We've all whipped and nae nae'd at a party or seven, so when Niv and Sai dance it in Stay Woke, Thinesh and Priyanka were itching to do the same. However, it also made them reflect on how Tamil people may have participated, benefited and even appropriated black art and culture in their upbringing.

Was it a mode of survival? Was it for social capital? Was it anti-blackness? Cessalee Stovall, founder of Stage a Change, joins Thinesh and Priyanka to chat about anti-blackness and cultural appropriation in non-black POC communities. 

Both Niv and Sai are dating people outside their race. One of the most critical aspects worth discussing in these dynamics is how power shows up in our most intimate spaces. Are you betraying your race by dating someone outside of it? How do you come to terms with the structural advantages you have grown up with?

Timothy Bromhead, Ahilan Puhenthirar and Sophie Puhenthirar join Thinesh and Priyanka as they reflect on their experiences in being in an interracial relationship. 

Being Queer and/or Gender Diverse is hard. Throw being a person of colour into the mix and you've got some trauma that needs to be unpacked with therapy. To be clear, a Wake and Bake is not going to suffice. In this episode, Community Lawyer and drag goddess Kavitha Sivasamy joins Thinesh and Priyanka to discuss the highs and lows in navigating our queer identities in our communities, seeing ourselves in media and entertainment, and how Che Diaz is probably not the representation we need. 

Sri Lankan Tamil? Tamil? Thamizh? Eelam Thamizh? Eela Thamizh? 

On our first episode of “Wake and Bake”, a podcast created to explore the themes of Aran Thangaratnam’s “Stay Woke”, Priyanka and Thinesh chat with Sujan Selvan and Shankari Chandran. 

How do resources, time and place affect the way we do our Tamilness? How do we feel about the Motherland? Where were you in May 2009? 

A content warning that this episode explores themes of displacement, colonial violence and state-sanctioned genocide.