Modern Minorities

Latest Episodes:

Mita Mallick’s (Re)imagining Inclusion (RE-AIR) Sep 25, 2023

Show notes

“Inclusion starts at our kitchen tables. If you aren't building cross-cultural relationships - actively learning about a lived experience that is not your own - how do you expect to show up at work differently as an inclusive leader?”

Mita Mallick is a returning FrieMMd of the pod, who came back to talk about her upcoming book — Reimagine Inclusion: Debunking 13 Myths To Transform Your Workplace (Pre-order now =). This is a re-airring of a past episode to support our pal Mita’s new book.

Mita’s a corporate change-maker with a track record of transforming businesses. She’s an outspoken sharer of innovative - and thought provoking ideas in the area of inclusion and equity. Mita’s currently Carta’s head of inclusion, equity and impact, AND co-host of Brown Table Talk, a top LinkedIn podcast where she helps break down the challenges women of color face in the workplace. Mita’s extensive career - as a fierce advocate of including and representing Black and Brown communities - has crossed orgs like Carta, Unilever, Pfizer, AVON, Johnson & Johnson and more - as she’s a sought after speaker and coach to start-up founders, executives, and public CEOs. Mita’s a LinkedIn Top Voice, a contributor for Harvard Business Review, Adweek, Entrepreneur and Fast Company, and has been featured in the The New York Times, The Washington Post, Time Magazine, Forbes, Axios, Essence, Cosmopolitan Magazine, and Business Insider. Jump in for a conversation as we break down many of the myths from her book - and confront our own biases and myths.

LEARN ABOUT MITA

BOOK: Reimagine Inclusion: Debunking 13 Myths To Transform Your Workplace - amazon.com/Reimagine-Inclusion-Debunking-Transform-Workplace/dp/1394177097
POD: browntabletalkpodcast.com

MENTIONS

SONG: Taylor Swift, Anti-hero - youtu.be/b1kbLwvqugk
PERSON: Gretchen Carlson - wikipedia.org/wiki/Gretchen_Carlson
PERSON: Shonda Rhymes - wikipedia.org/wiki/Shonda_Rhimes
SHOW: Queen Charlotte - imdb.com/title/tt14661396/
COURSE: Shonda Rhymes - masterclass.com/classes/shonda-rhimes-teaches-writing-for-television

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Sung Kang’s (slow) drive Sep 17, 2023

Show notes

“He made me laugh, he made me sad, he almost made me cry — this was a superpower. I went on this wonderful, connective human experience with another person, just by watching him.”

Sung Kang is an American filmmaker - best known for his role as Han Lue in the Fast & Furious franchise, a character he first portrayed in one of the seminal Asian American films Better Luck Tomorrow. But Sung is also someone we’ve known - and had our eye on - for awhile. A thoughtful soul, originally a troublemaking kid from Georgia found his way thru package stores, garages, and street performers, becoming an early, indelible face of what Asian Americans could be - so much further beyond the model minority myth. Sung actually stopped by to talk about two pretty significant, personal projects dropping at the same time THIS week - a new podcast CAR STORIES, and a new independent film - SHAKY SHIVERS. Please note that Shaky Shivers, being an independent film was granted a promotional exception from the ongoing writers and actors strikes, which this pod fully supports. Sung’s new podcast podcast - CAR STORIES - was actually a project Raman was early involved in, and covers an an area Sung’s always been passionate about - how cars can be a vehicle (no pun intended) into the human condition and culture. And the film, SHAKY SHIVERS, is Sung’s d directorial debut, an almost throwback and love letter to the campy horror films we all grew up on. Hearing Sung’s humble origins, journey, and motivations will help you understand why so many are drawn to his approach and work. But be sure to check out his latest work - film and podcast - both dropping on Thursday, September 21st.

LEARN ABOUT SUNG

SUNG: imdb.com/name/nm0437646/
NEW FILM (director): Shaky Shivers - https://www.fathomevents.com/events/Shaky-Shivers
NEW POD: Car Stories: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/car-stories-with-sung-kang-and-emelia-hartford/id1707335580
SOCIAL: instagram.com/sungkangsta

MENTIONS

Gainesville, GA - wikipedia.org/wiki/Gainesville,_Georgia
Barstow, CA - wikipedia.org/wiki/Barstow,_California
Marcel Marceau - wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Marceau
FILM: Better Luck Tomorrow
WHY Roger Ebert rocks - youtube.com/watch?v=LSzP9YV3jbc
DOCUMENTARY: BLT Genesis - youtube.com/watch?v=YT2LsWsw0bU
Justin Lin - imdb.com/name/nm0510912/
Evan Jackson Leong - imdb.com/name/nm1456609/
Jeff Dowd - wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Dowd
Gabe Bartolis - imdb.com/name/nm0058396/
BOOK: Old Man and the Sea (Hemingway) - goodreads.com/book/show/2165.The_Old_Man_and_the_Sea

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Fahad Khawaja’s (Hue) is amplifying voices Sep 11, 2023

Show notes

“I’d been around the block on so many different businesses, and people of color were often left behind. And so building HUE was really about bridging that divide.”

Fahad Khawaja is a leading community builder who is the Co-Founder & CEO of HUE - a culture & community platform that aims to amplify voices of color, to increase our visibility, and to pave a path for us all to rise. Fahad has a deep belief that we build a better future by bringing the margins to the mainstream and doing well by doing good. His work transforms companies with purpose, product, and people at the core, bridging community and culture to design for diverse communities. Fahad’s company HUE - has propelled organizations to deliver sustainable growth, including Fortune 50 brands, unicorn tech Startups, and top media companies and agencies. If you’ve got any professional sway at your job, you should be talking to HUE on what small steps your company can be making - wearehue.org

Fahad’s won all the awards - like the AdAge 40 Under 40, The Drum Global Change Maker of the Year, and has been recognized in The New York Times, USA Today, Fast Company, Business Insider, Adweek, Ad Age, and more. But over the years of our friendship, we’ve always been struck with his thoughtful, authentic, and humble-but-impatient manner to make things happen. While we actually discuss a bit about his experiences around 9/11, it’s not about where Fahad is from, but where he’s coming from, and where we’re all going.

LEARN ABOUT FAHAD

MENTIONS

BOOK: Islamophobia, Race, and Global Politics (Nazia Khazi) - goodreads.com/book/show/40277809-islamophobia-race-and-global-politics
FILM: The 13th (Ava DuVernay) - imdb.com/title/tt5895028
BOOK: Roses in the Mouth of the Lion (Bushra Rehman) - goodreads.com/book/show/59808688-roses-in-the-mouth-of-a-lion
RESTAURANT: Love Mama (NYC) - lovemamanyc.com
PERSON Noam Chomsky - wikipedia.org/wiki/Noam_Chomsky
PERSON: Edward Said - wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Said

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Victor Luckerson’s (Built) from the Fire Aug 28, 2023

Show notes

“Even in Tulsa, the place where this happened, this was not widely known. I felt writing something that could ground the story and the people there would be honestly a valuable contribution to our nation's understanding of itself.”

Victor Luckerson is a journalist and author working to bring neglected black history to light. His new book is Built from the Fire: The Epic Story of Tulsa's Greenwood District, America's Black Wall Street. Victor’s book chronicles the history of Tulsa's Greenwood District and the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. On May 30, 1921 a mob terrorized the Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa a flourishing black business, district affectionately called Black Wall Street. In less than 24 hours - as many as 300 people were killed, 800 people were treated for injuries, and more a thousand homes and businesses - 35 city blocks - were burned to the ground

But what’s interesting about Victor and his book is that he doesn’t just cover the tragedy and the aftermath, but rather choose to paint a grounded human story - providing the perspective of families who have called the community home for generations. The New York Times named “Built from the Fire'' an editor’s choice pick, calling it "absorbing" and "outstanding." Victor’s a former staff writer at The Ringer and business reporter for Time - his writing and research have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Wired, the Ringer, the Guardian, and Smithsonian. Victor also manages an email newsletter about black history called “Run It Back." Victor also shares quite a bit of hometown and academic history with Raman - both hailing from Montgomery, Alabama, and attending the University of Alabama - where Victor was editor of the Crimson White, the University’s student paper (Raman was not). Enjoy this candid conversation and really unique take on Tulsa, the people of Greenwood, and how we need think about this and where we need to go as a society. And be sure to pick up a copy of “Built From the Fire” wherever you get your favorite books.

LEARN ABOUT VICTOR LUCKERSON

Vicluckerson.com
BOOK: Built from the Fire: The Epic Story of Tulsa's Greenwood District, America's Black Wall Street - goodreads.com/book/show/62296497-built-from-the-fire
instagram.com/vluck89
runitback.substack.com/p/from-there-to-here
theringer.com/2018/6/28/17511818/black-wall-street-oklahoma-greenwood-destruction-tulsa

MENTIONS

SHOW: The Wire - imdb.com/title/tt0306414
PERSON: Andre 3000 - wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_3000

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Shin Yu Pai’s (got) Ten Thousand Things Aug 21, 2023

Show notes

“There's no one right way to be Asian American you know? The diasporic experiences trying to grapple with culture, what to keep and carry, what to relate to - so very human and universal.”

Shin Yu is many things - poet and writer, but also podcast host and producer of Ten Thousand Things – a show for Seattle’s NPR affiliate KUOW Public Radio. Shin Yu’s also currently the Civic Poet of Seattle (2023-2024) and author of 11 books, including most recently Virga. She is the recipient of awards from the City of Seattle’s Office of Arts & Culture, 4Culture, and The Awesome Foundation, as well as a 2022 Artist Trust Fellow and she was shortlisted in 2014 for a Stranger Genius Award in Literature. Shin Yu served as Poet Laureate for The City of Redmond from 2015-2017. Shin Yu’s work has appeared in publications throughout the U.S., Japan, China, Taiwan, the UK, and Canada - in publications like Atlas Obscura, Tricycle Magazine, YES! Magazine, NYTimes, Zocalo Public Square, Seattle Met, ParentMap, Seattle’s Child, International Examiner, and South Seattle Emerald, and many more. Sharon and Shin Yu related to each other in a ranging conversation about Chinese childhood and raising bi-racial children - both of which have formed her ideas about art, literature and storytelling. You’ll appreciate her deep passion for connecting communities, connecting cultures, and drawing out beauty in the most unique ways

LEARN ABOUT SHIN YU

shinyupai.com
instagram.com/shinyupai
PODCAST: kuow.org/podcasts/bluesuit
BOOKS: goodreads.com/author/show/308679.Shin_Yu_Pai
WORDS: joysauce.com/contributor/shin-yu-pai/
SUPPORT UPCOMING WORKS:
“No Neutral” (poetry collection) -spdbooks.org/Products/9798988370109/no-neutral.aspx
“Less Desolate” (haiku comics collection) - kickstarter.com/projects/1701310602/less-desolate
“Small Doses of Awareness” (Microdosing Guide) - amazon.com/-/he/Shin-Yu-Pai/dp/1797227823
MENTIONS
BOOK: Letters to a Young Poet (Rainer Maria Rilke): goodreads.com/work/quotes/1208289-briefe-an-einen-jungen-dichter

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The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist Aug 14, 2023

Show notes

After last week's episode about Adrian Tomine’s latest film SHORTCOMINGS - based on his 2007 graphic novel of the same name - we wanted to share a 2020 conversation frieMMd of the pod Ryan Joe + Raman had on Quarantined Comics, about Tomine’s autobiographical work The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist. But this is no regular comics geek out - because this marks one of the first real “MM like” conversations Raman + Ryan had way back when in 2020 - where we talked about how this particular comic made us reflect on our own lives. We can't recommend The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist enough, so be sure to pick up a copy wherever you get your favorite books. And don't worry, Sharon and Raman will be back shortly with more than a few NON-COMICS minority voices for all our majority ears...

LEARN MORE

COMIC: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist (2020): goodreads.com/en/book/show/51796259
CREATOR: Adrian-tomine.com
POD: Quarantined Comics - qtdcomics.com

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Adrian Tomine’s (drawn) Shortcomings Aug 07, 2023

Show notes

“I wasn't thinking about an audience. It was a pure outpouring of just whatever came to me. I was rebelliously and ambitiously not giving them the book they were looking for.”

Adrian Tomine is an American cartoonist who we’ve admired** for years. Adrian is the creator and writer of the 2007 graphic novel SHORTCOMINGS, which was a New York Times Notable Book of the year. SHORTCOMINGS was also recently turned into the film of the same name*, which happens to be the directorial debut of Randall Park. Shortcomings premiered at the 2023 Sundance film festival. This is a book and film you need to see. Adrian’s been creating comics since he was SIXTEEN - and since then he’s become known for not just his comics, but also his infamous New Yorker covers (since 1999!). His artwork and stories have a wry, thoughtful candor about them. From comics like Optic Nerve, Sleepwalk, Killing and Dying, all published from Drawn & Quarterly. Adrian also created graphic memoirs like Scenes From an Impending Marriage, and The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist. Adrian’s comics have been anthologized in publications such as McSweeney’s, Best American Comics, and Best American Nonrequired Reading. In 2022, Adrian’s short stories were adapted into the film Paris, 13th District directed by Jacques Audiard, with a screenplay by Céline Sciamma and Léa Mysius. As you’ll find in this candid conversation, Adrian Tomine is many things - a cartoonist, filmmaker, husband, father, and reluctant Taylor Swift fan. More importantly, his work will make you think, wonder, and sometimes smile, smirk, wonder, and most importantly feel.

*NOTE: This conversation was booked independently through Adrian’s book publisher - Drawn & Quarterly, not the film studio, out of respect for the ongoing writers’ and actors’ strike. Huge thanks to the team at Drawn & Quarterly for arranging this interview with a creator whose work we’ve loved for so long.

**Extra special thanks to Quarantined Comics co-host Ryan Joe for jumping to join Raman Sharon while she was out saving cinematic orphans from the evils of avarice and artificial intelligence.

LEARN MORE ABOUT ADRIAN

adrian-tomine.com
instagram.com/adriantomine
FILM / TRAILER: Shortcomings (2023): imdb.com/title/tt14483774
BOOK: Shortcomings (2007): drawnandquarterly.com/books/shortcomings

MENTIONS

BOOK: Love & Rockets - wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_and_Rockets_(comics)
PERSON: Richard Sala - wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Sala
PERSON: Daniel Clowe - wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Clowes
PERSON: Charles Schultz - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_M._Schulz
SHOW: Curb Your Enthusiasm Pilot Episode - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0218388/
Band Cut Worms - allmusic.com/artist/cut-worms-mn0003661980
PERSON: Larry David - wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_David
FILMMAKER: Céline Sciamma - imdb.com/name/nm1780037
FILM: Paris, 13th District - imdb.com/title/tt12708658
FILMMAKER: Ari Aster - imdb.com/name/nm4170048
FILM: Beau Is Afraid - imdb.com/title/tt13521006
FILMMAKERS: Coen Brothers - wikipedia.org/wiki/Coen_brothers
FILMMAKER: Alexander Payne - imdb.com/name/nm0668247
FILM: Killer of Sheep (Charles Burnett) - imdb.com/title/tt0076263

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Nidhi Chanani’s (turned) many pages Jul 31, 2023

Show notes

“So many kids wanna be artists - they wanna make comics. How powerful is it for me to say that whatever you imagine and whatever you want to pursue, you can do that?”

Nidhi Chanani an Indian-American freelance illustrator, cartoonist and writer. Nidhi’s debut graphic novel Pashmina won ALL the awards, but her diverse body of work - from Jukebox, Binny’s Diwali, the Shark Princess series (a personal favorite of Raman’s daughter), and October’s forthcoming of Super Boba Café - will not just just blow you away, but also move you. Basically if you’ve got a kid or are a kid at heart, you should be reading Nidhi’s work. Nidhi’s story is almost as amazing as her take on work and life, we’ve become fans of not just her work - but her approach to community. She’s such a nerd about storytelling and art - and her place in it - and you’ll definitely get the vibe from this chat that you're hearing old friends talk for the first time.

LEARN ABOUT

Nidhi: everydayloveart.com
instagram.com/nidhiart
Pashmina (2017): https://www.goodreads.com/fa/book/show/33163360
Jukebox (2021: goodreads.com/book/show/54017835-jukebox
Super Boba Cafe (2023): abramsbooks.com/product/super-boba-caf-book-1_9781419759567/

MENTIONS

WORD: “Hapa” - wikipedia.org/wiki/Hapa
BOOK: Interpreter of Maladies (Jhumpa Lahiri) - goodreads.com/book/show/486323
AUTHOR: Jhumpa Lahiri
BOOK: Bastard Out Of Carolina (Dorothy Allison) - goodreads.com/en/book/show/25354
BOOK: A Swim in a Pond in the Rain (George Saunders) - goodreads.com/book/show/53487237-a-swim-in-a-pond-in-the-rain
INDIAN COMICS: Amar Chitra Katha - wikipedia.org/wiki/Amar_Chitra_Katha
COMIC: American Born Chinese (Gene Luen Yang) - goodreads.com/en/book/show/118944
BOOK: Neverwhere (Neil Gaiman) - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54236146-neverwhere
SONG: Lizzo, “Special” - youtu.be/geZQoa4CPlk
PERSON: Janelle Monáe - wikipedia.org/wiki/Janelle_Mon%C3%A1e

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KARI’s melancholy & the infinite (Indian) sadness Jul 24, 2023

Show notes

“India is this place that's known, but distant to me. The Indians I knew were always my parents' generation, so I can only observe its youth culture through books like this.”

Ever wondered what it's like to be a female South Asian advertising writer working on women's hair care products living in a big and bustling smog city, cramped into an apartment with several single women, while also Queer and saddled with a sense of regret and ennui? Well either way, you should read KARI, the 2008 debut graphic novel by Indian artist Amruta Patil, who's since gone on to become a leading voice in the Indians comic scene, illustrating a number of projects - including a reimagining of the Hindu epic the Mahabharata. In Kari, we meet the eponymous protagonist upon her surviving a heartbroken suicide attempt, and we follow her to at work and at and home in the hustle and bustle of smog city. A marketing and advertising exec who turns her creative eye on the world, she lives a semi-closeted Queer life, living with many single women, befriending or romantically rebounding with a business colleague with weeks left to live, and just surviving in a monsoon drenched city. In deeply drawn black and white chapters we journey through Kari's crowded loneliness, sleeper success, and death - all in the shadow of her departed partner. The book is a sensuous yet wry commentary on life and love and unlike anything we'd ever seen. This is a bonus episode from Raman’s OTHER podcast, Quarantined Comics, but this graphic novel is one that fits the Modern Minorities mission for all of our majority ears - and one of the rare episodes where Ryan and Raman agree on (almost) everything.

LEARN MORE

COMIC: Kari (Amruta Patil) - goodreads.com/en/book/show/3174768
ARTICLE (GQ India): gqindia.com/get-smart/content/india-first-female-graphic-novelist-amruta-patil-graphing-the-future
Creator: instagram.com/amruta_gauri
POD: Quarantined Comics - qtdcomics.com

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Bruce Lee’s (martial) art Jul 17, 2023

Show notes

“As an actor, as a martial artist, as a human being, all type of knowledge, ultimately means self-knowledge. Under the sky, under the heaven, there is but one family. It just so happened, that people are different.”

Bruce Lee (李振藩) was among the first Chinese-Americans to truly bridge the gap between East and West. Born in San Francisco (1940), raised in Hong Kong, and known around the world, he’s considered the most influential martial artist of all time and a pop culture icon of the 20th century. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different disciplines. Bruce Lee changed the way Chinese people were presented in American film. He taught his philosophies to many of his era’s greatest actors, and his films influenced the way martial arts were seen around the world. Bruce Lee died on July 20, 1973, aged 32 - but he continues to capture the imagination of us all.

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