The Pakistan Experience

The top stand up comedians of Pakistan sit down for a discussion on comedy, censorship and building communities.   Tabish Hashmi, Faheem Azam, Sana Khan Niazi and Natalia Gul come on The Pakistan Experience to discuss what can be joked about and the experience of being a stand-up comedian in Pakistan. From facing threats to self-censorship to why Stand-up comedy is not as big in Pakistan as it is in India; the comedians discuss their craft and their process.

Actors from the Film and TV industry of Pakistan come on this episode of The Pakistan Experience Roundtable to discuss acting and the media industry in Pakistan.   From why they act to why we keep saying the same old stories being told in Film and on Television, from what changes they want to bring to how they are struggling to do so, what is acting and what is an actor, we discuss it all on this round table.    Usman Mukhtar is a Film Maker and has acted in several films and dramas.   Sabeena Syed is an upcoming actress who shot to fame with Yakeen ka Safar and Parwaaz hay Junoon.   Agha Mustafa Hasan started with Theatre and can now be seen in several TV dramas.   Mina Tariq recently completed her first TV drama, Ruswayee.   Fawad Khan is an acclaimed Theatre actor that received critical praise for his role as the Police Officer in Churails.

Mariam Shafqat Goraya, Lilith Khannum and Usman Rana come on TPE subset 'Bachodiyan' to talk about everything under the sun in this mammoth 4 hour podcast.  From the best way to eat a banana to the funeral of misogyny, from their wierdest sex stories to the dirtiest songs you will ever hear, watch as the four of us take on hyper woke people, cancel culture, patriarchy and the celebrity protests!   Going from bachodiyan to personal tales of sorrow, this is not a podcast you can miss.   Disclaimer: Nothing said on Bachodiyan is meant to be taken seriously

Mariam Shafqat Goraya, the woman behind the towel and the brain behind 'Naik Parveen', comes on The Pakistan Experience for a no holds barred conversation about feminism, misogyny, content creation and dealing with trolls online.   A conversation that goes from intense to hilarious at the drop of the dime, Mariam shows she is equally adept at poking fun at power structures, as she is talking eloquently about the fundamental inequalities in our society.   The Pakistan Experience is a podcast looking to tell stories about Pakistan, and Pakistanis, through the lost art of conversation.

Osama Zaman comes on The Pakistan Experience for a raw, unfiltered and honest conversation about drug abuse and heroin addiction. Having struggled with the addiction for years, Osama finally got clean and now seeks to share his experiences with others in hopes of helping other addicts.  In this episode, we discuss the stigma around addiction, what being a heroin addict is really like and how it is crucial to understand mental health, and trauma, to understand addiction.  The Pakistan Experience is a podcast looking to tell stories about Pakistan, and Pakistanis, through the lost art of conversation.

Pakistan has recently seen a spike in violence against the Shia community, rallies in Karachi were attended by thousands where slogans against Shias were shouted. However, most people do not think Shia persecution is real.    We invited members of the Shia community onto the podcast to discuss how they have been persecuted against, how they have lost loved ones and have had to learn really early what it means to live as a Shia in Pakistan, from being called a kafir in third grade to seeing family members refuse to even drink water at your home.  These people are real, their stories are real, no longer can we deny how real Shia persecution is.   The Pakistan Experience is a podcast looking to tell stories about Pakistan, and Pakistanis, through the lost art of conversation,

Hamna Zubair (writer/ex culture editor at Dawn), Manal Faheem (writer at Cutacut/Teacher at Szabist), Nayab Gohar Jan(activist and journalist), Tooba Syed(Member WDF and AWP/Activist/Aurat March Organizer) and Qurrat Mirza(Member WAF/Activist/Aurat March Organizer) come on the podcast this week to discuss R*pe culture.  The Motorway incident has shaken the nation to its core but till we do not address the underlying culture that has made such incidents commonplace in our society, we will continue trending hashtags.  This esteemed group of writers, activists and journalists, come together to break down what r*pe culture is, how patriarchy works to subjugate women, and how we need to change as a society to fight this toxic culture.   The Pakistan Experience is a podcast looking to tell stories about Pakistan, and Pakistanis, through the lost art of conversation.

Arif Hasan, is a city planner and architect with years of experience under his belt, he was the chairperson for the Orangi Pilot Project and Urban Resource Center. He has received a Hilal-e-Imtiaz for Public Service.  Arif sahab comes on the podcast to discuss his beloved city, and its many problems, from the recent flooding to forced evictions, from the lack of local governance to the demands of making Karachi a federal territory, Arif sahab discuses the past, present and future of Karachi.  This episode has been co-hosted by Ahmad Khan, a architecture graduate from NCA Lahore, currently working in New York.  The Pakistan Experience is a podcast looking to tell stories about Pakistan, and Pakistanis, through the lost art of conversation.

Dr. Ishtiaq Ahmed comes back The Pakistan Experience to discuss Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the creation of Pakistan, Liaquat Ali Khan, and the history of the country.   We discuss the perennial question, did Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah want Pakistan to be a secular or an Islamic ideological state?  The Pakistan Experience is a podcast looking to tell stories about Pakistan, and Pakistanis, through the lost art of conversation.

Arafat Mazhar is an academic, a musician and an animator. He is the founder and director of Engage, ShehriPakistan and Puffball Studio, the studio behind the brilliant dystopian short film, Shehr e Tabassum, directed by Arafat Mazhar himself.   From his early days of being in Jamaat-e-Islami to his seminal research on the Blasphemy law, Arafat Mazhar comes on the podcast to discuss the history of the Blasphemy Law in Pakistan and the legacy of extremism. Arafat talks about how the law came to be  and the history of Islamic jurisdiction on the topic.    We discuss the role of religion in Pakistan, the madrassas, if vilifying Mumtaz Qadri is enough, how do we protect the future of our children and provide a counter narrative that is able to communicate effectively to them.  Visit www.engagepakistan.com for all the report which has resources that people can read to verify Arafat Mazhar's claims.    The trailer at the end of the podcast is of Swipe, Arafat Mazhar's latest film, check out more on the Shehr-e-Tabassum Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_15dKzkIMY   The Pakistan Experience is a podcast looking to tell stories about Pakistan, and Pakistanis, through the lost art of conversation.