Suswati Basu

“It was almost subconsciously, because I found when much older a folder that I was given at the end of school from a teacher who said: ‘I hope you become a journalist one day and you get to live in China’, and that’s exactly what ended up happening – so, subconsciously, I was always working my way through it, and I had no idea I was doing it.“

Today my guest is Suswati Basu. Suswati is an award-winning journalist, editor and podcast host, with ten years experience in working with various prestigious online and print media organisations, as well as with a number of publications. Suswati is also a strong advocate for women’s and disabled rights and has been involved in this filed via work with numerous human rights organisations across the world. Her podcast How to Be is hugely informative and through its conversations with expert guests, acts as a lighthouse for those who are seeking help and advice for the many problems life throws at us today. There is an honesty throughout the entire podcast, with the listener being the focus, and the lack of hard sell tactics is refreshing. It was a real pleasure chatting with Suswati about her many achievements, so I hope you are sitting comfortably and happy to stay with us.

We began our conversation with me asking Suswati what paths led her to media and journalism (01:37), her time living and working in China (02:52), and why human rights are so important for Saswati in her journalism (06:05). We went from there to chatting in detail about chronic pain and her condition, hereditary neuropathy with pressure palsies (HNPP), (07:02), and about how stress and trauma in humans has changed in the modern era (10:00). Next we talked about Suswati’s podcast How to Be and the concept behind the series (14:03), using social media platforms positively (21:23), and the difficulties in recording the podcast and dealing with nervousness (23:05). On the other side of the episode, our conversation took in the topic of expectations that people have when being creative (28:07), before a detailed discussion about the feminist movement and her work in it (28:57). Towards the end of the episode, I asked Suswati what she is reading and watching at the moment (43:50).

Show Notes

• Suswati on Twitter
• The home page for the How to Be podcast
• How to Be on YouTube
• For more, hear my conversation with Dr. Jennifer Cassidy, Tina Lee and Kim Insuk

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