We Have an Issue: Putting It Down for Posterity
75 years after Partition, Neha Aziz excavates family history and firsthand accounts for a 10-part podcast series
By Kimberley Jones, Fri., Aug. 12, 2022
We've had quite a few talents come through our internship program over the years, but very few of them have ever landed on our cover – a distinction this week's cover subject, Neha Aziz, can now lay claim to.
Culture Editor Richard Whittaker (intern class of 2006) spoke with Neha (2013-2014) on the occasion of her new 10-part podcast series, Partition, an exploration of the tumultuous division of British India into India and Pakistan, informed by Neha's own family history.
Says Richard: "This is one of the most important things that happened in the last 100 years, and there's an astonishing number of people who don't realize what even happened." Little taught in American public schools, partition was part of Richard's education in the United Kingdom. He came to the States in 2005, another point of connection with Neha, who emigrated with her family from Pakistan when she was a child. Any émigré's identity will surely be shaped by where they came from; how much more complicated that must have been for the 20 million displaced in 1947. As Richard succinctly puts it, "What do you identify as if your country doesn't exist anymore?"
Read more about Neha's journey to making the podcast right here, and listen in when Partition's first episode drops Aug. 15.
German reporter Christoph Farkas, 33, will be a guest of the Chronicle for the next two months; he's a fellow of the Burns program and our third visiting journalist from Germany in 10 years. He lives in Hamburg, which he tells me has an amazing lake in the center of the town that isn't actually a lake. (Sound familiar?)
Christoph covers cultural and social topics for the young magazine of Die Zeit. If you have a story that might be interesting for him or his German readers, or suggestions for where he can find good bread in Austin, write him at [email protected].
The 32nd annual Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival returns to Far Out Lounge this year on Sept. 11 and will feature hundreds of face-melting hot suaces and live music performance by Luna Luna, TC Superstar, Mama Duke, and KindKeith, with DJ McPullish spinning records all afternoon. Get more info on this year's fest here.
ONLINE THIS WEEK
R.I.P. James "Prince" Hughes: Marc Savlov eulogizes the Atomic City owner and Austin punk luminary, who passed away Aug. 4 from complications of lymphoma.
TribFest Lineup Swells: New speakers announced this week for the September politico gathering include California Governor Gavin Newsom, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Sen. Ted Cruz.
Jazz at Pride: Musician Bryan Carter brings his celebration of LGBTQ jazz artists to Austin.
A Fake Disease That Saved Real Lives: Richard Whittaker chats with Stephen Edwards, director of World War II documentary Syndrome K, about how an Italian Catholic hospital hid Jews from the Nazis.
Tim Doyle's "Unreal Estate": Cloud Tree Gallery hosts a 10-year retrospective of Doyle's first solo art show at San Francisco's Spoke Art Gallery.
