I Am Blown Away By Immigrantly
Wow.
That’s my first reaction at the show I chose to review this week, Immigrantly.
The second of what I’m calling the Nissenblatt Reviews (see last week’s review if you missed it to understand this), Immigrantly is an independent, woman of color-hosted podcast that tackles the topics of race, identity, and the immigrant experience. Created and hosted by Saadia Khan, a Pakistani-American immigrant and human rights advocate, the show has boasted incredible guests including Justine Ang Fonte (a former guest on my show), NPR’s Ramtin Arablouei, and Grammy winter Arooj Aftab.
I’ll say one thing right off the bat that I love about this show. From interviewing Annika Sharma and Nehal Tenany of That Desi Spark and chatting with my friends Jani Rad, host of the awesome What’s On Your Mind Podcast, and Imran Ahmed, founder of Great Pods, a common point that has been related to me is how infrequently they see/hear someone of South Asian descent hosting a podcast. And in an age where seemingly every white man with an opinion has a podcast (yes, this reviewer included), I LOVE all shows that include a host with a different lived experience. A tl;dr for this review is less Joe Rogans, more Saadia Khans please!
As my people say, Dayenu (that would have been enough) but I also have to tip my hat to Ms. Khan, who is an expert interviewer. In the episode with Mr. Arablouei, a personal favorite of mine from his show Throughline, a listener could expect Ms. Khan to, at the very least, lob a few softballs. I say that as someone who has accepted criticism of my kid-glove-handling as a host when the guest is not only another host/media personality but someone I admire as well. But Ms. Khan was hanging tough throughout the interview to the point where Mr. Arablouei stopped multiple times to compliment her and even suggested he was going to steal one of her questions. That, dear readers, is the mark of a good host.
Are there downsides to the show? Of course. Despite being really, really good, it’s not perfect. Namely, the sound could use a few tweaks. Honestly, these are such small things that probably only occur to people who work on shows like I do, but I have to find something to mention as a negative and there are a few spots that could be improved. The show could use an equalizer; I found myself turning episodes down and up a few times. And a run through an RX9 to remove mouth sounds would be a welcome edit. But again, these are minor issues. Really, for an independent podcast, this is without a doubt as good of a show as you’re going to get. And, again, I say that as an independent podcast host and producer myself.
It’s rare, when I set out to review a show, that I become a listener. Not because they’re not good shows, quite the opposite really. Despite the stereotypes, there are just SO MANY good podcasts out there. And I’m pretty tied to a lot of the ones I listen to already. However, after listening to a few episodes, I know I’ll find some time to work Immigrantly into my rotation. And my education on these incredibly important topics will be the better for it.
I give it an almost perfect 4.9/5!
Check them out at their website or on Great Pods!