Shoma Chaudhury is an award-winning journalist, and founder of Lucid Lines, an independent intellectual properties company, committed to expanding democratic space and creating platforms for debate, dialogue, and discovery.
Was picked by Newsweek as one of “150 women who shake the world”. Invited to deliver the Gandhi Oration in Sydney in 2018. Been awarded the prestigious Ernest Hemingway Award for Political Journalism, the Ramnath Goenka award and the Chameli Devi Award for Best Woman Journalist for — in the words of the citation — “going where angels fear to tread”.
Has helmed several media outfits and has a track record for curating distinctive, high-quality thought leadership events. Has hosted more than 500 conversations on stage, interviewing the most cutting-edge minds globally.
Has built a large body of work in defence of an open and free society. Is reputed for her ability for deeply researched and acute questions, capacity to synthesise adversarial positions, bridge disparate worlds, break silos.
Is founder of SYNAPSE, India’s most thought provoking science, tech, society conference, which brings together a wide array of global genius across the sciences and humanities to explore the crucial intersection between Nature, humans, technology, and place it at the centre of public consciousness.
Also hosts a podcast called ENQUIRY, and a live-on-stage conversation series called IGNITION, which explores keys to different worlds.
Was formerly co-founder of Tehelka, an acclaimed investigative and public interest news magazine, where she led a feisty team and wrote extensively on politics, economy, environment, media, literature, and civil liberties. Several of her stories in defence of human rights workers and others falsely accused were instrumental in triggering campaigns and freeing them from wrongful imprisonment.
Was also co-founder and director of THiNK, a paradigm-setting conference of ideas, where she hosted people as diverse as Robert De Niro, Tom Friedman, Gary Kasparov, Aamir Khan, Shahrukh Khan, former chiefs of the Mossad, CIA, and Taliban on the same platform. Along with politicians, artists, corporates, scientists, inventors, entrepreneurs, farmers, dalits, tribals, and activists from India, Africa, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Afghanistan, China, Russia, Pakistan and Europe and America.
Was also director of Algebra – the Arts & Ideas Club, where she hosted more than 200 live stage events, 4 times a month in 4 cities, with top-notch Indian speakers from every discipline.
Is an experienced speaker. Been invited to address many forums in India and abroad, including America, Britain, Scotland, Australia, Italy, France, Spain, Morocco, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. Is a Rockefeller Fellow.
Tina Brown – former editor, New Yorker – says of her: “Shoma Chaudhury is a powerful instrument of challenge & persuasion in India’s public life and the best convener of conversations in the world”