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."


459 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Pride and Celebration
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: A rainbow cape at 2022 Kolkata Pride March., Credit: Sandip Roy
From the World Cup to Pride Parades, Kolkata is a city that loves to turn everything into a festival.

  • Added: Dec 20, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
Bringing the World to the World Cup
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: Uttam Saha, founder of the Argentina Football Fan Club in Kolkata, Credit: Sandip Roy
Even though FIFA is a huge multi-national corporation, one fan in India is reminding everyone about the joys of fandom.

  • Added: Dec 13, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
For Lease
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: The Christmas tree in San Francisco's Union Square, Credit: Sandip Roy
Returning for the first time since COVID, Sandip Roy finds a different San Francisco, one seemingly for lease.

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Dec 05, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
Kolkata's Football Fever
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: A Messi birthday cake in Kolkata, Credit: Uttam Saha
India does not have a spot in World Cup football. But Kolkata, as usual, has two teams in the game.

  • Added: Nov 29, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
Spinning out of control
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: Merchandise of two famous characters from well known spinoffs, Credit: Sandip Roy
Why are there so many prequel spinoffs in the theaters and on streaming services right now? Sure, capitalizing on a franchise is one reason, but p...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Nov 15, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
India's Land of the Lamas
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: Gilded Buddha statue at Tawang Monastery in Arunachal Pradesh in India., Credit: Sandip Roy
While Buddhism as a religion was founded in India, only 0.7% of Indians describe themselves as Buddhist.

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Nov 07, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
Sunrise, sunset... Son rise!
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: A billboard for Amul butter in India celebrating Rishi Sunak as the new British prime minister., Credit: @Amul_Coop on Twitter.
Some in India are over the moon that Rishi Sunak has become the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

  • Added: Nov 01, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
The Ballad of Jaswant Singh Rawat
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: Statue to fallen soldier Jaswant Singh Rawat up in the Himalaya, Credit: Sandip Roy
October marks the 60th anniversary of the Indo-China war fought in the upper reaches of the Himalaya in 1962. It's not a war that ended in glory fo...

  • Added: Oct 24, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
Sweet Diwali
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: An array of Diwali sweets., Credit: Sandip Roy
Diwali is not just the Indian festival of lights. It's also a festival of sweets!

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Oct 18, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
Plastic Puja
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: The Goddess Durga tackles the evil of plastic pollution in Kolkata, Credit: Anirban
The drums of Durga Puja, the biggest festival of the Kolkata calendar finally stopped beating last week. But some are asking about such a big celeb...

Bought by KLCC


  • Added: Oct 11, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
Intangible Durga
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: Durga Puja as installation art, Credit: Sandip Roy
Durga Puja is Kolkata's biggest festival. But this year its art is more in focus because it's just got the Unesco Intangible Cultural Heritage tag.

  • Added: Sep 29, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
Cheetahs on a Plane
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: African cheetahs are coming to India where cheetahs have been extinct since 1952., Credit: By Ronny Sen/National Geographic
Cheetahs were declared extinct in India in 1952.  Now they are being brought back from Africa.

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Sep 27, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
The East-West Tango
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: A coin of the realm, Credit: Sandip Roy
Watching The funeral of Queen Elizabeth II has been a surreal lesson in post colonial history.

  • Added: Sep 21, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
It's Complicated
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip at the Trooping of Colour in 2017, Credit: Niladri Chatterjee
Kolkata was once the capital of British India. And it has a sentimental connection with royalty like the late Queen Elizabeth II. But the history o...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Sep 13, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
Uncoupled
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: The landing page for the Netflix series Uncoupled.
Netflix’s new series Uncovered might be referred to as the gay “Sex in the City,” but Sandip Roy finds a reason why everyone can relate to it.

  • Added: Sep 06, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
The Monkeys of Ramayan
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: War of the monkey kings Bali (Abhishek Sharma) and Sugreev (Dinesh Rao), Credit: Kyle Adler
The  Bay Area Indian American theatre group Naatak became famous as "techies doing theatre."

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Aug 30, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
Rushdie's fatwa
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: Salman Rushdie with Sandip Roy at KALW in 2005, Credit: Eric Wayne
After the recent attack on Salman Rushdie, Sandip Roy reflects on how the fatwa put freedom of expression on the cultural map for so many of us.

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Aug 22, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
Symbols of Freedom
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: Enamelled Figures from British India, Credit: Sandip Roy
India celebrates 75 years of Independence from Britain in a new exhibit called March to Freedom.

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Aug 16, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
More Than Just Adivasi
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: President Droupadi Murmu
India refers to its original tribal inhabitants as “Adivasi’s.” Now one, Droupadi Murmu, has ascended to the office of President.

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Jul 26, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
The Monsoon Lady
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: Sulochana Gadgil, Credit: Sandip Roy
Dr Sulochana Gadgil started studying the Indian monsoon when she was at Harvard in the 1960s. She's been tracking it back in India since 1971. And ...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Jul 19, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1

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