Hear from the author of my most recommended book for travelers: Beyond Guilt Trips: Mindful Travel in an Unequal World. In part 2 of this interview, Dr. Anu Taranath talks about her motives for writing her book “Beyond Guilt Trips”, the value and importance of stories, and how we can understand guilt and shame in order to move beyond them and build real solidarity. She then explains and unpacks the all to common division between cross cultural engagement “at home” vs. “abroad” and offers tips on how we should think about personal transformation through travel and becoming more thoughtful at home. Anu then talks about the importance of noticing the small moments of everyday joy and reflects on how she has incorporated travel into her parenting. She also unpacks the concept of ‘complexity’ and explains how it can sometimes be used as a tool to illuminate important nuances and at other times be used by powerful interests to obfuscate the way dominant power structures function in order to demobilize opposition and maintain unjust power arrangements. Finally, Anu reflects on what “belonging” means to her today and names the 3 best places in the world to get Indian food outside of the Subcontinent.
355: Mindful Travel In an Unequal World: How to Move Beyond Guilt, Build Solidarity, Challenge Power, Notice Joy, and Find Belonging with Dr. Anu Taranath
Episode Summary
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About the Guest

Dr. Anu Taranath
Dr. Anu Taranath is a racial equity consultant, speaker, author, world traveler, and professor at the University of Washington in Seattle where she teaches on topics of race, identity, power, and belonging. Her scholarship and courses explore multi-ethnic literature, diaspora studies, global ethics, transnational feminism, postcolonial and queer studies, and pedagogy—all through a global lens. She won the University’s Distinguished Teaching Award and has received multiple US Fulbright Fellowships to work abroad. As a consultant she works to deepen conversations on history, harm and healing and has partnered with over 300 clients from National Geographic Society to the Raging Grannies. She is also the author of the award-winning book “Beyond Guilt Trips: Mindful Travel in an Unequal World” which was Newsweek’s “Future of Travel” Winner in Storytelling and was included in Oprah Magazine’s “Best 26 Travel Books of All Time.”
What You'll Learn
- Why we sometimes feel guilt or shame in settings of inequality and how to move beyond it
- How to connect cross-cultural engagement “at home” and “abroad”
- How to be present and notice the small moments of joy even within systems of injustice
Links From the Episode
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LOCATION WHERE THE INTERVIEW TOOK PLACE
- Matt: Asheville, North Carolina
- Anu: Seattle, Washington
#1 BOOK THAT ANU RECOMMENDS
#1 PERSON WITH WHOM ANU WANTS TO HAVE DINNER
TOP 3 TRAVEL DESTINATIONS
TOP 3 BUCKET LIST DESTINATIONS
PLACES IN INDIA MENTIONED
PLACES WITH BEST INDIAN FOOD
PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
OTHER PLACES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Time Stamped Show Notes
**Click the time stamp to jump directly to that point in the episode.
[1:40] Anu’s Motive for Writing Beyond Guilt Trips
[5:39] One of Matt’s Favorite Passages from Anu’s Book
[7:52] The Value and Importance of Stories
[11:38] Understanding Guilt and Shame and How We Can Transcend Them
[16:53] Unpacking divisions between cross-cultural engagement “at home” vs. “abroad”
[20:46] Personal Transformation Through Travel and Becoming More Thoughtful at Home
[24:41] Noticing the Small Moments of Everyday Joy
[30:44] Reflections on Parenting
[35:32] Unpacking “Complexity”
[39:56] How Anu Thinks About “Belonging” Today
[43:18] The Lightning Round
[46:42] How to Find, Follow and Work with Anu