December 8th – BrownStar Revolution and panel on LGBTIQ Issues in the South Asian community ft. Sapna Pandya and Aniruddh Vasudevan

We have two awesome interview for you on this week’s episode of NaanSense Radio! Click HERE to find out how you can tune in to NaanSense Radio (live stream from 8am – 10 am on Tuesdays, podcast, download the mp3 later)

Sapna Pandya and Aniruddh Vasudevan join us to talk about LGBTIQ issues in India, Pakistan, and the immigrant population in the United States. Sapna Pandya is a consultant on issues related to health and social justice for marginalized communities – including, for example, immigrants in the United States, and LGBTQ communties in India & Pakistan. She is a co-founder of Humsafar International and the Jeena Circle, and was formerly Director of Programs for the South Asian Health Initiative (SAHI) at NYU School of Medicine. Aniruddhan Vasudevan is an activist, researcher and performer based in Chennai, India. He is the director of The Shakti Resource Center. Shakti is a non-profit organization that works towards setting up support services for LGBT people and establishing a resource center for studies in gender and sexuality. As a performer of Bharata Natyam, an Indian classical dance style, Aniruddhan has been a frequent visitor to the United States

BrownStar Revolution – a South Asian spoken word duo will grace us with their comedic and insightful presence. Check out their powerful performance from “UNIFICATION” in New York City below. Formed in 2007 BROWNSTAR is a two-man spoken-word duo bursting forth from the pens and dreams of emcee-poet-performers PUSHKAR NORTH STAR SHARMA and SATHYA SOUTH STAR SRIDHARAN. Grown in the Heartland of America but Flavored with the Masala of the Motherland, BROWNSTAR shouts what often goes unheard, giving BROWN a voice and song— presenting a fresh perspective and exploring the contradictions, complexities, and epiphanies of South-Asian identities.

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December 1st – World AIDS Day and Jay Sean

Check out today’s show for  interviews with:

International pop sensation Jay Sean who talks to us about his new album “All or Nothing”, his rise to fame in the US, and breaking through as a South Asian artist.

Lavina Ramchandani who talks to us about World AIDS Day 2009 – the impact of the pandemic, how the Obama administration is handling it, and what you and I can do to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS. Check out these links for more information:

• HIV Facts and Stats
• Fight HIV in DC
• HIV/AIDS in Asia
• Breakthrough Music Video – Maati

November 24th show – NaanSense is now podcasting!

NaanSense Radio is (finally) podcasting! Thanks to Harriti because Aparna is technologically inept and doesn’t truly understand podcasting (confession).

Check us out here – http://naansenseradio.mypodcast.com/

We will slowly be putting up older shows as well so if you missed an interview or just really want to hear our voices, check out some of our archived shows. I may even put up the FIRST ever NaanSense Radio – classic

Listen to today’s show for tons of new music, local events, and mayhem.

P.S. Check out a recording of the Hijabi Monologues from this past weekend.

November 17th Show – Interview with Paresh Mokashi & Shammi Pithia

Listen in to today’s show for not one, but TWO exciting interviews with director Paresh Mokashi and musician Shammi Pithia. Hear Paresh talk about his new film Harishchandrachi Factory. Learn about his inspiration, his journey, and the Oscars Nomination process. And learn a little bit about the story of Dadasaheb Phalke, the father of Indian Cinema.

Hear Shammi talk about his musical journey, new album, and even play a little bit of flute for us!

Also check out our calendar for info on the latest events

November 10th – Interview with Rup from Josh

Check out today’s show for an interview with Rup from the popular band Josh . Listen to Rup talk about how the band formed, his own musical journey, future projects, and even hear him sing a verse of Mausam for us!

November 2nd Show- Interview w/ Kailash Kher and Roopal Shah(Indicorps)

Tune in to the  show for TWO exciting interviews and a concert ticket giveaway!

Kailash Kher – singer – will be performing on November 10th at Lisner Auditorium in Washington DC at 8pm. Tickets at WPAS.org or 202-785-WPAS. As a special offer to listeners of 88.1 FM, use promo code “SAVE20” to receive 20% discount on tickets through ticketmaster.com! We will also be giving away 3 PAIRS of tickets on the show – so don’t forget to listen! (See the How to Listen tab for more info). You have till Midnight Wednesday night to answer the questions for your chance to win a pair of tickets to the Kailash Kher concert!!!

For more information on Kailash Kher check out his website http://www.kailashkher.com/

 

We also interviewed Roopal Shah, Executive Director and Co-founder of Indicorps. Indicorps is a non-partisan, non-religious, non-profit organization that encourages Indians around the world to actively participate in India’s progress. Indicorps’ programs are designed to build principled leadership, empower visionaries, inspire collective action, and unite India towards a common vision for the nation by productively engaging Indians around the world with the development of the country that defines their identity. There are many ways to get involved with Indicorps, to check them out check out http://www.indicorps.org/

 

Also check out What’s on Around Town for the latest event happenings that we talk about.

October 27th Show – Interview with Aladdin Ullah

Check out today’s show for an interview with actor, comedian, writer Aladdin Ullah.

We are also sending tons of positive vibes out to Harriti’s cousin Honal out in San Francisco. Thanks to the Shah family for sending lots of song requests this week!

Do you know of any South Asian radio stations? Help us with our list!

October 20th show – interview with Ankur Shah

Check out this week’s episode of NaanSense Radio for an interview with Ankur Shah about his life and his 2 books (Cooking com Bigode and Sometimes We Walk Alone) – “Ankur traveled around the world until dizziness took over, observing humans and their cultures in california, france, argentina, cuba, new york, lebanon, brasil, and india. he once studied mathematics and philosophy at stanford university and subsequently held formal jobs as a chef, farmer, teacher, and computer programmer. he is licensed reverend and soi-disant “revolutionary of love”

October 13th – Interview with Vivek Bald (filmmaker) and special Diwali Episode!

Tune in to a special Diwali episode of NaanSense Radio  for an interview with documentary filmmaker Vivek Bald!

Vivek Bald is a documentary filmmaker whose work has focused on more recent histories of the South Asian diaspora: Taxi-vala/Auto-biography (1994) explores the lives, struggles and political activism of South Asian immigrant taxi drivers in New York City and Mutiny: Asians Storm British Music (2003) looks at South Asian youth, music and politics in 1970s-90s Britain.  His dissertation project, which he is also producing as a film, documents the little-known history of South Asian Muslim maritime workers who jumped ship from British vessels in U.S. port cities from the 1890s-1940s, and focuses particularly on a group men from the region which is now Bangladesh who settled in Harlem in the 1920s and 30s and intermarried within the Puerto Rican and African American communities there.

• Upcoming NYC event w/Vivek Bald screening selections from Mutiny and British dub, punk & ska music documentaries from the late 1970s and early 1980s: http://apa.as.nyu.edu/object/vivek_event_20091013

• Info about Mutiny: Asians Storm British Music: http://www.mutinysounds.com/film

• Info about Taxi-vala/Auto-biography: http://www.mutinysounds.com/taxivala/

• Overview of early South Asian maritime desertion, settlement, and intermarriage in New Orleans and New York: “Overlapping Diasporas, Multiracial Lives: South Asian Muslims in U.S. Communities of Color” by Vivek Bald, in the recently published book, Black Routes to Islam, edited by Manning Marable & Hishaam Aidi

October 6th Show – Interview with Rez Abbasi

Check out today’s show for an interview with Pakistani-American jazz guitarist Rez Abbasi and a Singer Spotlight on Shreya Ghoshal!