The Pakistan Experience

Junaid Fazal runs a cosmetics distribution business and an investment company that funds SMEs, Junaid found religion after graduating and has been on a spiritual path ever since.    Junaid also happens to be an old friend of mine, I invited him on the podcast to discuss misconceptions about the Aurat March that ended up being a much wider conversation about how religion is misused in our...

Lilith and Mariam Shafqat Goraya join us to co-host the special podcast on the Aurat March. We are also joined by Amna Shafqat, Sajeer Shaikh, Ekta Shaikh and Usman Rana with other special guests dropping by.  Maleeha Mengal from Shirkat Gah comes to talk about marginalized communities organizing together.  Qurrat Mirza, organizer Aurat March Karachi, comes on to discuss the labour of or...

Lilith and Mariam Shafqat Goraya join us to co-host the special podcast on the Aurat March. We are also joined by Amna Shafqat, Sajeer Shaikh, Ekta Shaikh and Usman Rana with other special guests dropping by.  Maleeha Mengal from Shirkat Gah comes to talk about marginalized communities organizing together.  Qurrat Mirza, organizer Aurat March Karachi, comes on to discuss the labour of or...

Dr. Shahram Azhar is a Marxist and Professor of Economics at Bucknell University, Pennsylvania. Dr Shahram Azhar is also a lover of poetry and a singer, he was the former lead singer of the band 'Laal'.    Shahram comes on The Pakistan Experience for a deep dive discussion on the Pakistani left and the economy of Pakistan.    We discuss: 1. Why the Pakistani left is stuck in th...

Kapil Dev is a Hindu rights activist living in Pakistan.    Kapil Dev comes on The Pakistan Experience to discuss the discrimination he has faced as a Hindu in Pakistan, facing backlash online, dealing with Pakistani Expats and the state of Tharparkar.  Kapil also discusses the recent post by Aamir Liaquat Hussain. The Pakistan Experience is an independently produced podcast looking...

One of your favourite guests, Natalia Gul, returns to the podcast after her wedding for a check in about married life, her work with The Jungle and radical comedy.   Natalia tells us how she fell in love, discusses how she got married and tells us how she is living her life these days. Always a pleasure to listen to her!   Natalia Gul is a stand up comedian and content creator. She...

Karamat Ali is a labour rights activist and the Executive Director of the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research in Pakistan. An eminent labour and development activist for the last four decades, Karamat Ali is the founding member of PILER.   We get into a deep dive discussion about why there is so much apathy in the country about the issue of Bonded Labour and what happened at t...

Dr. Taimur Rahman is a Professor at LUMS, leads the band 'Laal', is the General Secretary of the Mazdoor Kissan Party and a leftist social activist.  Taimur comes on the podcast to make a case for Marxism being the best system of governance for Pakistan.  In this deep dive discussion, we discuss how the state of Pakistan can move towards poverty alleviation, escape the debt trap and the...

Sarah Munir is a teacher, Fulbright scholar and a journalist. She has previously worked at Twitter - she comes on The Pakistan Experience to discuss Social Media, US-Pak relations, globalization and the future of humanity.   We get into a deep dive discussion about the role social media plays in our society.  Has Social Media been revolutionary? Has it helped give people a voice? &n...

The Bachodiyan gang, Usman, Lilith, Mariam Shafqat Goraya, Shehzad Ghias Shaikh, are joined by Ekta and Sajeer for a special Valentines Day Bachodiyan where we talk about our relationships, our loves, childhood trauma, emotional abuse, red flags and parents.  How was our first time? What was the best time? What to look for in a relationship? How do we deal with trolls who abuse us?  Find...

Sajeer Shaikh hosts a special cross over episode of The Pakistan Experience, a lot of you have been asking for an episode about who I am, how I got here and what all I have done, this was meant to be that but what ended up happening was a very special conversation on Psychedelics, Friendship and Mental Health.   Sajeer Shaikh and Shehzad Ghias Shaikh explore the universe, their lives, their t...

Sajjad Hussain Changezi was a Rotary Peace Fellow at North Carolina University. He is a Hazara Human Rights Activist.   Sajjad comes on the podcast to discuss the recent barbaric killings of Haraza coal mine workers, his hunger strike, Imran Khan's comments and the history of the Hazara community.    The Pakistan Experience is an independently produced podcast looking to tell storie...

Manan Ahmed, Associate Professor, is a historian of South Asia and the littoral western Indian Ocean world from 1000-1800 CE. His areas of specialization include intellectual history in South and Southeast Asia; critical philosophy of history, colonial and anti-colonial thought. He is the author of 'The Loss of Hindustan: The Invention of India' and 'A Book of Conquest'.   Manan comes on The...

Tahera Hasan is Lawyer / Founder - Director Imkaan Welfare Organisation, and Dr. Severine Minot teaches in the field of migration studies and cultural studies while also supporting the pedagogical objectives of the Liberal Core program during her stay at Habib University.  We get into a deep dive discussion about human trafficking.  This is the fifth of our seven part special series in c...

Anchor is not letting us upload a 5 hour podcast so we have broken it up in two parts, here is part 2. Mariam, Lilith and Usman are back for another session of Bachodiyan, in this birthday special episode of Bachodiyan we discuss sexuality, the line between consent and assault, the institution of monogamy, tips to spice up your love life, and end with our usual therapy session. Can friends hurt yo...

Anchor is not letting us upload a 5 hour podcast so we have broken it up in two parts, here is part 1. Mariam, Lilith and Usman are back for another session of Bachodiyan, in this birthday special episode of Bachodiyan we discuss sexuality, the line between consent and assault, the institution of monogamy, tips to spice up your love life, and end with our usual therapy session.   Can friends...

Peter Jacob is a human rights activist with 28 years of experience. He is currently the director of Centre for Social Justice in Lahore, Pakistan.    We get into a deep dive discussion about life as a minority in Pakistan, what the future holds, comparing today to Zia's time, and ofcourse we discuss the poetry of resistance.  This is the fourth of our seven part special series in co...

Omair Ahmed is the Director of NOWPDP, a disability inclusion initative, and Imran Ghanchi is a post-polio affectee. They join us to have a discussion about Disability, the language around Disability and advocacy for Disability in Pakistan.   We get into a deep dive discussion about the language around disability in Pakistan and the lived experience of it. Imran Ghanchi tells us many 'interes...

Samia Chundrigar joins us for an interesting conversation around Mental Health, Addiction and Disordered eating. Food may be the number one addiction in Pakistan but it is the least talked about.   Samia and Shehzad get into a debate about nutrition, eating, addiction and mental health, on this deep dive conversation about what we eat and why we eat it.    This is the second of...

Dr. Muhammad Moiz comes back on the podcast to break down Gender, Sexuality and Bio-essentialism.    How many of our notions around Gender And Sexuality are informed by our Colonial legacy? How many of them are based on bad science? How much of it is about control rather than science?    In this two hour conversation, we break down these ideas historically.    This is...

Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year everyone! The Avengers of the podcast assemble once more a very spesh end of the year special - co hosted by Muhammad Moiz, Mariam Shafqat Goraya and Tamkenar Mansoor - on this episode of Bachodiyan with friends we are joined by permanent guests Usman Rana and Lilith, with so many more guests dropping by. From your favourite therapist to your favourite economi...

Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year everyone! The Avengers of the podcast assemble once more a very spesh end of the year special - co hosted by Muhammad Moiz, Mariam Shafqat Goraya and Tamkenar Mansoor - on this episode of Bachodiyan with friends we are joined by permanent guests Usman Rana and Lilith, with so many more guests dropping by. From your favourite therapist to your favourite economi...

Sanjay Rajoura is a comedian, satirist and social commentator.   Rajoura joins us on The Pakistan Experience from across the border for a deep dive discussion on comedy, satire, offending people, nationalism, cast politics and psychedelics'.    The man behind 'Bharat Ek Mauj' and 'Aisee Taisee Democracy', Rajoura explains his philosophy of a comedian's role in society, punching up,...

Mosharraf Zaidi is a Public Policy Analyst, Senior Fellow at Tabad Lab, Former Advisor to the Foreign Minister, and a prominent Columnist.   Mosharraf comes on The Pakistan Experience to discuss the recent EU Disinfo Lab report about the 15 year Indian influence operation, the future of Indo-Pak relations and the current political scenario in Pakistan.   Are the cases against Shahid Khaq...

Amir Siddique is the founder of AppRays, and the creator of the app, I-invest, he is going to be teaching a course at LUMS about App Development.  Amir comes on the podcast to discuss how one can develop their own app, run the app like a business and make money from it. Amir also discusses his own app, I-invest, and investment opportunities in the Karachi Stock Exchange.  Watch as we do...