Rohit
Hi NL I request you to do a deep dive on Mr Jaswant Singh Khalra; I have read his Wiki and I'm shocked and blown, please do a detailed deep dive on that period and especially that man. Please.
Shomona
Dear NL Hafta team,
Two quick suggestions.
One, please include the recommendations for the week in the description of the podcast itself, the way NL Charcha does. Right now only the previous Hafta recos are uploaded on the Google Doc, and one has to rewind back and forth. Love your voices, but there is such a thing as too much of a muchness.
Two, please read the letters a little slowly. Remember, you have it in front of you, but your audience doesn’t. Especially you, Abhinanandanji.
Thanks Jayashree, for the lovely book reco last week. I immediately downloaded the first Ruth Galloway book (The Crossing Places), finished it, and am about to complete the next one. It has been hard, so HARD getting any work done this week. Thank you
Love the work you all do, the camaraderie, and the high-spirited debates. Damn proud of you guys.
Abhijit
Jayashree’s “what is badtameez” hilariously reminded me of my initial days as a south Indian in Dehradun asking my colleagues for help. I am better now, but occasionally sound like my CBSE Hindi text book.
Manisha, great break-up songs: Adele’s Someone Like You and Rolling In The Deep, with one following the other as we try and move on.
Abhinandan, I think Nidhi Razdan might also have been part of the problem when she was with NDTV. I vaguely remember watching Dr Roy and Appan Menon growing up. Since then, Dr Roy and NDTV have embodied elitism and were insufferable sometimes with their “we know better” position. I didn’t feel too terribly when NDTV had their management change. I do now though and yes I miss them now, but Nidhi doesn’t have to look too far to see the problematic old gen. Maybe I am wrong. Please let me know.
Jamuna
Dear NL team,
Happy New Year and thanks for all the great work you do.
I understand that NL subscribers have to do more than simply subscribe to enable quality journalism. But given that multiple NL Senas are running at any given moment, could you please offer more options for making contributions? Right now the slabs are Rs 500, Rs 2.500, etc. That's quite a jump. If possible, please add a slab in between. (TNM gives subscribers the option of picking the amount they wish to contribute.)
I think subscribers would appreciate it. Thank you.
Anonymous
Dear Hafta team,
I am a regular listener of Hafta, Charcha, NL Tippani, and Newsance, and I truly appreciate your work. I want to bring your attention to the concerning selection of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidates in my region.
Several AAP candidates have troubling backgrounds, with some being known goons and a few facing serious charges, including murder. Initially, I overlooked these issues due to my strong opposition to BJP politics, but the reality of AAP's candidate choices is now directly impacting us.
If you have the resources, I urge you to investigate and cover this issue to inform the public. I request anonymity in this matter.
Thank you for your relentless efforts in delivering honest journalism.
Best,
A Concerned Listener
Somsubhro
I have a question regarding the NL Sena for Delhi. For other NL Senas, it makes sense as you are an organisation based primarily out of Delhi and thus needs to get your journalists to the locations for which the NL Sena is formed. However, for Delhi, why do you need a pot which is 93 percent of the NL Sena for Haryana and J&K?
Also, the “know more” button on the Sena homepage is not hyperlinked (was looking for specifics on this).
Shardool, Arcane is incredible! It’s a show @24"w"ps (wallpapers per second). Have you seen Blue Eyed Samurai?
Abhinandan, love your curses, never stop.
Peri Sai Teja
My greetings to the NL team,
I wished there was a letters section in the previous Hafta. If for some reason it could not be included in the podcast, I request a separate page be set up for letters written by subscribers. I very much enjoyed the discussion on economy and related topics with Mr Vivek Kaul. I ardently wish more efforts are also dedicated to economy-related topics since most problems, their solutions and human motivations are related to monetary incentives (perverse or otherwise).
I was also quite delighted with the discussion on journalling in Hafta 519 since I myself regularly write journal entries and send letters (one addressed to Abhinandan/NL though no reply yet) as a sort of digital detox.
My recommendations to the team and its many subscribers:
1) TV Show: The Newsroom (HBO)
2) A book that I enjoyed very much recently – Chip War by Chris Miller
***
N747
Regarding the organised nature of journalism. Journalists aren't the only ones suffering from this. Most Indian manufacturing and IT workers also feel the same. The happiness of a good day’s work makes us forget that good organisations are the force multipliers of the work we do. Even our management schools have forgotten to teach “organisation” and build safeguards for them. I agree when it comes to journalism, it has the major impact of safeguarding democracy. I remember Abhinandan making the same point about great criminals during some corruption discussion. They are not necessarily sharp but very well-organised.
Mala
Hi Hafta team, absolutely love your show. It’s become a weekly ritual to wait for every episode.
I wanted to discuss the state of NL merch. While I understand that subscriptions are important, I wanted to encourage the team to focus on better merch as well. Modern, more interestingly designed merch could go a long way on improving revenue if the designs are a little more appealing to all. As designer I would be happy to offer my services for this exercise and would love to develop a new line of merch for subscribers to purchase and to gift. Cool designs/products can be bought even for others who are not yet subscribed.
Keep up the good work!
Anonymous
I’m writing to express my deep disappointment with South Central, a podcast that was heavily promoted on NL Hafta. Given the high standards and credibility of NL Hafta, I find SC underwhelming.
Firstly, it’s puzzling that voices like Sudipto, who could bring insightful perspectives, aren’t featured on it. Feels like a missed opportunity to enhance the discussion.
Secondly, choice of stories are questionable for a podcast that claims to put south at the centre – for example, dedicating significant airtime to Nimisha Priya, a woman who gruesomely murdered and chopped her partner. Attempting to rationalise such acts of murder is detrimental to the journalistic integrity audience associated with NL.
Thirdly, while feminism is essential, the tone of the podcast sometimes feels excessive, overshadowing the nuanced and balanced storytelling that is necessary.
On a separate note, the downloads feature on the Newslaundry app for Android is not working, preventing offline listening, request you to fix it.
Anonymous
Digital arrests: The misuse of enforcement authorities for political purposes has created an environment of fear and distrust amongst all of us. When high-profile figures can be targeted with disdain, the threat of arrest feels very real, even when it's coming from a scammer. Many of the less powerful are still in jail for the last several years. Scammers are exploiting this emotion to manipulate their victims. I am sure that those in power realize this but will not accept the blame. It is for the people to take up the issue of misuse of agencies strongly. Calls for an NL Sena?
Amrita
Kudos on starting the year-long ‘Fight to Breathe’ campaign!
The website mentions that you would be doing shows, articles and many things “to force those with executive power to fix this”. “Forcing action” is clearly the toughest part. I am curious to know how you would go about achieving this?
Could you share results, successes and lessons learnt from your previous campaign “Internet Inqalab”?
Nirmaljit Kaur
Hey team,
THANK YOU THANK YOU AND THANK YOU so much for the t-shirt and the biggest hug for autographs. I am framing this shirt and hanging it on the wall to give respect to all of you for doing an amazing job. Thank you so much for keeping news sanity and hygiene in times of Godi media.
PS: Can you please read my email in NL Hafta.
I love NL HAFTA and TIPPANI the most. Oh, the Sanjay Dhritrashtra Sanvaad is THE BEST!
Thank you so much,
Nirmaljit
Anonymous
We have come a long way (backwards) from making a movie like OMG with Paresh Rawal and Akshay Kumar, which highlighted the absurd amount of money these temples and babas have, to the point where an ‘anti-corruption’ party announces salaries for pujaris. I think that’s why Dr Manmohan Singh’s loss felt so personal. It is important to highlight that the India Against Corruption movement could happen because the government let it happen, and the economy and circumstances at that time allowed critical thinking and dissent. Two winners emerged from that movement – Modi and Kejriwal. Kejriwal later hired teams to map out media houses and journalists who were doing positive, neutral, and negative stories against AAP (Scroll wrote a story on this). This team comprised research fellows who could have been used to solve AQI problems (first-hand information). I really wish that the Jasmine Shah interview had tougher questions.
Aarif
Dear Hafta team,
I wish you all a very happy 2025 and many plaudits for your great work. I start with my great appreciation for your commendable work. I know it's not possible anymore, but I wish to return to that era when news was broadcast twice a day and presented only as facts.
Personally, I believe that Trump’s rhetorics per se are the rants of a senile old uncle who has been poked and bullied for years and now he somehow got a stick to chase after the bullies. The real threat is the rise of information magnates like Zuckerberg and Musk. These are the people who will decide what will be passed to future generations as the ‘history’. I am not sure how much I would want Twitter and Facebook to be the signposts of the history of our times, but they will be definitely central to it.
Admirer
I was watching the video of the podcast and something stirred within me whenever Abhinandan looks over his glasses to look at the camera, almost as if staring into my soul.
Sarath
Want to say “vote for Meghnad” if any of you are in Malviya Nagar constituency. Also, whenever the PM says “double-engine sarkar”, does it mean that he is telling voters that he won’t help the state government unless they vote for him? Do we have a chart on central funds to state governments before and after the BJP is in power in the state? A myth-buster or booster on double-engine sarkar will help.
Krutika
Hi NL team,
Congratulations on the wonderful work that you do! There have been several discussions regarding violence against women in recent years. I wonder if you guys could also discuss it from the perspective of the perpetrator. Who are these men committing these crimes, what leads young men to be so glaringly radicalised against women. I see some alarming behaviour from young men online – grotesque misogyny and transphobia, intertwined with overt Hindu nationalism, and caste pride. As was pertinent in the aftermath of the US elections, radicalisation of young men in India via social media (ie the manosphere) deserves much more attention. We are losing a whole generation to hate and it makes me fearful for future generations of women and minorities.
Anuradha
Hello NL,
I just renewed my NL-TNM subscription via your website and not the Playstore so that my money would go into your account and not to Google (I think this is how it works, correct me if I’m wrong).
I really love all your work and I also attended last year’s Media Rumble and enjoyed it very much. My new favourite segment is What’s Your Ism and I love Sudipto’s style of interviewing. Also, I want to appreciate Jayashree, Manisha and Anand’s points of view during Hafta, most often I agree with their takes.
Keep up the good work, all the best!
Anon
I appreciate the fewer words to use. Hawa ka Haq should also be in portrait mode imo and I would like to see an NL Sena for it (small Rs 2 lakh maybe).
I didn't see the need for Mr Amitava on last week’s panel. There were discussions on journaling, Elon’s changing definition of media, US copying India’s age-old approach from an actor’s endorsement to the possible narrative governance, and the importance of journalists enabling impact through exceptional reports in different countries over time.
Many noticeable journalists are switching or capsizing like Dilip Mondal. Maybe you all ignored it purposely or it slipped through, but a small part of me is ashamed that the death of the reporter and the significance it has on all of you guys personally and us as a society, was not part of the discussion. Independent media needs to at least be vocal about independent reporters.
Yuyutsu
Happy new year to all of you, a long-time (almost a decade) subscriber here.
Hafta episode 519 was amazing as always, I was just blown away by Amitava’s control over his diction in both Hindi and English. It was mesmerising to listen. Both Abhinandan and Ravish keeps saying TV news in India is dead, so I got curious and have been collecting YouTube views numbers for both legacy media channels and digital media since September 2024 and legacy media views are almost three times more than digital media. You can check the data at https://www.theviewdata.com/ and feel free to use this anywhere you want; if you want to embed these charts just drop me an email and I can share the embed link for your team.
Yuyutsu
I forgot to mention one thing in my last email, both Abhinandan and Atul sang in last week’s episodes of Hafta and Charcha respectively; was that planned , no disrespect to Abhinandan but Atul won this round hands down, he is too good a singer. Waiting for more rounds of singing.
VR
Your economist guest’s assertion – that INR depreciated because of new capital investment flows into the US because of Trump's business friendly policies – is inaccurate. USD has appreciated against almost all currencies over the last couple years because US Treasuries (most liquid and risk free investment on the planet) are yielding over 4.6 percent and given these risk free yields, participants are moving away from riskier assets (emerging markets). US Treasury yields have been higher because the Fed has had federal funds rate higher to fight inflation. The immediate cause over the last couple of weeks for yields to rise is that latest inflation and unemployment numbers showed a more than expected stronger US economy leading to fewer expectations of rate cuts next year. This means treasury yields are expected to stay higher and flight to Treasuries continue to increase. USD strength has little to do with foreign direct investments for business friendly policies.
Comd. Shepard
Commander is here to push the boundaries and come up with loopholes in email word limits. As an Indian, it’s in my blood to find out how not to be polite and follow rules that don’t change the world. As an Indian, I am happy to follow the rules which oppress us, though!
First, Mr Sekhri’s mediocre man rule applies to everything in this world. I really liked how he framed it.
Second, the recommendation given by Shardool – Arcane. He didn’t sell it well. It’s the best animation ever produced by humanity as a collective. It was developed for three years even before it was sold to higher-ups as Riot (now a Chinese military company as per the US government). Riot’s passion for their IP is unmatched, they spent USD 250 million on it (the most expensive animation project). The female character writing in this show is the new industry benchmark.
Arcane set the new benchmarks for animation and writing, how to show exposition through music videos, how to produce music for your shows, and world building. And the politics of this show is just chef’s kiss!!! All this praise is coming from a person who has been consuming “adult” animation since 2012. (This is the unmatched power of autism.) And my profile picture is of Frieren *insert sad emoji*. It can be watched without playing League of Legends. And this is a warning – DO NOT PLAY THE GAME, IT WILL GIVE YOU PERMANENT BRAIN DAMAGE AS YOU CAN SEE BY READING MY EMAILS. This is the cost of attaining a masters’ in L.o.L.
Third, are y’all planning any subscriber meet in Himachal Pradesh (Kangra district)? I would be happy to contribute to it in any way possible. July and December are recommended for peak engagement.
Please close this loophole after this episode Now I know why boomers hate Gen Z.
Mibin
Dear NL Hafta team,
Hello team, your episode 519 was insightful especially the statement by Abhinandan at the end talking about how India is a pioneer in everything from ads to Trump's antics. Even though I know the latter to be true as I was following some of Trump's statement and its eerily similar to BJPs leaders Yogi and Modi have said and their renaming frenzy.
On another note, you should try to collaborate with New Humanitarian, an international news substitute for Newslaundry which does the same subscriber model as international news from the ground. The link to one of their pieces is below:
https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/analysis/2025/01/09/whats-shaping-aid-policy-2025
On another fun note, will you interview Meghnad if he becomes a candidate for the Malviya seat? Just on a funny note. Overall, NL Hafta has been my pet peeve followed by South Central as I am a South Indian.
Thank you.
Sweta
Hi team,
I’ve been a long-time subscriber and really love the work you do. Hafta has been my go-to source for weekly news updates.
However, I’ve noticed that recent episodes feel heavily opinion-driven. While opinions are valuable (and I get of late why all of us have so many opinions these days), I also turn to Hafta for hard facts and news coverage. At times, it feels like a single headline is presented, and listeners are left to dig deeper elsewhere before returning to hear your take.
It would be great to include a dedicated 10-minute segment of straight, emotionless (Abhinandan-interruption free) news and facts before diving into the panel’s discussions. In a world where reliable sources of truth are becoming scarce, I think it’s important for us to focus on presenting clear, accurate facts alongside your opinions. The balance will help us listeners stay informed, and then better appreciate the thoughtful commentary you provide.
Thanks for all the great work you do!
Anonymous
The Vrinda interview should ideally have had the following structure, especially if it is named “Atul Subhash, men’s rights, etc: (1) talk about the law, (2) what leads to such cases, (3) the demand to make it gender neutral, (4) if against making it gender neutral then explain the knock-on effect of it being gender neutral.
Ninety percent of the podcast went into women marital atrocities which I agree is a reality, but ended up superseding the fact that the one-sided nature of a law killed someone. The apathetical nature with which someone's death was treated was very weird.
Look, I agree these “men’s rights activists” are a bunch of misogynistic losers but the manner in which NL has covered the Atul case until now has been appalling. Nothing should be biased one way or another and be left to the goodwill of a human. I’m not entirely sure how any logical being wouldn’t get to that conclusion. Maybe get a different perspective onboard? Because for now, it’s been very disappointing.
Right Wing Comrade
Hi everyone. I hope you're all fine.
Can you please share your views on the martyr graveyards of Kashmir and the associated stories? Is it possible for you to have a cross-border session with TCM (Pakistan) and discuss common issues like AQI? Can you please talk about the latest drug menace in J&K and the role of state and police?
Also, I have noticed that we tend to live in the past. Like the Partition crisis, Sikh riots and the Pandit exodus. But when it comes to the issue of Kashmir, plebiscite and the Jammu Massacre, why does our memory start to fade away? One evil can't justify the other but if we are to mention one of the stories the other also needs a kind mention.
No doubt we're going near 5T economy, but why don't we talk about the per capita income, HDI and hunger index?
Manisha, you're the best! More power to you all. Thank you.
Anonymous
What Zuck essentially bending over for Trump means is us looking at the other platforms becoming more like X where – I’m not sure you guys have noticed – stuff like racism and misinformation and “hate” is king. Because my work involves a bigger interaction with the west, being called a “stinky, smelly, piss-drinkign Indian” is very common. It’s also quite common to be randomly called names from fellow Indians. The unfortunate bit is none of this is “hate speech” on X. From now onward, it wouldn’t be the case on other platforms as well.
Regarding the whole Democrats going too “woke” costing them the elections – this is just not true. Just in terms of data, in a five-year period from 2018 to 2022, less than 1,000 sex change operations were registered in the US and less than 2,000 cases of hormone suppression. The problem? The trans identity is the new “Islam” in the west, where you shine a spotlight on the extreme and judge everyone on that basis.
Someone like Mehdi Hasan breaks it down very well.
Anonymous
On what the future holds in 2025? The world would move more and more to the right. A world has a progressive outlook when things are great. When that's not the case, they look for people to blame. More often than not, it's the migrant who doesn't look like them, or that fellow who believes in a different imaginary being, or well, women.
Just case in point, a few days back, a very famous Muslim sportsman, Khabib Nurmagomedov (I know the name is a mouthful :P), was basically racially profiled and kicked off a flight in the US.
https://x.com/Combat_Casuals/status/1878340040570384601
This is going to be more and more acceptable in the west and will trickle down to the rest of world. Great times ahead, eh? :P
On a side note, Nikhil Kamath saw Joe Rogan pull off the worst possible interview of Donald Trump and thought he could do it worse, hence we had the masterpiece with the great PM who was asked about Meloni, not the tanking stock markets, outflowing FIIs or other relevant stuff.
Nachiket Pande
Hi team,
Listening to the last few Haftas I had a few ideas that I wanted to share. Maybe worth looking into, and if you have already, then great.
Like your annual Ramnath Roenka awards, you should also do an award ceremony for the best reports of the year. Tipanni has a section dedicated to “Iss Hafte Ki Report”. Those reports can be direct nominees for these awards among others
Award categories can be reports across different states, topics, fields etc.
This way. you also give space to great work done by reporters and give small reporters/news outfits a good stage. This will also give you an automatic optimistic start to the year :)
Love the Hawa ka Haq project. Just wondering if the English equivalent should have been “Right to Breathe” instead of Fight to Breathe purely for alignment?
Listening to podcasts on the app is a pain. I have felt frustrated quite a few times, enough for me to think about not using the app at all, but my love for free press overrules that emotion and I continue to use and suffer. I am sure, there are people less willing to accommodate the bugs than me and that might be reason enough for people to unsubscribe. Have you thought of doing an in-depth analysis of user behaviors and data gathering?
For example, how long do users use the app, where do they click, when do they close the app etc. This may be a source of great insights into making the app and the website better. I have a laundry list of problems with the app which I am happy to get on a call with the tech team to explain.
Keep up the great work.
Best,
Nachi
We take feedback from our subscribers very seriously. That is because our work is powered by them, not ad revenue from governments and corporates. If you subscribe, we'll take your feedback seriously too. Click here and be part of the tribe that pays to keep news free.
Newslaundry is a reader-supported, ad-free, independent news outlet based out of New Delhi. Support their journalism, here.
