Centering women—and more than just peoples' suffering—in stories

What do we lose as a society when we only experience a person, a group of people, or an entire culture through their pain or losses—not their joys, successes, or humor?Alli Frank and Asha Youmans are multi-published authors, novelists, and former educators who use humor, joy, and compassion to write stories that encourage candid conversations about issues such as race, religion, culture, class, privilege, parenting, and education. Alli and Asha found "literary soulmates" in each other after working together as a teacher and a school administrator in Seattle, Washington. That’s when they discovered their shared mission as educators and as authors.Alli, who is white and Jewish, and Asha, who is Black and Baptist, bring their very different cultural backgrounds and perspectives together to write in one seamless, cohesive voice, united in their belief that humor and fiction can inspire empathy and learning, and that exposure to diverse experiences can only enrich one’s life. Their latest novel, The Better Half, was named an Entertainment Weekly Best Book of Summer, and an AARP Hot Summer Read in 2023. It is published by comedian, actor, and producer Mindy Kaling's publishing imprint under Amazon, Mindy’s Book Studio.How Mindy Kaling fell in love with Alli's and Asha's women-centered storiesThe importance of telling peoples' stories through more than their suffering and strugglesHow joy, wit, and humor can open people up to being more receptive to unfamiliar cultural experiences or identitiesWant to get in touch? Leave us a voicemail!Support our partners and affiliates for exclusive discounts:Fathom Analytics: Get beautiful, secure website data without trading your customers’ private browsing data to Google and FacebookFlywheel: Seamless WordPress website hosting on US-based serversHover: Register domains with ease. Save $2 on your first purchaseMailerLite: A powerful, affordable email marketing platform with premium plans starting at just $9/mo.Sanebox: Take back your inbox with machine learning to automatically organize your emails. Save $5 when you join.Trint: Turn recordings of meetings, calls, and interviews into transcripts with 99% accuracy.Affiliate Disclosure: Our show is listener supported through affiliate and partner links. By clicking one of the above links and registering or making a purchase, we may earn a small commission, which helps pay for the costs of our show. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.