Anand Vedawala! on Please Hang Out With Me, Episode 2

“I went into engineering because there was that expectation of becoming a doctor or an engineer, and I thought, ‘I can’t be a doctor! I would feel horrible if I killed someone — directly!’ Engineering, bad design, indirectly killing someone? I didn’t feel so bad about that. I didn’t! I didn’t. But.”

Anand Vedawala, PHOWM’s second guest, has been running San Francisco Zine Fest since 2018 while ALSO being a public elementary school teacher and ALSO ALSO being a fixture of the Bay Area queer-POC literary scene?? And before all that, he was an engineer AND an animator???? Me, I got tired just typing that all out.

Topics in this episode include: having your whole life mapped out in high school and then realizing you have a crush on a (straight) boy; becoming aware of social privilege by returning to your country of birth; bringing zines to the Women’s March; differences between queer culture in the US and India; getting used to disappointing your family by being honest about yourself (though they do sometimes apologize later); the joys of being a teacher of color; what the baby is regurgitating. Thank you Anand! anandvedawala.com


Please Hang Out With Me: A Show About Constraints is a talk show where Channing Kennedy tries to have smart conversations with people he respects while simultaneously trying to manage a baby.

cover art by Carta Monir
opening theme is ‘elaine’ by kendall :3
Season One underwritten by Art/Work Practice, LLC
PHOWM on Instagram @pleasehangoutwithme
Channing on Twitter @ckdotbiz

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