A short list, grouped from easiest to most demanding. Start wherever you are.
Start here
Readable ways into the episode's themes.
India After Gandhi
IntermediateRamachandra Guha
The story of Indian democracy since 1947, and the background to almost every topic in the episode.
Rebooting India
BeginnerNandan Nilekani and Viral Shah
The case for Aadhaar and India's digital public systems, written by the man who led the project.
Foreign policy
How India deals with the world.
Choices: Inside the Making of India's Foreign Policy
IntermediateShivshankar Menon
A former National Security Adviser on five real decisions and the trade-offs behind them.
Go deeper
The classic ideas behind the conversation.
Political Parties
AdvancedRobert Michels
The 1911 study that introduced the iron law of oligarchy.
Manufacturing Consent
AdvancedEdward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky
An influential, and contested, argument about how news media can shape what the public thinks.