Tuckered Out with Ami Thakkar

We're going to space guys!   I grew up in the NASA area in Houston and my neighbor was Mike Mullane, an astronaut who flew the Space Shuttle missions in the 80's and 90's.  So the idea of talking to someone who is helping revive space exploration was beyond exciting for me. Tejpaul Bhatia leads revenue generation and monetization strategy for the commercial development of space as Chief Revenue Of...

BONUS-While our team is busy getting the next slate of VERY exciting episodes ready, here's one of our favorites from last year!  I don't remember laughing so hard in a interview... Zarna Garg is an Indian immigrant, mom, and lawyer turned New York comedian and TikTok star ( https://www.tiktok.com/@zarnagarg ) with more than 20 million views on the platform. She has performed standup at sold-out c...

Deepa Purushothaman is a former senior executive, a corporate inclusion visionary, and co-founder of nFormation, a company for women of color by women of color where they provide a brave, safe, new space for professional women of color. This is a first-of-its-kind community that is a vetted, membership-based technology platform for high-performing WOC that seeks to reimagine traditional power stru...

Sujata Day is an American actress, model, and screenwriter. You may know her as CeeCee in the Issa Rae web series, The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl (2011-2013) and Sarah in Insecure.  In 2019, it was announced that Day will direct a film called Definition, Please, for which she also wrote the script.  It stars Ritesh Rajan and Jake Choi and was shot on location in Greensburg, Pennsylvania i...

So 2022 has been...déjà vu? I decided to kick off 2022 talking to  stand-up comedian and humor writer, Meg Indurti.  Indurti writes for The New Yorker and Reductress and is a headline contributor for The Onion. In 2019, she was featured in the NBC Breakout Comedy Festival and in 2020, she was featured in the San Francisco Sketchfest. She performs regularly at Laugh Factory, Zanies, Comedy Bar, and...

This is our final episode of the year!   So I started this podcast back in 2017 after listening and being inspired by the first season of Serial, the most downloaded podcast of all time. I could not think of a better guest to round out this year than the woman who brought Adnan Syed's case to light, Rabia Chaudry Rabia Chaudry is a Pakistani-American attorney, author and podcast host. A childhood...

Guys, the holidays are about to get messy. Welcome to a very special holiday bonus episode! Today I chat with producers and stars of Comedy Centrals South-Asian led film, Hot Mess Holiday, Melanie Chandra and Surina Jindal! Hot Mess Holiday helps get audiences into the festive season and  features a largely South Asian cast including Kal Penn, Ravi Patel, Richa Moorjani and many more. The film, wh...

Well guys, it's the end of the year and of course that means reflecting back on 2021 and thinking, why did I eat my kids (both of them) entire birthday cake this year? I get it, trust me, I already yelled at myself in the mirror this week.  And that's why I so needed to talk to my next guest! Dr. Amy Shah is a renowned wellness expert, immunologist, nutritionist, and author.  After years of practi...

Michelle Ranavat founded RANAVAT, a global skincare line inspired by Indian beauty rituals in 2017. The award-winning line is known for its luxurious skin treatments and counts the World's top retailers: Neiman Marcus, Blue Mercury and Credo as partners. Michelle and RANAVAT have been consistently featured in publications including Allure, Glamour and VOGUE, where Michelle was named one of the "To...

BONUS- The Tuckered Out team is taking a Thanksgiving break and is thankful to our terrific throngs of Tuckered Outians.  Please check out one of the first episodes we did this year with co-founders of Product of Culture! I chat (and laugh) with the co-founders of Product of Culture, Archana Jain and  Monika Sharma! Product of Culture (#POCNation) empowers South Asian creatives and innovators to g...

This episode is for all you bad betis & besharam bibis! Today I catch up with activist, writer & speaker, Sangeeta Pillai, who is the the founder of Soul Sutras.  Soul Sutras is the South Asian feminist platform that is all about tackling taboos in South Asian culture, creating safe spaces where South Asian women can explore everything from sex to mental health. Their projects include Masala Podca...

Editor's Note- This is a live podcast so please excuse all the extra background noise. We had the honor to attend Diwali On The Hudson this year, NYC's premiere Diwali event hosted by The Desai Foundation.  And let me tell you, we had some good times.  Diwali On The Hudson celebrates love, light and of course the very important work of The Desai Foundation. This year, appearances by the talented F...

Snehal Patel, M.D., J.D.  is the CEO at MyDoc, Asia’s leading patient-centric digital healthcare platform delivering personalized continuous care across key markets in the region.  Snehal is a Kauffman Fellow, a Forbes 30 under 30 Judge, and a serial entrepreneur and venture capitalist. Has been invited to and spoken on numerous panels related to entrepreneurship and healthcare globally. We discus...

A brand strategist with a purpose, Vipe Desai is an award-winning executive and thought-leader. With more than 30 years of marketing, branding and leadership experience along with 20 years of governance serving on a dozen boards, Vipe has a proven track record for leading organizational change, brand re-positioning and process change within the boardroom and a passion for inspiring, mobilizing, an...

One of the foremost global leaders on social impact and innovation, Sonal Shah has started and led social impact efforts in academia, government, and the private and philanthropic sectors for over twenty-five years.   She is the President of TAAF-The Asian American Foundation (TAAF), a convener, incubator, and funder committed to accelerating opportunity and prosperity for AAPI communities. TAAF s...

This past month, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, and act that would have created national standards for policing in an effort to increase accountability, sadly couldn’t reach a bipartisan deal-leaving it dead in the water.   We all have heard about the horrific killing  of George Floyd, the protests that occurred after, and the many stories that have been shared over social media.  Today...

So there are a few (hundred) topics that South Asians tend to not discuss, divorce being one of them.   When I read Shibani Joshi’s ELLE article called "The Other Side of Divorce", I knew I had to have her on the pod. Shibani Joshi is an experienced journalist who has covered business, technology and general news for global media outlets including ABC News, Fox News Channel, Yahoo! Finance and Huf...

Now that I am in my..ahem...proper adulthood age, things are starting to work a bit...differently.  The fall routine has begun and I know that my daily routine is pure madness and with that, I tend to ignore my own well-being.  This is why I had to get some advice from a professional! Anita Mirchandani, M.S, R.D, C.D.N received a B.A. from NYU and a M.S. in Clinical Nutrition from NYU. After compl...

The first episode of the fall season is officially here! Feels good to be back!  I thought the best way to start off the podcast this fall is to talk to someone who has been working in journalism for over 15 years. Sriram Iyer is editor in chief of Business Insider India.  He tells me why he chose the path of journalism versus the "traditional" Indian career path, how journalism has become a lot m...

BONUS EPISODE!! Before we begin our fall interviews in September, we wanted to post some of our favorite chats from this past year for the next 5 days.  The final episode for our "highlight" series is my interview with actress and author, Lisa Ray.   Thank you for your support and for subscribing to our podcast.  We'll see you next week with all new episodes! Internationally acclaimed performer, p...

BONUS EPISODE!! Before we begin our fall interviews in September, we wanted to post some of our favorite chats from this past year for the next 5 days. Next in line for our "highlight" series is my interview with chef, restaurateur, author Maneet Chauhan. Maneet Chauhan knows a thing or two about best-laid plans...they often tend to go awry.  From India to Nashville, we talk about her journey and...

BONUS EPISODE! Before we begin our fall interviews in September, we wanted to post some of our favorite chats from this past year for the next 5 days. Next in line for our "highlight" series is my interview with author, Alka Joshi. Alka Joshi was born in India and raised in the U.S. since the age of nine. She has a BA from Stanford University and an MFA from California College of Arts. At the age...

BONUS EPISODE!! Before we begin our fall interviews in September, we wanted to post some of our favorite chats from this past year for the next 5 days. Next in line for our "highlight" series is my interview with comedian and writer, Nimesh Patel. For my last interview of the year, I stand-up with my guest, Nimesh Patel, and talk all things comedy.  Nimesh is the first Indian-American to write for...

BONUS EPISODE! Before we begin our fall interviews, we wanted to post some of our favorite interviews from this past year for the next 5 days.  First up, my interview with Manpreet Singh. India’s six-month-long farmer protests, which has recently gained global attention, has been on the forefront of news around the world.  With the recent attacks on protestors and a government shutdown of the Inte...

Premal Dharia has spent the last twenty years dedicated to challenging injustice in the criminal system and nearly 15 years as a public defender.  She has tried dozens of cases and supervised lawyers at various levels of practice.  Premal will be joining Harvard Law School as the inaugural Executive Director of the Institute to End Mass Incarceration, launching this summer. The Institute’s mission...