Politicians are often in the business of politics because they believe in something; they have a vision of society. Even the most hated and reviled ones do. Else, why would anyone choose it as a profession in the first place? It has a low probability of success, and an even lower probability of sustaining that success; it’s also an extraordinarily difficult job that most of us will fail at. If one were a rational human, one would choose to work a stable job and not become a politician. Which is what most of us do.
That is why, Puram, a series of podcasts, will be a conversation with politicians and policy makers on their vision for society and on their motivation to become a politician. A conversation that hopes to bring out their raison d’etre which is increasingly a vanishing part of the political discourse. Politics isn’t about overpowering the news waves with absurd infomercials disguised as news; this podcast will attempt to not be that, and yet remain engaging and thoughtful.
The podcast as a medium is particularly well suited to this endeavor. Conversations can be long and participants can express themselves fully and not just in TV sound bytes. Further, the tone and broken sentences of speech pattern in a personalized conversation adds a lot of context that a well edited written essay often misses.
Podcasts are, as is now commonly believed, the last place where people can think and be wrong about something without it becoming a viral gotcha moment. That serves an important function in a democracy; politicians deserve to be heard patiently even if, and particularly when, they are wrong. Debating them on their core beliefs serves little purpose; understanding it though is crucial. Which is why this podcast will attempt to be a conversation in good faith and not a debating platform.
Finally, the motivations of those who’re involved in a project quite naturally impact it. The listener may or may not agree with those positions; but the one thing this podcast hopes to bring you is internally consistent and intellectually stimulating conversations that make you think about politics and politicians in good faith. Because they are in it; we’d better be.
Listen to Episode 1: In conversation with Thol Thirumavalavan, VCK leader