The Pakistan Experience

Pervez Hoodbhoy has a PhD in Nuclear Physics from MIT. He was recently removed from FC college because he was told he did not meet their academic standards.  Dr. Hoodbhoy comes on The Pakistan Experience to discuss why he was removed, how our education system is rotting at the core and his thoughts about mixing religion and education. Dr. Hoodbhoy ends the podcast by remembering Dr. Abdus Salam.  The Pakistan Experience is a podcast looking to tell stories about Pakistan, and Pakistanis, through the lost art of conversation.

Hassan Javid has a PhD in Sociology from the London School of Economics and Political Science, where he also spent some time as an LSE Fellow in Political Sociology. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the Lahore University of Management Sciences.   Hassan comes on The Pakistan Experience to discuss the Military Budget, the economic response to Covid19, the threat of India, the legacy of colonialism and  the recent BLA terrorist attack.  The Pakistan Experience is a podcast looking to tell stories about Pakistan, and Pakistanis, through the lost art of conversation.

Farhan Virk, the most well known social media troll in Pakistan, is a self-labelled online activist. Virk gained notoriety after making Dr. Abdul Qadeer's fake Twitter account.   For the past 5 years Farhan Virk is running social media groups in favour of Imran Khan and PTI working closely with party leaders. After being suspended by Twitter for his activities, Farhan has now been forsaken by PTI and the official PTI Twitter has disowned him.   Farhan Virk comes on The Pakistan Experience to discuss social media trolling, political trending and the performance of PTI in the past two years. Farhan reflects on what he has done and why he thinks middle-class individuals will never succeed in the current political climate.  The Pakistan Experience is a podcast looking to tell stories about Pakistan, and Pakistanis, through the lost art of conversation.

Norbert Almeida is a security advisor with 22 years in the field, he runs an update group on Twitter and Whatsapp to provide security updates for free.   Norbert has been reporting on the Corona virus over the past few months. He comes on The Pakistan Experience to discuss the experience of reporting on Corona virus cases/deaths, his thoughts on the mortality rate and what the future holds.   The second hour of the podcast has Norbert tell us his expert advice on what to do during a mugging, when to stay vigilant and what precautions to take to stay safe, particularly in Karachi.  The Pakistan Experience is a podcast looking to tell stories about Pakistan, and Pakistanis, through the lost art of conversation.

Radio plays gained popularity a century ago. With all of us quarantined we are trying to revive the tradition by producing audio plays.   The first of the series is Chirya Ghar, an urdu adaptation of the classic Edward Albee play, The Zoo Story. The play explores themes of isolation, loneliness, miscommunication, social disparity and dehumanization in a materialistic world.  In the adaptation, Pervaiz, a middle-aged affluent man, is sitting on a bench at a secluded area of Sea View, Karachi. Anjum, a man in his 20s, approaches him for a conversation.   The audio play is a reading of the play. The play has been adapted from the original by Shehzad Ghias. With this new initiative we are trying to open up the world of Theatre to a much bigger audience, especially the urdu listening audience.   Warning: The play has 5-6 swear words  Original play written by Edward Albee. Urdu adaptation by Shehzad Ghias.  Pervaiz played by Naveed Kamal Anjum played by Shehzad Ghias

Abdul Ahad Ayub and Hashim Kaleem have Masters in Education Policy from the Harvard School of Education.   Both of them come on The Pakistan Experience to discuss the issues with the education system in Pakistan.   What is the solution? Privatizing education or uniform public education?  What is the future of online education?  Can schools survive the Corona virus outbreak? When should they open up?    The Pakistan Experience is a podcast looking to tell stories about Pakistan, and Pakistanis, through the lost art of conversation.

Atia Naqvi is a Clinical Psychologist and a Therapist. She comes on The Pakistan Experience to discuss Suicide, Depression and How to Deal with Grief.   All of us were shaken by the sudden demise of Sushant Singh Rajput last week. Suicide is stigmatized in our society; Atia Naqvi is doing everything she can to fight that stigma because if we do not even talk about it then people will continue to suffer in silence.   In this episode we discuss suicidal thoughts, changing perspectives, not being avoidant to negativity and having a positive outlook on life, along with the power of faith and hope.    The Pakistan Experience is a podcast looking to tell stories about Pakistan, and Pakistanis, through the lost art of conversation.

Dr. Furrukh Khan is an Associate Professor at LUMS. He has a PhD in Postcolonial Studies from University of Kent at Canterbury, where he taught for two years prior to coming to LUMS.  Dr. Furrukh Khan comes on The Pakistan Experience to discuss culture, literature and language and how they intersect to create identity and history. Dr. Khan talks about how colonialism, and neocolonialism, is leading to the commodification of culture and the erasure of local languages.   Are Lahoris Jahil? is Punjabi Culture inferior? Is Dr. Nauman the worst thing to happen to PTV?  Listen and find out on this episode of The Pakistan Experience.   The Pakistan Experience is a podcast looking to tell stories about Pakistan, and Pakistanis, through the lost art of conversation.

Hajra Khan is the captain of the National Womens Football Team and holds 3 Guiness World Records. She is Pakistan's highest goal scorer.  Zufli is a poet and a musician.   A meme went viral on Eid using their pictures, Zulfi and Hajra Khan come on The Pakistan Experience to discuss gender norms, casual sexism and the state of Womens Football in Pakistan.  Zufli expands into the Gender Jihad theory and explains why the laundas are so afraid of a changing world order and Hajra Khan discusses how she is treated as a Footballer and how the Womens National Team is severly under resourced, from being given Rs 300 a day to not having a single tour in the last 4 years.  The Pakistan Experience is a podcast looking to tell stories about Pakistan, and Pakistanis, through the lost art of conversation.

Mr Randonaut himself, Mr. Nick Hinton, comes on the Podcast to discuss some of the most interesting conspiracy theories, from explaining why he thinks we are living in a simulation to the Saturn time cube theory, Nick goes deep into the discussion on parallel universes, the Mandela Effect and Psychedelics.   Nick also talks about his DMT trip; how the world around him became like a Dr Seuss cartoon reality and how his friend who took DMT lived a whole entire lifetime on the trip.   The Pakistan Experience is a podcast looking to tell stories about Pakistan, and Pakistanis, through the lost art of conversation.