Can You Hear Us?

On this week’s episode of Can You Hear Us?, Monica and Ragini are joined by development economist and author Shrayana Bhattacharya. After completing her training from Delhi University and the Harvard Kennedy School, Shrayana worked on research projects with the Institute of Social Studies Trust, SEWA and Centre for Policy Research. At present, she is a Senior Economist at the World Bank. Her first book of non-fiction Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh: India's Lonely Young Women and the Search for Intimacy and Independence was published by HarperCollins India in November 2021 and by Liberty Books in Pakistan in August 2022. Shrayana recently won the Atta Galatta BLF Book Prize for Best Non Fiction for 2022. She has also won the Times of India JK Paper AutHer Prize for Best Non-Fiction Author for 2022 and the SKOCH Economic Forum Prize for Literature.

Quotes from the interview: 
 
“Feminism is a way of life, it is a lived practice, it’s a way of conscious of power relations and  choices, and how you show up in the world”  - Shrayana on Female vs Feminist icons, and how feminism manifests in this definition of feminist icon

“We’re all complex human beings, what is the idea of ‘the best’? Why should we impose this Olympics of status and bestness on anyone?” - Shrayana on the notion of the Great Man and its future I

What is Can You Hear Us??

Can You Hear Us? is a podcast by Monica Abad Yang and Madiera Dennison in partnership with the Department of International Development at LSE.

The podcast is the first initiative of its kind in the Department and has the overall aim to prioritise BIPOC women and femmes' specific experiences and narratives by creating a space where we can discuss a multitude of topics that affect us as women, women of colour (WOC) and women in professional spaces such as: Colourism or Work Life Balance.

The name Can You Hear Us? originates from the COVID-19 pandemic as it is commonly repeated on Zoom but also symbolically reflects the work left to do to empower WOC.