Uploaded August 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Today my guest is Narayani Basu, who is a historian and the author of the latest book, A Man for All Seasons: The Life of K. M. Panikkar (amazon.com/Man-All-Seasons-Life-Panikkar/dp/9360455660/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=iGfhk&content-id=amzn1.sym.0fb2cce1-1ca4-439a-844b-8ad0b1fb77f7&pf_rd_p=0fb2cce1-1ca4-439a-844b-8ad0b1fb77f7&pf_rd_r=131-1623856-3645165&pd_rd_wg=TC0f5&pd_rd_r=912fa87f-65c9-417b-a9f6-bc9a082efc0b&ref_=aufs_ap_sc_dsk) . Her last book was a biography of V.P. Menon: The Unsung Architect of Modern India (amazon.com/VP-Menon-Unsung-Architect-Modern-ebook/dp/B081W2K2CP) .


We talked about KM Panikkar, his comparison with VP Menon, the Indian nationalist movement in the interwar years, the origins of India's diplomatic relationship with China, Pannikar's Zionism and much more.


Recorded August 1st, 2025.


Read a full transcript (mercatus.org/ideasofindia/narayani-basu-k-m-panikkar-indias-impossible-man) enhanced with helpful links.


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Timestamps


(00:00:00) - Intro


(00:01:07) - The Elusive K. M. Panikkar


(00:07:52) - Panikkar's and the Indian National Movement


(00:19:32) - Panikkar's Intellectual Arc


(00:26:45) - Unifying an Indian Identity


(00:35:38) - India's Princely States


(00:40:19) - Panikkar and China


(00:54:43) - Panikkar and the 1950s


(00:59:43) - Panikkar's Thought vs. His Government Work


(01:08:35) - Panikkar's Blind Spots


(01:15:48) - Panikkar and Today's India


(01:18:27) - Outro