Group Chat

Post-Apocalypse Money Matters - Lockdown measures are easing and you have less money. So now what? How can you make it work better for you? And how do you make the most of your summer?

Time for a laugh. What's happened to the comedy circuit since Covid-19? And what's trending in the circle now? Comedians Ehsaan Akbar (Asian Network's very own!) and Nabz Pat join Poppy to talk all things funny and a couple of (comedic) roasts.

Mobeen is joined by author of the book Unicorn, Amrou Al-Khahi, who will read passages of their autobiography and talk about the issues that arise. At the heart of the book is Amrou’s search for acceptance and love from family and society. It details their life from a god-fearing Muslim boy enraptured with their mother, to a vocal, queer drag queen estranged from their family and all that happens in between. Mobeen and Amrou look and discuss the main themes travelling through the book including growing up feeling an outsider, the academic drive for acceptance and finally finding drag as a way of breaking free of shame.

Dr Radha joins Poppy ahead of the relaxing of Lockdown rules (and some reintroduction of it too!). Many people are nervous, some have had enough and almost everyone will feel the difference in the world as we know it. How do we navigate this new path? Dr Radha provides hope and empowerment to ensure that life can return to normal in the best way that we as individuals can, to make sure we get the most out of everything around us.

Restauranter and chef, Dipna Anand and Adam from Halal Food Gastro join Poppy to talk all things food post lockdown! How will the restaurant experience change? What about all those people that have been making food at home now? All the self-titled master chefs that have now filled up our Instagram feeds. From the shortage of flour to the indulgence of takeaways, this is your one-stop episode for everything food!

Mobeen is joined by Divina from Drag Race UK and Shiri Shah, a performance artist and creative writer, to talk all things Pride 2020. What changed this year? How have people coped with the feeling of not connecting physically? What does it mean for the future of Pride? Plus fun and games with Divina!

This month marks thirty-six years since the storming of the Golden Temple in Amritsar, an event that had tragic consequences that are still felt to this day: Parvinder, a young British Sikh, asks why even now her family has always found it difficult to talk about it. Mobeen and guests explore what happened and why its impact was so far-reaching.

Featuring contributions from Dr Gurnam Singh - an academic, journalist and human rights activist; Pav Singh - Author of 1984 India’s Guilty Secret; and Uma Chakravarti - an Indian historian and filmmaker who witnessed the aftermath of the raids in Delhi and then went on to write The Delhi Riots: Three Days in the Life of a Nation.

Poppy and Mobeen reflect on the events and conversations of the last few weeks, where the concept of anti-racism has been high on the agenda since the death of George Floyd in the US. Kicking off a series of programmes on the topic, they discuss their experiences and potential for change among Asian communities.

In this episode, Poppy looks at how lockdown has positively impacted people's lives in some way or another. Finance professional and blogger Kasi joins Poppy to look at all the good that has come out of lockdown.

Why are people from Black and Asian backgrounds twice as likely to die from Covid-19?

Mobeen asks why the highest diagnosis rates of Covid-19 in the UK have been in people with Black and Asian backgrounds,and why they are twice as likely to die from Covid19. Mobeen chats with guests Dr Mo Sattar, a GP from Leeds and Zohra Khaku from the Muslim Youth Helpline, about what can be done about it and why it got to that stage in the first place. They also look into the realities of COVID19 in our Asian communities and what its like working as frontline connections to the public.