Stories Seldom Told

"I also think that if you're positive, more people are likely to help you when you need help. Because they think, Oh, I'm having somebody who's benefiting from this, you know? Oh, yes. They don't want to come and see …

"Now the simple question is very clear, Smita. Just for my audience to really rethink about this. From criminalisation to decriminalisation to re-criminalisation. How do you accept why your society is so rigid in …

"I think affinity bias is the one where I feel is the deal breaker , if you can meet someone, and you can see something in them, that reflect you be …

"I think because I had such a difficult childhood. I have a very strong centre. And it was destabilised by Oxford, but it wasn't destroyed. And that …

"I feel somewhere, since everyone is constantly putting up a show, the world expects you to constantly put up a show. And now with social media …

"And so my dream was to become a teacher and I would play school every single day. And I could go places in my mind. All I was in foster care, …

"I have always loved my faith, and I have wanted to fully embrace who I am. So wearing a headscarf, praying, being Muslim is just, it's literally …

"I just had a lot of questions about the culture of noise we live in. And I was also a bit fed up with people just constantly having opinions which …

"Sometimes beautiful people are less likely to be heard. One study has suggested that highly attractive people are rights a disadvantages in the …

Jodi Anderson Jr. is the CEO and Co-founder of Rézme, an EdTech platform that facilitates economic and social mobility through specialized recruiting, professional development, and personalized learning for …

Paul Stevenson is a lived experience ambassador at Genius Within and a public speaker. Genius Within is a social enterprise established in the UK to …

“So, when you get embedded in a network, what happens is your freedom to think wider than what the interests of the network represents is …

Seema Anand is a  mythologist, a storyteller with a focus on women’s narratives and a specialty in the erotic literature of ancient India.

Seema …

Octoli Tuccu is a Learning & Development expert with over a decade of experience. Octoli is originally from Nagaland in the foothills of the …

Jo Uff is a Confidence Coach based in England for women who want to lead a more fulfilling life, but feel that something is holding them back from …

Richard Thomas and his wife Susanna have led Hillside Church in Wimbledon for 27 years, where he is the pastor. Richard also serves as chaplain to The Priory Hospital, the Royal Marsden Hospital and Cancer Centre …

Christos Demetriou is an entrepreneur, music producer, songwriter and pastor.

Chris’ commercial history embraces multiple areas of business activity, …

Nicola Horlick is a British investment fund manager nicknamed 'superwoman' in the media for balancing her high-flying finance career with bringing up …

Ashok Ferrey is the author of five books, all of them nominated either for Sri Lanka's Gratiaen Prize or its State Literary Award. He read pure mathematics at Oxford and was a builder in London before becoming a writer. …

Vanessa Maria is a DJ, Broadcaster at Foundation FM, and a host at Resident Advisor.

Named as one of the most important young people in music, Vanessa has made her mark on radio stations across the country sharing her …

Monica Alcazar-Duarte is a Mexican-British multi-disciplinary visual artist, whose work acknowledges her indigenous heritage while exploring current …

Carlos Hidalgo has more than four decades of executive management expertise and development of strategic programs for Fortune 500, mid-market  companies and non-profits.

With an extensive knowledge of Latin America, …

Carlos Hidalgo is a Life Design coach, a Corporate Culture Development Consultant, two-time author, TEDx speaker and international keynote speaker.

…

"We all have an unconsious bias, where we're walking down the road, and I could see somebody and I will just presume their life, or wonder what they …

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“And then when my turn was there, I …

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“Forgiveness is quite different. First of all, we do it for ourselves. So, I had to get rid of the bias …

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“There is a basic core principle of the work that I have done all these decades. It is the principle that …

Trigger warning to listeners. This episode deals with stories around abortion and racism that could be distressing to some listeners.

“Here's an …

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“I don't have to become British, I don't have to become Japanese and I …

Between: Us Stories of Unconscious Bias is a society and culture-based podcast hosted by Smita Tharoor.

Between: Us Stories of Unconscious …

This week’s episode is sponsored by Audible, Visit www.audibletrial.com/tharoorassociates for a 30 day free Audible trial and one free book credit!

“Feeling a heightened sense of my family being in peril really made me …

“And we have centuries worth of information at our hands and we really don't find time to do the sort of work we should, as individuals, to make this …

“When I first heard the term unconscious biases, it actually had a negative connotation to me, as the word bias often does. But after some thought, I realised that unconscious biases are actually very natural. What …

“So here's the question, the unconscious bias is not that, that you got a tendency to go for the, smaller dog in the fight. The question is whether you do it to glorify and validate yourself. In which case, you know, …

"I recently read how it's only .01 percent of our DNA that's responsible for the expression of our skin colour and our traits, all of which are our …

“So, I think the first thing we must realise that there is no end-game here. It’s not like 10 years, practice this and in 10 years you’re going to be relieved of all unconscious biases, thats never going to happen. …

Syima Aslam is the founder and director of the Bradford Literature Festival (BLF), a 10-day literary and cultural celebration, which she established …

“For me, one of the many things that is most significant about being a person of colour, a brown person, having been brought up in the ‘70s, in an …

Annette Smith (née Julien) was born in December 1927 on the small Caribbean Island of Grenada into a privileged family. She was educated in Trinidad …

Sabriye Tenberken, from Germany, knows what it is to be marginalised after becoming fully blind at the age of 12. She studied Tibetology/Central …

Q, also known as Francesca Mudannayake, is a Sri Lankan based singer/songwriter who has been performing since she was 6. After honing her skills at the National Youth Jazz Orchestra in the UK and singing at the Barbican …

Safiya Yasmin Badzhva (pronounced Bajwa) is a 22-year-old marketing student from Moscow. She was born and raised in Moscow to a Russian mother and a …

Priyanca Radhakrishnan is a Member of Parliament in the New Zealand Labour Party and a Minister of the Crown. Her portfolios include Diversity, …

Papa CJ is an award-winning, international stand-up comedian. He has performed over 2000 shows in over 25 countries. Forbes Magazine called him ‘the global face of Indian stand-up’ and Harvard Business Review called him …

Maria Arpa is the founder of the Centre for Peaceful Solutions and the executive director at The Centre for Non-Violent Communication. She has …

At age 27, Hosna Jalil was the first woman appointed to a high Interior Ministry post in Afghanistan. She held the post of Deputy for Policy and …

Matt Davis lives in London with his wife, Eliza and two children, Isaac and Tabitha. 

13-year-old Isaac is autistic and was diagnosed with autism at …

Baroness Helena Kennedy QC one of Britain's most distinguished lawyers. She has spent her professional life giving voice to those who have least power within the system, championing civil liberties and promoting human …

Habeeb Akande is a sex educator, author and historian. His work explores an ancient African sexual practice for women's satisfaction, which he believes can close the gender pleasure gap. His work also covers race …

Dr Yan Wang Preston is a British-Chinese artist interested in the connections between landscape, ecology, identity and migration. She has specialised …

Andrew Feinstein is a former African National Congress (ANC) Member of Parliament who served in South Africa under Nelson Mandela. He resigned in …

Emeka Onwubiko was the first Nigerian-born footballer to play for the Republic of Ireland and wear the Irish jersey. Today, Emeka is a UEFA Certified Coach coaching inspiring young football players.

On the weekend of …

Indira Kaur Ahluwalia is an activist and entrepreneur turned advisor, coach, and now an author. She’s worked in federal government contracting, …

Jaishree Misra is an author of Indian origin living in Britain. She has written eight novels published by Penguin and Harper Collins. She has also …

Jonah Batambuze is a Ugandan-American, multidisciplinary creative, and founder of a community for Black and South Asian people called the Blindian …

Robin Shohet started his therapeutic career in 1976 working in a residential therapeutic community with people who had come out of psychiatric hospitals. He left in 1979 to work freelance as a therapist, supervisor and …

Eliza Griswold is a journalist, poet and contributing writer for the New Yorker. She was awarded the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in nonfiction for her book, …

Amish Tripathi is a diplomat, author and columnist. He is currently the Director of The Nehru Centre in London, the cultural wing of the Indian High …

"I didn't write politically conscious songs or songs that talked about the skin colour of my first child. I didn't write those things, saying, I'm …

"And I walked away, thinking, right, okay, so this kind of dominant view as a man, that if you have an encounter, that you have to kind of become this alpha male who's gonna kick butt. Even though I spend a lot of work …

"And so, I was brought into this family, who already had two children. They were my parents' biological children, two boys, very white. So, it was …

"There still is an aspect of always having to come out, basically, because the status quo is that you're straight. Therefore, in work and that kind of thing, there's always a bit of friction there when you meet someone …

"Let's say now, you're getting married. You've no relations to call on to come to your wedding. You're aware of that at the time. Then when your first kid is born, you've nobody to ring up and tell -  aunts, uncles or …

"You get respect when you are someone, when you're doing something. When you're no one, people forget you. They forget what you have done for them. They forget who you are, or they even forget what you have done in your …

This is an extended two part episode. Part one is just under half an hour, followed by a brief segue into part two which is approximately twenty …

"We  were told that everyone was butchered, was literally butchered on the  way to India. Now supposing we were there, what would happen? I think it …

"These kids are so privileged...I knew that they were all going to third level education, they're going to be doctors and engineers... I realised that the class structure was so profound and it's developed at that level …

"What I'm saying is, is that because they're not aware of their unconscious bias, they think they actually believe that what they're doing is right... There are a lot of people who disagree with me, not just the people …

"We were exactly the class which filled the Imperial hierarchy...sufficiently well connected to get a place with the East India Company or in the Raj Civil Service, but desperate enough economically to need to send the …

"Others conspire that if you're not cut, you are not clean, nobody will marry you. You are not going to be the same as other girls. You're going to …

"In 2017/2018 I opened a restaurant called Tapestry in New York City that served food from 17 or 18 countries at one time on the menu. And people loved it. It was in the West Village. And we had the who's who of New …

"When I pray five times a day, it's interesting that the way I start my prayers, I refer to God, as the God of all creation. I don't say the God of Muslims, I say the God of all creation which includes everyone on …

"A lot of the young people that I work with, see themselves in a troubled state. But the minute they start engaging with something positive, they have an identity shift, they start to position themselves as an artist. …

Content Warning: This episode deals with material of a sexual nature.

"The Kama Sutra was written in metaphors. And it talks about pleasure  so delicately and with such elegance and refinement that it actually inspired …

"I guess I could see unconscious bias in other people's ideas of a Muslim. You could be White, Asian, Black, you could be from any type of …

"In September 2019, Aditya Atri was defined by what he did for a living, what car he drove, what his status was in society. Post September 2019, Aditya Atri is defined by the fact he has cancer."

Aditya Atri has over 30 …

"I remember going into the Miss England competition being told by my organisers, just go take part -the Asian girls never do  well. And I basically …

"I mean, I say to people in this country, you know, not everybody who voted for Trump is an idiot. There were a lot of smart people who voted for the guy, just look at the numbers. You look in London with Brexit, a lot …

“If you're able to speak many languages, this means you're able to live many lives, or be immersed in many identities.”

“Be the best version of yourself and then the world will adjust to you eventually.”

Dr. Ghida …

“You are different - your accent speaks of privilege. Foreign living and foreign exposure, and therefore you're not authentically one of us is what some people think. Accent can be used to separate people from the …

"What happened to me is that because of unconscious bias, I was stolen from my mother, I was stolen from my family. I was brought up in institutions, …

"I was injured in 2011 while working in Afghanistan. I stepped on a landmine and lost my legs and my arm. I was 39 years old when that happened. And …

"I was at an international conference and had a very interesting conversation with one of the speakers who had walked up to my table. But when I met him outside at the end of the conference,  he was shocked with …

"The minute I would do the role of an educated woman, an affluent person, I will immediately be told either by the director or the camera person or …

"I accepted transgender people, but in my head, and this was something that I wouldn't say to anyone, I sort of thought, oh, isn't that weak to …

"And one thing about our culture that makes it a little challenging for us when we come abroad and places like the UK and the US, some of the biases …

"The colour of my skin marked me out as it didn't matter whether I was an immigrant or from immigrant heritage, it was the colour of my skin that …

"We're all human beings you know, let's just get on. And I think that's where I kind of say brush it off, but able to keep going."

Brendan Gilbert is a born and bred Londoner of West Indian Heritage, who runs a security …

In part two, Anthony Loyd speaks of his experience discovering Shamima Begum in a refugee camp in Syria. “The worst moment for me was of realising how much the focus of rage – for conscious and unconscious bias – that …

Times war correspondent, Anthony Loyd, shares his stories of unconscious bias in regions of conflict, “I'm speaking as someone who is full of …

“I feel when an Indian girl gets married. She doesn't become a wife. She thinks she should become a mother to the man.”

“I always felt small in my …