In Focus-Weekend | Taylor Swift’s Life of a Showgirl: Do her lyrics still resonate with fans?

Despite her widespread appeal, Taylor Swift still draws some polarising opinions, especially since the release of her brand new album on October 3rd, The Life of a Showgirl. This outing was a departure from her previous era, as she would call it, The Tortured Poets Department, which saw her lament about her inner life for 31 songs. Showgirl was branded as Swift’s foray into “life behind the curtains”, coming off a huge career-high, the Eras Tour, the highest-grossing tour of all time, and a three-and-a-half-hour-long celebration of Swift’s catalogue. In this weekender episode, we explore the mixed reactions to Life of a Showgirl and Swift’s appeal in non-Western countries, such as India. Guest: Ms. Rituparna Pathgiri, an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati. She is an expert in digital sociology, pedagogy, culture, gender, and media. Host: Nitika Francis Edited by Jude Francis Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anyone who lives in a city in India knows there are pigeons everywhere – on the balconies of buildings, roosting on rooftops, nesting in air-conditioners, and gathering in open spaces. Recently, pigeons have found their way into the news too – the Maharashtra government’s order to shutdown 51 kabutarkhanas in Mumbai has stirred up a controversy. While the government has cited health hazards arising from pigeon droppings and feathers, some communities have maintained that pigeon feeding is a daily act of compassion. Residents have clashed with the police, the Bombay High Court has gotten involved, and a committee of experts is to study the issue.So what exactly are the health hazards associated with pigeons? Whose health is being affected and how? And what is the way forward?  Guest: Dr Lancelot Pinto, a pulmonologist and epidemiologist based at P.D. Hinduja Hospital and Medical Research Centre, Mumbai Host: Zubeda Hamid Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court of India quashed multiple FIRs filed under Uttar Pradesh’s anti-conversion law on October 17, 2025. The court found that the FIRs were marred by “legal flaws, procedural errors, and lacked credible evidence”, and ruled that continuing such prosecutions would amount to a “travesty of justice”. The ruling is expected to have far-reaching implications for the State, and is being seen as a critical pushback against the misuse of these laws as instruments of intimidation and persecution. The decision also comes at a time when the Supreme Court in a separate case is considering the constitutional validity of the anti-conversion laws passed by multiple States. So, what are the implications of the SC quashing the FIRs in UP? What is the ground reality in the States that have enacted these laws? And are they safeguarding citizens from forced conversion or enabling the policing of personal belief and identity? Guest: Rebecca John, Senior Advocate Host: Reuben Joe Joseph Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recently, the Ministry of Education announced that an Artificial Intelligence (AI) curriculum would be introduced from Class 3 onwards for the next academic year (2026-27). In July, the government had launched the Skilling for AI Readiness (SOAR) initiative, under which thousands of CBSE schools will offer AI as a skill subject starting from Class 6. Should AI be introduced as part of school curricula? Here we discuss the issue. Guests: Aparajita Bharti, co-founder of public policy firm The Quantum Hub and Young Leaders for Active Citizenship; Viplav Bakshi, founder of EdTech platforms AmplifyU and Edulist AI Host: Sruthi Darbhamulla Edited by Jude Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Earlier this month, the vast forest-grassland mosaic of the Western Ghats, Assam’s Manas National Park, and West Bengal’s Sundarbans, a mangrove where tigers swim from island to island, were all listed as being of “significant concern”. This was the assessment of the natural World Heritage sites in Asia and was released by The International Union for Conservation of Nature or IUCN. IUCN is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental organisation, that tracks the health of ecosystems and species worldwide. And today, climate change has overtaken hunting as the greatest threat to wildlife, says IUCN’s World Heritage Outlook 4 report which was released this month. India’s forests are turning into concrete jungles. Tourism has reached its tipping point. Highways splice through natural habitats. And illegal wildlife trade thrives.  The most recent scandal was the ED chargesheet against Elvish Yadav, a YouTuber, for wildlife crime. The agency said he had “illegally used protected species of snakes, exotic animals, such as iguanas, in the production of commercial music videos and vlogs for the purpose of increasing followers and generating money”. Guest: Vivek Menon, founder of the Wildlife Trust of India, who has become the first Asian to head the IUCN’s Species Survival Commission Host: Divya Gandhi, The Hindu Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today’s episode we turn our attention to Manipur; a state in India’s Northeast that has been experiencing conflict on ethnic lines. In 2023, the violence between the valley-dwelling Meitei community and hill-based Kuki-Zo tribes erupted in full force: homes burned, villages razed, thousands displaced, and lives forever changed. As per data from the National Crime Record Bureau, crimes in many categories, such as arson and murder surged. Arson cases alone soared from just 27 in 2022 to 6,203 in 2023, while rioting cases rose from 84 to 5,421.However, the number of registered crimes against women showed a 30% drop. The number of rape cases fell from 42 in 2022 to 27 in 2023. Why did crimes against women decline during a period of widespread violence, and what might this reveal about reporting, safety, and justice in conflict-torn Manipur? Tune in! Guest: Siam Thangsing, an independent researcher who has published work on Gender and Health during the conflict; and Greeshma Kuthar, a reporter and lawyer who has been in Manipur’s conflict zones. Host: Nitika Francis Edited by Jude Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Evidence-based policy. Randomised Control Trials or RCTs. These are buzzwords in developmental policy these days. They have become almost synonymous with each other. The ‘evidence’ in ‘evidence-based’ has largely come to mean whatever data is produced by one method of research – RCTs. But as some economists have been trying to tell us, RCTs have their limits. Regardless of whether it is RCTs, or some other research methodology, is it wise to let so-called ‘evidence’ be the sole arbiter of public policy? What are the ways in which ‘evidence-based’ approaches can go wrong, and how have RCTs ended up being misused, resulting in actual harm? Guest: Professor Jean Drèze, Development Economist Host: G Sampath Recorded, edited, and produced by Jude Francis Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a major shift in policy, China has announced that it will no longer seek the special treatment reserved for developing countries under World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreements.Speaking in New York while he was in the U.S. to attend the United Nations General Assembly, Chinese Premier Li Qiang declared that his country would no longer seek the special treatment given to developing countries in WTO agreements. Beijing said the decision aims to strengthen the global trading system amid rising protectionism and tariff wars. It noted is still part of the developing world, the move reflects its growing global economic influence as the world’s second-largest economy. Chinese officials said Beijing’s decision was voluntary and not meant to suggest that other developing countries should follow suit. “It’s China’s own decision,” China’s top envoy to the WTO, Li Yihong, told reporters in Geneva.Leaders, including WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, welcome China's move, saying it was a key step toward reforming the organisation. The U.S. has demanded that China, India and other larger countries give up the benefits of being a developing country at the WTO and called for reforming the trade body. How will China's decision influence the functioning of the body and how will it affect India's prospects at the WTO?Guest: Abhijit Das, International Trade Policy and WTO Expert, and the former Professor & Head, Center for WTO Studies. Host: Nivedita V Edited by Jude Francis Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the past few months, the stray dog crisis has rocked the country. The numbers are staggering and how to deal with them has elicited multiple, heated opinions. One crucial aspect to this however is rabies: a disease that is completely preventable and yet claims many lives, primarily of children, every year. While the government states that there were 54 human rabies deaths in 2024, a research paper in The Lancet earlier this year put the number at over 5,700 every year. More of concern is cases that have emerged recently – of people dying even after having taken the rabies vaccination.What is the rabies situation in India? Why does the vaccine not work in some cases – are there systemic gaps that need to be addressed? Where does India stand on surveillance of rabies cases, and do dog bites need to be made notifiable? Guest: Dr Subramanian Swaminathan Director of infectious diseases, Glenagles Global Hospital, president, Clinical Infectious Diseases Society of India Host: Zubeda Hamid Edited and produced by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Election Commission is all set for a country-wide roll out of the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. The first phase of the process would implemented in more than 10 states, including in poll-bound Assam, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala and West Bengal. This exercise comes in the wake of the controversial SIR in Bihar, which was done hurriedly. As has been widely reported, the final voter list in Bihar is riddled with inaccuracies – including excess deletions, gibberish names, and fake addresses. Now, with a pan-India SIR on the anvil, questions abound: Why is it necessary? Will the process incorporate the changes suggested by the Supreme Court in the Bihar context - especially with regard to the use of Aadhaar, publishing voter lists in searchable format, and checking of migrant names in other states before deleting their names? How serious are concerns about mass disenfranchisement on a national scale in a nation-wide SIR? Guest: Sreeparna Chakrabarty, who covers the Election Commission for The Hindu. Host: G. Sampath Edited and produced by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Camera: Jude Francis Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices