Re-Release: Dr. Varun Soni- An Untethered Soul

Today we re-release one our favorite episodes: Dr. Soni. Listen in to see the origin of Akaash’s epic man crush as we talk with a brilliant man, teacher, and leader. We have talked about Bollywood, we have talked about language, and we have talked about gender: but what about religion? Often, religion is the single biggest influence on how people live their lives. So that lends the question: when we all come from such different faiths, what is the role of religion in the South Asian American community? And not only that, Hinduism (which a majority consider themselves to be a part of) is a decentralized religion with little to no organization, that sometimes can even be called a science of thinking. When their religion is so hard to define, how do members of the Hindu community approach being the standard bearers for their faith in this new world ? To help Akaash and Arjun approach these questions, we welcome the esteemed Dr. Varun Soni. Dr. Soni graduated from Harvard Divinity school and got his phD at the University of Capetown. He is an author, who aside from writing books, edited a journal about Islamic and Near Eastern Law and is currently the Dean of Religious Life at the University of Southern California. In other words, he schooled the s**t out of Akaash and Arjun, and they couldn’t have been more pleased. After the interview Akaash and Arjun engaged in a humbling discussion about our responsibilities as first generation South Asian Americans, and their hope for the future.