The Chicken-Neck Podcast

Welcome to the highly-anticipated Season 4 of The Chicken-Neck Podcast, where we kick off with a riveting exploration into the covert history of one of India's most influential separatist organizations – the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA). In our first episode, we are joined by senior journalist and Chevening Fellow, Mr. Rajeev Bhattacharya.

Rajeev Bhattacharya, a veteran journalist with an extensive background working for...

In the final episode of Season 3 of our podcast, we are joined by Dr. Arupjytoi Saikia,  a professor of history at the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati. 

Prof. Saikia is the author of -  Forests and Ecological History of Assam, 1826-2000 (OUP, 2011), A Century of Protests: Peasant Politics in Assam since 1900 (Rutledge, 2014), and The Unquiet River: A Biography of the Brahmaputra (OUP, 2019). His A Century of Protests won ...

We would like to start by thanking the International Institute for Asian Studies (Leiden, Netherlands) and Mr. Benjamin Linder for helping us with the recording of this podcast episode. 

In this 8th episode, we are joined by Dr. Aditya Kiran Kakati, who is a Visiting Scholar, at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and an Affiliate Research Fellow, at the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) and at The Highland Institute,...

In this thought-provoking episode, we dive deep into the complex socio-political landscape that impacts Manipur - an Indian State, with the renowned scholar, author, and anthropologist, Ms. Rami Desai. With her expertise in ethnic identity, tribal issues, and insurgency, Ms. Desai offers invaluable insights into the recent and ongoing Manipur violence.

Throughout the episode, we explore the historical context that has contributed ...

Join us in this compelling episode as we delve deep into the pressing issue of floods in Assam and their catastrophic impact on the captivating island of Majuli. Majuli, one of the largest river islands in the world, is at the brink of being lost forever due to a combination of flooding and erosion, exacerbated by inadequate policy measures. Our guest, Dr. Mitul Baruah, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Anthropology & Enviro...

In our 5th episode of Season 3, we explore the rich and diverse dance cultures of the Northeast region of India, and how they intersect with concepts of sacrality, sociality, and the State. We are joined by Dr. Debanjali Biswas, who is an early career researcher in Performance Studies and Social Anthropology. She writes to critically engage with social, political, affective dimensions of dance in everyday life in contemporary South...

Welcome to fourth episode of The Chicken-Neck Podcast, where we take a closer look at the role of media in the world of sports. In this episode, we sit down with Mr. Nilanjan Dutta, who has had a long and illustrious career as the Director of Media and spokesperson for the All India Football Federation.

We begin our conversation by discussing the crucial role that media plays in sports, and how it has evolved over the years. M...

Welcome to the 3rd episode of Season 3 of The Chicken-Neck Podcast. Today we're joined by Mr. Utpal Borpujari, who is an National award winning filmmaker and critic having been awarded the National Film Award twice in both roles. 

In this episode, we talk to him about his journey from being a journalist to donning the hat of filmmaking. He has been instrumental in depicting the diverse culture of Assam through his filmmaking w...

This episode features Team Chicken Neck in conversation with Dr. Rajib Sutradhar, who currently works as an Assistant Professor of Economics at the School of Social Sciences, Christ University Bangalore. 

Dr. Sutradhar has written extensively on several economic aspects relating to Assam over the years, especially on cold storages, food prices, supply chains, supermarkets, and rural inequality. In this episode, we discuss several ...

Dr. Samyak Ghosh a Ph.D. from Columbia University, is a cultural historian of premodern South Asia. His geographical area of research includes the present-day northeast of India, Indo-Tibetan borderlands, and the Eastern Himalayan Region. He was awarded the Kumkum Chatterjee Memorial Award in Indian History and the Junior Research Fellowship by the American Institute of Indian Studies in 2019-2020. He is currently completing a mono...

In our 11th episode of Season 2, we are joined by Mr. Debajit Das, an advocate at Gauhati High Court. He has been a front-runner of environmental litigation in Northeast India. 

In this episode, we spoke to Mr. Das on the importance of judicial intervention in environmental issues, in light of the Dehing-Patkai Illegal Coal Mining case as well as the Baghjan Gas Tragedy. Further, we also looked into the aspect of Environment Impac...

In our 10th ep. of Season 2, we are joined by Dr. Jelle J.P. Wouters, who is an author and a social anthropologist, currently teaches at Department of Social Sciences at Royal Thimphu College, Bhutan. Previously he taught at Sikkim Central University and was a visiting faculty at Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Germany. Over the years, he has conducted ethnographic and historical research in the Naga highlands, writing about...

In our 9th episode, we are joined by Mr. Pradyut Bordoloi, an Indian Politician from the state of Assam, currently serving as a Member of Parliament for Nowgong constituency. He served as an MLA of Margherita for three consecutive terms in 2001, 2006 & 2011.

In this episode, we briefly discuss his journey as a politician - wherein he has held significant posts such as a Cabinet Minister in the State of Assam and now as an MP. ...

In our 8th episode, we are joined by Mr. Karma Paljor, who is an award-winning Indian journalist and entrepreneur who co-founded Atvi Infotainment, a content creation company, in 2018. The business verticals include EastMojo.com, a digital news website that reports extensively on northeast India to bring out the lesser-known stories of life in this otherwise ignored region.

In this episode, we talked about the story of Eastmojo, w...

In our 7th episode, we are joined by Ms. Tora Agarwala, a journalist with The Indian Express. Ms. Agarwala has been covering and writing on various issues concerning the Northeast for years.  

In this episode, we talk to her about various aspects of modern-day journalism, her own experiences of covering for a national media house, the various interesting feature stories she had worked on in the North East, and much more. 

Disclai...

In our 6th episode, we are joined by Mr. Mrinal Talukdar, a revered senior journalist, award-winning documentary filmmaker, author, and a farmer at heart. 
In this episode, we briefly discuss his journey as a journalist as well as his passion for writing on the contemporary social history of Assam. We discuss his work, some of which addresses significant problems in the state of Assam, such as NRC & CAA, youth employmen...

In our 5th episode of Season 2, we are joined by Ms. Pratnashree Basu, an Associate Fellow at Observer Research Foundation, Kolkata, with the Strategic Studies and Maritime Initiative. Ms. Basu is an expert on "Maritime Geopolitics: Indo-Pacific & South China Sea". 

In this episode, we speak to Ms. Basu on aspects of maritime governance and policy development in the NER. Ms. Basu also talked about the significant challeng...

In our fourth episode of Season 2, we are joined by Dr. Manabendra Saharia, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology. Prof. Saharia is an expert on Flood Forecasting, Land Surface Modelling, Radar and Satellite Precipitation, Statistics, and Machine Learning, Human Computation. 

In this episode, we speak to Dr. Saharia about the vulnerability of the region to floo...

In our third episode of Season 2, we are joined by Prof. (Dr.) Binayak Dutta, an Assistant Professor of History at North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU), Shillong, Meghalaya. 

In this episode, we speak to Dr. Dutta about the various aspects of India's Partition in the Northeastern part. The discussion encompasses not only the historical aspect of partition but its implications on the economy, politics, and conflict in our soci...