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Published: Aug. 14, 2020, 1:46 p.m.

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In this episode, Tammy gabs with her old friend Radhika Natarajan, a professor of history at Reed College and low-key brilliant TV critic.

Radhika talks about her childhood in Ohio, her parents\\u2019 emigration from Tamil Nadu (relevant spoiler: an arranged Brahmin marriage), and her scholarly work on post-colonial migration, citizenship, and multiculturalism in Britain. (Bonus: BAME = POC/BIPOC?) She schools Tammy on Portland\\u2019s Black and immigrant communities (the city isn\\u2019t all white, Radhika softly yells) and describes the local vibe during 74+ days of Black Lives Matter protests.

Then, the discussion (takedown? disquisition?) many TTSG listeners have been waiting for: about the Netflix show \\u201cIndian Matchmaking\\u201d! Tammy and Radhika talk caste, religion, class, and colorism in the series, media representations of South Asians, and Modi\\u2019s bloody transnationalism. Radhika invokes the cultural critic Stuart Hall to question the desire for \\u201ccheering fictions\\u201d over messy depictions of identity, and looks forward to learning more about Dalit\\u2013Black American connections in Isabel Wilkerson\\u2019s new book on caste.

For more, Radhika recommends:

* Stephen Frears\\u2019s 1985 film, \\u201cMy Beautiful Laundrette\\u201d (per Hall)

* Nicholas B. Dirks\\u2019s 2001 history, Castes of Mind

* Annihilation of Caste, the 1936 book by Dalit revolutionary B.R. Ambedkar (arguing that inter-caste marriages could never solve the problem of caste; take that, Auntie Sima!)

And here\\u2019s what the TTSG team has been perusing:

* Come on, Karen\\u2014Indian Food, really?

* The political economy of the TikTok and WeChat war

* Media savagery at Sports Illustrated

* Pankaj Mishra and Adam Shatz talk Anglo-American failure and free speech

P.S. \\u2013 We recorded this episode before the Kamala announcement, but now that she\\u2019s every liberal\\u2019s favorite Indian\\u2026

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