Overthinking Pros(e): Recent Episodes
Overthinking Prose
Hi there! Join Marriyum and Naqiya, a bunch of twenty-something year olds, as they discuss their extensively overthought rambles, from feminism to religion, to diversity and so much more. This podcast was created as a platform not only to voice their thoughts on issues close to heart, but also to learn and connect with you. Reach out to them on @overthinkingprose for questions and feedback :)
Boy, this week’s episode is a good one! We talk about all things talk therapy; Naqiya has been in talk therapy for the past few months and shares how her first session went (whether there was any prep work involved or not), why she started (loneliness, feeling down) and how she has changed so far (hint: the work never stops!). If you’re waiting for a sign to start therapy, this is it. This is us telling you to get started. And if you’re curious to understand what the big fuss is, tune in. We won’t disappoint.
In today’s episode, we have the pleasure of interviewing Sabrina Bhatti, a writer and researcher of minority and human rights in Pakistan, who is also a friend of Marriyum’s. Sabrina belongs to the Christian community in Pakistan, whereby the Christian community represents a minority religious group. We discuss the discrimination she’s faced growing up and in the present day and the intersectionality between and within religious groups in Pakistan. It was such an eye opener for us and we thank Sabrina for her openness and courage. This episode is Part 1 of our conversation with her, stay tuned for Part 2!
Throw away culture is on the rise and it’s quickly harming the Earth; with consumerism and capitalism such intricate fabrics of our society and worldly culture, comes over-consumption and wastage from plastics to food, clothes and technology. Marriyum shares how she got deeply interested (and frustrated) by throw away culture, how wastage has become a part of our lives and why it’s important to be mindful and intentional over our consumption of resources in order to reduce the burden imposed on humanity and nature.
Marriyum’s research was based on the following articles:
https://www.sciencehistory.org/the-history-and-future-of-plastics
https://theecologist.org/2017/sep/26/our-obsolescent-economy-modern-capitalism-and-throwaway-culture
https://e360.yale.edu/features/in-pandemic-recovery-efforts-polluting-industries-are-winning-big
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/20/plastic-bags-have-lobbyists-winning-100587
https://echa.europa.eu/substances-restricted-under-reach/-/dislist/details/0b0236e1807e30f9
Eating disorders are extremely challenging to grapple with for the person living through it and for their support system. It affects approximately 9% of the global population, yet not greatly understood by society and therefore not spoken about enough.
In today’s episode, we speak about Naqiya’s personal experience living with an eating disorder throughout her teenage years, how it is more of a mental illness than anything else, and how society has exacerbated the way in which we see ourselves. The examples provided are based on our personal experiences and observations and not meant to generalise, offend or discriminate.
Trigger warning: This episode goes in-depth about anorexia nervosa, so if this is a trigger for you, you may want to skip this one.
Mental health, a concept not well understood and often shamed and yet affects multiple aspects of our life. Mental health includes our emotional, psychological and social well-being and although thought of as separate to physical health, is actually more closely linked to our physicality than most realise.
We speak to Luke S, a friend of Marriyum’s, about his journey to confronting his mental health, and his experience with depression. We discuss at range and length about the (self) shame and judgement that makes it hard for us to seek help, our experiences with therapy, and why it’s so necessary to talk about it with the people around us.
Everyone goes through periods of their lives where they struggle with anxiety, depression, loneliness and many other emotions that are heavy to carry alone. Although we are not medical experts, we are strong advocates for de-stigmatizing issues and instances that are very human and very normal to go through. Our IG DM’s at @overthinkingprose are always open if you’d like a chat!
Today’s episode takes us on a proper biology lesson on hormonal cycles! For most of our adult life, both of us were unaware of the infradian rhythm; a 28 day hormonal cycle that regulates everything from reproduction, to immunity to our brain processes. Why should you listen to this one? Because most of us aren’t living in accordance with what our bodies truly need. The health advice we receive from experts are mainly based on studies conducted on men, and not menstruating people, which means that those health studies do not benefit us as much as they should. Tune in to hear the prelim research around the infradian rhythm and how we should sync our lifestyle to our hormonal cycle to maximise health benefits.
Catch Alissa Vitti, of Flo Living, at IF YOU HAVE FEMALE HORMONES, LISTEN TO THIS w/ Alissa Vitti at https://open.spotify.com/episode/6oMtGiE5on1Mrwu6zJVmsl?si=351a35bbf70e4512
Links to articles referenced in the episode:
https://www.womensbrainproject.com/womens-second-body-clock/
https://www.kindara.com/blog/the-battle-of-cortisol-and-progesterone
https://www.floliving.com/infradian-rhythm/
https://www.verywellmind.com/how-your-energy-changes-on-your-menstrual-cycle-5115670
Oh Istanbul, how we miss you so! We are still in lockdown and sorely missing the travel scene, where we made a short trip to Istanbul back in the good ol’ pre-COVID days. We take you down memory lane and reminisce about the highlights, lowlights and overall itinerary of our little getaway. Pictures coming your way on the Gram, don't miss out, follow us at @overthinkingprose
Disclaimer: the descriptions we make in this episode are based off our personal experiences and observations throughout the trip, and we do not intend to generalise or offend.
Today’s episode marks a very special one for us; we have on the show our very first podcast guest!! We welcome Jasmine Khatri with open arms as she brings us through her experience visiting Xinjiang, China, her interactions with the local Uyghurs and her thoughts on the ongoing Uyghur genocide. Jasmine is also a business owner and runs Writing for Change, a premium letter writing service that assists individuals in letter writing to Members of Parliament, and The Bae Collective, an online platform dedicated to increasing British Asian involvement in environmental protection and engagement. You may catch her on Instagram at @the_bae_collective and @_writingforchange.
Jasmine has also documented her Xinjing experience on her blog- https://education4girls.wordpress.com/2019/01/29/xinjiang-is-a-good-place/
Our research was primarily taken from the links below:
https://theconversation.com/explainer-who-are-the-uyghurs-and-why-is-the-chinese-government-detaining-them-111843
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/chinas-repression-uyghurs-xinjiang
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/06/08/middleeast/uyghur-arab-muslim-china-disappearances-cmd-intl/index.html
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/language-07282017143037.html
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14631369.2020.1819201
We’ve noticed for a while how veganism has mainly been misunderstood and shied upon in society, but with strong evidence suggesting why the meat industry and its consumption is environmentally damaging and morally unethical, Marriyum explains how she transitioned from eating meat to veganism, the prejudice she’s faced and why we should all make the switch. Marriyum also holds an Instagram account specifically on her vegan journey, follow her at @corn_scientious
For your extra reading, you may refer to:
https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S0195666319306324?token=5D8B5371F97954B0DF9AC158DA01CAD662137A77175AD318B2963EE3126062BB27E9AD9E6EDF7B643BAA67DF5DAD7C95&originRegion=eu-west-1&originCreation=20210612193910
https://www.ciwf.org.uk/farm-animals/cows/veal-calves/
https://unfccc.int/process/transparency-and-reporting/greenhouse-gas-data/greenhouse-gas-data-unfccc/global-warming-potentials
FAO - News Article: Key facts and findings
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/360/6392/987/F1.large.jpg?width=800&height=600&carousel=1
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature13959#Tab7 https://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6392/987
As Asians, both Marriyum and I have become more ‘woke’ about the irrational sense of inferiority we feel as compared to other races, more prominently the white race. We grew up exposed to lots of Western media and placing the Western lifestyle onto an unhealthy pedestal; not only that, we realised that we weren’t alone in our thinking! We explore some of the world occurrences that may have led to this complex, our personal experiences dealing with our insecurities, how lack of diversity and inclusion in the Western media has affected us and why Hollywood is complicit.
For references to our our research, check out the below:
Links:
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/02/03/media/netflix-asia-expansion-intl-hnk/index.html
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2016/11/30/white-supremacys-inferiority-complex
https://www.britannica.com/summary/Western-colonialism
https://www.ablison.com/pros-and-cons-of-colonialism/
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/01/how-globalization-4-0-fits-into-the-history-of-globalization/
https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-american-dream-3/
https://www.ft.com/content/ca2e8368-48e6-11ea-aeb3-955839e06441
Today’s episode is dedicated to acknowledging and honouring the atrocities and struggles faced by the Palestininan people, as Marriyum takes us on a comprehensive history lesson on the Palestine-Israel relationship. We start from World War 1, and take you through the multiple wars and displacements imposed by Israel onto the Palestinians. We end with the current living situation in Palestine, and our thoughts on the on-goings today. This episode is a heavy one, but extremely beneficial in understanding the extent of which Palestine has been violated throughout the years.
The links below were used in Marriyum’s research, feel free to check them out:
https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/04/27/threshold-crossed/israeli-authorities-and-crimes-apartheid-and-persecution
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2017/11/the-occupation-of-water/
https://interactive.aljazeera.com/aje/2018/commuting-through-israeli-checkpoints/index.html
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2018/11/2/more-than-a-century-on-the-balfour-declaration-explained
https://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/foreignpolicy/peace/guide/pages/un%20general%20assembly%20resolution%20181.aspx
https://imeu.org/article/plan-dalet
https://youtu.be/H7FML0wzJ6A
https://youtu.be/GhgRS6zLBiE
https://youtu.be/89GVWT-Dbys
https://youtu.be/K1VTt_THL4A
Long distance friendships are hard, and with rapid globalisation, perhaps something everyone will have to face over the course of their relationships. With both of us having friends far and near, we dive deep into how long distance friendships have shaped us, swap notes on how to sustain friendships of this nature, being inundated with text messages and our thoughts on the future of relationships in the post pandemic world.
If you’re interested in understanding the core differences between Sunni and Shia Islam, this is the episode for you! Naqiya takes us through her experience living as a Shia Muslim in a predominantly Sunni Islam world and how we should progress to become more tolerant of each other.
Ismailism branched out between the 10th (900’s) and 12th (1100’s) centuries, instead of the mentioned 1200’s. To read more on the subject, please visit https://www.iis.ac.uk/encyclopaedia-articles/ismaili-history
Most of the information provided are approximate figures, please do not consider them 100% factual.
In our inaugural episode, we discuss an issue very close to heart; how women are viewed in and treated by society. We provide some personal anecdotes of our experiences as women, explore the why behind the patriarchy and dissect how men really do benefit from the feminist movement. Enjoy!
*Information deemed as factual are mainly based off our personal experiences and we do not intend to generalise or misinform.