People are knowledge, and their voices speak of wisdom.
Through OFDN Conversations, we are listening about the tenacity of communities to make language, media and technology work for them, from one inspiring individual at a time.
EPISODES
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Episode 6: Our Majority World
“Third World” and “Developing World” are not our chosen identity!
— DR. SHAHIDUL ALAM
This episode of OFDN Conversations features an interview with noted Bangladeshi photojournalist, activist and writer Shahidul Alam. Recorded during the National Geographic Storytellers Summit 2023 in Washington, it highlights Alam’s journey as a photojournalist who documented the post-liberation political landscape of Bangladesh in the 1980s and eventually became a social justice activist.
Interview / Editing by — SUBHASHISH PANIGRAHI
Episode 5: Lesser-known Languages of North Pakistan
Pakistani language activist ZUBAIR TORWALI is working to revitalize nearly 30 languages of Northern Pakistan, including his own language Torwali.
Episode 4: Imagining a Digital Future for the Santali Language
A group of language activists — MAINA TUDU, R. ASHWANI BANJAN MURMU, MANIK SOREN, FAGU BASKEY and RAMJIT TUDU — from India’s Santal community are a social movement so that their language Santali thrives.
Episode 3: Digitally-Documenting the Sundanese Language and Cultural Heritage
ILHAM NURWANSAH is now on a mission to digitize old text and share encyclopedic information through Wikipedia in his language Sundanese, one of Indonesia’s 800 languages.
Episode 2: Knowledge Commons and the Adivasis
The Black Lives Matter movement inspired ANKUSH VENGURLEKAR and ASHISH BIRULEE to co-found Adivasi Lives Matter, an online platform that trains many young citizen journalists from India who are Adivasi (indigenous), reversing systemic oppression through the caste system.
Episode 1: Indigenous Languages In The Times Of A Pandemic
Noted linguist MANDANA SEYFEDDINIPUR PhD is on a mission to support other linguists and activists worldwide who are documenting languages as audiovisual media, enabling access to critical information for many who are utterly marginalized.