Ep 74: Upasana Sarraju, author: The strange science of of Ig Nobel Prizes

Ep 74: Upasana Sarraju, author: The strange science of of Ig Nobel Prizes

In this episode, Upasana Sarraju, author of The Ig Nobel Prizes and The Science That Refuses to Behave [https://www.amazon.in/Unruly-Prizes-Science-Refuses-Behave-ebook/dp/B0GP5Q8DC1] (Penguin Random House India) talks about research that "makes you laugh, then makes you think". From zebra-striped cows (which reduced insect bites) to the science of crumpled bedsheets, a galloping horse encoded into bacterial DNA, Upasana takes us through the strangest, funniest, and most unexpectedly profound corners of science.  She talks about her five-year correspondence with Ig Nobel Prize founder Marc Abrahams, the Indian scientists who've won the prize (including Dr. Chittaranjan Andrade, a psychiatrist who studies nose-picking and mountaineers in his spare time), and why the silliest-sounding questions often lead to the most meaningful discoveries. Follow Upasana: LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanasarraju/] | Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/popular/upasana-sarraju/] | Website [https://www.upasanasarraju.com/] Timestamps: 00:58 – What prompted the book; discovering the Ig Nobel Prizes 02:55 – Mark Abrahams: five years of interviews, the founding of the Ig Nobel Prize/Improbable Research podcast 05:22 – The book cover: the zebra-striped cow study (Ig Nobel 2025) and insect-deterring stripes 08:01 – Tangent: do mosquitoes prefer certain blood types/sweat? 08:39 – Other Ig Nobel studies on the cover (banana peel, pizza slice) 09:02 – Why woodpeckers don't get headaches 11:32 – What the Ig Nobel limelight does for scientists' careers 12:28 – Encoding a galloping-horse movie into E. coli DNA using CRISPR 21:25 – Riffing on "movie piracy via bacteria" 23:12 – On book structure: each chapter as its own potential book 24:33 – Chittaranjan Andrade: mountaineering, magic, music, NIMHANS 33:38 – L. Mahadevan and the physics of folds, wrinkles, and crumpled bedsheets 35:49 – Knots, tangled earbuds, and the physics of hair 37:34 – Reflecting on minds like Mahadevan's 38:21 – "On a Lazy Sunday Morning" chapter — everyday science (soggy cereal, coffee spills, banana peels) 39:50 – What didn't make it into the book — cut personal stories (e.g., Dr. Manjula Reddy) 43:03 – Material held back for a future book (cats/animals) 43:29 – The footnotes — Easter eggs and tangents 45:00 – Household dust, shed skin, and dust mites living in our eyebrows 47:27 – Closing thoughts, future plans  To get in touch, email swishingmindsets@gmail.com Disclaimer: Views are personal. Listener discretion is advised. Want to be a guest on Swishing Mindsets with Anuradha Varma? Send Anuradha Varma a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/1750746513391971e921bbda5

Ep 73: Regina Linke, The Oxherd Boy: Big ideas for little kids

“Where does my reflection go when I walk away from the mirror?” This question from her toddler put Regina Linke, a Taiwanese American author and illustrator, on the journey of creating her children’s book The Oxherd Boy which started as a webcomic on Instagram. It was followed up by Big Enough and now Little Helper, which combine the East Asian philosophy of Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism with Chinese brush painting. She talks about putting down big messages for little kids in simple language, reconnecting with her Taiwanese roots, and how her spiritual practice has helped her find resilience and calm as she goes through the journey of bringing her adoptive daughter home from Taiwan. Listen in!  Follow Regina on: Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/reginalinkeart/?hl=en] | Website [https://reginalinke.com/] | The Oxherd Boy [http://oxherdboy.org/] Timestamps: 01:21 Moving to Taiwan as an adult and discovering her roots 06:16 Creating opportunities for conversations with kids through The Oxherd Boy 11:30 Explaining Confucianism, Tao and Buddhism 17:23 How moving from corporate America to discovering herself in Taiwan 20:31 How spirituality has helped her deal with her adoption journey 24:30 Learning the ancient art of gongbi painting 32:48 On The Little Helper book 36:45 What she enjoyed working on 41:15 Who the book is for Follow Anuradha on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/anuradhavarma/] | Twitter [https://twitter.com/anuvee] | Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/anuradhavarma/?hl=en]Email: swishingmindsets@gmail.com Disclaimer: Views and opinions expressed are personal. Listener discretion is advised.  Want to be a guest on Swishing Mindsets with Anuradha Varma? Send Anuradha Varma a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/1750746513391971e921bbda5

Ep 72: Botox, Me Too & migration: Guruprasad Kaginele & Narayan Shankaran on 'Kaayaa'

“Are all beautiful people happy? Are all happy people beautiful?” is something that Guruprasad Kaginele addresses in his book Kaaya [https://www.amazon.in/Kaayaa-Powerful-Contemporary-Satirical-Thought-Provoking/dp/014347491X], a satirical comment on beauty and identity through the story of a US plastic surgeon caught in the Me Too movement, inspired by a real life incident. It has been translated from Kannada to English by Narayan Shankaran.  Here, they both discuss getting the cultural beats right during the process of translation, such as deciding on the phrase “boob job”. Guruprasad, a doctor based in the US for the last three decades, confesses to Kannada still being his language of “emoting”, while English remains of transactional value, and often erupting in “Aiyyo” to the bafflement of his American colleagues. They also touch upon issues of migration and enhancement culture, with walk-in botox clinics and lunch-hour collagen injections. Guruprasad is a prominent voice in contemporary Kannada literature. His novel Hijab received the 2017 Karnataka Sahitya Academy Award. Narayan Shankaran, a management professional, who enjoys writing and translating between Kannada and English, has earlier also translated a collection of short stories by Guruprasad, published as The Preferred Pronoun and Other Stories. Listen in! Related episode: Ep 39: Chandan Pandey & Sayari Debnath: Stories of desolation & translation Timestamps 01:40 How the collaboration happened 03:53 Writing Kaayaa, his process 06:14 Narayan on the book 10:33 Guru on themes of sexuality in Kannada literature 13:55 Thinking and writing in Kannada 18:24 Reacting with an “Aiyyo” instinctively in the US 20:06 Narayan’s process of translation; reading out the excerpt 28:06 Translating “boob job” from Kannada 30:17 Inspiration for the story of Kaaya; the God complex of a plastic surgeon 34:42 Commenting on the enhancement culture 36:18 Guru on creating his women characters; cosmetic demands on beauty 40:00 The migrant experience 44:50 Narayan on the characters in Kaayaa Follow Anuradha on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/anuradhavarma/] | Twitter [https://twitter.com/anuvee] | Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/anuradhavarma/?hl=en] Email: swishingmindsets@gmail.com Disclaimer: Views and opinions expressed are personal. Listener discretion is advised. Want to be a guest on Swishing Mindsets with Anuradha Varma? Send Anuradha Varma a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/1750746513391971e921bbda5

Ep 71: Namratha Stanley: From an abusive marriage to a wine brand in France

Namratha Stanley, the debut author of Vineyard Melody, moved to France in 2017 after an abusive marriage in India, to pursue a Wine MBA in Bordeaux. She now runs her wine brand Solicantus—sold in five countries, including India.  A single mom, she talks about the struggle to escape her abusive marriage as “being stuck in a web”, regaining confidence, taking things one step at a time to finally set up her wine brand and reunite with her daughter in France. Wine is a culture, says the entrepreneur, who believes in meeting life with an open spirit. She lets us in on the charm of living in France, the French penchant for prioritising intellectual and artistic enjoyment and, yes, their annoying but charming habit of complaining! Listen in!   Follow Namratha on: LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/namrathap/] | Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/namratha_wines_books/] | Website [https://www.namrathastanley.com/] Buy her book: Amazon [https://www.amazon.in/Vineyard-Melody-Woman-Rebuilt-Grape/dp/B0FCDB94DJ] Timestamps 01:30 Going to France on a chance, to escape her marriage 05:20 What made her finally leave her marriage 10:30 Women are redefining womanhood 11:23 Identifying as the “victim” 14:10 Life right now, managing her wine brand 16:25 Her wine offerings 20:30 Getting the right magical blend for her wine 22:34 Availability in Mumbai and Bengaluru 23:45 Wine trends in India 25:07 One percent of Indians know their wines; growing audience 26:20 Pairing wine with Indian food 27:54 Wine as an investment — SWAG (silver, wine, art and gold) 33:09 Survival instinct led to becoming an entrepreneur 36:40 Busting French cliches 40:10 About her book ‘Vineyard Melody’ Follow Anuradha on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/anuradhavarma/] | Twitter [https://twitter.com/anuvee] | Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/anuradhavarma/?hl=en] Email: swishingmindsets@gmail.com Disclaimer: Views and opinions expressed are personal. Listener discretion is advised. Want to be a guest on Swishing Mindsets with Anuradha Varma? Send Anuradha Varma a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/1750746513391971e921bbda5

Ep 70: ‘Single Papa’ Aditya Tiwari: Adoption, Down Syndrome, and an Everest dream

“It’s the child who gives birth to the parent,” says Aditya Tiwari, who adopted his son Avnish, now almost 11, as a single father at the age of 28 in 2016, after a long legal battle. Today, Avnish, who was born with a hole in his heart and has Down Syndrome, has trekked to the Everest Base Camp at the age of seven, and is the youngest National awardee.  Here, while Aditya talks about the practicalities of bringing up a special child and meeting developmental milestones with support from experts, the joy of watching his child thrive is unmissable.  Listen in as the Indore-based software professional discusses his hopes and dreams for Avnish, and the inherent bias that favours women as parental figures! Follow Aditya Tiwari on: LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/aditya-tiwari-15740670/] | Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/aditya.tiwari.5682/] | Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/lifewithavnish/?hl=en] Related episode: Ep 66: Arun Dohle, Adoptee Rights Council: How he met his mother Timestamps: 02:04 Preparing for the Everest Base Camp 06:52 Creating support systems for his special child Avnish 09:35 Likes playing drums, explore nature, etc 11:30 Importance of spending quality time with a child 13:50 Meeting milestones and therapies 18:40 Accepting a Down Syndrome child, don’t look for a miracle 21:19 Living in the present 23:06 Guardianship; concerns about securing Avnish’s future 28:20 Creating support systems as a single parent 30:20 Questions raised on adoption initially; adoption gives one choice 32:10 Meeting Avnish as a baby in the orphanage and the legal battle to adopt 34:56 Single men face a bias as adoptive parents 37:27 Mindset barrier when it comes to fathers over mothers 39:19 Avnish’s health challenges 41:40 Challenges of claiming medical insurance 45:17 Honing Avnish’s skills with help from experts Follow Anuradha on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/anuradhavarma/] | Twitter [https://twitter.com/anuvee] | Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/anuradhavarma/?hl=en] Email: swishingmindsets@gmail.com Disclaimer: Views and opinions expressed are personal. Listener discretion is advised. Want to be a guest on Swishing Mindsets with Anuradha Varma? Send Anuradha Varma a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/1750746513391971e921bbda5