That's So Hindu

In this episode Mat McDermott speaks with Raja Choudury, director of the film America’s First Guru, streaming now on PBS, which tells the story of Swami Vivekananda’s first trip to the United States and the effect it has continued to have more than a century later. WATCH: America's First Guru on PBS

In this episode in the Hindu At Heart series, Indu Viswanathan speaks with Sneha Rao about her journey from the aviation industry to studying Hinduism, yoga, and Hinduphobia, and starting the Hindu Decoloniality group on Facebook.

In this episode we speak with Shawn Binda, creator of the Hindu Lifestyle YouTube channel. We discuss his inspiration for starting the channel, his take on contemporary Hindu issues from his Indo-Caribbean Canadian perspective, and much more. Watch: Hindu Lifestyle

In this episode we have a moderated discussion about yoga, colonialism, attitudes about yoga that are coming out of the DEI space. Taking part in this discussion are HAF’s Vijay Satnarine and scholar Shyam Ranganathan, with Mat McDermott moderating.Read more about Shyam Ranganathan https://www.yogaphilosophy.com/bioShyam’s latest book: Yoga-Anticolonial Philosophy 

In this episode Samir Kalra speaks with Benjamin Baird from MEF Action on his new reporting detailing the financial ties between NYC Mayor Eric Adams and the Islamist political party PTI, founded by former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, including the funding Mayor Adams has received from PTI affiliated groups registered as foreign agents in the United States. 

In this episode Suhag Shukla interviews author Nandini Patwardhan about her book Radical Spirits: India’s First Woman Doctor and her American Champions, a biography of Anandi-bai Joshee, who in 1883 as an 18-year old left Calcutta for the United States to study medicine, and who went on to become India’s first woman to earn a medical degree from an American college.

For this episode Mat McDermott has a conversation with Sandy Rao, Dr Vishnu Bisram, and Dr Indrani Ramprasad about the Indo-Carribean Hindu community, the lack of representation of the Caribbean Hindu diaspora in New York City school textbooks, the current situation for Hindus in Guyana and Trinidad, and more. Resources mentioned in this episode:Viriah, Krishna GubliMaking Children Hinduphobic: A Critical Review of McGraw Hill’s World History Textbooks, Kundan Singh, Krishna MaheshwariSanatana Dharma and Plantation Hinduism: Exploration and Reflections of an Indian Guyanese Hindu, Ramesh GampatModern World History HMH Social Studies 2018 — used in John Adams High School Queens NYAmerican History HMH Social Studies 2018 — used in John Adams High School Queens NYFred Stella goes to Guyana, hears that Hindu gods are demons

In this episode, Sheetal Shah speaks with Australian filmmaker Ravi Chand about his latest project, Namaste Yoga. Learn more about Ravi here: Warrior Tribe Films