Former Actor, Model and Host, Ayeshah Alam Khan comes on The Pakistan Experience to discuss her battle with obesity and her journey towards health. Currently working as a health coach, Ayeshah Alam, discusses the health issues she faced, how she overcame hardship and how to develop a mindset towards living a more healthy life on this episode. Ayeshah and I discuss fat-shaming, positive outlooks, diet fads, working out, forgiveness, and her journey from being a media legend in Pakistan to startin...
Nov 02, 2020•2 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 67
Adeel Afzal is a content creator who used to work at Mangobaaz and now makes a series of videos on social issues called 'Bayan Baazu'. Adeel comes on the podcast for a long discussion on the many problems faced by Pakistan, from Imran Khan's governance to the role of the establishment in politics, from Pathan Jokes to hateful xenophobia against ethnicities, from old babbay controlling every institution to the Tik Tok ban. The Pakistan Experience is a podcast looking to tell stories about Pakista...
Oct 19, 2020•2 hr 54 min•Season 1Ep. 67
Mekaal Hassan, one of the greatest musicians produced by Pakistan, of Mekaal Hassan Band fame, comes on The Pakistan Experience to discuss music, the industry and the role of the artist. With brands sponsoring music shows and actors becoming signers, Mekaal Hassan is a man on the mission to produce music for the love of the music itself. On this episode Mekaal discusses how he stays true to his art, his journey as a musician and his advice for other musicians. The Pakistan Experience is a podcas...
Oct 10, 2020•59 min•Season 1Ep. 65
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.
Oct 09, 2020•1 hr 17 min•Season 3Ep. 5
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 ...
Oct 02, 2020•1 hr 23 min•Season 3Ep. 4
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: Not...
Sep 29, 2020•3 hr 54 min•Season 2Ep. 4
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 ...
Sep 25, 2020•2 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 64
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...
Sep 21, 2020•2 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 64
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 m...
Sep 18, 2020•2 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 63
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...
Sep 15, 2020•1 hr 59 min•Season 1Ep. 62
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...
Sep 14, 2020•1 hr 27 min•Season 1Ep. 61
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.
Sep 11, 2020•2 hr 20 min•Season 1Ep. 60
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 a...
Sep 06, 2020•2 hr 35 min•Season 1Ep. 59
Ahmad Shabbar is the CEO of Garbage Can, a company focused on comprehensive waste management. Ahmad has been on the streets of Karachi pumping out water and protesting against DHA/CBC. Ahmad comes on The Pakistan Experience to discuss the protests, we talk about what we think did not work and why there was a low turn out on Thursday. We also discuss what it will talk for actual change to happen in Karachi, and subsequently in Pakistan. The Pakistan Experience is a podcast looking to tell stories...
Sep 05, 2020•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 58
In part 2 of the TPE Content Creators Roundtable, we discuss whether there is a content creators community in Pakistan. 1. What should one do when a content creator is accused of harassment? 2. Is there support for new content creators? 3. Is there jealousy? 4. Should we allow content creators to make mistakes and learn? 5. Cancel culture 6. Is it just about numbers? 7. Do brands care about their 'image'? 8. Kya log chootiye hotay hay? On the panel we have Ali Aftab Saeed (Journalist/Musician/Vl...
Aug 30, 2020•56 min•Season 3Ep. 3
Part 1 of the Content Creators Roundtable, we discuss why people create content, what responsibility do they feel as content creators and what do you they think of the current state of content creation of Pakistan. We also discuss if content creators should speak on social issues or not, whether they need to lend their voices to causes, how it affects their careers and how audiences might react to them being vocal. For Part 1 of the Content Creators Roundtable, we have been joined by Raza Samo (...
Aug 28, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Season 3Ep. 2
In the first of a new subset of The Pakistan Experience, it is our honour to present the TPE Roundtable on Films with directors Sarmad Khoosat, Iram Parveen Bilal, Jami and Saim Sadiq. We discuss the current state of our film industry, the idea of a film fraternity, censorship and what it takes to make a film in Pakistan. Sarmad Khoosat is the legendary director behind hits like Humsafar, and he starred in and director the artistic masterpiece, 'Manto''. Jami is one of the most foremost director...
Aug 23, 2020•1 hr 58 min•Season 3Ep. 1
Asim Abbasi, the director of Cake, and the writer/director of the web-series Churails, comes on The Pakistan Experience to discuss how Churails came to be - from writing it, to directing it across locations in Pakistan, the future of content, and the media industry. We also discuss the backlash Churails is getting for the apparent fahashi. The Pakistan Experience is a podcast looking to tell stories about Pakistan, and Pakistanis, through the lost art of conversation.
Aug 11, 2020•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 57
Muhammad Moiz on the first episode of The Pakistan Experience a year ago, we are celebrating the anniversary by bringing Muhammad Moiz back on the podcast and getting all of you to come on as well. In the anniversary special, we look back at The Pakistan Experience journey, sex education in Pakistan, racism against Afghans in Pakistan and how Hyderabadi boys are the hottest.
Aug 08, 2020•1 hr 29 min•Season 1Ep. 56
A new subset of The Pakistan Experience where some of the funniest people I know come on the podcast and all we do is talk shit. In Part 2 of Bachodiyan, Moiz tells us his weirdest sex story. Watch Bachodiyan Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4t_wswloL0 The third and final part goes up next Sunday on August 9th.
Aug 02, 2020•33 min•Season 2Ep. 2
A new subset of The Pakistan Experience where some of the funniest people I know come on the podcast and all we do is talk shit.
Jul 28, 2020•22 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Professor Dr. Ishtiaq Ahmed is the Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Stockholm University, he has taught at LUMS and Government College, Lahore, as well. He is the author of "The Punjab Bloodied, Partitioned and Cleansed" and "Pakistan: The Garrison State", he is about to release his third book on Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Dr. Ishtiaq Ahmed comes on The Pakistan Experience to discuss why he believes Pakistan was created as a buffer state between the Soviet Union and India by the B...
Jul 24, 2020•1 hr 45 min•Season 1Ep. 55
Maria Farooq, LLM from LSE and a partner at a law firm, and Dina Arham Pasha, LLM from University of Michigan and legal counsel, come on The Pakistan Experience to discuss the recent sexual harassment cases in educational institutions and debate whether the law provides adequate support for the survivors. The discussion goes from the law to body positivty and fat shaming to trolling to friendship. Maria and Dina also happen to be my two best friends so we end up discussing our own lives and our ...
Jul 17, 2020•1 hr 34 min•Season 1Ep. 55
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 t...
Jul 15, 2020•31 min•Season 1Ep. 54
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 podcas...
Jul 05, 2020•1 hr 26 min
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...
Jul 03, 2020•1 hr 32 min•Season 1Ep. 52
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...
Jun 29, 2020•1 hr 40 min•Season 1Ep. 51
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,...
Jun 28, 2020•59 min•Season 2Ep. 1
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 th...
Jun 26, 2020•1 hr 43 min•Season 1Ep. 50
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 avoid...
Jun 21, 2020•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 49
