Maharani Talks
Mahathi Rangarajan
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Top 10 Maharani Talks Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Maharani Talks episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Maharani Talks for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Maharani Talks episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
09/08/21 • 46 min
Dr. Revathi, or Kutti Revathi as she is often known as, is my first guest on the podcast that I’m talking to for the second time. The last time I spoke to her was a decade ago, and the issues that mattered to her then matter even today. She is a prominent Tamil poet, writer and lyricist whose works have largely centered on body politics and oppression.
Her second work, Mulaigal (Breasts), published in 2002, that spoke about female sexuality and the use of Tamil words like mulaigal and yoni (vagina) enraged certain sections of the society (read male writers) that they called for Revathi’s book to be burnt followed by threats and discussions about her morality. But Revathi has since then gone on to publish more works and also started Panikkudam (Amniotic Sac), first Tamil feminist magazine.
Revathi received Sigaram 15: Faces of Future award for literature from India Today and was one of the four women poets whose works were translated into English to highlight its prominence by Harper Collins. She has also penned lyrics for A.R.Rahman.
In this episode, we talk about many pertinent topics such as:
Why women's bodies are constantly regulated
How regional poetry is a tool to dissent
Meeting legendary poet Mahasweta Devi and what she learnt from her
Regional poets in India vs. poets who write in English
How translation has helped bring the issue of body politics resonate further
Working as first time lyricist with A.R.Rahman
MUSIC: Lights by Sappheiros https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic
Check out Maharani Talks on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maharanitalks/
If you enjoy this podcast, please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. It will take just a few moments of your time. https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/maharani-talks/id1514769199
E42: Deep Bajaj - The freedom for women to stand and pee
Maharani Talks
07/08/21 • 54 min
If you’re a person with a vagina, be it binary or non binary, using public toilets has always been an icky experience. So what do we do? We either go long hours not peeing, hover over the toilet or in the worst case scenario, try to wipe the toilet seat.
When Deep Bajaj noticed how his wife and his mother struggled through these problems, even through pregnancy and arthritis, he decided to do something about it and came up with PeeBuddy - India’s first portable, disposable and environment friendly FUD (female urination device) that enables women to stand and pee. And he patented the product in 2015.
From often being shown the door during the early days to getting trolled for talking about women’s hygiene issues, PeeBuddy has now sold about 2 million units and over the years, Deep has brought out other products under Sirona Hygiene. For his innovation, he has won National Entrepreneurship Award, ET Innovation Award and listed under well known 40 under 40 lists.
To learn more about PeeBuddy and other female hygiene products, visit: www.thesirona.com
MUSIC: Lights by Sappheiros https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic
Check out Maharani Talks on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maharanitalks/
If you enjoy this podcast, please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. It will take a few moments of your time but will go a long way to support independent podcasters like me. https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/maharani-talks/id1514769199
E33: Arman Sood - Brewing a niche coffee space
Maharani Talks
03/18/21 • 51 min
Coffee culture is a big part of our lives. But most of us know it as either instant, espresso or filter coffee. Step in: cold brew - the art of steeping ground coffee beans in cold temperature, bringing out a more intense flavour.
And this is where Arman Sood and his two co-founders, Ashwajeet Singh and Ajai Thandi, decided to step in with their company, Sleepy Owl Coffee, one of the first movers in the cold brew coffee market.
What started in a two bedroom apartment in Delhi, Sleepy Owl has now managed to carve a niche space for itself in the coffee market, among bigger players like Starbucks, Nestlè and Amul.
So how did they manage to do that? Listen to the episode to find out more.
You can check out the Maharani Talks on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/maharanitalks/
MUSIC: Lights by Sappheiros https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic
12/23/20 • 37 min
Meet Ram Devineni, the creator of India’s first female superhero - Priya’s Shakti. When Ram published the first comic book in 2014 at the Mumbai Comic Con, he didn’t expect his protagonist - a gangrape survivor, who overcomes her fear and stigma, to become such a viral hit, not just in India but globally as well.
The poignant image of Priya riding bravely on her tiger and friend, Saahas ended up denoting a symbolic crusader against gender violence.
Since then, Priya’s Shakti has been honoured by UN Women as a ‘Gender Equality Champion’, and has been covered in countless international and national publications such as The Huffington Post, Forbes, The Guardian etc. The subsequent comic series tackled equally pressing issues like acid attacks and sex trafficking.
The latest one, Priya’s Mask, released this month highlights the issue of children coping through this pandemic. Along with an animated short film with actors Vidya Balan and Mrunal Thakur voicing the characters.
As a documentary filmmaker, Ram had, through his company, Rattapallax produced The Russian Woodpecker, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and later directed The Karma Killings, based on the horrific Nithari murders.
To find out more about Priya and Saahas, please visit www.priyashakti.com
You can check out the Maharani Talks on Instagram at www.instagram.com/maharanitalks
MUSIC: Lights by Sappheiros https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic
12/11/20 • 71 min
Shazia Iqbal was one of the lead production designers of Emmy nominated and India’s first original Netflix series, Sacred Games and Emmy nominated mini-series Lust Stories. Sacred Games is also the only Indian series to feature in The New York Times list of ‘The 30 Best International TV Shows of the Decade.’⠀
Her powerful short movie, "Bebaak' that discusses religious and patriarchal preoccupation over women's bodies, won many awards including Best Debut Director, International and Audience Choice award at the 35th Sao Paulo International Shorts Film festival and Filmfare Best Short Film.
Bebaak was produced by Anurag Kashyap and features actors Sarah Hashmi and Nawazuddin Siddiqui.
In this episode, I sit down with Shazia Iqbal to discuss:⠀
▪Working on Sacred Games⠀
▪Her transition from a production designer to a director⠀
▪Her powerful short movie, "Bebaak' that discusses religious and patriarchal preoccupation over women's bodies⠀
▪Stereotyping of movies directed by women
You can watch Bebaak streaming on Mubi.
You can check out the Maharani Talks on Instagram at www.instagram.com/maharanitalks
MUSIC: Lights by Sappheiros https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic
12/05/20 • 49 min
Shaili Chopra was a prime time anchor and a well known business journalist who had interviewed eminent people such as Warren Buffet, Indra Nooyi, Christine Lagarde among many others. She had also covered the horrific 26/11 Mumbai terror attack. Shaili quit at the peak of her career and decided to launch a women-only platform when she witnessed conversations concerning women are considered niche. And hence was born, SheThePeople.TV, considered to be India's largest media platform for women's voices.
Shaili Chopra was awarded the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Business Journalism and named one of India's 50 most influential women in media by Impact Magazine.
You can check out SheThePeople website at www.shethepeople.tv
You can check out the Maharani Talks on Instagram at www.instagram.com/maharanitalks
MUSIC: Lights by Sappheiros https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic
•Shaili's memory of anchoring her first show [04:28] •Climbing the corporate ladder of broadcast journalism [07:40] •Her thoughts on the current scene of television journalism [14.35] •Why did she feel a platform like SheThePeople.TV was necessary [16:02] •Why convincing women was the biggest challenge she faced [19:54] •How can independent and investigative journalism can thrive in the age of social media? [31:32] •Her secret to time management [36.39] •How did covering the 26/11 terror attack change her? [39:09] •Her fond memory of interacting with Warren Buffet [42:32]
E24 - Part 2: Jag Sharma - The future of social media
Maharani Talks
11/20/20 • 56 min
This episode is the second part of my conversation with digital marketing expert Jag Sharma, where we sit down and talk about all things social media. If you have come here directly, I'd suggest that you check out the first part as this episode is a continuation of the earlier one. To recount from the first part, some of the topics we talk about are measuring social media success, rise of bot accounts, the role of social media in the US Presidential election this year and Facebook's Oversight Board. So let's continue where we left off.
Highlights:
• From sparking political tensions in Myanmar to Ethiopia, why is Facebook failing to curb false information? [1:17] • The movie 'The Social Dilemma' doesn't discuss the needs of small creators and businesses [29:43] • The rise of influencer marketing [38:09] • Predictions for social media for the next decade [45:43]
You can reach Jag Sharma at www.instagram.com/jagsharma and check out his podcast Society 4.0 on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
You can check out the Maharani Talks on Instagram at www.instagram.com/maharanitalks
MUSIC: Lights by Sappheiros https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic
E13: Piyush Ghosh - Change how we consume news
Maharani Talks
08/24/20 • 46 min
A discussion between Piyush Ghosh with his friends and co-founders, Tuhin Sen and Tannison Matthhews, in a park in Bhopal has led to India's first positive stories only newspaper in print. The Optimist Citizen has since grown to over 250 members and more than 1000 subscribers in about 25 cities, with digital reach in other countries as well. While Piyush's focus right now is not for it to become the next big newspaper but for The Optimist Citizen to be an agent of change - to push mainstream media houses and readers to give equal importance to good and positive news.
For their work in promoting positive news, Ghosh has received accolades such as the Manthan Award for journalism, Queen's Young Leader Runner-Up, Ashoka Youth Venturer and listed under Forbes Asia 30 Under 30. You can check out The Optimist Citizen at www.theoptimistcitizen.com
You can check out the Maharani Talks on Instagram at Maharani Talks
MUSIC: Lights by Sappheiros https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic
Show Notes:
• Being shaped by parents who are social entrepreneurs [01:21] • What prompted him to start The Optimist Citizen [03:05] • Early goals for the newspaper [6:40] . Difficulty in building a team [8:12] . Developing a pan India network [11:52] . His hardest lesson as an entrepreneur [14:09] . Most painful rejection/feedback [17:37] . Spinning positive stories on topical issues [19:33] . Editorial process [22:15] . Putting out credible news with news becoming freely available [33:14] . Building a community between the readers and the subjects [40:23] . Hopes for The Optimist Citizen [43:16]
E12: Swetha Subbiah - Getting women to take up sports
Maharani Talks
08/15/20 • 40 min
Swetha Subbiah was among the first few certified women trainers in Bangalore and now in over a decade long career, she has made a name for herself in the fitness world by becoming among the few Nike-certified instructors. She also now trains professional athletes such as Rohan Bopanna and players of Karnataka's football association. As she continues to take forward her fitness consultancy firm, Sweat by Swetha, she has also been passionate about getting more and more women to take up sports through Sisters in Sweat, an organisation she co-founded along with Tanvie Hans, a professional football player.
Check out Sisters in Sweat on Instagram at @sistersinsweat.in.
You can check out the Maharani Talks on Instagram at www.instagram.com/maharanitalks
MUSIC: Lights by Sappheiros https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic
Show Notes:
• Importance of sports while growing up [02:31] • Quitting a corporate career to take up fitness [05:34] • Setting up a health club [07:44] . How difficult it was to become a Nike-certified trainer? [11:58] . Bias towards women trainers [14:06] . Need for tracking infradian rhythm for women athletes [20:32] . Sisters in sweat [22:05] . What is stopping women from playing sports? [28:00] . The evolving fitness industry [31:41]
03/31/24 • 72 min
My guest this episode is the distinguished Kumi Naidoo - a human rights and climate justice activist. Naidoo first began his journey at the age of 15 fighting against the then apartheid government in South Africa by organising school boycotts. He was arrested several times for civil disobedience and when the government imposed a state of emergency, he was forced to go underground and flee to the UK, where he became a Rhodes scholar.
He eventually returned to South Africa in 1990 when Mandela was released from jail, and went onto play a vital role in shaping the then African National Congress. His steadfast work in the human rights and justice sphere led him to become the first person from the global south to head Greenpeace International and later, Secretary General of Amnesty International.
From scaling oil rigs to protest against the fossil fuel industry to sitting down with the likes of Tony Blair, Angela Merkel and Putin, Naidoo has become one of the prominent voices in the climate justice movement.
He continues to represent Africans Rising for Justice, Peace, and Dignity as a Global Ambassador and currently holds the position of Distinguished visiting lecturer at Stanford University’s Center for Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law.
In this conversation, we discuss the tragic human crisis unfolding in Palestine to climate urgency and how the climate crisis is interlinked with human rights.
To learn more about Naidoo's work, please visit: https://www.kuminaidoo.net
You can reach me at [email protected] or on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/maharanitalks/
MUSIC: Lights by Sappheiros https://soundcloud.com/sappheirosmusic
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FAQ
How many episodes does Maharani Talks have?
Maharani Talks currently has 56 episodes available.
What topics does Maharani Talks cover?
The podcast is about Culture, Leisure, Society & Culture, Society, Entrepreneurship, Personal Journals, Motivational, Podcasts, Inspiration and Business.
What is the most popular episode on Maharani Talks?
The episode title 'E54: Aashima Dogra, Nandita Jayaraj - How can women in Indian science no longer be the exception but the norm?' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Maharani Talks?
The average episode length on Maharani Talks is 48 minutes.
How often are episodes of Maharani Talks released?
Episodes of Maharani Talks are typically released every 8 days, 23 hours.
When was the first episode of Maharani Talks?
The first episode of Maharani Talks was released on May 22, 2020.
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