Few authors manage to turn spaghetti-like complex subjects into simple and entertaining prose. @edwardfishman is one of them. His book, "Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare" is a New York Times Bestseller. In this snippet Eddie explains history around the hubub around India buying oil from Russia. Thank you Eddie for your time on the podcast. Search for “The Point Blank Show” from wherever you get your podcasts to listen to the entire conversation Apple: tinyurl.com/PointBlankIndia Spotify: tinyurl.com/PointBlankShowIn…

Why English has silent letters? @DannyBate4, a linguist, is the author of "Why Q Needs U", a brilliant account of every letter of the English alphabet. In this short segment, he explains why English has silent letters. Why does "E" sit quietly at the end of "take" or "wake"? Why do words like "aisle" carry letters that seem to do nothing? Words that are now spelled with a “silent E” were once fully pronounced. Over time, sounds softened, vowels weakened and pronunciation moved on faster than spelling. Instead of disappearing altogether, some letters took on new roles. In words like "fat" and "fate", the silent “E” changes how the vowel A is pronounced, helping readers tell the difference between fat and fate, Tim and time. Small wonder that English has become fertile ground for humour, says Danny. And to illustrate that, there’s a classic dad joke at the very end of this clip. If you'd like to listen to the whole conversation search for "The Point Blank Show" from wherever you get your podcasts.

Two men named William Woods, one of them an imposter. The wild tale of how a decades-long deception saw an innocent man end up in jail. My latest for @TheEconomist economist.com/interactive/18…

Indian crowds greet his new film with prayer, confetti and milk economist.com/culture/2025/0…

Ludwig Siegele @EconoScribe, senior editor AI Initiatives at The Economist talks about how Chinese AI companies like DeepSeek and Alibaba are disrupting the status quo by building high-performing models at lower costs and releasing some of them as open source. "You don't have to be in the valley to train and build a capable model...Bigger is apparently still better in AI but it doesn't have to be more expensive", he says. How did China manage to pull this off in quick time and what does this mean for the global AI race? Did American sanctions, including the throttling of chip supplies, inadvertently help China? Ludwig joined The Economist as a US technology correspondent in 1998 and has covered the Silicon Valley since the Internet, as we know it, was born. #ThePointBlankShow #podcast Apple: podcasts.apple.com/in/podcas… Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/168PTe…

Richard Overy is one of the world’s leading historians of war. He is the author of landmark works on World War II, totalitarian regimes and military power. When I asked him which country has managed to avert a full-scale war through diplomacy, he offered India as an example. How has technology changed warfare? Or has it? "In the end territory has to be controlled in old-fashioned ways: by infantry, by tanks, by artillery and conventional air power," he says. And despite all the grim violence around us these days, Prof Overy remains hopeful and says that fears of a third world war may be overblown. His latest book "Why War?" draws on decades of research to answer a fundamental question: Why do humans wage war? Search for "The Point Blank Show" wherever you get your podcasts. Apple: podcasts.apple.com/in/podcas… Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/168PTe…

Dear hivemind, especially of a certain generation, would you have any trivia or memories of watching Mike Brearley in action? He has kindly agreed for a podcast and I would be grateful for any insights, anecdotes or details that you think might help me. Many thanks.

Why do we act the way we do? How much of our behavior is hardwired and can we change it? Neurologist @guy_lesch explores these questions in his recent book "𝘚𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘴: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘏𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯". In this snippet Dr. Guy talks a bit about our prefrontal cortex, region of the brain that sits behind our forehead and above our eyes. It is responsible for decision-making, reasoning and impulse control. What happens when it goes out of whack? Search for “The Point Blank Show” from wherever you get your podcasts to listen to the entire conversation Apple: tinyurl.com/PointBlankIndia Spotify: tinyurl.com/PointBlankShowIn…

How did Barack Obama know for sure whether Osama Bin Laden was in that compound in Abbottabad? How did he arrive at a “probability score” before the attack? What are red teams and what role did they play in this decision? Clarity of thought is one thing but communicating that without ambiguity is equally important, says @d_spiegel, emeritus professor of statistics at the University of Cambridge. His new book “The Art of Uncertainty: How to Navigate Chance, Ignorance, Risk and Luck” is a brilliant read even for those without any background in statistics and mathematics. In this snippet, Sir David also talks about his experience of being knighted at Buckingham palace for his contribution to medical statistics. He also talks fondly about the lessons that he learned from his parents that have stayed with him all along. If you are interested follow “The Point Blank Show” from wherever you get your podcasts for such conversations: Apple: tinyurl.com/PointBlankIndia Spotify: tinyurl.com/PointBlankShowIn…

Feel like posting this today. Trust Rahul Dravid to say this so beautifully. Video courtesy - cricinfo.

How @TedSchwartz13, author of “Gray Matters: A Biography of Brain Surgery” prepares himself before an operation. It's all about visualisation (at a whole new level) For the entire podcast: Apple: lnkd.in/dTxCaKAd Spotify: lnkd.in/dCxhUWpE Many thanks Dr Schwartz!

Geologist Marcia Bjornerud talks about being silly and having fun while at work on the field in the fridgid Arctic. Her book, "Turning to Stone: Discovering the Subtle Wisdom of Rocks" is brilliant. Apple Podcasts: tinyurl.com/4eu78ft7 Spotify: tinyurl.com/7ndrfa7y

What is it to work inside a refrigerated warehouse? @nicolatwilley visited orange juice tank farms, meat lockers & banana ripening rooms to find out. Her book "Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves" is a brilliant read. podcasts.apple.com/in/podcas…

Why fact-checking remains at the heart of journalism. Here's an anecdote by @geoffwhite247 from his book, "The Lazarus Heist" about North Korea's cyber criminals.  His latest book, "Rinsed" is about money laundering in the digital era. The full podcast: podcasts.apple.com/in/podcas…

Here's a nice one-minute lesson in investigative journalism by @geoffwhite247. Snippet from a podcast with the author of  "Rinsed - From Cartels to Crypto: How the Tech Industry Washes Money for the World's Deadliest Crooks". podcasts.apple.com/in/podcas…

I fucking love Keano.

The brilliant @Ananyo was kind enough to join me for a chat. He has authored "The Man from The Future: The Visionary Life of John von Neumann". It's a fascinating book on the maths genius. Here's a little snippet. The entire podcast is on this link: podcasts.apple.com/in/podcas…

Really enjoyed talking with @abhishekumar about #sleepscience for his Mumbai-based podcast, "The Point Blank Show." You can catch an excerpt by clicking below, or hear the whole thing—50 minutes!—on Apple, Spotify, or Google. Links to all at theindicast.com.