South Asian Films and Books

Jul 20 2024 26 ep. 47 mins 8
South Asian Films and Books Podcast artwork

This podcast connects listeners with South Asian writers and filmmakers as they explore some of the major issues of the world. From politics to culture, each episode looks at topics that impact and shape the lives of people living both in South Asia and its diaspora.

  Society & Culture
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Naseeruddin Shah

Jul 20 2024 68 mins  
In this episode, I talk to India's legendary actor Naseerudding Shah about his relationship with theatre and cinema and the relationship between these two mediums.

Amitava Kumar

Mar 23 2024 37 mins  
In this episode, I talk with Amitava Kumar about his 2024 novel My Beloved Life, an absorbing, exceptionally moving novel that traces the arc of a man’s life, an ordinary life made exceptional by the fact that he has loved and has been loved in turn.

Yashica Dutt: Coming Out As Dalit

Mar 04 2024 52 mins  
In this episode, I talk to the award-winning writer Yashica Dutt about her book "Coming Out as Dalit." The book exposes the blurred lines between caste and race, for both are fabrications meant to preserve the power of a few and require the ideological purchase of the many. And for women, for whom 'purity' is a measure of status and value, the traps of caste are even more sinister,

South Asian Feminism and Youth Activism

Nov 17 2023 59 mins  
In this episode, I talk with four highly accomplished and widely published, US-based South Asian scholars, professors, creative writers, and performance artists - Dr. Fawzia Afzal-Khan, Dr. Shreerekha Pillai Subramanian, Dr. Shoba Rajgopal, and Dr. Pramila Venkateswaran - about their contribution to the June 2022 special double issue of the Journal of International Women’s Studie

Shaunak Sen

Oct 16 2023 33 mins  
In this episode, I talk with the Indian filmmaker, Shaunak Sen, about his Academy Award-nominated best Documentary film "All That Breathes," which tells the story of two brothers who've devoted their lives to protecting and rehabilitating birds in northern Delhi.

Mohsin Hamid

Aug 30 2023 39 mins  
In this episode, I interview Mohsin Hamid, the award-winning British Pakistani novelist about his latest 2022 novel The Last White Man. Set in an unspecified city and country, this magic realist novel is about a white man who wakes up one morning to find himself changed to a darker skin color and a different, unfamiliar appearance.

Geetanjali Shree

Aug 09 2023 57 mins  
In this episode, I talk with the award-winning Hindi language writer Geetanjali Shree, about her latest novel Tomb of Sand which won the 2022 International Booker Prize.

Deepti Naval

Jul 18 2023 51 mins  
In this episode, I talk with India's acclaimed and award-winning actress, writer, and painter Deepti Naval about her memoir "A Country Called Childhood" where she talks about growing up in Amritsar, India, her life as a student of art in New York, her return to India as an actor, a career which she combines with poetry and painting.

Tanmeet Sethi

May 31 2023 35 mins  
In this episode, I talk with Dr. Tanmeet Sethi, an integrative family medicine physician, and clinical associate professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine. Our conversation focused on her debut book, Joy is My Justice, which explores cultivating and practicing joy in the face of oppression and day-to-day hardships.

Kanu Behl

May 24 2023 46 mins  
In this episode, I speak with the award-winning film director Kanu Behl, about his film Agra, his second feature film, which had its world premiere at the 2023 Cannes Director’s Fortnight. Written by Behl and Atika Chouhan, Agra is an exploration of sexual dynamics within a family and the deep dystopian fractures created in modern India fast shrinking into pigeon-holed spaces. Ka