Immigrantly

This is a rerun of Saadia's conversation with Mory Fontanez. Saadia found Mory on Instagram after Mory posted a video about her family in Iran during the June 2025 strikes. With the US now seven months into a new war with Iran, we're bringing this episode back. Mory is an intuitive life and leadership coach, a former crisis manager, and the author of Higher Self: Reclaiming the Power of Your Intuition. She and Saadia talk about whether fear and intuition can work together, why Eastern and Western cultures treat intuition so differently, and how CEOs are starting to use gut feelings in business. Saadia pushes back, and by the end she decides to try something new. Also from Immigrantly: 9/11 at 25 is now out in full, all three episodes. Start with Guantánamo. You can connect with Saadia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@itssaadiak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email:saadia@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host & Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Immigrantly Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson | Other Music: Epidemic Sound Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BOYOT (Belong On Your Own Terms) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠is the next step. It’s our new app, designed to help you think through identity, culture, ambition, relationships, and the stories we carry with guided reflections, prompts, and frameworks developed over years of conversations on this show. It’s thoughtful. It’s challenging. And honestly, it’s the kind of space many of us wish existed earlier in our lives. If you’re ready to go deeper than the podcast, subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BOYOT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and start the journey. Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week Saadia Khan brings back one of her favorite conversations of the year. Ramzi Fawaz has just relaunched his podcast, Nerd From the Future, for a second season, and the first new episode is out now. Ramzi is a professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the author of The New Mutants and Queer Forms. His next book argues that the humanities can work like psychedelic therapy, using art, literature, and media instead of drugs to change how students see the world. When Saadia and Ramzi first spoke, everyone was panicking about young people. Why are they lonely, why are they cheating with ChatGPT, why are they drifting toward the manosphere. Almost none of those takes were coming from humanities professors, and Ramzi thinks that is a massive mistake. They also get into friendship as loving betrayal, resentment as something you negotiate rather than banish, and why the most abundant society in history has not made anyone happy. Also from Immigrantly: 9/11 at 25 is now out in full, all three episodes. Start with Guantánamo. You can connect with Saadia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@itssaadiak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email:saadia@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host & Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Immigrantly Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson | Other Music: Epidemic Sound Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BOYOT (Belong On Your Own Terms) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠is the next step. It’s our new app, designed to help you think through identity, culture, ambition, relationships, and the stories we carry with guided reflections, prompts, and frameworks developed over years of conversations on this show. It’s thoughtful. It’s challenging. And honestly, it’s the kind of space many of us wish existed earlier in our lives. If you’re ready to go deeper than the podcast, subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BOYOT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and start the journey. Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Three days before the 25th anniversary of September 11th, New York City released 170,000 pages of its own 9/11 records, and Mayor Zohran Mamdani made September 11th an official citywide day of remembrance and service. The first Muslim mayor of New York is doing more 9/11 accountability work than any mayor before him. Does that protect Muslims, or put them on trial again? In the final episode of Immigrantly's 9/11 at 25 series, host Saadia Khan sits down with Salam Al-Marayati, co-founder and president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC). He was walking to the White House for a meeting with President George W. Bush on the morning of September 11, 2001, and has spent 38 years being called the reasonable Muslim by the government and the government's Muslim by his own community. Saadia asks the questions Muslim leaders rarely get asked on the record. Why did MPAC take part in Countering Violent Extremism programs, and does he regret Safe Spaces? Why does the US government list only Muslim groups as terrorists? Does the good Muslim narrative buy the community anything? Do Muslims have to show up every September? Al-Marayati argues that war, not Islam, is the real national security problem, and that human security has to replace the trillion-dollar version. This conversation covers the Patriot Act, post-9/11 surveillance, CVE, blowback, Islamophobia in 2026, and the Mamdani 9/11 records release. Find MPAC at mpac.org and on Instagram at MPAC National and MPAC Hollywood Bureau You can connect with Saadia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@itssaadiak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email:saadia@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host & Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Immigrantly Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson | Other Music: Epidemic Sound Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BOYOT (Belong On Your Own Terms) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠is the next step. It’s our new app, designed to help you think through identity, culture, ambition, relationships, and the stories we carry with guided reflections, prompts, and frameworks developed over years of conversations on this show. It’s thoughtful. It’s challenging. And honestly, it’s the kind of space many of us wish existed earlier in our lives. If you’re ready to go deeper than the podcast, subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BOYOT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and start the journey. Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More than 95,000 people have signed a petition asking the organizers of the 25th anniversary ceremony at Ground Zero to reconsider whether Zohran Mamdani, the first Muslim mayor of New York City, should attend. Liz Miller's answer has traveled further than most: "Mayor Mamdani is not a terrorist." Elizabeth Miller (Liz) was six when her father, FDNY firefighter Douglas Miller of Rescue 5, went into the South Tower and did not come home. Today she is the project director of September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, a group of 9/11 family members who have spent more than two decades being called naive, unpatriotic, and worse for opposing torture, the death penalty, and the wars fought in their loved ones' names. In this episode of Immigrantly's 9/11 at 25 series, Saadia Khan talks with Liz about the letter she wrote to President Bush at age 11, her six trips to Guantánamo Bay to observe the 9/11 military commission, her friendship with a former detainee who was held for 14 years and never charged, and why she does not believe the trial will happen on the date the judge just set. They also talk about the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, where Liz once worked, and what it leaves out of the national story: the surveillance, the hate crimes, and the wars that followed. Two people with very different reasons to dread the first eleven days of September, and a conversation about who is allowed to grieve, who is expected to, and who gets called a hero. You can connect with Saadia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@itssaadiak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email:saadia@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host & Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Immigrantly Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson | Other Music: Epidemic Sound Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BOYOT (Belong On Your Own Terms) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠is the next step. It’s our new app, designed to help you think through identity, culture, ambition, relationships, and the stories we carry with guided reflections, prompts, and frameworks developed over years of conversations on this show. It’s thoughtful. It’s challenging. And honestly, it’s the kind of space many of us wish existed earlier in our lives. If you’re ready to go deeper than the podcast, subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BOYOT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and start the journey. Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Twenty-five years after September 11th, Guantánamo Bay is still open. Fifteen men are still held there. Six have never been charged with anything at all. And on August 26, 2026, a military judge finally set a trial date for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and three co-defendants: June 5, 2028, nearly 27 years after the attacks. In the first episode of Immigrantly's three-part 9/11 at 25 series, Saadia Khan sits down with Shayana Kadidal, Senior Managing Attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, who has litigated Guantánamo cases since 2002. He filed the first habeas petition on behalf of detainees when no one in Washington would carry the papers to the courthouse. He was one of the first lawyers allowed onto the base. This conversation covers what actually built Guantánamo and what has kept it standing through four presidencies: • Why the first people held at Guantánamo were not Muslims, but Black Haitian refugees intercepted at sea in 1991• How the U.S. filled the prison using leaflets and $5,000 bounties, not battlefield capture• The domestic sweeps of South Asian and Arab Muslim men, held in secret immigration hearings with their names erased from the public docket• Mohammed al-Qahtani, a schizophrenic man held roughly two decades, much of it in solitary confinement, and Abu Zubaydah, the first man waterboarded, still never charged• Guled Duran, cleared for release by six agencies, whose habeas petition has sat with a judge for a decade• Why the torture evidence argument is not the reason these cases never went to trial• And what it means that the Trump administration flew roughly 500 immigrants to Guantánamo between February and June 2025, at a reported cost of about $100,000 per person per day The machinery built in 2001 was never dismantled. Machinery that isn't dismantled gets used again on somebody else. Saadia's take: she is not here to acknowledge the anniversary. She is here to audit it. Learn more about the Center for Constitutional Rights at ccrjustice.org, or follow @ccrjustice. Next Tuesday: a woman whose father, a firefighter, went into the towers and did not come out. She was six. She has spent the years since objecting to what this country did to Muslims in her family's name. You can connect with Saadia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@itssaadiak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email:saadia@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host & Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Immigrantly Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson | Other Music: Epidemic Sound Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BOYOT (Belong On Your Own Terms) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠is the next step. It’s our new app, designed to help you think through identity, culture, ambition, relationships, and the stories we carry with guided reflections, prompts, and frameworks developed over years of conversations on this show. It’s thoughtful. It’s challenging. And honestly, it’s the kind of space many of us wish existed earlier in our lives. If you’re ready to go deeper than the podcast, subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BOYOT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and start the journey. Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Erika Lucas spent years inside private equity and venture capital, the rooms that decide who gets funded in America. Then she left to build what goes around them. In this episode, she tells Saadia Khan exactly what investors say about founders once they’ve walked out. Erika was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, and came to rural Oklahoma at 13 with her mother and sister, speaking no English. She went back. She built a career in Mexico, returned to the U.S., ran foreign direct investment for the State of Oklahoma, became a private equity partner—and then walked away to co-found StitchCrew, which has brought capital and networks to hundreds of founders the system overlooks. She also founded VEST, a peer network for women professionals, and VEST Her Ventures, a fund backing women-led companies in the care economy. Her TEDx talk, America's Trillion Dollar Blindspot, argues the money in this country is pointed the wrong way. She and Saadia get into the part most founder conversations skip: not how to pitch better, but who is on the other side of the table and why they keep writing checks to people who look like them. Erika's advice to founders is not what you'd expect from a former VC; she'd rather talk you out of raising venture at all. You can connect with Saadia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@itssaadiak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Find Erika Lucas on IG at @erika_07 Email:saadia@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host & Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Immigrantly Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson | Other Music: Epidemic Sound Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BOYOT (Belong On Your Own Terms) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠is the next step. It’s our new app, designed to help you think through identity, culture, ambition, relationships, and the stories we carry with guided reflections, prompts, and frameworks developed over years of conversations on this show. It’s thoughtful. It’s challenging. And honestly, it’s the kind of space many of us wish existed earlier in our lives. If you’re ready to go deeper than the podcast, subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BOYOT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and start the journey. Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we're sharing an episode from Pehchaan, hosted by Bilal Lakhani with co-host Ambreen Ali, a show about the Pakistani diaspora in the US, told by the people living it. Their guest is Noorain Khan, who joined the Girl Scouts as a second grader in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and three decades later became the first Muslim American to lead the organization as National Board President. She's now Chief Innovation Officer at the Ford Foundation. They get into her path there, and the many layers of identity she's carried along the way. New Immigrantly episode next week. And if you know someone who'd be a good fit for the show, send them our way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There's a question on the U.S. citizenship test, question 74, that asks you to name one cause of the Civil War. The Government accepts three answers: slavery, economic reasons, states' rights. Saadia memorized all three. She passed. She became a citizen. And she never felt a single one of them. Then, on a detour from a wedding in Maryland, she spent an afternoon at the Gettysburg museum in ninety-degree heat and found a fourth answer that will never make it onto a flashcard. In this solo episode, Saadia walks through the exhibit that promised her the Civil War left America "a different people in everything," and traces what she actually found: an economy built on unpaid labor, a grievance politics that outlived the war that produced it, and two glass cases of brass buttons that map almost perfectly onto the country we still argue about every election cycle. It's America's 250th year. The stories told at a birthday party are the flattering ones. This is the other kind, the immigrant's read on American history, from someone who waited twelve years for the passport and has no intention of being quiet with it. You can connect with Saadia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@itssaadiak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email:saadia@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host & Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Immigrantly Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson | Other Music: Epidemic Sound Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BOYOT (Belong On Your Own Terms) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠is the next step. It’s our new app, designed to help you think through identity, culture, ambition, relationships, and the stories we carry with guided reflections, prompts, and frameworks developed over years of conversations on this show. It’s thoughtful. It’s challenging. And honestly, it’s the kind of space many of us wish existed earlier in our lives. If you’re ready to go deeper than the podcast, subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BOYOT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and start the journey. Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

UNRWA USA CEO Mara Kronenfeld is a Jewish American woman and the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor — and she leads the American nonprofit supporting the UN agency for Palestine refugees. In this episode of Immigrantly, Saadia Khan asks her what it costs to break the script. Mara traces her path from Riverside, California to a Fulbright year in Damascus, where friendships built in Yarmouk refugee camp reshaped everything she thought she knew about the Arab world. She explains what UNRWA actually is, why it was designed to become obsolete, and answers the "UNRWA institutionalizes refugeehood" critique head-on. She describes conditions in Gaza after the October 2025 ceasefire that hasn't stopped the killing — rodents biting children in tents, women unable to afford or find menstrual supplies, a father tearing up his last clothes for his daughter. She tells the story of her colleague Hani Almadhoun, who lost two brothers in Gaza — including Chef Mahmoud of the Gaza Soup Kitchen, killed by a drone as he walked to Kamal Adwan Hospital, the hospital whose director Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya remains in Israeli detention without charge to this day. And she takes apart the Board of Peace, which declared this summer that UNRWA has "no place" in Gaza's future and framed its work as perpetual aid dependency. Mara also answers the hardest one in her line of work — when a Palestinian says, "This is our story to lead," where does your voice end and theirs begin? Mara Kronenfeld is the CEO of UNRWA USA. She speaks Arabic, holds a Master's in Middle East studies, and has worked across the Middle East for more than two decades. Learn more and donate at unrwausa.org. The NYC Gaza 5K returns to Prospect Park, Brooklyn on Sunday, October 11. Keywords: UNRWA, Gaza, Palestinian refugees, Mara Kronenfeld, Kamal Adwan Hospital, Hussam Abu Safiya, Board of Peace, humanitarian aid, Jewish American identity, ceasefire, Immigrantly podcast UNRWA USA's Gaza 5K page Voices of UNRWA blog post: Inheriting Exile: The Identity Struggle of a Palestine Refugee Voices of UNRWA blog post: Live from Gaza: Hani's Family UNRWA USA FAQ page UNRWA is still in Gaza, Washington Post, Dec. 2025 UNRWA USA donation page Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 2011, a handful of skeptical New Yorkers answer a call to Occupy Wall Street. What they find feels less like a protest and more like a glimpse of a different world—one where people openly share stories of debt, hardship, and frustration. They start to build an anti-capitalist village in a tiny Manhattan park — under the watchful eyes of police. This is the first episode of Future Hindsight’s brand new 6-part series, OCCUPY! An Unfinished Uprising. Subscribe to Future Hindsight wherever you get your podcasts so you don’t miss a single episode! Want to dive deeper? Listen to these episodes of Future Hindsight: For a conversation on activism with a co-founder of Occupy Wall Street, tune in to this episode with Micah White: https://www.futurehindsight.com/episodes/episode/micah-white For a recap of how American capitalism evolved into what it is today, listen to this episode with Kurt Andersen: https://www.futurehindsight.com/episodes/episode/americas-evil-geniuses-kurt-andersen On solidarity and mutual aid, listen to this conversation with Manuel Pastor: https://www.futurehindsight.com/episodes/episode/solidarity-and-mutuality-manuel-pastor Credits: Host / Executive Producer: Mila Atmos Producer / Writer: Maria Luisa Tucker Audio Producer: Zack Travis Additional production help: Mia Warren, Erika Gjada, Megan Detrie, Lizzie Jacobs, and Ilya Magazanin Archival research: Marisa Holmes Archival material courtesy of: Occupy Wall Street Media Working Group. Original music: Rude Mechanical Orchestra and Puge Ruhe Special thanks to T.J. Raphael, Lauren Passell, Arielle Nissenblatt, and Kate Blumenfeld for being our first listeners and sounding boards, and to Tom Koenig for his support. Distributed by PRX Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Seven years ago, Sahar Saleem was the first-ever guest on Immigrantly, talking about her creative marketing career at PepsiCo. She's back, and everything has changed. In this episode, we talk about leaving a corporate "dream job," breaking into screenwriting in LA right as the writers' strike hit, the quiet blacklisting of pro-Palestinian voices in Hollywood, and her pilot Cash, about a Pakistani American memory archeologist. Then, the unexpected turn: somatic therapy, epigenetics, and how trauma lives in the body across generations. Sahar now leads Soma Sahar, a healing practice weaving somatic embodiment, ancestral reflection, and creative ritual. A conversation about privilege, purpose, and coming home to yourself. Sahar’s Personal / Writing IG: @saharsaleem Subconscious Glass on Substack Somatic Coaching & Healing - @somasahar_ www.saharsaleem.com right now, but starting in mid-August it'll be www.somasahar.com You can connect with Saadia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@itssaadiak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email:saadia@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host & Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Immigrantly Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson | Other Music: Epidemic Sound Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BOYOT (Belong On Your Own Terms) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠is the next step. It’s our new app, designed to help you think through identity, culture, ambition, relationships, and the stories we carry with guided reflections, prompts, and frameworks developed over years of conversations on this show. It’s thoughtful. It’s challenging. And honestly, it’s the kind of space many of us wish existed earlier in our lives. If you’re ready to go deeper than the podcast, subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BOYOT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and start the journey. Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"No one fits into these types of boxes." Darializa Avila Chevalier has spent her whole life being asked to pick one: Black or Latina, Dominican or American, organizer or politician. Two weeks ago, the 32-year-old from Harlem broke the biggest box of all, defeating a five-term incumbent to win the Democratic nomination in New York's 13th Congressional District, with no corporate money and no party machine. If she wins in November, she'll be the first Dominican woman ever elected to Congress. In this episode of Immigrantly, Saadia Khan goes beyond the headlines with Darializa: growing up the daughter of working-class immigrants across Florida's many Americas, arriving at Columbia University as a low-income Afro-Latina student who didn't know office hours were a thing, and how campus organizing turned into a life of movement-building. They get into the surreal weight of making history while being picked apart in public, housing for all, abolishing ICE, the Democratic establishment's meltdown — and why dissent might be the most patriotic act of all You can connect with Saadia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@itssaadiak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email:saadia@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host & Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Immigrantly Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson | Other Music: Epidemic Sound Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BOYOT (Belong On Your Own Terms) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠is the next step. It’s our new app, designed to help you think through identity, culture, ambition, relationships, and the stories we carry with guided reflections, prompts, and frameworks developed over years of conversations on this show. It’s thoughtful. It’s challenging. And honestly, it’s the kind of space many of us wish existed earlier in our lives. If you’re ready to go deeper than the podcast, subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BOYOT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and start the journey. Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Supreme Court just upheld birthright citizenship, striking down Trump's executive order in a 6-3 ruling that leans directly on a case 130 years in the making. We're re-releasing our deep dive into Wong Kim Ark — the Chinese American son of immigrants who won this exact fight at the Supreme Court in 1898 — because Chief Justice Roberts built this week's decision on Wong's story, by name. In this episode: the history of the 14th Amendment, the Chinese Exclusion Act, Julia Lynch's 1844 citizenship case, and how "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" has been the most contested phrase in American immigration law for over a century. Plus a new opening and closing segment breaking down this week's ruling, the rejected "domicile" argument, and why the fight isn't actually over. Birthright citizenship. The 14th Amendment. American identity. Immigration history. All still unfinished business. Show Notes Episode Summary Originally released in 2025, this episode traces the legal and racial history of birthright citizenship in America — from the Naturalization Act of 1790 through Wong Kim Ark (1898), Lynch v. Clarke (1844), and Trump's January 2025 executive order. This re-release adds new bookend segments covering the Supreme Court's June 30, 2026 ruling in Trump v. Barbara, which upheld birthright citizenship 6-3. What's New in This Re-Release Breakdown of the Supreme Court's ruling and Chief Justice Roberts' majority opinion Why the administration's "domicile" argument failed Fact-check: can Congress end birthright citizenship by passing a law? (No — here's why) What comes next for immigration policy after this ruling Topics Covered The 14th Amendment's Citizenship Clause United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898) Lynch v. Clarke (1844) The Chinese Exclusion Act and the Naturalization Act of 1790 Dred Scott v. Sandford and its legacy Trump's 2025 executive order on birthright citizenship Trump v. Barbara (2026) Host & Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Michaela Strauther I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Immigrantly Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson | Other Music: Epidemic Sound Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BOYOT (Belong On Your Own Terms) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠is the next step. It’s our new app, designed to help you think through identity, culture, ambition, relationships, and the stories we carry with guided reflections, prompts, and frameworks developed over years of conversations on this show. It’s thoughtful. It’s challenging. And honestly, it’s the kind of space many of us wish existed earlier in our lives. If you’re ready to go deeper than the podcast, subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BOYOT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and start the journey. Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sharing a special episode this week from the More Muslim podcast. Reporter Tanita Rahmani realizes a small detail—blue ink instead of black on a marriage contract—means her marriage was never legally registered. That revelation sends her on a personal and investigative journey into the legal gray zone where many Muslim marriages exist: recognized by faith, but invisible to the law. From overlooked paperwork in New York to courtroom battles in the UK, this episode unpacks what happens when a nikkah isn’t enough, and asks: who decides if a marriage is a marriage? You can hear other episodes of More Muslim at moremuslim.org You can connect with Saadia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@itssaadiak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email:saadia@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BOYOT (Belong On Your Own Terms) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠is the next step. It’s our new app, designed to help you think through identity, culture, ambition, relationships, and the stories we carry with guided reflections, prompts, and frameworks developed over years of conversations on this show. It’s thoughtful. It’s challenging. And honestly, it’s the kind of space many of us wish existed earlier in our lives. If you’re ready to go deeper than the podcast, subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BOYOT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and start the journey. Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There's a voting bloc large enough to decide 126 congressional races and most of it isn't showing up. In this episode, Saadia Khan breaks down data on naturalized citizens, immigrant voter turnout, and civic participation in America, and makes the case that the ballot is one of the most powerful tools immigrants have but aren't using. From New York's 2026 primary to the $383 billion immigrants pay in taxes every year, this is an unfiltered look at belonging, power, and why "be grateful you were let in" was never the deal. You can connect with Saadia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@itssaadiak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email:saadia@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host & Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Immigrantly Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson | Other Music: Epidemic Sound Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BOYOT (Belong On Your Own Terms) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠is the next step. It’s our new app, designed to help you think through identity, culture, ambition, relationships, and the stories we carry with guided reflections, prompts, and frameworks developed over years of conversations on this show. It’s thoughtful. It’s challenging. And honestly, it’s the kind of space many of us wish existed earlier in our lives. If you’re ready to go deeper than the podcast, subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BOYOT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and start the journey. Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What does it really mean to belong, and what happens when belonging feels like betrayal? Beatriz Nour has lived this question. Born in France, raised between Brazil and Egypt, and based in Dubai for nearly a decade, she's the creator of the podcast InBetweenish and someone who knows firsthand what it costs to reject your heritage, and what it takes to slowly find your way back to it. In this conversation, Beatriz and Saadia Khan go deep on the kind of identity work that doesn't show up on a visa application: the grief of cultural rejection, the negotiation of belonging across languages and life stages, and why staying "in betweenish" isn't indecision, it might be the most honest thing you can do. "I'm most comfortable being inbetweenish, not choosing sides, not owing anyone a full allegiance to one identity." This episode is a rerun brought back because it's exactly the kind of conversation Immigrant Heritage Month was made for. If it's your first time, welcome. If you've heard it before, you'll catch something new. You can connect with Saadia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@itssaadiak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email:saadia@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host & Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Immigrantly Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson | Other Music: Epidemic Sound Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BOYOT (Belong On Your Own Terms) ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠is the next step. It’s our new app, designed to help you think through identity, culture, ambition, relationships, and the stories we carry with guided reflections, prompts, and frameworks developed over years of conversations on this show. It’s thoughtful. It’s challenging. And honestly, it’s the kind of space many of us wish existed earlier in our lives. If you’re ready to go deeper than the podcast, subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BOYOT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and start the journey. Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Saadia Khan sits down with Raj Goyle, whose parents came from India with a few dollars and a medical degree. His mom was the only female OB in Wichita shut out by the establishment, so she built her own referral network with Filipino and Vietnamese immigrant doctors. Raj took a different path: civil rights lawyer, ACLU after 9/11, state legislator, tech founder. Now he's in New York challenging a 20-year incumbent for State Comptroller. And he's got receipts: the current office is spending $1 billion in Wall Street fees that aren't growing your pension. It's proactively buying Palantir stock with your money. And there's a utility regulator in Albany cooking the books on your electric bill that nobody will touch. Oh, and his 83-year-old mother, naturalized for nearly 50 years, is scared she'll be deported. This is the race. Hit play. You can connect with Saadia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@itssaadiak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow Raj Goyle on IG ⁠@rajgoyleny⁠ Email:saadia@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host & Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Immigrantly Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson | Other Music: Epidemic Sound Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠BOYOT (Belong On Your Own Terms) ⁠⁠⁠⁠is the next step. It’s our new app, designed to help you think through identity, culture, ambition, relationships, and the stories we carry with guided reflections, prompts, and frameworks developed over years of conversations on this show. It’s thoughtful. It’s challenging. And honestly, it’s the kind of space many of us wish existed earlier in our lives. If you’re ready to go deeper than the podcast, subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BOYOT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and start the journey. Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

His Instagram bio says it all: "Just a dude working on political stuff." Charlie Goldensohn grew up in San Francisco's Mission District with a Marxist activist father and a Planned Parenthood director for a mother. He went on to work for Senator Dianne Feinstein, became Dr. Jill Biden's digital director, served in the White House, and worked on the Kamala Harris 2024 campaign. Then Democrats lost, and something in him snapped. He pointed a camera at himself, started walking, and started talking. Within four months, 200,000 followers. Today, over 359,000. In this episode, Saadia Khan sits down with Charlie for an unfiltered conversation about politics, identity, and why the Democratic Party has completely lost the plot. They get into: Why calling himself "just a dude" is actually the whole strategy Growing up in a radically political household — and hating it, until he didn't The moral calculus of working for Dianne Feinstein as a Bernie Sanders progressive Why he said no to Biden, yes to Kamala, and what that cost him Harm reduction politics — and whether it's ever enough What Democrats got wrong about Joe Rogan, Zohran Mamdani, and coalition-building Why he's targeting the men Democrats are losing and how he's actually reaching them Democracy is an endless fight, and what the Trump era cracked open for all of us This one's for anyone who's felt too progressive for the Democrats and too practical for purity politics. Follow Charlie: @chez.chuck on Instagram You can connect with Saadia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@itssaadiak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email:saadia@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host & Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Immigrantly Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson | Other Music: Epidemic Sound Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠BOYOT (Belong On Your Own Terms) ⁠⁠is the next step. It’s our new app, designed to help you think through identity, culture, ambition, relationships, and the stories we carry — with guided reflections, prompts, and frameworks developed over years of conversations on this show. It’s thoughtful. It’s challenging. And honestly, it’s the kind of space many of us wish existed earlier in our lives. If you’re ready to go deeper than the podcast, subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BOYOT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and start the journey. Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the eve of Eid ul-Adha, host Saadia Khan reflects on the San Diego mosque shooting that killed three men during prayer — and the Instagram comment calling Islam a "bloody demonic cult" that followed. In this raw narration episode, Saadia connects the dots between normalized anti-Muslim rhetoric, political silence, and the violence it enables. From her daughter being called "queen of Taliban" in sixth grade to being interrogated in an ER while in pain, she shares what it actually costs to be Muslim in America — and why, despite all of it, Muslims will still show up for Eid tomorrow. A must-listen for anyone who has scrolled past hate and called it someone else's problem. Join us in creating new intellectual engagement for our audience. You can find more information at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please share the love and leave us a review on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to help more people find us! You can connect with Saadia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@itssaadiak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email:saadia@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host & Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Immigrantly Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson | Other Music: Epidemic Sound Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠BOYOT (Belong On Your Own Terms) ⁠is the next step. It’s our new app, designed to help you think through identity, culture, ambition, relationships, and the stories we carry — with guided reflections, prompts, and frameworks developed over years of conversations on this show. It’s thoughtful. It’s challenging. And honestly, it’s the kind of space many of us wish existed earlier in our lives. If you’re ready to go deeper than the podcast, subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BOYOT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and start the journey. Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Your favorite museum might be built on stolen goods. Nicole Dowd works inside the Smithsonian, and she's not here to defend it. Saadia Khan sits down with Nicole to break it all down. As Head of Public Programs at the National Museum of Asian Art, she's sitting with the uncomfortable truth: Western museums have a colonial problem, and a fresh coat of "inclusivity" paint won't fix it. We get into repatriation, who really has access to art, the model minority myth, and what it means to be Korean, adopted, and suddenly surrounded by Korean treasures every day at work. This is the museum conversation nobody wants to have and exactly why we're having it. Link to NMAA website: https://asia.si.edu/ Link to IlluminAsia 2026 programming: https://asia.si.edu/whats-on/events/event-series/illuminasia-arts-and-culture-festival/ NMAA IG: @natasianart| post about IlluminAsia NMAA FB: https://www.facebook.com/NatAsianArt | post about IlluminAsia Join us in creating new intellectual engagement for our audience. You can find more information at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please share the love and leave us a review on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to help more people find us! You can connect with Saadia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@itssaadiak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Helena is on IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email:saadia@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host & Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Immigrantly Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson | Other Music: Epidemic Sound Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ BOYOT (Belong On Your Own Terms) is the next step. It’s our new app, designed to help you think through identity, culture, ambition, relationships, and the stories we carry — with guided reflections, prompts, and frameworks developed over years of conversations on this show. It’s thoughtful. It’s challenging. And honestly, it’s the kind of space many of us wish existed earlier in our lives. If you’re ready to go deeper than the podcast, subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BOYOT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and start the journey. Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What does it look like when someone walks away from a prestigious career, on principle, and comes back fighting? Chuck Park did exactly that. A son of Korean immigrants who sold T-shirts on Canal Street, he rose to become a U.S. diplomat, then resigned in 2019 after the El Paso mass shooting and published his letter in The Washington Post. Now he's running a 100% grassroots campaign for Congress in New York's 6th District — Queens against a seven-term incumbent. No corporate PACs. No AIPAC money. No focus-grouped talking points. In this conversation, Saadia sits down with Chuck Park to talk about what it means to run as a true outsider: abolishing ICE (and why that's not the same as open borders), calling Gaza a genocide out loud, the Working Families Party's closed-door betrayal, and why dumplings might be the most radical political tool in Queens right now. They also get into the MSG myth, the difference between progressivism and leftism, and what Chuck says he'll do if he loses, spoiler: deep clean the bathroom first. If you've been waiting for a politician who sounds like an actual human being, this one's for you. Vote Chuck Park — June 23rd, NY-6. chuckforqueens.com Join us in creating new intellectual engagement for our audience. You can find more information at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please share the love and leave us a review on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to help more people find us! You can connect with Saadia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@itssaadiak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Helena is on IG ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠ Email:saadia@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host & Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Immigrantly Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson | Other Music: Epidemic Sound Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ BOYOT (Belong On Your Own Terms) is the next step. It’s our new app, designed to help you think through identity, culture, ambition, relationships, and the stories we carry — with guided reflections, prompts, and frameworks developed over years of conversations on this show. It’s thoughtful. It’s challenging. And honestly, it’s the kind of space many of us wish existed earlier in our lives. If you’re ready to go deeper than the podcast, subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BOYOT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and start the journey. Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Immigrant life in New York City looks glamorous from the outside, but what happens when you arrive in January with snow up to your knees, no work permit, and no roadmap for who you're supposed to become? In this episode, host Saadia sits down with Laura Peruchi, a Brazilian journalist, content creator, podcaster, and one of New York City's most trusted voices for immigrants navigating life in a new country. Laura is the host of Transplants, a podcast about women thriving in new roots abroad, and the writer behind The Tiny Apple, a newsletter about New York life told with radical honesty. Laura and Saadia get into the raw, unfiltered parts of immigrant life that don't make it onto Instagram: What it really feels like to go from financially independent to completely dependent on a dependent visa, and why Laura didn't talk about it until she got her green card The identity shift of switching your content from Portuguese to English, and how language changes your personality Why Laura started a podcast specifically for immigrant women, and why she says "men already have enough spotlight.” The in-between world of being a transplant: too Brazilian for America, too Americanized for Brazil Code-switching, insecurity, online hate, and the quiet courage of building something from scratch in a city that doesn't owe you anything Why is she learning French as a third language, just because she wanted to Community-building in East Harlem, and why a WhatsApp group about stolen packages became her unexpected found family Laura also opens up about something rarely discussed: the emotional weight immigrant spouses carry when they feel they "should be grateful" and how that guilt silently erodes self-worth and belonging. Whether you're a first-generation immigrant, a partner who followed someone to a new country, or simply someone who has ever felt like an outsider in a place you chose to call home, this conversation will feel like a long exhale. 🎧 Listen now and share with someone navigating their own in-between. Join us in creating new intellectual engagement for our audience. You can find more information at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please share the love and leave us a review on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to help more people find us! You can connect with Saadia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@itssaadiak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Helena is on IG ⁠⁠here⁠⁠ Email:saadia@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host & Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Immigrantly Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson | Other Music: Epidemic Sound Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ BOYOT (Belong On Your Own Terms) is the next step. It’s our new app, designed to help you think through identity, culture, ambition, relationships, and the stories we carry — with guided reflections, prompts, and frameworks developed over years of conversations on this show. It’s thoughtful. It’s challenging. And honestly, it’s the kind of space many of us wish existed earlier in our lives. If you’re ready to go deeper than the podcast, subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BOYOT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and start the journey. Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apply for the Vilcek Foundation Creative Promise Awards in Culinary Arts to win $50,000 in unrestricted grant money. Click on ⁠⁠Vilcek.org⁠⁠ for more information. When we first sat down with Zainab Hasnain — DJ, producer, and writer FKA ZEEMUFFIN — back in 2022, she was already doing something remarkable: carving out space as a Pakistani immigrant woman in one of the most male-dominated creative industries in New York City. We're re-releasing this conversation now because a lot has changed since then, and we think it's worth revisiting. Since this episode was recorded, Zainab has played Boiler Room, Governors Ball, and Glastonbury. She opened for Palestinian-Chilean artist Elyanna across her sold-out North American Tour. She's been featured in the New York Times and appeared in the Gap's Summer Campaign. Original music is on the way. But this conversation is about how she got here — and it's just as compelling now as it was then. We talk about growing up between Lahore and Long Island, learning the viola, falling in love with punk and hip hop, and eventually trading a career in finance and tech for a pair of turntables. We get into what it means to be a Pakistani woman taking up space in DJ culture, the parallels between hip hop and immigrant identity, how gentrification threatens the authenticity of Black art forms, and why Zainab believes DJing is, at its core, an act of empathy. We also talk about food. Because on Immigrantly, we always talk about food. Join us in creating new intellectual engagement for our audience. You can find more information at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please share the love and leave us a review on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to help more people find us! You can connect with Saadia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@itssaadiak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ You can follow Zainab on IG @_zainabnyc Email:saadia@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host & Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Immigrantly Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson | Other Music: Epidemic Sound Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ BOYOT (Belong On Your Own Terms) is the next step. It’s our new app, designed to help you think through identity, culture, ambition, relationships, and the stories we carry — with guided reflections, prompts, and frameworks developed over years of conversations on this show. It’s thoughtful. It’s challenging. And honestly, it’s the kind of space many of us wish existed earlier in our lives. If you’re ready to go deeper than the podcast, subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BOYOT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and start the journey. Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apply for the Vilcek Foundation Creative Promise Awards in Culinary Arts to win $50,000 in unrestricted grant money. Click on ⁠Vilcek.org⁠ for more information. What does it feel like to leave your faith at the door, not because you're ashamed, but because you're exhausted? In this episode of Immigrantly, host Saadia Khan sits down with Salman Khan, a journalist, composer, and Executive Producer of More Muslim, a narrative podcast that tells Muslim stories from the inside out. Salman grew up Pakistani in Qatar, moved to New York in his late twenties, and found himself sneaking away to pray between classes — not because anyone told him he couldn't, but because the silence around him said enough. The conversation unpacks the exhaustion of being the only Muslim in the room, how colonialism built the "Muslim aggression" myth, why the mosque became a lifeline in New York in a way it never was back home, and what it costs to be the unofficial spokesperson for 1.8 billion people. This one is for anyone who has ever code-switched their way through an identity. Muslim or not. Join us in creating new intellectual engagement for our audience. You can find more information at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please share the love and leave us a review on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to help more people find us! You can connect with Saadia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@itssaadiak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Helena is on IG ⁠here⁠ Email:saadia@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host & Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Immigrantly Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson | Other Music: Epidemic Sound Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ BOYOT (Belong On Your Own Terms) is the next step. It’s our new app, designed to help you think through identity, culture, ambition, relationships, and the stories we carry — with guided reflections, prompts, and frameworks developed over years of conversations on this show. It’s thoughtful. It’s challenging. And honestly, it’s the kind of space many of us wish existed earlier in our lives. If you’re ready to go deeper than the podcast, subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠BOYOT⁠⁠⁠⁠ and start the journey. Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apply for the Vilcek Foundation Creative Promise Awards in Culinary Arts to win $50,000 in unrestricted grant money. Click on Vilcek.org for more information What do you do with grief for something that never was? Helena de Groot spent years circling one of the most quietly radical questions a person can ask: whether or not to have a child. The result was Creation Myth — an 8-part audio memoir for CBC that became a Tribeca Festival Official Selection, landed on the New York Times Modern Love podcast, and earned praise from Death, Sex & Money to The New Yorker. In this conversation, Helena and Saadia go to the heart of it, not the podcast, but the ache underneath it. They talk about whose grief Helena was holding while making it, what people were willing to say on tape, and what she knows now that she wishes she'd known at the start. This episode is for anyone who has wanted, lost, chosen, or is still deciding. The grief rhymes, even when the stories don't match. Join us in creating new intellectual engagement for our audience. You can find more information at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please share the love and leave us a review on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to help more people find us! You can connect with Saadia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@itssaadiak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Helena is on IG here Email:saadia@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host & Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Immigrantly Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson | Other Music: Epidemic Sound Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ BOYOT (Belong On Your Own Terms) is the next step. It’s our new app, designed to help you think through identity, culture, ambition, relationships, and the stories we carry — with guided reflections, prompts, and frameworks developed over years of conversations on this show. It’s thoughtful. It’s challenging. And honestly, it’s the kind of space many of us wish existed earlier in our lives. If you’re ready to go deeper than the podcast, subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠BOYOT⁠⁠⁠ and start the journey. Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What does it really mean to do good, and who gets to decide? Saadia sits down with Dr. Rhea Rahman, an anthropologist at Brooklyn College, CUNY, and the author of Racializing the Umma: Muslim Humanitarians Beyond Black, Brown, and White. After more than a decade embedded with Islamic Relief, the largest Muslim NGO in the West, Dr. Rahman asks the questions most of us avoid: when Muslim organizations fly across the world to help, whose definition of "help" are they using? The episode gets into: The "good Muslim" trap-how Islamic charities are pressured to depoliticize themselves to gain Western acceptance Racial hierarchies inside Muslim communities and why South Asian Muslims are often disconnected from Black Muslim struggles The savior mentality immigrants unknowingly inherit and the hard work of unlearning it A radical reframe of Zakat: it's not charity. It's returning what was never yours to begin with What abolitionist Muslims and mutual aid movements are building as an alternative Whether you work in a nonprofit, donate to Islamic causes, or have ever questioned whether your good intentions are actually good, this one will sit with you. Join us in creating new intellectual engagement for our audience. You can find more information at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please share the love and leave us a review on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to help more people find us! You can connect with Saadia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@itssaadiak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email:saadia@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host & Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Immigrantly Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson | Other Music: Epidemic Sound Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ BOYOT (Belong On Your Own Terms) is the next step. It’s our new app, designed to help you think through identity, culture, ambition, relationships, and the stories we carry — with guided reflections, prompts, and frameworks developed over years of conversations on this show. It’s thoughtful. It’s challenging. And honestly, it’s the kind of space many of us wish existed earlier in our lives. If you’re ready to go deeper than the podcast, subscribe to ⁠⁠BOYOT⁠⁠ and start the journey. Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We love to romanticize food as a universal connector. But behind every plate is a story of power, privilege, and who gets to define what's "authentic." We're bringing this one back because it hits harder than ever. Chef, food activist, and Studio ATAO founder Jenny Dorsey joins Saadia Khan to expose the uncomfortable truths about race, class, colonialism, and the politics of food. From childhood shame to the myth of fine dining, this is a raw conversation about who controls the narrative and who gets left out. With SNAP cuts hitting millions, food insecurity rising, and the government eliminating the data we use to track hunger, this episode is more urgent in 2026 than when we first recorded it in June 2025 Join us in creating new intellectual engagement for our audience. You can find more information at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please share the love and leave us a review on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to help more people find us! You can connect with Saadia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@itssaadiak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email:saadia@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host & Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Immigrantly Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson | Other Music: Epidemic Sound Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ BOYOT (Belong On Your Own Terms) is the next step. It’s our new app, designed to help you think through identity, culture, ambition, relationships, and the stories we carry — with guided reflections, prompts, and frameworks developed over years of conversations on this show. It’s thoughtful. It’s challenging. And honestly, it’s the kind of space many of us wish existed earlier in our lives. If you’re ready to go deeper than the podcast, subscribe to ⁠BOYOT⁠ and start the journey. Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How do you let yourself celebrate Eid when the world feels like it's falling apart? In this solo episode, host Saadia Khan reflects on the guilt and tension that came up this Eid and what it means to hold joy and grief at the same time. She unpacks two traps most of us fall into (performing grief vs. total compartmentalization), and makes the case that the two aren't opposites. This one is for anyone who has ever felt guilty for having a good moment or felt torn between living their life and staying awake to the world. Join us in creating new intellectual engagement for our audience. You can find more information at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please share the love and leave us a review on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to help more people find us! You can connect with Saadia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@itssaadiak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email:saadia@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host & Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Immigrantly Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson | Other Music: Epidemic Sound Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ BOYOT (Belong On Your Own Terms) is the next step. It’s our new app, designed to help you think through identity, culture, ambition, relationships, and the stories we carry — with guided reflections, prompts, and frameworks developed over years of conversations on this show. It’s thoughtful. It’s challenging. And honestly, it’s the kind of space many of us wish existed earlier in our lives. If you’re ready to go deeper than the podcast, subscribe to ⁠BOYOT⁠ and start the journey. Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What if reading the right book or watching the right film could transform how you see the world, the same way psychedelics do? In this episode, Saadia Khan sits down with Ramzi Fawaz, professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, queer theorist, comic book scholar, and host of 'Nerd from the Future'. Ramzi's upcoming book “How to Think Like a Multiverse” makes a bold argument: that the humanities' art, literature, and media can function as psychedelic therapy, cracking open the way we think, feel, and relate to one another. But this conversation goes far deeper than the classroom. Saadia and Ramzi unpack why young people are actually more self-aware than we give them credit for, what we get wrong about "woke" culture, how resentment can be a tool for healing (not just destruction), why identity is something you live — not own — and what it really means to stay in your lane as a form of activism. Ramzi also gets personal about navigating sexual hierarchies in gay male culture, growing up Lebanese American in Orange County, and how his own name carries the weight of culture, language, and love. This is one of those rare conversations that makes you want to rethink how you see yourself. Join us in creating new intellectual engagement for our audience. You can find more information at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please share the love and leave us a review on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to help more people find us! You can connect with Saadia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@itssaadiak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email:saadia@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host & Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Immigrantly Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson | Other Music: Epidemic Sound Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ BOYOT (Belong On Your Own Terms) is the next step. It’s our new app, designed to help you think through identity, culture, ambition, relationships, and the stories we carry — with guided reflections, prompts, and frameworks developed over years of conversations on this show. It’s thoughtful. It’s challenging. And honestly, it’s the kind of space many of us wish existed earlier in our lives. If you’re ready to go deeper than the podcast, subscribe to BOYOT and start the journey. Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jonnie Park was born in Argentina to Korean parents, crossed the US-Mexico border undocumented at age three, carried by a mother with two toddlers and nothing but courage, and grew up in Koreatown, Los Angeles, caught between Korean, Latino, and Black American culture. He became one of the only Asian battle rappers in history to gain mainstream notoriety, starred in Run DMC, appeared in Awkafina is Nora from Queens, voiced a character in Raya and the Last Dragon, and now he's written a memoir, Spit: A Life in Battles, which drops on April 14th. In this episode, Jonnie and Sadia get into what it actually felt like to step into a battle rap circle surrounded by hundreds of people, how hip hop taught him to be unapologetically Asian, the complicated relationship with his father that he had to write about first before anything else, and why immigrants, including his mother, built the best parts of America. This episode covers: undocumented immigration, Korean American identity, battle rap culture, cultural appropriation vs. appreciation, Asian American representation in Hollywood, memoir writing, and generational trauma. Join us in creating new intellectual engagement for our audience. You can find more information at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please share the love and leave us a review on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to help more people find us! You can connect with Saadia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@itssaadiak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email:saadia@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host & Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Immigrantly Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson | Other Music: Epidemic Sound Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Belong on Your Own Terms (BOYOT) is the app created to help first-gen, second-gen, and diaspora communities move from confusion to clarity. With structured prompts and deep reflection tools, it helps you define identity without shrinking yourself for anyone else http://studio.com/saadia Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we’re bringing you a special feed drop from ReCurrent, a podcast from the Getty that explores how art, history, and culture shape the world around us. In this episode of ReCurrent, host Jaime Roque takes us back to 1980s Los Angeles, when civil wars in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua sent hundreds of thousands of people north and helped turn LA into “Little Central America.” With professor and longtime participant Rubén Martínez as our guide—someone who lived through this moment firsthand—we follow the Sanctuary Movement as churches quietly, and then publicly, open their doors to refugees the U.S. refused to recognize. Sanctuary meant food and a place to sleep, but it also meant music, theater, poetry, and posters that challenged U.S. policy while helping people process their grief. From there, we step inside Echo Park United Methodist Church, where artist and performer Elia Arce and a circle of Central American poets, musicians, and organizers transform the basement into a cultural home. We also sit with Rev. David Farley, pastor emeritus of Echo Park United Methodist, who was there to witness it all. Upstairs, families try to stay invisible on classroom floors; downstairs, performances inspired by banned writers, songs from back home, and handmade banners turn fear and exile into shared story. Our last stop is the Getty Research Institute, where researcher Jasmine Magaña—a Salvadoran Angeleno herself—is helping build a new, expansive record of this era. Learn more about the episode here: https://www.getty.edu/podcasts/recurrent/central-american-art-and-resistance-in-1980s-la/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Perfection is overrated. In this episode of Immigrantly, Saadia Khan sits down with Iranian-American podcaster Sheila Kazan (Small Talk with Sheila) to talk rom-com heroines, immigrant identity, the truth about Iran beyond headlines, and why your next pivot might be your best move. They explore: The difference between grit and being stuck What social media gets wrong about happiness The “evil eye” and cultural humility Why reinvention isn’t failure, it’s evolution It's smart, funny, and refreshingly honest. Listen now. Join us in creating new intellectual engagement for our audience. You can find more information at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please share the love and leave us a review on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to help more people find us! You can connect with Saadia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@itssaadiak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email:saadia@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host & Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Immigrantly Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson | Other Music: Epidemic Sound Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Belong on Your Own Terms (BOYOT) is the app created to help first-gen, second-gen, and diaspora communities move from confusion to clarity. With structured prompts and deep reflection tools, it helps you define identity without shrinking yourself for anyone else http://studio.com/saadia Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Bad Bunny takes the stage in Spanish, millions celebrate. But for many Puerto Ricans, it lands as something deeper: visibility, resistance, and a reminder of a history the United States still struggles to face. In this episode of Immigrantly, Saadia Khan sits down with Becca Ramos, creator of Welcome to El Barrio, (new episodes release every Tuesday) to discuss colonialism, diaspora, and the complicated politics of calling yourself Puerto Rican—not Puerto Rican American. Becca shares what it meant to grow up Afro-Latina in Texas, feeling too Black in some rooms, not Latino enough in others, and how that tension pushed her to build a platform for her community. The discussion unpacks Puerto Rico’s territorial status, the myth of assimilation, the stereotypes that haunt Latino identity in U.S. media, and why joy itself can be a political act. This episode is about who gets ownership over history, language, and home. And what happens when people decide to define those things for themselves? Join us in creating new intellectual engagement for our audience. You can find more information at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please share the love and leave us a review on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to help more people find us! You can connect with Saadia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@itssaadiak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email:saadia@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host & Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Immigrantly Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson | Other Music: Epidemic Sound Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Belong on Your Own Terms (BOYOT) is the app created to help first-gen, second-gen, and diaspora communities move from confusion to clarity. With structured prompts and deep reflection tools, it helps you define identity without shrinking yourself for anyone else http://studio.com/saadia Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What does migration do to the heart, not just the body? In this deeply intimate conversation, award-winning writer Reyna Grande joins host Saadia Khan to discuss her latest book, Migrant Heart, her undocumented childhood, language loss, family trauma, and the emotional inheritance of migration. Reyna reflects on shame, resilience, motherhood, and how writing became a way to release what she once carried silently. The episode explores the hidden emotional costs of immigration, love, identity, belonging, and healing beyond borders, paperwork, and politics. Join us in creating new intellectual engagement for our audience. You can find more information at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please share the love and leave us a review on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to help more people find us! You can connect with Saadia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@itssaadiak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email:saadia@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host & Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Immigrantly Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson | Other Music: Epidemic Sound Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Want to go deeper into your own identity? Download Belong on Your Own Terms, the app helping first-gen, second-gen, and third-culture kids reclaim belonging on their own terms. link below http://studio.com/saadia Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This coverage was made possible by a grant from URL Collective, a non-profit supporting local diverse media In this reflection episode of Borderly, host and journalist Mario Carrillo returns to the U.S.–Mexico border that shaped his life to ask what the border really is and what it has asked of those who live with it. Through deeply personal stories, Mario reflects on proposing to his wife while overlooking Ciudad Juárez, navigating a nearly seven-year immigration process, and crossing the border together for her final visa interview after decades of separation from her country of birth. He recounts the fear, uncertainty, and cruelty of the immigration system, alongside the hope and belonging that continue to exist at the border every day. This episode is an invitation to slow down, resist flattening the border into myth or argument, and listen more carefully to the people and places we think we already understand. Borderly is a project of Immigrantly. New episodes follow weekly in January. Join us in creating new intellectual engagement for our audience. You can find more information at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please share the love and leave us a review on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to help more people find us! You can connect with Saadia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@itssaadiak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email:saadia@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host: Mario Carrillo I Producer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor and Borderly Theme Music: Lou Raskin I Other Music: Epidemic Sound Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Want to go deeper into your own identity? Download Belong on Your Own Terms, the app helping first-gen, second-gen, and third-culture kids reclaim belonging on their own terms. link below http://studio.com/saadia Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This coverage was made possible by a grant from URL Collective, a non-profit supporting local diverse media In the final episode of Borderly, host Mario Carrillo turns to the people who carry the border’s weight long after headlines fade. From immigration law to community care, this conversation centers on what it means to show up with dignity when systems fail, and lives hang in the balance. Mario sits down with Melissa M. López, Executive Director of Estrella del Paso, to explore what welcoming people with dignity looks like in practice, not as policy, but as daily work. They reflect on growing up in El Paso, the emotional toll of immigration advocacy, the lasting impact of family separation, and why border communities are so often asked to absorb the consequences of decisions made far away. As Borderly comes to a close, this episode brings the series full circle, returning to El Paso not as a symbol, but as a real place shaped by care, resilience, and responsibility. Wherever borders exist, people quietly hold communities together. This is their story. Borderly is a project of Immigrantly. New episodes follow weekly in January. Join us in creating new intellectual engagement for our audience. You can find more information at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please share the love and leave us a review on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to help more people find us! You can connect with Saadia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@itssaadiak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email:saadia@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host: Mario Carrillo I Producer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor and Borderly Theme Music: Lou Raskin I Other Music: Epidemic Sound Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Want to go deeper into your own identity? Download Belong on Your Own Terms, the app helping first-gen, second-gen, and third-culture kids reclaim belonging on their own terms. link below http://studio.com/saadia Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This coverage was made possible by a grant from URL Collective, a non-profit supporting local diverse media In the first two episodes of Borderly, we explored the history, journalism, and lived realities of El Paso and Ciudad Juárez. In Episode 3, we turn to art as memory, resistance, and belonging. Host Mario Carrillo sits down with Patrick Gabaldon, an El Paso–born artist and public defender whose vibrant work reshapes how the border is seen, felt, and remembered. From cactus portraits and desert color palettes to murals at the El Paso airport, Patrick’s art challenges the flat, fear-driven narratives often attached to border cities. They talk about growing up on the border, leaving and finding their way back, and why El Paso’s art scene is one of the most powerful and underrated cultural forces in the country. Patrick shares family stories that blur history and folklore, reflects on how law and art intersect in his life, and explains why blooming brightly in a desert landscape is a political act. This episode is about place, pride, and the creative pulse of a city that refuses to be reduced to headlines. It’s an invitation to look closer at El Paso, at the border, and at the art that records its truth. Borderly is a project of Immigrantly. New episodes follow weekly in January. Join us in creating new intellectual engagement for our audience. You can find more information at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please share the love and leave us a review on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to help more people find us! You can connect with Saadia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@itssaadiak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email:saadia@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host: Mario Carrillo I Producer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor and Borderly Theme Music: Lou Raskin I Other Music: Epidemic Sound Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Want to go deeper into your own identity? Download Belong on Your Own Terms, the app helping first-gen, second-gen, and third-culture kids reclaim belonging on their own terms. link below http://studio.com/saadia Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This coverage was made possible by a grant from URL Collective, a non-profit supporting local diverse media This episode is about how a place learns to remember itself. Journalist Bob Moore has spent nearly four decades reporting from El Paso, witnessing the border's evolution through policy shifts, political cycles, tragedy, and resilience. In conversation with host Mario Carrillo, he reflects on what it means to tell the story of a border city over time, not as a headline, but as a lived reality. The discussion moves from El Paso in the 1980s, when crossing was fluid and routine, through the rise of border enforcement, post-9/11 security, family separation, and the ways national immigration debates have repeatedly landed on local communities. Moore speaks candidly about the role of local journalism, the responsibility of reporting on your own neighbors, carrying grief, and staying after the cameras leave. August 3, 2019, is part of this story. The conversation places that day within a longer arc, one shaped by language, fear, political power, and the quiet work of people who insist on documenting what really happened and why it matters. This episode examines El Paso not as a symbol but as a city: complex, welcoming, strained, resilient. A place that refuses to be reduced. Caution: This episode includes discussion of mass violence, hate crimes, and immigration-related trauma. No graphic details are described. New episodes follow weekly in January. Join us in creating new intellectual engagement for our audience. You can find more information at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please share the love and leave us a review on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to help more people find us! You can connect with Saadia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@itssaadiak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email:saadia@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host: Mario Carrillo I Producer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor and Borderly Theme Music: Lou Raskin I Other Music: Epidemic Sound Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Want to go deeper into your own identity? Download Belong on Your Own Terms, the app helping first-gen, second-gen, and third-culture kids reclaim belonging on their own terms. link below http://studio.com/saadia Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This coverage was made possible by a grant from URL Collective, a non-profit supporting local diverse media This is Part One of Borderly, a limited series by Immigrantly exploring life on the U.S.–Mexico border through history, memory, and lived experience. Before walls, patrols, or policy debates, there was a river. In this opening episode, host Mario Carrillo returns to El Paso to examine how the border came into existence and what was lost when a line was drawn through land, families, and identity. The episode traces the border’s origins from the Rio Grande as a shared lifeline for Indigenous communities, through colonization, war, and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Mario reflects on growing up crossing the border freely, leaving El Paso, and what it meant to come back. The episode also features historian Yolanda Chávez Leyva, who shares her border story and decades of research on the El Paso–Juárez region. Her work reveals how revolution, migration, labor, and racial hierarchies shaped the area, and how cruelty and generosity have coexisted here for generations. This episode lays the foundation for the series: the border not as a country's edge, but as a place with its own center, history, and meaning. New episodes follow weekly in January. Join us in creating new intellectual engagement for our audience. You can find more information at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please share the love and leave us a review on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to help more people find us! You can connect with Saadia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@itssaadiak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email:saadia@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host: Mario Carrillo I Producer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor and Borderly Theme Music: Lou Raskin I Other Music: Epidemic Sound Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Want to go deeper into your own identity? Download Belong on Your Own Terms, the app helping first-gen, second-gen, and third-culture kids reclaim belonging on their own terms. link below http://studio.com/saadia Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the year comes to a close, Immigrantly host Saadia Khan reflects on belonging, faith, and identity without assimilation. In this solo year-end episode, Saadia shares why she doesn’t celebrate Christmas, having grown up in Pakistan surrounded by nearly three million Christians who do, and how witnessing joy across difference has shaped her understanding of respect, pluralism, and belonging. She reflects on holding on to her Muslim identity on her own terms, without turning it into an assimilation exercise. Saadia also looks back on an unexpected but transformative 2025 for Immigrantly Media: launching the Love-ly relationships podcast with Mehak, producing over 200 episodes across the network, and building an app that emerged organically from her own immigrant experience of self-censorship and identity editing. Looking ahead to 2026 with cautious optimism, she previews what’s next, including Bitefully, a new food podcast with MasterChef winner Claudia Sandoval, and Borderly, a four-part Immigrantly series centered on human stories from the U.S.–Mexico border. This episode is both a reflection and a thank-you to the community that makes Immigrantly possible—and an invitation to end the year by holding on to the parts of ourselves we were once told to edit. Join us in creating new intellectual engagement for our audience. You can find more information at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please share the love and leave us a review on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to help more people find us! You can connect with Saadia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@itssaadiak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email:saadia@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host & Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Immigrantly Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson | Other Music: Epidemic Sound The episode also highlights music by the famous Kashmiri Musician Ghulam Nabi Sheikh and other Kashmiri musicians Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Want to go deeper into your own identity? Download Belong on Your Own Terms, the app helping first-gen, second-gen, and third-culture kids reclaim belonging on their own terms. link below http://studio.com/saadia Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Immigrantly, host Saadia Khan speaks with Kashmiri filmmaker Arfat Sheikh, Director of Saffron Kingdom, about growing up in Kashmir, intergenerational trauma, and the cost of telling stories that are often silenced. Moving beyond the India–Pakistan framing, the conversation centers Kashmiri lived experience, touching on exile, disappearance, diaspora, and why Kashmiri storytelling is always political, even when it’s deeply human. This episode invites listeners to decenter inherited narratives and listen to Kashmir through the voice of someone who has lived it. Join us as we create new intellectual engagement for our audience. You can find more information at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please share the love and leave us a review on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to help more people find us! You can connect with Saadia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@itssaadiak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email:saadia@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host & Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Immigrantly Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson | Other Music: Epidemic Sound The episode also highlights music by the famous Kashmiri Musician Ghulam Nabi Sheikh and other Kashmiri musicians Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Want to go deeper into your own identity? Download Belong on Your Own Terms, the app helping first-gen, second-gen, and third-culture kids reclaim belonging on their own terms. link below http://studio.com/saadia Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Immigrantly is hosted by Saadia Khan—founder of Immigrantly Media, social commentator, entrepreneur, and a proud chronic overthinker on a lifelong mission to bring nuance back to immigrant identity. For over five years, Saadia has led deep, funny, and occasionally chaotic conversations about identity, belonging, culture, and the beautifully complicated ways we make sense of the world. With more than 300 guests on the mic, the show has featured voices like Grammy Award–winning artist Arooj Aftab, comedian Hari Kondabolu, Subway Takes founder Kareem Rahma, psychologist Dr. Laurie Santos, NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and author Khaled Hosseini—to name a few. Immigrantly has been recognized by The Guardian, CNN, and Nieman Storyboard for its thoughtful, human-centered storytelling. If you’re drawn to stories that challenge assumptions, spark laughter, and make you rethink what you thought you knew, this is your space. New episodes drop weekly, every Tuesday! Bring your curiosity and your Chai. And above all—bring your nuance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this powerful conversation, journalist and author Karin Jensen takes us inside the real-life story behind her memoir The Strength of Water. Her mother’s life stretched from a Chinese laundry in 1920s Detroit to a village in wartime China, to navigating racism, domestic work, and reinvention in mid-century America. Karin shares how she pieced together silences, uncovered buried memories, and learned to hold complexity, contradiction, and compassion all at once. If you’ve ever wondered what your parents carried so you could stand where you stand, this one will stay with you long after you listen. Join us as we create new intellectual engagement for our audience. You can find more information at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please share the love and leave us a review on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to help more people find us! You can connect with Saadia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@itssaadiak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email:saadia@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host & Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Immigrantly Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson | Other Music: Epidemic Sound Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Want to go deeper into your own identity? Download Belong on Your Own Terms, the app helping first-gen, second-gen, and third-culture kids reclaim belonging on their own terms. link below http://studio.com/saadia Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this deeply human and sharply funny conversation, Palestinian American comedian Lana Salah joins Saadia in the studio for an unfiltered exploration of comedy, identity, loss, and truth-telling in a world that often prefers silence. Lana, an engineer-turned-comedian whose life spans the Bay Area, the Middle East, and now Los Angeles, breaks down how humor becomes cultural critique, emotional survival, and a form of resistance. From navigating rooms where her Palestinian identity is met with discomfort, to balancing factual vs. emotional truth onstage, to turning the heaviness of genocide, grief, and personal history into art, Lana holds nothing back. Saadia and Lana dive into: How comedy becomes a vessel for truths that policy papers can’t deliver The tension between emotional truth vs. factual truth in stand-up Why Muslim women are not a monolith and never were The cost and power of speaking honestly about Palestine in American comedy spaces How loss, family, and survival shape Lana’s voice onstage Her unexpected journey from engineering to performing at the Comedy Store This episode is raw, tender, political, and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny. It’s a story about belonging, complexity, and what it means to turn pain into purpose without losing your humor along the way. Join us as we create new intellectual engagement for our audience. You can find more information at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please share the love and leave us a review on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to help more people find us! You can connect with Saadia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@itssaadiak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠saadia@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host & Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Immigrantly Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson | Other Music: Epidemic Sound Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Want to go deeper into your own identity? Download Belong on Your Own Terms, the app helping first-gen, second-gen, and third-culture kids reclaim belonging on their own terms. link below http://studio.com/saadia Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thanksgiving is marketed as a serene celebration of gratitude, family, and food, but Saadia’s immigrant household tells a different story. In this extended solo episode, she unpacks the chaos that unfolds when her husband and daughters take over the kitchen, the tradition-defying choice to cook lamb instead of turkey, and the reality of observing the holiday completely sober (which, spoiler: makes everything more intense). Saadia uses her own experiences to reflect on how immigrants reshape American holidays, how gratitude can coexist with frustration, and why acknowledging the messy parts of tradition might actually make them more meaningful. A funny, thoughtful, deeply relatable look at what Thanksgiving really feels like for so many of us. Join us as we create new intellectual engagement for our audience. You can find more information at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Please share the love and leave us a review on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to help more people find us! You can connect with Saadia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@itssaadiak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠saadia@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host & Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor: Lou Raskin I Immigrantly Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson | Other Music: Epidemic Sound Immigrantly Podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, contact us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@immigrantlypod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Want to go deeper into your own identity? Download Belong on Your Own Terms, the app helping first-gen, second-gen, and third-culture kids reclaim belonging on their own terms. link below http://studio.com/saadia Don't forget to subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Immigrantly Uninterrupted⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices