based on my blog.
Category: podcasts
Conversation with Chaitanya Athale
Chaitanya is a professor of biology at IISER Pune and works on quantifying biology at the cellular scale. His lab focuses on cytoskeleton and cell shape research and explores synthetic biological roots to address a variety of questions at the cellular scale.
In this freewheeling conversation, we talked about quantitative biology in his lab, reading, the German language, his recent comic-themed book, and a bit on philosophy of biology as we explored his intellectual journey. Also, don’t miss the 3D model he shows to explain his research.
References with links:
‘Chaitanya Athale – IISER Pune’. Accessed 3 January 2026. https://www.iiserpune.ac.in/research/department/biology/people/faculty/regular-faculty/chaitanya-athale/6.
‘Dr. Chaitanya Athale – Lab – Cytoskeleton and Cell Shape Research – Synthetic Biology’. Accessed 3 January 2026. https://sites.iiserpune.ac.in/~cathale/.
‘Chaitanya Athale – Google Scholar’. Accessed 3 January 2026. https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Volq2gEAAAAJ&hl=en.
Chaitanya Athale | LinkedIn’. Accessed 3 January 2026. https://www.linkedin.com/in/chaitanyaa/?originalSubdomain=in.
Arias, Alfonso Martinez. The Master Builder: How the New Science of the Cell Is Rewriting the Story of Life. Basic Books, 2023.
‘Athale Lab: CyCelS 💉💉💉💉🚲🤿⛵ (@AthaleLab) / X’. 9 January 2025. https://x.com/athalelab.
Conversation with Satish Patil
Welcome to the podcast, Pratidhavani – Humanizing Science
Satish Patil serves as Professor at the Solid State and Structural Chemistry Unit (SSCU), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore. His research centers on organic electronics, pioneering air-stable n-channel conjugated polymers and band-like transport in these materials. The Organic Electronics Research Group, under his leadership, advances semiconducting polymers for organic solar cells, field-effect transistors, TADF, singlet fission, and energy storage devices through molecular design and synthesis.
In this conversation, we explore his intellectual journey so far.
References:
Patil, Satish. Satish Patil | The Solid State and Structural Chemistry Unit. n.d. Accessed 27 November 2025. https://sscu.iisc.ac.in/patil/.
Organic Electronics Research Group | SSCU. n.d. Accessed 27 November 2025. https://oe-sscu.iisc.ac.in/.
‘Satish Patil – Google Scholar’. Accessed 27 November 2025. https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Tyfe7LcAAAAJ&hl=en.
‘(4) Satish Patil | LinkedIn’. Accessed 27 November 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/satish-patil-a665733a/?originalSubdomain=in.
X (Formerly Twitter). ‘Satish Patil (@SatishIISc) / X’. 31 October 2025. https://x.com/satishiisc.
Conversation with A.R.Venkatachalapathy
Welcome to the podcast, Pratidhavani – Humanizing Science
A. R. Venkatachalapathy is a prolific historian, writer and Professor whose work explores the social and cultural history of colonial Tamil Nadu. In 2024, he was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award.
His notable books include “In Those Days There Was No Coffee,” “The Province of the Book,” “Tamil Characters,” and “Swadeshi Steam,” which examines V.O. Chidambaram Pillai’s role in anti-colonial maritime resistance. His scholarship spans Tamil literature, publishing history, and intellectual culture, blending rigorous archival research with literary analysis.
In this episode, we explore his intellectual journey as a historian and bilingual author.
Conversation with Jyotishman Dasgupta
Welcome to the podcast, Pratidhavani – Humanizing Science
Jyotishman Dasgupta is a professor at TIFR, Mumbai, in the Department of Chemical Sciences. His research focuses on probing dynamical structural events leading to charge generation in molecular materials, particularly for bio-inspired photocatalysis and solar electricity generation. He uses ultrafast spectroscopy, including Stimulated Raman spectroscopy, to study reaction mechanisms in these systems.
Jyotishman effectively combines his love and passion for research and teaching with compassion and mentoring researchers. In this free-wheeling conversation, we discuss his intellectual journey so far.
References:
TIFR – Department of Chemical Sciences. ‘TIFR – Department of Chemical Sciences’. Accessed 3 November 2025. https://www.tifr.res.in/dcs/faculty-detail/91.
‘Jyotishman Dasgupta – Google Scholar’. Accessed 3 November 2025. https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=DS8RvTcAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate.
‘Jyotishman Dasgupta | LinkedIn’. Accessed 3 November 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jyotishman-dasgupta-312578a/.
X (Formerly Twitter). ‘Jyotishman Dasgupta (@jd1278) / X’. 27 October 2025. https://x.com/jd1278.
Conversation with Vijay Chikkadi
Welcome to the podcast, Pratidhavani – Humanizing Science
Vijay is an Associate Professor of Physics at IISER Pune, and works on various aspects of Soft Matter Physics, including deformation and flow of soft matter, and active matter.
In this episode, we discuss various facets of soft matter physics and Vijay’s research on these fascinating materials.
‘Vijayakumar Chikkadi – IISER Pune’. Accessed 1 November 2025. https://www.iiserpune.ac.in/research/department/physics/people/faculty/regular-faculty/vijayakumar-chikkadi/252.
‘Soft & Active Matter Lab’. Accessed 1 November 2025. https://sites.google.com/site/vchikkadi/home.
‘Soft & Active Matter Lab – PEOPLE’. Accessed 1 November 2025. https://sites.google.com/site/vchikkadi/people.
‘Vijayakumar Chikkadi – Google Scholar’. Accessed 1 November 2025. https://scholar.google.co.il/citations?hl=en&user=Xex6qvIAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate.
Sahu, Ratimanasee, Mohit Sharma, Peter Schall, Sarika Maitra Bhattacharyya, and Vijayakumar Chikkadi. ‘Structural Origin of Relaxation in Dense Colloidal Suspensions’. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 121, no. 42 (2024): e2405515121. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2405515121.
Conversation with Amit Agarwal
Welcome to the podcast, Pratidhavani – Humanizing Science
Amit Agarwal is a professor of physics at IIT Kanpur specializing in theoretical condensed matter physics, quantum transport, and new physical phenomena in low-dimensional systems. His research explores topological materials, collective excitations, nanoscale device modeling, and the quantum many-body effects central to emerging quantum technologies.
Amit is also the recent recipient of the Vigyan Yuva Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Physics – 2025
In this episode, we explore his intellectual journey in physics.
References:
‘QTT-IITK’. Accessed 26 October 2025. https://sites.google.com/site/amitkag1/.
‘Amit Kumar Agarwal’. Accessed 26 October 2025. https://iitk.ac.in/new/dr-amit-kumar-agarwal.
‘Amit Agarwal – Google Scholar’. Accessed 26 October 2025. https://scholar.google.co.in/citations?user=WcVpbRwAAAAJ&hl=en.
‘(6) Amit Agarwal | LinkedIn’. Accessed 26 October 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/amitagarwal2/.
X (Formerly Twitter). ‘Amit Agarwal (@amit_phy) / X’. 12 October 2024. https://x.com/amit_phy.
Conversation with Aparna Deshpande
Welcome to the podcast, Pratidhavani – Humanizing Science
Aparna Deshpande is an Associate Professor of Physics at IISER Pune, specializing in atomic-scale exploration of two-dimensional materials and their interfaces using scanning tunneling microscopy. She is deeply engaged in research on nanomaterials and is active in physics education (as part of the department of science education at IISER Pune), communication, and outreach at IISER Pune.
Aparna is also the faculty in charge of the Smt. Indrani Balan Science Activity Centre at IISER Pune, where she leads diverse science outreach and STEM education initiatives, promoting hands-on multi-lingual learning and innovative workshops for students and teachers across India.
In this conversation, we explore her research in physics and science education.
You can also watch or listen on spotify
References:
[1] “Dr. Aparna Deshpande.” Accessed: Sept. 25, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://draparnadeshpande.github.io/portfolio/
[2] “Dr. Aparna Deshpande (@DrAparnaIISERP) / X.” X (formerly Twitter). Accessed: Sept. 25, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://x.com/draparnaiiserp
[3] “Aparna Deshpande | LinkedIn.” Accessed: Sept. 25, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aparna-deshpande-01927015/?originalSubdomain=in
[4] “Aparna Ramchandra Deshpande – Google Scholar.” Accessed: Sept. 25, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=f5FnqMIAAAAJ&hl=en
[5] “Aparna Deshpande – IISER Pune.” Accessed: Sept. 25, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.iiserpune.ac.in/research/department/physics/people/faculty/regular-faculty/aparna-deshpande/259
[6] J. Poskett, Horizons. London, UK: Penguin Books, 2023. Accessed: Sept. 25, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/313423/horizons-by-poskett-james/9780241986264
[7] P. Lockhart and K. Devlin, A Mathematician’s Lament. Illustrated ed. New York, NY: Bellevue Literary Press, 2009. https://www.blpress.org/books/a-mathematicians-lament/
Conversation with Arka Banerjee
Welcome to the podcast Pratidhavani – Humanizing Science
Arka Banerjee is a cosmologist and an Assistant Professor of Physics at IISER Pune. His research focuses on exploring the connections between fundamental physics at microscopic scales and the formation and evolution of large-scale structures in the Universe, such as galaxies and cosmic voids. To pursue these questions, he develops new simulation methods, constructs summary statistics for cosmological data, and generates forecasts for upcoming observational surveys.
In this episode, we explore his intellectual journey and research.
References:
“Arka Banerjee – Home.” n.d. Accessed August 23, 2025. https://arkabanerjee.github.io/.
“Arka Banerjee – Google Scholar.” n.d. Accessed August 23, 2025. https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=kLde9gcAAAAJ&hl=en.
“Arka Banerjee – IISER Pune.” n.d. Accessed August 23, 2025. https://www.iiserpune.ac.in/research/department/physics/people/faculty/regular-faculty/arka-banerjee/381.
“Arka Banerjee – INSPIRE.” n.d. Accessed August 23, 2025. https://inspirehep.net/authors/1671323.
Conversation with Kollegala Sharma
Welcome to the podcast Pratidhavani – Humanizing Science
Kollegala Sharma is a renowned science communicator and prolific Kannada writer, celebrated for making science accessible through articles, books, radio dramas, podcasts, and translations. A former chief scientist at CSIR-CFTRI Mysore, he has received prestigious awards for his exceptional contributions, including pioneering India’s first Kannada science podcast and editing the state’s popular science magazine, Kutuhali.
In this conversation (in English), we discuss what motivates him to do what he does so well…communicate science…
References:
Akka TV, dir. 2022. Lecture 107 | Science Journalism : Introduction | Shri. Kollegala Sharma. 44:38. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=031_4I0W9I8.
“Amazon.In.” n.d. Accessed August 6, 2025. https://www.amazon.in/Books-Kollegala-Sharma%60/s?rh=n%3A976389031%2Cp_27%3AKollegala%2BSharma%2560.
“CFTRI.” n.d. Accessed August 8, 2025. https://cftri.res.in/faculty_detail/2062.
Falling Walls Foundation, dir. 2020. Breaking the Wall to Language, Geography and Social Separation. 05:12. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nscnJFd–8.
Kollegala Sharma | Mysuru Literature Festival. n.d. Accessed August 6, 2025. https://www.mysuruliteraturefestival.com/lit-fest-2024/kollegala-sharma/.
Mandram, dir. 2018. Science and Language – Dr Kollegala Sharma. 27:49. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSqO-AOu9io.
Spotify. n.d. “Learn and Unlearn.” Accessed August 6, 2025. https://open.spotify.com/show/1JYHPAvzx3RuWcO8hL6Cjy.
X (Formerly Twitter). 2025. “(4) Kollegala Sharma (@kollegala) / X.” July 27. https://x.com/kollegala.
YouTube. n.d. “Kollegala Sharma.” Accessed August 6, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCtB6my4ohaYOnQvBRnPEuA.