Yara Shahidi Will Host Season 2 of Cartier's "Women's Perspectives" Podcast
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Yara Shahidi is an avid listener. During the first year of the pandemic, she admits she tuned in to over 100,000 minutes of NPR alone, a pastime that was influenced by her appreciation of old time radio and detective shows.
“I cannot convey the extent to which I am a podcast girl,” Shahidi tells Harper's Bazaar by way of Paris, where she was in town for fashion week. “I've always loved audio, just as a space and as an art form. There's so much that can be conveyed via voice and I think it just opens up a whole new world.”
It's what makes Shahidi a perfect fit to host the second season of Women's Perspectives, a podcast presented by Cartier featuring conversations between changemakers and advocates. Shahidi, of course, fits this description herself; aside from her name-making work in the hit TV shows Black-ish and Grown-ish, the 24-year-old is also a producer, a feminist activist, and a staunch advocate for STEM awareness. The new season, which premieres on March 8 to mark International Women's Day, features the multi-hyphenate in conversation with Meena Harris, the lawyer, author, and founder of Phenomenal Media. Additional guests, including musicians, actors, visual artists and more, are to come throughout the sophomore season.
“Every guest featured on this second season is in one way or another service-oriented, which made each conversation really cool,” says Shahidi. “So many times, I asked myself the question 'Ok, I have these certain skill sets, passions curiosities—How do I activate them? How can they be of service?' And I think each guest through their own work helps us answer those questions.”
Shahidi, who was a guest on the first season of Women's Perspectives back in 2021, says that being in the hosting chair this time has reminded her of the importance of long-form listening and discussion. We live within a culture that prioritizes the quick, the snappy, and the fleeting—how can we benefit from sitting down and slowing down?
“I'm saying this as somebody who loves their short-form content, nothing against it—but it does remind me of just how impactful long-form dialogue, conversations and listening can be in a world in which we're expected to consume and learn so quickly,” the actress continues. “With each conversation for me, even as a host, I walked away with lessons and personal reminders. We talked about the work. We talked about the philanthropy. Each guest was able to expose a piece of themselves and a lesson that we didn't expect. It was really impactful to talk to these creatives because they ultimately reminded me, who are we making our art for?”
It's a form of critical thinking that takes Shahidi back to her days at Harvard University.
“Since graduating, what I've missed the most is the space to think and discuss. Even in our careers, if our job is to think and reflect, we're not getting the same space. It's always so tied to productivity and turning something around,” she adds. “You really have to intentionally curate these spaces to be like, Oh, my goal is to just see what moves me towards no particular end. That's what I feel when I listen to other podcasts, too. It's just having that space that's not about producing something, but about just listening and seeing and what personally arises from that.”
Women's Perspectives isn't meant to be easy listening, as much as it's meant to motivate action. The actress ultimately hopes that once listeners finish season 2, they'll find themselves inspired to make change in their own way and in their own lives—no matter how big or small the effort.
“I really love how each of our guests embodies what it is to be a change agent in very unique ways. In a way it asks, How do we capture this feeling and this experience—which is such a privilege—of stepping outside of your own circumstances for a moment and be asked to use and engage in your imagination? Not everybody gets that space,” says Shahidi. “And I hope listeners can view the podcast as a space to explore. I hope every conversation, whether it's one that they're already naturally interested in or one they didn't know what to expect from, is just a chance to explore a different world, a different industry, and a different way of thinking.”
Season 2 of Women's Perspectives presented by Cartier premieres March 8, 2024 on Spotify, Apple Music, and more.
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