Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata

Series produced by KALW

Caption: Sandip at the Grand Hotel in Nainital.
Sandip at the Grand Hotel in Nainital. 

Award winning writer, radio host, NPR contributor and novelist Sandip Roy brings his wit and insight to these personal audio diaries from his new life in his old home, India.

After ten years of hosting New America Now, Sandip Roy brings you a little bit of the story of the new India every week – a letter home from his other home.

"A lot has been written about the changing India," says Roy, "but reporting about a changing India is one thing. Living in it and dealing with a country where newspapers are still being launched instead of folding, internet rumors spark mass exoduses, and cricketers advertise skin-whitening creams called Fair and Handsome, that is another thing altogether."


456 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Caption: Memorial Shahid Minar in Dhaka, Credit: Photo courtesy of Trip Advisor
Feb 21st is International Mother Language Day. Learn more at http://www.un.org/en/events/motherlanguageday/

  • Added: Feb 18, 2019
  • Length: 06:00
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Sandip Roy has his annual date with America... at the Oscar's.

  • Added: Feb 26, 2019
  • Length: 06:00
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When people get spooked, even ghosts can disappear.

  • Added: Mar 12, 2019
  • Length: 06:00
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Centenarians are on Sandip Roy's mind as Lawerence Ferlinghetti turns 100

  • Added: Mar 18, 2019
  • Length: 06:00
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Sandip discovers that sometimes a class reunion is a reminder to how we've moved on.

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Mar 25, 2019
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Victoria Memorial Hall in Kolkata
What does Sandip Roy miss most about San Francisco? Clean Air.

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  • Added: Apr 01, 2019
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
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As this year's election season heats up in India, women are making themselves heard.

  • Added: Apr 09, 2019
  • Length: 06:00
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Manna Dey’s birthday is May 1. He would have been 100 years old.

  • Added: Apr 29, 2019
  • Length: 06:00
Caption: Aatish Taseer, Credit: Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet
The Indian elections are in full swing, and if one party has fallen back on a politics of revenge and polarization to win the election. And the old...

  • Added: May 14, 2019
  • Length: 06:00
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India has a new government. But when all the sound and fury end, the real work of democracy begins in this, the greatest democratic experiment in t...

  • Added: May 21, 2019
  • Length: 06:00
Caption: Modi film poster
When you play the Game of Thrones, you win or you die. In elections, though, you might just live to fight another day.

  • Added: May 28, 2019
  • Length: 06:00
Caption: Queen Harish and Sandip Roy
When Queen Harish came on stage you could not look away. She whirled, she twirled. Her sequined skirts billowed around her. Her arms were filled wi...

  • Added: Jun 04, 2019
  • Length: 06:00
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Sandip Roy compares our current heat wave to a typical “Indian Summer.”

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Jun 10, 2019
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Ruskin Bond signing a book for a fan, Credit: Sandip Roy
The 85 year old Ruskin Bond is a bit of an accidental Indian, but he is also one of the most loved Indian writers. Sandip Roy met him at the Tata S...

  • Added: Jun 18, 2019
  • Length: 06:00
Caption: Marchers from the very first Kolkata Pride march, Credit: Sandip Roy
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York. But it also marks the 20th anniversary of the first Pride march in Kolkata...

  • Added: Jun 28, 2019
  • Length: 06:00
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Sandip Roy tours Borneo and discovers more than just monkeys.

  • Added: Jun 28, 2019
  • Length: 06:00
Caption: Nemat Sadat, Credit: Elliott O'Donovan Photography
Sandip Roy speaks with author and Afghan born American, vegan beefcake and most lovable teddy bear, Nemat Sadat.

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  • Added: Jul 16, 2019
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
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This week marks International Tiger Day. And they certainly need one.

  • Added: Jul 29, 2019
  • Length: 06:00
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As crazy weather makes headlines globally, Sandip Roy reflects on the monsoons of his past.

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Aug 05, 2019
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Dal Lake in Kashmir, Credit: By Basharat Shah - Flickr: Dal Lake, CC BY 2.0
Kashmir has been on Sandip’s mind lately, his boyhood memories and the current media blackout.

  • Added: Aug 12, 2019
  • Length: 06:00