#4 The Politics of “passing the mic” with Christina Dhanaraj

10/12/20 • 29 min

The past few weeks have seen an outrage in India over the rape and murder of Manisha, a 19-year-old Dalit woman in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh. Divya Karthikeyan talks to Christina Dhanaraj, a writer and advisor for Smashboard, a non-profit based in Paris and New Delhi. She was formerly a consultant for #dalitwomenfight and co-founder of Dalit History Month. On this episode, we discuss what it means to “pass the mic”, the inherent problems with the term, why it’s important to be anti-caste and how to be a good ally.

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#3 The Unbearable Niceness of Korean Women with Dr. Jonghyun Lee

In this episode, I talk to Professor Jonghyun Lee about niceness and harmony in the context of Korea and Korean Americans, and how too much of it it can lead to some unsavoury physical symptoms - a syndrome called Hwa-byung, or 'fire illness.' You can read the full newsletter with this episode at Minor Feelings dot substack dot com. Music by Ketsa and Cambo.

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#5 Anti-Asian violence in Atlanta: Red Canary Song's Yves Tong Nguyen on the mental health of Asian sex workers & massage workers

In this episode, I talk to Yves Tong Nguyen, a Vietnamese American cultural worker at Red Canary Song. Red Canary Song is a grassroots collective that works to help Asian and migrant sex workers and massage workers in Flushing, New York. In the wake of anti-Asian violence in Atlanta, talked about the massage work industry in the US, the policing of work, and if there’s a space to talk about mental health. We also talk about how hypersexualization and fetishization of Asian women play into myths around sex and massage work. The link to resources and where to donate is here: https://minorfeelings.substack.com/p/a-quick-post-on-how-you-can-stand. Music by Ketsa. Original image: Chang W Lee, The New York Times.