Modern Minorities

“We feel grief. We feel anger. We feel sadness. We feel mobilized to help. We feel energized. But we feel that our life, it's not the same as it was before.”  // “We're on a precipice and people will say why wasn't more done. This is about Ukraine right now, but may not stay about Ukraine. And so not doing anything, it's not an option.” While a tragedy continues to unfold in Ukraine, it remains......

“I was told over and over to change my name to the point where I lost out on a lot of things. But I never felt that was something I was going to do. And I didn't want to compromise that.” Sheetal Sheth is an acclaimed author, actress/producer, cancer graduate, and activist. She’s the author of “Always Anjali” and its sequel, “Bravo Anjali” - which are among Raman and his daughter’s FAVORITE books....

“It's important for the community to be teaching our history — the reality with our history is we have to be the ones to tell the story.” Black History is not just one month - it’s being made every day. But since we are NOT experts about the Black experience - especially when it comes to Black History, we sat down with FrieMMds of the Pod (past guests) — Stanley Lumax (Founder of African Chophouse...

"Being brown and single at 30, that’s a big no-no in the culture. What’s auntie-optimized isn't necessarily what the individual wants. Growing up in India and having a different value system VS some hybrid of Indian American - AND trying to figure out what your identity is doesn't necessarily overlap really well.” Love is in the air - and for lots of South Asians, KJ Dhaliwal is a big part of that...

"You're taught to make them forget, to move into leadership. There's not a lot of neurosurgeons made every year - and so there's not a lot of young Black people talking about their experience.” Dr. Edjah Nduom is a Black neurosurgeon-scientist, activist, patient advocate, father, husband, son and brother. He gets paid to take out brain tumors and study how to treat them with the immune system. He...

"follow your dream don’t follow the screen and watch for the people who usin' ya and scroll through” Longtime FrieMMd of the Pod Seif Hamid (AKA Soof) is back at it again, dropping new tracks. Seif popped by MM from his LA studio for a quick chat about his latest “Scroll Through” — an edgier song about the frustrations he / we all feel with the unhealthy addiction to and invasiveness of the device...

“We tried to do what people would do back in the old country, but I felt like I was living a secret life.” "It was interesting seeing Chinese New Year from different lenses.” Gong Xi Fa Cai! ...a common Chinese wish of prosperity for the Lunar New Year - celebrated by more than a BILLION people around the world. So wanting to learn more - we once again brought back some past FrieMMds of the Pod to...

“We are afraid of the pain of healing because there is something comforting about living in the now, in the conflict, in our own assumptions about others. We are in uncharted territory and that's frightening.” Abdul-Rehman Malik is an award-winning journalist, educator, cultural organizer — and a great storyteller you’ll just want to sit back and listen to all day. His work at the intersection of...

“We know him so much from his speeches — but this book shows how exhausting everything was.” In honor of MLK day, we could've just put a famous speech to a hip beat, but instead Raman + Ryan decided to read KING - Ho Che Anderson's critically acclaimed unauthorized graphic biography of the life of Martin Luther King Jr — on Raman’s other underground podcast, Quarantined Comics. Ryan also snuck in...

“Being an immigrant kid - your experience and your parents’ and your grandparents’ experiences are in three completely different worlds.” Gene Luen Yang is an award-winning cartoonist, storyteller, and teacher - whose been creating comics since the fifth grade. His 2006 graphic novel American Born Chinese will be a 2022 Disney+ TV series by Shang Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton. Two of Gene’s o...

Michelle Li is a longtime reporter and anchor for NBC St. Louis. During a January broadcast sharing commonly eaten foods for the New Year’s, she briefly shared some of her Korean American New Years traditions. Then a viewer left her station a voicemail. Then Michelle shared the voicemail. And the internet blew up. #veryasian ...Sharon and Raman react - and unpack - this a little more. LEARN MORE w...

“The choice to be an activist is a privilege, because so many people don't have that choice.” One of - if not THE defining issue of our time is climate. To kick off the new year, we wanted to share a powerful conversation two young climate activists - Raeesah Nor Mohamed (from South Africa) and Hussein Ali Ghandour (from Lebanon) - had with our our FrieMMd of the Pod Jay Veraldi on HIS Animalia po...

As 2021 comes to a close, we put together a not-so-quick compilation of our favorite moments from all of the great conversations we had over the past year. So sit back with a beverage of choice, enjoy, and please DO share our podcast with a friend (and leave us a review) — it makes a big difference! We can’t wait for you to hear what’s next in the new year! Got a guest idea or want to ask a questi...

“Publishers thought it was maybe going to be a niche book, but I was surprised by how many really young readers were connecting with it. I want this to be something that you could trick your conservative dad into buying for you.” Jen Wang is an award-winning graphic novel author and illustrator Jen Wang - best known for some amazing stories like “Stargazing,” “The Prince & the Dressmaker”, “In...

“You can't expect to do better unless you know better. Understanding who we are collectively - Asian-Americans and non-Asians.” Representative  Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz , serves in Illinois' General Assembly - representing Illinois’ 17th District since 2019. Jennifer was the co-sponsor of a recently passed the nation’s FIRST Asian-American history curriculum bill - the  TEAACH (Teaching Equitable...

“The thing I learned was that fear that I had — everyone else had. And that changed everything for me.” Dr. Ali is a clinical psychologist specializing in social anxiety — probably best known for The Psych Show (YouTube) , where he breaks down and explains the importance of mental health in a fun, accessible way. Dr. Ali is ALSO clinical advisor at LOOP - the only social-based mental health app de...

“The beauty is there is so much opportunity in solving the climate crisis. Let’s give more people access to the climate movement and make the movement fight for everybody.” Molly is a former policy advisor for energy and climate change at the Obama White House where she helped implement President Obama's energy agenda and Climate Action Plan. Since leaving government, Molly now helps leading compa...

“Power has never given up without a fight. Indigenous people are in a unique position to offer a warning.” Danis Goulet is the writer and director of NIGHT RAIDERS - a near future dystopian fiction that is in theaters and on-demand now. Night Raiders tells the tale of an indigenous (Cree) mother and daughter - played by Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers + Brooklyn Letexier-Hart - making their way through th...

"Oh, we get by with a little help from our frieMMds" Thanksgiving was always our fav holiday that would NEVER be commercialized...until Black Friday (sigh). so if you can't beat em, join em. We're getting in on the action, with a little help from our FrieMMds.  what are we talking about? Listen first, then head over to modmypod.com/merch (+email 10+ of YOUR frieMMds about it =) See Privacy Policy...

“If I am off service to whoever's on the other side, if I can make one person feel a little better - then it's such a lucky thing to do for people.” Sam Yo is an acclaimed Peloton fitness Instructor, an actor / entertainer / trained movie ninja, a massive nerd, and once an ordained monk in Thailand. Sam draws his professionalism from his kaleidoscope of experiences and uses this to help others ach...

“Cryptocurrencies don't require a gatekeeper — which is very important for minority communities that have been systematically marginalized and intentionally red-lined. You need to be in this like yesterday.” Tonya M. Evans, Esq, is a published author, investor, entrepreneur, and tenured professor of law at Penn State Dickinson Law School with expertise on how decentralized financial systems (block...

“Writing isn’t doing the work of activism. Maybe it opens people’s minds, but art alone isn’t going to cut it.” Anjali Enjeti is a lot of things - literally. A southerner from Michigan who’s part Indian, part Austrian, part Puerto Rican. A former attorney, journalist, teacher, mother, activist and author. Her TWO recently published books —  Southbound: Essays on Identity, Inheritance, and Social C...

“Diwali has different meanings as you go through life - community, food, light, celebration...who doesn’t love a good sparkler?" Happy Diwali! Diwali is THE festival of lights and one of the major festivals celebrated by Indians around the world. But beyond being a big deal for a LOT of people (celebrating the triumph of good over evil, light over darkness...something we need a LOT of these days),...

“There's not a lot of moments where all the wrongs and pain seem worth it. But standing on a stage with John Lewis gives you a little bit of hope.” Andrew Aydin is the award-winning creator MARCH - the graphic memoir series he co-authored with the late John Lewis, the civil rights icon and Congressman. MARCH - alongside it’s recently released sequel RUN - chronicles the civil rights movement in a...

“If I get one shot to make a movie, this is the one I'll be happy with.” Evan Jackson Leong is the writer and director of SNAKEHEAD - a modern crime thriller in theaters and on-demand on October 29th. Snakehead tells the story of two women in Chinatown’s world of human smuggling - starring Shuya Chang, Jade Wu, Yacine Djoumbaye, and Sung Kang. It’s a powerful film that cuts deeper than you might t...