Ep 403: Shikha Dalmia Is the Unpopulist

Populism is on the rise everywhere, and the long arc of history has bent away from freedom. Shikha Dalmia joins Amit Varma in episode 403 of The Seen and the Unseen to discuss the derangements of our modern times -- and the threat that Donald Trump poses. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Shikha Dalmia on Twitter, LinkedIn, Reason, The Week and ISMA. 2. Institute for the Study of Modern Authoritarianism. 3. The UnPopulist. 4. The Seen/Unseen episode on immigration with Shikha Dalmia. 5. The Populist Playbook -- Episode 42 of Everything is Everything. 6. Why Both Modi and Trump are Textbook Populists (2017) -- Amit Varma. 7. Rhinoceros -- Eugène Ionesco. 8. Stopping the Rhinoceros Takeover -- Shikha Dalmia. 9. Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India — Akshaya Mukul. 10. The Gita Press and Hindu Nationalism — Episode 139 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Akshaya Mukul). 11. Colours of the Cage: A Prison Memoir — Arun Ferreira. 12. The Reactionary Spirit -- Zack Beauchamp. 13. Narendra Modi takes a Great Leap Backwards — Amit Varma (on demonetisation). 14. Beware of the Useful Idiots — Amit Varma. 15. Stay Away From Luxury Beliefs -- Episode 46 of Everything is Everything. 16. The Good and Bad of Critical Race Theory -- Fabio Rojas. 17. The Color of Law -- Richard Rothstein. 18. Identity -- Francis Fukuyama. 19. Coleman Hughes, Glenn Loury and John McWhorter on Twitter/X. 20. The Fall of Minneapolis -- Alpha News. 21. What Really Happened to George Floyd? -- Coleman Hughes. 22. The retconning of George Floyd: Parts One, Two, an Update, Three -- Radley Balko. 23. The Murder Trial of OJ Simpson. 24. Glenn Loury & John McWhorter do a second take. 25. The Intellectual Foundations of Hindutva — Episode 115 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Aakar Patel). 26. A Typology of the New Right -- Shikha Dalmia. 27. The Flight 93 Election -- Michael Anton. 28. A Passage to India -- EM Forster. 29. Jane Austen on Amazon, Wikipedia and Britannica. 30. Thomas Hardy and W Somerset Maugham on Amazon. 31. Ayn Rand on Amazon, Wikipedia and Britannica. 32. Milton Friedman on Amazon, Wikipedia and Britannica. 33. Friedrich Hayek on Amazon, Wikipedia and Britannica. 34. Memories and Things — Episode 195 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Aanchal Malhotra). 35. Remnants of a Separation — Aanchal Malhotra. 36. Arnold Kling and the Four Languages of Politics -- Episode 394 of The Seen and the Unseen. 37. The Life and Times of Vir Sanghvi — Episode 236 of The Seen and the Unseen. 38. A Rude Life — Vir Sanghvi. 39. The Use of Knowledge in Society — Friedrich Hayek. 40. Four Papers That Changed the World -- Episode 41 of Everything is Everything. 41. Don't Mess With the Price System -- Episode 66 of Everything is Everything. 42. The Road to Serfdom -- Friedrich Hayek. 43. Dadabhai Naoroji, Mahadev Govind Ranade, Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Gopal Ganesh Agarkar. 44. Caste, Capitalism and Chandra Bhan Prasad — Episode 296 of The Seen and the Unseen. 45. Yugank Goyal Is out of the Box — Episode 370 of The Seen and the Unseen. 46. What Is Populism? -- Jan-Werner Müller. 47. The State of Indian Politics — Episode 50 of The Seen and the Unseen (w JP Narayan). 48. The Gentle Wisdom of Pratap Bhanu Mehta — Episode 300 of The Seen and the Unseen. 49. The Liberalism of Fear -- Judith Shklar. 50. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Nooran Sisters and Hadiqa Kiani on Spotify. 51. Kamli -- Hadiqa Kiani. This episode is sponsored by CTQ Compounds. Check out The Daily Reader and FutureStack. Use the code UNSEEN for Rs 2500 off. Amit Varma and Ajay Shah have launched a new course called Life Lessons, which aims to be a launchpad towards learning essential life skills all of you need. For more details, and to sign up, click here. Amit and Ajay also bring out a weekly YouTube show, Everything is Everything. Have you watched it yet? You must! And have you read Amit’s newsletter? Subscribe right away to The India Uncut Newsletter! It’s free! Also check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. Episode art: ‘Unpopulist’ by Simahina.