Modern Minorities

Latest Episodes:

Modern MINARI Apr 29, 2021

Show notes

“The nuances of the Korean family takes you back to being in a new environment, trying to fit in../..but it felt like an American family story as well.”

The Oscars have come and gone, but what remains is how we feel about MINARI - the critically acclaimed film that had SIX nominations and Yuh-Jung Youn’s win for Best Supporting Actress (#TeamGrandma). It was a big year for Modern Minorities...at the movies. History was made with Chloe Zhao becoming the first woman of color to win Best Director, Viola Davis is now the most nominated Black Actress, Riz Ahmed was the first Muslim nominated for Best actor, and of course...MINARI

So along with Friends-of-the-Pod Jieun Kim-Kirtley AND Jon Pollock - we thought we’d have some fun talking MINARI, and the other Modern Minority-led films, actors, and big screen artists that made their mark. ALSO, we answer the age old question of who’s hotter - Steven Yeun or Riz Ahmed (spoiler alert, it’s Oscar Isaac =)

FRIENDS OF THE POD

Jon Pollock: modmypod.com/episodes/ep-35-jon-pollock-says-ciao-andiamo-legwx-lgphb-9j8lc-sx4fn-yl3p8
Jieun Kim Kirtley: modmypod.com/episodes/ep-38-jieun-kirtleys-kids-learn-taekwondo-korean

MENTIONS:

Chloe Zhao acceptance speech (2021): youtu.be/hagrJurgOqU
Yuh-Jung Youn’s acceptance speech (2021): youtu.be/syrGt0fpffY
Life is Beautiful acceptance speech (1999): youtu.be/8cTR6fk8frs
BOOK (Jon): Far from the Tree (Andrew Solomon): goodreads.com/book/show/13547504-far-from-the-tree
KIDS’ BOOK (Raman): The Ugly Vegetables (Grace Lin): goodreads.com/book/show/240144.The_Ugly_Vegetables
SONG: “You’re Welcome” (Moana): youtu.be/79DijItQXMM

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Lena Shareef wants (to tell) a good story Apr 24, 2021

Show notes

All of a sudden, it was such an “us VS them” rhetoric - and I realized I was part of the ‘them’.”

Lena Shareef grew up in a lot of places - Pakistan, Ukraine, and the Midwest. She’s currently making the internet do things @ National Geographic - having studied video production and journalism. Along the way she co-founded GIRLWITHABOOK, which advocates for girls' education, which she believes is one of the best solutions to climate change and poverty. When she's not battling Internet trolls at her day job or trying to convince the world of the importance of equality, feminism, and representation (none of which are really that hard), she's devouring books, movies, and TV shows, and then naturally writing/venting about them on Medium and even HER podcast “Grounded Geeks’ which she co-hosts with her brother (ALSO - her dad is pretty cool and wrote an awesome book...just ask Raman). At the end of the day, all Lena wants is just a really good story...

LEARN ABOUT LENA:

@LenaShareef
Girlwithabookrising.com
anchor.fm/grounded-geeks

MENTIONS

COMICS: Ms.Marvel (Kamala Khan): wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamala_Khan
TV: Warrior (HBO Max): imdb.com/title/tt5743796
PERSON: Jason Tobin (Young Jun on “Warrior”) - imdb.com/name/nm0864937
PERSON: Chris Evans - imdb.com/name/nm0262635

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Alice Lee’s (extraordinary) journey Apr 19, 2021

Show notes

Alice Lee is an actress, singer, and songwriter starring in the NBC show “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” where she plays Emily Kang, an Asian-American...who’s now a new mom. In the most recent episode, the characters grapple - and come to terms with - Emily’s postpartum depression, which like many mental health issues in this country...is not something we talk about often enough - especially in the Asian community. In a ranging conversation that covers Alice’s childhood in the midwestern Korean suburbs, performing on + off-Broadway (“Wish Upon” + “Heathers: the Musical”) and smoking weed with her dad - we learn a little bit more about Alice...

LEARN ABOUT ALICE

@aliceheyalice (Instagram, Twitter, YouTube)
imdb.com/name/nm5333857
nbc.com/zoeys-extraordinary-playlist

MENTIONS

BOOK: Pachinko (Min Jin Lee): goodreads.com/book/show/34051011-pachinko
PERSON: Sandra Oh (Actress) - imdb.com/name/nm0644897

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Azhar Usman believes in (the) Truth Apr 16, 2021

Show notes

“Who controls the rhythm of the algorithm?”

Azhar Usman is a Muslim American writer, actor, comedian, producer - and many other things - of Indian descent (by way of Chicago). Dave Chappelle once declared, “Azhar’s like a comedian from the future.” One of the most outspoken voices of his generation, Azhar’s a writer & Co-Executive Producer for Hulu’s award-winning RAMI (stop what you’re doing and watch this show NOW). Marvel Studios recently also announced that Azhar would be joining the MCU in the highly anticipated Disney+ show MS.MARVEL (Raman fan-girls over the comic it’s based on). Azhar’s worked on comedic projects for Netflix, Hannibal Buress, Mo Amer, and Hasan Minhaj (Azhar served as a writer for Minhaj’s epic 2017 White House Correspondents Dinner speech). Azhar co-created ‘ALLAH MADE ME FUNNY–The Official Muslim Comedy Tour’ (which toured 20+ countries across 5 continents), toured India for the US State Department as part of “Make Chai Not War”, was named one of ‘The 500 Most Influential Muslims in the World’ (Georgetown University), and called ‘America’s Funniest Muslim’ by CNN.

Oh and he’s a father of four, former attorney, and dotcom entrepreneur - so at least we know his parents are proud of something. As we continue our conversations with Muslim Americans for the Holy month of Ramadan - this is a deep one you’re going to enjoy, so buckle your seat belts...

LEARN ABOUT AZHAR

MENTIONS

TV: Ramy (Hulu): imdb.com/title/tt7649694
TV: 90 Day Fiancé: imdb.com/title/tt3469050
BOOK: The White Tiger (Aravind Adiga): goodreads.com/book/show/1768603.The_White_Tiger
PERSON: Mansur Al-Hallaj (Sufi Mystic): wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Hallaj - ابو المغيث الحسين بن منصور الحلاج‎

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Sarah Salem challenges (your) perceptions Apr 12, 2021

Show notes

“People have their assumptions about my faith...and I love getting to change every perception”

Sarah Z Salem is an Egyptian American Muslim in Atlanta by way of Philly. Sarah’s not our first Muslim American guest, but for the month of Ramadan we wanted to feature diverse voices from the culture. As a community advocate, Sarah strives to bring forward voices and stories of those most impacted by climate change and injustice. And as a practicing Muslim - she’s spent most of her life navigating her faith while also deepening her sense of self and identity. Be it her choice to cover (or not cover) her hair, being a cancer survivor, and even finding love - Sarah shares how she has always challenged the assumptions and perceptions that others may have - to shift the narrative. And she’s not stopping anytime soon.

LEARN ABOUT SARAH

MENTIONS:

FILM: “Someone Great” (2019) - imdb.com/title/tt8075260
PERSON: Malcolm X - wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_X

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Muslim voices (preview) for Ramadan Apr 07, 2021

Show notes

For the holy month of Ramadan (4/12 - 5/12), we’ll be featuring more Muslim American voices - with heritage from all over the world: Egypt, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, and Inglewood, California. You’ll be hearing from community organizers, stand up comics, social media pros, and even lawyers. And as always, we’ll do our best to keep it Halal in the family ;)

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Mira Jacob (shares a) Good Talk Apr 03, 2021

Show notes

“If I write this book, it's really gonna hurt — because if I write the truth, it's not a comfortable truth.”

Mira Jacob is many things - acclaimed author / illustrator, cultural critic, awesome mother, and a pretty funny brown woman in Brooklyn who happens to be from New Mexico. Mira’s graphic memoir ‘GOOD TALK’ is one of Raman’s all-time favorite books (which we’ve aired a previous episode on), has achieved TONS of critical acclaim, AND is now in development as a television series. Mira’s novel “The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing” is also most excellent. ‘Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations’ shares hard conversations Mira has had with not just her young (mixed race) son, but her family and friends about experiences of race in America - from her childhood to the modern era. Mira shares not just her process - but stories that will make you laugh, stop, realize, maybe even cry, and then laugh again You really should stop reading this right now and go read Mira’s work...like yesterday.

LEARN ABOUT MIRA

GOOD TALK: goodreads.com/book/show/36700347-good-talk
mirajacob.com
IG @goodtalkthanks // TW @mirajacob

MENTIONS

MOVIE: Heathers (1989) - imdb.com/title/tt0097493/
PERSON: Zadie Smith (Author) - goodreads.com/author/show/2522.Zadie_Smith
PERSON: Arundhati Roy (Author) - goodreads.com/author/show/6134.Arundhati_Roy

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Soof - Bikya! Mar 31, 2021

Show notes

And now for something completely different...on our show we’ve intro'ed some really interesting people - writers, comedians, musicians. Not surprisingly, every once in a while they put something really interesting out there in the world.

Friend of the pod Seif Hamid (AKA Soof) has a love for music, and has made more than his fair share of it that's pretty damn good. Seif's new track "BIKYA!" has some pretty good bounce, and turns out there's an interesting story to the name. Here our quick chat and enjoy =)

MUSIC (Soof): https://spoti.fi/3cDb6rs
SEIF (IG): instagram.com/seifaldin/

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Maartje & Peggy (go beyond) The Plantation of our Ancestors Mar 28, 2021

Show notes

Maartje Duin & Peggy Bouva found a unique connection, and turned it into something beautiful and important. The two created “The Plantation of Our Ancestors” (“De plantage van onze voorouders,” by VPRO - Dutch Public Radio) — an 8-part podcast series that uncovers and unpacks Holland’s history of slavery - from a very personal perspective. Maartje is a podcast producer of Dutch noble descent, whose family were part-owners of plantations in Suriname, where Peggy’s ancestors were slaves. But this is NOT a story of white guilt or black anger - it is one of understanding uncomfortable truths, and facing the future by remembering our past - together. The show has received international acclaim (soon to be translated to English), and more importantly, a powerful conversation representative you should hear - and be having.

LEARN MORE

PODCAST TRAILER (in English): https://youtu.be/YR9eLpIQu8Q
NPR STORY: https://www.npr.org/2020/09/06/906815515/a-journey-that-we-have-to-join-together-2-dutch-women-confront-slaverys-legacy
PODCAST SITE (in Dutch): https://www.vpro.nl/programmas/de-plantage-van-onze-voorouders/luister/afleveringen.html

MENTIONS

FILM (Peggy): Hidden Figures (2016): imdb.com/title/tt4846340
BOOK (Martje): Girl Woman Other (2019, Bernardine Evaristo): goodreads.com/book/show/41081373-girl-woman-other
PERSON (Maartje): Ira Glass
PERSON (Peggy): Kamala Harris

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Tyanne Benallie’s (Indigenous) lens Mar 22, 2021

Show notes

Tyanne Benallie is a member of the Navajo (Diné) Nation - who has dedicated her career to working with resilient populations. With expertise in Indigenous projects and policy, Ty has worked in Native American communities at the federal and tribal level - across the environmental, social, education, and health sectors. As our first (of hopefully many) indigenous guests, Ty shared experiences - being perceived as “urban” but also on her people’s reservation - will ring both familiar and new. A world traveler having volunteered in underdeveloped countries, Ty has a thoughtful approach - and was able to help us better understand the commonalities and nuanced difference across the tapestry of Native American culture and perspective.

NAVAJO INTRO (+English)