Tuckered Out with Ami Thakkar

Nishat Kurwa is the SVP and Executive Producer of Vox Media Podcast Network, leading podcasting across Vox Media's house of editorial brands and its network of outside partners, overseeing programming strategy, new show development, and the Vox Media Studios' podcast production team.

They have over 150 active shows — from daily news and policy, to tech and business, to culture and sports. Let me put it this way, Nishat knows her stuff and is truly an OG in the audio world.

We talk about her journey at Vox Media, her time at Youth Radio and the positive impact the experience has had on her career, and what it's like to be on the editorial as well as business side of things. She tells me why she continues to be bullish when it comes to the podcast industry, potential disruptive trends that we should understand, and what factors she evaluates when developing new shows for the network.

We also discuss the number one concern she hears from her mentees, what it was like working at places where no one looked like her, what success looks like for her now, and how she wants to be remembered by those closest to her.

Aravind Ravichandran is the founder of TerraWatch Space, an independent advisory and communications firm focused on Earth observation. He considers himself a Earth observation evangelist, satellite data strategist, a space consultant, and a generalist - jack of many trades  and a master of none.

His mission is to make earth observation mainstream by improving the awareness and adoption of satellite data and have more people interested in space.

He is also the author of the TerraWatch Space newsletter provides analysis, insights & deep-dives on Earth Observation, Satellite Data and its Applications: https://newsletter.terrawatchspace.com/  as well as the host of the TerraWatch Space podcast focused on demystifying Earth Observation, Satellite Data and their Applications: https://podcast.terrawatchspace.com/

We talk about the importance of satellite data, the latest on the space race, his thoughts on the Chinese balloon that was hovering over the US, the new space program coming out of India, and the new course he is planning on creating.

Samip Mallick is the co-founder and executive director of SAADA, which he has guided from its inception in 2008 to its place today as a national leader in community-based storytelling. SAADA, stands for South Asian American Digital Archive.  

SAADA uses the power of stories to create belonging to the 5.4 million South Asian Americans by documenting, preserving, and sharing stories from the South Asian American community, so that the struggles of past and current generations for equality, inclusion, and representation are not the same struggles we leave to our children.

We talk about how a lot of childhood is shaped by the feeling that you don't belong, the incredible impact the 5.4 South Asian Americans truly have, the beautiful stories SAADA has collected from our community about their first days in the US, and how their walking tour of Philadelphia and Harlem shows that South Asians have been part of American history from the very beginning.

We both agreed that the power of storytelling can help one truly feel embraced for who they are, discuss how SAADA's book, Our Stories, is out now and in  2500 school, libraries, and homes, and the importance of having access to information in order to really understand the whole picture.

https://www.saada.org/

I’ve completely lost my voice after this episode. That should help me with the whole podcasting thing…what a weekend! Sundance Institute Film Festival has been on my bucket list since I was small enough to bathe in buckets. So, a very long time.

We were super excited to participate in the first-ever South Asian Lodge hosted by filmmaker and director Shruti Ganguly, author, writer, and producer Tanya Selvaratnam and the non-profit organization 1497, whose mission is to support and uplift talent of South Asian descent to challenge their historical exclusion from and underrepresentation in the American film and TV industry.

You can learn more about their mission here- https://www.1497.org/

A special shoutout to The Product of Culture team and Kis Cubed Events for helping make the impossible, possible.  The entire weekend ran smoothly from beginning to end.

The two days of programming included a 20th anniversary celebration of Bend It Like Beckham, as the movie’s 2003 premiere at Sundance marked a watershed event for South Asian representation in film.  Congratulations to the entire team for putting this historic event together.  It was a weekend full of love, celebration, beautiful art, and community

And thank you to all my guests on this episode, I had a little too much fun with all of you.

Shruti Ganguly

Nirjary Desai

Adeel Ahmed

Simi Chaudry

Nik Dodani

Nisha Ganatra

Alex Schmider

A VERY special THANK YOU to Greg Friedman from Park Audio Sundance 2023 for taking care of my technical issues.  You saved the pod.

Bharat is the award-winning author of Privilege: A Trilogy, an #ownvoices thriller about an Indian-American set in modern-day NYC. He calls himself a professional storyteller and amateur cook.

After 10 years of working in politics, Bharat tried to explain how the country went from Barack Obama to Donald Trump by writing Confessions of a Campaign Manager. Then he began writing polemical fiction, such as Oasis - a desert-fantasy novel that examined what makes a family and how refugees should be treated. 

Bharat is always looking to make a political statement with his writing because he knows politics seeps into every aspect of society and believes we can’t understand each other without a firm, constant understanding of how politics affects us in all ways.

In honor of our upcoming LIVE episode from Sundance, I wanted to repost our first live episode from Diwali On The Hudson back in 2021! Stayed tuned for new episodes starting next week!

Editor's Note- This is a live podcast so please excuse all the extra background noise. It is our first live podcast!! 

We had the honor to attend Diwali On The Hudson this year, NYC's premiere Diwali event hosted by The Desai Foundation. And let me tell you, we had some good times.

 Diwali On The Hudson celebrates love, light and of course the very important work of The Desai Foundation. This year, appearances by the talented Falu and The Resistance Revival Chorus graced the stage and we had some fantastic jams courtesy of DJ Suhel! 

The Desai Foundation’s main focus for over 20 years has been empowering women and girls through community programs to elevate health and livelihood in India & U.S. During the 2021 COVID crisis, they shifted their focus to address the needs of the communities we serve, while also leveraging the programs that were already in place. The foundation is currently operating in 1000 villages, and has reached a population of over 3.4 million people. 

Their work cultivates dignity so that everyone can dream beyond their circumstances. To donate or learn more, please go to thedesaifoundation.org 

A BIG THANK YOU to all my guests for being brave enough to step up to the mic. You made this episode. 

Megha Desai 

Sindya Valloppillil 

Monica Jindal Mehta

 Heena Jain 

Falu 

Ami Sheth 

Suraj Patel 

Trisha Sakhuja-Walia 

Megha Rao and Pooja Desai Shah-Holi Chic 

Meera Shah 

Akash Jain 
 

Indian-born artist Janavi Mahimtura Folmsbee settled her roots in the beautifully diverse city of Houston, TX in 2012.

She is strongly influenced by marine life, drawing abundant inspiration from her experiences with scuba diving expeditions and with the ocean itself. In her work, Folmsbee creates ethereal, intricate shapes, which she calls characters, that are meant to invite the public into something very private. Her painting intend to take the viewer into the work’s moment of origin.

This year, Folmsbee has become actively more involved in the marine community by working with conservation organizations such as the Galveston Bay Foundation and Correa Lab, with the hope of creating awareness about the struggles face by the marine world.

We talk about her recently commissioned 240-ft project at Houston's IAH, why her father made her host an art show at 16,  what she discovered attending art school in Chicago, and what the definition of failure really means to her.

She talks about being bullied growing up because of her dyslexia, how she discovered her passion for art, how it is so important to protect your energy as a creative, and why our hometown of Houston is officially cool.

Hello 2023!!  I could not think of a better guest to kick off this new year than Naomi Shah.

Naomi is the Founder and CEO of Meet Cute, a modern entertainment company that produces original, scripted rom-coms that are delivered in podcast format.

Meet Cute has the largest global creative network of writers, actors, and directors and has produced more than 450 rom-com stories with over 3.5 million listeners. The company is focused on diverse storytelling and characters as well as expanding the definition of what "well-being" means for audiences.

She talks to me about the "secret sauce" she believes has made the company such a success, why she finds the audio medium so exciting, her experience being on "two sides of the table" at her former investment firm, and what keeps her up at night.

We talk about some new projects in the pipeline for 2023, how we both feel like "Jess" from Bend It Like Beckham, which rom-com she would star in, and her dream collaboration for 2023 (Hi, Mindy:)).

It's our special Holiday Bonus Episode! We’re so excited to bring you this bonus episode that will hopefully uplift your spirits like it did ours.

Today, I interview Anisha Abraham, a pediatrician and author of Raising Global Teens- A Practical Handbook For Parenting In The 21st Century,  and Jo Chim, an actress turned producer, director.  They are team behind the short live action film One Small Visit which is currently in the running for the Oscar short list!  

It is a sweet film about my Anisha’s parents visit to Neil Armstrong’s parents house in the 1960’s, right after the moon landing, and the impact it had on both families. One Small Visit embodies this fight and to keep believing in coming together because fundamentally, we have a lot more in common than we have differences.

It’s a story of hope, shared humanity, and how small acts of openness and kindness can make a difference.  Lord knows we need all of those thing now more than ever.

www.onesmallvisit.com

Guys, it’s the 100th!!!  

I am SO excited and honored to have the next guest close out this year and celebrate this milestone with me. 

Rishi Malhotra developed HBO's first Subscription Video On Demand platform HBO On Demand, co-founded and led JioSaavn, one of the largest distributors of Bollywood and other Indian entertainment in the world, and also played an integral role in JioSaavn's transaction with Reliance Industries, leading to a billion-dollar integration with JioMusic in 2018.

Though JioSaavn, he has brought legends such as U2 and Beyonce to India. This man’s journey started  from launching an NYC start-up to becoming Rolling Stone's Future 25 for Music. Currently, he is CEO of Luminary, audio home to Dave Chappelle and a collection of original shows from iconic talents such as Lena Dunham, Russell Brand, Masaba Gupta, Roxane Gay, Radio Rahim, and a ton more.

We talk about working with a once in a lifetime talent like Dave Chapelle, how everything really comes down to energy transfer, how JioSaavn became a culturally important legacy company,  and the three 'E's" he abides by as a founder, CEO, and leader.

We talk about the recent launch of Luminary in India a few weeks ago, the 'SNL' type genre that he is finding to be more common in the audio world, why he will always chase goosebumps, and what the best calculator for brands should be.

We of course talk about his epic stories bringing U2 to India, why all immigrants are entrepreneurs, the best concert he ever attended, and our future jam session when we meet IRL.

"The rain falls on everyone alike.  You slingshot out of times like this, I think it's a really exciting time for a lot of industries."