Rahul Bhatia
@rahulabhatia.bsky.social
Journalist. Author of The New India: The Unmaking of the World’s Largest Democracy; Harvard Radcliffe fellow; Winner, True Story Award 2024; New Yorker, Guardian Long Read, etc.
Pinned
Introducing myself properly. (Only took a year, but here goes.)
Last year I wrote a book—THE NEW INDIA.
It was on NYT's 100 Notable Books list, as well as on NPR's 2024 Books We Love list. Then in January it won non-fiction book of the year at the Kerala Literature Festival, Asia's largest.
(1/x)
Last year I wrote a book—THE NEW INDIA.
It was on NYT's 100 Notable Books list, as well as on NPR's 2024 Books We Love list. Then in January it won non-fiction book of the year at the Kerala Literature Festival, Asia's largest.
(1/x)
Brian Hatcher tells us why "the risks of caring are worth taking, worth supporting, and worth rallying around." Such a gentle, thoughtful piece. www.theindiaforum.in/tiffin/risks...
The Risks of Caring
‘This is precisely the moment, when budget cuts are affecting research, when we need to reassure ourselves—and the public—that the risks of caring for one’s work are worth taking, worth supporting, an...
www.theindiaforum.in
November 3, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Brian Hatcher tells us why "the risks of caring are worth taking, worth supporting, and worth rallying around." Such a gentle, thoughtful piece. www.theindiaforum.in/tiffin/risks...
Reposted by Rahul Bhatia
Hope - not as something you have, but something you practice into being.
It is what the philosopher Jonathan Lear has called “radical hope” - “directed towards a future goodness that transcends the current ability to understand what it is.”
Vale Professor Jonathan Lear (1948-2025)
It is what the philosopher Jonathan Lear has called “radical hope” - “directed towards a future goodness that transcends the current ability to understand what it is.”
Vale Professor Jonathan Lear (1948-2025)
September 27, 2025 at 2:15 AM
Hope - not as something you have, but something you practice into being.
It is what the philosopher Jonathan Lear has called “radical hope” - “directed towards a future goodness that transcends the current ability to understand what it is.”
Vale Professor Jonathan Lear (1948-2025)
It is what the philosopher Jonathan Lear has called “radical hope” - “directed towards a future goodness that transcends the current ability to understand what it is.”
Vale Professor Jonathan Lear (1948-2025)
Indian tech firms had processing power to spare after Y2K, and so they turned to digitalising ID for a government focused on identifying Muslims at the border.
What if AI doesn't pan out as envisaged? What unexpected thing will its capabilities be turned to without hesitation as the bills mount?
What if AI doesn't pan out as envisaged? What unexpected thing will its capabilities be turned to without hesitation as the bills mount?
DEUTSCHE: NVIDIA "is currently carrying the weight of US economic growth. The bad news is that in order for the tech cycle to continue contributing to GDP growth, capital investment needs to remain parabolic. This is highly unlikely.”
@fortune.com
fortune.com/2025/09/23/a...
@fortune.com
fortune.com/2025/09/23/a...
The AI boom is unsustainable unless tech spending goes ‘parabolic,’ Deutsche Bank warns: ‘This is highly unlikely’ | Fortune
“In the absence of tech-related spending, the U.S. would be close to, or in, recession this year,” George Saravelos says.
fortune.com
September 23, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Indian tech firms had processing power to spare after Y2K, and so they turned to digitalising ID for a government focused on identifying Muslims at the border.
What if AI doesn't pan out as envisaged? What unexpected thing will its capabilities be turned to without hesitation as the bills mount?
What if AI doesn't pan out as envisaged? What unexpected thing will its capabilities be turned to without hesitation as the bills mount?
Reposted by Rahul Bhatia
Everyone in academia should read this piece about our dear, brilliant colleague @durba.bsky.social
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
A Surprise Tenure Denial in Harvard’s Gender Studies Program Leaves Some Faculty Shaken | News | The Harvard Crimson
Durba Mitra’s colleagues thought she was a near-perfect tenure candidate. When her bid was shot down in June, they were left questioning the process.
www.thecrimson.com
September 22, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Everyone in academia should read this piece about our dear, brilliant colleague @durba.bsky.social
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
To anyone who followed Aadhaar’s rollout in India, the language is uncanny. Aadhaar’s ‘savings’ were derived from welfare denied. Countries need to pay attention to the language around surveillance tech in other countries. We’re all stumbling over different iterations of the same problems.
“The AI companies will receive a percentage of the savings the program generates.”
“Savings”
“Savings”
Ohio Medicare is part of new AI prior authorization program
A new federal program asks Ohio doctors to request prior approval to get certain medical treatments covered by traditional Medicare.
signalcleveland.org
September 22, 2025 at 6:02 AM
To anyone who followed Aadhaar’s rollout in India, the language is uncanny. Aadhaar’s ‘savings’ were derived from welfare denied. Countries need to pay attention to the language around surveillance tech in other countries. We’re all stumbling over different iterations of the same problems.
Not a bad couple of days for India's largest corporations in the courts. Too bad if you're a journalist, or the Indian public, or care for accountability and transparency. frontline.thehindu.com/columns/adan...
thewire.in/environment/...
thewire.in/environment/...
Adani’s Defamation Injunction: How a Delhi Court Order Threatens Press Freedom
A Rohini district court’s ex parte “John Doe” order grants Adani Enterprises sweeping takedown powers, turning defamation into a tool of prior restraint. The implications for investigative journalism,...
frontline.thehindu.com
September 17, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Not a bad couple of days for India's largest corporations in the courts. Too bad if you're a journalist, or the Indian public, or care for accountability and transparency. frontline.thehindu.com/columns/adan...
thewire.in/environment/...
thewire.in/environment/...
Thought about my life choices in Bandra traffic yesterday.
September 15, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Thought about my life choices in Bandra traffic yesterday.
Reposted by Rahul Bhatia
"I see every ideal that I have held fading away and conditions emerging...which not only distress me but indicate to me that my life's work has been a failure."
"It is this inner rot that is the most distressing symptom of today."
-Jawaharlal Nehru, 1950, quoted in The New India by Rahul Bhatia
"It is this inner rot that is the most distressing symptom of today."
-Jawaharlal Nehru, 1950, quoted in The New India by Rahul Bhatia
September 10, 2025 at 7:00 PM
"I see every ideal that I have held fading away and conditions emerging...which not only distress me but indicate to me that my life's work has been a failure."
"It is this inner rot that is the most distressing symptom of today."
-Jawaharlal Nehru, 1950, quoted in The New India by Rahul Bhatia
"It is this inner rot that is the most distressing symptom of today."
-Jawaharlal Nehru, 1950, quoted in The New India by Rahul Bhatia
Reposted by Rahul Bhatia
"The New India" by Rahul Bhatia is also recommended reading. The parallels are too obvious to ignore.
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/31/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/31/o...
Opinion | The U.S. Wooed India for 30 Years. Trump Blew That Up in a Few Months.
www.nytimes.com
September 1, 2025 at 12:09 PM
"The New India" by Rahul Bhatia is also recommended reading. The parallels are too obvious to ignore.
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/31/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/31/o...
This is what I know of him from a distance: he was deeply and refreshingly sceptical of power, as a writer he hunted for poetry in the mundane, and as an editor he sustained a brave newspaper. He only spoke four words to me, long ago, when I was getting started in journalism. I’m in his debt.
Deeply saddened that Sankarshan Thakur has passed away. A fiercely independent man, friend to young and seasoned journalists and always generous and patient with scholars. A loss for his beloved home state of Bihar, to journalism, and to all of us.
September 8, 2025 at 6:14 AM
This is what I know of him from a distance: he was deeply and refreshingly sceptical of power, as a writer he hunted for poetry in the mundane, and as an editor he sustained a brave newspaper. He only spoke four words to me, long ago, when I was getting started in journalism. I’m in his debt.
Reposted by Rahul Bhatia
India’s courts and legislature are enabling, not restraining, the executive’s speech crackdown. Institutions meant as checks are turning into enablers, writes Tech Policy Press fellow Prateek Waghre (@prateekwaghre.com) . www.techpolicy.press/indias-court...
India’s Courts and Legislature Fail to Rein in Speech Crackdown | TechPolicy.Press
India’s state governments are taking steps with adverse implications for speech and expression, writes Tech Policy Press fellow Prateek Waghre.
www.techpolicy.press
September 4, 2025 at 4:19 PM
India’s courts and legislature are enabling, not restraining, the executive’s speech crackdown. Institutions meant as checks are turning into enablers, writes Tech Policy Press fellow Prateek Waghre (@prateekwaghre.com) . www.techpolicy.press/indias-court...
A passage about how middle class technocratic attitudes are utilised in service of politics in ‘The Backstage of Democracy’, a fascinating book.
September 4, 2025 at 8:23 AM
A passage about how middle class technocratic attitudes are utilised in service of politics in ‘The Backstage of Democracy’, a fascinating book.
This reminds me: 25 years ago, in a land far away, Indian officials wondered if an identification card would help identify unauthorised migrants. From my book THE NEW INDIA.
September 2, 2025 at 2:42 PM
This reminds me: 25 years ago, in a land far away, Indian officials wondered if an identification card would help identify unauthorised migrants. From my book THE NEW INDIA.
Reposted by Rahul Bhatia
I’ve procrastinated writing this book review for so long that I, too, have become a metaphor for unrealised potential.
August 30, 2025 at 5:22 AM
I’ve procrastinated writing this book review for so long that I, too, have become a metaphor for unrealised potential.
This reminded me: Every few years the papers I read growing up propelled some unsuspecting thing (tea, coffee, eggs) on to the eternal roundabout of damnation and salvation (good for you, no wait, bad for you, no wait…). After a while one point of view stuck and we called it science.
Why bad bitcoin treasuries could make the best investments on.ft.com/4p0xmhX | opinion
Why bad bitcoin treasuries could make the best investments
Treasuries on the wrong side of the divide could still create value
on.ft.com
August 30, 2025 at 5:41 AM
This reminded me: Every few years the papers I read growing up propelled some unsuspecting thing (tea, coffee, eggs) on to the eternal roundabout of damnation and salvation (good for you, no wait, bad for you, no wait…). After a while one point of view stuck and we called it science.
And baby, baby, baby: the book, now in paperback. Finally.
August 29, 2025 at 10:12 AM
And baby, baby, baby: the book, now in paperback. Finally.
Over the past few days, I’ve learned of three fine reporters/editors building their own publications because Indian newsrooms have turned conservative.
Times are hard now, but there are people quietly building for the future. Every newsletter done right is a potential institution. Defiance adds up.
Times are hard now, but there are people quietly building for the future. Every newsletter done right is a potential institution. Defiance adds up.
August 29, 2025 at 5:00 AM
Over the past few days, I’ve learned of three fine reporters/editors building their own publications because Indian newsrooms have turned conservative.
Times are hard now, but there are people quietly building for the future. Every newsletter done right is a potential institution. Defiance adds up.
Times are hard now, but there are people quietly building for the future. Every newsletter done right is a potential institution. Defiance adds up.
Beyond the immediate peg of the government ban on online betting, M Rajshekhar goes deep into India’s online gaming industry and emerges with a story of lack of opportunity, opaque algorithms, lobbying, politics, and huge sums of money. Great journalism. m.thewire.in/article/busi...
Special | What Explains the Union Government’s U-Turn on Online Money Gaming? - The Wire
Industry officials were taken by surprise when the government pushed through a Bill banning online money gaming. But what had led to its boom in the first place, and what has it meant for ordinary Ind...
m.thewire.in
August 28, 2025 at 4:39 AM
Beyond the immediate peg of the government ban on online betting, M Rajshekhar goes deep into India’s online gaming industry and emerges with a story of lack of opportunity, opaque algorithms, lobbying, politics, and huge sums of money. Great journalism. m.thewire.in/article/busi...
The Guardian asked me to recommend some books. Here are three I think about all the time.
Juan Rulfo, CLR James, Helen Garner: @rahulabhatia.bsky.social's recommendations for the Guardian.
August 24, 2025 at 10:16 AM
The Guardian asked me to recommend some books. Here are three I think about all the time.
.@justinhendrix.bsky.social and I discussed my reporting on the hidden history of the world's largest ID project, how it inspired me to explore India's history of riots, extremism, and organised disinformation, and why I left a great Reuters gig to write it.
www.techpolicy.press/technology-a...
www.techpolicy.press/technology-a...
Technology and Democracy in the New India | TechPolicy.Press
A conversation with journalist Rahul Bhatia about his book, The New India: The Unmaking of the World’s Largest Democracy.
www.techpolicy.press
August 18, 2025 at 10:50 AM
.@justinhendrix.bsky.social and I discussed my reporting on the hidden history of the world's largest ID project, how it inspired me to explore India's history of riots, extremism, and organised disinformation, and why I left a great Reuters gig to write it.
www.techpolicy.press/technology-a...
www.techpolicy.press/technology-a...
Reposted by Rahul Bhatia
For the @techpolicypress.bsky.social podcast, I spoke to @rahulabhatia.bsky.social, author of The New India: The Unmaking of the World's Largest Democracy. Bhatia takes a close look at Aadhaar to consider the role it plays in the modern state and what the motivations behind it reveal.
Technology and Democracy in the New India | TechPolicy.Press
A conversation with journalist Rahul Bhatia about his book, The New India: The Unmaking of the World’s Largest Democracy.
www.techpolicy.press
August 18, 2025 at 12:54 AM
For the @techpolicypress.bsky.social podcast, I spoke to @rahulabhatia.bsky.social, author of The New India: The Unmaking of the World's Largest Democracy. Bhatia takes a close look at Aadhaar to consider the role it plays in the modern state and what the motivations behind it reveal.
Reposted by Rahul Bhatia
Tonight I finished George Saunders’ magisterial LINCOLN IN THE BARDO, which didn’t quite take for me in 2017, whatever the reason. One person who hailed it at the time was Colson Whitehead; here’s how he concluded his trenchant appraisal in the Times.
August 13, 2025 at 2:29 AM
Tonight I finished George Saunders’ magisterial LINCOLN IN THE BARDO, which didn’t quite take for me in 2017, whatever the reason. One person who hailed it at the time was Colson Whitehead; here’s how he concluded his trenchant appraisal in the Times.
More people need to read the work of Omar Dewachi, who looks into the biology of war. To get you going: merip.org/2019/07/iraq...
August 13, 2025 at 6:55 AM
More people need to read the work of Omar Dewachi, who looks into the biology of war. To get you going: merip.org/2019/07/iraq...
Hot damn. If you’re in the market for a book that was on the NYT 100 Notable Books list *and* nonfiction book of the year at Asia’s largest book festival *and* on Guardian’s list of best new paperbacks this month, I’ve got something for you.
www.theguardian.com/books/ng-int...
www.theguardian.com/books/ng-int...
This month’s best paperbacks: Gabriel García Márquez, Craig Brown and more
Looking for a new reading recommendation? Here are some great new paperbacks, from a posthumous novel to an absorbing account of how nationalism shaped a country
www.theguardian.com
August 7, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Hot damn. If you’re in the market for a book that was on the NYT 100 Notable Books list *and* nonfiction book of the year at Asia’s largest book festival *and* on Guardian’s list of best new paperbacks this month, I’ve got something for you.
www.theguardian.com/books/ng-int...
www.theguardian.com/books/ng-int...