Story Of… The Unfamiliar Stories Behind Familiar Objects
Discover the unfamiliar, intriguing, and often entertaining stories behind familiar objects in the series, “Story Of…” presented by Richa Govil, Director of the School of Development at Azim Premji University
“Story of…” is an exciting series on the stories of familiar things and the many human hands they pass through before they reach you. From cotton kurtas and rice, to everyone’s favourite crunchy street side snack.
Behind each of these everyday objects is a warm human tale. Join Richa Govil, Director of the School of Development, Azim Premji University, to discover the unfamiliar, intriguing, and often entertaining stories behind familiar objects in our series, “Story Of…”.
You can listen to the podcast episodes right here on the web page or by visiting our channel and playlists at YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud, Amazon, and wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe to be notified when we release new episodes in ‘Story Of…‘
This non-commercial show is meant for educational purposes only.
Enjoy all episodes in the series
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Lantana — the unwelcome guest that refused to leave
In Story of Lantana, the third episode in our series “Story Of…”, Richa Govil and Madhuri Ramesh ponder the differences between alien and invasive species, mulling over the role that humans have played in altering biodiversity around the world. They reflect on the broader implications of introduced species and confront the complexities of categorising organisms as invasive or desirable.
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Story of Rice — How a white grain became a staple food
What does it take to put a plateful of rice on your table?
In this episode of “Story Of…”, Richa Govil examines the layered role of rice in Indian society and economy. Joining her is Manikandan V, faculty at Azim Premji University and an expert in food rights and social inclusion.
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Crunch! Slurp! The Story of Pani Puri in India
Pani Puri! Behind every morsel of the mouthwatering street snack is a human story of migration, entrepreneurship, labour, and the right to work. Listen to the first episode of “Story Of…” on Radio Azim Premji University.
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Killer Jeans — Why Are Women Garment Workers Dying Young?
There’s a harrowing story of livelihood, labour, and premature death stitched into the fabric of your denim. The next time you buy a pair of jeans, remember the young women who crafted them, balancing dreams and hardships, somewhere on a shop floor in a Bengaluru industrial estate
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Burp! Guess who had a husband for dinner?
Yes, they eat their mates, but spiders are perhaps the most misunderstood creatures. Hollywood films portraying them as hairy, ravenous monsters haven’t helped their cause. If spiders went extinct, earth’s ecosystem would collapse. Learn more about these fascinating creatures in this episode of Story Of…
Featured in this series
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Richa Govil
Richa Govil is the Vice Chancellor of Azim Premji University, Bengaluru Campus.
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Puja Guha
Puja is an MA in Development faculty member at Azim Premji University. Her post-doctoral work on Provincial Globalisation was a collaborative programme between the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bengaluru and the Amsterdam Institute of Social Science Research (AISSR), Netherlands. She worked as a faculty member at the Indian Statistical Institute, Bangalore Centre, where she taught Advanced Econometrics to Postgraduate and PhD students before her role at the University.
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Manikandan V
Manikandan is a development practitioner with more than 16 years of experience in the areas of action research, NGO governance, grant management, fundraising, planning, monitoring and evaluation (PME), and operations including finance and human resource management.
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Madhuri Ramesh
Madhuri Ramesh works on nature-society interactions, inclusive conservation and nature-based livelihoods.
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Arima Mishra
Arima Mishra is the Director of the School of Development. Arima has taught at the University of Delhi, and worked in IC-HEALTH, Delhi {an initiative of World Health Organisation (WHO) and Global Forum for Health Research (GFHR)} and Institute of Public Health (IPH), Bengaluru. She has more than two decades of research and teaching experience.…
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Divya Uma
Before joining Azim Premji University, I was a post-doctoral fellow at IISER Trivandrum examining hunting and web-building behavior of social spiders, and personalities in these spiders. Prior to this, I did another post-doctoral stint at University of Maryland, Collage Park, USA, looking at the response of crayfish towards predatory cues, and also exploring non-invasive methods…
