The Pakistan Experience

Former Actor, Model and Host, Ayeshah Alam Khan comes on The Pakistan Experience to discuss her battle with obesity and her journey towards health.   Currently working as a health coach, Ayeshah Alam, discusses the health issues she faced, how she overcame hardship and how to develop a mindset towards living a more healthy life on this episode.    Ayeshah and I discuss fat-shaming, positive outlooks, diet fads, working out, forgiveness, and her journey from being a media legend in Pakistan to starting a completely new career in a new country. The Pakistan Experience is a podcast looking to tell stories about Pakistan, and Pakistanis, through the lost art of conversation.

Adeel Afzal is a content creator who used to work at Mangobaaz and now makes a series of videos on social issues called 'Bayan Baazu'.   Adeel comes on the podcast for a long discussion on the many problems faced by Pakistan, from Imran Khan's governance to the role of the establishment in politics, from Pathan Jokes to hateful xenophobia against ethnicities, from old babbay controlling every institution to the Tik Tok ban.   The Pakistan Experience is a podcast looking to tell stories about Pakistan, and Pakistanis, through the lost art of conversation.

Mekaal Hassan, one of the greatest musicians produced by Pakistan, of Mekaal Hassan Band fame, comes on The Pakistan Experience to discuss music, the industry and the role of the artist.  With brands sponsoring music shows and actors becoming signers, Mekaal Hassan is a man on the mission to produce music for the love of the music itself.  On this episode Mekaal discusses how he stays true to his art, his journey as a musician and his advice for other musicians.   The Pakistan Experience is a podcast looking to tell stories about Pakistan, and Pakistanis, through the lost art of conversation.   P.S. We apologize for the audio issues in this episode.

The top stand up comedians of Pakistan sit down for a discussion on comedy, censorship and building communities.   Tabish Hashmi, Faheem Azam, Sana Khan Niazi and Natalia Gul come on The Pakistan Experience to discuss what can be joked about and the experience of being a stand-up comedian in Pakistan. From facing threats to self-censorship to why Stand-up comedy is not as big in Pakistan as it is in India; the comedians discuss their craft and their process.

Actors from the Film and TV industry of Pakistan come on this episode of The Pakistan Experience Roundtable to discuss acting and the media industry in Pakistan.   From why they act to why we keep saying the same old stories being told in Film and on Television, from what changes they want to bring to how they are struggling to do so, what is acting and what is an actor, we discuss it all on this round table.    Usman Mukhtar is a Film Maker and has acted in several films and dramas.   Sabeena Syed is an upcoming actress who shot to fame with Yakeen ka Safar and Parwaaz hay Junoon.   Agha Mustafa Hasan started with Theatre and can now be seen in several TV dramas.   Mina Tariq recently completed her first TV drama, Ruswayee.   Fawad Khan is an acclaimed Theatre actor that received critical praise for his role as the Police Officer in Churails.

Mariam Shafqat Goraya, Lilith Khannum and Usman Rana come on TPE subset 'Bachodiyan' to talk about everything under the sun in this mammoth 4 hour podcast.  From the best way to eat a banana to the funeral of misogyny, from their wierdest sex stories to the dirtiest songs you will ever hear, watch as the four of us take on hyper woke people, cancel culture, patriarchy and the celebrity protests!   Going from bachodiyan to personal tales of sorrow, this is not a podcast you can miss.   Disclaimer: Nothing said on Bachodiyan is meant to be taken seriously

Mariam Shafqat Goraya, the woman behind the towel and the brain behind 'Naik Parveen', comes on The Pakistan Experience for a no holds barred conversation about feminism, misogyny, content creation and dealing with trolls online.   A conversation that goes from intense to hilarious at the drop of the dime, Mariam shows she is equally adept at poking fun at power structures, as she is talking eloquently about the fundamental inequalities in our society.   The Pakistan Experience is a podcast looking to tell stories about Pakistan, and Pakistanis, through the lost art of conversation.

Osama Zaman comes on The Pakistan Experience for a raw, unfiltered and honest conversation about drug abuse and heroin addiction. Having struggled with the addiction for years, Osama finally got clean and now seeks to share his experiences with others in hopes of helping other addicts.  In this episode, we discuss the stigma around addiction, what being a heroin addict is really like and how it is crucial to understand mental health, and trauma, to understand addiction.  The Pakistan Experience is a podcast looking to tell stories about Pakistan, and Pakistanis, through the lost art of conversation.

Pakistan has recently seen a spike in violence against the Shia community, rallies in Karachi were attended by thousands where slogans against Shias were shouted. However, most people do not think Shia persecution is real.    We invited members of the Shia community onto the podcast to discuss how they have been persecuted against, how they have lost loved ones and have had to learn really early what it means to live as a Shia in Pakistan, from being called a kafir in third grade to seeing family members refuse to even drink water at your home.  These people are real, their stories are real, no longer can we deny how real Shia persecution is.   The Pakistan Experience is a podcast looking to tell stories about Pakistan, and Pakistanis, through the lost art of conversation,

Hamna Zubair (writer/ex culture editor at Dawn), Manal Faheem (writer at Cutacut/Teacher at Szabist), Nayab Gohar Jan(activist and journalist), Tooba Syed(Member WDF and AWP/Activist/Aurat March Organizer) and Qurrat Mirza(Member WAF/Activist/Aurat March Organizer) come on the podcast this week to discuss R*pe culture.  The Motorway incident has shaken the nation to its core but till we do not address the underlying culture that has made such incidents commonplace in our society, we will continue trending hashtags.  This esteemed group of writers, activists and journalists, come together to break down what r*pe culture is, how patriarchy works to subjugate women, and how we need to change as a society to fight this toxic culture.   The Pakistan Experience is a podcast looking to tell stories about Pakistan, and Pakistanis, through the lost art of conversation.