The Feminifesto Podcast

In this episode, Vaishnavi and Kirthi talk to Ruby Hembrom, the founder and director of adivaani (first voices), a platform for indigenous expression started in July 2012 as a non-profit organization in Kolkata, West Bengal. Ruby is a Santal from Jharkhand, who's now made Kolkata her home. She is the writer of adivaani’s Santal Creation Stories for children, a recast of the Santal Creation myths i...

In this episode, Vaishnavi and Kirthi speak to Aparna Nagesh. Aparna Nagesh is a versatile dance professional with over 21 years of training, teaching and performance experience. After a 12 year stint with a commercial dance company, during which time she trained extensively in numerous dance styles such as Jazz, Ballet technique, Street, Latin & Contemporary forms, she pursued higher studies in d...

Dr Nicola Streeten is the UK author of award winning graphic memoir “Billy, Me & You” (Myriad Editions, 2011) and illustrated history of women’s comics in Britain “The Inking Woman” (Myriad Editions, 2018). She is director of international forum Laydeez do Comics. Nicola draws, teaches, writes and speaks about comics .

In this episode, Vaishnavi speaks to Adrija Bose has worked as a digital journalist for eight years and has written extensively on issues relating to gender, culture, and human rights. She started her career at Firstpost and has worked at NDTV, Huffington Post India. She is currently working with News18.com as an Associate Editor. She is the recipient of South Asia Laadli Award (2017) for her stor...

Asha Kowtal is the President of the All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch. She speaks to Vaishnavi and Kirthi about her work, activism, and journey.

Visaka Dharmadasa, is a peace activist from Sri Lanka. In recognition of her work for peace, Visaka was nominated for a collective Nobel Peace Prize in 2005 as part of the 1000 Peace Women Across the Globe and was awarded the prestigious Humanitarian Award in 2006 by Inter Action of Washington. She is a member of the South Asia Small Arms network, Women Waging Peace, and sits on the global advisor...

In this episode, Kirthi and Vaishnavi talk to Katelyn Burns, who is the federal policy reporter for Rewire. News, where she covers the U.S. Congress including legislation and federal policy issues. Previously, she was a freelance journalist covering breaking transgender news for them.us as well as bylines for the Washington Post, VICE, the Establishment, Allure, and many others. Katelyn was also a...

I Rise. For you. For me. For all of us.

In this episode, Vaishnavi and Kirthi talk to Sutapa Sanyal, a Speaker, Independent Advisor and Expert on Women Empowerment, Women in Leadership, Diversity & Inclusion, Gender & Child Rights. She served for 33 years in the Indian Police Service (IPS) and was the first woman Director General of Police in Uttar Pradesh. For her service, she was awarded the President's Police Medal. Ms. Sanyal has de...

In this episode, Vaishnavi and Kirthi speak to Kamla Bhasin, an  Indian  developmental  feminist  activist, poet, author and  social scientist . Bhasin's work, that began in 1970, focuses on  gender , education,  human development  and the media. She is best known for her work with Sangat - A Feminist Network and for her poem  Kyunki main ladki hoon, mu...

In this episode, Kirthi and Vaishnavi chat with Angellica Aribam. Angellica is a political activist and a fourth wave feminist. For more than half a decade, Angellica has been working on issues of race, gender, student welfare and the democratization of politics. Hailing from Manipur, in the ethnically and economically marginalized northeastern region of India, she was motivated to get involved in...

In this episode, Vaishnavi and Kirthi talk to Anam Zakaria. Anam is a researcher, development professional and educationist with a special interest in oral histories and identity politics. She has also studied psychotherapy and has a particular interest in trauma and healing in conflict zones. Her first book, The Footprints of Partition: Narratives of Four Generations of Pakistanis and Indians (Ha...

In this episode, Vaishnavi interviews Dr Joni Seager. Joni is a Professor of Global Studies at Bentley University. She is a feminist geographer and global policy expert. Her atlas on the status of women, just released in its fifth edition, is an award-winning classic. Using maps and graphics, The Women's Atlas reveals how women live their lives across cultures and countries. Professor Seager has a...

In this episode Kirthi and Vaishnavi talk to Sister Zeph, a Pakistani teacher, women's activist and philanthropist from Gujranwala, Pakistan. She was a leader at school and had plans of becoming a lawyer. When she was thirteen her first article on Women's Rights appeared in Pakistan's leading newspaper the Daily Jang. She left school when in grade seven and taught herself at home, finally passing...

In this episode, Vaishnavi and Kirthi speak to Angela Gorman, the founder of Life for African Mothers. Angela worked for the NHS as a nurse for over 30yrs. The 22yrs prior to her retirement in 2010 were spent as a Senior Sister in the Welsh Regional Neonatal ICU in Cardiff. In 2005, Angela was instrumental in setting up the charity Life for African Mothers (LFAM) having responded to a BBC PANORAMA...

On the International Day of Elimination of Violence against Women, Kirthi and Vaishnavi curate five powerful women's speeches: Esha Meher, Lea Gabay, Malavika Mani, Sharda Vishwanathan, and Srilakshmi Indrasenan, with a small clip from a herstoric speech by Hillary Clinton where she said "Women's Rights are Human Rights."

In this episode, Kirthi talks to Manasa Ram Raj and Sourya Banerjee, two young lawyers who talk about the law relating to workplace sexual harassment in India.

In this episode, Kirthi speaks to Rabia Nasimi. Rabia, now 24 years old, arrived in the UK in 1999, on the back of a refrigerated lorry, aged just five-years-old. Rabia's family were forced to flee Afghanistan after her father, an academic, had become a target under the Taliban's destructive rule. Now, Rabia is studying for a PhD at Cambridge University. Alongside this, she supports the education...

In this episode, Vaishnavi speaks to Cynthia Enloe. Cynthia Enloe grew up outside New York City, studied in California and in Malaysia, and now teaches at Clark University in Massachusetts. Cynthia's teaching and writing explore diverse women's and girls' lives in wartime and recovering from war, but also inside globalized factories, doing paid domestic work and on agricultural plantations. Cynthi...

In this episode, we speak to Vaishnavi Sundar. Vaishnavi is an independent filmmaker, speaker, writer and activist from Chennai who has worked in theatre and films for the past 7 years in various capacities. She is known for her work in the field of cinema and activism involving an interplay of feminism and filmmaking. Having written, directed, and produced all films under her production company,...

In our first episode, Vaishnavi speaks to Asma Masood, the Research Officer, Chennai Centre for China Studies (C3S). She is Founding Member and President of ‘Young Minds of C3S’. She has worked as an Independent Researcher on International Relations in the Asia-Pacific and interned at the Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, New Delhi. She has an M.A. in International Studies, Stella Maris Co...