When Navya AgarwalI travelled to Rajasthan to demistify the phenomenon of ancestral prostitution—a unique form of sex work that is embedded in community, and inter-generational
legacy—she expected to document a distant reality. Instead, she was confronted with deeply personal questions about morality, gender, and family history. In this episode, she attempts to answer the question: Is ancestral prostitution normal? And if something is normal, does that make it right?

TRIGGER WARNING: This episode contains references to prostitution, minors, and sexual exploitation.

Shades of Gray: Ancestral Prostitution in Rajasthan by Navya Agarwal

The Stanford Storytelling Project is an arts program at Stanford University that explores how we live in and through stories and how we can use them to change our lives. Our mission is to promote the transformative nature of traditional and modern oral storytelling, from Lakota tales to Radiolab, and empower students to create and perform their own stories. The project sponsors courses, workshops, live events, and grants, along with its radio show State of the Human.

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Living Memory

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Soul Searching

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Foreign Footsteps

When’s the last time you spent an entire day without looking at your to-do list? Chances are —never. If so, you’ve come to the right place. Come take a break from your productive routine and join us as we uncover the layers of productivity, one checkbox at a time. Hold onto your Google calendars, because after this episode, you might just want to throw that to-do list away and join us as we lie in the wood chips!

Shades of Gray: Ancestral Prostitution in Rajasthan by Navya Agarwal

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