A Year of Listening

This is the song that had us cracking up for the rest of the sessions. We decide to have a whole football (soccer) team of children. Thanks as always to Maya Gurung, Kusum Gurung, the ladies of the Sankhuwasabha Tamu Samaj, and Galbandhi Studios. Watch on YouTube!

These volumes translate the Nepali musician Subi Shah's works about music and dance in his home area of Central Nepal. In addition, they include introductions and annotations that provide historical and ethnographic context; musical notation; and links to audio and video recordings of the material Shah describes and notates.

Binu and her whole family--the podcast is a family operation, with her brother and her sister Minu--were so sweet and welcoming. The trending podcast question in Nepal is apparently "what makes you cry?" She got me this time...watch and see how. Watch the video on YouTube

Our hard work is coming to fruition! Volume 1 of our book of Subi Shah's works is now available! You can find it on the Open Book Publishers site at In this book, performer, educator, and writer Subi Shah presents an essential commentary and analysis of Himalayan folk music and performance. Having documented this musical tradition since the 1960s, Shah has created in-depth analyses of song, dance, music, poetry, and drama within their local and spiritual contexts.

Music and Dances from Central Nepal: The Works of Subi Shah, Volume 1, is now available from Open Book Publishers! Read online or download a PDF for free; options to purchase ePub and print books as well.

Among all the interviews I did in Nepal during these past two months, this one was fun in a different way as it wasn't on video. Nari Magazine's Upasana Ghimire interviewed me, following the usual celebrity profile questions that used to drive me crazy, but this time it was fun. Of course I'm slightly less precise in this summarized interview than I am when I'm representing myself without the filter of anyone else's interpretations, but here you go. A profile of me (in Nepali). Nari Magazine, Bhadra 1, 2083.

Behold, the cover of Music and Dances from Central Nepal: The Works of Subi Shah, Volume I! This volume includes translations of Subi Shah's short autobiography plus three of his works: the article 'Pangdure (Maruni) Folk Dance,' the book Madal, and the book Introduction to Nepali Tunes. Here's a glimpse of the Table of Contents: Coming soon from Open Book Publishers.

As a historian, I’ve studied the major consumer boycotts of history. We can take down ChatGPT and send a powerful signal to Silicon Valley, says author and historian Rutger Bregman

I joined journalist and songwriter Sangeet Srota on his podcast "The Thousand Thoughts" the other day. We talked about my path to learning Nepali and Nepali songs, and the things I have learned about folk and people's music. The full interview can be found on YouTube.

Good news for everyone who was thinking about submitting an abstract on the theme of Mountains in Sound and Motion: The Himalayas and Adjacent Regions in South Asian Expressive Practices. We have r…

We offer high-quality, proficiency-driven courses for 30+ languages for undergraduates, graduate students, adult learners, and rising high school juniors and seniors (online only). Our 8-week…

The Routledge Handbook of South Asian Cinemas is the first collection of original contributions to comprehensively analyze one of the most diverse and prolific cinema-producing regions of the world. I...

YouTube video by Ghintang Ghintang: Nepali Songs and More

Reading room, social service center, innovation lab. How far can we stretch the public library?

The Humanities have always been the canary in the coal mine of the full knowledge industry. What information can help us understand this crisis and its implications?