About this podcast
Ever wondered how automation will change the world? Maybe you puzzle over what India could do to ease traffic congestion, or how China's aircraft carriers will transform Indian Ocean geopolitics? All Things Policy, a daily podcast brought to you by the Takshashila Institution, brings you all the answers. Every weekday, our researchers break down complex economic and geopolitical ideas through the lens of current events. For everyone from the busy executive to the curious student, All Things Policy is all you'll need to understand the world (and appreciate your breakfast) better.
Episodes
The newest 50 of 1,984 episodes
- Rethinking India’s Lab Animal Rules · 38 min · Season 1 Episode 1994Only one or two of every ten drug candidates discovered in the lab succeed in human trials. Many of the rest looked safe in animals first. That gap is why the US, UK, EU and…
- Tracking Maritime Disruption in Hormuz · 25 min · Season 1 Episode 1993The Strait of Hormuz has remained physically open through the West Asia crisis, but commercial shipping traffic has collapsed. In this episode of All Things Policy, Nithiyanandam…
- Training AI Without Giving Up Privacy · 25 min · Season 1 Episode 1992India wants to train AI on its own data: medical records, bank files, government databases. But that data belongs to real people. Can a locked digital room let the model learn…
- Energy Politics of the Blue Wave · 35 min · Season 1 Episode 1991With a 'blue wave' washing over republican states, energy was a key concern in flipping swing states. How did energy prices shape the outcome of the 2026 US Midterm Elections? In…
- Asia is Rising, But Is The West Eclipsing? · 31 min · Season 1 Episode 1990The question of the decline of the West, and the rise of "superstates" like India and China, has no easy answers. In this episode of 'All Things Policy', however, former UK…
- America Votes: Reading the Verdict · 42 min · Season 1 Episode 1989Democrats have taken the House, the Senate and a majority of governorships, and the wave reached as far as Texas, Kansas and Ohio. But what were Americans really saying? Was it a…
- Dissecting the US Immigration Debate · 28 min · Season 1 Episode 1988Nearly two years into the second Trump administration, immigration of both legal and illegal kind continues to be a contested issue. One latest development surrounding labour…
- Unlocking India’s Blue Bioeconomy · 29 min · Season 1 Episode 1987In this episode of All Things Policy, Aditi Palo and Shambhavi Naik explore the untapped potential of seaweed cultivation in India’s Blue Bioeconomy. While recent enabling…
- Smart Proteins and India's Food Future · 25 min · Season 1 Episode 1986Can the future of protein look different from what’s on our plates today? From plant-based alternatives to fermentation-derived proteins to cultivated proteins, smart proteins…
- India's Biosecurity Challenges · 29 min · Season 1 Episode 1985Recently, a researcher at a Siberian anti-plague institute died of severe pneumonia of unknown cause. Two weeks later, the US Army announced a shift to AI-driven predictive…
- Israel’s Election System Explained · 29 min · Season 1 Episode 1984In this episode of All Things Policy, Adya Madhavan and Aishwaria Sonavane break down how the Knesset election works, why winning the most votes does not necessarily mean forming…
- America Votes: What Will Decide the American Vote? · 53 min · Season 1 Episode 1983In the fourth episode of America Votes, Professor Jared McDonald of the University of Mary Washington explains how partisan identity, economic concerns and political emotions…
- From PAT to Carbon Credit Trading · 35 min · Season 1 Episode 1982As the EU’s CBAM reshapes global trade, India is preparing to launch its Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS). In this episode of All Things Policy, Bhumika Sevkani and Lasya…
- Green Cards, Leverage, Alliances · 35 min · Season 1 Episode 1981On 8th October, the US Labour Secretary, with Vice President JD Vance beside him, suspended eight companies from PERM. This is the first step towards an employer-sponsored green…
- Can the UN Still Deliver for All? · 31 min · Season 1 Episode 1980The United Nations was created to make the behaviour of states more predictable through dialogue, law, and multilateral cooperation. Yet, the UN today faces a trust deficit of…
- Trump 2.0’s Indian Subcontinent Strategy · 33 min · Season 1 Episode 1979Tariffs of nearly 50%, Washington warming up to Pakistan after Pahalgam, and a sanctions bill aimed at India’s Russian oil purchases. Is the US still betting on India in our…
- America Votes: The Final Two Weeks · 43 min · Season 1 Episode 1978Are the 2026 US midterm elections a referendum on Donald Trump, or will local candidates and electoral dynamics shape the outcome? In this episode of America Votes, Takshashila…
- Senior Care: Where Do The Markets Stand? · 38 min · Season 1 Episode 1977Malathi Renati is in conversation with Asheesh Gupta, co-founder of Samarth, one of India’s leading eldercare organisations, about how India is building, staffing and paying for…
- The Road to 100 GW Nuclear Energy · 29 min · Season 1 Episode 1976India has an ambitious target of 100 GW of nuclear energy by 2047. The historic SHANTI Act of December 2025 and the second-stage PFBR reaching criticality in April 2026 have…
- Starlink and the Price of Dependence · 28 min · Season 1 Episode 1975In this episode, Aditya Ramanathan and Ashwin Prasad Rao discuss the ongoing debate over Starlink’s entry into India and the national security questions it raises. Beyond market…
- America Votes | What Are We Watching? · 39 min · Season 1 Episode 1974In this second episode of America Votes, the All Things Policy series on the 2026 US midterm elections, Brig. Raman speaks with Professor Ryan Williamson of the University of…
- AI and India’s Electricity Market · 39 min · Season 1 Episode 1973India’s power system is becoming more complex as renewable energy grows and electricity demand becomes harder to predict. In this episode of All Things Policy, Gopal Tomar speaks…
- The Inverse Law of Innovation · 31 min · Season 1 Episode 1972How does a young officer’s “Why not?” become a senior officer’s “Better not”? In this episode of All Things Policy, Dr Y. Nithiyanandam, Professor at the Takshashila Institution…
- How China Makes Policy · 35 min · Season 1 Episode 1971China is often seen as a highly centralised system where policy is decided at the top and simply implemented by the bureaucracy. But is Chinese policymaking really that…
- A New Congress, A New Challenge for India-US Ties? · 31 min · Season 1 Episode 1970In this episode of All Things Policy, Aditi Palo speaks with Abhishek Kadiyala about the impacts of an altered US Congress composition on India-US ties. In the past, the US…
- America Votes | Why should India care? · 35 min · Season 1 Episode 1969In this inaugural episode of 'America Votes', All Things Policy's series covering the US mid-terms, Brigadier Anil Raman and Abhishek Kadiyala cover the early trends in November…
- The Limits of US-China Cooperation on AI Safety · 28 min · Season 1 Episode 1968Can the US and China cooperate on AI safety while competing to lead the technology’s development? Bharath Reddy and Shobhankita Reddy examine what the Trump–Xi summit revealed…
- The Medical Wild East · 30 min · Season 1 Episode 1967A Chinese company engaged in semi-invasive brain-computer interface became the first firm globally to get regulatory approval for commercial use. Within 12 days, different arms…
- Should Governments Read Science Fiction? · 28 min · Season 1 Episode 1966Science fiction has a habit of describing inventions decades before they're built: the submarine, the mobile phone, even the phrase "atomic bomb." Astha Rastogi and Ashwin Prasad…
- Civic Innovation: What Works, What Doesn’t · 36 min · Season 1 Episode 1965In this episode, Sowmya Prabhakar is in conversation with Kuldeep Dantewadia about Civic Innovation: What Works, What Doesn't. The framework and tools that Kuldeep shares give…
- Cross-Border Strikes and Pakistan-Afghanistan Relations · 23 min · Season 1 Episode 1964In this episode of All Things Policy, Aishwaria Sonavane joins Adya Madhavan to unpack Pakistan’s escalating military strikes in Afghanistan. They discuss the deep-rooted…
- Saudi Arabia’s Houthi Problem · 33 min · Season 1 Episode 1963In this episode of All Things Policy, Aishwaria Sonavane speaks to Raja Karthikeya about the origins of the Saudi-Houthi conflict, the evolution of the Houthis' military…
- Mining, Money and the States · 24 min · Season 1 Episode 1962Mining in India is subject to a remarkably high number of levies, from royalty and auction premiums to DMF, NMET, cess and state-level charges. A new amendment has raised even…
- Who Owns the View from Above? · 33 min · Season 1 Episode 1961Satellite imagery is no longer just about having better satellites or sharper images. In this episode of All Things Policy, Gopal Tomar speaks to Dr Y. Nithiyanandam about how…
- Senior Citizen Policies: The Kerala Model · 46 min · Season 1 Episode 1960Kerala's 60-plus population has grown from 12.6% in 2011 to 18.7% today. The state's own projections put it near 30% by 2051. India as a whole won't reach that share for decades…
- India's Electricity Woes & Solutions · 47 min · Season 1 Episode 1959Over the last decade, India's power sector has done few things correctly. Almost every household is connected, and we're adding solar and wind faster than most countries. But if…
- The Real Economics of Innovation Hubs · 37 min · Season 1 Episode 1958State governments love lobbying for premier institutes, hoping they'll magically turn into the next Silicon Valley. But without the right ecosystem, top talent just takes the…
- What If Your Biggest Launch Customer Is Yourself? | Space Launch 4 · 37 min · Season 1 Episode 1957Rockets need things to launch. Increasingly, that demand comes from large satellite constellations whose spectrum and orbital filings are mediated by states. Lokendra Sharma and…
- Brahmaputra: The Risk of a River Changing Slowly · 27 min · Season 1 Episode 1956China’s mega-dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo has raised concerns about downstream risks for India. Beyond the prospect of sudden floods, how could gradual changes in river flows and…
- What Happens After a Rocket Fails? | Space Launch 3 · 30 min · Season 1 Episode 1955Failure is an unavoidable part of developing launch vehicles, but not every launch company survives it. Lokendra Sharma and Ashwin Prasad Rao discuss why states sometimes…
- Laughs and SCO-ffs At Bishkek · 40 min · Season 1 Episode 1954In this episode of All Things Policy, Anisree Suresh sits with Manoj Kewalramani and Anushka Saxena to unpack the 26th SCO Summit. They analyse the key takeaways from the Summit…
- What India Gains from BRICS and the SCO · 25 min · Season 1 Episode 1953India’s participation in BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation often appears contradictory. New Delhi shares the table with China, Russia, Iran and Pakistan even as it…
- NPC Watch: China's Defence in Jeopardy? · 36 min · Season 1 Episode 1952In this episode of 'All Things Policy', Aditi Palo quizzes Anushka Saxena on her takeaways from the recently concluded session of the 14th Standing Committee of the Chinese…
- Reading the Himalayan Warning Signs · 32 min · Season 1 Episode 1951The devastating floods in Nepal are a reminder of how hazards in one part of the Himalayas can cascade into disasters hundreds of kilometres downstream. In this episode…
- Navigating the Ice Silk Road · 38 min · Season 1 Episode 1950A Chinese shipping company – Sea Legend- announced that it will be starting container shipping services between China’s east coast and the UK through the 'Ice Silk Road'. In this…
- What Does The Mecca Pact Actually Change? · 31 min · Season 1 Episode 1949What does the emerging Mecca Pact mean for regional security and, more crucially, for India? In this episode of All Things Policy, Research Analysts Aishwaria Sonavane and Adya…
- Semicon 2.0 Focuses on Getting India's Chip Design Game Right · 50 min · Season 3 Episode 1948On 31 August 2026, the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY) notified Semicon 2.0 – Scheme for the development of Semiconductor Design and Manufacturing…
- You Can Have a Rocket and Still Lose Access to Space | Space Launch 2 · 29 min · Season 1 Episode 1947A rocket is only useful if it has somewhere reliable to launch from. Lokendra Sharma and Ashwin Prasad Rao discuss how geography, launch ranges, sea launch and access to foreign…
- Who Pays for Private Rockets? | Space Launch 1 · 29 min · Season 1 Episode 1946Private rockets may be built by companies, but who gives them enough demand to survive and scale? Lokendra Sharma and Ashwin Prasad Rao discuss how government procurement has…
- Should India Aspire to Have 15-Minute Cities? · 28 min · Season 1 Episode 1945A 15-minute city is an urban planning concept where all daily essential services are accessible within a 15-minute walk or bike ride from any resident's front door. Developed by…
