Season 4 - Episode 10: Before the war on terror, America used to support the radicalization of Islam because it used to be seen as "communism taking away your religion." America supported these madrassas, and the Mujahideen because they were seen as anti-communist. Same as what they did in Afghanistan. So for a long time, that was the alignment between the US and Pakistan. So they were friends, naturally. When it came to 1971, and the elections happened, Pakistan rejected it and the genocide broke out. During this time, America had a partnership with Pakistan and the real reason was that at that time, Nixon and Henry Kissinger (who won the Nobel Peace Prize) were trying to create this very famous opening into China. There's a famous photograph of Nixon and Mao, and it was this that won them their legacy, and their Nobel prize. How did one of the greatest achievements in American foreign policy's history happen? It was Pakistan that brokered the backchannel between Kissinger and China. Both Nixon and Kissinger were so desperate to make this happen, and the economic benefits of this happening were huge for Kissinger and Nixon. They wanted this so badly and Pakistan agreed to help the US out. "Yeah, we'll help you out, but we have this insurgency. We have these people in East Pakistan that are winning these elections and, they're taking away our power. We don't want to deal with them, keep giving us money and weapons that you've been continuing to give us. In return, we'll give you your China back-channel" And that's the essential distort. They want their Nobel peace prize, and a bunch of Bangladeshis had to die in order for that to go on and go through.

Listen to the entire conversation with Fahim Hamid on the BoNY Podcast.

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Season 4 - Episode 9: Our mission for Jore Magazine not only revolves around amplifying and uniting the voices of the South Asian diaspora, but it’s also to be an all-encompassing platform. We make sure to shine the spotlight on everything, from culture and tradition to fashion and language. The purpose of this is to expand and create as much content that can speak to all types of people; that way, Jore Magazine can be a platform for everybody to enjoy. 

Season 4 - Episode 8: A lot of us, when we were kids didn't struggle the same way. But a lot of us have dealt with isolation one way or the other. At one point in our life, we've all dealt with that isolation. I think this film is a homage to that isolation. I made sure that the characters in the film really felt authentic. I made sure it was really the heart of the movie. I love this action stuff, and chase sequences, but I really wanted the characters to be the vital essence of the film.

Listen to the entire conversation with Sayef Zaman on the BoNY Podcast.

Available on all Podcast platforms and on BengalisofNewyork.com/bony-podcast. Subscribe and share. Link in bio. Also, Amazon Alexa/Echo knows us! Just say, “Alexa, play BoNY Podcast."

Season 4 - Episode 7: "It was unfortunately after George Floyd's brutal murder in June of 2020, me and three of my friends who were all part of the South Asian organization, based in the US, got together and realized that our community was completely quiet to all of the racial injustices that were going on in US. We wanted to make sure that we were part of an active and ongoing discussion that can drive positive change. When we brought this topic to our community, they brushed it off as a political issue, and they didn't want to get involved in it. Because of that, we were not only upset, but we realized that many other South Asian organizations might be going through the same thing. So within 48 hours, we had launched ASANA Voices. The Alliance of South Asians in North America as a platform to educate and engage South Asians in North America on critical issues."

Listen to the entire conversation with Prince Bhojwani, CEO of ASANA Voices on the BoNY Podcast.

Available on all Podcast platforms and on BengalisofNewyork.com/bony-podcast. Subscribe and share. Link in bio. Also, Amazon Alexa/Echo knows us! Just say, “Alexa, play BoNY Podcast.

Season 4 - Episode 6: When an individual suffers from depression, waves of anxiety, or any other mental condition, and even emotions that are difficult to manage, we have a sad tendency as a society to dismiss them. That is one of the primary reasons I went into psychology and am working to become a psychologist because I believe everybody deserves to feel heard and have a welcoming space to discuss their emotions. In the simplest explanation, I can box psychology up as a concern with the scientific explanation of human behavior. 

Season 4 - Episode 5: Kotha is a feminist organization based in Bangladesh, and we are working with root causes of gender based violence. We're fighting root causes of gender based violence through primary intervention, so we're taking a more preventative approach to the culture of gender based violence that exists in this country. One of our main flagship program is "Kotha at school," which is working with middle schools/high schools and just education institutions in general, too. We help incorporate comprehensive sexuality education, which we believe is a really important tool for a long-term fight against gender based violence.

Season 4 - Episode 4: I sincerely believe that we need far more South Asian representation across the world in each arena of media, whether it be journalism or news production. In particular, I feel that representation needs to be significantly increased in the United States. I think, sometimes, too many of our news organizations feel as though they have one or two individuals that look like, and they assume they have hit a checkmark. However, it is certainly not enough to just have one or two South Asian anchors or TV personalities. We need to represent what our country looks like and what the issues that face Americans look like today from the voices of more South Asians.  - @narmeennews

Listen to the entire conversation with Narmeen Choudhury on the BoNY Podcast.

Available on all Podcast platforms and on BengalisofNewyork.com/bony-podcast. Subscribe and share. Link in bio. Also, Amazon Alexa/Echo knows us! Just say, “Alexa, play BoNY Podcast."

Season 4 - Episode 3: "I think this is the year where people are going to have to lean into activities that they do on their own, which can still bring them some level of fulfillment. Or if you're sort of building skill and just trying to really hone in on it and get better at it, this is the year to do that. I think you can absolutely talk about that. It doesn't have to just only be sports teams or only clubs. Co-curricular activities can go well beyond that, even if you hold a job or something. I know people who do virtual tutoring and similar things for money. That's still a valuable experience and something like that counts as a co-curricular.

Listen to the entire conversation with Sofia Charania on the BoNY Podcast.

Available on all Podcast platforms and on BengalisofNewyork.com/bony-podcast. Subscribe and share. Link in bio. Also, Amazon Alexa/Echo knows us! Just say, “Alexa, play BoNY Podcast."

Season 4 - Episode 2: "While working on the startup, this is where I started with the finance. Basically I started learning about other startups because you're within the founder community, and that's what I learned about Wealthfront, which is a robo-advisor that does investing for you. So I was really intrigued and I started learning about it. No one really taught me anything about compound interest or index funds before this. My thought was that investing is risky. Don't do it. Just save your money, and call it a day. That's what our parents also taught us. But in the process, I discovered this entire world of index fund, low cost, broad based funds. Of course, there are also Muslim platforms as well, like Wahid and stuff like that, in addition to wealth front. That's when I realized you can actually grow your wealth exponentially.

Listen to the entire conversation with Dr. Dewan Farhana, DO on the BoNY Podcast.

Available on all Podcast platforms and on BengalisofNewyork.com/bony-podcast. Subscribe and share. Link in bio. Also, Amazon Alexa/Echo knows us! Just say, “Alexa, play BoNY Podcast."

Season 4 - Episode 1: Being in the music industry is not as easy as many of these artists showcase it as being. In reality, for a great handful of people getting started, it truly requires a lot of hard work and dedication. It is not just about the talent, but instead, one has to be able to uphold the work ethic and mindset to even have their craft begin to be appreciated by others. In my experience, a great chunk of what being in the music industry is comes down to having to knock down heavy doors and paving the way for people to sincerely care about your art.