Investigating insults…  The power of words…  Upgrading our language…  And finding identity beyond definition…

Marushka (Loa Myst) hosts Khadija White - A fascinatingly versatile artist, whose career has spanned the mainstream and the underground with a unique aesthetic voice. Art directing a startling range of work from TV commercials and luxury spa decor to graffiti-focused art campaigns and interactive installations at alternative concert venues, Khadija is well versed in the language of creativity. Whether she’s styling international celebrities, creative directing photo shoots or hand-making bespoke jewelry for NYFW, Khadija savors the creation process, from cultivating conception to mastering craftsmanship. 

As best friends and co-founders of a design platform called Kiumbe Kulture, Marushka and Khadija have taken on New York Fashion Week, featured in Vogue Italia, designed jewelry for Erykah Badu, Lupita Nyong’o and designed the largest decor installation for the biggest shopping mall in East Africa. But most importantly - they’ve taken on the brave task of a best friendship that requires continual self-reflection and a collaborative commitment to compassion. Throughout their personal and professional bond, both Marushka and Khadija have become capable of unpacking the words they use - towards themselves and with each other - to find the secret power lurking in the language we use. 

In this episode’s sneak-peek (VIDEO LINK HERE), Marushka invites Khadija to play a seemingly innocent word-game that ends up helping them piece together some of the most haunting and hurtful but also playful and profound psychological puzzles, unpacking words, terms and labels that subtly shape the way we see ourselves and the world around us. Together, they research the roots of sayings, phrases and connotations that have long been robbed of their original context, restoring the power to where it belongs - within each of us. 

Contemplating all the ways we relate to ourselves through language, Marushka and Khadija also speak on bullying, belonging and beginning to find our authentic selves, often buried underneath our desire to please, be loved and feel valuable. Their contagious and often cackling laughter sometimes belies the trauma and verbal abuse they’ve both experienced, but they always circle back to a rare kind of vulnerability their best friendship has cultivated, inviting the listener to feel free in their loving and inclusive appreciation of people often shamed for being “different.”  

Sharing their strangely unconventional and sometimes controversial paths to self-love, Marushka and Khadija remind us that there is always more time to discover, learn and teach each other anew. And that personal transformation is a continual process that moves not in straight lines, but rather scribbles our insides out - all over the map of our relationships with family, self and other - leaving us each with an individual language that is our very own birthright to leave unread or to decode and translate - if and when we decide we’re ready to know more.

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