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."


460 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
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
The Chettiars
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: A grand hall in Chettinad, Credit: Sandip Roy
The great mansions in the  villages of Chettinad in South India still carry the imprints of the worlds their owners once traversed using Birmingham...

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  • Added: Jul 12, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
Soundtrack of Normalcy
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Piece image
As the world continues to limp back to a pre-COVID lifestyle, Sandip ponders the markers of “normalcy” in his life in Kolkata.

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Jul 05, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
Not even a Sandesh
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Piece image
Sandip considers the underwhelming response to Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee in India.

  • Added: Jun 28, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
India Pride 2022
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: A scene from the film Muhafiz by Pradipta Ray, Credit: Photo courtesy Bombay Berlin Film Productions
Pride in India has come out of the closet and the film world has followed suit.

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  • Added: Jun 21, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
America is a gun
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Piece image
While Americans and their politicians argue over gun control, the world view of America is not getting any better.

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Jun 14, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
Tram Along With Me
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: Bikers and a Tram in Kolkata on World Environmental Day, Credit: Sandip Roy
On world Environmental Day, Sandip rediscovers an old transit system that has potential for all of us.

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Jun 06, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
The Necessary Truth
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: Dr. Bhramar Mukherjee, Credit: University of Michigan
While everyone wants to move on from COVID-19, but professor of epidemiology at Michigan University Bhramar Mukherjee says that the future depends ...

  • Added: May 31, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
Parisian Fairytale
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: Sandip in the Paris Metro
This Spring, the Paris Book Fair was finally back in person! But even amidst this Parisian fairytale, reality reared its ugly head.

  • Added: May 24, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
Remembering Urvashi Vaid
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: Urvashi Vaid (right) and her long-time partner Kate Clinton (left)
The South-Asian Queer activist Urvashi Vaid passed away on May 14th, but her influence remains.

  • Added: May 17, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
In Search of Bengali Harlem
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Piece image
In Search of Bengali Harlem is a transformative journey, not just for Alaudin Ullah, but for our understanding of the complex histories of South As...

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  • Added: May 10, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
The Golden Fortress
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: Sonar Kella aka The Golden Fortress, Credit: Sandip Roy
Many towns and cities are indelibly tied up with certain books and films. But few changed the fortunes of a town like a 1974 Bengali film named Son...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: May 03, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
Malcolm is back!
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: Kolkata Lit. Fest. audience, Credit: Sandip Roy
For the last two years the Kolkata Literary Meet has been a Zoom affair, but this year the audience is back and reminds Sandip just how important t...

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  • Added: Apr 19, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
Snub or Flub
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: A tribute to Lata Mangeshkar from Amul Dairy
The “In Memoriam” segment of the 2022 Grammy awards failed to remember one very important icon, Lata Mangeshkar. While many fans of Indian music an...

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  • Added: Apr 11, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
Putting the 'Book' back in Book Fair
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: Runu Mullick, the poetry seller, Credit: Sandip Roy
At the Kolkata Book Fair Sandip wonders if anyone comes to the book fair anymore for actual books, and then 4 handwritten poems proved that they do.

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  • Added: Apr 04, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
Normalizing the Not Normal
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: An ad by Amul
Everyone is talking about the great Slapgate incident at the Oscars ceremony, but all of that trivializes what it ultimately was.

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  • Added: Mar 29, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
The Heaven Beneath Us
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: Avocados (not Sandip's)
The garden does teach you to be patient, for there are ultimately no low hanging fruits to be had.

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  • Added: Mar 22, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
The Journey of Vinayakram
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: Mahesh Vinayakram
Sandip Roy shares the journey of Mahesh Vinayakram, from the verse of Carnatic music to the world stage of Cirque du Soleil.

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  • Added: Mar 15, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
Ukrainian Tales
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Piece image
While the Russian army fills the news hour, Sandip remembers his childhood exposure to the folk tales of Ukraine.

Bought by RadioFreePalmer


  • Added: Mar 07, 2022
  • Length: 06:00
  • Purchases: 1
Future Food
From: KALW
Series: Sandip Roy's Dispatches from Kolkata
Caption: Palm grub sushi, Credit: Sandip Roy
Just last year the U.N. reported that malnutrition rose to about 768 million people. Sandip Roy wonders if the time for insects as food is upon us.

  • Added: Feb 28, 2022
  • Length: 06:00

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