2020 me on my desk at Economic and Political Weekly. (I organised it for this photo).
From research to conversations
My podcasting journey began in 2020 at my first workplace.
At Economic and Political Weekly, we wanted to do more than just publish long PDFs of research papers online. Podcasts offered a way to bring research to life—adding a human element without losing the depth and context that make academic publishing valuable.
No jargon, no dry academic tone—just real, human conversations.
This approach let listeners discover the stories behind the research and the insights that didn’t always make it into the papers.
Here are two episodes that resonated with our audience:
Deeper engagement
One big sign that the podcast format worked was how long people stayed tuned in. We saw much better retention compared to our research paper pages, where readers often just skim for the main takeaways. But with the podcast, the storytelling really captured their attention and kept them listening.
Here’s what some of our guests and listeners had to say:
> Research Radio from EPW is excellent. – Parmesh Shahani, author and head of Godrej India Cultural Lab.
> EPW’s podcasts are so engaging, dealing with the most urgent questions. – Dr. Arpita Chakraborty, Senior Research Fellow, Dublin City University.
> I am an avid listener of 'Research Radio' ever since it began. – Ankit Kawade, PhD scholar, JNU.
> I found the episode related to my future Ph.D. research area. I will be following the series and have already shared it with friends. – Kanupriya, student, Panjab University.
Within two months of its launch, Research Radio ranked #2 on Apple India’s Science chart and continued to reappear on the charts in the following months.
We received over 50 five-star ratings on Spotify and Apple.
My role
Managing the podcast from start to finish was tough and had to be done within limited budget. It turned out to be a crash course in all the moving parts of creating a show and helped me figure out where my strengths really are. While I had experience with some aspects, a lot of it was about experimenting, problem-solving, and learning on the fly.
Here’s what I did:
> Conceptualised, researched, scripted, and hosted each episode
> Handled guest management, recording, and editing
> Distributed episodes and led promotional efforts
> Tracked performance and refined strategies along the way
I particularly enjoyed learning Adobe After Effects to design promotional clips like the one below.
Other podcast production work
Indian School of Business | Jul 2021 - ongoing
Responsible for editing and publishing over 50 episodes on leadership and management across 10 shows.
The Quint and Omidyar Network India | Aug 2020 – Feb 2022
Edited and hosted Land of a Billion on land rights for The Quint, which reached 15,000 plays within the first two months.
PUKAR | Nov 2022 - Feb 2023
Led the production of a four-part series called Rethinking Research on critical social sciences research and conducted workshops on podcast production techniques.
Shaheed School, a union-run school | Mar 2023 – May 2023
Edited a two-part series called Teachers Think Together on teachers’ working conditions and systemic inequalities.
Jindal Global Law School | Mar 2022 – Jul 2022
Edited a four-part series on anti-carceral politics based on Jindal Global Law School’s webinar series. It was called Rethinking Crime and Punishment in India.
Artalaap | Nov 2020 – May 2022
Edited and published 12 episodes for Artalaap, South Asia’s first podcast on art criticism and culture.
Tools used
Editing: Adobe Audition, Adobe After Effects, and Canva.
Remote recording: Zencastr, Riverside and Zoom
Hosting: Captivate, Anchor, and Transistor.
Equipment: Nikon Z5, Rode Wireless Go 2 and DJI Mic.
