SASSpod

Lalita du Perron talks to recently awarded PhD Alexa Russo about collectives, sustainable agriculture, gender, and indigeneity.

Lalita du Perron talks to Isha Bhallamudi about her research on women gig workers in the informal beauty industry in Mumbai. What are the benefits and downfalls of doing gig work for women? What is the role of AI in managing the apps? Bhallamudi has her PhD from the University of California, Irvine, and then she had a postdoc in the Digital Civil Society Lab and Department of Communication at Stanford.

Instagram handle: _ishacore

Isha's website.

Lalita du Perron talks to Sharika Thiranagama about her new book, how she came to this research in Palakkad, Kerala, after her earlier work on war in Sri Lanka, and all matters of caste, class, and identity.

Lalita du Perron talks to Rahul Rao about his book The Psychic Lives of Statues: Reckoning with the Rubble of Empire (Pluto Press, 2025), the challenges of keeping one’s writing up-to date in a rapidly changing world, and his recent talk at the Stanford Center for South Asia. Learn about Dr. Rao and his work here.

Lalita du Perron talks to Muskan Shafat ’21 about the ongoing relevance of the Stanford Global Studies/South Asia track Minor, her experiences since graduating from Stanford, and her new company Frontier Labs.

Learn more about Muskan Shafat's work and how to get in touch here.

Learn about Shafat's research here.

Learn more about the financial clarity programme or Money System here.

Lalita du Perron talks to Joti Singh, founder of Duniya Dance and Drum Company about her own experiences dancing while growing up in a Panjabi community in Georgia, starting Duniya Dance and Drum, and the ongoing importance of the message of her production Ghadar Geet.

NOTE: There is some noise disturbance in the first 5 minutes, which is resolved afterwards.

Lalita du Perron talks to Postdoctoral Fellow Danny Shanahan about his work on literature and emergency law in Northern Ireland and Kashmir, the parallels, differences, and where we find hope. The episode was recorded on January 27th, 2026.

Literature to add to your reading lists:

Seamus Heaney, North

Anna Burns, Milkman

Agha Shahid Ali, The Country without a Post Office

Madhuri Vijay, The Far Field.

Lalita du Perron talks to Trishna Senapaty, Mellon Postdoc and Teaching Fellow in the Crime, Law and Justice Studies Program at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington, about her work in open prisons in North India, and how communities are built in and around them.

Lalita du Perron talks to Afghan historian Mejgan Massoumi (PhD, Stanford, now at Carnegie Mellon University) and South Asia bibliographer Ryan Perkins about the incredible Ustad Mahwash archive, recently acquired by Stanford Libraries. They discuss the ongoing relevance of Ustad Mahwash’s legacy, some gems that are in the collection and worth checking out, and the importance of archives in keeping traditions alive. 

Episode notes and resources:

Ustad Mahwash's main online exhibit page. 

Ustad Sarahang’s letter

Brief biographical sketch of Ustad Mahwash

Notes about the music files in the episode

1)  Beshnaw az Nai (Listen to the Reed) The poetry is from Mawlana's (Rumi's) opening lines to his Mastnavi. This is one of Ustad Mahwash's masterpieces from the Kharabati/Classical Afghan Music tradition. (Featured in the podcast  Intro-  00:00-01:30 min).

2) Houri, Houri, Houri (Houri/Noori is the name of a girl, and Noori comes from the Arabic Noor meaning Light, as in light of God, light of beauty, etc.) This is a signature Ustad Mahwash "pop" song and many attach it to her repertoire. (Part of this song is featured at 20:52-21:47 min in the podcast). 

3) Guleh Seybem (My Apple Blossom, i.e. another way of saying my Beloved or My Sweetheart, etc) This is also a signature Ustad Mahwash "pop" song and it is wildly popular because the more contemporary female Afghan superstar, Aryana Sayeed, made one of her debut concerts in Afghanistan in the early 2000s with this song. Ironically most people associate this song with Aryana Sayeed, because they do not know or realize it's original performance was from Ustad Mahwash. (Part of this song is featured at the outro of the podcast starting at 26:23 mins- end).

Lalita du Perron talks to Stanford Law student Archit Lohani about his work on digital rights, transparency in technology governance, and the ramifications of Artificial intelligence.