Immigrantly
Saadia Khan | Immigrantly Media
Join Saadia Khan on Immigrantly, the award-winning podcast that dives deep into immigrant narratives and the messy beauty of identity, race, and belonging in America today. Each week, Saadia, a human rights activist, social entrepreneur, and proud cat mom, hosts unfiltered conversations with diverse voices: artists, academics, cultural disruptors, and everyday people with extraordinary cultural stories.At Immigrantly, we go beyond surface-level diversity to explore how culture, immigration, and inclusion shape real lives. We believe identity is powerful, but when unchecked, it can become an ego trap. That’s why every episode unpacks the nuance, humor, and contradictions of what it means to belong.Inclusive storytelling. Immigrant perspectives. Real talk—never flattened.To join this fun, thoughtful, and inclusive community, subscribe!
Producer & Host: Saadia Khan
Editorial Review: Shei Yu
Content Writers: Michaela Strauther, Bobak Afshari, Rainier Harris, Adiba Hussain & Saadia Khan
Sound Design & Content Editor: Haziq Ahmad Farid, Paroma Chakravarty, Steve Martin, Lou Raskin
Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson
Other Music: Epidemic Sound
Follow us on IG @immigrantlypodsTwitter @Immigrantly_podTikTok @ImmigrantlyYouTube: @immigrantlypodsSubscribe to our PatreonImmigrantly podcast is an Immigrantly Media production.For advertising inquiries, please email at info@immigrantlypod.com
Producer & Host: Saadia Khan
Editorial Review: Shei Yu
Content Writers: Michaela Strauther, Bobak Afshari, Rainier Harris, Adiba Hussain & Saadia Khan
Sound Design & Content Editor: Haziq Ahmad Farid, Paroma Chakravarty, Steve Martin, Lou Raskin
Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson
Other Music: Epidemic Sound
Follow us on IG @immigrantlypodsTwitter @Immigrantly_podTikTok @ImmigrantlyYouTube: @immigrantlypodsSubscribe to our PatreonImmigrantly podcast is an Immigrantly Media production.For advertising inquiries, please email at info@immigrantlypod.com
Episodes
Mentioned books
Mar 10, 2020 • 42min
"Raise Your Hand If You're A Racist"
Regina Jackson and Saira Rao are the co-founders of Race2Dinner, an organization that allows specifically white women to address their racism through a sit-down dinner they pay for. It’s innovative, and it pushes past social boundaries to get to the heart of the matter. Saadia talks to Saira and Regina about how they define racism in America, their encounter with white supremacy, and what led them to start Race2Dinner. In the process, Saadia hints at her take on the controversial topic of racism in America.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 3, 2020 • 49min
"Inherent Love of Exploration"
Xiao Wang is the co-founder and CEO of the Seattle-based startup, Boundless. Boundless is an immigration company with a mission to “empower families to navigate the immigration system more confidently, rapidly, and affordably.” In 2018, they received the Torch Award for “Business of the Year” from the Better Business Bureau. Xiao’s credentials include leadership roles at Amazon Go, Providence Equity, NYC Department of Education, and McKinsey. Xiao holds a BA/MS from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. On top of that, he’s an immigrant himself; his family relocated from China to the United States when he was a child.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 25, 2020 • 46min
“I Have Lived Both Sides"
Wardah Khalid is a policy analyst, activist, and speaker on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, refugees/immigration, and Islam in America. She currently works on Capitol Hill as an APAICS Congressional Fellow. She is the Founder and President of the , a national civic education, and advocacy organization dedicated to strengthening American Muslim engagement with Congress. We talked about her passion for political advocacy, Muslim involvement in US Politics, Muslim tropes & sweet stuff like chocolate, barfi & Gulab Jamun. Here’s a link to our Patreon and GoFundMe accounts. Your support is greatly appreciated!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 18, 2020 • 48min
"We Keep Each Other Honest"
Shamim Sarif is a British novelist and filmmaker. Her work often focuses on various aspects of identity; including gender, race, and sexuality. It often draws upon her own personal experience with cross-cultural, non-heterosexual love. Sarif described her film, I can’t think straight to be semi-autobiographical. With her partner Kattan, she runs Enlightenment Productions based in London. Her next project is Polarized; a love story between two women from very different sides of post-Trump America.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 11, 2020 • 22min
Special Minisode- America's History of Family Separation
This special minisode focuses on America’s immigration history in the context of family separation. It debunks the notion that the concept of family separation is new. The episode showcases how children have been separated from their families time and time again throughout America’s history. In each of the instances, Saadia explores how people of color, often children, were violently separated to fulfill economic and political agendas.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 11, 2020 • 52min
It's Up to Us to Tell Our Stories
Annie Tan is a Chinese American Special Education teacher, writer, activist, and storyteller from Chinatown, in New York. Annie has been featured in the New York Times, the Huffington Post, and The Moth Radio Hour on NPR. She will be featured in the upcoming PBS documentary series "Asian Americans." Her work centers around public education, teachers unions, tenants' rights, and Asian American issues. Previously a teacher in Chicago, Annie, now teaches Latinx and Asian students in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. After school, Annie tells stories on stages about being Chinese American and a daughter of immigrants, teaching, activism, and her family's story in America.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 4, 2020 • 40min
"You See the Other Side"
Nusrat Alam and Jo'rell Whitfield are changemakers. They are the co-founders of I am Perspective (IAP). IAP aims to create a united society by fostering empathy, awareness, growth, and genuine human connection through open and honest dialogue between all races, genders, sexual orientations, socioeconomic backgrounds, and political views in a free, safe, non-judgmental space. Nusrat Alam, a second-generation Bengali American, grew up in Queens, NY. Currently, Nusrat is working on her first book, "Tin Huts to Palaces," exploring her life and perspective as an American Born Confused Desi (ABCD). Jo'rell is an international award-winning spoken word artist who has transformed over 15 years of experience into an entrepreneurial career of writing, performing, and teaching poetry. He has won countless poetry slam competitions and has been featured everywhere from open mic venue and historic venues, to high schools, colleges, and universities in over 50 cities around the country.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 28, 2020 • 41min
"That's the Cause of Your Problem"
Dr. Simran Jeet Singh is a writer, a religious scholar, activist, and author. He regularly speaks on issues of diversity, equity, hate, violence, race, and religion, inspiring others around him. He also frequently offers his perspectives to television, radio, and print media, and today he is on Immigrantly to share his story with Saadia Khan.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 21, 2020 • 51min
"We Want a Better Life for the Kids”
We all have an idea of what an American dream is, but how would you define an American nightmare? Aarti and her family encountered every obstacle that an immigrant family can run into in America. She is the author of a memoir; Here We Are American Dreams, American Nightmares. Aarti’s work has always been personal; she went from being a community organizer with a bullhorn defending the rights of immigrants to now speaking to millions as a Silicon Valley correspondent for National Public Radio. Her activism work before joining NPR was honored by the Union Square and Legal Aid Society. She received her Masters from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and she was also the youngest recipient of the Charles H. Revson Fellowship at Columbia University
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 14, 2020 • 37min
Can We All Just Get Along?
Mairav Zonszein is a second-generation Israeli American journalist and editor who writes about Israel-Palestine conflict and its role in U.S. politics. She was born and raised in NY., but she has spent most of her adult life in Israel. Saadia talks to Mairav about her experiences as an American Immigrant in Israel. Her publications include The Guardian, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New York Review of Books, The Intercept, VICE News, Foreign Policy, and many more. She is a changemaker who is fighting for equal rights for everyone.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
