We the People (Indian TV series)
We The People is a television talk show in India hosted by Sarah Jacob. The programme is broadcast every Sunday night at 8 pm on NDTV 24x7. It was originally hosted by Barkha Dutt.[1][2][3]
We The People | |
---|---|
Presented by | Sarah Jacob |
Country of origin | India |
Production | |
Production location | New Delhi |
Running time | 39 to 40 minutes without commercials |
Production company | NDTV |
Release | |
Original network | NDTV 24x7 |
Original release | 2001 – present |
External links | |
Website |
Show format
We the People is a debate show on current affairs. A six- to eight-person panel is invited for each discussion. A panel typically consists of politicians, social scientists, academicians, social workers and celebrities, depending on the topic. The live audience often poses questions directly to panelists and are occasionally asked for a snap poll to weigh in on an argument. The show encompasses a wide variety of topics and is not limited to political issues.
Awards and accolades
We The People won the 14th Asian Television Award for Best Talk Show for the year 2008 and Best Talk Show (English) at the "NT Award 2000".[4] Barkha was named "the most intelligent TV host" by Indian Television Awards, and also as Best Talk Show Anchor.[5]
List of episodes
2001
Date | Title | Topic |
---|---|---|
February 4 | Gujarat earthquake: The aftershock | |
October 21 | The Indian Muslim voice |
2005
Date | Title | Topic |
---|---|---|
December 18 | Sex change: Breaking free | |
December 25 | Divided by borders, united in grief |
2006
Date | Title | Topic |
---|---|---|
January 1 | Best of 2005 | |
January 8 | Do public figures have the right to private life? | |
January 15 | Should IIMs be allowed to go global? | |
January 29 | Is Chennai India's most conservative city? | |
February 5 | Demolition: Is the capital headed for chaos? | |
February 26 | Minority report: Will a religious survey harm the Indian Army? | |
March 5 | Will quotas in private schools make education more accessible? | |
March 12 | Is Islam's moderate voice silent? | |
March 19 | Should there be regulations for sting operations? | |
March 26 | Office of profit: Is the law irrational? | |
April 2 | Should we take beauty pageants seriously? | |
April 10 | Will the OBC quota create equality? | |
April 16 | Rape cases: Should we have stricter laws? | |
April 30 | Should the quota system be scrapped? | |
May 14 | Budhia: Are we helping or hurting him? | |
May 21 | Is religion hijacking creativity? | |
June 4 | Is celebrity activism meaningful? | |
June 11 | Is society to harsh with drug users? | |
June 18 | Indo-Pak debate: A generation gap? | |
June 25 | Is India's military still biased against women? | |
July 2 | Is 90 percent not enough for college admissions anymore? | |
July 9 | Are religious traditions fair to women? | |
July 14 | Mumbai blasts: Time to get tough on terrorism | |
July 30 | Does India really honour its soldiers? | |
August 6 | Cola row: Is there too much fuss over fizz? | |
August 13 | Is India still in awe of royalty? | |
August 18 | Have the rules of marriage changed? | |
August 27 | Should Vande Mataram be mandatory? | |
September 10 | Are teachers undervalued and underpaid? | |
September 25 | Is there any point in banning smoking in films? | |
October 1 | Gandhigiri: Is it realistic? | |
October 22 | The fight for gay rights | |
October 29 | Behind the veil | |
November 5 | Do media campaigns help or hurt justice? | |
November 12 | Medical tourism: Have hospitals become hotels? | |
November 19 | Do we need stricter alcohol laws? | |
December 3 | Godmen & Politics: Unholy alliance? | |
December 3 | Do spiritual leaders encourage blind faith? | |
December 10 | Freedom vs faith: Has India forced MF Husain into exile? | |
December 17 | Has the Afzal debate been politicised? | |
December 31 | Trapped by nature: India's sex change phenomena |
2007
Date | Title | Topic |
---|---|---|
January 7 | Are Noida killings India's shame? | |
January 14 | Policing the internet: Possible or desirable? | |
January 28 | Have Indians lost faith in the judicial process? | |
February 4 | Death debate: Should euthanasia be legalised? | |
February 12 | Who should decide what we watch? | |
February 25 | Will Samjhauta blasts be a turning point in Indo-Pak relations? | |
March 11 | Do Indian women still need feminism? | |
March 18 | Is there a conflict between farms and WB factories? | |
March 26 | Will you go under the knife to look better? | |
April 1 | Is Team India being unfairly targeted? | |
April 8 | Muslims: Pushed into a stereotype? | |
April 15 | Flag & Anthem: Are Indians over-sensitive? | |
April 22 | Has tabloid journalism become a norm? | |
April 30 | Has judicial activism crossed the line? | |
May 6 | Does popular opinion sanction encounter killings? | |
May 13 | Has art been hijacked by moral police? | |
May 19 | Do temples have a right to restrict entry? | |
May 20 | Are extremists defining Sikh identity again? | |
June 17 | Is politics a man's world? | |
June 24 | Drugs: Why can't India say no? | |
July 9 | Are Indians obsessed with weight? | |
July 22 | Should it be legal to select the sex of your child? | |
August 5 | Is sympathy for Sanjay justified? | |
August 12 | Single Men = Good fathers? | |
August 26 | Is anti-Americanism outdated? | |
September 2 | Should the sex trade be legalised? | |
September 16 | Should faith influence government policy? | |
September 23 | Are sting operations unethical? | |
September 29 | Do people have the right to die with dignity? | |
September 30 | Indian Military Academy: Soldiering on | |
October 7 | Why is modern India intolerant? | |
October 15 | Can single men make good fathers? | |
October 28 | N-deal rollback: UPA's image hurt? | |
November 11 | Is the ban on child labour unrealistic? | |
November 19 | Nandigram: Can the CPM recover? | |
November 25 | Can creative freedom be absolute? | |
December 9 | Has Gujarat progressed under Modi? |
2008
Date | Title | Topic |
---|---|---|
January 13 | Should blogs be regulated? | |
January 20 | Should politicians be considered for Bharat Ratna? | |
January 27 | Does India take its national symbols too seriously? | |
February 3 | Does India overplay the race card? | |
February 10 | Is 18 old enough for marriage? | |
February 17 | Pakistan: Democracy or dictatorship? | |
March 2 | Should history be determined by popular sentiment? | |
March 9 | Is India a fair field for men and women? | |
March 16 | Scarlett Keeling case: Goa's dark side? | |
March 23 | Would you go under the knife to look better? | |
March 30 | Will higher salaries for bureaucrats improve performance? | |
April 6 | Can politics and sports be kept separate? | |
April 13 | Will quotas create equity or end excellence? | |
April 20 | Can non-violence still be effective? | |
April 27 | Does materialism define the New India? | |
May 4 | Should smoking and drinking be banned on-screen? | |
May 11 | Do women need political reservation? | |
May 18 | Has India become indifferent to terror attacks? | |
June 1 | 'Police'ing the media? | |
June 15 | Are India and America finally equal partners? | |
June 22 | Amitav Ghosh's sentiments behind Sea of Poppies | |
August 3 | Should the sex trade be legalised? | |
August 10 | Jammu & Kashmir: The siege within | |
August 24 | How should India deal with 'azaadi' demands? | |
August 31 | Mamata, a roadblock for Nano dream? | |
September 7 | Made-to-order babies? | |
September 14 | Not just skin-deep prejudice | |
September 14 | Is India losing the war against terror? | |
September 21 | Can SIMI and Bajrang Dal be equated? | |
September 28 | Why are Indians obsessed with fairness? | |
October 5 | Is it time to decriminalise homosexuality? | |
October 12 | Have the attacks on Christians destroyed India's image? | |
October 19 | Will the financial crisis change India's attitude to money? | |
October 26 | Is India's city of dreams getting destroyed by regionalism? | |
November 2 | Obama or McCain: Who is better for India? | |
November 9 | Can India's political establishment create an Obama like inspiration? | |
November 16 | 'Hindu' terror: Myth or fact? | |
November 23 | Is the Indian dream in danger after the global financial crisis? | |
November 30 | Enough is enough: India's 9/11 | |
December 7 | Anger into action: What can India do next? | |
December 14 | Anatomy of anger | |
December 21 | Has the Minority Affairs Minister embarrassed India's Muslims? | |
December 28 | J&K verdict: End of separatism? |
2009
Date | Title | Topic |
---|---|---|
January 11 | No war, no peace: India's Pakistan problem? | |
January 18 | Should Satyam be saved? | |
January 25 | The Slumdog phenomenon | |
February 2 | Is peace possible between India and Pakistan? | |
February 8 | The Advertising debate | |
February 15 | The culture wars | |
March 1 | Jai Ho: From Dharavi to LA and back | |
March 8 | Should IPL and elections be held together? | |
March 15 | Regional parties: The Kings makers? | |
March 22 | Death, love, life on TV | |
March 29 | New middle-class political activism | |
April 6 | Politics in the age of TV | |
April 12 | Small parties: big ambitions | |
April 19 | Should godmen stay out of politics? | |
April 26 | How safe are our schools and colleges? | |
May 3 | Who's afraid of Mayawati? | |
May 10 | Who is India's Obama? | |
May 24 | Will Indian polity get a younger soul? | |
May 31 | Ragging: From tradition to abuse | |
June 7 | Racism: Indians as targets | |
June 14 | Women and Affirmative Action | |
June 21 | Royalty in the age of democracy | |
June 28 | One nation, one Board: Is India ready? | |
July 5 | The right to be gay | |
July 12 | Royalty and Indian politics | |
August 2 | Right to motherhood | |
August 16 | Has India over-reacted to the swine-flu? | |
August 23 | Political parties scared of history? | |
August 30 | Religious symbols in a secular society | |
September 6 | Is politics killing history and literature? | |
September 13 | Austerity, Congress style? | |
September 20 | Should everyone in India know Hindi? | |
September 27 | Women in Army: Time for a greater role? | |
October 4 | Gandhi's legacy: Are we too politically correct? | |
October 11 | Is Mumbai no longer cosmopolitan? | |
October 25 | The Maoist Muddle | |
October 25 | Is a peace initiative with the Maoists possible | |
November 1 | The Indira Gandhi legacy | |
November 8 | Vande Mataram and Fatwa politics | |
November 15 | National language: What's that? | |
November 22 | 26/11: Lessons learnt? | |
December 6 | India's skin deep prejudice | |
December 13 | Nation vs regionalism | |
December 20 | Private lives, public gaze | |
December 27 | Ruchika's case: Mockery of justice? |
2010
Date | Title | Topic |
---|---|---|
January 3 | Best of We The People 2009 | |
January 10 | Is India soft on sexual misconduct? | Rape in India |
January 17 | Get a picture or save a life? | |
January 24 | Is TV exploiting young children? | |
January 31 | Mukesh Ambani, Montek at LSE debate | |
February 7 | Mumbai and the idea of India | |
February 28 | MF Husain: Let down by India? | |
March 7 | Being Muslim in today's India? | |
March 14 | Re-branding Modi? | |
March 28 | "Salaam Namaste" to pre-marital sex? | |
April 4 | Right to education: Quantity over quality? | |
April 11 | Maoists vs the state | |
April 18 | IPL: Indian Political League | |
May 16 | Is globalisation a bad word? | |
May 23 | Young politicians, old ideas? | |
May 30 | India's maoist challenge | |
June 6 | The death penalty debate | |
June 20 | Is Twitter here to stay? | |
June 27 | Office relationships: Harassment or consensual? | |
July 4 | Government vs Army on the Armed Forces Act? | |
July 11 | India's population: Boon or bane? | |
July 18 | The language wars | |
July 25 | Surrogacy: Exploiting the poor? | |
August 1 | Commonwealth games: National shame? | |
August 8 | India: The Twitter republic | |
August 15 | Superbug: Bias against India? | New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase 1 |
August 22 | Is the 'real India' forgotten? | |
September 12 | Pension for ex-Army men: A question of equality? | |
September 19 | Ayodhya verdict: Time for closure? | |
September 26 | Ayodhya: Is 'reconciliation' realistic? | |
October 24 | India: Game for corruption? | |
October 31 | Alimony and the modern woman | |
November 14 | Is corruption in our roots? | |
November 21 | Government show who is "The Big Boss"? | |
November 28 | The new-age neta | |
December 5 | The art of giving | |
December 19 | Will WikiLeaks change diplomacy world over? | |
December 26 | Binayak Sen: Targeted by the state? |
2011
Date | Title | Topic |
---|---|---|
January 2 | Best of We The People 2010 | |
January 16 | Does India care for its soldiers? | |
January 23 | Will books survive the digital age? | Jaipur Literature Festival |
January 26 | Army: Overused, under-appreciated? | |
January 30 | Endgame in sight for 'Afghan-Pak' crisis? | |
February 20 | Is the India story endangered by scams? | |
February 27 | Is capital punishment deterrent for rapists? | |
March 13 | The euthanasia debate | |
March 27 | Ticket to India-Pakistan thaw? | |
April 10 | The Tamil Nadu poll blockbuster | |
April 17 | Being gay: The parents' story | |
April 24 | The anatomy of a bribe | |
May 1 | Maharaja in royal mess | |
May 15 | Land wars: Farmers' rights vs industrialisation | |
May 22 | Homecoming possible for pandits in J&K? | |
May 29 | Women and power: Bucking the trend? | |
June 12 | Army an option for Indian youth? | |
June 26 | Viewer's choice: We the People on Gujarat quake | |
July 3 | Neeraj Grover's parents on their son's murder | |
July 10 | Does India need a separate prevention of communal violence bill? | |
July 17 | Has Mumbai been numbed by terror? | |
July 24 | Has spirituality turned into a profit industry? | |
July 31 | Corruption kills the growth story? | |
August 11 | Indian cinema: Hijacked by politics? | |
August 15 | Fasting for change- Satyagraha or theatre? | |
August 21 | Anna and the great Indian middle class | |
August 28 | Anna's movement: The challenges & lessons | |
September 4 | Copycat politics over mercy pleas? | |
September 11 | Has India been numbed by terror? | |
September 25 | Can you live on just ₹ 32 a day? | |
October 2 | Gandhigiri in the age of violence | |
October 9 | Telangan: An idea whose time has come? | |
October 16 | Mayawati's Park: Extravaganza or empowerment? | |
October 23 | Will right to recall make politicians accountable? | |
October 30 | Does the army still need special powers in J&K? | |
November 6 | Is social media changing human equations? | |
November 13 | Love, sex and cinema | |
November 20 | Terror errors: Weakening India's fight? | |
November 27 | From argumentative India to intolerant India? | |
December 4 | Has Parliament become a house of Adjournments? | |
December 11 | The return of Anna Hazare | |
December 18 | From Uphaar AMRI, is it a license to kill? |
2012
Date | Title | Topic |
---|---|---|
January 1 | Democracy's midnight mayhem | |
January 15 | Why does India still not have a national military memorial? | Indian Armed Forces |
February 12 | Age row: Ceasefire or lost battle? | |
February 18 | Minority welfare or maximum politics? | |
February 26 | The state in your bedroom? | Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code |
March 8 | Women's day: Substance or symbolism? | International Women's Day |
March 18 | India: No country for working women? | Women in India |
March 25 | Pornography or erotica: Who decides? | |
April 1 | After the ceasefire: Lessons learnt? | |
April 15 | Should the state negotiate with hostage takers? | |
April 22 | Surrogacy: Outsourcing childbirth? | Commercial surrogacy in India |
April 29 | Rajya Sabha: House of Elders now House of Glamour? | Rajya Sabha members |
May 6 | Siachen: Time for a thaw? | Siachen conflict |
May 7 | Hillary Clinton on FDI, Mamata, Hafiz Saeed and outsourcing (special episode) | |
May 13 | Are single sex institutions outdated? | |
June 3 | The subsidies debate: Pro aam-aadmi or anti-growth? | Subsidies in India |
June 10 | 'Bond'-ing doctors into duty? | |
June 17 | The politics of minority quotas | Reservation in India |
June 24 | India: The big bazaar of organ trade? | Organ trade in India |
July 1 | President's pardon: The clemency debate | Pratibha Patil communes death sentences |
July 8 | Hitting cancer for a six | Interview with Yuvraj Singh |
July 29 | Mayhem at Manesar | Manesar violence July 2012 |
August 5 | Sedition laws: Essential or archaic? | Sedition laws in India |
August 12 | India's steel frame: Still standing strong? | |
August 19 | We the Olympians: A distant dream or within reach now? | India at the 2012 Summer Olympics |
August 26 | Is the government caught in a censorship web? | |
September 2 | Riots and the rule of law | |
September 9 | India-Pakistan: Prisoners of hostility? | |
September 16 | Cellphone towers: India's safety check | |
September 23 | Clinical trials: The India report | |
October 7 | Euthanasia: Mercy killing or murder? | Euthanasia in India |
November 11 | Are religious traditions tilted against women? | Role of women in religion |
November 18 | Should the state fund political parties? | |
November 25 | Internet freedom: In danger of being stifled? | |
December 2 | Politics and the 'Great' Indian middle class | |
December 9 | Time to re-think capital punishment? | Capital punishment in India |
December 16 | Moditva: Lessons for India? | |
December 23 | Will capital punishment be a deterrent to rapists? | 2012 Delhi gang rape case |
2013
Date | Title | Topic |
---|---|---|
January 1 | Best of We The People 2012 | |
January 6 | Every woman's battle: The enemy within | Rape in India |
January 13 | Cinema: A cult or misogyny | Objectification of women in Indian cinema |
January 20 | Judiciary: symbol of hope and change for women? | Low conviction rate in rape cases in India |
2020
Date | Title | Topic | Note |
---|---|---|---|
March 15 | India Fights Coronavirus | COVID-19 pandemic in India | First edition without an audience due to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic. |
March 22 | How India Fought Back Against Coronavirus | The Janata Curfew | |
March 29 | Let Down by Lockdown? | 2020 coronavirus lockdown in India |
References
- Sudeshna, Devi (2019). "A Textual Analysis of the Television Talk Show We The People". Journal of Global Communication. 12 (1). doi:10.5958/0976-2442.2019.00002.8. ISSN 0974-0600 – via IndianJournals.com.
- Parameswaran, Radhika (2015-09-03). "Shaming the Nation on Public Affairs Television: Barkha Dutt tackles colorism on We the People". Journalism Studies. 16 (5): 680–691. doi:10.1080/1461670X.2015.1054175. ISSN 1461-670X.
- Khorana, Sukhmani (2014-08-01). "The Political is Populist: Talk Shows, Political Debates, and the Middle-Class Public Sphere in India". Media International Australia. 152 (1): 98–107. doi:10.1177/1329878X1415200111. ISSN 1329-878X – via SAGE.
- CNN-IBN, NDTV bag TV awards The Hindu, July 19, 2007. Archived November 9, 2012, at the Wayback Machine