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I spoke with Aarushi Kalra Ph.D. candidate in Economics at Brown University. We discussed her job market paper, “Hate in the Time of Algorithms: Evidence from a Large-Scale Experiment on Online Behavior.” We talked about the demand and supply of toxicity against minorities on social media platforms, user behavior, platform behavior, real world segregation due to ethnic violence, and much more.

Recorded October 24th, 2024.

Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links.

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Timestamps

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:00:58) - Grand Tamasha

(00:02:31) - Exploring How Social Media Users Engage with Toxic Content

(00:06:06) - Understanding the Drivers of Toxic Speech on the Internet

(00:08:50) - Definitions of Toxic Content

(00:11:05) - Scale of Data and Choice of Language

(00:12:23) - Impact of Recommendation Algorithms on User Engagement

(00:16:27) - Key Findings on Toxic Content Exposure and Sharing

(00:22:08) - Interpreting How Personalization Shapes Engagement in Toxic Social Media Content

(00:25:31) - How Recognizing the Agency and Sophistication of Users Shapes Interpretive Models

(00:31:45) - The Challenges of Platform Regulation

(00:34:04) - The Challenges of Creating Interventions to Address Toxic Content

(00:35:46) - Social Media as Normalizing Toxic Speech

(00:38:09) - The Route of the Ram Rath Yatra As Lens on Segregation

(00:48:58) - Outro

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I spoke with Abishek Choutagunta, who received his PhD in economics from the Institute of Law and Economics, University of Hamburg. He is also an EV India fellow at the Mercatus Center. We discussed his paper “President’s Rule in India: State Emergency or Political Capture?” with Christian Bjørnskov, Stefan Voigt, and myself, yes you heard that right. We talked about the Centripetal Federalism in India, state and local government finances, emergency powers, SR Bommai, constitutional design, and much more.

Recorded September 6th, 2024.

Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links.

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Timestamps

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:01:01) - Grand Tamasha

(00:02:58) - Article 356 and President’s Rule

(00:26:47) - Why are local governments broken in India?

(00:46:33) - India is Centripetal in its Federalism

(00:53:08) - Outro

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I spoke with Atanu Chatterjee, a PhD candidate in geography at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, and a lecturer at the School of Human Settlements, XIM University Bhubaneswar. We discussed his dissertation examining the in situ slum rehabilitation scheme through a state-led intervention in low income housing in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. We talked about the reasons for the emergence of urban slums in Ahmedabad, the successes and failures of the in situ slum rehabilitation scheme, the differences across four recent slum redevelopments, the types of problems residents face post rehabilitation, and much more.

Recorded September 12th, 2024.

Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links.

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Timestamps

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:01:10) - Grand Tamasha

(00:02:54) - The Aims of In Situ Slum Redevelopment

(00:05:58) - Frameworks for Understanding Slums

(00:10:06) - The Economic Context of Slums in Relation to Governance

(00:12:26) - Communal Violence and Segregation and the Formation of Slums

(00:15:46) - Approaches to Slum Redevelopment

(00:17:05) - Slum Redevelopment in Ahmedabad

(00:19:37) - Ahmedabad As a Success Story?

(00:21:35) - Consent and Coercion in the Redevelopment of Slums

(00:26:07) - Public–Private Partnerships and Participation in Redevelopment Schemes

(00:27:21) - Challenges in Adjusting to In Situ Redevelopment

(00:30:19) - Expectations of Living in a Post-Redevelopment Colony

(00:32:03) - Basis for Evaluating the Success of Rehabilitation

(00:34:01) - Allotment of Homes and Ownership Restrictions

(00:36:15) - Questions Regarding the Resale of Allotted Homes

(00:40:04) - Issues that Impede Residents’ Adjustment to Communal Living

(00:42:51) - The Role of the State in Facilitating Transitions to Redeveloped Housing

(00:44:14) - Mechanisms for Creating Successful Redevelopments

(00:46:27) - A Participatory Approach Versus a Top-Down Approach to Redevelopment

(00:49:03) - Building the Capacity of Community Associations

(00:51:36) - Grounds for Optimism

(00:53:09) - Improvements of the Institutional Framework Through Community Empowerment

(00:54:45) - The Potentially Supportive Role of NGOs

(00:56:390 - No Quick Fixes but Revised Platforms

(00:57:33) - Outro