
Send us Fan Mail I've really enjoyed making this podcast since 2020, but the time has come for the last episode. After I returned to Canada at the end of last year I was committed to continuing, but I haven't been able to find a strong focus for the show. To me that's the signal that I need to stop, rather than keep making new episodes just to maintain the show. Thanks to everyone who's been involved over the years: the guests who gave their time to speak to me, the subscribers who paid regul...
Apr 26
2 min

Send us Fan Mail Sasmit Pokharel was sworn in as Minister of Education, Science and Technology and Minister of Youth and Sport in the Nepal Government on 26 March. When I interviewed him five years ago he was co-leader of a group of young people dedicated to fighting Nepal's "rape culture". I never imagined that in a handful of years he would be a senior government leader, which was a lack of imagination on my part, salted I think with a layer of ageism. I'm re-posting this episode so y...
Apr 1
33 min

Send us Fan Mail The number of Nepalis migrating to Canada has zoomed upwards in recent years, many of them first arriving as international students. They came for good education opportunities, free healthcare, and the promise of secure, stable futures. Many are on the path to reaching those goals, but it hasn't been as easy as they imagined. Researchers Deepa Nagari (Toronto Metropolitan University and York University) and Richa Shivakoti (TMU) interviewed a group of Nepali immigrants ...
Mar 22
27 min

Send us Fan Mail Bibek Poudel had a very detailed plan for succeeding in Canada. He would graduate from college, then work to gain experience in his IT field, setting himself up as a digital nomad—someone who could get a job and support himself basically anywhere, at any time. Then his luck ran out. On March 1st Bibek flew back to Nepal after five years, without getting permanent residency (PR). But in today's episode he tells me that is not an entirely bad development, and that he has anot...
Mar 8
31 min

Send us Fan Mail Aayush Pokharel is very close to getting his 'invitation' to apply for permanent residency in Canada. It's taken the former student five years to get to this point, and he's had some tough times along the way. Not surprisingly, he's learned a few things, and has some advice for current students in Nepal contemplating the path that he took. Resources Government of Canada immigration Immigration jargon - CRS = Comprehensive ranking system - CLB...
Feb 22
28 min

Send us Fan Mail It's been more than to months since I posted an episode, so I thought it was about time I was in touch. I'm speaking from the top of a hill, catching my breath as I look back at the ocean and a large island beyond the harbour. Continuing my walk I can see snow on the local mountain, so it's quite chilly here, for the west coast of Canada. I've been thinking a lot about the podcast. I do plan to continue it, with a focus both on Nepal and Canada. The government her...
Dec 21, 2025
3 min

Send us Fan Mail Today you will hear the last episode that I recorded in Kathmandu. I had long wanted to talk to a representative from a so-called labour receiving country – one that hires some of the hundreds of thousands of Nepali migrant workers who leave home each year to earn their livelihoods abroad. Although it was difficult to speak to someone from an embassy in Kathmandu, I did make contact with a project of the Korean International Development Agency, or KOICA, called K-HaMi. It foc...
Oct 15, 2025
21 min

Send us Fan Mail In Monday's Kathmandu Post I read short bios of two of the 19 protesters killed by police in the GenZ demonstration one week ago. Both were from Nepal's Far West — Deepak Singh Saud was from Baitadi district, Subas Bohara from Bajhang. Deepak was 18, Subas 21. I send my condolences to their loved ones. As you probably know by now, the protest was about much more than the recent Nepal Government ban on social media. It was an explosion of frustration at how the politic...
Sep 16, 2025
4 min

Send us Fan Mail Help steer the future of Nepal Now as it moves to Canada in September 2025. Fill out the survey. It takes just 3 minutes. You might have guessed from the headline for this episode that I am leaving Nepal. It’s a family move actually, back to my home country of Canada. Of course I will miss Nepal, where I’ve now spent 14 years of my life, but I’m confident we’ll be back one day. I will also miss doing this: speaking to all of you every couple of weeks about this fascinat...
Aug 26, 2025
2 min

Send us Fan Mail The Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 21 hit Nepali migrant workers hard. Thousands working in India were blocked from crossing the border into Nepal. Others overseas were laid off and confined to living quarters with little or no food, no money, and no tickets home. We recorded this episode in the midst of that dark period. While it describes the terrible conditions and uncertainty affecting migrants, it is at the same time a good primer on some of the core issues around ...
Aug 6, 2025
56 min
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