FACT OF THE MATTER

RATHINDRA BASU and JOY BHATTACHARJYA

Spies in the White House? Alcoholic rat armies? Conan Doyle as a sports reporter? In this series, Rathindra Basu and Joy Bhattacharjya, two senior media professionals and trivia enthusiasts from India, have fun with facts and news from the world of music, books, film, sports, history, science, language etc. Every other week, they will share interesting anecdotes, funny news items and decipher interesting word origins. Fans of trivia can also try contest questions and see Joy and Rathin try to fool each other as well! Reach out to Joy and Rathin at [email protected].

29 Episodes

S2 E6 - The "Awards" Special - from bad sex in fiction, weird book titles and Knights of the Garter to the Ig-Nobel, Darwin and Turnip awards and their many illustrious winners!!
1/7/2023
29:52
In our sixth episode this season, FACT OF THE MATTER, rounds off the year by diving straight into the Awards Season - with a difference!! In Main Course, Joy and Rathin stay off the regular award season and focus on a few off-beat ones for a change - like the Ig-Nobel, the Darwin and the Turnip awards. Get to know more about bad sex in fiction, weird book titles, automobile inspired sex scenes and a garter or two as Joy skillfully unravels story after story!! So award yourself a quick break, grab a ringside seat and join us on yet another tour-de-farce into the world of awards!! We love to hear from you!! Write to us at [email protected]. Rate us and berate us!! Follow us on Twitter - @joybhattacharj and @rathindrabasu. Find us on all leading podcast platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Amazon Music. Visit our website - https://anchor.fm/factofthematter
S2 E5 - Joy and Rathin return after a break with a lot of words - literally! - words of the year, retronyms, backronyms, contronyms and Joy's quirky updates featuring sideburns and testicles!!!
12/25/2022
33:02
In our fifth episode this season, FACT OF THE MATTER, decides to go back a step and find out the many wonderful facets of words and their meanings!! In Main Course, hear about words of the year like woman, goblin mode and homer and why they were searched and checked worldwide - and get a load of quirky trivia on the origin of words like sideburn, testament and salary among others. Kick off the Christmas holidays by doing nothing except putting on your earphones and block off every other noise - as you gently doze off to the smooth droning sound of Joy and Rathin making a mess of the English language!! We love to hear from you!! So write to us at [email protected]. Rate us and berate us!! Follow us on Twitter - @joybhattacharj and @rathindrabasu. Find us on all leading podcast platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Amazon Music. Visit our website - https://anchor.fm/factofthematter
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S2 E4 - in which we investigate old and new crime fiction, noire detective movies and more - as we trip through Holmes, Poirot, Knives Out, Mountbatten, Sikander Singh and gumshoes from Pinkerton's!!
4/3/2022
36:30
Jack Reacher ordered espresso, double, no peel, no cube, foam cup, no china, and before it arrived he saw a man’s life change forever. Opening lines of The Hard Way – a book by Lee Child where the central character is Jack Reacher, a retired military investigator. In our fourth episode this season, FACT OF THE MATTER, enters the shadowy world of murder, detection, macabre plots and pure crime!! In Main Course, learn about inspirations and connections - as Joy links in Lord Mountbatten and Roger Ackroyd and how an Indian may have been the reason for the Silver Blaze story by Conan Doyle. Rathin shares the virtues of having an I-Phone if you want to escape from being a murder suspect in movies and some interesting new Indian detectives who are winning hordes of new fans!! In Believe It or Not, we try and unearth some craziness around the Russia Ukraine crisis and temper it with some wholesome goodness as well!! Plus all the regular sections like Cute Words and Phrases, Bare Naked Lies and audience questions!! So get off that sofa, flex your knees and dig in as the game truly is afoot!! We love to hear from you!! So write to us at [email protected]. Rate us and berate us!! Follow us on Twitter - @joybhattacharj and @rathindrabasu. Find us on all leading podcast platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Amazon Music. Visit our website - https://anchor.fm/factofthematter
S2 E3 - in which we celebrate love stories - the first love song ever written and the first pop star, Sahir and Amrita, Layla and Patty Boyd, Ben Affleck and a toilet seat and much more!!
2/14/2022
30:46
"You had me at hello." Renee Zellweger's iconic dialog in the movie Jerry Maguire. In our third episode this season, FACT OF THE MATTER, gets onto the love bandwagon with great enthusiasm!! In Main Course, let Joy tell you how love for Patty Boyd helped create monster audio hits and get a bite of ancient history as Rathin shares details about the world's earliest known love song and a really ancient pop singer-songwriter !! In Believe It or Not, we have some crazy love stories from across the world - as we travel smoothly from Kenya to Japan!! Plus all the regular sections like Cute Words and Phrases, Bare Naked Lies and audience questions!! So bring out that old guitar, brush up on those college day love tunes and let the good times roll!! We love to hear from you!! So write to us at [email protected]. Rate us and berate us!! Follow us on Twitter - @joybhattacharj and @rathindrabasu. Find us on all leading podcast platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Amazon Music. Visit our website - https://anchor.fm/factofthematter
S2 E2 - All about thugs, villains and rascals - from screen to real life from Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff and Christopher Lee to Dushyasana- specially spiced up with a surprise Guest of the Week!!
2/2/2022
40:23
"You've heard of the golden rule, haven't you? Whoever has the gold makes the rules." The evil Vizier, Jafar, in Aladdin. In our second episode this season, FACT OF THE MATTER, makes a darting run into the dark side!!. In Main Course, get introduced to a tough baddie from the great Indian epic, Mahabharata and also find out interesting stories about legendary screen villains like Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff and Christopher Lee!! Listen to national award winning Indian writer, Balaji Vittal, share nuggets from his latest book - Pure Evil – The Bad Men of Bollywood - as he becomes FOTM's very first - Our Guest This Week - our brand new section! In Believe It or Not, learn about how unplanned entrances into weddings can lead to unplanned marriages!! Plus all the regular sections like Cute Words and Phrases, Bare Naked Lies and audience questions!! So bring out the anti-hero within you and enjoy a special round of villainy, treachery and complete tomfoolery as always!! We love to hear from you!! So write to us at [email protected]. Rate us and berate us!! Follow us on Twitter - @joybhattacharj and @rathindrabasu. Find us on all leading podcast platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Amazon Music. Visit our website - https://anchor.fm/factofthematter
S2 E1 - In which Joy and Rathin deep dive into sporting controversies like Cricket and Apartheid, Olympic Boycotts, COVID and NBA, Corruption charges in Baseball and much more!
1/23/2022
47:59
When the seagulls follow the trawler, they think sardines will be thrown into the sea - Eric Cantona, France and Manchester United football legend, on his controversial rant at media trying to feed of his words to create sensational stories. In this brand new season opener, FACT OF THE MATTER, stunned by the Novak Djokovic affair at the Australian Open, decides to console itself by focusing on key sporting controversies over the years!!. In Main Course, listen to Joy and Rathin do a freewheeling chat about how the cricketing world was shaken by apartheid in the 70s, how the NBA is seeing the effect of COVID vaccinations (or not!!), how India was once one step away from a Davis Cup triumph and much more!! In Believe It or Not, learn about how an Italian Michelin star restaurant received a stunning shakedown from a reviewer and anti-sex beds at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics!! Plus all the regular sections like Cute Words and Phrases, Bare Naked Lies and audience questions!! So forget your New Year resolution, grab your favorite beverage and immerse yourself into a crazy world of stories, trivia and fun!! We love to hear from you!! So write to us at [email protected]. Rate us and berate us!! Follow us on Twitter - @joybhattacharj and @rathindrabasu. Find us on all leading podcast platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Amazon Music. Visit our website - https://anchor.fm/factofthematter
Episode 16 - A special focus on children in which Jackie Coogan, Shirley Temple, Amir Khan and Meena Kumari rub shoulders with Pakistani batting legend Inzamam Ul Haq and a few nursery rhymes!!
11/20/2021
35:11
There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children - Nelson Mandela. In this episode, FACT OF THE MATTER, celebrates the month of November by checking out stories around children who took their childhood by the scruff of the neck and left an indelible impression on the rest of us. In Main Course, listen to Joy and Rathin talk about child actors from Hollywood and Bollywood - Jackie Coogan, Shirley Temple and Meena Kumari and others - how they coped in both reel and real life as they navigated their way into adulthood!! In Believe It or Not, learn about Pakistani batting legend Inzamam Ul Haq and his relationship with sleep and runouts!! Enjoy Joy's special story about about a selfless lady from Cuttack, Orissa!!!! Plus all the regular sections like Cute Words and Phrases, Bare Naked Lies and audience questions!! Sit back, grab a coffee, close and your eyes and try and remember a good childhood memory!! and if you ca We love to hear from you!! So write to us at [email protected]. Rate us and berate us!! Follow us on Twitter - @joybhattacharj and @rathindrabasu. Find us on all leading podcast platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Amazon Music. Visit our website - https://anchor.fm/factofthematter
Episode 15 - How key assassinations often changed the course of world political history - about Archduke Ferdinand, Reinhard Heydrich and Sir Stanley Jackson - some lucky to survive and some not!!
11/4/2021
38:07
Demoralize the enemy from within by surprise, terror, sabotage, assassination. This is the war of the future. - Adolf Hitler. In this episode, FACT OF THE MATTER, focuses on famous assassination plots in history - the rationale, the planning, the many operational goof-ups and the often violent repercussions. In Main Course, listen to Joy and Rathin talk about two key political figures from the previous century - the Archduke Francis Ferdinand and Reinhard Heydrich - and how their deaths altered the course of world wars!! Hear about an intrepid Indian freedom fighter who tried to bump off an Ashes winning English captain and about the usage of poison in devious ways as an assassination ploy!! In Believe It or Not, learn why certain Colombian hippos, recently, were legally recognized as humans and then enjoy Joy's special story about politicians and world leaders who do nod off now and then in public!!!! Plus all the regular sections like Cute Words and Phrases, Bare Naked Lies and audience questions!! Celebrate Diwali in style but responsibly - stay away from fireworks and pollution - tune in to some hair raising stories instead!! We love to hear from you!! So write to us at [email protected]. Rate us and berate us!! Follow us on Twitter - @joybhattacharj and @rathindrabasu. Find us on all leading podcast platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Amazon Music. Visit our website - https://anchor.fm/factofthematter
Episode 14 - All about airlines and aviation and Rwandan bars - In which Air India and Salvador Dali find place alongside a Broadway musical about a small town called Gander and its incredible people!
10/16/2021
37:00
In this episode, FACT OF THE MATTER, celebrates the festival season of Durga Puja and Dussehra by taking off in style!!. In Main Course, listen to Joy and Rathin talk about Air India and its connection with the surrealist genius, Salvador Dali, how airlines sometime lay out a special offer for casino lovers and a Broadway musical about a small town called Gander in Newfoundland and its special position in the 9-11 aftermath!! In Believe It or Not, learn why bars in Rwanda may surprise you with its "special" fare and then enjoy Joy's special story about a man who married a rice cooker!!!! Plus all the regular sections like Cute Words and Phrases, Bare Naked Lies and audience questions!! Stories and anecdotes from the world of aviation and airlines will keep you flying high for sure! We love to hear from you!! So write to us at [email protected]. Rate us and berate us!! Follow us on Twitter - @joybhattacharj and @rathindrabasu. Find us on all leading podcast platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Amazon Music. Visit our website - https://anchor.fm/factofthematter
FACT OF THE MATTER - Genesis - Trailer
10/8/2021
2:32
A short clip where Joy and Rathin decide to explain why they started FACT OF THE MATTER - from their college day hunting for obscure facts to their love of trivia and how that ultimately led to the genesis of this pod!!

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FACT OF THE MATTER

RATHINDRA BASU and JOY BHATTACHARJYA

29 Episodes

S2 E6 - The "Awards" Special - from bad sex in fiction, weird book titles and Knights of the Garter to the Ig-Nobel, Darwin and Turnip awards and their many illustrious winners!!

S2 E5 - Joy and Rathin return after a break with a lot of words - literally! - words of the year, retronyms, backronyms, contronyms and Joy's quirky updates featuring sideburns and testicles!!!

S2 E4 - in which we investigate old and new crime fiction, noire detective movies and more - as we trip through Holmes, Poirot, Knives Out, Mountbatten, Sikander Singh and gumshoes from Pinkerton's!!

S2 E3 - in which we celebrate love stories - the first love song ever written and the first pop star, Sahir and Amrita, Layla and Patty Boyd, Ben Affleck and a toilet seat and much more!!

S2 E2 - All about thugs, villains and rascals - from screen to real life from Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff and Christopher Lee to Dushyasana- specially spiced up with a surprise Guest of the Week!!

S2 E1 - In which Joy and Rathin deep dive into sporting controversies like Cricket and Apartheid, Olympic Boycotts, COVID and NBA, Corruption charges in Baseball and much more!

Episode 16 - A special focus on children in which Jackie Coogan, Shirley Temple, Amir Khan and Meena Kumari rub shoulders with Pakistani batting legend Inzamam Ul Haq and a few nursery rhymes!!

Episode 15 - How key assassinations often changed the course of world political history - about Archduke Ferdinand, Reinhard Heydrich and Sir Stanley Jackson - some lucky to survive and some not!!

Episode 14 - All about airlines and aviation and Rwandan bars - In which Air India and Salvador Dali find place alongside a Broadway musical about a small town called Gander and its incredible people!

FACT OF THE MATTER - Genesis - Trailer