The Brown Burndown: An Indian American Pop Culture Pod

Happy 2021, dudes! New year...same problems. We're kicking off the year with a little bit of everything: Hilaria Baldwin, mask-less Nickyanka, and the jaggery of GBBO. We'll then dive into the new Wonder Woman film, which is just...yikes. Tl;dr racism is still out! Our apologies for the time lag in releasing this ep, but tune in for our LIVE reactions to the January 6th attack on the US Capitol (smh), which now feels like a solid 5 years ago. Is it still only January?

You guys, it's finally here. Our much anticipated, high quality Thanksgiving special that only took us one full year to edit is out today! Tune in to be transported to the days of glorious, mask-free living (not a 2020 White House event but...just 2019 lol). And while 2019 may seem like a different era, we still appreciate the constants in our lives: #nickyanka, contemplating bangs, and laughing from pure JOY. Thanks for listening these past 2 years -- we're so grateful for all of you!

We've been waiting two long years of podcasting to say this...THIS IS OUR VICTORY EPISODE! And it's...surprisingly depressing? This slightly ramble-y episode has everything: Jake Tapper, Secret Societies, and 14,000 "like"s...oh wait, those are the parts we cut. Instead we give you: investigative journalism concerning Priyanka's bangs, Kennedy school gossip, and the small wins we took out of this election (plus one very big win). We did it guys! Here's hoping the next four years are easier.

PS Apologies for the audio issues. Tars is fixing her mic for next time.

PPS this episode is dedicated to Krisha

We're back for a very special election episode! First, we check in with all our usual favs: Patriot Act was cancelled, Djok still sucks, Mindy had a baby, #nickyanka are still #nickyankaing. Also, we rank American Girl Dolls and take another swipe at colonialism (and non mask wearers SMH).

tl;dr: GO VOTE! Your voice matters!

Some ways to get involved:

https://joebiden.com/take-action/

https://swingleft.org/take-action?s=u

https://www.powerthepolls.org/

We paused the editing of 2(!) other episodes to bring you: THE EMERGENCY KAMALA EPISODE! Where we discuss: the new DOJ case against Yale (ick), Priyanka's new crocs ad (lol), somehow Chris Pratt (it kinda made sense in context) and most importantly KAMALA HARRIS, Joe Biden's recently announced running mate. Also, we spend half the episode talking about Indian Matchmaking, so there you go.

Note: to make this emergency episode we recorded early Tars time, for extra fun note how much more awake she sounds starting at the midpoint mark.

As always, email us at [email protected].

Articles referenced: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/05/opinion/sunday/indian-matchmaking-netflix.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/indian-americans-want-to-claim-kamala-harris-as-ours-its-a-trap/2020/08/14/74865cb0-dd88-11ea-8051-d5f887d73381_story.html

Taking a break from fluffy celebrity stuff to talk about what really matters. This week, we discuss the model minority myth and how much it harms Black communities, how Bollywood celebrities are #hypocrites for promoting #BlackLivesMatter while also endorsing whitening creams, and how South Asians owe so much to MLK who "cced" them on the Civil Rights movement in 1965.

Real talk, it's been a rough few weeks and we're here for anyone who wants to reach out. Sending <3, and sharing some resources that have been helpful to us below:

Templates for reaching out to representatives: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EIvaG_B7FZOcyz6smv7A-QU4aDnVGoTMrfgW383ZfsI/edit?fbclid=IwAR03AwALaCEW3qJTPacx38HTL999exVSZ5eZIcfT0SQgcelJk0gOmXmZIpE

Letters for Black Lives: https://lettersforblacklives.com/letters-for-black-lives-south-asian-american-version-f5d8ec9a46ac

EJI: https://eji.org/

Communities Against Police Brutality: https://www.cuapb.org/

How the Model Minority myth is hurting Black communities: https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2017/04/19/524571669/model-minority-myth-again-used-as-a-racial-wedge-between-asians-and-blacks

https://t.co/5IPT3bCArF

You asked, and we delivered. We're back, discussing Mindy Kaling's new Netflix show Never Have I Ever (!!!). First, we do a quick check in with #nickyankawatch2020 and refuse to encourage their "subtle" seltzer promotion, update you on our quarantine life (spoiler: there are no bangs), and then get right down to the most important Indian-american TV show thus far! We are nothing if not haters, but around 28:40 we get into what we really loved, how much we sobbed, and why we're so glad this show exists. Follow us on insta @thebrownburndown, twitter @brownburndown and email your thoughts at [email protected]

And if you've made it this far, DM Rabs "Happy Birthday"!!

We're back! This week, we're delivering a (hopefully) 31 min distraction from the dumpster fire that is life right now. Tune in to hear what we're watching, what we're wearing (spoiler: it's PJs), and what we might do to our hair (!!!). Objections are welcome. As always, in both the rough times and the good ones, we're here for you guys <3 We'll get through this together. Email us all of your quarantine thoughts at [email protected] or DM our fancy new Instagram @thebrownburndown.

And we're back! This week in Part 2, we're finishing our lingering thoughts from a month ago (oops, our b) about the Oscars, Aladdin part deux, and whether Crocs will ever be in (spoiler: no). And finally, we're so excited to feature a very special guest, Trisha Sakhuja-Walia, CEO and Co-Founder of Brown Girl Magazine (!!!). For more on all the amazing things she's doing, check out www.browngirlmagazine.com.

Well, we did it. Our rambling has finally gotten the better of us and we had to turn this episode into two parts. In Part 1, we introduce our exciting celeb guest (but never get around to her interview...#ourbad), walk you through the DRAMA that has been Jameela Jamil's twitter this week, go through a long illuminating journey with James Blake, and manage to sneak in a Priyanka comment in even though #nickyanakwatch2020 is in Part 2.

Stay tuned for the sequel!