Immigrantly

Welcome to Immigrantly's fall guest lineup. In part one of a two-episode series, my  Rana Ayyub, an Indian journalist and opinion columnist with The Washington Post, joins me to discuss the inherent paradox in geopolitics, prioritizing strategic allyship over human rights. As a child, Rana witnessed the demolition of mosques and riots. Then, she worked as a relief worker during the Gujarat riots. She later authored the "Gujarat Files: Anatomy of a Cover-up," an instant bestseller and an investigation into the reality behind the 2002 Gujarat riots. Most recently, Rana has been outspoken about the growing violence toward Indian Muslims and the impediments journalists like her face when trying to uphold freedom of the press and democracy amidst global political pressures. Lastly, Rana & I  talk about mental health and Rana's newfound desire to be seen not just as the brave journalist she is but as a human being who struggles, feels, and hurts. Join the conversation: Instagram @immigrantlypod | Twitter @immigrantly_pod |  Please share the love and leave us a review to help more people find us! Host & Executive Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Sana Khan & Saadia KhanI Sound Designer & Editor: Manni Simon I Immigrantly Theme Music: Evan Ray Suzuki I Other Music: Epidemic Sounds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dear Immigrantly family, as you know, we are not releasing any new episodes this week; our fall lineup starts next week, August 23rd, with our conversation with Rana Ayyub. Nevertheless, I have exciting and fun audio to share today. In April this year, one of our previous guests and patrons, Paula Wood, hosted a fundraiser for us at her house. At the fundraiser, we asked the guests to define the US in a word or a phrase. Here's a compilation of their responses. The audio is raw, and there is some background noise, but the spirit of the conversation & the diversity of thought is beautiful. Enjoy! Join the conversation: Instagram @immigrantlypod | Twitter @immigrantly_pod |  Please share the love and leave us a review to help more people find us! Host & Executive Producer: Saadia Khan I Sound Designer & Editor: Manni Simon I Immigrantly Theme Music: Evan Ray Suzuki I Other Music: Epidemic Sounds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's guest, Thea Pham, shares her journey in discovering and defining what mental health means to her, how it fits in the complicated puzzle of her upbringing, and why she has felt immense emotional and psychological strains being the first generation. As an accomplished biotech entrepreneur, Thea was the youngest in her class to graduate with a Ph.D. in neuroscience at UCLA and currently works for a biotech venture capital start-up in LA. She has won numerous awards for her research and was featured in the LA Business Journal's 20 entrepreneurs in their 20s.    A month ago, Thea received viral attention after sharing an emotional TikTok about her challenges as the daughter of Vietnamese parents. In that video, she highlighted some common expectations that fall on children of immigrants, such as academic excellence and financial support. But in Thea's case, they have caused guilt, mental illness, and more. Atlhough, Thea and I come from diametric points of view in our status as daughter and mother, respectively but our dialogue was fruitful. I want you to stay after, to hear me unpack this conversation with our content editor and this script's writer, Yudi Liu, who is an immigrant daughter herself. Join the conversation: Instagram @immigrantlypod | Twitter @immigrantly_pod |  Please share the love and leave us a review to help more people find us! Host & Executive Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Yudi Liu I Sound Designer & Editor: Manni Simon I Immigrantly Theme Music: Evan Ray Suzuki I Other Music: Epidemic Sounds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For Neda Toloui-Semnani, our today's guest, understanding who her parents were and what motivated them to participate in the 1979 Iranian Revolution as young Iranian activists became a crucial step to making sense of her own present. Born to a nation marked by political upheaval and now a Brooklyn-based emmy-winning writer & reporter, Neda is no stranger to the fabrics of social change and the equally important need to document such history.   Her father was imprisoned and killed by the Islamic Republic, while her then-pregnant mother and three-year old Neda escaped Iran for America. After her mother passed away, Neda tried to comprehend why her parents did what they did, which could be argued as both brave sacrifices and selfish risks. Her book, THEY SAID THEY WANTED REVOLUTION: A Memoir of My Parents, published this past February, details her rediscovering of personal history against a larger political backdrop.  Neda works for Vice News Tonight and has appeared in numerous publications such as The Washington Post, Kinfolk, and The Week as well as platforms like The Rumpus and This American Life. We had a fantastic conversation where we talked about the literary and emotional journey behind the memoir and what intersections exist between journalism and storytelling and how they are tools for uncovering the truth and preserving memory.  Join the conversation: Instagram @immigrantlypod | Twitter @immigrantly_pod |  Please share the love and leave us a review to help more people find us! Host & Executive Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Ashley Lanuza & Saadia Khan I Editorial Review IYudi Li I Sound Designer & Editor: Manni Simon I Immigrantly Theme Music: Evan Ray Suzuki I Other Music: Epidemic Sounds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today I am sharing another gem from the Immigrantly vault. It’s our conversation with Abubakr Ali. He is an actor, writer, and singer. Last year, he landed a significant role in the upcoming Netflix series Grendel as the anti-hero, Hunter Rose. This opportunity is historic because Abubakr is the first Arab Muslim actor to lead in a comic book adaptation. As he steps into the spotlight, Abubakr was recently featured in the New York Times and other significant publications. Since ours was his first ever podcast interview, we thought it would be fun to re-share our fantastic conversation, especially for listeners who recently became part of the Immigrantly community. So enjoy! Libsyn is the sponsor of this episode. Click on Libsyn.com and use code Friend to get your discount! Join the conversation: Instagram @immigrantlypod | Twitter @immigrantly_pod |  Please share the love and leave us a review to help more people find us! Host & Executive Producer: Saadia Khan I Associate Producer: Kinza Muzahir I Content Writer: Yudi Liu I Sound Designer & Editor: Manni Simon & Tom Whelan I Immigrantly Theme Music: Evan Ray Suzuki I Other Music: Epidemic Sounds   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we have a fellow podcaster in our midst. Ramtin Arablouei is the co-host and co-producer of NPR's podcast Throughline. This show explores history through creative, immersive storytelling designed to reintroduce history to new audiences.  Ramtin embodies this perspective personally and professionally. Born in Iran, he immigrated to the U.S. with his family as a child and later graduated from St. Mary's College of Maryland with a B.A. in psychology and history. Along with hosting and producing, Ramtin is also a trained audio engineer and has written and mixed music for many award-winning podcasts, including TED Radio Hour and Hidden Brain. Ramtin generously offered his time to us to talk about an episode he reported back in early June this year called "By Accident of Birth." It's about the story of Wong Kim Ark, who, after returning from a trip to China in 1895, was barred from re-entering the country according to the Chinese Exclusion Act, which denied citizenship to Chinese immigrants. His subsequent legal battles culminated in the 1897 Supreme Court case, the United States. v. Wong Kim Ark:  the case that would forever change the path of American immigration law and play a pivotal role in the ongoing battle over who gets to be a citizen of the United States. Libsyn is the sponsor of this episode Click on Libsyn.com and use code Friend to get your discount! Join the conversation: Instagram @immigrantlypod | Twitter @immigrantly_pod |  Please share the love and leave us a review to help more people find us! Host & Executive Producer: Saadia Khan I Associate Producer: Kinza Muzahir I Content Writer: Sana Khan & Yudi Liu I Sound Designer & Editor: Manni Simon I Immigrantly Theme Music: Evan Ray Suzuki I Other Music: Epidemic Sounds     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The first time I introduced today's episode was in September 2020, when we recorded the interview on abortion access with Dr. Meera Shah. She is the Chief Medical Officer of Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic in New York and the author of "You're the Only One I have Told: The Stories Behind Abortion." Meera is a tireless advocate for accessible, safe abortions. The episode was released only a few days after the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, all while the presidential elections loomed ahead. Fast forward to July 2022, Joe Biden is in the White House, the Democrats have a thin majority in the House, and Senate is split 50-50. In addition, we are freshly reeling from the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. With this layered perspective in the background and the undercurrent of the U.S. midterm elections up ahead, we thought it would be appropriate to revisit this episode from the past to make sense of the present and mobilize for the future. So, here is an episode from the Immigrantly vault — it provides a compassionate lens to abortion, healthcare in general, how U.S. policies have influenced access to it, particularly for immigrant communities, and the reality of shared experiences around it. We hope it will help you contextualize our continued fight for bodily autonomy. So, let's hit rewind. Libsyn is the sponsor of this episode Click on Libsyn.com and use code Friend to get your discount! Join the conversation: Instagram @immigrantlypod | Twitter @immigrantly_pod |  Please share the love and leave us a review to help more people find us! Host & Executive Producer: Saadia Khan I Associate Producer: Kinza Muzahir I Content Writer: Sarah Doh I Sound Designer & Editor: Manni Simon & Tom Whelan I Immigrantly Theme Music: Evan Ray Suzuki I Other Music: Epidemic Sounds     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On June 24th, 2022, the hyper-conservative Supreme Court overturned Roe Vs. Wade and took away a woman's constitutional right to abortion. Thirteen states with trigger laws will ban abortion instantly. As a woman & a mother of two girls, I am angry, annoyed, devastated, and more uncertain about the safety of my kids now than ever before. It feels unreal that my daughters will have fewer rights than I did. However, I am determined to fight this injustice by voting for & supporting organizations and people who believe in women's bodily autonomy and amplifying the stories that must be told on our platform. As for men, please speak up because this is not only a woman's issue. It's a family issue, a human rights issue, and it will impact you too. And on this show today, we are going to make some noise.  Our guest, LaKia Williams, is a Reproductive Justice activist based in the South. At Tulane University, she founded the Big Easy EC, an emergency contraception provider for college students in New Orleans. After graduating from University with a Bachelor's in Neuroscience, she joined SisterSong: The National Women of Color Reproductive Justice Organization as their Digital Organizer. LaKia is also the host of the Black Feminist Rants podcast about reproductive justice and activism.  Join the conversation: Instagram @immigrantlypod | Twitter @immigrantly_pod |  Please share the love and leave us a review to help more people find us! Host & Executive Producer: Saadia Khan I Associate Producer: Kinza Muzahir I Content Writer: Ashley Lanuza I Sound Designer & Editor: Manni Simon I Immigrantly Theme Music: Evan Ray Suzuki I Other Music: Epidemic Sounds   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In September 2021, when the images of border patrol agents whipping a group of Haitian migrants in Del Rio, Texas, came to light, national outrage broke out. But as all news cycles go, the rage eventually died out. The publications moved on to other stories, and the social media posts changed.  But the reality is, there was so much more to the story.  What happened to these migrants after they were denied their right to seek asylum and forcefully detained? In this episode, we break down the legal framework that allowed the existence of the “Del Rio Encampment” with Sarah Decker. She’s a Staff Attorney at Robert F Kennedy Human Rights, an organization that advocates for human rights issues and pursues strategic litigation to hold governments accountable on both the domestic and international levels. Sarah is also the co-author of “Beyond The Bridge,” a 2022 report documenting abuses toward Haitian immigrants in the Texas-based encampment. Join the conversation: Instagram @immigrantlypod | Twitter @immigrantly_pod |  Please share the love and leave us a review to help more people find us! Host & Executive Producer: Saadia Khan I Associate Producer: Kinza Muzahir I Content Writer: Sarah Doh I Sound Designer & Editor: Manni Simon I Immigrantly Theme Music: Evan Ray Suzuki I Other Music: Epidemic Sounds Athletic Greens is the sponsor of this episode. To get your discount, go to Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thimali Kodikara is the series producer of "Mothers of Invention," hosted by former Irish president Mary Robinson and comedian-writer Maeve Higgins. Their platform uncovers stories of climate justice heroes, focused on Black, Brown, and Indigenous women holding up the microphone to climate action in the boardroom, at marches, with their peers, and beyond. In addition to her podcast, Thimali advises on climate strategies and is a recognized public figure for climate advocacy. She has consulted global and regional organizations like Human Rights Watch and BAFTA on how to adopt intersectional-feminist principles in their climate policies.  Join the conversation: Instagram @immigrantlypod | Twitter @immigrantly_pod |  Please share the love and leave us a review to help more people find us! Host & Executive Producer: Saadia Khan I Associate Producer: Kinza Muzahir I Content Writer: Yudi Liu I Sound Designer & Editor: Bronte Cook I Immigrantly Theme Music: Evan Ray Suzuki I Other Music: Epidemic Sounds Athletic Greens is the sponsor of this episode. To get your discount, go to Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices