Musiccosmos

Library Text by Sholeen Damarwala Five years ago when Sailaja Joshi was pregnant with her first child, she was surprised by the dearth of relevant and impactful books geared towards Indian-American children. A self-confessed bibliophile with a background in anthropology and sociology and a deep-rooted interest in studying the Indian diaspora, Joshi realised that there was a void in children’s literature about the experiences of Indian-American children. “In the American publishing world, there are five times as many books about dogs, trucks and little boys than there are about children of colour,” she says. “And, when you can’t see yourself reflected in books, the message is clear: you don’t matter.” Determined to change that, Joshi founded Bharat Babies in 2014, a publishing company that aims to fill bookshelves across America with age-appropriate, culturally sensitive and visually vibrant books that tell tales of brown kids growing up in diasporic communities. “Over the l...

On an inspirational episode of After Hours AM/America’s Most Haunted Radio — scintillating paranormal talk Thursdays 9-11pE with hosts Joel Sturgis and Eric Olsen — we delve into reincarnation and timeless love with author Beth Jacobellis, whose new novel Cameo is based on true events. We talk with Beth at 10pE; at 9pE Joel and Eric review the latest paranormal news from the America’s Most Haunted Twitter feed. Cameo The future looms mysteriously in front of Samantha Ricks, who at the young age of twenty-three, finds herself at a crossroads. Driven by boredom and an innocent pursuit of divine intervention, Samantha makes an impromptu visit to Ingrid Eloise Cook, the infamous Chicago psychic. The moment Samantha walks through Ingrid’s door marks the beginning of her tumultuous journey, tainted with Ingrid’s quiet foreboding that nothing that lies ahead of her will be what it seems. As Samantha starts to see Ingrid’s predictions coming true, she finds herself thrust into the fas...