What's a Man? is a podcast created by Dr. Deepa Narayan, an award-winning writer and researcher. The goal of this 10-episode podcast series is to open up public and compassionate conversations about what it means to be a man in India today. Based on 200 in-depth interviews with middle and upper-class boys and men, including those across the LGBTQIA+ spectrum, the series explores men’s experiences in homes, schools, and offices in the exercise of power and practice of love.
Dr. Narayan is the author of the ground-breaking book, Chup: Breaking The Silence About India's Women - her findings can be seen in her Ted Talk. She was Senior Adviser at the World Bank in Washington, D.C.
She has written 17 books and is the recipient of many awards, including being named as one of the 100 most influential global thinkers by Foreign Policy Magazine in the USA and as one of India's 35 Great Thinkers by India Today.
She is the founder of Chup Circles, safe spaces for women and men to engage in conversations about their own everyday behaviors that perpetuate gender inequalities, and is currently working on her forthcoming research on men and masculinities.