Shows
Wonks and War RoomsSeason 6 Episode 10: AI and Democracy with Seher ShafiqThis week Elizabeth talks with Seher Shafiq, a program manager at the Mozilla Foundation and expert in civic engagement, particularly in the context of elections and engaging marginalized people in the vote. They discuss how AI is impacting Canadian elections, civic engagement, and democracy. They look at helpful and not so helpful uses of AI tools in elections and chat about ways these tools could be used to increase voter engagement. Seher concludes the episode with suggestions for how we can deal with the lack of trust in AI, including an emphasis on digital literacy. Side note: W...
2024-04-1033 min
The Second GenerationRomana Kassam on art, music and storytelling in the time of COVID-19While Romana made art her whole entire life, she didn’t make art her career until relatively recently. Romana shares that in her experience, arts and creativity weren’t always encouraged in South Asian households. Even as kids, art was something you did after you finished your math homework. So, she never thought of art as anything outside of a hobby for the longest time, until recently.
Romana’s journey to a career as a storyteller and artist was not a linear one. After completing an English degree in university, Romana first worked in the corporate world for al...
2020-07-2328 min
The Second GenerationPaul Nazareth on family expectations, the gift of failure, and mentorshipIn this episode, Paul and I talk about the day-to-day realities of COVID lockdown, and how quarantine has been impacting all of us. We talk a bit about Paul’s work in philanthropy, and how Paul got to where he is now in his career. Paul is currently the Vice President of the Canadian Association of Gift Planners, and sits on several charity boards and advisory groups.
Paul grew up in an immigrant household and like many, felt the pressure to have a high paying career. In this episode, Paul shares how the best thing that happened to...
2020-04-2632 min
The Second GenerationThe Lost Heer: Documenting the lost women of colonial PunjabWow the world has changed a LOT since my last episode which was a few months ago. Its changed even in the past few days.
Moving forward, I’m going to pivot to focus on stories that we don’t see on the news. There are so many stories to capture during this historic time, and I hope this podcast will be a place to document them. I’ll feature stories of what quarantine looks like for different families and households. I’ll also be looking to talk about how communities are coming together to address the crisis w...
2020-04-1636 min
The Second Generation1987 in Edmonton, Alberta – Where My Mother’s Canadian Immigration Story BeganIn the late 1980s, my mom arrived to Canada as a single, Pakistani female international student to do her PhD at the University of Alberta.
During this time, a white Albertan mother (Corrine) and daughter (Kathy) housed my mother for two years, without paying a penny or expecting anything in return. This year, I went back to Edmonton for work, and decided to stay with Corrine, who is now in her mid-late 80s. Corrine still lives in the house my mom lived in as a student, and almost everything is exactly the same still – from the stove, to the fridge, to...
2019-12-0334 min
The Second GenerationThe Muslim Tinder...MINDER! (Plus Other Online Dating Tales)Online dating has become THE way to meet people, and along with that trend, many new apps have been developed to target niche demographics. I learned last year that there is basically a Muslim version of Tinder….and it’s called Minder. I was hanging out with a friend a little while ago and she was telling me about the dates she’s gone on through Minder and other apps like MuzMatch. I was in hysterics from laughing, and we decided to do a podcast episode sharing all of her hilarious dating stories. From the guy who wore the same outfit...
2019-07-1925 min
The Second GenerationAdil, India and Ancestors
This episode is an interview with my friend Adil Dhalla, who decided to visit India for the first time in his mid-30s, to learn more about his ancestry.
200 years ago, Adil’s ancestors left India (Gujrat), and went to Tanzania. About 50 years ago, they immigrated to Canada. Adil grew up here in Toronto, when asked where he’s from, Adil would always either say Canadian or Tanzanian. He never identified as Indian, despite a lineage of Indian ancestors.
After 6 years of working at the Centre for Social Innovation, including as the Executive Director...
2019-07-1347 min
The Second GenerationRitu Bhasin, award-winning life coach, speaker and authenticity advocateIn this episode, I sit down with Ritu Bhasin, a renowned diversity, inclusion and empowerment speaker, author, consultant, coach, strategist. Ritu and I talk about what drives her to do the work she does.
We start off the conversation about how the 1960s and 1970s saw a new wave of immigration to Canada, and how Ritu’s upbringing in Toronto and Unionville was shaped by the race-based bullying she experienced. Ritu shares stories of social isolation and feeling like an outsider growing up in Unionville, and how the intersection of race and class identity impacted her social acc...
2019-06-0527 min
The Second GenerationHow Samra Zafar, author of "A Good Wife", escaped her abusive marriageThis episode is an exclusive interview with Samra Zafar, author of A Good Wife, which has been a bestseller since the week it launched, receiving accolades from around the world.
In this special hour-long interview, Samra and I talk about how she left her abusive marriage, and discuss the difficult but cathartic process of writing A Good Wife. We spend a considerable amount of time discussing cultural stigma against divorce in the Pakistani community, Samra's current work in speaking up against abuse, and what’s next on the horizon for her. Samra also tells me how she chose the title and c...
2019-05-181h 08
The Second GenerationThe Story Behind Thorncliffe Park’s Jewel - Iqbal Halal FoodsThis episode focuses on Iqbal Halal Foods, a South Asian grocery store in Thorncliffe Park neighbourhood.
Thorncliffe Park is a neighborhood where almost 80% of the population is racialized (aka visible minority), and nearly three quarters of the population report English is NOT their mother tongue. The most common languages in the neighborhood are Urdu and Gujrati. The neighborhood is home to some of the best restaurant in Toronto in my humble opinion –Fayley’s, Hakka Garden, Bamiyan Kabob, and Kandahar Kabob to name a few. Along with East York Town Center, the local mosque, and now the Costco, a landmark of t...
2019-05-0639 min
The Second GenerationPracticing spirituality in a big and busy city: A journey to SufismThis episode touches on a topic that is often considered politically incorrect or awkward to discuss – religion and spirituality. In this episode, I wanted to explore Sufism – a side of Islam that is very different from the version of Islam often presented in mainstream media. Sufism is a philosophy and Islamic practice which is focused on inclusiveness, love-based faith, and looking within.
In the first part of the episode, I share my own experience learning about Islam as a child in Sunday School in a Scarborough and Vaughan mosque, and how in my early 20s I started exploring concepts of Sufi...
2019-05-0353 min
The Second GenerationLGBTQ+ Conversations in the South Asian CommunityIn this episode, I sit down with Hazel Hunter, a young South Asian woman of Indian background. We met in my apartment and had a conversation about her experience of coming out to her Indian parents as a lesbian in her early 20s. In this episode, Hazel describes how she came out to her parents and how the dynamic between her and her parents has changed over the years. Hazel also talks about finding (and creating!) LGBTQ+ spaces for South Asians and allies in Toronto. Last but not least, we touch on themes around mental health, and Hazel shares...
2019-02-1932 min
The Second GenerationThe Gentrification of Toronto's "Little India" Neighbourhood
This episode is about the gentrification of what used to be Little India, or Gerrard India Bazaar in Toronto.
I share my experiences growing up in Toronto in the 1990s and 2000s, and how Gerrard India Bazaar was a central meeting space. The area was a dynamic, bustling enclave of shops that catered to South Asian immigrants living in Toronto, including the very first Bollywood theatre in all of North America – the Naaz Theatre. This neighbourhood was a central meeting space for South Asian immigrants who were craving a piece of home in a...
2019-02-0628 min
The Second GenerationLanguage - Reconnecting With My Roots Through My Mother Tongue (Urdu)
This is a story about how my first language was Urdu, and how I learned English as a 3 and a half year old…It’s also a story about how teaching me English backfired a little, and how my parents forced me to retain the ability to speak Urdu.
While growing up I resented getting in trouble for something as silly as not speaking Urdu at home, this relatively minor effort that my parents made gave me a gift that allows me to access a whole other world.
2019-02-0513 min
The Second GenerationPodcast Description and Introduction - The Second GenerationPodcast description!
2019-02-0500 min