Cultured, or Nah?
Cultured, or Nah?
Shabnum Gulati
Find us on Instagram: @culturedornah. A podcast about understanding the truisms inherent in desiness. We (probably) talk about the stuff your mom and dad won't. Ever been curious about what South Asians in other countries are like - or why they might actually be different from you? Ever wondered about the increasing role of the South Asian American electorate, or about why we're seeing more brown faces in mainstream media today? Perhaps you've even wondered why you've been born into a religious identity when it seems our non-desi peers don't have the same experience. Join us as we discuss these and other topics, and dive deep into the root causes of why things are the way they are. We won't always have the answers, but we do love to discuss it!
S4 E10: Perceptions of Love Growing Up South Asian
Bollywood, our parents' marriages, Disney movies, Hollywood - all of it would have been enough to throw us into a doozy. How did you think about love and dating growing up? What has changed for you, and what do you hope for now? In this episode, Shabnum sits down with fellow podcasters Lahari Rao (of Down to Brown podcast) and Mitali Dargani (of Brown Game Strong podcast) and the three compare their childhoods, influence of their parents' relationships, what they saw in the media, and the imp...
Nov 16, 2022
1 hr 31 min
S4 E9: Not Wanting Kids as a South Asian
Do you ever feel like our collectivist cultures and all the models we grew up with of what a fulfilling life could be make it seem like not having kids is a strange, or even selfish choice? How do we talk about not wanting kids and still being able to live fulfilling lives without feeling like we're missing out on something or feeling guilty? Listen to this episode where Shabnum and her friend Avani Patel speak candidly about when they started to feel they may not want kids and how they think...
Sep 19, 2022
57 min
S4 E8: Dissecting & Understanding Caste
In this episode, Shabnum compares two books: The Doctor and the Saint - Caste, Race, and the Annihilation of Caste (the Debate Between B.R. Ambedkar and M.K. Gandhi) by Arundhati Roy, and The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander to get a deeper understanding of the way in which we can define caste. Shabnum is no expert in caste, nor someone who has personal experience with any of the issues highlighted, and wants to call that out upfront. This episode is Shabnum's journey through reading the tw...
Sep 12, 2022
1 hr 5 min
S4 E7: What do Web3 and NFTs mean for South Asian brands?
Today we're joined by Payal Shah - Founder & Designer of L'Dezen and Psylish Jewelry, fashion influencer, and Web3/NFT enthusiast! Payal talks through the basics like what even are NFTs? She then proceeds to explain how she has been looking into and experimenting with Web3 and the blockchain to future proof her own business, and why she enjoys the world of NFTs so much. Payal will talk us through an endless world of possibilities when it comes to this space, and even highlight some South ...
Sep 5, 2022
1 hr 2 min
S4 E6: "Not a regular mom" - Redefining the New Age South Asian Mom
What do you think when you hear the term "mom"? What do you picture when you picture a desi mom? Taking the previously uncool to cool, we're seeing a new generation of women claiming all aspects of their identity - motherhood, South Asianness, their hobbies, their kids, and everything in between. Today we have on Jyoti Chand (@mamajotes on Instagram) and we talk about how and why the image of what a South Asian mom is has changed. Jyoti talks about her journey as a creator and how she juggles...
Aug 15, 2022
1 hr 1 min
S4 E5: South Asians in Comedy
Does your comedy always have to stem from your race / religion / culture? Join us as we talk to Meghana Indurti and Daman Bamrah about how they got started in comedy and what drives them. Meg and Damn will get into the good, the bad, the ugly of comedy and how they think about the content of their sets as they think about talking to different kinds of audiences.
Aug 8, 2022
1 hr 3 min
S4 E4: A Look Inside Brown Girl Magazine's Untold
Publishing a book is no joke - especially one that seeks to tell the stories of South Asian women across the world in all different phases of life - young, old, married, single, divorced, taking care of their mothers or mother-in-laws, maintaining friendships or struggling with the loss of them. Untold did what few other books have been able to do before - collect a series of varied experiences and bring them together to representatively try to present a point of view on the experience of gro...
Aug 1, 2022
56 min
S4 E3: The Weight of Non-Romantic Relationships as a South Asian
Join us as we talk to 3 writers from Brown Girl Magazine's Untold anthology who speak about unique experiences such as the expectations between a daughter-in-law and mother-in-law, caretaking duties as a children of desi parents, and relationships with grandparents abroad. In this episode we'll dive into the relationships that define so much of our lives, and the way the expectations of those relationships are distinctly unique to being South Asian - often serving as extreme counter-types to ...
Jul 25, 2022
1 hr 11 min
S4 E2: Truth Telling on Social Media
Ever been confused by how your parents can hate Trump but support Modi? How do we have difficult and honest conversations on social media given very real potential threats from the governments of South Asian countries, as well as the comment trolls? What started as a conversation about how these two accounts, Urban Asian and South Asian Nation, are working to amplify South Asian voices and building a brand blossomed into a much more important conversation on the importance of being able to am...
Jul 18, 2022
1 hr 10 min
S4 E1: Make it Make Sense - The Legalities of Roe v. Wade Overturning
How did this happen? What allowed this to happen? And what are the legal arguments that underpin such a momentous decision in American history? Back with a bang, Shabnum comes back for Season 4 with Seema Iyer, a lawyer and journalist with Queens City News as they explore what the legal arguments were that allowed Roe v. Wade to get overturned. Seems explains the fractious history behind America's abortion laws (or lack thereof) and how we are in the situation we're in, as well as what we nee...
Jul 11, 2022
1 hr
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