Yes! Apt reference. We also have Lakshmi Gandhi, former member/writer for Sepia Mutiny, writing a few stories — coming soon!
41 karma · joined October 5, 2018
The people who pay us now do believe we’re doing good work. I have been paying for books and health since I have been little and I do think both allow me to support great writers and health practitioners to be better at what they do. That said I do believe everyone should have a right to access information and health and one day we’ll be able to accommodate that business model. Right now all our revenue goes directly to our journalists.
Our mission is to tell untold South Asian stories, not just positive or feel-good ones. Some of what we write actually challenge existing theories, for example: is Netflix actually changing storytelling in India? Did Bohemian Rhapsody tell Freddie Mercury's story well? What does Hari Kondabolu have to say about a post-Apu world?
We're not selling our specific views of South Asia but rather soliciting stories from our writers and audience and sharing multi-faceted views. We welcome stories from all political views and walks of life. We started with a paywall to be able to pay our journalists well.
> No matter what anyone tells you, you do get to pick your identity. Don't let anyone convince you that you are incomplete if you are not in touch with your ancestral heritage.
Hi — there's a lot of wisdom in this post and I find the term 'third culture kid' fascinating. I agree with you that 'culture' and 'identity' is far more multifaceted than just your race, ethnicity, or parents' heritage. I think we all create our own cultures. And that's the beauty of it today: folks are going deep on different parts of who they are. Some of it might be their ancestral heritage. Some of it might be the culture of how they did school. By no means are we trying to dictate 'culture.'
What we've found from the stories we've published is that people relate to them. For example, our story on Netflix in India is about writers struggling to pitch their ideas — something many entrepreneurs can relate to, not just writers.
Not every story will speak to everyone in the same way because we are all different, but by archiving the stories that we think might not be told otherwise, and paying journalists well so that we as a society don't continue to devalue great writing, we are hoping to create a space where these stories resonate, for whatever reason that might be.
I do hear your fear of folks co-opting this human need for power. We definitely don't want that in our community.
We do want The Juggernaut share the best parts (and also call out where we need to improve) about South Asian heritage to a global audience.
I would argue that more and more of us actually don’t see ourselves as just Indian or American. More of us see ourselves as multidimensional and want to go deep on some of parts of our identity so that we can understand our place in the world as a global citizen.
Instead, we as humans need to challenge and celebrate our cultures and it's hard to undo or clear the slate of culture, too. Being South Asian does come with its own traumas — and every culture and group has this. By discussing this group’s nuances, we hope to open it up to the world. We also have found several of our readers are not South Asian, and by reading The Juggernaut, they realize how alike we are, not how different. In that way, it’s the opposite of balkanization.
I'd love to continue the conversation and figure out what stories you think we can cover that will help ensure we don't balkanize.
To get a better sense of our stories, you can visit thejuggernaut.com/articles, which I think is far better designed. We're working on changing our landing page right now and our site is definitely a work in progress.
As per YC tradition, we wanted to launch early rather than get it perfect. We've also heard that if we're not embarrassed by what we've built, we've launched too late.
Our product at the end of the day isn't just the site (though it is part of it), it's the journalism. And we don't compromise on that. Do read a few of our stories there — I'd love to know what you think.
Thanks a ton for sharing your words — interesting perspective re: The New Yorker for South Asians. Especially since when I first met you six years ago, you were a senior engineer there. If we can consistently pull off that quality, I'm excited to reach an even bigger audience.
If you want to read the latest free newsletter Lenny mentioned, you can go here: https://mailchi.mp/inkmango/our-weekly-roundup-pulwama-crisi...
> We don't want to shy away from issues like caste. We have a piece coming up on the 'myth of the model minority' and want to talk about how caste politics determined the diaspora's fate in its adopted homes > In terms of being a diverse region, very very true. One of the ways we think we can solve this is by publishing stories that highlights this diversity. We have a story coming up on Kabul Dreams, an Afghan rock band. We have one about Sri Lankan dating. Not intending to make it seem like we're promoting homogeneity. Do check out our stories at thejuggernaut.com/articles and let us know more story ideas we should be covering.
Recently, the likes of BuzzFeed and HuffPo have all been having layoffs because the ad model has become broken in media. What other business models have you seen that you find interesting?