Desi Academia Podcast

We are joined again by Harsha, to discuss the difficult reality of life in the sciences and how to pivot when the academia and funding the system fails. Harsha shares his learnings from his experience being asked to 'master out' of his PhD program, how he reconciled with academia, found a community to do impactful work, and how he views 'science for the sake of science’.

We discuss the short-term and long-term next steps, navigating the immigration system, building communities and using our knowledge for the good, and keeping the faith in science.

Recommendations
Megh

The Wire
"The War on Science'", Youtube video by Shaun
"OpenAI is huge in India. Its models are steeped in caste bias", MIT Technology Review
Vatsal

Lancet article: Estimating the effect of annual PM2·5 exposure on mortality in India: a difference-in-differences approach - The Lancet Planetary Health

Harsha

Braiding Sweetgrass Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer

In this episode of DAP, Vatsal and Megh are joined by a friend of the pod, Dr. Rituparna Patgiri. She shares her experiences teaching sociology to STEM graduates. Most importantly, she shares her teaching and mentorship philosophy. We discuss the different roles of a teacher, what it takes to teach sociology, and how to distinguish between opinions and empirical studies.

Recommendations:
Recommendations:

Megh

Algospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming the Future of Language by Adam Aleksic

TV show: Boots, Netflix

Rituparna

TV show: The social dilemma

Rituparna's co-edited book: Food, Culture and Society in India: Social, Political, Economic and Cultural Perspectives

The Attention Economy Arushi Bhandari

Vatsal

Karen Hao- interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8enXRDlWguU

Superboys of Malegaon

Aditya, Megh, and Vatsal are back to discuss their major life changes in 2025. Vatsal shares his shift from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease to fibrosis, the scientific and ethical training needed to work with live human doner tissue, and the challenges navigating the visa system in Canada.

We also discuss the challenges of postdoc onboarding, HR in academia (or the lack thereof), 9-5 life after the PhD,  'dry lab privilege vs wet lab reality', the impact of being gym-pilled on intellectual labor, and navigating postdocs in non-English speaking countries.

We end with a question- has your PhD given you the training to build a career not just outside Western Academia, but in the Global South?

We continue this season with another friend-of-the-pod Professor Indranil Dutta, as we discuss Megh's dissertation defense and thesis writing experience, and the value of a supportive research experience.
Recommendations:
Megh

The Rosie Project

Indranil

TV show: Orbital

Parts Unknown

Kitchen Confidential

Vatsal

Anthony Bordain’s ‘No Reservation’

It's season 10 (Yes, we can't believe it either!) and the OG gang (Megh, Aditya, and Vatsal) gets together after a very long time to vent about all things academia.
In this episode of Desi "postdoctoral" podcast, we catch up with Aditya and discuss how academia has been treating him over the past year or so. We talk about what's going on in our lives, things plaguing academia, and much more!
Join us for this fun conversation!