Podcasts about global majority

Dr. Chinasa T. Okolo is the Founder and Scientific Director of Technecultura and a consultant for the United Nations and the World Bank. She talks with Scott about the yawning gap between AI's pace of development and policymakers' ability to understand it. She also discusses what it means to do AI governance research with a focus on Global Majority communities that are too often left out of the conversation. https://www.chinasatokolo.com

APEX Express is a weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. This Thursday APEX Express proudly presents “South Asians and The Labor Justice Movement.” This episode highlights Sandhya Jha, a pastor, founder and former Executive Director of the Oakland Peace Center, and racial, housing, and labor justice activist. In the first half of the episode, we discuss Sandhya's life, their path into organizing, and what they're up to now. The second half is dedicated to their recent project with the South Asian American Digital Archive's Archival Creators Fellowship Program. This episode was interviewed, produced, and edited by Swati Rayasam   Follow @Sandhya Jha on Facebook and check out Sandhya's website https://sandhyajha.com/    APEX Express is a weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, deejays, and activists. Listen to the episode live on KPFA 94.1 in San Francisco, 89.3 in Berkeley, and online at KPFA.org.  References throughout the Show and Links: Without Fear Consulting Interfaith Alliance Oakland Peace Center Book – Blueprint for a Revolution Book – The Selected Writings of Eqbal Ahmad Podcast – Bending Toward Justice: Avatar the Last Airbender for the Global Majority The Alliance of South Asians Taking Action – ASATA Bay Area Solidarity Summer South Asian American Digital Archive Archival Creators Fellowship Program Sandhya Jha's project, you can listen to all of the oral histories here. Solidarity Forever Online Exhibit Arab Resource and Organizing Center Block the Boat No Tech for Apartheid  University of California Labor Center Equality Labs California Trade Justice Coalition NAFCON – National Alliance for Filipino Concerns Filipino Community Center Madhvi Trivedi Patak Transcript ​[00:00:00]  Miata Tan: Hello and welcome! You are tuning in to APEX Express—a weekly radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. I'm your host, Miata Tan. Tonight we're revisiting an episode from our archives, first aired January 5th, 2023. We're bringing it back this week in honor of South Asian American Heritage Month. This one centers Sandhya Jha — a pastor, organizer, and founder of the Oakland Peace Center — in conversation with APEX producer Swati Rayasam. The first half traces Sandhya's path into organizing, from a labor campaign at Johns Hopkins to two decades of interfaith and racial justice work. The second half digs into Sandhya's project with the South Asian American Digital Archive, where she spent a year interviewing South Asian workers inside the labor movement — collecting stories that don't usually make it into the archive. Here's Swati Rayasam in conversation with Sandhya Jha. [00:01:00] Swati Rayasam: I'm really excited actually today to talk to Sandhya Jha, who is a really close friend of mine. Hi Sandhya. Hi there. Sandhya is, a Pastor is a consultant and has been working on this really amazing project with the South Asian American Digital Archive that will get into later in the episode. But yeah, Sandhya I'm just really excited to learn more about you and to hear more of your story and, let's just dive in. [00:01:26] Swati Rayasam: Absolutely. [00:01:27] Swati Rayasam: We should first talk a little bit about how we know each other, you have this long organizing background. I've been in the Bay Area for the past seven years and I would be totally lying if I said I have not historically been, or I'm not even currently an active fangirl of yours. You are literally a pastor. You are a movement worker, how did you get involved in organizing? [00:01:53] Sandhya Jha: Yeah. So I am the product of my parents who were generous, compassionate [00:02:00] people who thought about the world beyond themselves, but were never involved in organizing or activism or anything like that. I think for anybody who comes from immigrant backgrounds, it's hard to tell our stories without naming who we come from. Right. And so my father was Sunil Kumar Jha from the village of Tildanga in West Bengal. My mother, who is still alive is Jeanette Campbell Jha. She is from Glasgow. So I come from a mixed religion and mixed race home. My parents chose not to name me Sandhya Campbell Jha not to give me that kind of grounding, but I was called Sandhya Rani Jha, which is a lot to live up to, well, yes, Rani does mean Queen. But it was actually handed down to me, part of the reason they wanted that middle name was it was my aunt's name, Durga Rani Upadhyay and she was the one who really [00:03:00] brokered my mother's acceptance into the Indian family and I think that there was something about being accepted on the Indian side of the family and not for many, many years on the Scottish side. That caused my parents and particularly my mother to double down on making sure I knew who I came from and who I came from was my people in the village of Tildanga. [00:03:23] Sandhya Jha: I grew up in Akron, Ohio, so we immigrated to this country when I was a toddler, in the late 1970s, which was a complicated time for Asian immigrants to be in the Midwest because it was a time that the rust belt was rusting and there was a growing sense that we were the reason. But also I grew up alongside folks who were trying to figure out how to put food on the table. So I think that landscape shaped me in a lot of ways. And I also come from people who grew up in poor working communities. And[00:04:00] when I went off to college, there was an organizing campaign. The board of directors of the university had created a for-profit corporation with the exact same board. [00:04:15] Swati Rayasam: Oh wow. [00:04:16] Sandhya Jha: So that the universities could subcontract all of their catering, all of their custodial work to this… basically Shell corporation. [00:04:28] Swati Rayasam: Are we telling on the university? [00:04:29] Sandhya Jha: Mm, Yeah. Why not? It was Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and I think that's relevant because the tension between Black communities next to Johns Hopkins Medical School and the school itself were very real because this was part of a very long history of exploiting community members. So the workers were organizing, and you know, I had read about activism, I cared about it. I paid as much attention as I could for a high school student. But when I got to college, this organizing [00:05:00] campaign was going, and the workers were really clear, Hey, college kids who are excited about this, we do have a role for you. It's to fill the crowd. It's to cheer us on. It's to when we ask you communicate to the university that our well-being matters to you because they will listen to you in different ways. But the campaign centered the workers and was really clear with us about what our role was because we were the folks with all the privilege by getting to be there, right? We had tons of privilege and it was a really good lesson for me. I am so grateful. The first organizing campaign I was a part of was a labor campaign that understood what it meant to center the people who were the most impacted by injustice and I think that shaped the rest of my career. [00:05:46] Swati Rayasam: And that's so special too because I think for many people who come into organizing, and I will definitely cop to this myself, like coming up and organizing through high school and college level organizing. When you are a student, nobody ever [00:06:00] tells you that actually you are the least useful kind of organizer that exists. Right. You are in this incredibly enclaved community. Your oppressor, the university, all they have to do is wait for you to graduate institutional memory will not keep you. Yeah. Right. And I think that it is, it's this perfect storm of, you have actually sometimes cool ideas, sometimes very rudimentary ideas, but you also have this turnover issue and you have this sense of self import, which often comes with your teens, early twenties. Yep. As you're just figuring all of that out. So Yeah, self differentiation, right? It's a narcissistic phase in our development. . [00:06:46] Swati Rayasam: It absolutely is and I think that's so important, and I can't imagine how my life would be shaped if I didn't have to spend a lot of time unlearning the self import and narcissism that I had gained through student [00:07:00] organizing. [00:07:00] Sandhya Jha: Yeah. No, I am really, really grateful for it. [00:07:02] Sandhya Jha: My first job outta college was working for a member of Congress, which sounds super fancy and pretentious, but, a member of congress from Akron, Ohio. So put that all in perspective. His name, believe it or not, was Tom Sawyer. Oh, wow. What I loved about Tom was back in those days, he believed very strongly that 80% of legislation was nonpartisan and that was the part that he spent most of his time on. He would weigh in with his party, when they were dealing with that 20% pretty consistently. But he was more interested in the stuff that everybody could agree on and I remember for about 15 years after I worked for him, I looked back and found myself thinking that was so naive. How did he not understand where we were about to head with the divisions between the political parties? But at this point in my life, I realize the people I respect most in organizing work keep pointing out that the binary of [00:08:00] left and right actually doesn't serve us very well. One of my biggest heroes in the movement right now is the Reverend Dr. William Barber, [00:08:07] Swati Rayasam: Hometown hero of mine. Yes. [00:08:09] Sandhya Jha: Poor People's campaign from North Carolina. And he always talks about how it's not about right and left. It's about right and wrong. And it turns out that when we engage in organizing with the awareness that there are huge swaths of things that most of us are well served by, we can do better organizing. And that was actually how Tom was legislating. And at a certain point I realized that my deep passion was around racial justice, but the distinct experience I had in a multi religious household was an awareness of how religion was being used as a weapon. I had an obsession. Every paper in college I wrote was about the Christian coalition, this right wing, organizing body in the nineties. So a friend of mine [00:09:00] said, You know, there's an interfaith organization working against the Christian Coalition. And it was called the Interfaith Alliance. Her mom had been a superintendent in Washington state in eastern Washington and was a pretty conservative person by my standards. [00:09:18] Sandhya Jha: But, Dr. Chow believed in multiculturalism and believed in teaching evolution. And the Christian coalition had organized to push her out of her position as superintendent and the Interfaith Alliance of Washington State had supported her in that time. [00:09:38] Sandhya Jha: And so Liz said, you know, they've got a national chapter, a national office. And that's where I ended up, cutting my adult organizing teeth which was great because talk about learning lessons for our current moment where religion is being weaponized in ways that are anti-trans, that are anti-queer, that are anti-women, that [00:10:00] are anti reproductive rights, that are anti-immigrant and refugee. I am really grateful to have experienced the power of multi-faith organizing, around a lot of those same issues. So that was what I did in the early two thousands and then I went to seminary and public policy school, and then I ended up out here pastoring a congregation of 10 people in a building of 40,000 square feet. [00:10:29] Sandhya Jha: And long story short, that's how the Oakland Peace Center was born, was out of this dream of cultivating deeper collaboration among nonprofits who were dedicated to a shared cause. The Oakland Peace Center, which is a collective of 40 different nonprofits committed to dismantling the root causes of violence in our community. I was the founder of that organization and it was when I was pastoring First Christian Church of Oakland that I asked the handful of folks who were members of that church, what they wanted to [00:11:00] contribute to the community, and they said they wanted to contribute peace in the midst of violence. And for a dozen folks to have given birth to a space that in non pandemic years, saw over a hundred thousand people do things like the Lawyers for Black Lives Conference and to do Kingian non-violence training and to be a part of food and clothing distribution, to participate in all the very diverse ways that we can create peace is pretty impressive. [00:11:30] Sandhya Jha: And a couple of years ago, I left the Oakland Peace Center because a colleague of mine said, Anybody can run a non-profit. We need you to do what you're actually good at, and what she meant by that was we need more people of color doing diversity, equity, and inclusion work that is actually grounded in power analysis. That isn't just how do we be nicer to each other in the workplace, but how do we recognize the ways that systems of white supremacy [00:12:00] unconsciously often shape the culture of our workplaces? And what do we do to dismantle that white supremacy culture so that we can be building nonprofits and institutions of higher education and faith organizations, and even corporations that are dedicated to our full liberation, our liberation, the lands liberation. [00:12:23] Swati Rayasam: I mean coming, especially from the place that you come in grassroots organizing and in faith based organizing, what is it actually to transition into this kind of consulting space around racial justice and really interface with a lot of people that I feel like as organizers, we don't really talk to? [00:12:42] Sandhya Jha: One of my favorite things about this shift in my work is I love getting to work with folks who don't think of themselves as organizers, who, it turns out are organizers, Right. I think we sometimes create a cult of here's what an organizer looks like, you [00:13:00] have to be a Martin Luther King or a Cesar Chavez and what I love is getting to work with moms and with teenagers and with folks who think of themselves as caring, compassionate, individuals, and when I go into an organization and work with their handful of folks who care about this issue, the DEI team, I get to teach them how to strategically organize. I get to teach them how do you create culture shift over time? I get to teach them how do you figure out who your allies are? How do you figure out how to move people who are neutral? It turns out that there are a lot more organizers out there than we realize if we don't create one definition of what an organizer needs to look like. [00:13:45] Swati Rayasam: I have been reading this political scholar Eqbal Ahmed, who really talks about the way the burden is on those of us who are deeply committed to movement work, narrow definition people, the burden is really on us to try and [00:14:00] create a liberatory future that feels both achievable. Mm-hmm. and safe for everybody. Because when people engage in mass struggle and in revolution, there are people who are a hundred percent willing to put their lives on the line. People who are willing to die for the cause. And we absolutely need those people. And there are many people along the spectrum who, if you can create a future that feels like it's within their grasp, they will come with you. [00:14:30] Sandhya Jha: Yep. I teach a lot of organizing classes and have gotten a chance to teach alongside my beloved colleague BK Woodson at Allen Temple Baptist Church, they have a leadership institute there. And one of the books we use is Blueprint for a Revolution by Srđa Popović. And I feel like I learned a lot as we read that book together and thought about how to apply it to the work we're doing in Oakland. They talked about how by engaging in nonviolent direct action, [00:15:00] they created space for elders to be a part of their work and youth to be a part of their work and families to be a part of their work. By making the movement playful. They gave people hope and gave people courage because dictators are terrified of being mocked. [00:15:17] Swati Rayasam: Yeah, exactly. And I think by being really restrictive or narrow about who we view as actually valuable organizers. And I think labor movements teach us this a lot, right? We really cut ourselves off at the knees on our ability to build a network or to be in touch with the general population, many of whom are more connected than we ever give them credit for. [00:15:41] Sandhya Jha: Yeah. Yep. it's part of why I love labor organizing. I talk with a lot of people who are disenchanted with organizing who ask me how I can have stayed involved for the past 25 years. And why I've been able to stay in it is cuz I'm organizing alongside workers and they have [00:16:00] full lives. And the work that they're doing in the movement is so that they can live their full lives. And there's something about having that perspective and recognizing the why all the time instead of getting lost in the weeds of the what. Is so important in this work. I think that has been a big theme of my organizing life is how do we build to the greatest common denominator? As my friend BK often says how do we build towards those shared values that often get erased when we are engaged in the right versus left debate. [00:16:39] Swati Rayasam: Yeah. I think that it is so important and I also think that it's really hard in this moment of what feels like constant trauma and re trauma. [00:16:51] Swati Rayasam: And to some extent especially when we're talking about the left right dichotomy there are real concerns [00:17:00] about safety. Yep. And there are real concerns about security and who you are in community with and who you can find even the smallest level of acceptance from to ensure that you won't have violence visited upon you. And I think that these conversations of united front organizing, Right. trying to bridge across difference mm-hmm. for a shared goal, for a shared liberatory future Yep. Are really important. And they feel kind of impossible to achieve right now. [00:17:31] Sandhya Jha: It's interesting cuz I think that in many ways that is true. There are a lot of conversations that I think people with privilege expect, people who are marginalized to engage in. And those expectations are unfair, what I found very frustrating was the number of people with a lot of privilege who would be like, Ugh, I just can't talk to those people. And I'm like, Then who's going to? Exactly. and so I do think that some of this is about being willing to have [00:18:00] hard conversations in the places where we have privilege and recognizing who's at actual risk and showing up in ways that are protective of who is at risk. But that doesn't mean walking away from people who aren't where we are. Right. Because the fact of the matter is everybody's on a journey. And I have watched at the same time some of the disposability culture in movements write off people without giving them any way to address harm, repair harm, and find a pathway back into community. [00:18:41] Swati Rayasam: Yeah. And I think that's why, at least I am feeling really hopeful about, what I've seen over the past couple of years, this really important track into transformative justice and restorative justice, to acknowledge that there is harm that has happened, there are harms that happen every day between people. [00:19:00] And also we are all on our own journey to unlearn the things that we have been taught either directly or indirectly by our upbringing, by our environment and that you cannot easily dispose of people and that people are able to come back into community. Now that comes with a very important caveat that like they recognize the harm. Mm-hmm. that. They have done or how they've been party to it, that they acknowledge that there is healing work that needs to be done both with the person that they harmed and also probably in internally. [00:19:35] Sandhya Jha: Well, and the community, folks who don't do RJ on a regular basis tend to skip the community aspect. Yeah. That there is actually repair that needs to be done with community and there's work community needs to do to figure out how to re-embrace reabsorb people who have done harm in ways that still protect the person who's been harmed. [00:19:55] Swati Rayasam: Exactly. In ways that do not erase the harm that has happened, but [00:20:00] acknowledge, contextualize it and say, Okay, we are patching this and we are working to move forward in step with each other. Absolutely. [00:20:09] Sandhya Jha: Can I just say that one of the other things that I think you and I have in common is a real passion for bringing joy back into the work of Justice I quote Fabiana Rodriguez a lot on this particular thing, because I was at an event she was doing eons ago, and she looked out at us and most of us were activists and she said, Listen, y ‘all you keep inviting people to a struggle. I'm on your side and I don't wanna join a struggle. I want to join a party. And that was like a call to arms for me when I heard her say that. I was like, Oh my gosh, you're right. We are so much more fun. Like, I've hung out with people who are anti-trans and anti queer and anti-immigrant and anti refugee. They are not fun people. No, no. We have all of the best parties. So I don't know why we don't [00:21:00] capitalize on that more. So I think the role of joy and justice is so important. And this is why I was so excited to have you on the podcast that I launched recently. [00:21:11] Sandhya Jha: Right. Bending Towards Justice Avatar the last Airbender for the Global Majority. [00:21:15] Swati Rayasam: So literally like bringing it together. Two of my favorite things right, is like TV shows, wholesome TV shows like Avatar, The Last Airbender that I deeply love and organizing. Yes. All the work that I love. And I think it's true You know, what is actually really the important work is to work to build toward a future that is desirable Yep. That people want to be a part of. Yeah. That people can see happen. Yeah. And I think that is a lot of the difficulty that I have seen in some organizing circles. We are so well versed in what we are against and all of the things that are bad that so many people have a really hard time seeing or visioning or communicating [00:22:00] what it is that we are fighting for. Yeah. Right. And it's not enough to say, I'm fighting for a world where we can all be safe. Right. Yeah. I'm not, I'm fighting for a world where we can all take long naps in the middle of the day if we'd like to do that. Right. Yeah. But like really building and visioning that future of like, in this world in which we are all safe, there will be harm that happens. How do we deal with that? Yeah. What do we do with that? How do we make sure that it is able to keep everybody safe and also able to account for the times in which it is not able to keep everybody safe. [00:22:38] Sandhya Jha: Visionary does not have to mean naive. And we need it to be visionary. And sometimes I forget to do the visionary stuff. I've got a colleague, Dave Bell, he's a farmer who is also an anti-racism trainer and we do a lot of work together. He's a white guy who lives in White Swan, Washington, on the reservation and I remember being at a training with him and I [00:23:00] was all fired up and I was so excited about the conversations we were having and the people were really ready to do the hard work and roll up their sleeves. And Dave says to them, I would like to not have to do this work. And I'm like, What is he talking about? This is amazing. We're doing such good work. And he says, I would like for us not to have to talk about racism all the time. I would rather be farming. I would rather be, taking care of the cows in my field. [00:23:26] Sandhya Jha: I would rather be talking about my pottery work that I'm doing badly but learning how to do, I would rather be doing anything than have this conversation. But I don't get to be on the farm with the wheat, with the cows, with my bad pottery until we figured out how to do this anti-racism work. And it was a really humbling moment for me because I also get into that like I'm an organizer, that's my identity space. And it was this reminder of Dave's doing this. So he gets to live in a world where he gets to hang out in the fields and he [00:24:00] gets to, love on the cows. There's something about being reminded that we're doing this so that eventually we don't have to do it. That I think is actually visionary in its own way and it's important. [00:24:12] Swati Rayasam: Moving into a little bit more of the grit of like why I asked you to be on the show today. I met you originally when I moved to the Bay Area when you were the executive director of the Oakland Peace Center because At that time I was doing organizing work with the Alliance of South Asians Taking Action, which is a 20 year old bay area based organization, that was really founded around the Laki Reddy Bali Reddy sex trafficking. Yep. Caste and labor exploitation case that happened in Berkeley in 1999. And I was just so thrilled to be around and have in community so many rad desis. And you also did work with ASATA, right. Historically and are actively doing work with us. [00:24:56] Sandhya Jha: Absolutely. One of the places I think I invested the most [00:25:00] energy in where we got to spend a lot of quality time in the kitchen was one of the projects, Bay Area Solidarity Summer, an organizing institute, camp, however you wanna refer to it. [00:25:10] Swati Rayasam: Political education, Summer camp. [00:25:12] Swati Rayasam: Yeah, exactly. For young South Asian Americans who are committed to activism. What I think was the most beautiful part of that program when I was involved in it, and it's still the case today, is for young South Asians who think that they're the only ones who care about justice issues, who haven't met other people, who are South Asian, and identify as justice seekers first to meet each other and realize that there are people just like them. Then to look around and realize that those of us who are usually 10, 15, 20 years older than them are also committed to the work and have been doing it for decades. And then for them to get exposed to the long history of radical visionary organizing and activism of South [00:26:00] Asians here in the US and also in the homelands of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and diasporic countries all over the world. [00:26:13] Sandhya Jha: There's something about realizing, Oh, you have contemporaries, oh, you have elders, oh, you have ancestors. Mm-hmm. Especially in the face of the model minority lie that so many of us have had imposed on us, this lie that all we are all we're supposed to be is cogs in this larger capitalist machine that are non disruptive, which is why we're allowed to survive. And if we are non disruptive enough, we might even be able to be comfortable. And to discover that there's more to our story than that is so exciting and I love, love, love being a part of that. [00:26:52] Swati Rayasam: Yeah. I think that is like fundamentally one of the most important kind of activities that [00:27:00] happens in the ASATA universe, I was a kid who also grew up thinking that there were no other South Asians like me, or there were no other folks who were interested in justice. I spent a lot of time doing, reproductive and queer justice in the south; I always think about what would it have meant if I came in, BASS for 18 to 24 year olds. Yep. what would it have meant if I had come in at a fresh 18 and been able to basically be apprised of the fact that I have this history Yeah. That it's not just me. And that actually, immigration and white supremacy and neo-colonial culture has created this project of assimilation that all of our parents have been in on, in a way to survive Yeah. And to be safe. And I tell my, I tell my mom that a lot because she's always a little surprised about the organizing work that I do. And I was just like, Your job was to survive. My job is to liberate. Yeah. [00:28:00] You know? Yeah. And I could not do that if you were not so focused on creating that environment for me. [00:28:07] Swati Rayasam: I love that. [00:28:07] Swati Rayasam: we'll drop in the show notes, but, BASS – Bay Area Solidarity Summer is solidaritysummer.org. So we'll put that in the show notes as well as ASATA, the Alliance of South Asians Taking Action is ASATA.org. And yeah, I think that is a really good segue into how we got involved in this amazing project. [00:28:31] Swati Rayasam: You're tuned in to APEX express at 94.1 KPFA and 89.3, KPFB in Berkeley. And online@kpfa.org. [00:28:43] Swati Rayasam: I think it was Fall 2021 that you and I were talking. Yep. And you were telling me that you were involved in this amazing archival fellowship project. Is run by the South Asian American Digital Archive and [00:29:00] that you were going to do your project about labor. Mm-hmm. and South Asians. Yep. And my immediate, incredibly naive response was, how many South Asians are there in labor? [00:29:12] Sandhya Jha: Exactly. And it's not naive. It's interesting cuz I think that this project actually emerged out of my favorite part of BASS, which was when the young adults would ask what their opportunities were in the world of justice. And I would say, you know, there's a place for us in labor justice. It had never crossed most of their minds. Right. We don't think of ourselves as having a role especially in formalized unions. And so SAADA, the South Asian American Digital Archives has an archival fellows project. And the whole purpose of it is to diversify their archives and collect the stories that are usually overlooked in the telling of South Asian American stories. [00:29:56] Sandhya Jha: And they have done a great job over the years of collecting the [00:30:00] stories of informal organizing, like the Punjabi Taxi Drivers campaign, the Bangladeshi Nail Workers Campaign. Those were informal labor organizing campaigns. That have been really well archived and they're amazing stories. I wanted to make sure that the next generation of South Asian activists knew about the South Asians who were actually part of the formal organized labor movement. [00:30:30] Sandhya Jha: And so I spent this past year interviewing, maybe a half a dozen or so South Asian American workers. Generally, not always, but mostly what would be classified as low wage workers who found a pathway into formal organizing bodies, unite here or the building trades or any number of the formal unions that keep [00:31:00] the labor movement alive across the country today. And I'm really proud of the fact that we do have South Asian workers who have moved up the ranks to be official organizers or to be at negotiating tables. And so that's part of the story I thought it was worth us telling. [00:31:19] Swati Rayasam: And I am, I'm so excited that we get to dive deeper into this project and I really love your framing too, around the three large bins that you have, solidarity, spirit and struggle. [00:31:34] Swati Rayasam: Right? Yeah. Yeah. [00:31:35] Sandhya Jha: I started out with certain assumptions about what I was going to learn, partly because I've been doing labor solidarity work for 25 years at this point. I really thought I knew what I was gonna hear. And what I discovered was there were these consistent themes across, the interviews. that there were these notions of, Oh, what's meaningful to me is [00:32:00] getting to organize across cultures, getting to organize with people who, on the surface and even deep down are very different than me, but we share this vision of what our lives can be. And so that solidarity message I found really powerful. Also, and admittedly because I come out of a spiritual background, was probably looking for it. I was really struck by how many of the interviews ended up talking about the role of spirituality and shaping people's values. And in a couple of instances, organizers said, what my religion taught me was that religion needs to be challenged. And building up that muscle was what helped me challenge systems of injustice in other places. But others said that their journey with their faith tradition was what guided them into the work of labor organizing. [00:32:52] Sandhya Jha: And then that third bucket of struggle, I think is the lived experience of how [00:33:00] hard it is to take on oppressive systems of capitalism, how hard it is to take on decks that are stacked against us and what it means to have somewhere to turn in the midst of those struggles. I will say there were also a couple of lessons I was surprised by because my South Asian identity is so central to my organizing work, I was expecting to collect stories of people who were proud South Asians, who were also proud to be involved in the labor movement. And I assumed that they would see connections between those things because I certainly do. But what I discovered is for the most part, they were like, Yeah, I'm South Asian. I'm not saying that doesn't matter, but it's not super relevant to my organizing work. My organizing work is about [00:34:00] our cross-cultural solidarity. And that was something I hadn't been expecting that emerged as I did those interviews. Interesting. And I'm really grateful that the South Asian American Digital Archives likes telling all of the stories because I think I promised them that what they were going to get was, we're proud to be South Asian organizers. And what I got was, yeah, we're South Asian, we're proud to be organizers. And the that SAADA is like, yeah, that's part of our story too. [00:34:28] Swati Rayasam: Yeah. And I think that's, that I think is incredibly important. We have this really, amazing series of audio clips from your SAADA interviews that really represent a lot of the themes that you were highlighting about solidarity, spirit, and struggle. And I'm just really excited to play them as we talk through these larger themes in your larger project and the experience of South Asian labor organizers. [00:34:55] Swati Rayasam: This clip is from somebody that you and I both know, which [00:35:00] is Prem Pariyar. I was so thrilled that Prem was a part of your project. I think Prem is an incredible organizer, so yeah tell our listeners a little bit about Prem. Prem [00:35:09] Sandhya Jha: It was pretty exciting to get to work with him you know, he moved here from Nepal and in Nepal he had been a Dalit activist and he came to the United States and had this notion that in the United States there is no caste and he was disabused of that notion very quickly as a restaurant worker dealing with anti Nepali bias in Indian restaurants, dealing with caste bias in Nepali restaurants, well dealing with Caste bias in all the restaurants. [00:35:35] Swati Rayasam: Hey, everyone, Narrator Swati here, I just wanted to put in an explanatory comma, a la W Kamau Bell and Hari Kondabolu to talk about some terms you just heard. Sandhya referenced that Prem was a Dalit activist and also talked about Caste bias. For those of you who don't know, Caste is a violent system of oppression and exclusion, which governs social status in many south Asian countries, although it is [00:36:00] most commonly associated with India. It works on an axis of purity and pollution, and it's hereditary. At the top of the caste system are Brahmins, by the way Sandhya and I are both Brahmin, and not even at the bottom, but completely outside of the system are Dalits who were previously referred to by the slur untouchable and Adivasis who are indigenous to South Asia. [00:36:25] Swati Rayasam: Despite being “illegal” Caste bias, Caste Oppression, Caste apartheid, are still prevalent, both in South Asia and as Sandhya references, in the United States. It manifests in many ways that people experience racial injustice, via socioeconomic inequality, systemic and interpersonal violence, occupation, and through the determination of marriage and other relationships. You can learn more at EqualityLabs.org and APEX currently has a show in the works that delves into this more deeply. Now. Back to Sandhya [00:36:58] Sandhya Jha: What is [00:37:00] delightful to me is Prem went on to get an MSW and is building out amazing mental health resources for Dalit communities for the Nepali community. Seeking to build out a program where there are more and more people in Nepal who are trained with MSW skills. [00:37:21] Sandhya Jha: I met with one of his professors from CSU East Bay where he got his degree and she said, You know, that the entire Cal State system is adding caste to its anti-discrimination policies thanks to the work he started at CSU East Bay. And it was really beautiful to hear that because the focus of my conversations with him were more around how his experiences in the restaurants led him into the solidarity work with nail salon workers. [00:37:53] Swati Rayasam: To just, kick back to the caste abolition work that Prem has been doing, that caste abolition work [00:38:00] at CSU East Bay has been such critical work in these ongoing conversations around caste that have been in the South Asian community primarily, but have been percolating elsewhere. [00:38:13] Swati Rayasam: You know, the state of California filed a lawsuit against Cisco systems Yep. For caste discrimination in their workplace and there have been all these conversations around caste and tech work and interplay that with the no tech for apartheid work. Right. That has been happening in Palestinian liberation circles. Yeah. And really building that solidarity movement. So I think that Prem is an absolute powerhouse Yeah. In that regard. But yeah, let's listen to this clip. [00:38:42] Prem: During that time, I got connected with other community organizer, like workers group. I got connected and so I was connected with nail salon workers, who were exploited at their workplace and with them, [00:39:00] I got to go to the capital in Sacramento. And so I thought I need to advocate for the restaurant workers. that was my first experience, like working with other workers and with the assembly members and like other other policy makers I shared what is happening what kinds of discrimination happening at the workplace. So I advocated for the restaurant workers at that time. I shared my stories and I supported the rights of nail salon workers. I was there to support them and they supported me as well, and it was wonderful. And finally that advocacy worked. And the bill was drafted and it was passed finally. And so it was huge achievement at that time. [00:39:49] Swati Rayasam: I love that. I think that is such a perfect story of when you win, we all win. [00:39:56] Sandhya Jha: And what I also love about it is he goes on [00:40:00] to talk about how he has remained in relationship with those nail salon workers. That they show up for each other, that they take each other food, that they show up to each other's baby showers and birthday parties, and there's this sense of community that emerges out of this shared struggle. And so that's a cross-cultural campaign. They were mostly Vietnamese. There were some Bangladeshi nail salon workers, but it was mostly people from a different culture than his. [00:40:27] Sandhya Jha: But somebody at the Asian Health Services program that he was at, saw his gifts, saw his passion, and he really responded to that in exactly, the most powerful way. I can imagine. [00:40:38] Swati Rayasam: And I think one of the nice things as well about that is that person at Asian Health Services connected Prem in and the Nail Salon Worker group, California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative, Prem came from Nepal, I'm not sure, but the extent to which his organizing background and how comfortable he was in the US organizing space around labor [00:41:00] issues was probably significantly less that worker group took it upon themselves when they saw Prem come in to say, Oh, you are advocating on behalf of restaurant workers. Great. Why don't you join us? Let's help support and so the nail salon workers saw Prem, saw solidarity with Prem and said, It is our responsibility mm-hmm to bring you into this space to connect you in and to move in, struggle together. Yeah. Toward our shared goals of safety, of health, of rights. Yep. [00:41:35] Sandhya Jha: Exactly. [00:41:36] Swati Rayasam: So, we have this clip from Daljit, tell me a little bit about Daljit. Daljit [00:41:42] Sandhya Jha: Yeah. Daljit was an attorney who now reads tarot for people because she needed a break from the toxicity of that career and how it was taking her away from her family. Daljit is a deeply spiritual person and, [00:42:00] as I mentioned before, this theme of spirit showed up in some really beautiful ways in some of the interviews. I loved the way she understood her Sikh tradition as foundationally being connected with the land and foundationally connected with the people who work the land. [00:42:15] Daljit: Agriculture is our culture and the religion that I was born into, Siki, the founder of that faith was a farmer. And so a lot of the scripture, the analogies, the metaphors, the poetry, the music, the songs, the boon, the traditional folk songs, that can be taunting and teasing banter, all that stuff the land is the framework for that. And my most favorite line from the Guru Granth Sahib, our holy book, is, [speaks Punjabi] and that basically means that, the waters our guru, the airs our father, but our mother is Earth. And that's the greatest of all , and that's adherence to ecosystem. That's the [00:43:00] indigenous Cosmo vision that should be paramount. And that's what I try to teach my children. And so I think that's what I was taught as a kid without necessarily being able to pinpoint it, but it was just infused throughout our songs, our music, our food, the Harvest, there's two times a year that our celebrations, whether it Baisakhi or Lohri. It's so connected to the harvest and what is coming out of the soil or not. And you're connected to the cycles of nature. [00:43:28] Swati Rayasam: The connection between nature land, spirituality the way that it shows up in so many faith backgrounds and so many faith organizers, I think is really, really beautiful. [00:43:41] Sandhya Jha: And I love that Daljit Kaursoni who was raised in this tradition, has found her way to Buddhism and is raising her kids with those connections, but without ever losing this grounding in the liberation of the land, the liberation of the [00:44:00] people. [00:44:00] Sandhya Jha: And for that to be a key element of her spirituality, even as her spirituality evolves, I think it's pretty powerful. Tafadar [00:44:08] Sandhya Jha: One of the other people I got to interview ,Tafadar, he's a Bangladeshi American in the building trades and is a deeply committed Marxist. For me, this was a particularly exciting interview because I'm Bengali, so from West Bengal, before partition, Bangladesh and what's now West Bengal, were one state. And so it was fun to get to talk with him and to say, Hey, this is our legacy as Bengalis is radical worker organizing. [00:44:40] Sandhya Jha: And I remember saying to him, Some people in the building trades are not super excited to be working with brown people. And some people in the building trades are a little biased against women. And as a very, very progressive South Asian? How do you navigate that [00:45:00] space? [00:45:00] Sandhya Jha: And he said, Here's the thing is, yeah, I organize alongside some moderate to conservative white folks from New Jersey and he said, but in the building trades, if that moderate to conservative white guy from New Jersey decides he doesn't like my feminist politics, or he doesn't like my brown skin, if he decides that's a reason not to train me, he might die. And it was really interesting because even though I've been doing labor justice work for a long time, it was one of those moments I was like, Oh, right. Your work is very dangerous and you all have to rely on each other whether you like each other or not. That is the magic of organizing that no one ever talks about. This is why we can do cross class, cross-cultural work because literally you have to trust each other with your lives. Right. That was a really clarifying moment for me. And it was one of those interesting moments where I was like, [00:46:00] Solidarity is not a romantic thing. Uh, it is very much a matter of life and death. [00:46:05] Sandhya Jha: And I think that is really important and that exact thing that you brought up, you don't even have to necessarily trust somebody. Right. But you do need them. Yep. Right. And like that really clear understanding that like your fates are intertwined and it is truly in everybody's best interest. If you are trained well, irrespective of whether or not at lunch, I'm interested in sitting anywhere near you. I think that's really great. [00:46:32] Sandhya Jha: One of the things that was really exciting about talking with Tafadar was the reminder that labor organizing and formal union organizing at its best can be in solidarity with other movements really worker justice and housing justice and racial justice are inseparable, on some level. And so, one of the most inspiring stories I got to hear across all of these interviews [00:47:00] was a campaign that brought together folks across the anti- gentrification, the immigrant rights, and the labor justice movement. [00:47:14] Tafadar: It's ironic, building affordable housing with deadly exploitation. And, um, to do this, the de blassio administration, they embark on massive major rezonings of poor areas to relax the local zoning laws to be able to bring in these developments. And a couple of years ago, my, my union in local 79's. Took a very sharp turn towards a community organizing approach because labor can't win on our own, and that's the perspective that all of labor should adopt. In order to fight against the sweatshops in our industry. We united with a lot of community organizations in the South Bronx. [00:47:53] Tafadar: We formed the South Bronx, Safe Southern Boulevard Coalition. And along with these groups, we [00:48:00] protested and did a whole lot of activism, lobbying, community organizing to stop the rezoning of Southern Boulevard, which is a massive stretch in the South Bronx, while the De Blassio administration had succeeded in another part of the Bronx where there's like massive displacement still underway right now. And we were determined to stop it there. And it was a beautiful thing that we can unite because on our end as labor, we had to prevent all these trash companies from coming in and exploiting workers. And we were working with these tenants who are afraid of being displaced. And people generally, we do need revitalization of our neighborhoods. We do need investment. We do need things to be changed and made better. For us. If it's not for us, if it's done without us, then eventually we're not even gonna be here anymore. So we had that alliance going on and not only did we manage to stop that rezoning, we also educated the local city councilman on why his position was wrong and supporting the rezoning. And he eventually completely flipped this [00:49:00] position. And now chairs the land use committee of the city council from the perspective that we educated him on, which it's just been a very interesting dynamic. But, there's a lot of rezoning battles all over the city that's like the main front of anti gentrification struggles. And I've been watching those kinds of campaigns go on since I began organizing about 15, 16. I've seen very different approaches to them, but I've never seen any model really work until that one kicked in where Labor and the community came together. So that was one of my favorite campaigns because of that lesson that we were able to concretely put into practice and set as an example for not only for community movements all over New York City, but also for Labor. [00:49:43] Sandhya Jha: I think this hit me in particular because I've done so much work around antis displacement in Oakland, and my experience has been. [00:49:53] Sandhya Jha: That while for most of us on the ground, the connection between housing justice and labor justice is really clear. When you [00:50:00] start getting into the technical policy issues and the funding issues, the folks who are running labor and housing justice or affordable housing, struggle to find ways to collaborate. And it's been one of my consistent heartbreaks for at least a decade at this point because I work at the intersection of those things and sometimes I despair of us being able to find ways to move forward together. And so to hear a story like this one and to be reminded at core, those justice issues can and must be we already knew, must be, but actually can function together to build a better community. That was actually really life giving for me to hear. [00:50:45] Swati Rayasam: Yeah. I a hundred percent agree. And I think the point that Tafadar as well brings in the clip of just saying we knew that we could do this, but we knew we couldn't do this without community organizing. Right? Yeah. That labor couldn't do this alone. Yeah. [00:51:00] And I think that is a lot of what, when we talk about solidarity politics, it's not just a backdoor way of inclusion for inclusion's sake, we have to all do this. Actually, it is integral that all of us are involved in any of these campaigns because it impacts all of us. And because we are not going to win with only a single constituency and in the very same way that, Tafadar was identifying that labor couldn't do that alone. in community organizing spaces that you and I have been in mm-hmm. , like we are constantly talking about how we cannot do any of this without labor. Yep. And I think a beautiful example of that is the Block the Boat campaign yeah that the Arab Resource Organizing Center, started back in 2014 and then again during 2021 to block the Zim ship from the port of Oakland. And like this community organization [00:52:00] AROC could not do that without working with the longshoreman to collaborate with the port workers. And I think that when we see the marriage of community organizing and labor organizing, that is when we get the power of grassroots organizing. [00:52:16] Sandhya Jha: Something I wanna mention about the SAADA Fellowship that I was really grateful for: two things. First off, they did a really good job of making sure we got trained in grassroots oral history. So they took really seriously what it meant for this to be justice work. And they made sure we had exposure to methodology that was gonna lift up and honor and foster the voices of people whose stories don't get heard often enough. And that was a really big deal to me. The other thing is they made sure that we had an advisory board, people who are in this [00:53:00] work who could help us, figure out who to talk with, who could help us build out an event strategy. And you helped me build out my advisory committee. Anibel Ferris-Comelo who is with the University of California Labor Center, [00:53:14] Swati Rayasam: Prem Pariyar, a Nepali Dalit restaurant worker, organizer pushing for Caste as a protected category with Equality Labs, a Dalit feminist organization, and a social worker supporting the mental health needs of his and many other South Asian communities in Alameda county. [00:53:31] Swati Rayasam: Will Jamil Wiltchko with the California Trade Justice Coalition, Terry Valen who I did a lot of organizing with at the beginning of the pandemic, around the struggles that seafarers were facing with the onset of COVID-19. And he's the organizational director of the Filipino Community Center in San Francisco. The president of NAFCON which is the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns and just an all in all amazing organizer [00:53:57] Sandhya Jha: the last thing I wanna mention [00:54:00] is SAADA also helped me set up a digital exhibit with Art by Madhvi Trivedi Patak and I wanted to give them a shoutout because they're an incredible artist, but also they grew up in a working class family and didn't get exposed to what it looks like to do labor justice. And so as they developed the artwork to go with the digital exhibit, they got to experience the possibilities of labor solidarity that they hadn't gotten to experience as a child. And so I really loved that Madhvi was a part of this project as well [00:54:38] Swati Rayasam: All of the clips that you shared really identifying, again, these like huge fundamental pillars of solidarity and spirit and struggle. these clips were amazing. They are so rich and so layered with all of these people's varying and different experiences. Really showing in [00:55:00] all of these different walks of life at all of these ages with all of these experiences, that all of these people have this unified and shared identity in struggle, in spirit, and in solidarity for liberation. [00:55:14] Sandhya Jha: And one of the things that I think is worth celebrating is whether they see it as part of their South Asian identity or not. People who do identify as South Asian now have this resource that says there's a home for you in the labor movement. Yes, there are. There is a value to your voice. There is a value to your wisdom, there's a value to your experience in the labor movement. [00:55:36] Swati Rayasam: I think it's a beautiful project. Sandhya, I think it has been an amazing amount of work I've watched you do over the past year. These stories are so wonderful. I really encourage people to check it out. Where can they find your project? [00:55:49] Sandhya Jha: The website's www.saada.org/acfp [00:56:00] /exhibit/solidarity-forever. We'll put that in the notes. We'll definitely put that in the show notes. [00:56:05] Swati Rayasam: I just wanna make sure that we replug your podcast Bending Toward Justice Avatar, The Last Air Bender for the Global Majority and you can find that at tinyurl.com slash ATLA podcast, Capital P (tinyurl.com/ATLAPodcast). And then the last thing that I also wanna make sure that we plug is Without Fear Consulting. [00:56:27] Sandhya Jha: I love working with folks who know that their organization could be a little more liberative, and are, just not quite sure where to start. I love working with a team of folks who want to be about the work of incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion into the DNA of their organization and I love setting them up so that they can keep doing that long after I'm working with them. So please do find me withoutfearconsulting.com. If you're interested in that. [00:56:58] Swati Rayasam: Amazing. Sandhya [00:57:00] Jha, Pastor, Racial Justice consultant, podcast host, archivist, singer songwriter, amazing cook. You can do it all. I think you deserve a nap. it has been amazing talking to you. I am so glad to be able to hear about your project and also to hear a lot more about your life. [00:57:23] Sandhya Jha: Yay. Thank you so much. [00:57:25] Miata Tan: That was Swati Rayasam in conversation with Sandhya Jha. As Swati mentioned, you can learn more about her work in the show notes at kpfa.org/program/apex-express. Speaking of Swati — she's currently working on an episode marking the 25th anniversary of 9/11, out in early September. It'll cover the work of the South Asian Coalition, a national network of organizations working together on South Asian American movement building. Keep an eye out for that one. This episode originally aired January 5th, 2023 — we're re-airing it this week in honor of South Asian American Heritage Month. This is APEX Express on 94.1 KPFA, airing every Thursday evening at 7pm. Thank you for tuning in tonight. APEX Express is a proud member of Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality. A network focused on long-term movement building, capacity infrastructure, and leadership support for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders committed to social justice. Learn more at AACRE.org This program produced by Ayame Keane-Lee, Anuj Vaidya, Isabel Li, Jalena Keane-Lee, Miko Lee, Miata Tan, Preeti Mangala Shekar and Swati Rayasam. Tonight's episode was produced by Swati Rayasam. Get some rest y'all. The post APEX Express – 7.16.26 – South Asians and The Labor Justice Movement appeared first on KPFA.

In this episode, we speak with artist Sarah Al-Sarraj about her new speculative audio work The Mandjet. Framed as a fictional radio phone-in and set in a near future reshaped by rising waters and contested borders, the work uses humour, satire and political tension to explore how environmental crisis transforms our relationship to land, water and community. We discuss the process of building this imagined world, the use of radio as a storytelling device, and the complex figures who inhabit it.Our conversation also explores the histories that underpin the work. Using one of the main protagonists, the leader of a radical water-autonomy movement, as a starting reference, we talk through the drainage of the English Fens and the resistance of the Fen Tigers as well as touching on contemporary debates around water privatisation, environmental justice and political dissent. Finally, we consider how folkloric actors, whether real or imagined, collective memory and ideas of borderlessness shape both the narrative and Sarah's wider artistic practice.This mini-series is commissioned by Henry Moore Institute as part of the programme for their exhibition Phantasmagoria: Folkloric Sculpture for the Digital Age, open 15 May - 30 August 2026.Actors: Rosemary Moss ELLCRaza TariqAshirbad RoyYasmin AlrabieiSpecial thanks: Siegrun SalmanianAngelina RadakovicDavis Galvin The opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of the Henry Moore Foundation, its trustees, employees or associatesBios;Sarah Al-Sarraj (b. 1997) is a visual artist and cultural worker based between Pittsburgh (US) and London (UK). Her work centers on worldbuilding as a creative and critical process, where painting and immersive technologies are understood as portals to other worlds. Predicated on the belief that our world was designed in service of imperial violence, she builds new lifeworlds rooted in land, spirit, and ancestry. Currently working with game engines, she is interested in appropriating military simulation technologies to build uncolonisable realms inspired by Global Majority knowledge systems and emerging quantum thought. Her creative practice is informed by working in movements, at organisations such as Forensic Architecture, the Inclusive Mosque Initiative and Healing Justice London. She is inspired by the tangible material potential of visionary practice in global liberation movements and she occasionally lends her hands to illustration and graphic design for various groups. Broadcast through @rtm.fmArtist @ssaarraahj Host @influential_bro @_rebecca.edwards @niamhschmidtke Music @joemoss1 @jtre_v

TEATIME WITH MISS LIZ SERVES: Ishi Khan July 2nd | 3 PM EST Title: Ask Granny: Finding Laughter, Identity & Courage Through Comedy Tagline: Sometimes the greatest wisdom comes wrapped in laughter… and delivered by Granny. Description: Join Miss Liz for a joyful and heartwarming conversation with internationally recognized British comedian Ishi Khan, creator of the hit comedy show Ask Granny. Known for her infectious energy, quick wit, and uplifting audience interaction, Ishi blends British Asian storytelling, improvisation, and comedy to create experiences that unite people across cultures. Through her beloved alter ego, NaanE, she brings audiences laughter, wisdom, and a reminder that our differences are often our greatest strengths. Having appeared on BBC, ITV, and BBC Asian Network, and earning sold-out audiences at the Leicester Comedy Festival, Ishi uses humour as a bridge to conversations about identity, belonging, courage, and connection. Prepare for an unforgettable Teatime full of laughter, sparkle, storytelling, and perhaps even a little fairy dust. Opening: Welcome everyone to Teatime with Miss Liz, where every conversation is served with heart, purpose, and a little bit of magic. Today we're delighted to welcome someone who believes laughter isn't simply entertainment—it's transformation. Our guest is internationally acclaimed British comedian Ishi Khan, creator of the sold-out comedy sensation Ask Granny. Through comedy, storytelling, and her unforgettable alter ego NaanE, Ishi encourages us to embrace our identities, celebrate our differences, and find joy even in life's most awkward moments. Ishi, welcome to the Teatime table! Closing: Today's Teatime reminded us that laughter is far more than a punchline. Ishi Khan showed us that humour can heal, storytelling can unite, and embracing who we truly are gives others permission to do the same. Whether through Granny's wisdom, playful storytelling, or conversations that celebrate culture and belonging, today's message was beautifully simple: When we laugh together, we understand each other a little more. May we leave today's table carrying a little extra sparkle, courage, and kindness wherever we go. Ishi Khan is an internationally recognized British comedian, storyteller, and creator of the hit show Ask Granny. Through comedy, improvisation, and her beloved character NaanE, she celebrates identity, belonging, and human connection while inspiring audiences around the world to embrace laughter, courage, and the joy found in our shared humanity. Favourite Colour: Purple, Orange, Pink, Red, Gold, Silver(Or simply… the rainbow!)One Word That Describes Her: Glitter! Her T-E-E: Teaching. Turning life's messy chaos into magic through laughter, imagination, and courage. Educational: Exploring identity, belonging, and boldness through playful storytelling. Empowerment: Helping women—especially Global Majority women—rediscover their sparkle, confidence, and authentic voice. Three Phrases That Share Her Story: Mischief-making, playful, laughter-spreading fairy: Truth-sprinkling elf of awkward conversations Cultural: shapeshifting dancer between worlds wearing glitter and courage Featured Show: “Ask Granny” A sold-out comedy experience blending improvisation, British Asian storytelling, audience participation, humour, wisdom, and heart.#teatimewithmissliz#IshiKhan#AskGranny#ComedyHeals#MakingADifferenceOneCupAtATime

This episode is part of our special series on the India AI Impact Summit, examining the conversations, decisions, and debates that are shaping global AI governance. Professor Ravindran addresses early on the perception that the India summit sidelined safety. More than 60% of the summit's events and discussions were focused on safety, trust, and cross-border collaboration. The framing shifted, and deliberately so. When the summit came to the Global South, leading with existential risk, rather than the very real opportunity AI presents to improve healthcare, education, and public services for hundreds of millions of people, would have been the wrong entry point. The two key deliverables from his working group reflect that balance: the Trusted AI Commons, a repository of benchmarks, testing protocols, and best practices designed for AI deployment in resource-constrained settings, and a high-level governance guidance note endorsed by 22 countries, that calls out the issues every national AI policy should address without being prescriptive enough to limit how different countries approach it. On frontier risks, Professor Ravindran notes that the landscape has shifted in ways that would have seemed speculative even a year ago, and that the frameworks being built to manage these risks will need to keep pace with that change. He also reflects on what the growing concentration of the most capable AI models means for countries like India, and why that conversation may need to move from being a company-to-country dialogue to a country-to-country one. His overall view is one of cautious optimism: there will be disruption in the short term, but there will also be a new equilibrium, and the work is to make sure the transition is managed well.Episode Contributors Professor Balaraman Ravindran heads the Department of Data Science and AI at IIT Madras. He is also the Founding Head of the Wadhwani School of Data Science and AI (WSAI), Robert Bosch Centre for Data Science and AI (RBCDSAI), and Centre for Responsible AI (CeRAI) at IIT Madras. He has more than three decades of experience working in reinforcement learning, and his research interest spans responsible AI and deep RL.  Nidhi Singh is an associate fellow at Carnegie India. Her current research interests include data governance, artificial intelligence and emerging technologies. Her work focuses on the implications of information technology law and policy from a Global Majority and Asian perspective. She has previously contributed to the Indian Express, The Secretariat, Medianama and HinduBusiness Line. Every two weeks, Interpreting India brings you diverse voices from India and around the world to explore the critical questions shaping the nation's future. We delve into how technology, the economy, and foreign policy intertwine to influence India's relationship with the global stage.As a Carnegie India production, hosted by Carnegie scholars, Interpreting India, a Carnegie India production, provides insightful perspectives and cutting-edge by tackling the defining questions that chart India's course through the next decade.Stay tuned for thought-provoking discussions, expert insights, and a deeper understanding of India's place in the world.Don't forget to subscribe, share, and leave a review to join the conversation and be part of Interpreting India's journey.

What happens when you stop and ask yourself, "Who is this all for?" Friend this one is a THERAPY SESSION with Dr. Phebe Brako, a licensed therapist supporting immigrants and individuals of the Global Majority to heal, grow, and build homes away from home. We Chat About:The difference between stress, burnout, and actual traumaWhy so many high-achieving women feel unsafe slowing downHow immigrant and first-generation women learn to over-perform for survivalParenting differently than you were parented and the emotions that come with itThe guilt many women feel around rest, pleasure, and spending money on themselvesWe also get into the emotional reality of being “the strong one,” the accidental breadwinner, the high performer everyone depends on… while secretly feeling exhausted, anxious, and terrified of slowing down.And honestly? This chat challenged me personally in ways I WASN'T expecting.If you've ever felt like you had to earn your place in every room you walk into…If resting makes you uncomfortable…If success still somehow doesn't feel like enough…... This chat is going to hit hard in the best possible way. Connect with Dr. Phebe:Watch Dr. Phebe's new podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@phebebrakolmftLearn more about how you can work with Dr. Phebe: https://www.phebebrakolmft.com/On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drphebebrako/Connect with Nicole:On her *new* Substack: https://nicolewaltersofficial.substack.com/On Threads: https://threads.net/nicolewaltersWATCH Tell Me More: http://nicolewalters.com/youtubeEpisode Sponsor:Ready to reach your goals? Visit forhers.com/nicole to get personalized, affordable care that gets you.Produced by Dear MediaSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This episode is part of our special series on the India AI Impact Summit, examining the conversations, decisions, and debates that are shaping global AI governance. Raymond draws a distinction early in the conversation that shapes everything that follows: training and inference are not the same thing, and conflating them is leading a lot of countries to make expensive mistakes. Training, he says, is like building the engine. Inference is running the transport system every single day. Most countries do not need to build the engine. What they need is airports, roads, and reliable infrastructure that gets the technology into the hands of people. The global assumption that frontier model training is the only legitimate AI pathway is, in his view, one of the more consequential misreads of the moment. On the ground realities of building in Africa, Raymond is specific about where the bottlenecks actually are. It is not ambition. It is power reliability, cost of connectivity, access to capital, and the kind of financing frameworks that have not yet caught up with what AI infrastructure actually requires. He points to genuinely interesting anomalies, such as Ethiopia's extremely low cost of power sitting alongside very limited terrestrial fiber diversity, as a reminder that building in the Global South is not about replicating Silicon Valley at a discount. It is about finding combinations of constraints that can actually be made to work, and optimising for reliability, cost efficiency, and practical impact rather than scale and prestige. His advice to governments is to start with problems, not hardware. Prestigious projects with no clear use case, over-regulation before a single GPU cluster exists, and attempts to rebuild sovereign versions of large compute clusters are all, in his view, things to ignore. What countries should actually invest in is reliable and clean power, public interest compute access, data governance frameworks, sector specific pilots in health, agriculture, and education, and talent development that works by getting the technology into the hands of people rather than running structured boot camps. For Raymond, the success metric for Africa in five years should not be the size of anyone's model. It should be whether AI has meaningfully improved economic productivity and public service delivery across the continent.Episode Contributors Nidhi Singh is an associate fellow at Carnegie India. Her current research interests include data governance, artificial intelligence and emerging technologies. Her work focuses on the implications of information technology law and policy from a Global Majority and Asian perspective.  Raymond Ononiwu is the founder of Horus Lab, a technology and infrastructure company building Africa's next-generation digital backbone through modular, renewable-powered, AI-ready data centers. An engineer with more than 15 years of experience delivering products across Mixed Reality, Windows Analytics, and Teams Copilot, his work has powered platforms relied on by hundreds of millions globally. Every two weeks, Interpreting India brings you diverse voices from India and around the world to explore the critical questions shaping the nation's future. We delve into how technology, the economy, and foreign policy intertwine to influence India's relationship with the global stage.As a Carnegie India production, hosted by Carnegie scholars, Interpreting India, a Carnegie India production, provides insightful perspectives and cutting-edge by tackling the defining questions that chart India's course through the next decade.Stay tuned for thought-provoking discussions, expert insights, and a deeper understanding of India's place in the world.Don't forget to subscribe, share, and leave a review to join the conversation and be part of Interpreting India's journey.

From April 29 to May 3, Powerhouse Arts will play host to 'CONDUCTOR: Art Fair of the Global Majority,' an art show spotlighting artists and galleries across Africa, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East, and Indigenous Nations. Eric Shiner, president of Powerhouse Arts, provides a preview of the art fair. Photo by Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya

The conversation begins with a close look at India's data protection regime, particularly the DPDP Act and its emphasis on consent. Nikhil challenges the perception that the law is overly consent-driven, pointing to a range of exemptions and alternative legal bases for processing data. At the same time, he highlights gaps in enforcement and deterrence, arguing that the current framework may struggle to address large-scale misuse of data or systemic harms. On AI governance, Nikhil makes a case that India does not need a sweeping, EU-style AI law, at least not yet. Given India's legislative pace, enforcement gaps, and how fast AI is evolving, he thinks strengthening existing laws and making targeted amendments is a far more practical path. He does, however, flag artificial intimacy as something that deserves serious attention soon. AI-powered companionship is supercharging the loneliness economy, building emotional dependency at scale, and raising risks that no existing framework is really built to handle. Closer to home, Nikhil offers a window into how AI is changing legal practice at Trilegal, where 75% of lawyers now use AI in their daily workflows. The firm is simultaneously building AI products, using them internally, and advising clients on AI risk, a position Nikhil sees as an advantage rather than a conflict. For him, the era of lawyers who write code and speak directly with engineers is not something to fear but a long overdue shift in what it means to practice technology law. Episode ContributorsNidhi Singh is an associate fellow at Carnegie India. Her current research interests include data governance, artificial intelligence and emerging technologies. Her work focuses on the implications of information technology law and policy from a Global Majority and Asian perspective. She has previously contributed to the Indian Express, The Secretariat, Medianama and HinduBusiness Line.Nikhil Narendran is a Partner in Trilegal's Bengaluru office and part of the TMT practice of the firm. He is a subject matter expert in the technology, media, and telecom communication space. Nikhil focuses on the interplay of technology, human lives, and commerce. He has substantial experience in advising companies on telecom, media and technology laws in relation to their entry into India, operations, strategy, policy, regulatory issues, disputes, and business models. Every two weeks, Interpreting India brings you diverse voices from India and around the world to explore the critical questions shaping the nation's future. We delve into how technology, the economy, and foreign policy intertwine to influence India's relationship with the global stage.As a Carnegie India production, hosted by Carnegie scholars, Interpreting India, a Carnegie India production, provides insightful perspectives and cutting-edge by tackling the defining questions that chart India's course through the next decade.Stay tuned for thought-provoking discussions, expert insights, and a deeper understanding of India's place in the world.Don't forget to subscribe, share, and leave a review to join the conversation and be part of Interpreting India's journey.

Leadership coach, somatic practitioner, and Café con Pam podcast host Pam Covarrubias joins The Power of the Ask to talk about what keeps high-achieving first-generation women stuck, silent, and overworked, and what it takes to break free. Pam introduces the concept of Calladita Culture, the inherited system of silence and submission that conditions women to stay small, underpay themselves, and perform for approval rather than lead from truth. She walks through her Unmute & Reclaim Method and explains why certainty, not confidence, is the real foundation of lasting change. Pam, Lisa, and Precious explore: Certainty Before Confidence: Confidence without roots won't hold. When you know who you are and what you want without needing external approval, confidence follows naturally. How Your Body Keeps Score: If you're getting sick after every work trip or only resting when forced, your body is sending a signal. Learning to listen is the first step toward change. The Five Wounds of Calladita Culture: Silence, worth, power, and the other wounds underneath this system show up as both over- and underperformance. Awareness is where healing starts. Why Woleness-Based Leadership Starts with Self-Knowledge: The best leaders don't borrow a style. They do the inner work to understand how they lead best, then build from that place. One Somatic Step You Can Take Today: Place your hand on your chest, slow your exhale, and ask your body what you're carrying that's stopping you from asking for what you want. Important Links:Savvy Ladies (https://www.savvyladies.org/)Precious Williams' LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/precious-l-williams/)Lisa Zeiderman's LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisazeiderman/Pam Covarrubias's LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/pamcovarrubias/Important Links for Pam:Pam Covarrubias's Website: https://www.spreadideasmovepeople.com/About Pam Covarrubias:Pam Covarrubias is a leadership coach, podcast host, and somatic practitioner… but what she really does is help first-gen high-achievers break up with performance culture and lead from presence instead of proving. She is also the creator of the Unmute & Reclaim™ Method and Calladita Culture® frameworks built for women who are tired of biting their tongues, betraying their bodies, and burning out just to belong. Through her coaching and consulting work, she has partnered with big brands and organizations, helping teams and individuals lead from wholeness instead of burnout.  Through nervous system regulation, somatic healing, and cultural deconditioning, she helps women stop hustling for their worth and start leading from wholeness. And she has spent a decade using her podcast, Café con Pam, to elevate Latine voices and people of the Global Majority, dismantling the BS conditioning that keeps us playing small. Because before there's confidence… there's certainty. And Pam believes, certainty lives in the body. 

When a doctor hands your child a diagnosis, it can be a relief - finally, an explanation for their behavior! But sociologist Dr. Allan Horwitz has spent decades studying how psychiatric diagnoses are made, and what he's found raises serious questions about how much weight that label should carry. In this episode, Dr. Horwitz walks through how the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) - the manual that defines every mental health diagnosis - was built less on scientific research than on professional politics, institutional pressure, and the practical needs of insurance companies.  He traces how depression went from a diagnosis given to a small fraction of the population to one of the most common diagnoses in the world, and explains exactly what happened to reliability when the DSM-5 was tested in real clinical conditions.  He also looks at how the same behaviors get labeled very differently depending on a child's age, race, class, and cultural background - and why that matters for every parent trying to figure out whether a diagnosis is actually helping their child. This episode won't tell you to reject diagnosis outright. But it will give you the critical knowledge to ask better questions when a label is offered for your child. Questions This Episode Will Answer What is the DSM and why does it matter for my child?  The DSM is the manual psychiatrists and psychologists use to diagnose every mental health condition. It determines what insurance will cover, what services your child can access, and what label follows them through school and into treatment. Who created the DSM and who controls it?  The American Psychiatric Association publishes the DSM, but its diagnostic criteria were largely shaped by a small group of people - predominantly white men with ties to pharmaceutical companies - whose process looked more like sausage-making than science. Why is DSM-5 criticized by researchers?  Field trials for DSM-5 showed reliability had actually declined from earlier editions. For some of the most common diagnoses, including major depression and generalized anxiety, agreement between clinicians was barely better than chance. Is a psychiatric diagnosis actually reliable?  Reliability means two different clinicians would give the same patient the same diagnosis. Research on the DSM-5 shows this is far less consistent than most parents assume - and a reliable diagnosis still isn't necessarily a correct one. Are children being overdiagnosed with mental health conditions?  Research shows that the youngest children in a classroom are significantly more likely to receive a psychiatric diagnosis than their older classmates, especially for ADHD - suggesting that what's being measured is developmental maturity, not a mental disorder. Does the DSM apply equally to children from different cultural backgrounds?  The DSM was built on a Euro-centric framework, and critics argue it pathologizes behaviors that are normal or valued in many Global Majority cultures. This has real consequences for how children from different backgrounds get diagnosed and treated. Why do mental health diagnoses focus on the individual instead of their circumstances?  The DSM is deliberately designed to identify disorders within a person rather than look at the conditions around them. It makes sense that a person going through a relationship breakup might feel sad, angry, and/or uncertain about the future.  That doesn't mean they're ‘depressed.'  Dr. Horwitz explains what that choice costs - and who pays the most. What You'll Learn in This Episode Why diagnosis serves the psychiatric profession and the insurance system in ways that don't always help the person being diagnosedHow the shift from psychoanalysis to the DSM-3 in 1980 dramatically expanded who could be diagnosed with depression - and why that shift was driven by professional rivalry, not new scienceWhat reliability and validity actually mean in psychiatric diagnosis, and why the numbers from DSM-5 field trials alarmed even people inside the systemHow the people who built the DSM criteria handled disagreements - and why the process Dr. Horwitz describes is so different from what most parents imagineWhy a child's birthdate relative to their classmates can predict their likelihood of receiving a psychiatric diagnosisHow socioeconomic status shapes not just whether a child gets diagnosed, but when they take their medication and whyWhat the removal of the bereavement exclusion in DSM-5 tells us about the direction the system is headingWhy the same behaviors that get a child diagnosed with ADHD in the US might get that child's family into therapy in the UK insteadWhat Dr. Horwitz thinks would actually make a difference for children's mental health - and why the most effective interventions are rarely the ones being offered Your Triggers Aren't a Diagnosis. But They're Worth Understanding. This episode makes the case that the mental health system focuses on only what's happening inside a person instead of looking at the broader circumstances around them - mostly to sell us more drugs.  In reality, our struggles are a combination of the challenges we've experienced in the past (and how we've learned to handle them), and our situation today.  We have to see both pieces to make sense of where we've been, and learn new tools for what's happening now. When your child's behavior sends you into a reaction you regret later, a diagnosis or prescription may not help as much as understanding what's underneath that reaction and where it came from.  That's exactly what the Taming Your Triggers workshop is built to help you do. In 10 weeks, you'll learn why you react the way you do, how to meet your own needs so you have more capacity for your kids, and how to respond from your values instead of your history. Enrollment is only open for a couple more days, until midnight Pacific on Wednesday, March 4. Click the banner to learn more Jump to highlights: 02:14 Introduction to today's episode 03:44 Why do we diagnose mental illness, and whose interests does the diagnostic system serve? Dr. Allan Horwitz explains that diagnoses maintain psychiatry's legitimacy and prestige as a medical profession, regardless of the knowledge behind each diagnosis. 05:10 Patients now often expect specific diagnoses before treatment even begins. 14:27 People experiencing sadness from job loss or relationship endings can benefit from medication, but to get prescriptions, you need a diagnosis of a disorder, even when the response is completely expectable given the circumstances. 15:39 The DSM locates suffering within individuals rather than examining broader social circumstances. 19:00 Wrapping up. 21:25 An open invitation to join the Parenting Membership.

Shipping Out: Race, Performance, and Labor at Sea (University of Michigan Press, 2025) by Dr. Anita Gonzalez provides a rare perspective on performance by staff above and below deck on Caribbean cruise ships, as viewed through the lenses of race, class, and gender. Drawing on her experiences as a destination lecturer on Caribbean cruise lines for twenty years, Dr. Gonzalez offers a unique viewpoint as she examines contemporary Caribbean cruise culture as an ethnographically complex site where North American and European travelers are exposed to other cultures through the orchestrated experiences on ship, and via excursions to ports. Dr. Gonzales argues that the cruise ship experience is deliberately crafted to deliver the best immersive performance by its workers. However, the workers never leave the theater, they merely move below deck—and like ships' stewards and cooks from previous centuries, they work within an imaginary where Global Majority people are envisioned as servants. By utilizing ethnography and archival materials to illustrate ship workers' experiences on contemporary cruise ships, and then contrasting those circumstances with the personal accounts of workers on historical merchant ships, Shipping Out illuminates how workers' presence on ships complicates notions of freedom and enslavement, home and journey, place and space. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/sociology

Shipping Out: Race, Performance, and Labor at Sea (University of Michigan Press, 2025) by Dr. Anita Gonzalez provides a rare perspective on performance by staff above and below deck on Caribbean cruise ships, as viewed through the lenses of race, class, and gender. Drawing on her experiences as a destination lecturer on Caribbean cruise lines for twenty years, Dr. Gonzalez offers a unique viewpoint as she examines contemporary Caribbean cruise culture as an ethnographically complex site where North American and European travelers are exposed to other cultures through the orchestrated experiences on ship, and via excursions to ports. Dr. Gonzales argues that the cruise ship experience is deliberately crafted to deliver the best immersive performance by its workers. However, the workers never leave the theater, they merely move below deck—and like ships' stewards and cooks from previous centuries, they work within an imaginary where Global Majority people are envisioned as servants. By utilizing ethnography and archival materials to illustrate ship workers' experiences on contemporary cruise ships, and then contrasting those circumstances with the personal accounts of workers on historical merchant ships, Shipping Out illuminates how workers' presence on ships complicates notions of freedom and enslavement, home and journey, place and space. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Shipping Out: Race, Performance, and Labor at Sea (University of Michigan Press, 2025) by Dr. Anita Gonzalez provides a rare perspective on performance by staff above and below deck on Caribbean cruise ships, as viewed through the lenses of race, class, and gender. Drawing on her experiences as a destination lecturer on Caribbean cruise lines for twenty years, Dr. Gonzalez offers a unique viewpoint as she examines contemporary Caribbean cruise culture as an ethnographically complex site where North American and European travelers are exposed to other cultures through the orchestrated experiences on ship, and via excursions to ports. Dr. Gonzales argues that the cruise ship experience is deliberately crafted to deliver the best immersive performance by its workers. However, the workers never leave the theater, they merely move below deck—and like ships' stewards and cooks from previous centuries, they work within an imaginary where Global Majority people are envisioned as servants. By utilizing ethnography and archival materials to illustrate ship workers' experiences on contemporary cruise ships, and then contrasting those circumstances with the personal accounts of workers on historical merchant ships, Shipping Out illuminates how workers' presence on ships complicates notions of freedom and enslavement, home and journey, place and space. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/caribbean-studies

Shipping Out: Race, Performance, and Labor at Sea (University of Michigan Press, 2025) by Dr. Anita Gonzalez provides a rare perspective on performance by staff above and below deck on Caribbean cruise ships, as viewed through the lenses of race, class, and gender. Drawing on her experiences as a destination lecturer on Caribbean cruise lines for twenty years, Dr. Gonzalez offers a unique viewpoint as she examines contemporary Caribbean cruise culture as an ethnographically complex site where North American and European travelers are exposed to other cultures through the orchestrated experiences on ship, and via excursions to ports. Dr. Gonzales argues that the cruise ship experience is deliberately crafted to deliver the best immersive performance by its workers. However, the workers never leave the theater, they merely move below deck—and like ships' stewards and cooks from previous centuries, they work within an imaginary where Global Majority people are envisioned as servants. By utilizing ethnography and archival materials to illustrate ship workers' experiences on contemporary cruise ships, and then contrasting those circumstances with the personal accounts of workers on historical merchant ships, Shipping Out illuminates how workers' presence on ships complicates notions of freedom and enslavement, home and journey, place and space. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/performing-arts

Shipping Out: Race, Performance, and Labor at Sea (University of Michigan Press, 2025) by Dr. Anita Gonzalez provides a rare perspective on performance by staff above and below deck on Caribbean cruise ships, as viewed through the lenses of race, class, and gender. Drawing on her experiences as a destination lecturer on Caribbean cruise lines for twenty years, Dr. Gonzalez offers a unique viewpoint as she examines contemporary Caribbean cruise culture as an ethnographically complex site where North American and European travelers are exposed to other cultures through the orchestrated experiences on ship, and via excursions to ports. Dr. Gonzales argues that the cruise ship experience is deliberately crafted to deliver the best immersive performance by its workers. However, the workers never leave the theater, they merely move below deck—and like ships' stewards and cooks from previous centuries, they work within an imaginary where Global Majority people are envisioned as servants. By utilizing ethnography and archival materials to illustrate ship workers' experiences on contemporary cruise ships, and then contrasting those circumstances with the personal accounts of workers on historical merchant ships, Shipping Out illuminates how workers' presence on ships complicates notions of freedom and enslavement, home and journey, place and space. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda's interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/anthropology

Welcome listeners, to Season 2 of Charles Speaks on Alternative Convos. This special new year edition is titled “Rooted, Not Borrowed: Rethinking our Non-Profit Models". Alternative Convos Podcast is a dynamic and engaging talk show that aims to foster unity and drive positive transformation in Africa. Alternative Convos Podcast is your go-to source for thought-provoking conversations that inspire change.To purchase a copy of my book titled "The Engine Behind the Mission: Re-imagining Non-Profit Operating Models in the Global Majority"

Abhishek Singh is the CEO of the IndiaAI Mission and Additional Secretary at the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India. A veteran of the 1995 Indian Administrative Services (IAS) batch and an alumnus of IIT Kanpur and Harvard Kennedy School, he has spearheaded some of the world's largest digital transformations, including DigiLocker, the COVID-19 vaccination platform (CoWIN), and the Bhashini language interface.In this episode, Mr Singh speaks with Avinash Kothuri about India's unique approach to AI, contrasting it with the regulatory models of the EU and the innovation-led model of the US. He details why India is moving the global AI discourse beyond the "Safety" focus of early summits toward an agenda of "Impact", focusing on the three pillars of People, Planet, and Progress ahead of the landmark 2026 AI Impact Summit.The conversation dives into the importance of infrastructure for all and shared compute, India's green energy advantage for data centres, and the risks of becoming solely dependent on Western models. Mr Singh also argues for a global governance framework that prioritises responsible use over restrictive development.Grounded in 30 years of experience as a problem solver in the civil service, Mr Singh offers a roadmap for how the Global Majority countries can leverage AI for social empowerment—from agriculture advisories to healthcare access—while ensuring the benefits are democratised across diverse communities.

When Georgina Wilson realised that less than 1% of corporate spend goes to Global Majority-led businesses, she didn't write a report. She built a movement. As the CEO of BUD Leaders, Georgina is on a mission to put £50 million into the hands of women who've been systemically excluded from economic power. In this episode, we talk about: How to turn rejection into redirection The exact steps to get noticed by corporate buyers Why fearless leadership isn't about confidence—it's about practice And what it really takes to build power that lasts This isn't just a podcast. It's a wake-up call. A masterclass. A blueprint. Whether you're a business owner, an ally, or someone tired of performative inclusion, this conversation will challenge you to act.

What is Brazil trying to achieve with COP30? It's Day Two in Belém and all eyes are on the host nation. Join Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac as they unpack how the country is shaping the first days of COP30 - and the quiet strategy behind Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago's leadership. With the release of the Call of Belém for the Climate, they explore what may be a masterstroke of multilateral diplomacy. And friend of the show Thais Bilenky joins us to break down how the early days of the summit are playing out in Brazilian media and on the streets of Belém.With the support of the Arapyaú Institute, this episode also turns the spotlight on Brazil's own climate progress. How is a nation, standing at the bridge between the Global North and the emerging Global Majority, using this moment of global attention to tell a new story: one defined by solutions, not sacrifice? We hear from Renata Piazzon, Director General of Arapyaú, whose mission is to reframe Brazil's climate story - showing the opportunity that lies in regeneration, restoration, and a thriving social bioeconomy. And Marina Silva, Brazil's Minister for the Environment and Climate Change, joins Christiana to share her call for an Ethical Global Stocktake - a reminder that sustainability is not only a way of doing, but a way of being.Learn more:

“The industry isn't a distant place anymore. The industry is YOU.”

On September 26 th , 2025, during the United Nations General Assembly in NewYork City, the Republic of Ghana ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of NuclearWeapons (TPNW), and the Country of Kyrgyzstan signed on. With these actions, aglobal majority of countries have signed onto the United Nations nuclear weapons bantreaty. A total of 99 out of the 197 eligible states have taken legal action - 74 haveratified and 25 have signed. Such action sends a strong message to the nuclear-armedstates and their allies that they are now the minority and irresponsible actors threateningglobal security.

Welcome to another episode of “On the Issues with Alon Ben-Meir.” Today's guest is Hillel Schenker, co-editor of the Palestine-Israel Journal, a Jerusalem-based independent, joint Israeli-Palestinian English-language quarterly. In this episode, Alon and Hillel discuss the current growing protests in Israel calling for an end to the war and release of the hostages, Netanyahu's current strategy in Gaza, and the role of the international community in reaching an end to the war. Full bio Hillel Schenker is co-editor of the Palestine-Israel Journal, a Jerusalem-based independent English-language quarterly, initiated and maintained by a group of prominent Israeli and Palestinian academics and journalists. It aims to shed light on, and analyze freely and critically, the complex issues dividing Israelis and Palestinians. Schenker served for 13 years as editor of New Outlook, the Israeli peace monthly founded in the spirit of Martin Buber's philosophy of dialogue, that served as a vehicle for understanding Israeli-Arab affairs and as a catalyst for dialogue and initiatives for peace. He has written for The Nation, Los Angeles Times, L.A. Weekly, Tikkun, Israel Horizons, In These Times, the Israeli-Hebrew-language press and many other print and electronic outlets. He was an activist and co-founder of the Peace Now movement and has served for many years as spokesperson for the Israeli branch of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. He is an International Advisory Board member of the Global Majority center for non-violent conflict resolution based at the Monterey Institute of International Studies.

Private equity funds and other Wall Street investors are buying up homes across the US and the West, driving up rent and the cost of living. Economist Michael Hudson explains how these corporate landlords are a result of the system of financialized capitalism, dominated by an unproductive rentier class. He is interviewed by host Ben Norton. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJd0d7Uda2M Transcript: https://www.geopoliticaleconomy.report/p/corporate-landlords-rent-michael-hudson Part 1 of this interview: https://www.geopoliticaleconomy.report/p/world-us-financial-colonialism-economist-michael-hudson Read Michael's article "How the Global Majority can free itself from US financial colonialism": https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2025/07/17/michael-hudson-global-majority-us-financial-colonialism/ Michael's website: https://michael-hudson.com/ Topics 0:00 Cost of living crisis in West 0:30 Blackstone: largest US landlord 1:07 Blackstone CEO is Trump donor 1:49 Investors buy up US homes 2:36 Wall Street buys single-family homes 3:54 Wall Street buys up neighborhoods 5:31 Homelessness rises in USA 6:06 Blackstone buys up homes in Spain 7:34 Introduction to Michael Hudson 9:12 Highlights 10:43 Interview starts 11:58 Feudalism, capitalism, & rentier class 16:58 Adam Smith, David Ricardo, & Karl Marx 19:10 Difference between value, price, & rent 21:33 Bankers, industrialists, & landlords 27:34 Theory of comparative advantage 28:20 Problems with economics education 30:57 Profits vs rent 32:48 Financialization and GDP 37:21 Adam Smith in Beijing 38:47 Peter Thiel defends monopolies 40:20 China's reform and opening up 43:06 China's public ownership of finance 44:25 Need to tax land rent 50:45 China's industrialization 53:54 Passive income (ie, rent seeking) 56:01 Mainstream "junk economics" 59:07 Outro

Economist Michael Hudson describes how the Western powers designed the international financial, legal, and political system in a way that benefits North American corporations at the expense of the countries of the Global South. He also proposes ways for the Global Majority to resist US neocolonialism, in this interview with host Ben Norton. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgBUbbTF5Sg Transcript: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2025/08/06/world-us-financial-colonialism-economist-michael-hudson/ Read Michael's article "How the Global Majority can free itself from US financial colonialism": https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2025/07/17/michael-hudson-global-majority-us-financial-colonialism/ Michael's website: https://michael-hudson.com/

The episode begins with Kapoor explaining the origins of AI Snake Oil, tracing it back to his PhD research at Princeton on AI's limited predictive capabilities in social science domains. He shares how he and co-author Arvind Narayanan uncovered major methodological flaws in civil war prediction models, which later extended to other fields misapplying machine learning.The conversation then turns to the disconnect between academic findings and media narratives. Kapoor critiques the hype cycle around AI, emphasizing how its real-world adoption is slower, more fragmented, and often augmentative rather than fully automating human labor. He cites the enduring demand for radiologists as a case in point.Kapoor introduces the concept of “AI as normal technology,” which rejects both the notion of imminent superintelligence and the dismissal of AI as a passing fad. He argues that, like other general-purpose technologies (electricity, the internet), AI will gradually reshape industries, mediated by social, economic, and organizational factors—not just technical capabilities.The episode also examines the speculative worldviews put forth by documents like AI 2027, which warn of AGI-induced catastrophe. Kapoor outlines two key disagreements: current AI systems are not technically on track to achieve general intelligence, and even capable systems require human and institutional choices to wield real-world power.On policy, Kapoor emphasizes the importance of investing in AI complements—such as education, workforce training, and regulatory frameworks—to enable meaningful and equitable AI integration. He advocates for resilience-focused policies, including cybersecurity preparedness, unemployment protection, and broader access to AI tools.The episode concludes with a discussion on recalibrating expectations. Kapoor urges policymakers to move beyond benchmark scores and collaborate with domain experts to measure AI's real impact. In a rapid-fire segment, he names the myth of AI predicting the future as the most misleading and humorously imagines a superintelligent AI fixing global cybersecurity first if it ever emerged.Episode ContributorsSayash Kapoor is a computer science Ph.D. candidate at Princeton University's Center for Information Technology Policy. His research focuses on the societal impact of AI. He previously worked on AI in the industry and academia at Facebook, Columbia University, and EPFL Switzerland. He is a recipient of a best paper award at ACM FAccT and an impact recognition award at ACM CSCW.Nidhi Singh is a senior research analyst and program manager at Carnegie India. Her current research interests include data governance, artificial intelligence and emerging technologies. Her work focuses on the implications of information technology law and policy from a Global Majority and Asian perspective. Suggested ReadingsAI as Normal Technology by Arvind Narayanan and Sayash Kapoor. Every two weeks, Interpreting India brings you diverse voices from India and around the world to explore the critical questions shaping the nation's future. We delve into how technology, the economy, and foreign policy intertwine to influence India's relationship with the global stage.As a Carnegie India production, hosted by Carnegie scholars, Interpreting India, a Carnegie India production, provides insightful perspectives and cutting-edge by tackling the defining questions that chart India's course through the next decade.Stay tuned for thought-provoking discussions, expert insights, and a deeper understanding of India's place in the world.Don't forget to subscribe, share, and leave a review to join the conversation and be part of Interpreting India's journey.

As the jury in the trial of music mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs delivers its verdicts, author and cultural critic Mikki Kendall discusses how Americans will react. On the eve of the 40th anniversary of its release, The Independent's chief film critic Clarisse Loughrey and Dan O'Brien of the University of Essex discuss Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale's influential film Back to the Future.Egyptian artist Wael Shawky talks about his operatic films which reframe Middle Eastern history from an Arab perspective. And we bring you news of the Grand Egyptian Museum a vast, state-of-the-art space close to the Pyramids in Giza, which is home to 100,000 artefacts. 60% of the museum is now open to the public, but the official opening ceremony this week has been postponed due to tensions between Israel and Iran.Also, we hear about a new collection, Nature Matters: Vital Poems from the Global Majority, from the editor Karen McCarthy Woolf and the featured poet Nick Makoha, who will be talking about his own collection The New Carthaginians at this year's Ledbury Poetry Festival.Presenter: Nihal Arthanayake Producer: Mark Crossan

The enemies of our common humanity work hard to shape and distort memory for this reason, above all others. Remembering that we have defeated oppressive conditions, movements and moments when we come together in sufficient number is the first step to defeating them again and building the spaces and societies we want for ourselves and others. When we do this our way, we win.JOIN KNARRATIVE: https://www.knarrative.com it's the only way to get into #Knubia, where these classes areheld live with a live chat.To shop Go to:TheGlobalMajorityMore from us:Knarrative Twitter: https://twitter.com/knarrative_Knarrative Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knarrative/In Class with Carr Twitter: https://twitter.com/inclasswithcarrSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode, I'm joined by Michelle Petties, a TEDx speaker and food story coach who has transformed her own life by understanding the deep emotional roots of eating. Michelle shares her remarkable journey of losing and gaining nearly 700 pounds before discovering how food is intimately connected to our emotions, memories, and cultural inheritance. Through her personal story of overcoming food addiction and rebuilding her life after losing everything in the 2008 economic crisis, Michelle reveals how our relationship with food goes far beyond nutrition. She explores how emotional eating is often a complex response to stress, loneliness, and unprocessed feelings, and offers a powerful framework for understanding and healing our relationship with food and ourselves.This conversation is not just about weight loss, but about reclaiming personal agency, understanding our emotional landscapes, and learning to nourish ourselves in truly meaningful ways.Mentioned: Impostor Syndrome Clinic for the Women of the Global Majority with Jamie Lee on June 13th at noon Eastern, 9am Pacific. Register here for free: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/7qFdxK7ORDeigFUGWGmbBw#/registrationMichelle's TEDx Talk: A Food Addict's Lesson: Confusion. Clarity. Recovery: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJLr53XlIV4Michelle's book: Leaving Large: https://leavinglarge.com/Michelle's website: https://go.michellepetties.com/mindovermealsText me your thoughts on this episode!Enjoy the show? Don't miss an episode, listen and subscribe via Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Leave me a review in Apple Podcasts. Connect with me Book a free hour-long consultation with me. You'll leave with your custom blueprint to confidence, and we'll ensure it's a slam-dunk fit for you before you commit to working with me 1:1. Connect with me on LinkedIn Email me at jamie@jamieleecoach.com

This episode features a conversation with Diya Deb, executive director of Mindworks. It was recorded in April 2025.Growing up as an activist in India, Diya has in-depth experience of working in harsh political and social realities. With a variety of leadership roles under her belt from Amnesty and Greenpeace India, and a background in campaigning and program management too, she holds a deep belief in the need to decolonise knowledge and drive systemic change in Global Majority countries. At the helm of Mindworks, Diya works to apply cognitive and social science insights to support organisations and changemakers, particularly in Asia, Africa and Latin America, to campaign innovatively to address climate and other systemic issues.Amongst other things, Diya and I discussed the ways that mindsets in places like India and Indonesia demand new strategies and emphasis from climate communicators, the fresh ways that denial emerges in such contexts, and the desperate need for more listening in developing interventions and engagement that resonates.Additional links: Visit the Mindworks websiteDig in to the Anger & Agency MonitorCheck out the Time to Talk insights and toolkit

Camille is an astrologer, musician, writer, civil servant from Washington, D.C. To her, Astrology is a marriage of the human condition with the cosmic condition. As above, so below. As below, so above. Over several years, she has seen hundreds of clients and has built a practice that celebrates that connection to the cosmos. Her consults are steeped in the soulful concepts & archetypal poetry of Evolutionary Astrology & are informed by the technical & traditional techniques of Hellenistic Astrology. Laura adds to Camille's body of work on Neptune & the Black condition. This episode is dedicated to Neptune - the God and Goddess of the sea, of dreams, and of imagination.   Laura's hypothesis: Neptune is the illusion and belief that White is superior; when in reality, White People don't truly believe this. Whiteness is deception and theft. You do not steal from People of the Global Majority if they are culturally and economically poor. Neptune, depending on the natal position or by transit, can inflate someone's ideal of themselves. Throughout history, a group of people subjugated another group by casting a veil over them to make them believe they are less than.  In reimagining Neptune, Neptune is seen as a malefic through the cis-hetero patriarchal white supremacist lens because Neptune is anti-capitalist. A Neptune transit can awaken someone to their true essence and in turn, reclaim their sovereignty and agency.   ⏰ Timestamps ⏰ 00:22 Introducing Camille Michelle Gray and her interest in Neptune 5:19 Some facts about Neptune 7:04 Camille's Neptune significations  8:17 Laura's Neptune significations 8:32 Richard Tarnas' Neptune significations  12:36 Laura's Neptune hypothesis  13:36 Camille's work Neptune and the Black condition 18:36 Neptune and mythology  26:26 Neptune as assimilation  29:50 Neptune as psychedelics, plant medicines, and cultural appropriation of spiritual practices.  30:53 Neptune as Hollywood and Film  31:40 Neptune in Aries  34:47 John Randolph's chart - The Nottoway Plantation  38:38 Neptune in Aries historically  39:48 The Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 45:22 Neptune predictions for the moment  49:44 Ryan Coogler and Sinners  1:01:47 Beyonce and Cowboy Carter 1:04:28 Kendrick Lamar and the Superbowl   1:07:38 Camille's predictions for Neptune and politics  1:11:46 Saturn and Neptune in Aries  1:17:54 How to work with Camille    Show Notes: Camille's Website Camille's Instagram Natal Chart & Transit Readings  ORDER MY BOOK HOW TO MANIFEST Laura Chung Instagram Laura Chung's Website  Laura Chung's Tik Tok YouTube Channel Awaken and Align Instagram Connect with Awaken and Align: If you enjoyed the podcast and you feel called, please share it, and tag me! Subscribe, rate, and review the show wherever you get your podcasts. Your rating and review help more people discover it! Follow on Instagram @awakenandalign Let me know your favorite guests, lessons, or any topic requests.  

Fifty years since Vietnam beat the US. Ex-pat Carney as PM in Canada. Starmer's Labour are 'toast' says former top adviser. As Trump's tariffs boomerang the US beats the drums of war in SE Asia. Ileana Chan tells George no-one wants to be the next Ukraine. Ileana Chan: Producer at Empire Watch and Co-host of Global Majority for Peace podcast- Twitter: https://x.com/ileanacforpeace- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1EiPq5393Q/- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ileanacforpeace- YouTube: https://youtube.com/@empirewatch- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ileanacforpeaceKit Klarenberg: Investigative journalist at The Grayzone - Twitter: https://x.com/kitklarenberg Become a MOATS Graduate at https://plus.acast.com/s/moatswithgorgegalloway. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a world where financial inclusion remains one of our generation's greatest challenges, emerging markets are becoming the true laboratories of fintech innovation. While developed economies iterate on convenience, companies operating in regions with limited banking infrastructure are fundamentally reimagining what financial services can look like from the ground up. Today, we're diving into this fascinating intersection of opportunity and impact with David Lask from Tala. Tala has built a reputation as a pioneer in financial inclusion, providing access to credit and financial services to underbanked populations across multiple continents. David joins us fresh from the Fintech Americas Miami conference to share his insights on the rapidly evolving Latin American fintech landscape. We'll explore how the unique challenges and opportunities in this region are fostering innovative approaches to financial services, with a special focus on Mexico as a compelling case study of fintech evolution.

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This episode explores the significance of intergenerational learning and social/racial justice within the sexual health field. We had the joy of interviewing Mariotta Gary-Smith about her experiences of mentorship from Black women/femme elders that also inspired the trajectory of her career as a social justice actionable agitator. Mariotta Gary-Smith (she/her/Queen [reserved]) is a 3rd generation social justice agitator & Oregonian. Her family history of civil rights seeded her interest in social justice - she found human sexuality on her own. After high school, Mariotta earned degrees from Agnes Scott College and the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. In Fall 2008, she was one of five nationally selected Fellowship Scholars for the Inaugural Class at the Center of Excellence for Sexual Health (CESH) housed at the Morehouse School of Medicine. In 2009, Mariotta co-founded the Women of Color Sexual Health Network (WoCSHN; pronounced ‘wok-shyn') – an online-based, collective organization for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) women/femme-identifying/gender-expansive sexuality professionals. In 2012, Mariotta joined with 6 other Oregon-based BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color/of the Global Majority) women and femmes that formed the Founding Advisory Committee of the We Are BRAVE! Project, a cohort policy project housed at Western States Center (Portland, OR.) This collective was a foundational part of the local political movement that resulted in Oregon passing the Reproductive Health Equity Act (RHEA) in 2017 – the singular most progressive reproductive health law in the United States to date. With a well-respected reputation for thoughtful, challenging and honest learning experiences centering racial justice, equity, sexuality and social critique, Mariotta continues to offer strategic thought partnership & collaborative consultation with various organizations about racial justice in sexuality education and the Sexuality profession. With over 20 years of experience, Mariotta remains committed to holding space that supports clear & accountable learning on the intersections of social justice, sexual health, equity and “actionable agitation.” She's fully invested in her ‘passion work' – focusing on Black folks and Black sexuality and moving their experience from the margins to the center. You can read Mariotta's contribution about cultivating a liberatory care practice to the Sexuality Social Justice open access resource here. If you want to catch up on other shows, just visit our website and please subscribe! We love our listeners and welcome your feedback, so if you love Our Better Half, please give us a 5-star rating and follow us on Facebook and Instagram. It really helps support our show! As always, thanks for listening!

Waseem Hijazi, a passionate Palestinian vegan food blogger, and Victoria Hertel, an anti-Zionist Jewish vegan advocate from Vegans for Palestine join the show this week. Wasim discusses how his journey into veganism is not just about health but also a means to advocate for Palestinian rights, while Victoria reveals her transformation into anti-Zionism and her dedication to supporting Palestinians through the lens of veganism and activism. We scrutinize the ethical implications of Western veganism's silence on Palestinian oppression and the troubling practice of "vegan washing" by the Israeli government. Our discussion ventures into the wider landscape of activism, examining the power of collective actions like the BDS movement.  We wrap up our episode by emphasizing the importance of community-driven efforts and solidarity across movements. From supporting Palestinian families with plant-based food parcels to critiquing the support of Israeli vegan products, we call for genuine engagement and the preservation of cultural integrity. This episode is a thought-provoking exploration of how veganism can be a tool for activism and social change, inviting you to reconsider the impact of your choices on a global scale. Guest Bios: Victoria Hertel (she/her) is Vegan for Palestine's Public Image Committee Chair. She is an anti-Zionist Jew, vegan and queer person currently residing on the Lands of the Peoria, Mississauga, Bodwéwadmi (Potawatomi), Anishinabewaki ᐊᓂᔑᓈᐯᐗᑭ, and Wyandot Peoples on Turtle Island. She believes Zionism contradicts the values of Judaism and by conflating the two it is detrimental to the religion. Judaism, according to the Torah, forbids Jews to have our own sovereignty and forbids to kill or steal. Zionism is a genocidal and nationalistic political ideology, which was created by non-religious people. Standing in opposition to the state of “Israel” is standing with true Jewish values, and calling that anti-Semitic is inaccurate. Victoria is a photographer and a healthcare professional. She recognizes her white privilege and continues to learn and unlearn in order to be a better advocate and ally for all sentient beings. She believes that vegans have a duty to be intersectional in their advocacy and cannot only advocate for non-human animals because every injustice is connected whether it's humans, non-human animals, or the environment. Waseem Hijazi is a Palestinian vegan content creator, and the founder of the food blog: Plant Based Arab. His journey towards veganism started around five years ago, after taking on monthly challenges in pursuit of a healthier lifestyle. This led to a deeper realization of how our actions - even as individuals - can contribute to the suffering of other living beings. He's involved with the Vegans for Palestine group: a space to be in community with fellow vegans and animal rights activists, to advocate for Palestine. Helping to raise awareness about Israel's vegan-washing, and how we may be contributing to the oppression of Palestinians with what we choose to consume rather than boycott; as well as highlighting some of the ways to support Palestinians in Gaza via on the ground initiatives, and more. Waseem has contributed a selection of Arabic and Palestinian recipes to a fundraiser eBook, in collaboration with a collective of vegans of the Global Majority, called: Flavours of Freedom. You can find more of his vegan recipes on the website: www.plantbasedarab.com, and connect with him directly on Instagram @plantbasedarab. Thanks for listening to another episode. Follow, review, and share to help Consciously Clueless grow! Connect with me: https://www.consciouslycarly.com/ Join the Consciously Clueless community on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/consciouslycarly Connect on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/consciously.carly/ Connect on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/consciously.carly.blog Music by Matthew Baxley

On today's #NCFNewspeak, the NCF panel discuss: * Chris Kaba: Why do the Left love criminals? * Peter Lynch: political prisoner & martyr? * The true agenda behind the push to replace "ethnic minority" with "global majority"

This week I talk with Kassidi Jones. She runs the Instagram page @gingers_naps. We discuss antiracism work in the animal welfare world, what that means and looks like, and how she balances mental health in all of this. In the several years that I have been involved in animal rescue and this podcast, I have seen racism and classism at play. I will be the first to admit that I have shied away from being too loud about what I am seeing out of fear of rocking the boat. But this episode has given me the motivation to get louder, make mistakes, and ultimately be a better ally and community member. I really hope you will check out her website www.gingers-naps.com to find the recommended reading list and learn more about business and pages by People of the Global Majority.  Sponsor: LIX - check out www.lixpetwellness.com to learn more about CBD for pets. Use code Rescuepod20 for 20% off your first order!   Thanks for listening! If you liked what you heard, please rate, review, and subscribe. If you have ideas for future guests please email me at theanimalrescuepodcast@gmail.com or follow me @theanimalrescuepod on Instagram. You can also learn more about the organizations I interview and how to listen/watch at www.theanimalrescuepodcast.my.canva.site

Dr. Kamilah Majied, MSW, PhD, is a contemplative inclusivity and equity consultant, mental health therapist, clinical educator, researcher, and internationally engaged consultant on building inclusivity and equity using meditative practices. She is the author of Joyfully Just: Black Wisdom and Buddhist Insights for Liberated Living (Sounds True, 2024), and has authored many articles and chapters, including in the second edition of Advances in Contemplative Psychotherapy: “Contemplative Practices for Assessing and Eliminating Racism in Psychotherapy.” Resources: Reaching Beyond: Improvisations on Jazz, Buddhism, and a Joyful Life Wayne Shorter: The Jazz of Liberation - Tricycle Beyond White Mindfulness: Critical Perspectives on Racism, Well-being and Liberation - Routledge On the Origins of Woke - The Past Acclaimed Poet and Scholar Sonia Sanchez Delivers Stories of Opportunity and Resistance - Swarthmore College Joy That I Have - Rise Up and Sing Topics: 00:00 – Introduction to Dr. Kamilah Majied 01:29 – The Path of Buddhism and Personal Growth 02:40 – Intertwining Buddhism with Social Justice 03:32 – Influence of Family and Early Spiritual Exposure 08:24 – Black Wisdom Traditions and Cultural Contributions 11:08 – Cultural Appropriation and Mindfulness 27:38 – Global Majority and Reparative Relationality 30:43 – The Power of Words and Language 35:46 – Grief, Joy, and Social Justice 52:05 – Guided Meditation and Closing Thoughts Support the mission of SAND and the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND Member.

Sarah proposes a new term for the LGBTQIA+ community with a shorter acronym. Plus, she helps an older caller practice her gender pronouns, shares some jokes that slap with kids, and reminds us to live on the edge of our seats. You can leave a voice memo for Sarah at speakpipe.com/TheSarahSilvermanPodcast. Follow Sarah Silverman @sarahkatesilverman on Instagram and @sarahksilverman on TikTok. And stay up to date with us @LemonadaMedia on X, Facebook, and Instagram. You can check out Lemonada's show with 988, ‘Call For Help' here. For a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and every other Lemonada show, go to lemonadamedia.com/sponsors. Joining Lemonada Premium is a great way to support our show and get bonus content. Subscribe today at bit.ly/lemonadapremium.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Claire de Mézerville López welcomes Alaya Vautier to the Restorative Works! Podcast.  Join us as Alaya reflects on the importance of taking time in mediation processes, the power of genuine listening, and the challenges and rewards of working with youth through restorative justice. From her early days in mediation to her current role designing and leading impactful programs, Alaya offers deep insights into the delicate balance of structure and intuition needed to facilitate meaningful dialogues. Alaya is the Director of the Restorative Justice Program at the Conflict Resolution Center (CRC) in Santa Cruz County, California. With over two decades of experience in conflict resolution and restorative practices, Alaya volunteered with the Parent Teen Mediation Program, Victim Offender Dialogue Program, and the Family Affordable Mediation Program. She co-led an outdoor leadership program for youth at Humboldt State University, taught surfing for 15 years, co-led Teen Camp at Vajrapani Institute, and currently designs and leads the Wise Heart Young Adult Retreat at Vajrapani Institute. She continues to design and lead trainings on communication, conflict resolution, and restorative justice for corporate and non-profit clients, youth and families, and community members. Alaya earned a masters degree in International Policy Studies with a specialization in Conflict Resolution and Negotiation in 2005.  In 2008, she interned with Global Majority in Nepal where she co-led workshops on interest-based negotiation and conflict resolution to Nepali youth peace activists.  Tune in to learn more from Alaya and gain knowledge on how to create safe, authentic spaces for healing and accountability. 

In response to the NATO summit in Washington, political economists Radhika Desai and Michael Hudson discuss how Western governments are losing elections and ignoring their own people in order to expand the proxy war against Russia in Ukraine and beyond, while seeking to impose control over the majority of humanity in the Global South. Read the transcript here: https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2024/07/12/nato-west-war-democracy-global-south VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXIYInJUYp8 This is part of the show Geopolitical Economy Hour. You can watch other episodes of the program here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDAi0NdlN8hMl9DkPLikDDGccibhYHnDP

A Pew Research Center survey of 35 countries reveals that perceptions of China's economic influence vary widely, with people in high-income nations like the U.S., Canada, and Australia showing significant negativity—70% of respondents in 18 such countries express unfavorable views of China. In Episode xxx of #CutTheClutter, Editor-in-chief Shekhar Gupta looks at 2 international takeaways--- from the Pew Research on global opinions on China & how back in France, Macron's gamble dealt a deathblow to the Hard-Right.

When the Minority Report Becomes the Global Majority.  Featuring Leumas of Chant It Down Radio. Chant It Down Radio: https://www.chantitdownradio.com/

Probably you've seen the movie Minority Report, which was based on the Philip K Dick novel by the same name. I went on William Ramsey Investigates and we talked about the premise of that novel becoming reality. William digs up some great evidence supporting the claim. Pre-crime is becoming a true tactic the psychopathic elites are using to arrest, fine and sensor anything they deem a hate crime. We have seen this forming over the years and now they are moving in on it more and more. Philip K Dick was a prolific science fiction writer who predicted many things about this time. We go over a few other of his books and try to answer some chat questions. William Ramsey: https://www.williamramseyinvestigates.com Show website:⁠https://www.chantitdownradio.com/⁠ Youtube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmTlBzFViiv58N4_K9On0UQ⁠ Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/chantitdown/⁠ Telegram:⁠https://t.me/chantitdown⁠ Odysee: ⁠https://odysee.com/@chantitdownradio:c⁠ Rumble: ⁠https://rumble.com/user/Chantitdownradio⁠ Please help support the show. Subscribe, leave reviews, help algorithms find the show. Support the show if possible. Support Luemas in his new documentary join Patreon and get the extra show: Afterthoughts : ⁠https://www.patreon.com/Luemas⁠ ⁠https://www.chantitdownradio.com/store.html⁠ Chant it down t-shirts: https://chant-it-down-store.creator-spring.com/listing/chant-it-down-logo

When I tell you that a tarot book is one of the best antiracism workbooks I've ever come across, I hope you take note. I honestly think if anyone, whether an adept or a newer student of antiracism, were to pick up Tarot for the Hard Work, it would keep them busy with exercises and practices for the rest of their lives. And, not incidentally, forge a deeper relationship with their tarot practice. The author and my guest for this episode is Maria Minnis, a tarot reader who teaches about blending spirituality with liberation work.  Tarot for the Hard Work is a provocative exploration of the twenty-two cards of the Major Arcana that re envisions these archetypes as beacons that illuminate the various ways racism takes root both in ourselves and in the world. With exercises and thought-provoking recommended reading and resources, readers are guided to use Major Arcana themes to dismantle internalized racism, racism in relationships, and racism in communities. This book exceeded my expectations and I wholeheartedly recommend it. Buy the Book Follow Maria on Instagram   Referenced in this Episode I'm Embracing the Term ‘People of the Global Majority', by Daniel Lim "Global Majority" Wikipedia entry Who Are People of the Global Majority and Why It Matters, by Britt Hawthorne My Grandmother's Hands, Resmaa Menakem They Called Me Number One, Bev Sellars  I Am Woman, Lee Maracle *** TNP222 Podcast Playlists for Special Interests 10 Years + 14 Themes Leave me a note or voicemail! ☎️ Sign up for my newsletter *** YouHaveToLiveYour.Life Percentage of Asymptomatic Infections among SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variant-Positive Individuals: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Face Masks and Respirators in the Fight Against the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Review of Current Materials, Advances and Future Perspectives The People's Public Health Education Campaign is a project of the People's Oracle, Dayna Lynn Nuckolls - follow her on Instagram Twitter or Facebook for more!  

In the United Nations Human Rights Council, the West voted against the rest of the world, supporting illegal sanctions (known as unilateral coercive measures). Ben Norton analyzes how the 14% of the population in the Global North constantly opposes the Global South, representing the Global Majority. VIDEO with maps and graphics here: https://youtube.com/watch?v=VHBIfmxkHh4

Putin, state of the nation and the Global Majority

Dr. Greg Carr discuss the 60th commemoration of the March on Washington through the words of Anna Arnold Hedgeman and the lessons we can learn from that march today. There is also a conversation about BRICS as well as the Affirmative Action panel (the 2023 Hutchins Forum):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcbWJAmAA9I#marchonwashington #inclasswithcarrJOIN KNARRATIVE: https://www.knarrative.com it's the only way to get into #Knubia, where these classes are held live with a live chat.To shop Go to:TheGlobalMajoritySee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.