Re:Orient
Welcome to Re:Orient, a podcast by Asia Society India and Dalberg that covers the most pressing issues in South Asia, from AI and education to air pollution and the changing geopolitical order. Over six episodes, we speak to educationists, policymakers, thinkers and experts to gather meaningful – and often surprising – insights.
Inakshi Sobti, CEO Asia Society, and Gaurav Gupta, Global Managing Partner Dalberg Advisors, bookend each episode with key questions that lie at the heart of the issue: what matters, how it got to be this way, and what we can do about it. Gaurav then builds on these questions with our diverse group of guests, giving us insights on where South Asia lands on each of these themes.
Re:Orient
Episode 2: There's Something in the Air
South Asia is home to some of the most polluted cities in the world: with alarming death tolls, widespread respiratory illness, and growing concerns around equity, access, and resilience. Yet, despite the scale of the problem, responses across the region often lean toward adaptive fixes rather than long-term, preventive action.
In this episode, we explore how the clean air movement is being shaped by public pressure, new technologies, and a growing recognition that clean air must be treated as a public good. Our discussion challenges conventional narratives: Is air pollution simply a consequence of how countries develop? Should clean air be a political, technological, and equity issue? And can we design solutions that are preventive, affordable, and fair, before the public can no longer breathe?