Fungi Monkey Podcast #1 - Dr Jaspal Singh: Transcultural Teachings, Quantification and Othering

On the first episode of the Fungi Monkey Podcast, Johnny Vedmore speaks with Dr Jaspal Naveel Singh about transcultural questions, racializastion, the quantification of everything, and they discuss the most loaded question in everyday society, where are you from?

Recently launching a book titled: Transcultural Voices: Narrating Hip Hop Culture in Complex Delhi, Dr Jaspal Naveel Singh uses sociolinguist and linguistic ethnographer to study cultural impacts on our ever growing world. His PhD thesis explored voice and narrative in hip hop dance, music and art in Delhi, India.

Dr Singh has taught at the University of Hong Kong, Cardiff University and at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany. Jaspal takes inspiration from sociolinguistics, discourse studies, classic western and eastern philosophy, hip hop and other Black diasporic traditions, to arrive at a type of research that complexifies standard approaches in the social sciences and problematises research ethics and common-sense writing strategies.

Warning: This conversation is very honest and open, it may offend those who are looking to be offended.

To read the introduction to Jaspal's new book please follow this link (Acedemia.edu will require you to go through a simple sign up process):

https://www.academia.edu/57746556/Singh_Jaspal_Naveel_2022_Transcultural_Voices_Narrating_Hip_Hop_Culture_in_Complex_Delhi_Introduction?source=swp_share

Some of the thoughts and notes Johnny took from the Podcast:

Where are you from? is: Are you other? (If you're asked that question and you feel awkward, try responding by asking that person to guess. You can learn a lot about someone from their response. Not everyones intentions are good, but also not everyones intentions are bad, give people their opportunity to show themselves).

White working class need to have their own class struggle that does not discriminate and can targets the people who are really keeping them disenfranchised.
(Really felt that this conversation is important to have).

Language is a never stopping for us to catch up, it is constantly being created and evolving. We can use language to create new alternatives to our own reality. For the most part, it is our choice what words we decide to use.

Coming Next: Episode #2 of the Fungi Monkey will be with Monkfish Thomas, where he and Johnny will talk about him growing up as a Jehovah's Witness, the wider church structure, prophecy and "The Work".