
For the final episode of season 2, we brought back Return the Jewels' very first guest: Sameer Naseem - talented comedian, marketing guru, and man of many other talents. Sameer always brings a unique perspective to our show, and we talk about podcasting, humility vs. confidence, the line where self-deprecating humor goes from funny to a little too much, contrarianism as a marketing strategy, and more.
We're taking a short break after this episode to come back with some new content for you. In the meantime, subscribe and check out any episodes you may have missed.
P.S. Now's a great time to pick up a Return the Jewels t-shirt - you can even choose the color! https://return-the-jewels.myteespring.co/
🎬 TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Intro
04:16 Podcasting
15:20 Genuflecting
21:22 Fun & Enjoyment vs. ROI
23:55 Self-deprecating humor - the thin line
25:57 A Bizarre community of broken individuals
30:54 Contrarianism for Views
36:19 Passion of the Contrarian
37:54 The Race Card
44:45 The Truman Show Podcast
46:24 The Royal Family
52:27 Sameer a Bagel
53:10 Outro/Plugs
🌎 SAMEER'S LINKS
🐦 Sameer on Twitter https://twitter.com/Sameermon
📸 Funhouse Comedy Zoom Show: https://www.instagram.com/funhousecomedy/
#podcasting #contrarianism #theracecard #trumanshow #royalfamily #comedy
Mar 17, 2021
54 min

This week's episode is kinda weird. We get a little bit introspective about the direction of our personal brands and why. Danish Maqbool, who you may remember from Episode 11, have probably seen on the show Ramy, or maybe you remember him from MLG back in the day joined us to discuss these very weird thoughts. We got into branding, purpose, narrative crafting, the impulse to share, how and why we forge opinions, and so much more. Please like and share this video with everyone you know. We appreciate you helping us grow. Find Danish on all social media @DMaq1
Mar 10, 2021
1 hr 23 min

We brought back Sonal Aggarwal for another great episode where we touched on a lot of different topics. Sonal is one of the most interesting people we know, and on this episode we talked about: growing up in the Midwest, moving to India for classical music training, some funny stories from Goa & Italy, the billion dollar yoga industry in which brown people are severely underrepresented, and a lot more.
🎬 TIMESTAMPS:
00:00:00 Intro
00:09:01 Indian Classical Music Training
00:11:47 Pandemic Zoom Comedy
00:15:00 Tokenized or Fetishized
00:35:55 The Michaels - Jackson/Jordan
00:40:31 Queer-baiting Articles
00:43:40 Yamaha Scooter vs. Enfield Bullet
00:49:23 WHERE'S THE KOHINOOR?!?
00:50:01 The Yoga Industrial Complex
00:57:08 Dahler Mehndi, the original meme
01:05:23 White Yoga Instructors vs. Black Yoga Instructors
01:08:39 Sonal's Plugs
SONAL'S LINKS:
📺 Code-Switched the Series https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJzr4xnSVQxvLEhzjOVGgxw
📸 Sonal's IG https://www.instagram.com/sonalmedia/
📸 Zoom Comedy Show https://www.instagram.com/gimmethelightcomedyshow/
SUPPORT US: 🛒 Check out our merch: https://return-the-jewels.myteespring.co/
STAY IN TOUCH: 📸 Return the Jewels IG: https://www.instagram.com/returnthejewels/
#codeswitched #comedy #michaeljackson #goa #italy #chicago #indiana #michaeljackson #michaeljordan #queerbaiting #enfieldbullet #kohinoordiamond #yoga #dahlermehndi
Mar 3, 2021
1 hr 10 min

Super fun episode today with Lily Chun! This episode consisted of a couple of martinis as well as a great conversation about the concept of the model minority, the whitewashing of school curriculums, pandemic life in New York, antifa, socialism, capitalism, fascism, Alexa, and so much more.
🎬 TIMESTAMPS:
00:00:00 Intro
00:01:45 Confidence comes from keeping promises to yourself
00:04:18 Introducing Lily
00:06:51 Growing Up as the other
00:09:14 Model Minority
00:15:44 Tiger Mom
00:26:41 Racism is a part of capitalism
00:31:12 What can we do about these problems?
00:36:03 Unlearning Whitewashed Curriculum
00:42:45 The ANTIFA Bogeyman / Journalism being pushed to the right
00:50:30 What is Capitalism?
00:55:15 People would rather have fascism than socialism
01:07:16 Tokenized or Fetishized?
01:15:23 NY [Pandemic] State of Mind
01:39:36 What advice would you give to 20-year old Lily?
LILY'S COMICS & ANIMATIONS:
📸 https://www.instagram.com/lillionairebunclub/
SUPPORT US:
🛒 Check out our merch: https://return-the-jewels.myteespring.co/
STAY IN TOUCH:
📸 Return the Jewels IG: https://www.instagram.com/returnthejewels/
#modelminority #capitalism #pandemiclife #whitewashing #1619project #racism #socialism #fascism #tigermom #karlmarx #jeffbezos #newyork #antifa #alexa
Feb 24, 2021
1 hr 42 min

This was a great conversation between me and comedian Bassam Shawl, host of the Wokemenistan Podcast. We got into corporate lobbying, the Kruger Dunning Effect, perspective crafting, Kashmiri politics, finding love, and so much more! This is a long one but the conversation is very engaging!
Bassam:
🎧 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wokemanistan/id1549579649
📸 https://www.instagram.com/wokemanistan/
SUPPORT US:
🛒 Check out our merch: https://return-the-jewels.myteespring.co/
STAY IN TOUCH:
📸 Return the Jewels IG: https://www.instagram.com/returnthejewels/
Feb 17, 2021
1 hr 44 min

Today's show is a particularly fun one - our guest is my first* college roommate, Madhav Saxena. Madhav creates websites for a digital marketing agency, so we talk about the battle for internet privacy going on between Apple and Facebook, but we also go on to discuss the farmers protest, code switching, logical chains, and strategic framing. Oh, we also get into Gully Rap as well as the new Netflix film, White Tiger.
🎬 TIMESTAMPS:
00:00:00 Intro
00:02:54 Meena Harris
00:04:55 The Name
00:10:15 College - 4 Little Indians
00:12:15 COVID - Essential Worker PTSD
00:14:52 Coming to America
00:17:49 What Do You Do?
00:20:10 Apple vs. Facebook - Privacy Battles
00:28:30 Toxic Masculinity
00:34:16 Naked Mole Rats are Racist
00:36:12 Code-Switching
00:51:45 Our New Boiled Potato Food Truck
00:55:00 Cultural Authenticity
00:58:26 Bollywood Baba
01:02:42 Appropriation or Appreciation - Gully Rap
01:08:50 Hip-hop and Civil Disobedience - the Farmers Protests
01:14:30 White Tiger
01:19:54 Farmers Protests
01:29:25 Logical Fallacies & Misinformation
01:42:47 Trump's Participation Trophy
01:48:20 How Do You Reframe the Narrative?
01:52:30 Outro
SUPPORT US: 🛒 Check out our merch: https://return-the-jewels.myteespring.co/
STAY IN TOUCH: 📸 Return the Jewels IG: https://www.instagram.com/returnthejewels/
Further Reading/Viewing
📖 Where did Hyderabad get its name? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Hyderabad#Founding_of_Hyderabad
📖 Apple vs. Facebook: https://thehustle.co/%F0%9F%A5%8A-apple-vs-facebook/
📖 https://scroll.in/latest/985789/after-rihanna-climate-activist-greta-thunberg-extends-support-to-farmer-protests
📺 Bollywood Baba (Saint Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Ji Insan): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scuWiXG5bh8
Feb 10, 2021
1 hr 55 min

We're welcoming February with a great episode featuring our friend, Hass. Hass is a huge sneakerhead and digital media professional in NY, and is the creator/host of a new podcast called "My First Kicks". We get into everything: his background, health insurance, appropriation-appreciation, grinding to get what you want, and of course, kicks!
MY FIRST KICKS PODCAST
🎧 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/my-first-kicks/id1539283255
📸 https://www.instagram.com/myfirstkickspod/
SUPPORT US:
🛒 Check out our merch: https://return-the-jewels.myteespring.co/
📸 Return the Jewels IG: https://www.instagram.com/returnthejewels/
Feb 3, 2021
1 hr 30 min

Our 18th episode is here and we're super excited to welcome Lekha Sunkara Deere, MD. Lekha is an old friend from college, and we get into a lot of really interesting topics like her experiences as a pulmonary medicine fellow on the front lines in New Orleans during the peak of the pandemic in the area, becoming a mother during her fellowship, getting respect from both patients and other medical professionals, moving to Mississippi at 9, and of course, THE VACCINE. Timestamps and links below!
🎬 TIMESTAMPS:
00:00:00 Intro
00:05:15 Diversity in Mississippi
00:09:36 Moving to Mississippi at 9
00:13:20 Diversity in Higher Education
00:16:38 The Brain Drain
00:18:26 Race in Medicine
00:25:10 Power Mom - the Work Life Balance
00:30:32 Tokenized or Fetishized
00:37:15 The Pragmatic Indian
00:40:55 Pandemic Trauma on Medical Workers
00:45:29 Facing Your Own Mortality
00:47:00 Does Trauma Affect Children?
00:54:08 Women's Authority is Constantly Questioned
00:57:51 Should I Get Vaccinated?
01:05:55 Do Patients Lie?
01:08:14 How to Combat Stigma of Bad Doctors
01:19:32 The Vaccine Experience
01:22:49 Garbage PPE
01:24:56 GET VACCINATED
FURTHER READING:
📖 The Garbage Bags - https://www.marketwatch.com/story/nurse-at-brooklyn-hospital-on-coronavirus-protective-clothing-its-a-garbage-bag-its-like-something-out-of-the-twlight-zone-2020-04-07
📖 The Early Pandemic in New Orleans - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/26/us/coronavirus-louisiana-new-orleans.html
SUPPORT US:
🛒 Check out our merch: https://return-the-jewels.myteespring.co/
STAY IN TOUCH:
📸 Return the Jewels IG: https://www.instagram.com/returnthejewels/
Jan 27, 2021
1 hr 27 min

This week we have a bombastic fantastic episode for you. I had the opportunity to sit down with stand up comedian, writer, actor, Cannabis Shaman, and one of my favorite people, Ramon Rivas. If you know Ramon, then you know he has a lot of important stuff to say. We touched on Ramon's work helping build the Cleveland comedy scene, his experience growing up as a minority in the Midwest, generational trauma, hustling during a pandemic, and a ton more. Check out the episode description on youtube for timestamps, links to Ramon's website and various projects, as well as a link to support us by ordering some Return the Jewels merch!
Returnthejewels.com
Jan 20, 2021
2 hr 4 min

#ReturntheJewels #AndreDThompson #BrooklynSanta
It's our 16th episode and we have our first recurring guest. This is a great conversation with Andre D. Thompson. You can watch his earlier episode (#3) on this channel.
We talked about the precision of language and the responsiblitiy that inherently comes from a position of influence. Dre crafts arguments and plays with language for his profession because he's a writer and stand up comedian. We addressed issues of anxiety, confidence, marginalization, persecution complexes, and having an interventionist disposition.
Timestamps located below.
Please like, share, and subscribe. We appreciate all your support in helping us grow!
Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
03:31 - What's up, Dre?
08:05 - Anxiety Comes From Not Doing
12:01 - Other People's Insecurities
17:35 - Self Victimhood/Persecution Complex in First-Gen
21:30 - I Don't f--- with Victim Anything
23:00 - Toolkit - How do you catch self-pity?
27:10 - The Dre Test - am i the victim here? does this help me?
29:48 - Should I Shut the F**k Up?
33:42 - OJ Simpson
38:45 - You want to be a piece of s**t or not?
43:19 - Policing Language
48:18 - Living Righteously & Being Humble
50:46 - You Eat too much, You Start Farting
52:12 - Everybody Needs to Relax
54:13 - Outro
57:14 - Plugs
Jan 13, 2021
57 min
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