Middle Fingers Up
Welcome to Middle Fingers Up, the show where we keep our heads high and our middle fingers higher. We explore relationships, mental health and everything in between. Join me, Kiran Randhawa on the journey to learn, grow and find our voice.
Episodes
Healing as South Asians often means navigating a mental health system shaped by whiteness — one that often fails to see us. After parting ways with a white friend who is also a therapist, I began questioning: is it that we resist help, or that the help we’re offered was never built for us?
And here’s the harder truth: many working within this system — including people of colour — don’t fully recognize how deeply whiten...
It’s just you and me in this It’s Good To Gup Shup segment — a space for reflection, reclamation, and real talk. This episode was sparked by Sinners, a film that made me feel seen in someone else’s story. And that whisper of huge validation? It stayed in my bones.
From Late Bloomer and Mo to Monkey Man, we’re talking about the daily contradictions of being brown in a white world. We’re finally putting language to those...
I sit down with Dr. Ami, a holistic hormone pharmacist who’s not just a clinician — she’s lived the journey. From missed periods and persistent acne to the emotional weight of feeling dismissed, she knows firsthand what many South Asian women silently endure.
Together, we unpack the deep and often overlooked intersections of hormones, healing, and honesty — and explore what PCOS is really costing South Asian ...
In this deeply moving episode, we sit with Reshma — a mother of three, widow, and mindfulness coach — as she opens up about the unimaginable loss of her husband to suicide. Together, we explore what it means to stay present in the deepest pain, to mother through heartbreak, and to speak honestly about mental health in a world that often whispers when it should be listening.
Reshma doesn’t offer tidy answers —...
In this soulful and tender conversation, I sit down with Salima Saxton — relational dynamics coach, writer, performer, and co-host of the Women Are Mad podcast. Together, we unpack the quiet truths women carry — the roles we’ve played, the selves we’ve tucked away, and the longing to feel fully seen.
Salima reflects on how often she was "very, very busy making it all right for everybody else," and how &q...
This week on Middle Fingers Up, we’re holding space for a powerful voice during Ovarian Cancer Awareness Day — Alvina Nadeem, a South Asian woman, mother, wife, AI innovator, keynote speaker, and cancer survivor who reminds us that survival isn’t just about staying alive, but about reclaiming our voice.
She shares the mantra she carried as an immigrant woman in a male-dominated field — “I’ll show them” — and how t...
Loss is more than death — it’s the quiet grief of losing a homeland, a friendship, a relationship, trust, emotional safety, or even parts of ourselves we didn’t know we had to say goodbye to.
In this powerful conversation with Palak, a Grief and Loss Recovery Specialist, we explore how "grief is love" and how we can honor all types of loss. Palak reminds us that "no emotion is good or bad" and share...
What happens when two Indian women—from different parts of the world—sit down to talk about parenting, patriarchy, and psychiatry? In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Sidhana, a psychiatrist based in India, for a cross-continental conversation rooted in truth-telling, compassion, and curiosity.
We reflect on what it means to be raised in systems where “the stricter the parent, the more rebellious the child,” and how “ch...
What happens when you finally find the words for what you've been carrying your whole life? "Suddenly, I had language for things that I'm experiencing." That’s the power of sitting down with someone like Tony Nabors, a racial equity educator and truth-teller who doesn’t just talk about systems—he helps us feel and understand them.
In this raw and unfiltered episode, we talk about what it m...
In this unapologetically real conversation, I sit down with Mohini, a Holistic Relationship Coach for Ranis, who guides Desi divorcees to reclaim their power and rewrite their relationship stories. After a 14-year marriage, Mohini has come face-to-face with the complexities of cultural expectations, self-worth, and the fear of being alone. She’s now on a mission to help others find freedom and joy on their own terms.<...
What happens when we try to understand South Asian mental health through a Western lens? We end up feeling lost—told to cut ties instead of repair them, to heal alone instead of within community. But healing was never meant to be an individual pursuit.
In this conversation with Astha, we start scratching the surface—getting curious about what it would take to truly decolonize mental health. How do we challeng...
Music Media Personality and Multimedia Creative, LaToya Elle, joins us to share her journey of blending storytelling with a passion for amplifying Canadian artists. We dive into the artists on her radar, the challenges of being a Black woman in the industry, and the future of music media. LaToya opens up about the power of representation, the stories that matter most, and why true support goes beyond the spotlight. Pl...
What happens when we’re taught that curiosity about sexuality is shameful? And how do colonial histories still shape the way we talk—or don’t talk—about sex today? In this compelling episode, we sit down with Carine Abou Dahab, a sexologist passionate about breaking the silence and unlearning the shame surrounding sexuality.
Together, we explore the lasting effects of sexual imperialism and colonization, uncovering how...
Moving to a new country comes with challenges—feeling isolated, questioning if you're good enough, and pushing through rejection. But for Palak, every challenge became an opportunity. From starting a job as a newcomer to building a thriving art studio, her journey is a testament to resilience, stepping outside comfort zones, and trusting the process.
In this episode, Palak shares how she connected with I...
What does healing look like when the systems around us were never built for us? In this episode of Middle Fingers Up, we sit down with writer, mental health advocate, and early childhood educator Ishaa Vinod Chopra, author of Finding Order in Disorder: A Bipolar Memoir. Ishaa shares her journey with bipolar disorder, the stigma surrounding mental health in South Asian communities, and how working with young children h...
In this brief Gup Shup, we talk about the challenges of taking care of your health while managing a small team or working solo. We'll discuss the guilt that comes with taking a sick day, especially as a child of immigrants who feel the weight of their parents' sacrifices. It's crucial to prioritize your well-being, how to manage the guilt of not working or completing tasks when you're unwell not co...
Welcome back Dr. Anne Hussain, Naturopathic doctor, period literacy advocate, and author of The Period Literacy Handbook. Dr. Anne shares both her personal and professional experience with PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome), breaking down why it’s a full-body condition that affects more than just periods.
We explore how PCOS presents differently in every body, why misdiagnosis is so common, and the systemic ga...
Welcome Vishal Aheer, Fitness Trainer! In this episode, we put our middle fingers up to outdated fitness myths and explore how shifting to functional movement can help us build real strength, longevity, and confidence.
We’ve been conditioned to believe that fitness is about chasing a certain look —smaller, bigger, leaner, more “toned.” This mindset fuels anxiety, overwhelms us, and makes many feel defeated be...
Part 5 of The Angry Brown Girl Club Series:
Welcome to part 5/5 of the "Angry Brown Girl Club" Series. Over the last four episodes, we’ve unpacked the deep-seated power dynamics and historical patterns that shape relationships between white women and women of color. We’ve explored the ways whiteness is protected, the contradictions that arise in friendships, workplaces, and advocacy spaces, and the uncomforta...
Part 4 of The Angry Brown Girl Club Series:
Welcome to part 4/5 of the "Angry Brown Girl Club" series. In this episode, we get into how to recognize, the power imbalances between white women and women of color, focusing on accountability and the importance of being open to call-ins. We'll address the shock value of "I didn't know," and discuss how to recognize privilege and come ...
Popular Podcasts
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
History is beautiful, brutal and, often, ridiculous. Join Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown as they dive into some of the weirdest stories from across the span of human civilization in Ridiculous History, a podcast by iHeartRadio.
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis, to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.