Himal Southasian Podcast Channel

About Himal Southasian Podcast Channel

Podcasts from Himal Southasian – Southasia's magazine of politics and culture, since 1987.

Publisher

Himal Southasian Podcast Channel

Category

news

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

30 Apr 2018

Latest episode

18 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

229 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   18 Sept 2026

   Bobuq Sayed on queer Afghan lives beyond borders: Southasia Review of Books #42

   Two queer Afghan men, each forced away from home by circumstances beyond their control, find themselves in Istanbul, where their paths cross in unexpected ways. The writer, artist and poet Bobuq Sayed’s debut novel, ‘No God But Us’, follows Delbar, an aspiring drag queen who leaves his family in Washington DC after being outed, and Mansur, who has left Tehran and is trying to build a life in Istanbul while supporting the family he left behind. As their lives become increasingly entangled, the novel brings questions of love, family, migration and survival into sharp focus, asking what it means to build a life on your own terms, and what you might be willing to give up for it. It is also about the forces – political and personal – that shape the choices we’re able to make. In this episode of the Southasia Review of Books podcast – a show from Himal featuring conversations with celebrated authors and emerging literary voices from across Southasia – we speak to Bobuq Sayed about ‘No God But Us’, and the questions of borders, belonging, queerness and identity that run through the novel. This episode is now available on Youtube: https://youtu.be/b8J1iOz8SWk ✨ Thank you for listening to the Southasia Review of Books podcast from Himal Southasian. If you enjoyed this episode, please share, subscribe, rate and review the show on your favourite podcast apps.▶️ If you haven’t already, please subscribe to the Himal Southasian YouTube channel and help us spread the word by sharing these conversations widely. ✉️ We’d love to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment on YouTube or write to us at editorial@himalmag.com. 📚 Sign up for the Southasia Review of Books newsletter for a roundup of our latest reviews, essays, interviews and literary news from across Southasia: https://www.himalmag.com/newsletters/ (https://www.himalmag.com/newsletters/) 🙏🏼 If you’d like to support our work, please consider becoming a Himal Patron to help make conversations like this possible and sustain our work throughout the year: https://www.himalmag.com/#/portal (https://www.himalmag.com/#/portal)

2. 

   21 Aug 2026

   Sowmiya Ashok on what Keeladi tells us about India’s past – and present: Southasia Review of Books #41

   In The Dig: Keeladi and the Politics of India’s Past, the Chennai-based journalist Sowmiya Ashok begins with an archaeological excavation in a village outside Madurai in the state of Tamil Nadu and unfolds a much larger story about history, identity, and the struggle over who gets to narrate India’s past. Since its discovery in 2014, Keeladi has become one of India’s most contested archaeological sites, drawing in debates around Tamil identity, language and nationalism. Moving between excavation trenches, museums, literary texts, and conversations with archaeologists, historians, and people across India, the book explores how political battles over science and history shape the way the past is understood in the present, and what the contestations around these sites Keeladi reveal about contemporary India itself. This episode is now available on Youtube: https://youtu.be/PN3pGg5t3qg Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sowmiya-ashok-on-what-keeladi-tells-us-about-indias/id1464880116?i=1000784834408 ✨ Thank you for listening to the Southasia Review of Books podcast from Himal Southasian. If you enjoyed this episode, please share, subscribe, rate and review the show on your favourite podcast apps.▶️ If you haven’t already, please subscribe to the Himal Southasian YouTube channel and help us spread the word by sharing these conversations widely. ✉️ We’d love to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment on YouTube or write to us at editorial@himalmag.com. 📚 Sign up for the Southasia Review of Books newsletter for a roundup of our latest reviews, essays, interviews and literary news from across Southasia: https://www.himalmag.com/newsletters/ (https://www.himalmag.com/newsletters/) 🙏🏼 If you’d like to support our work, please consider becoming a Himal Patron to help make conversations like this possible and sustain our work throughout the year: https://www.himalmag.com/#/portal (https://www.himalmag.com/#/portal)

3. 

   24 Jul 2026

   Mirza Waheed on writing beyond the radicalisation story: Southasia Review of Books #40

   What does it mean to reckon with loss when there are no clear answers? In Maryam & Son, Mirza Waheed explores that question through the story of Maryam Ali, a mother in London whose son disappears and is drawn into a distant conflict in Iraq. As she waits for answers, the novel moves between memory and grief, tracing what happens when the certainties of motherhood begin to unravel and private grief collides with public narratives. Waheed is the author of four acclaimed novels, including The Collaborator, The Book of Gold Leaves and Tell Her Everything. His work has been widely recognised for its explorations of conflict, memory and belonging, particularly in relation to Kashmir. In this episode of the Southasia Review of Books podcast, Waheed discusses his new novel, the language of bureaucracy and surveillance, motherhood, and the ways in which the media transforms deeply personal tragedies into public spectacle. This episode is now available on Youtube: https://youtu.be/kQZ-GZvH1jQ ✨ Thank you for listening to the Southasia Review of Books podcast from Himal Southasian. If you enjoyed this episode, please share, subscribe, rate and review the show on your favourite podcast apps.▶️ If you haven’t already, please subscribe to the Himal Southasian YouTube channel and help us spread the word by sharing these conversations widely. ✉️ We’d love to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment on YouTube or write to us at editorial@himalmag.com. 📚 Sign up for the Southasia Review of Books newsletter for a roundup of our latest reviews, essays, interviews and literary news from across Southasia: https://www.himalmag.com/newsletters/ (https://www.himalmag.com/newsletters/) 🙏🏼 If you’d like to support our work, please consider becoming a Himal Patron to help make conversations like this possible and sustain our work throughout the year: https://www.himalmag.com/#/portal (https://www.himalmag.com/#/portal)

Who has been a guest on Himal Southasian Podcast Channel

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Aman Wadud
• Harsh Mander
• Samina Luthfa
• Shahrukh Alam
• Vauhini Vara

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

338,137

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

6 ratings

Spotify

4.9 / 5

19 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 80 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

91

Social presence

0

YouTube

86

Engagement

85

Contact Himal Southasian Podcast Channel

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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Questions about Himal Southasian Podcast Channel