Shaz It Like It Is: Conversations About Asians in Modern Britain

By Shaz KhanSociety & Culture Personal Journals

Shaz It Like It Is: Conversations About Asians in Modern Britain episodes

October 06 Chapter 25- Dual Heritage, Beauty Pageanting and Embracing Our Heritage
In this episode, me and Mia delve into our dual heritage experiences through school and general life. Mia shares her pageanting and social media stories and how dual heritage has shaped her experiences in life.

Follow @shazitlikeitis on Instagram to send some feedback and for more information!
1 hr 6 min
October 29, 2025 Chapter 24- Creating BollyHeels, Embracing Femininity, Practising Self Love and Beating Stigmas
In this episode, me and Nikita talk about her personal journey through different styles of dance and the challenges she has faced during this. We delve into the cultural barriers associated with dancing and how Nikita has overcome these by creating the company, BollyHeels.
Disclaimer: This episode does include personal opinions and thoughts which are intended to offend.
46 min
October 23, 2025 Chapter 23- Dealing with Grief, Battling a Court Case and Getting Married
Hey guys and girls,
So here we are, at Chapter 23. Sorry that I ghosted you for a while, let’s just say I had a lottttt to deal with in the past year and a bit. I just wanted to say thank you to those who encouraged me to get back into my podcast and pour into myself. This year has been the most challenging year of my life and I’m about to get really raw and deep about it, because in case you didn't know, this podcast is a carthartic way of me letting off some steam from my dramatic, chaotic yet fruitful life.

Disclaimer: This episode may contain some dark themes and may not be suitable for younger readers. I also do not wish to offend anyone within this episode, simply share my own personal thoughts.

7 min
April 16, 2024 Chapter 22- Desi Girls Don't Play Football?
And we're back! Thank you for tuning it to this episode of the podcast! I hope the first four months of 2024 have been brilliant and to add to the fun, I’ve got an exciting new episode for you. I’m super psyched for this one as I am in conversation with my digital marketer, PA and business owner herself, Alinah Rajah. Alinah is a qualified football coach and has launched her own business Power Up this year which strives to encourage women to get fit through football. She talks us through her journey into football and the hurdles she had to pass. I found her story so endearing and I hope you do too.
If you would like to get in touch, please message me at bambswithshaz on instagram. Bye for now!
41 min
January 15, 2024 Chapter 21- The External Validation Crisis
Happy New Year!!! I hope you all had a lovely festive break and all are geared up for 2024! Me, Monisha and Nimah finally did it! We've been itching to have this conversation on air for a while and finally sat down yesterday to record it. This episode is all about the ways we seek validation and how it links back to our inner child, societal expectations, our self perceptions with friends and family as well as healing old wounds.
Disclaimer: This episode does contain bad language and is a product of our opinions and thoughts. We do not wish to offend anyone. If you find yourself wanting to get in touch, please contact @bambswithshaz on Instagram.
1 hr 23 min
October 30, 2023 Chapter 20- British Asian Muslim Women And The UK Modelling Industry
Well hello there - I’m back after a little break from the podcast. If this is the first episode you’re listening to, I’m giving you a warm welcome and for my returning listeners, a warm virtual hug for you too! Life have really caught up on me but I’m so pleased to announce that this is the 20th episode so far! To honour it, I thought it would fitting to invite my friend Nimrah Zaman, who is not only wife of the content creator Ahmed Zaman but is a project manager by day and a fully blown Asian Bridal Model and Content Creator by night! Nimrah has featured in several modelling shoots around the country and today we are both going to shine light on what’s its like being a British Asian Muslim woman working in the UK modelling industry. This is going to be a good one so whether you’re driving the long commute to or back from work, snuggled on the sofa or relaxing in a steamy bath - make sure to just turn the volume ever so slightly and enjoy
If you are affected by any of the topics today, please don’t hesitate to contact me @bambswithshaz on instagram! Bye for now!
1 hr 2 min
July 19, 2023 Chapter 19- The Origins Of Our Names
Hey everyone and welcome back to being an Asian in modern British society. Tonight, I invite three of my good friends from the University of
Bradford, Hamza Yousaf, Zarafshaan Hussain and Fatouma Sanyang to talk about a very important yet often disregarded topic – our names. Have you ever been annoyed because you’ve had to repeat your name more than once because someone simple couldn’t pronounce it? Or you’ve perhaps shortened it because Sims was easier to say than Simran or Naz was just easier than Nazia? Well, in this episode, we shine light on the origins of names, how we’ve altered them to suit western pronunciation, the stigma behind our names and how we’ve come to embrace them. This episode does have bad language, references to death and stories about racism, so if this isn’t for you, please check out another episode. So now put your feet up, sit
back and enjoy this episode!
This episode is dedicated to our dear friend Hamza Butt who we lost earlier this year. We miss Hamza and thank you for making this happen.
Disclaimer: This episode contains our personal thoughts and opinions. We do not wish to offend anyone, however if you find yourself affected
by this episode, or wanting to get in touch, please contact @bambswithshaz on Instagram.

1 hr
April 25, 2023 Chapter 18- Nazar, Evil Eye or Functional Neurological Disorder?
Welcome back to the podcast of Being an Asian in Modern British Society. I’m going to hit you with a very sciencey episode today so brace yourselves because this topic is very close to my heart. On Wednesday 26th October at midnight, I was admitted into the hospital with the paramedics and doctors not knowing what was wrong with me. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t talk but I was completely aware of my surroundings. You’re probably thinking whattt, was it nazar, was it
something supernatural? Well, this is why you need to listen into this episode all about functional neurological disorder or for short, FND. To give you a comprehensive
yet concise overview of FND, I invite Haseel Bhatt onto the podcast who is a clinical researcher and physiotherapist based in Toronto who specialises in FND and helps people living with the disorder through education, rehabilitation and research. Now kick your shoes off, plonk those earphones in and shut off from the world for an hour.
If you find yourself being affected by our conversation today, please do no hesitate to
contact me on @bambswithshaz on instagram. You’re not alone and the more we
talk about it, the better – bye for now!
1 hr 5 min
April 17, 2023 Chapter 17- From Rags To Riches
Thank you for tuning in to another episode of Being an Asian in Modern British Society. Today I decided to take a break from the PhD and pay a visit to see my dad. It dawned on me that a lot of our conversations often revolve around fighting the battles life throws our way and I know one person who truly understands that is my dad. My dad’s family were very poor and at the age of 17, my grandfather died which meant that he was the only breadwinner for his little sister, brother and mother. He was desperate to find multiple ways to put food on the table and this episode is dedicated to him sharing his life story of how he went from a young boy chasing a penny to becoming a self made millionaire. As a disclaimer, this episode may contain controversial views, references to racism and some bad language, so please tune into another episode if that’s not for you. This was a very unplanned conversation so you might need your headphones to make out some words, but I promise it’ll be worth it. So as usual, make yourself comfortable and enjoy what you’re about to hear.
56 min
March 06, 2023 Chapter 16- Defining Success In A Desi Household: A Males Perspective
Thank you for tuning in yet again to another episode of the podcast! So we’ve done Defining Success in a Desi Household from a girls perspective - now let’s flip it over! Sanjai is a good friend of mine from University who brings a unique angle to defining success from a males perspective. He grew up in Singapore and moved to England to study medicine. Now we do go off on our tangents in this episode, but I promise it’s all worth hearing! Some parts of our conversation is a little controversial so please tune in to another episode if that’s not for you. So whether you’re driving home from work, whining down on the sofa or just out for a walk - turn the volume up ever so slightly and enjoyyyyy!
As a disclaimer, all of the content is based on personal opinion, we do not wish to offend anyone. However, if you would like to get in touch, please message me @bambswithshaz on Instragram :)
57 min

About Shaz It Like It Is: Conversations About Asians in Modern Britain

From the publisher's feed

Hi I’m Shaz. I’m an undiagnosed ADHD PhD student who is coming to the last stages of her thesis, and who owns a Bollywood dance company, so is naturally looking for a gazillion other things to productively procrastinate her time with. I wrote an article on Being Asian in Britain at A level English and after stumbling across what I’d written, I thought to make this podcast. There are so many parts to me and my friends that I wish to continue sharing with you. New conversations coming soon🎙️