# Ashok Malhotra, "Imperial Science, the Organic Movement and the Path to Shangri La, 1900-1969" (UCL Press, 2026)

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-south-asian-studies-313341/ashok-malhotra-imperial-science-the-organic-movement-and-the-path-to-shangri-la-1900-1969-ucl-press-2026
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-south-asian-studies-313341/ashok-malhotra-imperial-science-the-organic-movement-and-the-path-to-shangri-la-1900-1969-ucl-press-2026.md
Podcast: [New Books in South Asian Studies](https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-south-asian-studies-313341)
Published: 2026-06-06T08:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/NBNK5628952564.mp3
Audio file: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/NBNK5628952564.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/new-books-in-south-asian-studies-313341/episodes/ashok-malhotra-imperial-science-the-organic-movement-and-the-path-to-shangri-la-1900-1969-ucl-press-2026
Duration seconds: 2147

## Resource

Imperial Science, the Organic Movement and the Path to Shangri La, 1900-1969 (UCL Press, 2026) is a global history project that examines the diffusion of scientific and environmental discourses from India to Britain and the US. Ashok Malhotra examines how imperial agendas and colonial stereotyping shaped dietary and agricultural research carried out in the 1920s in British India, from soil protection initiatives to studies of diet and healthy living. It also discusses how a selective interpretation of this research, which focused on the supposed vigor of one community, the Hunzas, influenced the organic and lifestyles movements that later emerged in Britain and the US from the 1940s to the 1960s. Ashok Malhotra is a senior lecturer in British imperial history at Queen's University Belfast. Crawford Gribben is a professor of history at Queen’s University Belfast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/south-asian-studies

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/new-books-in-south-asian-studies-313341/episodes/ashok-malhotra-imperial-science-the-organic-movement-and-the-path-to-shangri-la-1900-1969-ucl-press-2026/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-south-asian-studies-313341/ashok-malhotra-imperial-science-the-organic-movement-and-the-path-to-shangri-la-1900-1969-ucl-press-2026.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.