It's Not You, It's The Media - podcast cover

It's Not You, It's The Media

It's Not You, It's The Media! unpacks the ways that the media manipulates narratives and makes you question your reality. You're being gaslighted. Suchitra Vijayan, Bhakti Shringarpure and Madhuri Sastry eviscerate the propaganda, set the record straight and offer moral clarity. Suchitra Vijayan is a writer, photographer and activist. She is the founder and Executive Director of The Polis Project. For her first book, The Midnight's Border: A People's History of India, Suchitra traveled across the 9000-mile Indian border. A barrister by training, she previously worked for the United Nations war crimes tribunals in Yugoslavia and Rwanda before co-founding the Resettlement Legal Aid Project in Cairo, which gives legal aid to Iraqi refugees. She is the co-author of How Long Can the Moon Be Caged? Voices of Indian Political Prisoners (2023) which offers a lens into today's India through the lived experiences of political prisoners. Bhakti Shringarpure is a writer and editor. She is the co-founder of Warscapes magazine which transitioned into the Radical Books Collective, a multi-faceted community building project that creates an alternative, inclusive and non-commercial approach to books and reading. Bhakti is the author of Cold War Assemblages: Decolonization to Digital (2019) and editor of Literary Sudans: An Anthology of Literature from Sudan and South Sudan (2017), Imagine Africa (2017) Mediterranean: Migrant Crossings (2018) and most recently, Insurgent Feminisms: Writing War (2023). Madhuri Sastry is a former lawyer, specializing in international and human rights law. She was the publisher of Guernica Magazine. Her political writing, cultural criticism, interviews and essays have appeared in several publications including The Nation, Guernica, Slate, Bitch and New York Magazine. She is on the editorial board at the Polis Project.

Episodes

Make Indian American Women Brown Again

Suchitra, Bhakti, and Madhuri take a sharp, witty, and incisive look at the identity crisis of Indian American women in the public eye. From Kamala Harris to Mindy Kaling to Usha Vance, the hosts ask: why is the dominant representation of the Indian American woman so adjacent to whiteness? Why does she either perform hyper-assimilation or lean into fetishised exoticism? In an era where South Asian identity is being flattened into elite, upper-caste, and Hindu-coded narratives, how do we reclaim ...

Mar 07, 202537 minSeason 1Ep. 19

Why The Media Gets Incarceration Wrong

Suchitra, Bhakti, and Madhuri take on the media’s failure to accurately depict incarceration, tracing how language, imagery, and selective storytelling reinforce carceral logic. From Gaza to Guantanamo, they examine how imprisonment narratives are shaped by what is shown — and, more crucially, what is omitted. The hosts dissect how terms like prisoner , detainee , and hostage are selectively deployed to justify systemic violence, and how the very framing of incarceration distorts public percepti...

Feb 25, 202530 minSeason 1Ep. 18

Why The Media Gets Migration Wrong

Suchitra, Bhakti, and Madhuri dissect the persistent failures of media coverage on migration, exposing how mainstream outlets reinforce state narratives rather than challenging them. From the selective sympathy extended to Ukrainian refugees to the criminalization of Black and Brown migrants, the hosts examine how race, class, and geopolitical interests shape reporting. They trace the media’s historical complicity in dehumanizing migrants and explore the political incentives behind the language ...

Feb 14, 202540 minSeason 1Ep. 17

Is India Developing a Fascist Aesthetic?

Suchitra, Bhakti, and Madhuri look at how India’s cultural landscape has become deeply intertwined with right-wing ideology. From Bollywood’s hyper-masculine action heroes to the aggressive iconography of Hindu gods, from the spectacle of nationalist weddings to the militarization of everyday imagery, the episode unpacks how aesthetics shape political obedience. The hosts trace how authoritarian regimes have historically used visual culture — sculpted bodies, rigid pageantry, and hyper-masculini...

Feb 06, 202530 minSeason 1Ep. 16

Is Your Social Media Activism Working?

Suchitra, Bhakti, and Madhuri take a step back from the incessant noise of social media to dissect what all that posting really leads to. Is your social media activism actually making a difference? From the early days of Twitter-fueled revolutions to the performative hashtag activism that followed, the hosts trace the history of online organizing and examine its transformation in the wake of Palestine’s genocide. At a time when mainstream media has fully aligned with state narratives, Instagram ...

Jan 31, 202547 minSeason 1Ep. 15

How Will The Media Do Trump 2.0?

Suchitra, Bhakti, and Madhuri look into the crystal ball to offer up some forecasts about how the media will respond to a second Trump presidency. Reflecting on his first term, the hosts remember liberal media’s relentless obsession with his persona, his life, his tweets and his gaffes, all of which overshadowed policy critique and normalized him and his politics through repetition and over-exposure. They predict that the same media preoccupation with his personality, his wife and his kids will ...

Jan 21, 202540 minSeason 1Ep. 14

Why The Media Won't Call It Genocide

Suchitra, Bhakti, and Madhuri tackle the harrowing question: why won’t the media call what is happening in Palestine a genocide? Through incisive analysis, the hosts unravel the complicity of international law and media institutions in denying and obfuscating the reality of genocide, exposing the colonial frameworks that govern both. They discuss the ICC’s delayed and inadequate response, the ICJ’s groundbreaking yet overlooked ruling, and the broader power structures that perpetuate injustice. ...

Jan 16, 202535 minSeason 1Ep. 13

The Indians Are Coming!

Suchitra, Bhakti and Madhuri start off the new year with a focus on the crop of Indian Americans who support Donald Trump, MAGA and have emerged as shamelessly racist and anti-migrant despite their own immigrant background. A recent feud between Trump, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy over the topic of H1-B visas and who gets to migrate into the US tech empire brought out all the racist rhetoric into the open. The hosts go over the parade of conservative Indians of Hindu and upper-caste b...

Jan 08, 202549 minSeason 1Ep. 12

When the Media Tries to be Woke

Suchitra, Bhakti, and Madhuri ask what happens when the media tries to be woke. Turns out, it all becomes very cringe. The episode unpacks performative wokeness in mainstream media, and exposes how the term woke – rooted in Black resistance – has been stripped of its radical origins and become a marketing tool. The word woke originates in abolitionist and Black liberation movements but today it has become adopted, diluted, and misused in mainstream culture. The media uses woke language and terms...

Dec 06, 202438 minSeason 1Ep. 11

And the Prize goes to…Warmongers!

Suchitra, Bhakti, and Madhuri examine a year of prize scandals, immoral literary institutions and inappropriate red carpet galas. They ask why the genocide in Gaza has not been a red line for many prestigious literary institutions who have insisted on going about business as usual. They look at how literary institutions, prize committees, cultural events and writers themselves are complicit in perpetuating imperialist power structures and silencing dissenting voices. They highlight the ways in w...

Nov 30, 202437 minSeason 1Ep. 10

Islamophobia in the Media

Suchitra, Bhakti, and Madhuri embark on a detailed breakdown of Islamophobia, dissecting its historical roots, modern manifestations, and the critical role the media plays in perpetuating anti-Muslim sentiment. They examine how Islamophobia has evolved from colonial narratives into a sophisticated mechanism of systemic hatred, embedded in global power structures. The episode traces the etymology and history of the term “Islamophobia,” highlighting how it fails to capture the full extent of the d...

Nov 22, 202444 minSeason 1Ep. 9

The Media's Blame Games

Suchitra, Bhakti, and Madhuri discuss narratives of blame in the aftermath of the loss of Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party in the 2024 US elections. Donald Trump’s win sent shockwaves through liberal media who have been uncritically championing a candidate who played to the center and styled herself as a conservative rather than connecting with her progressive base. Within hours of exit polls, the blame games began on social media and in mainstream outlets. The episode works through the ma...

Nov 11, 202441 minSeason 1Ep. 8

We Told You So

Suchitra, Bhakti and Madhuri declare “We Told You So” in light of the disastrous defeat of Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party in the 2024 US elections. By "we," the hosts refer to the loyal constituency of people who definitely did not want to see Donald Trump in power. These very people have been offering feedback to the Kamala Harris campaign and calling out mainstream media’s uncritical approach to her candidacy. Coverage of the Harris campaign in newspapers and on television has only bee...

Nov 09, 202433 minSeason 1Ep. 7

If Book Reviews Could Kill

Suchitra, Bhakti and Madhuri analyze the genre of "book reviews" and the ways in which they are instrumental in shaping opinion on writers, literature, ideas, and culture, more broadly. Book reviews are an extremely vital part of all newspapers and media outlets but the undergirding questions is who gets reviewed and who gets ignored? Book reviews have moved away from tackling ideas, and have instead become publicity and marketing tools for big, corporate publishers. The discussion focuses ...

Oct 26, 202446 minSeason 1Ep. 6

The Media's War on Children

Suchitra, Bhakti, and Madhuri delve into the media's problematic portrayal of children, particularly in conflict zones. The episode asks: who gets to be a “child” in mainstream media? The coverage of children over the years reveals two broad themes: 1) the process of “un-childing” and 2) tendency towards saviorism that can produce troubling representations of children’s bodies, especially girls. It addresses how language and representation shape perceptions of childhood, the impact of state poli...

Oct 18, 202442 minSeason 1Ep. 5

Worst Headlines in a Year of Livestreamed Genocide

Suchitra, Bhakti and Madhuri analyze shocking, biased and racist headlines from mainstream newspapers from the past year with a focus on Palestine, Lebanon and Iran. They discuss the importance and impact of headlines historically but also in a world defined by ever-diminishing attention spans, and where news is mainly read on smartphones. The media appears to have an active investment in war,  the ongoing genocide in Palestine, and in American imperialism, broadly. The hosts tackle three b...

Oct 18, 202449 minSeason 1Ep. 4

Unethical Reporting on Sexual Violence

In this episode Suchitra, Bhakti, and Madhuri delve into the unethical reporting on sexual violence, particularly in the context of the ongoing genocide perpetrated by Israel on Gaza. The hosts discuss the trends of hyper-reporting and zero reporting, the ethics of how victims are portrayed, and the media's role in fabricating narratives that serve political agendas. They highlight the systemic violence faced by Palestinian prisoners and the contrasting media treatment of different victims, the ...

Sep 27, 202443 minSeason 1Ep. 3

Fawning over Kamala

Suchitra Vijayan, Bhakti Shringarpure and Madhuri Sastry dissect the media's coverage of Kamala Harris, focusing on the Democratic National Convention and the presidential debate. Coverage of Harris has focused on the portrayal of her as a youthful 'brat', excessive focus on aesthetics, and the lack of critical analysis in mainstream media. They explore the implications of her political identity, the gaslighting from the media, and the ongoing issues of racism in migration policies. The conversa...

Sep 18, 202447 minSeason 1Ep. 2

About the podcast

Are you questioning your reality? Do you feel gaslighted? It's not you, it's the media. Suchitra Vijayan, Bhakti Shringarpure and Madhuri Sastry will join forces to eviscerate the propaganda, set the record straight and offer much needed moral clarity. Tune in each week. It's Not You, It's the Media. A podcast by the Polis Project. https://www.thepolisproject.com/ Hosts: Suchitra Vijayan is a writer, photographer and activist. She is the founder and Executive Director of The Polis Project. For h...

Sep 10, 202436 secSeason 1Ep. 1