Shahrazad Squad: In Conversation
The Shahrazad Squad is a new podcast series that explores creativity, diaspora, and transformation. Inspired by the character of Shahrazad in ‘1001 Nights,’ the Squad is a group of women and nonbinary creatives, cultural producers, and change agents working to transform themselves and their communities. In this interview series, host Raeshma Razvi (producer, mediamaker) will be talking to some of these Shahrazads with a small S—the members who are engaged in transformational work. After all, stories plus sisterhood save the kingdom.Stay up to date on our Instagram: @shahrazad_squad
Episodes
10 episodes
"On which side of the door do I fit?": Selma Abinader on Community and Ancestral Wisdom
In this episode, Raeshma talks to Selma Abinader, an organizational consultant who has dedicated her career to working with nonprofits and public institutions. Hers is also a journey of self-discovery, from her upbringing in a small coal mining...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 8
•
23:10
Finding the "antidote to imposter syndrome": Shalini Agrawal on cultivating affinity spaces and decolonizing architecture
Sometimes soup is much more than soup. In this episode, Shalini Agarwal describes how her creative practice blossomed beyond the conventional confines of architecture, leading her to the heart of her ancestral heritage through cooking. Al...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 7
•
23:32
Poppies, activism, and Odissi: Barnali Ghosh on home and homeland
Have you stopped and smelled the flowers today? Today’s guest most definitely has! In this episode, Raeshma talks to Barnali Ghosh about her art and activism, more specifically her project 'Unfaithful Re/creations,' a series of self portraits t...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 6
•
27:11
From the "ideal" to the "real": Sheetal Gandhi on Challenging Notions of Womanhood through the Sitayana
Sheetal Gandhi is a Los Angeles based director/choreographer and multi-hyphenated artist (singer, dancer, actor, percussionist). As a performer and interdisciplinary artist, Sheetal’s career has spanned genres and disciplines. ...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 5
•
23:37
"When Stories Get Real": Denmo Ibrahim on Creativity and Healing
Shahrazad Squad director and host Raeshma Razvi sits down for a conversation with playwright, and meditation instructor, and squad member Denmo Ibrahim about her play Brilliant Mind (virtually staged in 2020) about how she navigated di...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 4
•
19:57
Woman, Life, Freedom: Iranian-American culinary and visual artist Parisa Parnian on tradition, activism, and community
Tradition is something we often talk about in the Squad...In diaspora do we maintain it, change it, run from or celebrate it? What does it mean to be traditional when you’re uprooted? Today’s guest, Parisa Parnian, addresses tra...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 3
•
36:29
Woman, Life, Freedom: Iranian Filmmaker Sabereh Kashi on finding herself through film
“Woman, life, freedom” - Zan, zendegi, azadi - has been the rallying cry for the revolution in Iran that began with Mahsa Amini’s murder. This movement has been led by women and girls from the start.During this conversation with Iranian ...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 2
•
23:30
Woman, Life, Freedom: Iranian nonprofit leader Leva Zand on the healing power of art
To what extent can art provide healing? Today’s guest is nonprofit leader Leva Zand, who has dedicated her career to answering this question. Leva has been committed to refugees, human rights, social justice activism and advoc...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 1
•
30:23
Trailer: Woman, Life, Freedom, + Iranian Artists
We are kicking things off with a miniseries uplifting the voices of our Iranian-American members: Parisa Parnian, Leva Zand, and Sabereh Kashi. Each episode will highlight a different aspect of the Woman, Life, Freedom revolution taking plac...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 0
•
1:35
Intro to "In Conversation"
Introducing the Shahrazad Squad’s podcast, In Conversation. Host Raeshma Razvi will explore creativity, diaspora, and transformation with members of the Shahrazad Squad, a group of women and nonbinary creatives, cultural producers, and chang...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 0
•
0:47