How can data make or break a company? Is all data useful? And can data be “too much of a good thing”? In this episode of Books and Beyond, Tara speaks to Nitin Seth, CEO at Incedo and the author of Mastering the Data Paradox and Nirmalya Kumar, a Professor and former Strategy Head for the Tata Group, who has written Clash: Amazon vs. Walmart.  They discuss how data on its own is nothing unless you know how to use it and the pros and cons of data-driven decision-making. They share insights on the ongoing competition between Amazon and Walmart in the retail industry, emphasising the need to ..read more

Can a corvid detective solve a murder? Why does the weather department need a singer? And how does a cloud herder take care of his flock? Find out the truth behind all these stories in Gigi Ganguly’s new book “Biopeculiar”.  This is the first-ever book of Westland’s new speculative imprint ‘IF’.  In this episode, Gigi and Michelle discuss their love for weird stories, the animals that inspired Gigi to write, and why a spec fic imprint is important for Indian literature. Tune in to hear what books inspired their writing, how Gigi came up with the characters in her story and why Satyaj ..read more

Sally Diamond cannot understand why what she did was so strange. She was only doing what her father told her to do, to put him out with the rubbish when he died. This is the basic plot of ‘Strange Sally Diamond’ whose author, Liz Nugent joined Tara and Michelle on this episode of Books & Beyond to discuss Irish crime writing and the complexities of writing about trauma and identity. Together they shared their perspectives on the popularity of true crime novels in both India and Ireland, and delved into the complexities of trauma, identity, and parenting in their novels. Liz discusses her f ..read more

In this episode, Tara and Michelle speak to Vibha Kagzi, author of ‘Break The MBA Code’ - a book that goes into detail about how to get into Ivy League colleges and what a person should do to make their admission application more appealing. They talked about the challenges of pursuing an MBA as a woman, with speakers sharing their personal experiences and insights. Vibha debunked common myths surrounding MBA admissions, emphasizing the holistic evaluation of a candidate's profile. In this exciting partnership series with Jaico Publishing House, we are featuring fascinating new authors every mo ..read more

Content Warning: Discussions about torture, violence, and mental health issues. The most agonizing and horrifying torture devices from the medieval era - but with a twist! In this episode, Tara and Michelle speak to Aparna Sanyal, author of 'Instruments of Torture' - a book that explores modern society through metaphorical depictions of 8 torture devices. From ‘The Spanish Boot’ that covers impossible beauty standards to ‘The Judas Cradle’ that covers a forbidden love affair, each story reveals the dark, unexplored corners of the human psyche.  Aparna reminisces about her journey being an ..read more

Content Warning: Discussions about torture, violence, and mental health issues. The most agonizing and horrifying torture devices from the medieval era - but with a twist! In this episode, Tara and Michelle speak to Aparna Sanyal, author of 'Instruments of Torture' - a book that explores modern society through metaphorical depictions of 8 torture devices. From ‘The Spanish Boot’ that covers impossible beauty standards to ‘The Judas Cradle’ that covers a forbidden love affair, each story reveals the dark, unexplored corners of the human psyche.  Aparna reminisces about her journey being an ..read more

Who is India’s first ‘Birdwoman’? Who is the ‘Turtle Girl’?  How many of India’s women wildlife biologists can you name? In this episode, Tara speaks with Anita Mani, editor of ‘Women in the Wild’ - an anthology of stories of India’s pioneering women wildlife biologists.  From the 1940s to the present, Anita features the profiles of Indian women who dedicated their life to protecting biodiversity, from Jamal Ara who spent her life studying birds and mysteriously disappeared one day, to Vidya Athreya who studies the human-leopard conflict, and contemporaries like Divya Mudappa who s ..read more

What happens when two women find themselves in the midst of horrendous crimes?  Join us as Tara and Michelle speak to two avid thriller writers– Devashish Sardana and Nidhi Upadhyay. In this episode, Devashish discusses his book “The Girl with Broken Dreams”, a story of a feisty CBI investigator who finds herself in a quest for the truth behind a string of suicides, while battling her own demons. And Nidhi Upadhyay talks about her book “I Hear You”, a story of a woman trapped in an abusive marriage, and how she starts talking to the baby in her womb- only to find him responding!  I ..read more

This is the story of an entrepreneur who almost sold his soul to AI. In this episode, Michelle speaks with Appupen and Laurent Daudent, the illustrator-scientist duo that came together to create 'Dream Machine' - a graphic novel on AI! The book follows Hugo, who is on the verge of selling his AI tech to a large corporation. But what if the motives behind this purchase are not exactly ethical? Appupen and Laurent discuss the evolution of AI and why the hype and fear around it might be misleading. They also address their differing opinions on AI, working together from France and India, and why ..read more

Before Adam and Eve, there was Adam and Lilith. But who is Lilith and what happened to her? In this episode, Michelle speaks with Shinie Antony, author of ‘Eden Abandoned’, which tells the story of Adam’s first wife and the first woman ever - Lilith.  When Lilith refused to submit to Adam, she got banished from Eden and erased from the scriptures. But what did she do next? Michelle and Shinie discuss villainized women in mythology, how Lilith stood up for herself and got branded a “child-eating monster”, and why Shinie thinks an angry, articulate woman is a work of art! Books and autho ..read more