Amplify

Welcome back to Season 2 of Amplify! Our very first episode this season is with the brilliant, funny and minimalist designer Payal Khandwala. With a background in fine art, her foray into fashion is simply a shift in her canvas. Her clothes are an extension of her personality and values that emphasise function, form, colour, traditions and Indian heritage. She is a firm believer in not sacrificing comfort for the sake of style and speaks up about the perils of following trends in the fashion industry. We talk about her design process, why she distances herself from fashion and how her clothes seek to empower the wearer to go about their daily chores whilst feeling put together. We talk about the ins and outs of building a sustainable brand from scratch and how we will dress post-pandemic when the lines between public and private life has been reduced to the edge of a screen. Payal also shares some of her sustainable practices that at present include repairing the toys torn apart by her puppy! You can check out her incredible designs at https://payalkhandwala.shop. Do follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/amplifypodcast/, like, share, follow and leave a review via your podcast provider. 

Continuing the conversation from last week, in Part 2 with Sana Powell, MA, LPC a.k.a Curly Therapist we talk a bit more about the cultural context of accessing therapy. In a country like India where mental health is still not openly talked about, how does one begin to access resources they may need? What about when you don't have the language to articulate what you're feeling or going through? Are you still experiencing depression, anxiety or loneliness in that case? Desi households often comprise of multiple generations living together and many have to toe the line between enmeshment and isolation. Although having a community helps with people who are experiencing mental health issues how does one strike the balance between asserting healthy boundaries and seeking connection? This episode is a fitting finale to a Season 1 where various aspects of sustainability has been poked, prodded and examined. Nearly all of our guests talked about mental health and we hope that this episode will resonate with you as we record during these tumultuous times. Do check out Sana's freely available blog and resources via @curlytherapist on IG. For people living in India, https://thelivelovelaughfoundation.org is a comprehensive place to begin in order to access resources close to wherever you are. Stay tuned, stay safe and keep in touch with us via Instagram: @amplifypodcast

Our guest for this episode is Sana Powell, a Licensed Professional Counsellor and blogger under the handle Curly Therapist who lives and works in the US and is working towards diversifying and decolonising therapy. As we come to the end of our series, one of the common themes apart from sustainability, intersectionality, climate action etc has been mental health. Many of our guests on the episodes have credited their transition to living and consuming more consciously to an introspection of and investment in their mental wellbeing. So it only seemed fit that mental wellbeing was covered as a distinct topic. Especially now when the world navigates a pandemic, an economic and social recession as well as uncertainty and anxiety about what the future holds. Although mental health awareness has increased in the recent years, progress in mental health service delivery has been relatively slow. Existing barriers include public health priorities and its influence on funding, challenges to delivery of mental healthcare in primary-caregiving settings, the low numbers of people trained in providing mental health care as well as the lack of sensitisation to people undergoing treatment and their social inclusion.  Mental Health Awareness month has come to an end and this episode is just one small contribution to the larger discussion of mental well being that everyone needs to be having across the world.

What we choose to eat affects everything. Our current methods of rearing animals for meat and dairy are highly inefficient and are contributing to issues such as environmental degradation, global poverty and compromising human health. In this episode we are joined by Varun Deshpande, Managing Director at The Good Food Institute in India. The GFI is a global non profit organisation engaged in promoting the plant based and cultivated meat sector by fostering innovation, supporting startups, engaging with corporations and influencing institutions. We talk about the impact of animal agriculture on climate change, its role in pandemics and the filthy process of slaughter. We talk about how companies such as Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods in the USA are disrupting the way we consume meat and how they would fare in a country as diverse and divided as India. If you're interested in the work they do check them out at https://www.gfi.org. If you'd like to understand the issues we talk about in more depth then head over to their own podcast Feeding 10 Billion co-hosted by Varun himself. As ever, don't forget to like us on Instagram @amplifypodcast, give us feedback at [email protected] and rate our show on your podcast provider.