ABOUT THIS EPISODE
In the first episode of Mixed, Khyati Joshi, a scholar whose work today maps the intersections of religion, race, history and law in America, takes us back to 1995, when she arrived in Jerusalem as a young Indian American Hindu woman and unexpectedly fell in love with John, a White American Christian man.
What began under the golden light of Jerusalem soon became a collision with family expectations, immigrant identity, religion, race, and the complicated meaning of belonging. From navigating her parents’ hopes that she would marry an Indian Gujarati doctor to bringing John to India to meet her extended family, Khyati recounts the struggle to gain her family’s acceptance—and reflects on why their resistance was ultimately about much more than her relationship.
She connects her personal story to the larger history of American immigration, civil rights, interracial marriage, and how the legal changes in the 1960s that made mixed-race and mixed-faith families possible. At the heart of the episode is a question that reaches far beyond her own marriage: Is belonging something you inherit, or something you build?
Creator: Dr. Khyati Y. Joshi is a scholar-storyteller who bridges research, lived experience, and practical wisdom. She is a tenured, Full Professor in the School of Education at Fairleigh Dickinson University and the author of White Christian Privilege: The Illusion of Religious Equality in America (NYU Press, 2020) and several other books on race and religion in America.
Dr. Joshi is also part of a mixed marriage. Along with her husband John, they have raised their son to be Hindu and Christian; and to recognize, cherish, and embody his Indian and European heritages.
In this series, she blends scholarly expertise with her unique story, relaying the mistakes she’s made, the wisdom she’s gained, and the practical tips she can offer for cultivating mixed relationships and raising kids and adults to embrace their whole selves.
Mixed was created by the Institute for Religion, Media, and Civic Engagement (IRMCE), in collaboration with the Asian Pacific American Religions Research Initiative (APARRI) through generous funding from the Henry Luce Foundation.
Executive Producer: Brad Onishi
Producer: Andrew Gill
Original Music, Scoring, and Engineering: Scott Okamoto
Story Editor: Leah Payne
Production Assistance: Kari Onishi
Cover Art: Jennifer Chen
