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New Roundglass India Center podcast to delve into community issues
The series will examine U.S.–India relations, diaspora politics and civic life.
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Staff Reporter - Wed, 21, Jan 2026
- 14:50 EST
- 27
Hyphen: Indian- American Dialogues / Roundglass India Center
Seattle University’s Roundglass India Center launched a new video podcast series focused on examining the political, social and civic questions shaping the Indian American community in the United States.
The Hyphen: Indian-American Dialogues, podcast series builds on the Center’s earlier podcast, Desi Roots & Routes, and shifts focus to contemporary debates around U.S.–India relations, diaspora politics and transnational civic life.
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Hosted by Sital Kalantry, founding director of the Roundglass India Center, the series brings scholars, policy experts and community leaders into conversation on issues facing one of the fastest-growing and most politically visible diasporas in the country.
The first episode, Should Indian Americans Lobby the U.S. Government on Behalf of India?, examines a debate sparked by Indian Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor, who recently criticised Indian Americans for not lobbying the U.S. government more forcefully in support of India.
In the episode, Kalantry is joined by Kapil Sharma, senior lead of the Roundglass Foundation’s Global India Collective, who draws on his experience working on U.S.–India relations in government and on Capitol Hill to discuss why Indian American political engagement cannot follow a single-lobby model and why such advocacy must be inclusive, bipartisan and grounded in U.S. domestic priorities.
The discussion also revisits comparisons between Indian American political advocacy and the Jewish American lobby, outlining differences in history, demographics, civic infrastructure and internal cohesion between the two communities.
A second episode, Anti-Indian Hate: Why is it Happening and Why Now?, is scheduled for release next and will focus on the rise in anti-Indian and anti-South Asian hate in the United States.
That episode will feature Manjusha Kulkarni, executive director of the AAPI Equity Alliance and co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate, and will examine recent incidents of violence, harassment and vandalism, as well as the role of political rhetoric and immigration debates in shaping the current climate.
The launch of The Hyphen expands the Roundglass India Center’s podcast portfolio, which includes Desi Roots & Routes, a series that recently received a 2025 Bronze Signal Award for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.
The Roundglass India Center, based at Seattle University, was founded by Sital Kalantry and focuses on studying contemporary India and the Indian American community, fostering understanding, promoting dialogue and advancing public engagement on issues affecting the diaspora.
Discover more at New India Abroad.
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