On this week’s episode of Talking Radical Radio, I speak with Gurpreet Singh. He puts out a magazine called Radical Desi, a monthly alternative print publication based in Vancouver.
Making grassroots media can be a precarious business. There are lots of exciting initiatives in the Canadian context, varying in age from months to decades, and covering a range of different organizational and financial models, but none have an easy time keeping on keeping on. And in terms of print media, even mainstream publications that have commercial publishing models, mass circulations, and obedient politics are finding it harder and harder to stay afloat.
This is the environment in which Singh — an independent journalist with many years of experience in India and in Canada — launched Radical Desi in April 2014. It’s an ambitious project. The print version is distributed largely in the greater Vancouver area, and to subscribers further afield, and you can also find it online. It comes out monthly, and is a rich combination of feature articles, editorial analysis, and news coverage; of little-known history and under-reported current events; and of integrated attention to a field of political concern that spans South Asia and Turtle Island. Singh tells me about the founding of the magazine, about the ground it has covered so far, and about some of the challenges of making radical media in an inhospitable environment.
To learn more about Radical Desi, click here.
Talking Radical Radio brings you grassroots voices from across Canada. We give you the chance to hear many different people that are facing many different struggles talk about what they do, why they do it, and how they do it, in the belief that such listening is a crucial step in strengthening all of our efforts to change the world. To learn more about the show in general, visit its website here. You can learn about suggesting topics for future shows here.
Talking Radical Radio is brought to you by Scott Neigh, a writer, media producer, and activist based in Sudbury, Ontario, and the author of two books examining Canadian history through the stories of activists.
