“We are afraid of the pain of healing because there is something comforting about living in the now, in the conflict, in our own assumptions about others. We are in uncharted territory and that's frightening.”

Abdul-Rehman Malik is an award-winning journalist, educator, cultural organizer — and a great storyteller you’ll just want to sit back and listen to all day. His work at the intersection of faith and social change has spanned the globe — across the US, Canada, UK, Pakistan, Indonesia, Sudan, Mali, Malaysia and more. Abdul-Rehman, a BBC-radio veteran, hosts the popular podcast “This Being Human” - featuring Muslim voices, stories, and experiences, AND is currently a Lecturer at the Yale Divinity School as well as director of the Muslim Leadership Lab at Yale’s Dwight Hall Center of Social Justice. In this must-listen-to conversation about heritage, compassion, pain, and forgiveness - we go deep on the state of the world as it’s always been, and how we must face it for what it is today. It’s a conversation that will leave you wanting more, for which you’re in luck, because Abdul-Rehman also has an amazing podcast that creates greater empathy and understanding through conversation. Sound familiar? (PS - his is way better)

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“We know him so much from his speeches — but this book shows how exhausting everything was.”

In honor of MLK day, we could've just put a famous speech to a hip beat, but instead Raman + Ryan decided to read KING - Ho Che Anderson's critically acclaimed unauthorized graphic biography of the life of Martin Luther King Jr — on Raman’s other underground podcast, Quarantined Comics. Ryan also snuck in another Anderson book GODHEAD - a near-future capitalist tale juxtaposing the white corporate and black urban experience against a sci-fi backdrop of...finding God?

Graphic novelist Ho Che Anderson is a London-born creator of Jamaican heritage in Toronto - who brings a pretty unique perspective to the handful of independent comics he's created over the years. Most likely informed by the sensibilities of who his parents named him after - Ho Chi Minh + Che Guevara. So it was no surprise to see such a contrarian and unflinchingly honest take on a civil rights icon like Martin Luther King Jr. While most folks usually only know just five words about the Civil Rights movement ("Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King") - the graphic novel KING focuses on not just the larger than life legend, but the man and all his flaws along his journey and the people’s varying takes on him back then...

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“Being an immigrant kid - your experience and your parents’ and your grandparents’ experiences are in three completely different worlds.”

Gene Luen Yang is an award-winning cartoonist, storyteller, and teacher - whose been creating comics since the fifth grade. His 2006 graphic novel American Born Chinese will be a 2022 Disney+ TV series by Shang Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton. Two of Gene’s other two books - Dragon Hoops + Superman Smashes the Klan - won the 2020 Eisner (the Oscars for comics), and Raman’s reviewed them on his other podcast Quarantined Comics. Gene’s a former CS + Math teacher - who’s since gone on to work on some of the biggest name in pop culture and comics - including Avatar the Last AirBender, rebooting Shang Chi over @ Marvel Comics (before the hit movie), and having more than a few unique takes on DC’s Superman. Gene was named the Library of Congress’ fifth National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, and has also received a MacArthur Genius Grant. Gene advocates for the importance of reading diversely - and makes his kids finish all of their projects. Raman tried really hard not to fanboy over one of his personal heroes...

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Michelle Li is a longtime reporter and anchor for NBC St. Louis. During a January broadcast sharing commonly eaten foods for the New Year’s, she briefly shared some of her Korean American New Years traditions.

Then a viewer left her station a voicemail. Then Michelle shared the voicemail. And the internet blew up. #veryasian

...Sharon and Raman react - and unpack - this a little more.

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“The choice to be an activist is a privilege, because so many people don't have that choice.”

One of - if not THE defining issue of our time is climate. To kick off the new year, we wanted to share a powerful conversation two young climate activists - Raeesah Nor Mohamed (from South Africa) and Hussein Ali Ghandour (from Lebanon) - had with our our FrieMMd of the Pod Jay Veraldi on HIS Animalia podcast. These two are not simply minorities because of the color of their skin - but because of what they believe, AND where they believe it - in some unique and challenging places -- where caring about the climate is NOT necessarily a mainstream thing.

Over the past few years, you’ve seen an uptick in protests, marches, and demonstrations from incredible people like Raeesah and Hussein from all over the world. At COP26 in Glasgow, over 100,000 activists made their way outside the event to demonstrate and push for more decisive action from world leaders. Understand what motivates activists like Raeesah and Hussein to give everything they have to the issue of climate change. It's really worthwhile to hear where these two are coming from, how they view the world, and the actions they are taking on behalf of the climate movement. While we can't all be activists - we should all heat this chat to reflect on our own personal privilege, and more importantly - focus on where we can drive greater systemic change for us all.

Animalia’s mission is to create positive, inclusive dialogue on critical topics that protect this planet — AND to support the people and organizations working to lift up all life who occupy it. Make it your resolution to subscribe to their podcast + newsletter at JoinAnimalia.com

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• South African Climate Justice Charter: safsc.org.za/climate-justice-charter

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As 2021 comes to a close, we put together a not-so-quick compilation of our favorite moments from all of the great conversations we had over the past year. So sit back with a beverage of choice, enjoy, and please DO share our podcast with a friend (and leave us a review) — it makes a big difference! We can’t wait for you to hear what’s next in the new year!

Got a guest idea or want to ask a question? Email us! [email protected]

xoxo,

SHARON & RAMAN

=

PS - Heard someone you liked? Be sure to go back and check out any of our past episodes. Featuring the voices of our amazing guests...

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“Publishers thought it was maybe going to be a niche book, but I was surprised by how many really young readers were connecting with it. I want this to be something that you could trick your conservative dad into buying for you.”

Jen Wang is an award-winning graphic novel author and illustrator Jen Wang - best known for some amazing stories like “Stargazing,” “The Prince & the Dressmaker”, “In Real Life” and “Koko Be Good”. We’ve been fans of hers for a really long time. Her books are not-quite-autobiographical (always), but there are seeds of truth and real life in almost every story she tells. Being Asian American, having a major healthcare scare as a kid, and more. And since Sharon’s off doing who knows what, Raman’s Quarantined Comics co-host Ryan Joe subs in FTW. But most interesting about our chat with Jen was diving into her unconventional journey and decisions along the way. We challenge you to give Jen’s books a try - for you and your kids - and NOT find your eyes start leaking.

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“You can't expect to do better unless you know better. Understanding who we are collectively - Asian-Americans and non-Asians.”

Representative Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, serves in Illinois' General Assembly - representing Illinois’ 17th District since 2019. Jennifer was the co-sponsor of a recently passed the nation’s FIRST Asian-American history curriculum bill - the TEAACH (Teaching Equitable Asian American Community History Act) - which is a big deal. Not just that it passed (long overdue), but that it will hopefully prove as a template in many other states around our country.

Jennifer's many things - a politician, a lawyer, and advocate, a mom. She’s the granddaughter of Chinese immigrants who fought deportation under the Chinese Exclusion Act. Her sense of justice was instilled from an early age through her parents - active in the civil rights and women’s rights movements - making Jennifer a determined fighter for the voiceless and the vulnerable her entire adult life - taking on transnational human traffickers and aggressively defending the rights of unaccompanied immigrant children. Providing access to justice to our community’s most vulnerable residents - developing legal capacity to represent Dreamers, domestic violence survivors, and low-income residents.

For Jennifer - the law is a piece of a greater system to be shaped to be more inclusive for all. But it’s ultimately about building greater empathy and understanding amongst ALL Americans.

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“The thing I learned was that fear that I had — everyone else had. And that changed everything for me.”

Dr. Ali is a clinical psychologist specializing in social anxiety — probably best known for The Psych Show (YouTube), where he breaks down and explains the importance of mental health in a fun, accessible way. Dr. Ali is ALSO clinical advisor at LOOP - the only social-based mental health app designed for those who experience social anxiety and want to overcome it. Loop provides the space and support folks need to learn new skills and build up the reflexes to tackle our most anxiety-inducing moments.

Both of these ventures represent Dr. Ali’s mission to make mental health accessible to all — something he’s super passionate about, given his own personal history with social anxiety, from growing up a mute Pakistani American in California. Dr. Ali has been seen by millions - through his YouTube videos, and having been featured on HBO, PBS, Buzzfeed, Netflix, and many more places. He’s a BIG nerd about all things comics + sci-fi, and has the honor of being referenced (and not made fun of) by John Oliver on HBO’s Last Week Tonight. Through fun and not-so-fun stories of growing up - that we can all relate to - you’ll understand what drives Dr. Ali, and why mental health affects all of us, and needs to be talked about - and understood - more.

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“The beauty is there is so much opportunity in solving the climate crisis. Let’s give more people access to the climate movement and make the movement fight for everybody.”

Molly is a former policy advisor for energy and climate change at the Obama White House where she helped implement President Obama's energy agenda and Climate Action Plan. Since leaving government, Molly now helps leading companies, nonprofits, activists, influencers, and communities create more effective climate communication and advocacy. An unabashed idealist - Molly’s optimism is infectious. Because it's only by understanding the climate opportunity for ALL of us - especially marginalized communities - that we're going to create systemic change. Greening your life is great, but engaging people - and registering them to vote - will make a bigger difference. Molly’s ultimate goal is to give everybody access to the climate movement, making the movement a fight for everybody. We also talked about her family’s (interned) American heritage, acceptable Hawaiian slang, not thinking about elephants, voter outreach via online dating, and ice climbing frozen waterfalls

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