Access isn’t voice
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About this Episode
In the very first episode of Unmute, hosts Gagan Sethi and Minar Pimple open up about the podcast itself — why they are starting it, why this moment calls for it, and why their own journeys brought them here. They reflect on their personal motivations, early influences, and the values shaping this series.
From there, the conversation expands into the larger questions: What is the role of civil society today? How do state, market, and people’s movements interact? What contradictions in development demand urgent attention? And how can empathy, kindness, and solidarity offer hope in times of division?
...reimagining civil society’s role not as service providers, but as champions of democracy and protest.
Key Highlights
Why Unmute - the purpose, timing, and the hosts’ personal journeys
Vision of the podcast - 36 episodes, town halls, and diverse guests
Civil society, state, and market - balancing creative tension
Contradictions of development - hunger amidst abundance, inequality, fragile futures
Stories of lived experience - grassroots struggles, drought, migrant workers, inequities
Constitutional values and human rights - contested and undermined
Reclaiming spaces of dissent, protest, and innovation
Empathy and kindness - as antidotes to fear and aggression
References and Resources
No Country For Workers – SWAN Report on Impact of COVID-19 on migrant workers
MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act)
Global Hunger Index – India Ranking
World Inequality Database
Mohan Gopal (Indian Jurist) "Between 34 and 41 percent of sitting judges on the Supreme Court are reported to be Brahmins, according to data and commentary from 2023 to 2025[1][2][3][4]. [1] Supreme Court Review 2023: The diversity problem https://www.scobserver.in/journal/supreme-court-review-2023-the-diversity-problem-remained-unaddressed/
CJI Chandrachud's Diversified Supreme Court Has Only 14 https://www.verdictum.in/news/supreme-court-collegium-system-appointment-of-judges-chief-justice-dy-chandrachud-1503919
"Brahmin hegemony happening, diversity and social justice https://keralakaumudi.com/en/news/mobile/news.php?id=1484204&u=brahmin-hegemony-happening-diversity-and-social-justice-are-not-followed-former-judges-against-judge-appointments
12 out of 33 Supreme Court Judges belong to the Brahmin https://www.instagram.com/reel/DGe_5gqyRAy/?hl=en
80% Judges Appointed To High Courts In 2018-22 From https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/80-judges-appointed-to-high-courts-in-2018-22-from-upper-castes-government-8058165
Gig Workers (India’s gig economy)
Nayi Talim (Gandhian education concept)
Paulo Freire (Educational theorist known for Pedagogy of the Oppressed)
Oligarchy (Form of governance)
FCRA (Foreign Contribution Regulation Act)
PESA (Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas Act)
Yuval Noah Harari (Historian and author of “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind”)
Post Truth
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
David Ben Gurion (First Prime Minister of Israel)
UN International Day for Peace
CIVICUS: Global Alliance of Civil Society Organisations
Hosts
Gagan Sethi – Development practitioner with 40+ years of experience in organisational development, policy advocacy, and minority rights.
Minar Pimple – Founder of YUVA (Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action), and former senior Director at Amnesty International, Regional Director- Asia Pacific (UN Millennium Campaign) and Founding Chair, Oxfam India.
