Tune in: five podcasts hosted by women everybody should listen to

Indian women are driving conversations as more people are tuning in to the podcast trend. Thanks to mobile technology, the art of storytelling is taking many forms.

Making the best of opportunities, women are promoting body positivity, documenting personal experiences of living among different cultures across the world, bringing a feminist take in everyday life events to enabling equality, they are making sure their voices are heard.

Here are five podcasts led by women who are educating and entertaining us through some brilliant podcasts. 

Chuski Pop

Chuski Pop is celebrated for representing just what desi feminism looks like. Six seasons in, its creators nicknamed as Sweety and Pappu  are “two desi chicks riding the fourth wave of feminism in our salwar kameez and golden heels, while flipping birds to aunties.”

From news to pop culture stories, they discuss all things woke and also mental health, politics, Netflix shows like Indian Matchmaking, internet events, and the women equation. Their Instagram page is a vault of artwork taking a dig at misogynist undertones of the 70s, 80s, and 90s Bollywood. 

Fat.So?

Pallavi Nath and Ameya Nagarajan’s podcast Fat.So?, started in 2019 is one of the many voices educating people on body positivity by sharing their views and experiences as plus-sized women in India.

They first met at a women-only event in Delhi, Gather Around Sisters and struck an instant friendship. On their podcast, they hold honest and witty discussions on societal norms, working hard at self-love, failing at weight loss, loneliness, food, love and sex. 

They feel that by simply talking about their experiences, they can have a huge impact and help other women on their journey of acceptance, and overcome body image issues.

And rightly so! Today they receive messages from women, both young and old across India saying they feel seen and heard after years. 

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Culture Chaos

A Mumbaikar through and through, Isha Soni is the host and producer of the podcast Culture Chaos. She believes the title rings true about her state of mind ever since she went abroad to pursue further studies five years ago. 

Isha holds a master’s in Sociology from the university of Mumbai and journalism from Columbia University in New York.

Started in September 2017, on the podcast, Isha talks about her immigrant experience, from brain drain and student life to domestic violence, celebrating Indian festivals abroad, stories around the  pressure cooker, racism and more. 

In her own words, the podcast documents her “confusions and the stories that arise from this chaos while I try to hold on to my culture, identity and life as I know it”.

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The Vision-Nari podcast

All of us can do with some inspirational stories of people who have made it big. An avid podcast listener, Swati Rawat was on the lookout for stories of Indian women achievers and could not find one. This led her to start The Vision-Nari podcast in June 2019. 

Swati hosts visionary Indian women leaders, entrepreneurs, artists, and learns about their life and aspirations, and journeys. 

Maed in India

Maed In India is a flagship show by a podcast production company of the same name. The first indie music podcast for Indian musicians around the world, the platform features interviews with artists and acoustic renditions of their original work. Over the years, it has also become an archive of unreleased music.

In 2015, Mae Mariyam Thomas started the show and has since then invited artists from across different genres of music - hip hop, blues, soul, to folk, punk, rock, and more.

Three years later, she took the entrepreneurial plunge and developed it into a podcast production and consultancy startup, providing end-to-end solutions to create audio shows. Some of its podcasts include NoSugarCoat by celebrity chef, author, and entrepreneur Pooja Dhingra and Is Romance Dead? hosted by comedian Kaneez Surka.