Imperial Receipts

Accountability
In episode 10 of Imperial Receipts, Shashi Tharoor and RT’s Runjhun Sharma deconstruct Britain’s lack of accountability for its colonial past, showing no remorse, and certainly no reparations. Shashi Tharoor, while believing that...
Nov 3, 2025 14:31
Imperial Receipts is a ten-part series confronting historical amnesia. Led by Shashi Tharoor – politician, author and chair of Indian Parliament’s External Affairs Committee – it reveals how Britain plundered a vast nation, what was lost, and how empire still shapes today’s politics and economics. Through archives and sharp analysis, it asks: should the loot be returned, and why must we reckon with London’s whitewashed past?

Accountability
In episode 10 of Imperial Receipts, Shashi Tharoor and RT’s Runjhun Sharma deconstruct Britain’s lack of accountability for its colonial past, showing no remorse, and certainly no reparations. Shashi Tharoor, while believing that...
Nov 3, 2025 14:31
DIY Democracy
In the 9th episode, Dr. Shashi Tharoor and RT’s Runjhun Sharma challenge the myth that Indian democracy was a gift of the British Empire. Dr. Tharoor argues that the British exploited existing systems of governance for their own benefit and...
Oct 27, 2025 14:09
Hangover
In the eighth episode of Imperial Receipts, ‘Hangover’, to be aired this Monday, Dr. Shashi Tharoor and Runjhun Sharma explore the lasting impact of colonial rule on modern-day India and the world. They discuss neo-colonialism...
Oct 20, 2025 14:01
Partition
In this episode, Dr. Tharoor and RT’s Runjhun Sharma explore the trauma of the Partition, the split between India and Pakistan that claimed over a million lives and left tens of millions displaced, with the pain of that division still...
Oct 13, 2025 14:01
Decolonization
In this episode, Dr. Tharoor and RT’s Runjhun Sharma discuss the Kerala model, or how the state confronted its colonial legacy and reformed society from within. They point out that the British tried to replicate their own system of governance...
Oct 6, 2025 14:01
Gods
In this episode, Dr. Tharoor and RT’s Runjhun Sharma discuss how religion became a tool of conquest, and what that still means for India today. Dr. Tharoor explains that the British were eager to learn as much as they could about the country...
Sep 29, 2025 14:07
Identity
In the fourth episode of Imperial Receipts, Dr. Shashi Tharoor and RT’s Runjhun Sharma will examine the colonial strategies that reshaped Indian identity. They focus on the British policy of divide and rule, which became almost official policy...
Sep 22, 2025 14:38
Destruction
Dr Shashi Tharoor and RT’s Runjhun Sharma draw a sharp line between Trump’s tariffs today and the colonial tariffs Britain once imposed in India - tariffs that crushed India’s world-class textile industry. Before the British...
Sep 15, 2025 14:56
The Loot
On today’s episode of Imperial Receipts with Shashi Tharoor, ‘The Loot’, Dr. Tharoor and RT’s Runjhun Sharma examine what was taken from India by the British Crown. At the center of this discussion is the Kohinoor – the...
Sep 8, 2025 16:33