133 episodes

That Desi Spark, formerly known as The Woke Desi, is a bold podcast created by three founders who recognized a space void of color and conversation around the topics that impact dual-identity, South Asian millennials the most. From education to entertainment and social justice issues to social media trends, That Desi Spark approaches each episode with compassion, advocacy, and information, bolstered by subject-area experts and unfiltered celebrity moments. Hosted by Annika Sharma, That Desi Spark ignites conversation, illuminates learning, and sparks a community to own their stories, rise up with confidence, and blaze a path forward. The podcast has been featured in the Times of India, at BBC’s CDX, and on Forbes. They have been featured speakers at multiple conferences, ViacomCBS, and universities. They can be found on the web, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

That Desi Spark (formerly The Woke Desi‪)‬ That Desi Spark

    • Society & Culture
    • 4.4 • 117 Ratings

That Desi Spark, formerly known as The Woke Desi, is a bold podcast created by three founders who recognized a space void of color and conversation around the topics that impact dual-identity, South Asian millennials the most. From education to entertainment and social justice issues to social media trends, That Desi Spark approaches each episode with compassion, advocacy, and information, bolstered by subject-area experts and unfiltered celebrity moments. Hosted by Annika Sharma, That Desi Spark ignites conversation, illuminates learning, and sparks a community to own their stories, rise up with confidence, and blaze a path forward. The podcast has been featured in the Times of India, at BBC’s CDX, and on Forbes. They have been featured speakers at multiple conferences, ViacomCBS, and universities. They can be found on the web, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

    That Desi Spark 2.0: Let's Get Started

    That Desi Spark 2.0: Let's Get Started

    After a long 5 month hiatus...we are back with an update! We've been acquired!That Desi Spark has been acquired by Prince Bhojwani of Asana Voices (AV), and TDS and AV have entered a strategic partnership. What does that mean? Annika stays on as host, Nita Bhojwani joins as CEO, and this episode covers all of Annika's thoughts on TDS' latest move. As for the rest, listen and find out! We're up to big things over here. We can't wait to see you along for the ride.In the mean time, check ou...

    • 7 min
    The Greatest Hits: Raja Kumari (Season 8)

    The Greatest Hits: Raja Kumari (Season 8)

    Relive some of the highest-rated, most listened-to episodes of That Desi Spark on The Greatest Hits!Raja Kumari is a force - a Grammy-nominated artist who has collaborated with Fall Out Boy, Gwen Stefani, and more, the face of Mac Cosmetics, nominated three times for the MTV European Music Awards for Best India Act, and made her own label album debut with The Bridge. Speaking to TDS about her career, she jumped into her South Indian roost, what it took to succeed, and how South Asians are hav...

    • 40 min
    The Greatest Hits: Divya Robin, LMHC, on Boundaries with Families (Season 7)

    The Greatest Hits: Divya Robin, LMHC, on Boundaries with Families (Season 7)

    Relive some of the highest-rated, most listened-to episodes of That Desi Spark on The Greatest Hits! Divya Robin's mental health advice on Instagram has been a blessing. And her conversation and thoughtful consideration around drawing boundaries with South Asian families was a hit. From baby steps to huge changes, she dove into alllll the considerations around drawing lines in your life for your mental health and made this episode one for the books.Listen now to this interview with Divya cond...

    • 46 min
    The Greatest Hits: Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, of Netflix' 'Never Have I Ever' (Season 8)

    The Greatest Hits: Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, of Netflix' 'Never Have I Ever' (Season 8)

    Relive some of the highest-rated, most listened-to episodes of That Desi Spark on The Greatest Hits! Maitreyi Ramakrishnan shot to fame as lead Devi Vishwakumar on Netflix' Never Have I Ever. Season 4, the final season of the show, aired in May of 2023. Maitreyi joined TDS for an interview that ran over time (sorry, Netflix!) discussing representation, how she coped with the haters, the love she had for the show, and what she hoped to achieve out of her career. Listen now to this intervi...

    • 43 min
    The Greatest Hits: Ramya Chunduri, LMSW, on Domestic Violence During the Pandemic (Season 6)

    The Greatest Hits: Ramya Chunduri, LMSW, on Domestic Violence During the Pandemic (Season 6)

    Relive some of the highest-rated, most listened-to episodes of That Desi Spark on The Greatest Hits! Ramya Chunduri, LMSW, has been a social worker, counselor, advocate, and founder of Saurya Media. Her extensive work in the South Asian community and with women's centers produced a wealth of knowledge about domestic violence and gender-based violence, particularly during the pandemic. Diving into signs most people don't realize and hidden elements of these situations that we can learn ab...

    • 51 min
    The Greatest Hits: Jasvinder Sanghera, CBE on Honor-Based Violence (Season 3)

    The Greatest Hits: Jasvinder Sanghera, CBE on Honor-Based Violence (Season 3)

    Relive some of the highest-rated, most listened-to episodes of That Desi Spark on The Greatest Hits! Jasvinder Sanghera came home from school at the age of 14 to find out she was promised to be married. Running away at great personal risk, she was supported by her sister, who herself was married young and died by suicide after suffering from abuse. These experiences led to the founding of Karma Nirvana, an organization in the UK that has helped over 30,000 people, most of whom are of Sou...

    • 1 hr 6 min

Customer Reviews

4.4 out of 5
117 Ratings

117 Ratings

Nisha226 ,

Needs to be less scripted

Glad they’re willing to talk about what can be taboo topics in the culture but their presentation of the material needs to improve. They obviously write scripts and go line by line making the commentary feel like the news for most of the podcast. I’d recommend a format like the comments by celebs podcasts where they give the “news” but give actual thoughts/opinions so it feels authentic and is fun to listen to. I also hate the intro music but thats probably just be a personal preference.

Shiyfrfvas ,

Toxic

This is a HELLLA toxic podcast

Squeak Ethel ,

Awakening

I found this podcast recently after reading Annika Sharma’s book, “Love, Chai, and Other Four-Letter Words” (I loved the book and looking forward to the next in the series) and enjoy it immensely. Although I’m not of South Asian descent, the topics are relevant and help me be a more understanding and inclusive person. Thank you so much!

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