Tossing Pennies

the loss of individuality in a culture obsessed with it

The obsession with individuality just spills out in nearly everything on social media and beyond. Today, I talk about how this obsession may be tricking us into thinking we are being our most individual self, when really we are losing the ability to just be an individual. I also talk a little about the larger social consequence of this loss of individuality and how it plays a role in political manipulation. Mentioned: Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi

critiquing how I think we think

I was recently thinking a lot more about why I think the way I think. This episode vaguely explores what that even means as I question how our perceptions change with age, what prompts the change, and why humans can seem so stuck in their modes of thought. Mentions: The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy Vox Conversations Podcast - Why we can’t pay attention anymore (February 7) Vox Conversations Podcast - Imagine a future with no police (January 20)

talking about little women (the 2019 one)

“It’s not girl gets boy, it’s girl gets book.” I simply rant about Greta Gerwig’s Little Women for nearly an hour.

academic culture

"I don't want a nation of thinkers. I want a nation of workers." It's been over a century since Rockefeller shared this unpleasant remark and the weight of those words can still be felt today. In this episode, I share some of my biggest grievances with our current academic culture, the structures that I believe have sustained the system, and what it could mean to re-think it all.

Hello!

Hi, I'm Ayesha! And this is just me saying hello and letting you know I'm so excited you're here and listening.