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A podcast by Nidhi Shastri

Welcome to the home of model minorities.

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Tune-in:

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Model Minority: Uniquely American kicked off Season 2 with Young the Giant! 

 January 2023

Model Minority is proud to be recognized as an award-winning, independent journalistic podcast. 

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With over 4K downloads and an audience in over 10 different countries, Model Minority U.A. has been used as educational material in schools and built a community all around the world.

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My name is Nidhi Shastri, and I’ve created a podcast to break down the model minority myth and shed a light on stories from the Asian, African and Middle Eastern diasporas. In an effort to break down biases and shake up our views, I'm discussing poverty, race, education, sexuality, and more in our communities.

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Hiding who we are and displaying who we are "supposed" to be, has often been a survival tactic for model minorities in America. Many of us feel the need to conform and stand on the painfully constricting pedestal that the model minority myth has reduced us to.

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Tune into our long-form narrative episodes to understand specific topics in our communities, and our bite-size Immigrant Tales series to hear stories of adversity and immigration from the community members themselves. 

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Shukriya, and thank you for being here. I’m glad to have you. And welcome to Model Minority… Uniquely American.

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Uplifting voices & sharing stories as diverse and beautiful as our people.

- N. S.

Ep 6 - Reframing the Rāga w/ Tushar Lall and the Indian Jam Project
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Ep 6 - Reframing the Rāga w/ Tushar Lall and the Indian Jam Project

In 2014, Tushar Lall banded with two friends and released a cover of the "Game of Thrones" theme song on YouTube. He did so with a twist; he arranged the piece using his knowledge of Indian classical instruments, featuring tablas (South Asia hand drums) and a bansuri (a South Asian wooden flute) to supplement his keyboard part. 353K YouTube subscribers and over 20 musical covers later, Tushar has been named one of the "Forbes Top 100 Celebrities" of India. He joins us today on Model Minority U.A. to tell us his story, how it all started at The Indian Jam Project, and the value of Indian Classical Instruments. Check out Tushar's work here. If you liked this episode, be sure to follow both Model Minority and Tushar Lall on Instagram! My Patreon: www.patreon.com/modelminority
Ep 8 - One Jump Ahead of the Punchline
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Ep 8 - One Jump Ahead of the Punchline

Media. Film. TV Representation. For the model minority community, where do WE fit in? Model Minorities in media is an issue of more than just “not enough representation.” For some of us, it’s about bad representation too. It’s about how our countries are depicted, how we are seen in society, and the duality it causes between who we are construed to be, and what we really are. And, it seems we’ve always ended up, just one jump ahead of the punchline, or sometimes, as the punchline itself. I’m Nidhi Shastri and this is Model Minority, Uniquely American. In this episode, we discuss the issue of media representation with the case study of Apu and Disney Channel's usage of Desi characters. We look at how East Asians are often equated to whiteness in films such as "Get Out." We also examine cultural appropriation in the context of Japanese culture and anime, and then talk about the "yellow filter" placed on African, South Asian, and Southeast Asian countries. "Aladdin" by thecmn is marked with CC PDM 1.0
Ep7: In Sickness and in Wealth - Model Minority: Uniquely American
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Ep7: In Sickness and in Wealth - Model Minority: Uniquely American

COVID-19 spread quickly, but not as quick as the racial discrimination Asians have faced with its arrival. In addition to this, the wealthiest nation in the world — the U.S. — has seen its healthcare system crumble under the demands caused by COVID-19, leading more Americans to speak up about how long the nation has been living in sickness even before the pandemic. In this episode, first, we uncover some stats and hear some stories from people who were affected by the anti-Asian rhetoric plaguing the country. Then, we speak with some medical professionals about how the U.S. Healthcare system is broken, how the cost of that falls on Asians and other minorities, and what it will take to fix it for all of us. Cover art for this episode is Healthcare" by Wolfman-K is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
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features.

Some pieces from Model Minority Season 1: 

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Check here for more information and links to some of the guests featured on the first season of M.M.U.A
 
Listen to Season 1 now at anchor.fm/nidhi-shastri

The M.M. Book List:

A growing compilation of pieces written by our guests and sources Nidhi uses in the show! (Click the image for a link to the book or piece!) 

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The Paper Kingdom

Helena Ku Rhee

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The All-American

Andrew Kung

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Desis Divided

Sangay Mishra

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The Association of Small Bombs

Karan Mahajan

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The Two Asian Americas

Karan Mahajan,

The New Yorker

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Unequal Consequences 

SAALT Non-profit

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The Two Asian Americas

Karan Mahajan,

The New Yorker

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Unequal Consequences 

SAALT Non-profit

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Speaking Engagements/Other Inquires? Shoot me an email! 

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Hey everyone! My name is Nidhi Shastri. I was raised near Chicago, IL. I identify as a Gujarati woman, and have worked in government, non-profits, and universities. I'm so glad to have you here! :] Shukriya for your support!

 

Model Minority: Uniquely American would not be possible without the work of various musicians and artists who lend their talents to the creative commons.

 

Below is an ever-growing list of all the artists and songs used in episodes:

  •  Backwaters -- Airtone (ft. Javolenus)

  • CommonGround -- Airtone

  • DisEnchantment -- Airtone

  • Midwinter -- Airtone (ft. OnlyMeith)

  • Nightrain -- Airtone

  • NoodleSoup -- Airtone (ft. Javolenus)

  • QuarkXpress -- Airtone

  • ReCreation -- Airtone

  • ReNovation -- Airtone

  • WuChi -- Airtone

  • Corona Fears -- ApoXode (ft. Doxent Zsigmond, alexjc916, Martijn de Boer, Javolenus, reiswerk, Jeris, Stefan Kartenberg, CSoul)

  • Kaaistoep -- Doxent (ft. Javolenus, Speck, Martijn de Boer)

  • Reverie (small theme) -- _ghost (ft. Pitx)

  • Anuzzer Reprise  -- Javolenus

  • Americanos -- Martijn de Boer (ft. Javolenus)

  • Blues for Jan -- Martijn de Boer (ft. Javolenus)

  • Light -- OnlyMeith (ft. airtone)

  • Open -- Reiswerk (ft. Leza Boyland)

  • Mr Sun -- Robbero

  • Until Dry Summertime -- Septahelix (ft. Leza Boyland, Lemoneight, JeffSpeed68, reiswerk)

  • Take The Mushroom And Run -- Septahelix

  • Café connection -- MorganTj (ft. Morusque) *This is our sign-on music*

    • Scratch_Beat09 -- BeatMachine (ft. jeff speed) *This is our sign-off music*

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To the artists -- Thank you!! - N.S. 

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 Model Minority: Uniquely American | 2020

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