In Focus-Parley | Are brands overreacting to manufactured outrage?

The Security Council is paralysed, and Superpowers haven’t recognized there are limits to their power says UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, in his most scathing comments about the culture of “impunity” and divisiveness that besets global leadership. This episode, we have an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the BRICS summit, the UNSG, who demits office at the end of the year weighed in on a number of issues, including UN reform, the election for his successor, the latest developments in the West Asia war, Israel’s war in Gaza, India’s efforts in the Russia-Ukraine war, and the latest controversy of a new UN resolution on the world map. Guest: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres Host: Suhasini Haider Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Doomsday scenarios of an ‘AI takeover’ have been part of popular lore for a long time. Skynet, Terminator, and Agent Smith are fictional icons of this narrative. What may seem a paranoid fantasy appears to have unfolded in real life, with the recent hacking incident involving AI infrastructure platform, Hugging Face. OpenAI was conducting a cyber-evaluation of some of its AI models, and according to a report put out by MERT and Redwood Research, AI safety experts, about 1,200 AI agents, who were supposed to be isolated from one another, colluded and collaborated through an unsanctioned message board. They cheated on their task, and covered their tracks by falsifying their logs. It was as a part of this ‘rogue’ action that 700 of them attacked Hugging Face. The report says that more than a thousand agents carried out a massive, unsanctioned, collaborative project over months, before being discovered and shut down. OpenAI’s own report revealed that after the Hugging Face attack, the ‘rogue’ agents even took over a cluster of OpenAI’s own computers. What does this entire incident mean for AI safety? Are fears of an AI takeover justified? How to ensure that frontier AI research is properly regulated and doesn’t endanger humanity itself? Joining us today is Sayash Kapoor, incoming professor at the UC Berkeley School of Information and co-author of the book, ‘AI Snake Oil: What Artificial Intelligence can do, what it can’t, and how to tell the difference’. Host: G Sampath Producer: Shiksha Jural Video: Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Iran war has entered another dangerous phase, with the confrontation between Tehran and Washington increasingly spilling into the Persian Gulf. Iran has stepped up attacks on shipping around the Strait of Hormuz, while the U.S. has intensified efforts to restrict Iranian oil exports. At the same time, questions over Iran’s nuclear programme remain unresolved, and tensions are rising across Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq. So, what is Iran trying to achieve with this escalation? What remains of Iran’s nuclear programme? Is the conflict turning into a wider regional war, and is Lebanon becoming its next major front? Guest: Stanly Johny, International Affairs Editor, The Hindu Host: Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Edited and produced by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recently, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a one-year moratorium on generative AI tools for public school students through Class 8 for the 2026-27 academic year. Officials argued that young children require human connection and independent problem-solving skills instead of relying on algorithms. Should the use of Gen AI be banned among younger students?   Guests: Lavina Jaswani and Deepa Jacob Host: Priscilla Jebaraj Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Western Ghats in India is a mountain range that is considered next only to the Himalayas in terms of being a biological treasure trove with a high degree of endemism and scenic beauty. It has also been declared as one of the world’s hotspots of biodiversity. However, in recent times, it has been in the news for threats to its unique ecosystem, especially with every episode of an ecological disaster. Yet, every attempt that has proposed to address these problems - be it the Gadgil committee report or the Kasturirangan report - has met with opposition. The latest in this list is the draft notification issued by the Centre proposing the Eco-Sensitive Area (ESA) that would cover a 20,668 square kilometre area spread across 1,449 villages in Karnataka, which has been vehemently opposed by the Karnataka government. AS Ponnanna, Political Secretary to the Chief Minister of Karnataka and MLA from Virajpet in Kodagu, nestled in the Western Ghats, talks about the concerns the Karnataka government has with the Kasturirangan report and the Centre’s latest draft notification. Host: K. C. Deepika, City Editor, The Hindu, Bengaluru Producer: Shiksha Jural Video: Ravichandran N Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The implementation of the creamy layer doctrine for OBC reservations has been beset with complications. A Supreme Court judgement on March 11 essentially held that Union government has been doing it all wrong all these years, and that their income/wealth test was subjecting a section of OBC applicants to “hostile discrimination”. The Supreme court gave the government six months to implement its order with regard to the litigants. But the government has told the court that it will be too complicated to implement its order retrospectively. For instance, one immediate concern: what happens with the results of the 2025 civil services exams that were declared on March 6? With the court set to hear the matter again on September 17, we unpack the complex history of creamy layer implementation. How effective has it been -- in remedying the hogging of OBC reservations by a few select groups? Isn’t sub-categorisation a better approach compared to the creamy layer doctrine – when it comes to ensuring opportunities for under-represented communities within OBCs? Guest: Abhinay Lakshman from The Hindu’s bureau Host: G. Sampath Edited and produced by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a special bonus episode featuring the Hindu's Global Faultlines podcast where Sharmada venkatausbramanian is in conversation with Stanly Johny. Israel has fought multiple wars and military campaigns since October 7, in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran, while expanding its military and intelligence operations across the region. But military reach does not necessarily translate into strategic victory. What has Israel actually achieved, and at what cost? Has it strengthened its security and position in West Asia, or created new vulnerabilities and deeper isolation? How have these wars changed Israel’s relationship with the United States, the Gulf and India, and what do they mean for the future of the Palestinian question?  In this episode of Global Faultlines, we examine Israel’s wars, its security establishment, its evolving regional strategy and the larger question: Is Israel winning? Expert: Stanly Johny, International Affairs Editor, The Hindu  Research, Editing and Production: Sharmada Venkatasubramanian  Camera: Johan Sathyadas J Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There’s been a lot of excitement in the cancer research field recently. Preliminary results from a trial with patients who had melanoma or skin cancer, showed that a ‘cancer vaccine’ had been successful in reducing the recurrence of melanoma tumours. This vaccine, called instamaren autogene, is based on mRNA technology – the same tech that was used to manufacture Covid vaccines during the pandemic. A number of other trials across the world are also looking into how mRNA vaccines can help prevent the recurrence of certain hard-to-treat cancers. So what are these new therapies and what cancer do they treat? Why are they called vaccines when they don’t actually prevent cancer? How does mRNA tech work and how is AI helpful in this? Will these personalised treatments be available in India any time soon and how expensive will they be? Guest: Dr. Narayana Subramaniam, Lead Consultant, Head and Neck Surgery and Oncology, Aster Hospitals, and Adjunct Faculty at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. Host: Zubeda Hamid Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Much was expected from the Indian men’s hockey team after back to back bronze medals at the highest level of the sport – the Olympic Games. The core of the team that took part in the recently concluded World Cup was the same as the one that medalled at the Paris Olympics in 2024. Yet we struggled against the top teams at the recently concluded World Cup. Despite having a coach in Craig Fulton who is known for a defense-first approach, the single most disappointing aspect of the team’s performance was in defence, as it conceded 19 goals in just six games. What is the team missing, and what does this performance bode for the upcoming Asian Games where are the defending champions? We speak with Uthra Ganesan from The Hindu’s Sports Bureau. Host: G Sampath Producer: Shiksha Jural Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, jewellery brand Giva withdrew an advertisement it made for Raksha Bandhan after netizens criticised actress Kriti Sanon’s outfit as too revealing for a traditional festival. The incident is the latest in a series of brands backtracking on their advertisements following backlash that is often religiously or communally charged. Given India’s current socio-political climate, are brands overreacting to manufactured outrage? Here, we discuss the question. Guest: Mitushi Sharma and Santosh Desai Host: Sonikka Loganathan Producer: Jude Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices