Tuckered Out with Ami Thakkar

I dive into the details of the Georgia Senate runoff elections with my friend and public policy lawyer with Squire Patton Boggs, Amol Naik. Amol served as the Chief Resilience Officer for the City of Atlanta, where he reported directly to Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and served as a member of her Cabinet, with responsibility for Atlanta’s efforts on sustainability, diversity and inclusion, and smart...

SPECIAL EPISODE: It's a new year. Thank god.   Although this past year has been a long and difficult, many of you were able to share some good moments that 2020 gave you. Here are a few of those moments. @amituckeredout www.amituckeredout.simplecast.com

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 SNL where he was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for his work.  He is currently a staff writer for the 2nd season of A Little Late with Lilly Singh and has launched a new adult animation series called Zooidiots.   www.zooidiots.com @...

BONUS EPISODE with Gautam Gupta, SVP Head of Strategy & Consulting, Pfizer is the first in a bonus series where we discuss and dissect important current events.  Gautam chats with me about Covid 'D-Day' (December 14th, 2020), the preparation leading up to the first day the vaccine was distributed, some of the logistics behind the scenes, and how the past nine months have been within the walls of P...

When it comes to South Asian representation in the media, Sheetal Sheth has had a few conversations the past 20 years on the issue.  Author, actress, producer and activist Sheetal Sheth has been a trailblazer for women of color across media with 20 feature film roles and many TV show appearances throughout her compelling career. Sheetal’s story is a beautiful amalgam of strength, perseverance, gri...

I sat down and chatted with my childhood friend, Devang Shah, who is Head of Marketing at AyurPrana and previously oversaw operations at Banyan Botanicals, both in Albuquerque, NM. He teaches me the basics of Ayurveda, its universal principles and how it is actually a sister science of yoga but why it isn’t as  well-known and understood. Please check out Banyon Botanicals and Live Ayurprana! www.b...

Zameer Kassam is the Founder and CEO of Zameer Kassam Fine Jewelry, which he launched in 2011. Through every iteration of his career, one thing has remained constant: his passion for storytelling.  We get to hear some of those epic stories in this episode. Follow Zameer  @zameerkassam http://www.zameerkassam.com/

In part two of South Asians and Voting, I sit down with one of the organizers of South Asians Vote 2020, Samidh Guha.  He talks to me about why South Asians Vote is really a non-partisan organization and is focused on helping to resume a normal functioning government, the reason our parent's generation has different political views, and how South Asians Vote has reached out to this group by creati...

It's here guys. Election Day 2020.  I thought it would be a good time to understand more about South Asians and voting here in the US and the numbers that we need to know. Here is my interview with the  co-hosts of the South Asian Block Party for Biden/Harris, DJ Rekha and Rajan Shah.  This is part one of my two-part series. https://iwillvote.com https://www.southasiansforbiden.org https://www.sou...

It's rare to get a chance to sit and chat with a media mogul.  Someone who started her blogging career even before the age of Facebook.  Someone who had the foresight to see what was missing in a $24B  media and entertainment industry. Someone who built her own empire, without anything but her own ambition, the family and friends that stood by her side, and a voice that has been heard and respecte...

A podcast interviewing South Asian trailblazers around the world. We discuss growing up brown, personal journeys, and topics we could never talk about in front of those aunties and uncles we grew up with.

Follow Rasika @funnyogini @jalapenopopper2012 Follow moi @amituckeredout VOTE!!

From the start, DJ Kayper knew that she belonged behind the turntables- scratching, producing and making waves in an industry traditionally dominated by men.  From writing fake letters to her parents so she could sneak out to deejay to working with legends such as DJ Jazzy Jeff and Diplo to letting Chris Brown know what's up, Kayper has been fearless and focused throughout her journey.  This music...

Internationally acclaimed performer, philanthropist, author, and public speaker Lisa Rani Ray does not shy away from a challenge.  With a career that spans three decades and several continents, this trailblazer has a reputation for taking on issue-orientated films with courage and grace.   The two of us get a chance to play catch-up after 18 years (I basically was a chaiwallah on her movie set) an...

Celebrity chef, restaurateur, author, and overall superwoman 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 relationship with food, what it is really like building a business with her husband, how she didn't know she was going to have twins and why she was born to be a judge on Food Network's Chopped....

Ameeth Sankaran is CEO of the Religion of Sports, a Media company co-founded by Tom Brady, Michael Strahan and Gotham Chopra. He is also an Executive Producer of Tom vs. Time, Stephen vs. the Game, Headstrong: Mental Health and Sports, and the Why Sports Matter podcast among others. We sit down and chat about why this is more than just a media company and the unique ways the team is engaging with...

It's time to toy around!  Ok, sorry, had to let that out.  We got a chance to sit down and get to know the co-founder of Modi Toys, Avani Modi Sarkar,  in this interview where she talked about it all. From moving to the US and her deep connection to the India to how she was able to create her own little India here to how Modi Toys transformed into a family business.  She gives advice for those who...

It’s the ultimate story of friendship- childhood buddies turned fellow models turned business partners working in one of the world’s most exciting industries.  Megha Rao and Pooja Desai Shah both fell in love with fashion- but they were ready to carve their own unique path. We had a blast chatting with them a few weeks ago where they shared their personal stories and how holiChic by Megha was born...

From the plantations of Kerala to her backyard, Monica blends and delivers spices in her chai with her own unique and delicious twist.   Although Monica currently has her own boutique consulting firm, she considers The Chai Box to be her other full-time job and credits the time teaching her kids about the Indian culture as the origins of her company. Listen in and learn about how she became a spic...

Varsha Mathur has one main goal- to uproot cultural stigmas and taboos with coaching and blogging topics related to dating, marriage, divorce and to focus on goals, communications skills and above all, mindfulness.   After attending her first Indian wedding post-divorce, Varsha was inspired to change the course of her career and work with women who were struggling through bad relationships just as...

Filmmaker Shruti Rya Ganguly may be a successful producer, director, writer and perpetual student of the arts, but she will tell you that when it comes to making chai, she would fail miserably.  From her childhood in Oman to shooting in her favorite location, Ethiopia, Shruti's story is one for the books (speaking of which, she just got an essay published in one). We talk about her roots and what...

How about that time you interviewed someone you just met and became best friends immediately.  That's what happened to us after we talked with Simmi Patel, founder and creator of Paper Samosa, a fantastic and innovative brand that produces artwork with a touch of  Indian masala and Western pop culture-tightly wrapped in a crispy light-hearted shell of course.  We talk about everything from pigs on...

Damn if feels good to be a podcaster.     We're bbbaaaaccccckkkkkkkk!!!  Nizar (@nizarbabul) and I (@amituckeredout) had to take a small break this summer so I could officially become a Arkansonian (is that a word?). In our relaunch episode, we talk about the move to this "flyover state" and how it feels to live here as a South Asian, especially during the insane political environment in which we'...

She started out dancing before she started walking. She was the first South Asian dancer to enter the LA scene. She toured with Madonna. She's the Girl on the Yellow Dress in La La Land. She takes fashion to another level. From talking about Superman chadis to to the politics of dancing to becoming a forest ranger, Reshma Gajjar has been a South Asian Trailblazer since she was born.   Listen to ho...

We have an editor-in-chief in da house! Now if that's not boss, I don't know what is. Our crew had a chance to chat with the indomitable Supriya Dravid, the woman in charge of one of the largest magazine brands in the world, ELLE India. Ever wonder about what an editor-in-chief does? How about how extremely cool Mindy Kaling is? And does the Bollywood audience support Priyanka Chopra's rise to fam...