Podcast: Headscarves and Good Yarns

Words by the Yo Vocal team. Images Provided.

Amal Abdullahi is the 25-year-old behind the podcast ‘Headscarves and Good Yarns’. Originally from Somalia, Amal was born in Yemen, and moved to New Zealand when she was just two years old – growing up mainly in Hamilton and Lower Hutt.

She then moved down to Otago to pursue further studies, now working for Social Impact at the University of Otago.

 The podcasts are recorded at the Otago Access Radio, a community radio station based in Dunedin. Amal started the podcast in earlier this year, with a theme around social issues – including the conversations that are hard to have.

 “The terrorist attack in Christchurch woke the whole country up and started all these conversations. I thought, how terrible was it for something so bad to happen for these important and much needed conversations and stories to happen so I wanted to create an intentional space to continue those conversations”

 Interviewing people from all walks of life, Amal is inspired by people and their stories.

 “Picking up a little something from each interview, every episode has challenged my views on family, belonging and identity in some way or another.”

 The podcast has opened up conversations in Amal’s own life, revealing the importance of listening to others with both our hearts and ears.

 Another player in creating this podcast is Arthur Hon. As well as studying at Otago, he provides the visuals on the Instagram account @headscarvesandgoodyarn and is responsible for tech and sound for the podcast.

 Amal has interviewed some trailblazers in the community, that are actively creating change; from Chlӧe Swarbrick to Jessica Thompson and many others.

 By creating the podcast, Amal hopes to build a community of people who are empathetic and active in discussion, while constantly challenging themselves and others in a safe environment.

 “We are capable of doing great things that can really change the world and I get really excited about that.”