I am Samarth Bansal, a journalist and computer programmer based in India. My articles have appeared in the Hindustan Times, The Hindu, India Today, Mint, HuffPost India, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, Rest of World, and Quartz.
I am trained as an engineer: I studied mathematics and scientific computing at IIT Kanpur. My love for statistics, computer science, social science, writing and public affairs accidentally led me to a journalism job. I was a staff reporter in the data journalism teams of The Hindu and Hindustan Times in New Delhi before branching off to work independently in 2019. In 2018, I spent five months reporting for the investigative team of the Wall Street Journal in New York, as part of the Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellowship.
Journalism is not, and has never been, perfect. But rigorous, fact-based, data-informed and thoughtful reporting can help us understand the impossibly complex world we live in—and that's the goal of my reporting.
I love reading non-fiction, dancing, and travelling frugally; nerding out on statistics, moral philosophy, epistemology, technology, human nature and health; thinking about the future of news and journalism; listening to people's stories.
Email is the best way to contact me: samarthbansal@protonmail.com
Will Bournvita allow us to talk about sugar?
Note: I wrote this story for Truth Be Told, the heath journalism newsletter I co-created with friends at The Whole Truth. You can read our manifesto here and sign up (it's free) if you'd like to receive our stories in your inbox — one long read every
#7: Indian pollsters are doing fine. Here is how forecasts work.
Hi, this is Samarth. Welcome to The Interval, a fortnightly newsletter to think deeply about the truth-seeking process and forces that distort it. You can read more about it and sign up here [https://www.samarthbansal.com/welcome-to-the-interval/]. Here is a link to all previous issues [https://www.theinterval.co/
#6: Sugar-coated conspiracies: How ‘publication bias’ amplifies half-truths
Hi, this is Samarth. Welcome to The Interval, a fortnightly newsletter to think deeply about the truth-seeking process and forces that distort it. You can read more about it and sign up here [https://www.samarthbansal.com/welcome-to-the-interval/]. Here is a link to all previous issues [https://www.theinterval.co/
#5: Feeding the Sharks: The unpalatable truth about 'healthy' food
Hi, this is Samarth. Welcome to The Interval, a fortnightly newsletter to think deeply about the truth-seeking process and forces that distort it. You can read more about it and sign up here [https://www.samarthbansal.com/welcome-to-the-interval/]. Here is a link to all previous issues [https://www.theinterval.co/
#4: A different way to think about Indian media
Is the Indian media broken beyond repair? Or is it thriving as feisty regional and independent outlets report truth to power? The answer lies not in the specifics but the larger systems.
#3: The Wire’s TekFog investigation: A futile search for evidence
The failures in this reporting—despite best intentions—point to a critical, underlying problem with Indian journalism today.
#2: Five books on thinking clearly
Hi, this is Samarth. Welcome to The Interval, a fortnightly newsletter to think deeply about the truth-seeking process and forces that distort it. You can read more about it and sign up here [https://www.samarthbansal.com/welcome-to-the-interval/]. Your email address Sign up for The Interval Please check your inbox
#1: Inside a fictional education revolution
In 2017, Rajasthan was both the best and the worst Indian state in terms of learning outcomes. How did that happen?
Welcome to The Interval
Hi there, this is Samarth, and I am writing to announce my new project. It’s called The Interval, a fortnightly newsletter to think deeply about the truth-seeking process and forces that distort it. Let me explain. Six years of professional journalism has taught me how hard it is to
Inside the five-year battle food companies have fought to resist stricter labelling norms
India’s food regulator proposed changes in labeling rules to empower consumers: if the quantity of fat/salt/sugar exceeds a specified threshold, food packets would have a front-of-pack warning label. But this policy is not moving, following fierce opposition from the industry. My interviews with scientists, government officials, independent
Thoughts and observations on data journalism in India
Today, I complete five years in journalism: one year at The Hindu (my first job, straight out of university), two years at the Hindustan Times—which overlapped with a five-month fellowship at the Wall Street Journal—and two years as a freelancer. 'Data journalist' was my official job
Inside India’s booming dark data economy
India’s booming dark data economy: spyware, detectives, data brokers, scammers—all that and more. Thanks to lax privacy laws and high consumer demand, details on everything from how you shop to who you date are all for sale. Read the story on Rest of World [https://restofworld.org/2020/
Will Bournvita allow us to talk about sugar?
Note: I wrote this story for Truth Be Told, the heath journalism newsletter I co-created with friends at The Whole Truth. You can read our manifesto here and sign up (it's free) if you'd like to receive our stories in your inbox — one long read every
Why you can’t eat just one chip
We can’t eat just one chip because we are addicted to that packet of chips. Like drugs. Potato chips are carefully crafted with the holy trinity of salt, sugar and fat to hack the reward circuitry of our brain.
Why weight loss is a rigged game
👋 Dear friends, I am excited to introduce Truth Be Told (TBT), a weekly food and fitness newsletter I co-created with Shashank Mehta and his team at The Whole Truth foods. We want to make it the most trusted source of personal health journalism in India and publish stories to help
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