Himal Southasian Podcast Channel

Himal Southasian Podcast Channel
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Podcasts from Himal Southasian – Southasia's magazine of politics and culture, since 1987.

  1. 23h ago

    Bobuq Sayed on queer Afghan lives beyond borders: Southasia Review of Books #42

    Two queer Afghan men, each forced away from home by circumstances beyond their control, find themselves in Istanbul, where their paths cross in unexpected ways.  The writer, artist and poet Bobuq Sayed’s debut novel, ‘No God But Us’, follows Delbar, an aspiring drag queen who leaves his family in Washington DC after being outed, and Mansur, who has left Tehran and is trying to build a life in Istanbul while supporting the family he left behind.  As their lives become increasingly entangled, the novel brings questions of love, family, migration and survival into sharp focus, asking what it means to build a life on your own terms, and what you might be willing to give up for it. It is also about the forces – political and personal – that shape the choices we’re able to make.  In this episode of the Southasia Review of Books podcast – a show from Himal featuring conversations with celebrated authors and emerging literary voices from across Southasia – we speak to Bobuq Sayed about ‘No God But Us’, and the questions of borders, belonging, queerness and identity that run through the novel. This episode is now available on Youtube: https://youtu.be/b8J1iOz8SWk ✨ Thank you for listening to the Southasia Review of Books podcast from Himal Southasian. If you enjoyed this episode, please share, subscribe, rate and review the show on your favourite podcast apps.▶️ If you haven’t already, please subscribe to the Himal Southasian YouTube channel and help us spread the word by sharing these conversations widely. ✉️ We’d love to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment on YouTube or write to us at editorial@himalmag.com. 📚 Sign up for the Southasia Review of Books newsletter for a roundup of our latest reviews, essays, interviews and literary news from across Southasia: https://www.himalmag.com/newsletters/  🙏🏼 If you’d like to support our work, please consider becoming a Himal Patron to help make conversations like this possible and sustain our work throughout the year:  https://www.himalmag.com/#/portal

    Bobuq Sayed on queer Afghan lives beyond borders: Southasia Review of Books #42

  2. Aug 21

    Sowmiya Ashok on what Keeladi tells us about India’s past – and present: Southasia Review of Books #41

    In The Dig: Keeladi and the Politics of India’s Past, the Chennai-based journalist Sowmiya Ashok begins with an archaeological excavation in a village outside Madurai in the state of Tamil Nadu and unfolds a much larger story about history, identity, and the struggle over who gets to narrate India’s past. Since its discovery in 2014, Keeladi has become one of India’s most contested archaeological sites, drawing in debates around Tamil identity, language and nationalism. Moving between excavation trenches, museums, literary texts, and conversations with archaeologists, historians, and people across India, the book explores how political battles over science and history shape the way the past is understood in the present, and what the contestations around these sites Keeladi reveal about contemporary India itself.  This episode is now available on Youtube: https://youtu.be/PN3pGg5t3qg Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sowmiya-ashok-on-what-keeladi-tells-us-about-indias/id1464880116?i=1000784834408 ✨ Thank you for listening to the Southasia Review of Books podcast from Himal Southasian. If you enjoyed this episode, please share, subscribe, rate and review the show on your favourite podcast apps.▶️ If you haven’t already, please subscribe to the Himal Southasian YouTube channel and help us spread the word by sharing these conversations widely. ✉️ We’d love to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment on YouTube or write to us at editorial@himalmag.com. 📚 Sign up for the Southasia Review of Books newsletter for a roundup of our latest reviews, essays, interviews and literary news from across Southasia: https://www.himalmag.com/newsletters/  🙏🏼 If you’d like to support our work, please consider becoming a Himal Patron to help make conversations like this possible and sustain our work throughout the year:  https://www.himalmag.com/#/portal

    Sowmiya Ashok on what Keeladi tells us about India’s past – and present: Southasia Review of Books #41

  3. Jul 24

    Mirza Waheed on writing beyond the radicalisation story: Southasia Review of Books #40

    What does it mean to reckon with loss when there are no clear answers? In Maryam & Son, Mirza Waheed explores that question through the story of Maryam Ali, a mother in London whose son disappears and is drawn into a distant conflict in Iraq. As she waits for answers, the novel moves between memory and grief, tracing what happens when the certainties of motherhood begin to unravel and private grief collides with public narratives. Waheed is the author of four acclaimed novels, including The Collaborator, The Book of Gold Leaves and Tell Her Everything. His work has been widely recognised for its explorations of conflict, memory and belonging, particularly in relation to Kashmir.  In this episode of the Southasia Review of Books podcast, Waheed discusses his new novel, the language of bureaucracy and surveillance, motherhood, and the ways in which the media transforms deeply personal tragedies into public spectacle.  This episode is now available on Youtube: https://youtu.be/kQZ-GZvH1jQ ✨ Thank you for listening to the Southasia Review of Books podcast from Himal Southasian. If you enjoyed this episode, please share, subscribe, rate and review the show on your favourite podcast apps.▶️ If you haven’t already, please subscribe to the Himal Southasian YouTube channel and help us spread the word by sharing these conversations widely. ✉️ We’d love to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment on YouTube or write to us at editorial@himalmag.com. 📚 Sign up for the Southasia Review of Books newsletter for a roundup of our latest reviews, essays, interviews and literary news from across Southasia: https://www.himalmag.com/newsletters/  🙏🏼 If you’d like to support our work, please consider becoming a Himal Patron to help make conversations like this possible and sustain our work throughout the year:  https://www.himalmag.com/#/portal

    Mirza Waheed on writing beyond the radicalisation story: Southasia Review of Books #40

  4. Jun 26

    Joe Sacco on the book Penguin India wouldn’t distribute: Southasia Review of Books #39

    Episode description:  For more than three decades, Joe Sacco has been at the forefront of graphic journalism, combining rigorous reporting with comics to document conflict, displacement and political violence. His landmark works, including ‘Palestine’ and ‘Footnotes in Gaza’, have helped define an entire genre and inspired generations of cartoonists and journalists. His latest book, ‘The Once and Future Riot’ (2025), turns its attention to India, examining the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots in Uttar Pradesh and the political forces that shaped them. In doing so, it asks larger questions about violence, democracy, memory and the stories societies tell about themselves in the aftermath of conflict. The book has also become the subject of a controversy of its own. Earlier this year, Penguin India decided not to distribute it after raising a series of legal and editorial objections, prompting wider debates about censorship and how histories of violence are told. In this episode of the Southasia Review of Books podcast – a show from Himal Southasian featuring conversations with celebrated authors and emerging literary voices from across Southasia – we speak to Sacco about ‘The Once and Future Riot’, the controversy surrounding its publication, and more.  This episode is also available on- Youtube: https://youtu.be/FemACGTJhyw Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/joe-sacco-on-the-book-penguin-india-wouldnt/id1464880116?i=1000774285127

    Joe Sacco on the book Penguin India wouldn’t distribute: Southasia Review of Books #39

  5. Feb 28

    Nepal Elections 2026: Parties, Power, and the Promise of Change | Himal Conversations

    Nepal goes to the polls on 5 March 2026. But what do these elections actually mean for a country still navigating the turbulence of its recent past?In this episode, Himal's editor Roman Gautam and associate editor Nayantara Narayanan are joined by law student and intersectional feminist Anjali Sah and writer and journalist Pranaya Rana for a wide-ranging conversation on Nepal's upcoming general elections.They dig into the parties contesting and what they actually stand for, the tired persistence of the old guard and whether a new generation of politics is genuinely possible, the unfinished business of federalism, the stubborn underrepresentation of women candidates, and very importantly - what last year's Gen Z protests revealed about the deep frustrations simmering beneath the surface of Nepali public life.Nepal has been through a remarkable and often painful political journey, from monarchy to republic, from civil war to constitution, and yet the same faces, the same compromises, and the same impunity have a way of enduring. This conversation asks whether March 5 is a turning point, or another chapter in a longer story of deferred hope.

    Nepal Elections 2026: Parties, Power, and the Promise of Change | Himal Conversations

  6. Feb 11

    The high stakes of the 2026 Bangladesh election | Nusmila Lohani and Zyma Islam

    On 12 February 2026, Bangladesh holds its first election since the July Revolution in 2024 that overthrew the authoritarian government of Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League. These polls are among the most critical in the country’s tumultuous history. Hasina’s exile, a ban on the Awami League and a generational change in the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) after Khaleda Zia’s death have transformed the face of Bangladesh politics. Himal's editor Roman Gautam and associate editor Nayantara Narayanan speak to Bangladeshi journalists Zyma Islam and Nusmita Lohani to unpack Bangladesh’s contested present and recent past, offering nuance and deeper perspective to make sense of the election and what comes after it. Read the rest of our coverage here :https://www.himalmag.com/politics/bangladesh-election-bnp-jamaat-islamist-hasin You can also listen to this conversation on 🎧 YouTube: https://youtu.be/HqEEI5GNna4 🎧 Apple podcasts:Himal Southasian is Southasia’s first and only regional news and analysis magazine. Stretching from Afghanistan to Burma, from Tibet to the Maldives, this region of more than 1.4 billion people shares great swathes of interlocking geography, culture and history. Yet today neighbouring countries can barely talk to one another, much less speak in a common voice. For three decades, Himal Southasian has strived to define, nurture, and amplify that voice. Read more: https://www.himalmag.com/ Support our independent journalism and become a Patron of Himal: https://www.himalmag.com/support-himalFind us on: https://twitter.com/Himalistan https://www.facebook.com/himal.southasian https://www.instagram.com/himalistan/#bangladesh #bangladeshelection2026 #democracy #awamileague #bnp #sheikhhasina #southasianvoices #southasianlanguage #southasiageopolitics #editorialanalysis #journalism #southasianews #netrachannel #dailystar #politics #podcast #politicalupdates #politicalpodcast #generalknowledge #general #generalelections

    The high stakes of the 2026 Bangladesh election | Nusmila Lohani and Zyma Islam

  7. Jan 7

    Felix Pal, Christophe Jaffrelot & Tanika Sarkar on the RSS’s hidden network

    In this special episode of Saffron Siege: The RSS at 100, Harsh Mander speaks to Felix Pal, a lecturer on political science and international relations at the University of Western Australia, about his six-year long research into the RSS and its affiliates recently published in The Caravan magazine. The research revealed a network of 2500 organisations around the world that are directly or indirectly connected to the RSS, and overtly or covertly espousing its ideas. Commenting on the findings are Christophe Jaffrelot, a political scientist at Sciences Po who specialises in Southasia and has written several important books in India’s politics, and Tanika Sarkar, a historian of modern India who works on religion, gender and politics in Southasia, in particular on women and the Hindu Right. You can watch this full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/FSg9h0NXipU This episode is part of Season Two of Partitions of the Heart. In this season, Harsh Mander speaks to leading scholars and observers who have studied the RSS closely. Together, they examine its roots and core principles, its Hindutva agenda, and its corrosive role in India’s public and social life across a century. Production: Imaad ul Hasan, Lydia Smith, Ritika Chauhan, Nayantara Narayanan Himal Southasian is Southasia’s first and only regional news and analysis magazine. Stretching from Afghanistan to Burma, from Tibet to the Maldives, this region of more than 1.4 billion people shares great swathes of interlocking geography, culture and history. Yet today neighbouring countries can barely talk to one another, much less speak in a common voice. For three decades, Himal Southasian has strived to define, nurture, and amplify that voice. Read more: https://www.himalmag.com/ Support our independent journalism and become a Patron of Himal: https://www.himalmag.com/support-himal Find us on: https://twitter.com/Himalistan https://www.facebook.com/himal.southasian https://www.instagram.com/himalistan/

    Felix Pal, Christophe Jaffrelot & Tanika Sarkar on the RSS’s hidden network

  8. 12/22/2025

    Ayesha Jalal on Pakistan’s 27th constitutional amendment: State of Southasia #37

    Pakistan has been reshaped by its 27th constitutional amendment that was passed in November. The amendment has formalised the military’s so-far unofficial dominance in the country’s governing structure into explicit constitutional supremacy. It was passed by a politically fragile parliament facing questions over its own legitimacy and elevates the army chief Asim Munir to an almost unassailable position as the Chief of Defence Forces. What had long operated as an informal military veto over civilian politics is now written into the basic law of the state, transforming Pakistan’s power structure for years to come.​ The amendment also rewires the judiciary, creating a new Federal Constitutional Court whose judges are effectively chosen and controlled by the executive and legislature, both themselves deeply aligned with the military establishment. By stripping the existing Supreme Court of most constitutional jurisdiction and reshaping the body that appoints and transfers judges, the changes leave little room for independent legal scrutiny of military or executive overreach. In this episode of State of Southasia, Ayesha Jalal, the Mary Richardson professor of history, arts and sciences at the Fletcher graduate school in Tufts University, speaks to Ayesha Jalal about Pakistan after the 27th amendment – what has changed and what has not, and what political players and civil society must do to reclaim democratic spaces in the country. You can also listen to this episode on: 🎧 YouTube: https://youtu.be/eXiuTQ6ppkM 🎧 Apple podcasts:https://apple.co/4p7YhHt Episode notes: Ayesha Jalal’s recommendations: - The State of Martial Rule: The Origins of Pakistan's Political Economy of Defence – Ayesha Jalal (non-fiction) - Crossed Swords: Pakistan, Its Army, and the Wars Within – Shuja Nawaz (non-fiction) - A Case of Exploding Mangoes – Mohammed Hanif (fiction) Further reading from Himal’s archives: In Pakistan, a mightier military and a judiciary undone (https://www.himalmag.com/politics/pakistan-27amendment-constitution-military-asim-munir) - Pakistan’s struggle to reshape its fiscal federalism (https://www.himalmag.com/politics/pakistan-fiscal-federalism-province-punjab-budget) - Asim Munir’s promotion to field marshal signals an authoritarian Pakistan (https://www.himalmag.com/politics/pakistan-military-asim-munir-authoritarianism) - Pakistan is losing friends fast in both Beijing and Washington DC (https://www.himalmag.com/politics/pakistan-unitedstates-china-taliban-security) Himal Southasian is Southasia’s first and only regional news and analysis magazine. Stretching from Afghanistan to Burma, from Tibet to the Maldives, this region of more than 1.4 billion people shares great swathes of interlocking geography, culture and history. Yet today neighbouring countries can barely talk to one another, much less speak in a common voice. For three decades, Himal Southasian has strived to define, nurture, and amplify that voice. Read more: https://www.himalmag.com/ Support our independent journalism and become a Patron of Himal: https://www.himalmag.com/support-himal Find us on: https://twitter.com/Himalistan https://www.facebook.com/himal.southasian https://www.instagram.com/himalistan/

    Ayesha Jalal on Pakistan’s 27th constitutional amendment: State of Southasia #37
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About

Podcasts from Himal Southasian – Southasia's magazine of politics and culture, since 1987.

Information

  • Creator
    Himal Southasian Podcast Channel
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    228
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Himal Southasian Podcast Channel
  • Show Website
    Himal Southasian Podcast Channel

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