PODCAST · education
SASSpod
by Center for South Asia
The South Asian Studies at Stanford (SASS) Podcast features conversations between the Center for South Asia at Stanford and guests who have a connection to Stanford as faculty, staff, students, or alumni. The podcasts feature a wide range of topics, ranging from poetry to politics, from manuscript collecting to music, from business to Bollywood. Every podcast consists of an informal and informative conversation about South Asia and its meaning in the world, in our lives, and at Stanford.
Episodes
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Collectives, sustainable agriculture, gender, and indigeneity: a conversation with recently awarded PhD Alexa Russo
Lalita du Perron talks to recently awarded PhD Alexa Russo about collectives, sustainable agriculture, gender, and indigeneity.
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Women’s work, the beauty industry, and gig work in Mumbai
Lalita du Perron talks to Isha Bhallamudi about her research on women gig workers in the informal beauty industry in Mumbai. What are the benefits and downfalls of doing gig work for women? What is the role of AI in managing the apps? Bhallamudi has her PhD from the University of California,...
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The Monster in your Path: The Private Life of Caste in India
Lalita du Perron talks to Sharika Thiranagama about her new book, how she came to this research in Palakkad, Kerala, after her earlier work on war in Sri Lanka, and all matters of caste, class, and identity.
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The Psychic Lives of Statues
Lalita du Perron talks to Rahul Rao about his book The Psychic Lives of Statues: Reckoning with the Rubble of Empire (Pluto Press, 2025), the challenges of keeping one’s writing up-to date in a rapidly changing world, and his recent talk at the Stanford Center for South Asia. Learn about Dr. Rao...
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Data analytics, financial education, and being a Stanford alum!
Lalita du Perron talks to Muskan Shafat ’21 about the ongoing relevance of the Stanford Global Studies/South Asia track Minor, her experiences since graduating from Stanford, and her new company Frontier Labs. Learn more about Muskan Shafat's work and how to get in touch here. Learn about…
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Duniya Dance and Drum, and Ghadar Geet
Lalita du Perron talks to Joti Singh, founder of Duniya Dance and Drum Company about her own experiences dancing while growing up in a Panjabi community in Georgia, starting Duniya Dance and Drum, and the ongoing importance of the message of her production Ghadar Geet. NOTE: There is some noise...
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Kashmir, Northern Ireland, literature, and the law
Lalita du Perron talks to Postdoctoral Fellow Danny Shanahan about his work on literature and emergency law in Northern Ireland and Kashmir, the parallels, differences, and where we find hope. The episode was recorded on January 27th, 2026. Literature to add to your reading lists: Seamus Heaney,...
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The open prison, community, and family in India
Lalita du Perron talks to Trishna Senapaty, Mellon Postdoc and Teaching Fellow in the Crime, Law and Justice Studies Program at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington, about her work in open prisons in North India, and how communities are built in and around them.
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The Ustad Mahwash Archive at Stanford Libraries
Lalita du Perron talks to Afghan historian Mejgan Massoumi (PhD, Stanford, now at Carnegie Mellon University) and South Asia bibliographer Ryan Perkins about the incredible Ustad Mahwash archive, recently acquired by Stanford Libraries. They discuss the ongoing relevance of Ustad Mahwash’s…
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Law, science, technology, and AI
Lalita du Perron talks to Stanford Law student Archit Lohani about his work on digital rights, transparency in technology governance, and the ramifications of Artificial intelligence.
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Moorings: Indian Ocean voyages, labor, and fieldwork
Lalita du Perron talks to Nidhi Mahajan, Associate Professor of Anthropology at UC-Santa Cruz about her new book Moorings: Voyages of Capital across the Indian Ocean, the way her fieldwork interviews shaped her project, and the arduous process of turning a PhD into a monograph.
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From pre-doc to start-up: hard work, serendipity, and potential
Lalita du Perron talks to Daniel Praburaj, former pre-doctoral fellow at the Stanford King Center on Global Development about his journey to Stanford (spoiler: it did not involve an IIT) and his plans for the future. Lalita and Daniel are joined at the start of the podcast by the meows of…
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Finance, debt, and artistic entrepreneurship
Lalita du Perron talks to Shanthi Senthe of the University of Windsor Law School about her former life as a corporate lawyer, her current life as a scholar of law and business, and her experiences doing fieldwork in Sri Lanka.
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Technological transformations and job losses in the textile mills of Mumbai
Lalita du Perron welcomes Sumeet Mhaskar to discuss his Fulbright Fellowship in the Department of Anthropology at Stanford and his book project on the changing job landscape in the textile mills of Mumbai.
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Dance, consent, and nostalgia as method
Lalita du Perron welcomes scholar and dancer Preethi Ramaprasad to talk about their joint work on consent and dance, and Ramaprasad’s upcoming performed and curated art shows. As You Are - Sept, 12-14, BAMHouse, Oakland, tickets here When Eyes Speak Oct 11-12, Joe Goode Annex, tickets here
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Identity, Empire, and the Revolution
Lalita du Perron talks to Amrit Deol of Fresno State University about her project on the Ghaddar party and Sikh diasporic history, and her future work on life in the borderlands.
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Part 2 - Wisdom, kindness, and designing your life
Lalita du Perron talks to Stanford Life Design Fellow Deepak Ramola in this 2-part episode, about what it means to be a wisdom historian, an artist, and a writer, while we try to figure out why grandmothers are always so wise! Over the last 15 years, Deepak has worked at the intersection of…
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Part 1 - Wisdom, kindness, and designing your life
Lalita du Perron talks to Stanford Life Design Fellow Deepak Ramola in this 2-part episode, about what it means to be a wisdom historian, an artist, and a writer, while we try to figure out why grandmothers are always so wise! Over the last 15 years, Deepak has worked at the intersection of…
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Dance and Healthy Aging
Lalita du Perron talks to Vidyani Suryadevara of the Stanford School of Medicine on her work on healthy aging, the benefits of dance, and the Stanford Heritage Dance Series. Read the Stanford Report article on the transformative power of dance in health.
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Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan
Guest host Anuradha Bhasin talks to Halima Kazem about her work on gender apartheid in Afghanistan and her role in the Stanford Program in Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Follow Halima on X at @halimakazem.
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Shandana Waheed on Rawalpindi, the politics of heritage, and hostile histories
Lalita du Perron talks to Shandana Waheed, Doctoral Student in the Department of Anthropology and the Archaeology Center at Stanford, about her work in Rawalpindi, the politics of heritage, and the concept of hostile histories.
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Mental Health in the South Asian community and beyond
Lalita du Perron talks to psychiatrist Apurva Bhatt about her Stanford clinic, meeting the needs of adolescents and children with mental health challenges, and attitudes towards mental health in the South Asian community. Intro and outro: Roslyn by Rishab Rikhiram Sharma, creator of Sitar for...
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Journalism in the Time of Authoritarianism and Big Tech
Lalita du Perron talks to Arfa Khanum Sherwani about her JS Knight Journalism Fellowship at Stanford and her long-standing work with the Indian independent news outlet The Wire (thewire.in).
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The anti-blasphemy movement in Pakistan
Lalita du Perron talks to Stanford Anthropology PhD student Saad Lakhani about his work on the Tehreek-e Labaik Pakistan (TLP), also known as the anti-blasphemy movement.
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Kalpana Desai and SACHI
Lalita du Perron welcomes Kalpana Desai, President of the Society for Arts and Cultural Heritage of India to talk about the history and evolution of SACHI and an upcoming event at Stanford about the novel Wave.
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History and Context of Student Protests in Bangladesh – with Stanford Students Zarif and Arwa
Lalita du Perron talks to CSA-Markaz fellow Zarif Ahsan and Abbasi-Markaz fellow Arwa Faruk, who both identify as Bangladeshi-American, about recent events in Bangladesh.
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SALA part 2: the 2024 festival, Sept 28-29
Lalita du Perron talks to Mayuranki Almaula and Kiran Malhotra about the speakers, artists, scholars, and poets who will be joining us for the South Asian Literature and Arts festival this year. Get your tickets here and check out this year's program @salafestival.org. Hosted by the Center for...
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Indo Pak Dosti Forum: Luv and Aimen
Stanford undergrads and best friends Luv and Aimen describe their vision for the student-led Indo-Pak Dosti Forum. Get in touch with Luv and Aimen @ [email protected], [email protected] , or through the Indo-Pak Dosti Forum email @ [email protected].
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South Asian Literature and Arts Festival with Ambika Sahay
Lalita du Perron talks to Ambika Sahay of Artforum SF about the origin and importance of the South Asian Literature and Arts Festival (SALA), which will be cohosted by the Stanford Center for South Asia at the end of September 2024. Social media: @artforumsf Website
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Women’s education in Afghanistan
Lalita du Perron talks to Pashtana Durrani, Executive Director of LearnAfghan.org and visiting fellow at the Wellesley Centers for Women about her journey into advocacy and activism and the role of US higher education institutions in addressing the educational needs of Afghan women and girls.
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Ambika Vishwanath of Kubernein Initiative
Lalita du Perron talks to Ambika Vishwanath, Co-Founder and Director of the Kubernein Initiative, an independent, female led, geopolitical advisory firm based in India, about her vision, her projects on water security, and her recent visit to Stanford.
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On being Hindu, a multi-faith chaplain, and taking care of oneself and others
Lalita du Perron talks to Ken Kula Pradipa Lee about his multi-faith multi-ethnic background, his journey into Hinduism, and his work as the Faith and Flourish multi-faith and Hindu chaplain at Stanford. Check out the Office for Religious and Spiritual Life at Stanford here.
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Paternalistic discrimination and gender inequality
Lalita du Perron talks to Nina Buchmann, PhD candidate in Economics, about her journey from Frankfurt (“only known for its airport”) to Stanford, her childhood fascination with South Asia, and her work on gender norms and human trafficking.
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Gender norms, women’s work, and digital jobs
Lalita du Perron talks to Suhani Jalota, PhD candidate at Stanford, about her life as a social entrepreneur, her time at Stanford as an economist studying labor, and her work with the Myna Mahila Foundation in Mumbai.
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Cooperatives, Caste, and Political Economy in Maharashtra
Lalita du Perron talks to Stanford Anthropology PhD candidate Shantanu Nevrekar about his work on cooperatives in Maharashtra, the role caste plays in cooperative membership, and his recent fieldwork trip to India.
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Noopur, Raagapella, and Bhangra: meet the student groups!
Lalita du Perron talks to Anusha Dwarkanath, Aakriti Lakshmanan, and Josh Singh, about the student groups they run. Find out about the origin, motivations, and activities of these groups in this fun and busy episode! Follow them on Instagram: @stanfordnoopur @stanfordbhangra @stanfordraagapella
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Care, Kinship, & Cognitive Disability in India
Lalita du Perron talks to Paras Arora, PhD Candidate at the Department of Anthropology at Stanford University, about their work on people with cognitive disabilities in India, what care and kinship look like, and the value and importance of art in their ethnographic work.
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Habib University and the importance of liberal arts education
Lalita du Perron talks to Wasif Rizvi, President of Habib University, Pakistan about the state of higher education in the US and Pakistan, and the global importance of liberal arts studies. Because this podcast episode was recorded live, the sound is not our usual high standard. Please bear with…
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Home in the Field in Rajasthan
Shubhangni Gupta talks about her study of heritage and the havelis in Shekhawati, Rajasthan, and her experience of doing fieldwork in a place that is home - and also not home. Follow Shubhangni and her fieldwork notes on Instagram @shubhangnigupta.
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Environmental history and temporality in South Asia
Lalita du Perron talks to Eduardo Acosta (Mellon Fellow at Stanford History) about his PhD from the University of Chicago, the colonial preoccupation to control rivers, climate change, and how time is in fact a cultural construct.
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Periyar: authority, caste, and women’s rights
Lalita du Perron welcomes Karthick Ram Manoharan to discuss his latest book Periyar: a study in political atheism (Orient Black Swan, 2022) and his new research while a visiting fellow at the Stanford Humanities Center. Apologies for occasional sound issues.
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Transnational Tibetan Buddhism, Performing Identity, and the 84,000 Project
Lalita du Perron talks to Ana Cristina Lopes about her work on transnational Tibetan Buddhism, her book Tibetan Buddhism in Diaspora, and her new work on the 84,000 project, whose mission is to translate all of the Buddha’s words into modern languages, and provide open and free access to over...
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Robert Rakove, Days of Opportunity: The United States and Afghanistan before the Soviet Invasion
Lalita du Perron welcomes Robert Rakove from International Relations at Stanford to talk about his new book Days of Opportunity: The United States and Afghanistan before the Soviet Invasion. Book link: http://cup.columbia.edu/book/days-of-opportunity/9780231210454
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Gowri Shankar, Protecting King Cobras
Lalita du Perron talks to Gowri Shankar of https://www.kalingafoundation.org/ about his work on the King Cobra, how being bitten by a snake sparked his PhD research, and how to keep ourselves and animals safe.
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Rabia Saeed: The power of writing, serendipity, and luck
Lalita du Perron talks to Rabia Saeed, current Wallace Stegner Fellow in Creative Writing, about her journey from Kohat, Pakistan, to Stanford and beyond. Links to her stories: https://theseventhwave.org/rabia-saeed/ https://www.litromagazine.com/usa/2021/03/jfk-by-rabia-saeed/
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Isabel Salovaara, Tuition and coaching in Patna
Lalita du Perron talks to Isabel Salovaara, Ph.D. student in Anthropology at Stanford University, about her research project on the tuition and coaching industry in India, and her fieldwork in Patna in particular.
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Aidan Milliff, How people respond to violence
Lalita du Perron talks to Aidan Milliff, Postdoctoral Fellow in Contemporary Asia, Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC), about the choices people make when faced with state or community violence, what it means to be a political scientist, and the excellent community of South Asia...
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Shripad “Tulja” Tuljapurkar, Travels and the chili pepper
Lalita du Perron talks to Shripad “Tulja” Tuljapurkar, Professor of Biology at Stanford, about his work on demographics, his love of food, and his undergraduate class on the chili pepper.
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Gulika Reddy, Teaching as Advocacy
Lalita du Perron talks to Gulika Reddy, Assistant Professor in the Stanford Law School and Director of the International Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Clinic, about her work as a lawyer, teacher, organizer, and activist, and the NGO she started, Schools of Equality.
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Elspeth Iralu, Indigenous Mapping and Identity
Lalita du Perron talks to Elspeth Iralu, 2022-23 Mellon Fellow at the Stanford Humanities Center, about her work on Indigenous mapping, Indigeneity, surveillance, and her identity as Angami Naga.
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
The South Asian Studies at Stanford (SASS) Podcast features conversations between the Center for South Asia at Stanford and guests who have a connection to Stanford as faculty, staff, students, or alumni. The podcasts feature a wide range of topics, ranging from poetry to politics, from manuscript collecting to music, from business to Bollywood. Every podcast consists of an informal and informative conversation about South Asia and its meaning in the world, in our lives, and at Stanford.
HOSTED BY
Center for South Asia
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does SASSpod have?
SASSpod currently has 106 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is SASSpod about?
The South Asian Studies at Stanford (SASS) Podcast features conversations between the Center for South Asia at Stanford and guests who have a connection to Stanford as faculty, staff, students, or alumni. The podcasts feature a wide range of topics, ranging from poetry to politics, from manuscript...
How often does SASSpod release new episodes?
SASSpod publishes regularly with 106 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to SASSpod?
You can listen to SASSpod on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts SASSpod?
SASSpod is created and hosted by Center for South Asia.
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