The term ‘nationalism’ sounds so benign, almost as if it refers to something that is good for a nation. But it is a deeply toxic concept that tears societies apart.

Welcome to Episode 122 of Everything is Everything, a weekly podcast hosted by Amit Varma and Ajay Shah.

In this episode, Amit argues that nationalism is always bad for the nation, and we should think deeply before we are seduced by its charms.

TABLE OF CONTENTS: 00:00 Packaging00:13 Intro: One of the biggest questions of our times04:32 Chapter 1: What is Nationalism?16:11 Chapter 2: How Nationalism Spread31:25 Chapter 3: The Good and the Bad of Nationalism46:06 Chapter 4: Nationalism Gone Wrong54:41 Chapter 5: India’s Journey With Nationalism1:07:44 Chapter 6: Tagore on Nationalism1:09:59 Chapter 7: How Nationalism Invades Our Everyday Lives1:22:42 Chapter 8: Closing Thoughts

For full show notes, please click here!

The GST was conceptually superb, utterly necessary — and implemented poorly. There are still so many problems with it that it defeats the purpose. How do we think clearly about its problems? How do we fix it?

Welcome to Episode 121 of Everything is Everything, a weekly podcast hosted by Amit Varma and Ajay Shah.

In this episode, Ajay, one of the authors of the original paper of 2004 that proposed a GST in India, talks about what the GST is meant to do, why it fails in its current design and what we can do to make it better.

TABLE OF CONTENTS: 00:00 Packaging00:13 Edge-of-the-Seat Excitement01:59 Chapter 1: It All Comes Down to Economic Growth09:08 Chapter 2: The Disaster of Cascading Taxes18:59 Chapter 3: How the World Solved This With VAT28:13 Chapter 4: How to Get the VAT Right31:59 Chapter 5: The Indian Journey to a Flawed GST48:23 Chapter 6: The Fix

For full show notes, please click here!

Everyone wants to read more — but how do we do it? As lifelong readers, our hosts get asked this all the time, and decided to do an exhaustive primer with three parts.

1. Why should we read?

2. How do we build a reading habit?

3. How should we actually read a book?

Welcome to Episode 120 of Everything is Everything, a weekly podcast hosted by Amit Varma and Ajay Shah.

In this episode, Amit does his best to answer the three questions above — but please don’t stop watching this show if you do end up reading more!

TABLE OF CONTENTS: 00:00 Packaging00:13 Intro: The Hood and the Hoodie04:01 Chapter 1: Why You Should Read Books33:31 Chapter 2: How to Build a Reading Habit50:03 Chapter 3: How to Read a Book1:06:40 Chapter 4: Closing Thoughts1:20:23 Chapter 5: How Amit Takes Notes on a Book

For full show notes, please click here!