The Next Edition with Mallika Kapur

Bestselling author Christina Baker Kline takes chapters from our past and turns them into engrossing, unputdownable stories that, at times, leave us aghast. Her latest novel, The Foursome, draws on the remarkable true story of conjoined twins Chang and Eng Bunker. In her breakout bestseller, Orphan Train, she shines a light on children sent by rail to middle America to live with foster families. Across both, she explores themes of ...

Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist became one of the defining novels of the post-9/11 world. Nearly twenty years later, he reflects on writing a story that captured disillusionment, migration and belonging. Is the story still relevant today? Perhaps, more than ever.

The American Dream:
It was the gold standard of the American dream: an Ivy League education followed by a prestigious job in the corporate world of Ne...

Vietnamese author Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai writes about war through the lives of those forever altered by it. In this conversation, she reflects on The Mountains Sing and Dust Child, the women and children caught in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, and the enduring impact of trauma across generations.

Prologue:
From traveling across Vietnam interviewing survivors to conversations with families still searching for loved ones decades ...

Alka Joshi, author of the New York Times Bestseller, The Henna Artist, reflects on a body of work that feels like a personal tribute to her heritage. She opens up about the circumstances that led to her beloved trilogy and gives us a glimpse into what’s next for the author whose writing has become a love letter from India to the world.

A Life Reimagined:
At the heart of The Henna Artist lies a deeply personal question: wha...

What happens when Death tells a story about life? Twenty years after the publication of The Book Thief, Markus Zusak revisits the novel that transformed his career and became one of the defining works of contemporary fiction. He reflects on language, imagination, history, and the unlikely creative decisions that gave the book its singular voice and lasting impact.

A 20 year Legacy:
Markus Zusak was just twenty-seven when he bega...

Author and poet Jeet Thayil’s work moves fluidly between fiction, poetry and memoir. He reflects on the Booker-prize shortlisted Narcopolis years after its release, the emotional intensity of writing it, and how his latest book The Elsewhereans marks a shift—from stories of addiction and survival to deeply personal explorations of family, memory and loss. 

Epigraph:

More than a decade after ‘Narcopolis&rsquo...

When Deepa Mehta began filming Water in Varanasi, India, protesters burned the sets and forced production to a halt. The film, the final chapter in her trilogy exploring fire, earth, and water as metaphors for social realities across the Indian subcontinent, was eventually made in Sri Lanka. Twenty years later, Mehta and actor Lisa Ray look back on what they built, what it cost, and why the story still matters.

Critics’ Choi...

Lara Love Hardin lost everything. Writing helped her find her way back. In this conversation, the author of the New York Times bestseller  and Oprah’s book club pick reflects on The Many Lives of Mama Love, a memoir of addiction, incarceration, motherhood, and recovery. She talks  about reading as her first addiction, writing as a survival tool within prison walls, and what it takes to tell the truth without softeni...

Indian journalist, historian and bestselling author Shrabani Basu has spent her career rescuing stories that history forgot. She talks about uncovering the extraordinary bond between Queen Victoria and Abdul Karim, bringing spy and SOE agent Noor Inayat Khan into the light, and why these stories matter more than ever.

Preface: From researching the story of curry, to writing about Abdul Karim’s extraordinary  relationshi...

Pulitzer winning photojournalist Lynsey Addario has spent her career documenting war and covering conflict. She discusses her commitment to capturing hard truths and opens up about what happens when she puts the camera down and steps back into life as a wife and mother. 

Aperture: She captured images of the moon as a child.That sense of wonder and beauty guides Lynsey as she travels the world, documenting pivotal moments in m...

Award-winning British-Turkish novelist, political scientist and activist Elif Shafak discusses  her bestselling novel The Island of Missing Trees, her multicultural upbringing and the fragile bond between humans and nature.

Prologue:Elif opens with a daring narrative choice: choosing a fig tree as storyteller. 

Roots:Moving between countries, cultures, and languages, Elif grew up feeling like an outsider. She speaks candi...

Indian journalist Barkha Dutt is one of the most fearless reporters of her generation. Not just for the conflicts she's covered, but for her unflinching commitment to the stories others simply won't tell. 

Breaking: From the peaks of Kargil to covering India’s COVID crisis, Barkha Dutt has had a front row seat to India’s defining moments – bearing witness to war, terror, and tragedy while navigating the pers...

Canadian author Yann Martel talks about his Booker Prize winning novel, Life of Pi, a fantastical and philosophical tale of a boy stranded on a boat with a tiger, the power of faith, and how stories help us make sense of the world. 

What happens when a boy, a Bengal tiger, and the vast Pacific Ocean become an unlikely story of survival and faith? Canadian author Yann Martel revisits his Booker Prize-winning novel, Life of Pi ...