Spotlight with Sandalina

Neel Ghosh, a Bengali-American comedian and jazz saxophonist known online as the internet’s viral Zohran Mamdani impersonator, sits down to talk about growing up brown in Cedar Rapids, Iowa after 9/11, his supportive oncologist dad and 'violin-at-three childhood, and how his girlfriend’s text (“you kind of look like this guy”) turned into a viral Zohran impression series. He shares meeting Zohran’...

Srishti Sharma, a South Asian comedian by night and fintech engineering manager by day, created LinkedUP, a live comedy dating show where Love Island meets LinkedIn. She talks about growing up in Mumbai, leaving Amazon after seven years as a software engineer, starting stand-up in Seattle, and turning a club booker’s request for an “Indian dating show” into a dating show run like a tech job interv...

Pakistani Muslim comedian Danish Maqbool opens up about racism, religion, faith, marriage, and his new stand-up comedy special "Free Danish." From growing up as the first brown family in his New Jersey neighborhood to becoming a top-1% Halo pro gamer, Major League Gaming commentator, and the cashier on Ramy (Seasons 2 & 3), Danish shares the full journey behind his comedy career.  Danish's Ins...

South Asian actress Shreya Navile joins us to discuss Bollywood’s beauty standards, body image, rejection in the Indian film industry, and her Netflix debut in Best of the Best! She shares her journey from dreaming of Bollywood as a child to finding a role where she could embrace her individuality and showcase her talent. Discover the story behind Netflix’s South Asian dance comedy, representation...

Pakistani child TV star turned stand up comedian and actor, Mohtasham Yaqub opens up about growing up in Islamabad, getting bullied while on PTV, and starting over in America after a failed audition for The Voice led him to stand-up comedy. He talks about desi gender roles, unlearning misogyny, doing stand-up in Urdu, opening for Zayn Malik with Usama Siddiquee, and why brown comedians in New York...

S4E10: Meet Tavi Gandhi— a South Asian pageant queen and influencer. She is the winner of Miss Grand New Jersey and was the youngest in the Top 20 of this year’s Miss Grand USA! In this episode we cover a variety of topics across our 4 segments: 📚LIFE STORY📚 🔥HOT SEAT🔥 🤫SHADOWS🤫 🔦SPOTLIGHT🔦: BROWN GIRL TAKES PAGEANT CROWN We talk about Tavi’s upbringing between Ohio and New Jersey, her Pun...

S4E09: Meet Priya Mia— an Indian-Bengali creator, fashion / beauty influencer, corporate strategy consultant, and PharmD! In this episode we cover a variety of topics across our 4 segments: 📚LIFE STORY📚 🔥HOT SEAT🔥 🤫SHADOWS🤫 🔦SPOTLIGHT🔦: BENGALI GIRL CRAFTS VIRAL NEW YORK WARDROBE We talk about Priya’s upbringing as the daughter of Indian immigrants, how her cultural identity shaped her rel...

S4E08: Meet Dr. Mohamad Yasin— a Pakistani, Muslim doctor and content creator! You may recognize him as “Scrubby Mo” In this episode we cover a variety of topics across our 4 segments: 📚LIFE STORY📚 🔥HOT SEAT🔥 🤫SHADOWS🤫 🔦SPOTLIGHT🔦: BROWN BOY FIRST-GEN DOCTOR HAS JOKES We talk about Dr. Mohamad Yasin’s upbringing and family life in Long Island, his Muslim identity, and the journey that led...

S4E07: Meet Sagar— a South Asian content creator focusing on comedic skits and wellness. He’s also a PharmD, marketer, and personal trainer! In this episode we cover a variety of topics across our 4 segments: 📚LIFE STORY📚 🔥HOT SEAT🔥 🤫SHADOWS🤫 🔦SPOTLIGHT🔦: BROWN BOY GOES FROM PHARMD TO VIRAL REELS We talk about Sagar’s upbringing in New Jersey, his high school experience, and the moment he...

S4E06: Meet Mina— a Pakistani founder and influencer. You may recognize her as the founder for the Kismet Reserve, her vintage watch empire as featured in the Boston Globe! In this episode we cover a variety of topics across our 4 segments: 📚LIFE STORY📚 🔥HOT SEAT🔥 🤫SHADOWS🤫 🔦SPOTLIGHT🔦: PAKISTANI FOUNDER BUILDS VINTAGE WATCH EMPIRE We talk about Mina’s upbringing in Cambridge, MA growing u...

S4E05: Meet Faaris— a Pakistani rapper. You may recognize him from the viral Zayn Malik lookalike competition, or his collaborations with various artists. He also just did 2M+ streams on Spotify in 2024 alone! In this episode we cover a variety of topics across our 4 segments: 📚LIFE STORY📚 🔥HOT SEAT🔥 🤫SHADOWS🤫 🔦SPOTLIGHT🔦: BROWN BOY LOOKS LIKE ZAYN, RAPS LIKE HIMSELF We talk about Faaris’s...

S4E04: Meet Mussab Ali— Jersey City’s mayoral candidate (aka “Black Zohran Mamdani”) with a Pakistani, Muslim identity. He was the formerly elected President of the Jersey City Board of Education, has his JD from Harvard Law, and is a cancer survivor. As BOE President, he made headlines as the youngest elected official in Jersey City history, and at the time, was the youngest Muslim elected offici...

S4E03: Meet Ashna— a South Asian model and influencer. She is the brown girl on every billboard; you may recognize her as she’s been on Cover Girl, Vogue, Elle, Glamour, and the NYFW runway! In this episode we cover a variety of topics across our 4 segments: 📚LIFE STORY📚 🔥HOT SEAT🔥 🤫SHADOWS🤫 🔦SPOTLIGHT🔦: BROWN GIRL ON EVERY BILLBOARD We talk about Ashna’s upbringing near Chicago, initial p...

S4E02: Meet Usama— a Bengali, Muslim comedian. You may recognize him from his recent special and Fall 2025 Tour USAMA BIN LAUGHIN’! He was also a finalist on America’s Got Talent and a guest on the Stephen Colbert show. In this episode we cover a variety of topics across our 4 segments: 📚LIFE STORY📚 🔥HOT SEAT🔥 🤫SHADOWS🤫 🔦SPOTLIGHT🔦: BENGALI COMEDIAN GETS CANCELED ON NATIONAL TV We talk abo...

S4E01: Meet Shevya— a Desi pop star singer. In this episode we cover a variety of topics across our 4 segments: 📚LIFE STORY📚 🔥HOT SEAT🔥 🤫SHADOWS🤫 🔦SPOTLIGHT🔦: BROWN GIRL PIONEERS DESI POP GENRE We talk about Shevya's upbringing, eduction, career, rapid fire Q&A, heartbreaks that made their way into songs, insecurities, online hate, self-image, IG story drama, criticism of Bollywood, de...

Join us backstage with Raja Kumari at Masala Mixtape by And Aur. We sat down with Raja Kumari: an AMA-Winning, Grammy-Nominated artist redefining global music. She joined us fresh off her powerful new album “Kashi to Kailash” while decked out in a show stopping collaboration with Kalki Fashion. Raja also owns Godmother Records, a label creating a safe space for women in music. Raja’s IG: @therajak...

S3E05: Meet Sundas— a Pakistani, Muslim Beauty & Fashion Influencer. In this episode we cover a variety of topics across our 4 segments: 📚LIFE STORY📚 🔥HOT SEAT🔥 🤫SHADOWS🤫 🔦SPOTLIGHT🔦: PAKISTANI GIRL TRAILBLAZES BEAUTY & FASHION We talk about Sundas’ path to the present, being a minority in the beauty industry, rapid fire Q&A, community gossip culture, her benign tumor diagnosis...

S3E04: Meet Abby— a South Asian stand up comedian and writer. In this episode we cover a variety of topics across our 4 segments: 📚LIFE STORY📚 🔥HOT SEAT🔥 🤫SHADOWS🤫 🔦SPOTLIGHT🔦: TAMIL GIRL DOMINATES COMEDY We talk about Abby’s path to the present, her solo tour "How to Embarrass Your Immigrant Parents", evolution of family relationships, rapid fire Q&A, finances as a creator, stance on...

S3E03: Meet Zar— a Muslim, Afghan-Tajik stand up comedian and content creator. In this episode we cover a variety of topics across our 4 segments: 📚LIFE STORY📚 🔥HOT SEAT🔥 🤫SHADOWS🤫 🔦SPOTLIGHT🔦: 30-DAY HIJAB TRIAL BY AFGHANI-MUSLIM COMEDIAN We talk about Zar’s upbringing as a refugee and running away from home, do some rapid fire Q&A about her comedy career, talk about her Afghani ident...

S3E02: Meet Uneeb— contestant on Hulu’s reality TV show Muslim Matchmaker, media critic, and podcast host for Salaam Nerds! In this episode we cover a variety of topics across our 4 segments: 📚LIFE STORY📚 🔥HOT SEAT🔥 🤫HALAL-HARAM RATIO 🤫 🔦SPOTLIGHT🔦: MEDIA CRITIC GOES ON REALITY TV SHOW MUSLIM MATCHMAKER We talk all things Muslim Matchmaker and answer viewers’ burning questions! We also dis...

S3E01: Meet Nabila Ismail, a Pakistani and Muslim founder of the Dose of Travel Club, Entrepreneur, and Solo Travel Influencer. She’s been featured on Forbes, BBC, and Yahoo Finance. And her club, The Dose of Travel Club, has amassed 270k+ members! In this episode we cover a variety of topics across our 4 segments: 📚LIFE STORY📚 🔥HOT SEAT🔥 🤫SHADOWS🤫 🔦SPOTLIGHT🔦: MUSLIM WOMAN SOLO TRAVELS TH...

S2E15: Meet Varun Rana, a South Asian comedic content creator focusing on social commentary about working in tech, being Indian-American and everything in between. This episode covers a variety of topics including upbringing in Michigan, family dynamics, being South Asian in the midwest, comedic inspirations, the academic rat race, computer science at UMich, from Amazon to startups as an engineer,...

S2E14: Meet Varun’s viral brown boy tech persona “Adi” through a 10-minute improv skit. The characters are on a blind first date in New York City… ❗SPOILER ALERT: there will not be a second date.  And tune in next week to meet Varun Rana, the creator behind this internet sensation persona! Varun’s Tik Tok: @varun_rana (https://www.tiktok.com/@varun_rana_) Varun’’s IG: @the_varunrana (https://www....

S2E13: Meet Suhana, a South Asian digital creator, dancer, and full-time financial services professional  This episode covers a variety of topics including upbringing in Reading PA, parents and their American Dream, a musical upbringing, being one of the only Indians in town, academic journey through a double major + minor at NYU, 🔥 HOT SEAT SEGMENT 🔥, creative career, working with woman-owned b...

S2E12: This week, we will be discussing the Presidential Election from the Muslim-American POV. We go through the potential implications of 1) Abstention 2) Third-Party 3) Trump and 4) Kamala. We sat down with Salaar, who works in financial services and is a game designer, but most importantly sits on the board of a nonprofit focused on civic engagement amongst younger demographics. This is a very...