Podcasts are perhaps the most awesome digital products to come out in the 21st century. You can listen to them while commuting, exercising, doing the dishes and cleaning the house! They are an amazingly versatile form of content consumption. The average American podcast user listens to seven podcasts per week. If you’re anything like an average American consumer, we’ve picked all seven for your listening pleasure this week.
1. Facial Recognition Comedy
If you’re looking for a South Asian podcast that covers current affairs, pop culture, the difficulties of being a woman of color, and more with a healthy dose of humor, this brilliant and funny podcast is for you. It takes on the idea that all brown people look alike. It’s run by comediennes Fiza Dosani, Pallavi Gunalan, and Zahra Ali, who sit down with a special guest each week and pick their brains about subjects from petty online behavior to religion.
2. We Are Possible
We Are Possible is a podcast by multimedia artist and writer Suswana Chowdhury, a first-generation Bengali American. Currently, at 6 episodes, the podcast features South Asian Americans who are “…bringing our culture to the forefront and redefining (what’s) possible.” Interviewees include Trisha Sakhuja-Walia of Brown Girl Magazine and Bangladeshi American lawyer-fashion designer Mehjabeen Hassan.
3. Boju Bajai
Co-hosted by two Nepali feminist women Bhikruti Rai and Itisha Giri, Boju Bajai discusses the gender and the politics of gender in Nepal and South Asia. It centers the stories and voices of Nepali women through all of its episodes. It covers politics and current affairs, culture, literature, migration, sustainability and portrayal of women in the media.
4. Brown Game Strong
Run by multi-hyphenated talent Mitali Dargani, Brown Game Strong features interviews of trailblazers in the South Asian community across the world. The aim, says Dargani, is to “…motivate our incredible community to continue working on what they love.” Interviewees include dancers, authors, actresses, entrepreneurs and more.
5. Paired by the People
Paired By the People is like Indian matchmaking, but a podcast version. A duo with no matchmaking skills or prior experience use just their instincts to set up a single who is later introduced. After reading and reviewing their “story profile,” they discuss and debate who to pair with the single. Lastly, listeners get to hear a conversation between the single and the setup person. The aim of the podcast is to explore “…narratives around when, how and where we might connect romantically.”
6. Redefining ABCD
Run by two young South Asian American women Keerti Sekar and Sneha Ameya, Redefining ABCD is “…a platform to openly discuss various internal stigmas within the South Asian community through the lens of a hyphenated identity.” The podcast discusses various issues that impact South Asian identity, including racism, cultural appropriation and more.
7. Desis.Live
Desis.Live is the show about Bollywood and South Asian content you never knew you needed. Every episode in this weekly breaks down South Asian TV shows and movies with deadpan humor and pithy analysis. If you’re a film buff with a love for South Asian cinema, this show is for you.
