On this episode of The Wire Wrap, The Wire's Jahnavi Sen is joined by development economist Dipa Sinha and The Wire Hindi's editor Ashutosh Bhardwaj.

The Wire's Jahnavi Sen is joined by Malayala Manorama bureau chief Jomy Thomas and The Wire's founding editor M.K. Venu to discuss recent political developments.

What are the messages the different political parties are out to portray? Will they resonate?

Lawyer Apar Gupta and The Wire editor Seema Chishti discuss the link between the electoral bonds data and Arvind Kejriwal's arrest, as well as the questions around the now-halted Viksit Bharat WhatsApp campaign.

Transparency rights activist Anjali Bhardwaj told The Wire that this discrepancy could be because the State Bank of India has only released data starting from April 12, 2019.

Money that exchanged hands through electoral bonds has already funded two general election cycles and multiple state elections. 

Historian Sudev Sheth in his new book 'Bankrolling Empire' takes a deep dive into several generations of the Jhaveri family, detailing their changing relationship with the Mughal court as the empire slowly started to lose its strength.

What are the implications of these developments as we approach the elections?

"As I understand it, the novelist’s task is to make meaning of the ideas of an epoch through a textual form that is uniquely spacious and versatile. To think of fiction as anything less is to underestimate its potential."

Oscar-winning sound designer Pookutty spoke to The Wire about his directorial debut, the times we live in and his plans for the future.

"When you're translating someone you enter into a relationship with that work that is so intense, that it's almost like a love affair. But for me I think it's kind of like cheating – it's a wild affair that I'm having while I'm married to my own writing."

On the sidelines of the Kerala Literature Festival, Shanbhag spoke to The Wire about his books, their context and more.

Anuja Chauhan spoke to The Wire about her detective fiction, censorship in today's India and more.

Patrick Olivelle and Ramachandra Guha sat down with The Wire to talk about Ashoka’s rule, the characteristics that set him apart as a ruler, how he came to embrace and then spread his moral philosophy, and more.

In his new book 'Ashoka: Portrait of a Philosopher King', Professor Patrick Olivelle talks about the life, moral philosophy and ideals of Mauryan emperor Ashoka.

There have been 525 attacks against Christians in India just in the first eight months of 2023. This year will likely cross the violent record set in 2022, and in 2021 before that.

Singh had been an active supporter of and participant in the farmers' protests that shook the Union government in 2020-21.

The lack of investigative staff also seriously hinders SHRCs' ability to probe alleged rights violations and find remedies, the India Justice Report notes.

While the representation of women judges in the subordinate courts is rising, the same cannot be said about the high courts. Between 2020 and 2022, the high courts saw a little less than two percentage point increase in women’s representation.

Even a name change – from ‘Mughal Museum’ to ‘Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Museum’ – hasn’t saved this Agra project from delays.