5: Rona Akbari Misses Weather Talk

For our season finale, Warriors reporter Kerith Burke sends us on a quest to find people who share her name. Pit stops include: a prolific novelist, an encounter with Oprah, and a complicated relationship with people named Keith. Episode transcript available here.You can find more of Kerith Burke's work on Instagram, Twitter, and Bluesky @KerithBurke. You can find us on Instagram @namedroppingpod or send us an email at [email protected] is hosted by Giri Nathan and Samer Kalaf, and produced by Ozzy Llinas Goodman. Our editor is Justin Ellis, and our supervising producer is Alex Sujong Laughlin. Our production assistant is Jae Towle Vieira.Defector Media is a collectively owned, subscriber-based media company. If you love this podcast and want to support us, subscribe at defector.com.

Historian Edward Onaci talks about naming practices in the Black Power Movement, how hip hop influenced his academic interests, and why sometimes the sound of a name is just as important as its literal meaning. Episode transcript available here.You can find more of Edward’s work on Instagram @onaci7. You can also read more about his research in his book, Free the Land. You can find us on Instagram @namedroppingpod or send us an email at [email protected] is hosted by Giri Nathan and Samer Kalaf, and produced by Ozzy Llinas Goodman. Our editor is Justin Ellis, and our supervising producer is Alex Sujong Laughlin. Our production assistant is Jae Towle Vieira.Defector Media is a collectively owned, subscriber-based media company. If you love this podcast and want to support us, subscribe at defector.com.

Naveen Kundanmal (now Farrani!) talks about legal name changes, a spooky encounter at a taco place, and following in their mom’s footsteps by changing their whole entire name. Episode transcript available here.You can find more of Naveen's work on Instagram @HotTubTimeNaveen. You can learn more about Equality Texas's work at equalitytexas.org or across social media platforms @EqualityTexas. You can find us on Instagram @namedroppingpod or send us an email at [email protected] is hosted by Giri Nathan and Samer Kalaf, and produced by Ozzy Llinas Goodman. Our editor is Justin Ellis, and our supervising producer is Alex Sujong Laughlin. Our production assistant is Jae Towle Vieira.Defector Media is a collectively owned, subscriber-based media company. If you love this podcast and want to support us, subscribe at defector.com.

Psychologist Xian Zhao talks about using his own name in his research, going by the nickname “WTO,” and why pronouncing people’s names correctly is so important. Episode transcript available here.You can find more of Xian's work on Google Scholar. You can find us on Instagram @namedroppingpod or send us an email at [email protected] is hosted by Giri Nathan and Samer Kalaf, and produced by Ozzy Llinas Goodman. Our editor is Justin Ellis, and our supervising producer is Alex Sujong Laughlin. Our production assistant is Jae Towle Vieira.Defector Media is a collectively owned, subscriber-based media company. If you love this podcast and want to support us, subscribe at defector.com.

Writer Thomas Dai talks about the many places baked into his name, an infamous instance of literary yellowface, and how labels can create structure in our lives. Episode transcript available here.You can find more of Thomas's work on his website, thomasndai.com. You can find us on Instagram @namedroppingpod or send us an email at [email protected] is hosted by Giri Nathan and Samer Kalaf, and produced by Ozzy Llinas Goodman. Our editor is Justin Ellis, and our supervising producer is Alex Sujong Laughlin. Our production assistant is Jae Towle Vieira.Defector Media is a collectively owned, subscriber-based media company. If you love this podcast and want to support us, subscribe at defector.com.

Cartoonist Alli Katz talks about giving her kids the coolest names possible, her alternate life as Allison Williams, and how her name made her funnier. Episode transcript available here.You can find more of Alli's work on Instagram @allikatz. You can find us on Instagram @namedroppingpod or send us an email at [email protected] is hosted by Giri Nathan and Samer Kalaf, and produced by Ozzy Llinas Goodman. Our editor is Justin Ellis, and our supervising producer is Alex Sujong Laughlin. Our production assistant is Jae Towle Vieira.Defector Media is a collectively owned, subscriber-based media company. If you love this podcast and want to support us, subscribe at defector.com.

Comedian Sridhar Ramesh talks about family nicknames, tongue pronunciation exercises, and what happens when other people take your name more seriously than you do. Episode transcript available here.You can find more of Sridhar’s work on Twitter @radishharmers. You can find us on Instagram @namedroppingpod or send us an email at [email protected] is hosted by Giri Nathan and Samer Kalaf, and produced by Ozzy Llinas Goodman. Our editor is Justin Ellis, and our supervising producer is Alex Sujong Laughlin. Our production assistant is Jae Towle Vieira.Defector Media is a collectively owned, subscriber-based media company. If you love this podcast and want to support us, subscribe at defector.com. 

For our last episode this season, we talk to Defector subscriber Holden Holden about how his name has gotten him in trouble, the way online forms aren't set up for people with duplicate names, and nominative determinism. Episode transcript here. Follow the show on Instagram @namedroppingpod and if you want to get in touch with us, you can email us at [email protected]. Namedropping is hosted by Giri Nathan and Samer Kalaf and produced by Alex Sujong Laughlin. Subscribe to Defector Media and get your first month for 99 cents at defector.com/namedropping.

Journalist Karen K. Ho has thought a lot about what makes a Karen. Follow Karen on Twitter @karenkho. Episode transcript here. Follow the show on Instagram @namedroppingpod and if you want to get in touch with us, you can email us at [email protected]. Namedropping is hosted by Giri Nathan and Samer Kalaf and produced by Alex Sujong Laughlin. Subscribe to Defector Media and get your first month for 99 cents at defector.com/namedropping.

Writer and artist Rona Akbari always loved her name. Then, COVID-19 happened. Follow Rona on Twitter @theronalisa. Episode transcript here. Follow the show on Instagram @namedroppingpod and if you want to get in touch with us, you can email us at [email protected]. Namedropping is hosted by Giri Nathan and Samer Kalaf and produced by Alex Sujong Laughlin. Subscribe to Defector Media and get your first month for 99 cents at defector.com/namedropping.