Forbes India 30 Under 30 2025: Prakhar Gupta is all about living at edge of zeitgeist

Prakhar Gupta, Podcaster Image: Madhu Kapparath; Directed By: Kapil Kashyap; Background image: Shutterstock

As we wrap up our conversation, Prakhar Gupta, the brain behind and the face of The Prakhar Gupta Xperience channel on YouTube, says, “I hope I was not verbose. I’m so used to asking questions that answering is a little weird.” During the half-an-hour chat with Forbes India, he spoke about learning to use ideas as currency, the art of listening, building his brand, and walking a fine line when engaging with the political class in India. After all, speaking with Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal one day, and hosting Aam Aadmi Party chief and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal soon after is bound to put one under scrutiny.

But the 28-year-old from Faridabad is not worried about public criticism. “I’m a young guy. I’ve been doing podcasts for over a year. I will always make mistakes no matter who I’m doing a podcast with… and the more controversial it is, the more easily people will try and spot it. Social media stars will always carry society’s expectations,” says Gupta. “Hopefully, I can make more people happy. Hopefully, I can make more people sad as I go along because that is the nature of the conversation. We open each other’s minds, and from there, pleasant and unpleasant things come out. I take it as a compliment because it tells me that my conversations are engaging.”

It’s hard to miss the spark of a Columbia University graduate (in psychology and economics) in Gupta. The leap into the hyper-competitive environment of the Ivy League school taught him, he says, to trade ideas as currency, and those ideas seem to have no limits as his channel is filled with conversations about topics such as religion, science, politics and even spirituality, offering fresh and thought-provoking perspectives. He uses a simple trick to get candid responses from his guests—listen. “The camera is complicated. But the beautiful, poetic version of this is actually caring for what they’re saying, and they’ll open up.”

Click here for Forbes India 30 Under 30 2025 list

His favourite interactions include those with Anand Ranganathan, Jai Singh, Ravi Gupta and Parmish Verma. “Prakhar’s raw, real and unfiltered approach creates an authentic space where critical topics can be explored without sugarcoating—a rarity in today’s age,” says Verma, a rapper, singer and musician. “This clarity of intent, combined with his sharp intellect, allows him to connect authentically with his audience while maintaining a level of discourse that is both thought-provoking and meaningful.”