inherent in the United Kingdom’s immig...
The Genocidal Gaze: A conversation with Elizabeth Baer
01 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Suchitra Vijayan in conversation with Elizabeth Baer about her book "The Genocidal Gaze." The first genocide of the twentieth century, though not wel...
Terror Capitalism - A conversation with Darren Byler
25 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Suchitra Vijayan speaks to Darren Byler about his book Terror Capitalism: Uyghur Dispossession and Masculinity in a Chinese City. In Terror Capitali...
How home disappeared: Twenty years after the Gujarat pogrom
31 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Twenty years after the Gujarat pogrom, Suchitra Vijayan speaks to Zahir Janmohamed about the moment, his experience on the ground and his work since. ...
Reproductive Politics and the Making of Modern India: A conversation with Mytheli Sreenivas
19 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this conversation, Urvi Khaitan sits down with Mytheli Sreenivas to discuss her book, "Reproductive Politics and the Making of Modern India'. The b...
India's Undeclared Emergency: Suchitra Vijayan in conversation with Arvind Narrain
17 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this conversation, Suchitra Vijayan speaks to Arvind Narrain about his book India's Undeclared Emergency: Constitutionalism and the Politics of Res...
The extrajudicial excesses of Pakistan's military: A conversation with Ahmad Waqas Goraya
15 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this conversation with Francesca Recchia, Pakistani activist Ahmad Waqas Goraya speaks about the repercussions facing those who dare to criticize t...
Negotiating Survival: Francesca Recchia in conversation with Ashley Jackson
22 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Francesca Recchia speaks to Ashley Jackson about her book Negotiating Survival: Civilian–Insurgent Relations in Afghanistan. Based on over 400 inte...
Legacies of French colonialism in India: Suchitra Vijayan in conversation with Jessica Namakkal
01 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Suchitra Vijayan sits down with author Jessica Namakkal to discuss her book "Unsettling Utopia". The book presents a new account of the history of twe...
Data privacy and surveillance in India: Suchitra Vijayan in conversation with Prasanna S.
24 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Suchitra Vijayan speaks to Prasanna S. about data privacy in India, the state's use of the Pegasus spyware to surveil voices of dissent and what it me...
RAW, ISI and loss of life over the years: Francesca Recchia in conversation with Adrian Levy
22 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Francesca Recchia speaks to Adrian Levy, co-author of The Forever Prisoner: The Full and Searing Account of the CIA’s Most Controversial Covert Prog...
Electronic voting in Pakistan's fragile democracy - A conversation with Hassan Javid
10 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this podcast, Francesca Recchia speaks to Hassan Javid about the decision to introduce electronic voting machines in Pakistan for the general elect...
The rapidly shrinking press freedoms in Pakistan - A conversation with Abbas Nasir
02 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this podcast, Francesca Recchia sits down with Abbas Nasir to discuss the rapidly deteriorating press freedoms in Pakistan. They discuss the Pakist...
The RSS and the making of the Deep Nation: A history of the RSS from fringe to State
29 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Suchitra Vijayan sits down with Dinesh Narayanan to discuss the formation of the RSS, its links with the BJP, its role in violence an...
No land's people: Documenting Assam's NRC crisis
25 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Suchitra Vijayan sits down with Abhishek Saha to discuss the xenophobic rhetoric around issues of migration and citizenship. What doe...
Who is the murderer: Francesca Recchia in conversation with Reem Khurshid
15 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Francesca Recchia is in conversation with Reem Khurshid, a political cartoonist and illustrator based in Karachi. Reem Khurshid rece...
Writing fiction in a dystopian world: On privilege, narrative building and reprieve in storytelling
23 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Francesca Recchia is in conversation with Mohammad Hanif, a fiction writer and journalist based in Karachi. Mohammad Hanif, an accla...
Urban displacement and grassroots activism in Karachi
09 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Francesca Recchia is in conversation with Fatima Zaidi, a journalist, activist and member of the Karachi Bachao Tehreek. Karachi Bac...
Urban conflicts and promises in Karachi: evictions, development and activism.
03 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Francesca Recchia is in conversation with Arif Hasan, an architect, urban historian and activist from Karachi. Looking at the recent ...
The living room | A conversation with Sandi Hilal
19 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Francesca Recchia is in conversation with Sandi Hilal on her project “The Living Room.” Reflecting on her experiences with refuge...
Colonial Terror | A conversation with Dr. Deana Heath
12 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Suchitra Vijayan is in conversation with Dr. Deana Heath about her book Colonial Terror. Focusing on India between the early ninete...
Reflections on representation | Rethinking pedagogy: Dignity in representation
06 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This is the final conversation of this four-part series. Photographer and educator Rishi Singhal reflects on teaching photography and visual practice...
Reflections on representation | Against empire: Records of resistance
06 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This is the third conversation of a four part series. Photographer and filmmaker Laura Saunders discusses her work on the US / Mexico Borderlands, by...
Reflections on representation | Representing geographies of displacement
06 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This is the second conversation of a four-part series. Sinthujan Varatharajah is a political geographer, essayist, and researcher based in Berlin. T...
Reflections on representations | History begins at home: Conversation on photography and memory
06 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This is the first conversation of a four part series. Bombay-based photographer and author of The Red Cat and Other Stories Ritesh Uttamchandani and ...
Politics Podcast | Episode 9| "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere"
13 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Last year, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing had filed a lawsuit against Cisco on the grounds that a Dalit employee had been se...
The War Lawyers | A conversation with Dr. Craig Jones
17 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this conversation, The Polis Project’s Suchitra Vijayan discusses Prof. Craig Jones's recent book The War Lawyers: The United States, Israel, and...
Politics Podcast | Ep 8 "Reflections on an Imploding Empire"
10 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In 1964, Malcolm X wrote, “There is no system more corrupt than a system that represents itself as the example of freedom, the example of democracy,...
Politics Podcast | Ep 7 "Change Comes from Social and Labor Movements"
23 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Since September, thousands of farmers have been protesting the new laws that aim to deregulate Indian agriculture. They have clearly stated that thes...
Politics Podcast | Ep 6 “Leaders they want; leaders of nobody”
16 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Madhuri Sastry, freelance writer and the Marketing Director at Guernica magazine, hosts The Polis Project’s roundtable discussion “Leaders they wa...
5 Objects Podcast | Conversation with Dr. Anand Pandian
09 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
For each episode of 5 Objects, we ask a guest to choose five pieces or items that have influenced their intellectual life and work. These can be book...
Politics Podcast | Ep 5 "Stop Funding Hate"
02 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In 2015 columnist Katie Hopkins published a piece in the British tabloid sun calling African migrants “cockroaches.” Ms. Hopkins is not alone. ...
On citizenship, belonging, and the movement in Gilgit-Baltistan
11 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this podcast, Francesca Rechhia talks to Prof. Nosheen Ali, a Pakistani sociologist, author, and activist about the state of education in Gilgit-Ba...
Politics Podcast | Ep 4 "How has the Media Fared this American Election?"
28 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Every Wednesday, leading up to the American Presidential elections, The Polis Project will host activists, organizers, writers, reporters, and progres...
Politics Podcast | Ep 3 "Does Emgage Represent the Aspirations of the Muslim American Community?"
20 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Every Wednesday, leading up to the American Presidential elections, The Polis Project will host activists, organizers, writers, reporters, and progres...
Politics Podcast | Ep 2 "We have a system that benefits itself"
07 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Every Wednesday, leading up to the American Presidential elections, The Polis Project will host activists, organizers, writers, reporters, and progres...
Dispatches | A History of Dissent: Conversation with Prof. Romila Thapar
30 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Suchitra Vijayan in conversation with Prof. Romila Thapar about her new book "Voices of Dissent" and the history of dissent in India.
Politics Podcast | Ep 1 “Everyone needs to have a voting plan. Vote early”
30 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Every Wednesday, leading up to the American Presidential elections, The Polis Project will host activists, organizers, writers, reporters, and progres...
"Capitalist Dreams and Nationalist Designs in India": A conversation with Dr. Ravinder Kaur
23 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this conversation, The Polis Project's Suchitra Vijayan and Vasundhara Sirnate, discuss Prof. Ravinder Kaur's new book Brand New Nation: Capitalis...
"Everyone Has Been Silenced", UP violence and its aftermath - Conversation with Dr. Sajjad Hassan
09 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Earlier this year, Citizens Against Hate (CAH), a Delhi based collective, published “Everyone has been Silenced”: a comprehensive report on UP vio...
5 Object Podcast | Conversation with philosopher Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò
18 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Suchitra Vijayan speaks to the philosopher Olúfẹ́mi O Táíwò, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University. He completed his Ph.D....
“Consistent resistance” and the peaceful struggle for equality of the Pashtun Tahafuz-Movement
12 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
“Consistent resistance” and the peaceful struggle for equality of the Pashtun Tahafuz-Movement by The Polis Project
On dissent, building transversal solidarity and nurturing the will of the people
29 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
On dissent, building transversal solidarity and nurturing the will of the people: A conversation with Ammar Ali Jan
“India’s democracy coexists extraordinary powers” - A conversation with Prof. Gyan Prakash
24 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared the "The Emergency" on 25 June 1975. It lasted for 21 month period from 1975 to 1977. This period is oft...
Emergency Special | Suchitra Vijayan in Conversation with Annie Zaidi
24 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A nation needs its anthems, flags, soldiers, and statues. But, the function of the writer is something else. Writers are the ones who capture the conf...
Riflessioni Sulla Vulnerabilità/Musings On Vulnerability - A Conversation with Francesca Mannocchi
09 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Francesca Recchia in conversation with Francesca Mannocchi. Francesca Mannocchi is a freelance journalist who covers migration and conflicts and contr...
Patterns of violence, impunity and silence | conversation with Bharti Ali and Nidhi Suresh
27 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
On 12 December 2019, the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 - rightly referred to as India’s Nuremberg Law - was passed, leading to widespread protes...
Conversation with Mehr Manda and Mayukh Goswami, creators of the web comic, “Jamun Ka Ped”
20 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Since December 2019 millions of Indians have protested the contentious “Citizenship Amendment Act” (CAA)-- rightly called the Nuremberg laws of In...
Hindutva And The University
14 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The sustained assaults on universities and schools in Kashmir, the long-standing discrimination against Dalits and minorities at Indian universities, ...
India’s Breaking Point by talk by Alf Gunvald Nilsen
11 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Prof Nilsen discusses the attacks on students and faculty at JNU in relation to the ongoing conflict and its significance to the protests that have be...
Hindutva and the falsifications of Indian history, a talk by Prof. Irfan Habib
29 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Yesterday, Twitter was awash with posts about events at the Indian Historical Congress in Kannur. The eminent historian Irfan Habib has disrupted proc...
"Our education system produces people that are either indifferent to caste oppression or oblivious"
08 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
"Our education system produces people that are either indifferent to caste oppression or oblivious to it" - Conversation with Pradyumna Jairam
5 Objects Podcast: Conversation with Hassan Ghedi Santur
27 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Suchitra Vijayan speaks to author Hassan Ghedi Santur about his new book The Youth of God, representation and diversity and what it means to be a writ...
The Power To Gaze; Consent, Coercion and Consumption in Photograph
21 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The Power To Gaze; Consent, Coercion and Consumption in Photograph by The Polis Project
5 objects | Conversation with AK Thompson
13 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
For this episode, Suchitra Vijayan spoke to activist and theorist A.K.Thompson A.K. Thompson got kicked out of high school for publishing an underg...
"Crisis of the Republics” by Suchitra Vijayan
14 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
"Crisis of the Republics” is a meditation on the nature of borders, camps, and carceral citizenship in the aftermath of 9/11. The keynote returns to...
Crisis of the Republic, Part 2, Q&A with Mohamed Abdi Suchitra Vijayan
14 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
"Crisis of the Republics” is a meditation on the nature of borders, camps, and carceral citizenship in the aftermath of 9/11. The keynote returns to...
Francesca Recchia in conversation with Alaa Satir
26 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of In Your Face podcast series, Francesca Recchia sits down with artist and activist Alaa Satir to discuss the ongoing revolution i...
Structure of Tamil Eelam | In conversation with Nitharsan, the coordinator of Puradsi Media
12 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of the Polis Project’s Podcast series Suchitra Vijayan speaks to Nitharsan, the coordinator of Puradsi Media, who is part of the col...
In Your Face | Conversation with TM Krishna | Episode 3
06 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
“You speak to many upper class people and they will tell you, caste is not an issue in my house, we never talk about it. That’s the fundamental pr...
5 Objects Podcast| A conversation with Naveen Kishore, Publisher Seagull Books
30 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
"Hope comes from the knowledge, and the confidence that is enough of us who will continue to stand up, reach out and resist." - A conversation with Pu...
WAR, NO WAR | EP 2 | Prashant Bhushan
19 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Our second episode of War, No War—a Polis podcast series hosted by journalist Parvaiz Bukhari—features Indian civil rights activist and Supreme Co...
5 objects podcast| Conversation with Alana Hunt. Rethinking the Nation State, reanimating art
13 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Suchitra Vijayan speaks to Alana Hunt, an award-winning artist and writer, For this episode Alana chose Queen Liliuokalani's Quilt Statues also Die ...
Episode 1: In your Face with Insha Malik
18 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In Your Face is a podcast series where each episode will feature a conversation with an author, artist, activist whose research focuses on under-repre...
Episode 2 | In Your Face featuring Lorenzo Tugnoli
18 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Episode 2 | In Your Face featuring Lorenzo Tugnoli by The Polis Project
"Once the Balakot effect winds down, then economic issues resurface"
09 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
"Once the Balakot effect winds down, then economic issues resurface": In Conversation with Gilles Verniers In this podcast, Vasundhara Sirnate Drenna...
Silent unrest about violence and local issues is going to be translated in the voting patterns
08 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
“Silent unrest about violence and local issues is going to be translated in the voting patterns, but we don’t know to what extent”: In Conversat...
“Billionaires are being produced at the same time that people are actually dying from lack of food”:
29 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
“Billionaires are being produced at the same time that people are actually dying from lack of food”: In conversation with Balmurli Natrajan As t...
WAR, NO WAR | EP 1 | Is Kashmir under military occupation?
18 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Presenting War, No War—a brand new podcast series hosted by journalist Parvaiz Bukhari—starting with a conversation with human rights lawyer Karti...
On Imperial and Neoliberal Feminism | Conversations with Zillah Eisenstein By Suchitra Vijayan
26 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Zillah Eisenstein is one of the foremost political theorists and activists of our time. Her groundbreaking book “The Female Body and the Law” has ...
A Tailor & a Journalist: Cow Protection and Conversion in early modern Bengal by Suchitra Vijayan
27 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
A Conversation with Mou Banerjee by Suchitra Vijayan
American Hate: Conversation with Arjun Sethi by Suchitra Vijayan
06 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The Polis Project in conversation with lawyer Arjun Singh Sethi about his latest book, ‘American Hate’. The book chronicles the stories of hate cr...
On Hate Speech in India : A Conversation with Siddharth Narrain by Suchitra Vijayan
29 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Siddharth Narrain is a lawyer and legal researcher based in Delhi. He is an Honorary Research Fellow with the Sarai Programme, Centre for the Study of...
5 Objects | Conversation with Nijah Cunningham
05 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
For this episode, Suchitra Vijayan spoke to Nijah Cunningham Nijah Cunningham is a Cotsen Postdoctoral Fellow at the Princeton Society of Fellows in ...
Suddenly Stateless Conversation Series III : “Procedure as Violence” by Suchitra Vijayan
25 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
India has recently excluded four million people from the National Register of Citizens, thereby deeming them ‘illegal’ and, if their appeals fail,...
Suddenly Stateless Conversation Series II : “Who belongs and where?”
15 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
India has recently excluded four million people from the National Register of Citizens, thereby deeming them ‘illegal’ and, if their appeals fail,...
Suddenly Stateless Conversation Series : "Refusing Citizenship"
02 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Indian recently declared four million people 'illegal' and stripped them of their citizenship. The Polis Project, in our conversation series Suddenly...
5 Objects | Conversation with Naomi van Stapele
26 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This week we spoke to Naomi van Stapele is an assistant professor ‘Anthropology and Development Studies’ at Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Neth...
5 Objects | Conversation with Anna Feigenbaum
08 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This week we spoke to Dr Anna Feigenbaum, who is a Senior Lecturer in Digital Storytelling at Bournemouth University. Her work focuses on communicatio...
5 objects | The man with a camera: A conversation with Ritesh Uttamchandani
09 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
t is not often that one gets to record a podcast that is part of a conversation that has lasted 10 years. I spoke to Bombay based photographer Rite...