As 2023 comes to a close, we revisited some of our favorite moments from all this past year’s Modern Minorities conversations this past year. Minority voices for ALL of our majority ears. Heard someone you liked? Be sure to go back and check out any of our past episodes, leave us a 5-star review on Apple/Spotify, and send us a note about your favorite MMoment — it keeps up going: [email protected]

...so grab a (final) drink for the year, share with a friend (or three), and remember, we’re ALL Modern Minorities. 

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“People are interconnected in India, there's an interdependence that doesn't exist here — a connectedness, togetherness.”

To continue our chat on India ahead of Raman’s return trip, we connected with his other “Learning from Leaders” podcast co-hosts Sharad Lal and Rajiv Satyal. Sharad is speaker and coach based in Singapore who Raman worked with in Asia a lifetime ago, and Rajiv is a longtime FrieMMd of the pod - and a stand-up comic and entertainer in Los Angeles. In recent years both have done a ton of work on the subcontinent, so had a unique professional and perspective we couldn’t miss. India’s gone through more change in recent decades than the west has in a century. India isn’t just a modern superpower - it’s becoming a geopolitical swing vote - and of course there’s all the cultural wonder and awe folks have romanticized over the years, but now also with all the social and political growing pains one would expect from such a...colorful country. By chatting with some old friends, we hope to get a better feel for what to expect...

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“India just, it's so drastic, the gap between those who have and those who don't. But they also have a lot of joy. There's billions who live in fundamentally different ways from how we live and you can't get a sense of that until you're around it.”

Ahead of Raman’s return to India - his first time back in nearly two decades - he wanted to reconnect with some childhood friends - Barun Singh and Sonali Kulkarni. Barun is a tech and sustainability entrepreneur, and Sonali is a physician and public health advocate. India’s gone through more change in recent decades than the west has in a century. India isn’t just a modern superpower - it’s becoming a geopolitical swing vote - and of course there’s all the cultural wonder and awe folks have romanticized over the years, but now also with all the social and political growing pains one would expect from such a...colorful country. By chatting with some old friends, we hope to get a better feel for what to expect...

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“Seek things that challenge you to think differently, in a new and better way. Seek to understand and empower the people closest to the real knowledge source, the people that do the work every day. Instead of being right, do right.”

David Taylor & A.G. Lafley are two of P&G's Emeritus CEOs, who joined Raman on-stage at the recent recent P&G Alumni Global Conference in Washington DC for a candid conversation going beyond their personal stories - or even the stories of the day - to discuss their approaches to some of the broad challenges we have to face together, to meet the moment.

This is NOT a Modern Minorities conversation. Raman’s third podcast (not about comics) is “Learnings from Learnings from Leaders: the P&G Alumni Podcast” (pgalums.com/podcast) - where Raman and his P&G Alumni pals sit down with top leaders in business about not just their professional experiences, but their purpose, values, and principles in their personal lives

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“Playing Jasmine, and meeting mixed kids and parents saying, ‘my kid has never had someone to look up to,’ — we're creating space for people to see themselves."

Join us as we take on the wonders — over, sideways and under on a magic carpet ride — with the cast of Aladdin on Broadway! In a candid conversation Sonya Balsara and Don Darryl Rivera star in Disney’s hit musical Aladdin on Broadway, which since 2014 has welcomed more than 10 million people and grossed over a billion dollars. Sonya Balsara made her debut as Jasmine earlier this year, bringing the beloved character to life on a magic carpet. An alum of NYU Tisch, Sonya’s theater credits also include work and performances in "The Karate Kid," "Sense and Sensibility," "West Side Story" and has TV appearances on "FBI" (CBS) and "Mozart in the Jungle" (Amazon). Don Darrly Rivera, aka DDR, has been playing the role of Iago for over 10 years. An Asian American pioneer within the entertainment industry, he’s one of few AAPI cast members representing the Filipino community, and has been featured in news outlets from Broadway.com, ABS-CBN to Asian Journal. Sharon, Sonya, and DDR talk about their theatrical journey - the experiences, challenges and successes that got them to a whole new world...

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AladdinTheMusical.com

instagram.com/sonyabalsara

instagram.com/dondarrylrivera

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“It sucks that a lot of times when POC want to break into the industry, we have to publish a memoir first. But I personally had to — I've been needing to do this for a very long time.”

Deb JJ Lee, is an award-winning graphic novelist and artist. Their young adult IN LIMBO tells Deb’s Korean American coming of age story - covered by Quarantined Comics. When we shared that episode, they got in touch. Deb shares their experiences growing up between two cultures. For a while, Deb’s English wasn’t perfect. Teachers could not pronounce their Korean name. Her face and her eyes―especially her eyes―feel wrong. As we learned in this ranging conversation with Deb - this was a work they had to do, to not just work through a story, but to find closure in the aftermath. IN LIMBO is moving work of mental health, gender identity, and growing up. For many of us who have often felt like outsiders, this story is painfully familiar, and brings forth a lot of empathy for those around us invisibly struggling. 

LEARN ABOUT DEB

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Thanksgiving’s always been special because it combines two universally loved things, being around friends and family, and food — some of the very topics we talk about the most on this show. So we decided to revisit of our favorite questions with some of our favorite FrieMMds of the Pod over the years: 

Raman Sehgal (UK edition), Jieun Kirtley, Justin Richmond, Tyanne Benallie, Andres Barragan, Paris Hatcher, Steven Wakabayashi, Mira Jacob, Jonathan Hill, Gina Brillon, Ian Haddock, Dani Goulet, Gene Luen Yang, Sara Alfageeh, Bhavik Kumar, Aaliyah Habeeb, Tolentino, Seif Hamid, Nidhi Chanani, Victor Luckerson, Chirstina Lee, Sung Kang, and Mandi Sehgal

So enjoy some delicious - and not so delicious recos as you make your final run to pick up some last minute cranberry sauce. We hope you’re making the time to be with folks you care about, and find a moment to enjoy some great food with them. Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours...

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“That's the thing about fiction — you can hear the same story at different points in your life and you bring something different to it every time you hear the story.”

Justin Rueff is an artist, designer, educator and creator. Justin paints murals and signs, he draws comics and illustrates books. Justin’s the co-creator and artist for LESS DESOLATE, a new comics haiku project he brought to life with Seattle poet laureate Shin Yu Pai, a past FrieMMd of the Pod. Justin’s created hundreds of hand-painted signs and murals for businesses across Oregon and California — on a variety of surfaces including glass, stone and vinyl. He’s the author and illustrator of a few 'zines and comics including Brother Crow, A Guide to Understanding the Never-ending Story and Heroes & Lovers. Justin’s thoughtful work mixes traditional Mexican Art, comics, and album covers - running from people nature to food - and LESS DESOLATE is a powerful work worthy of any bookshelf. You’ll enjoy this candid conversation about collaboration, inspiration, comics and poetry

LEARN ABOUT JUSTIN

MENTIONS

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“Even to this day, the cool thing about Diwali is that I can't wait to add to the traditions I learned from my parents.”

Diwali - the Festival of Lights - is celebrated by more than a BILLION people worldwide. And like so many of our traditions with roots in religion, Diwali is ALSO similar because it’s a cultural celebration where stories of family, friends, fun and yes, food, play a big part. So we asked for a little help from our FriMMds (of the Pod) - old and new. Huge thanks to everyone for sharing their Diwali stories...

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LEARN ABOUT OUR FRIENDS 

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“Jokes are subjective anyway, but laughs are as objective as you can get — as long as the joke is funny and the audience is laughing. That's where the line is, if people laugh or not.”

Jocelyn Chia is a New York-based lawyer-turned-comedian, who's a regular at the Comedy Cellar and Gotham Comedy Club, and has been featured in Vulture, Vice, CNN, BBC, The New York Times, Sirius XM, MTV, Fox News, TMZ, Vice TV, and Comedy Central. Now if the name Jocelyn Chia sounds familiar - or even if it doesn't, you've heard of her. That's because she really is infamous...at least in Malaysia. You see, back In June 2023, Jocelyn made the front page of The New York Times. The Singaporean comedian got into hot water when she told a series in NYC that went viral with Malaysians, but not in a good way. And we're not talking about just a few Malaysians. We're talking about pretty much the entire country. So FrieMMd of the Pod and THE Funny Indian Rajiv Satyal reached out to have her on HIS TanGent podcast - because he admired her willingness to stand her ground and not apologize for a joke. You'll hear Jocelyn's deep-dive into what happened, how she dealt with it, how the levels of trust about the media among Asian and American comedians differ, and how Jocelyn's mental health preparation enabled her to not only weather the storm but also to capitalize on the moment. This is a great conversation between two comics not just talking about their craft, but on the very merits of free speech in our increasing global - and social - society. 

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