Silk and Savage podcast is Etalk’s Sonia Mangat’s ‘purpose project’

For Sonia Mangat, Silk & Savage is not simply another celebrity interview podcast. It is the culmination of a career spent trying to make more room for South Asian success stories.

The entertainment reporter and former Vancouverite, who joined CTV’s Toronto-based daily entertainment news program eTalk in 2020, says the new hour-long series will feature South Asians who have reached the top of their fields, ranging from business and medicine to sports, technology and entertainment.

The eight weekly hour-long episodes dropped Oct. 26 through iHeart and will be available on all podcast platforms and YouTube.

“There are so many podcasts and conversations that are out there. However, I don’t feel and I don’t see too many conversations around one of the largest group of demographics in the world, which is the South Asian population. We take up a quarter of the population,” said Mangat. “I just want to have deeper conversations with people who’ve never had a chance to be able to tell their story. I do believe that there is a huge audience for that.”

Mangat says many people have suggested this new venture is her passion project. She however, has another way of looking at it.

“This is my purpose project,” said Mangat. “This is what everything has led up to is this moment. I feel like it’s a responsibility that has been put on me, and I have to be a good steward of what’s been given to me and share that.”

Mangat wants listeners to encounter the human being behind each polished image: the doubts, cultural expectations, family dynamics and tough choices they have made throughout their lives. Every guest is asked about the most “savage” thing they had to do to reach their position.

The title Silk & Savage, Mangat says, reflects the two qualities she sees in herself and the people she interviews. “Savage,” she said, describes the determination and sacrifice needed to accomplish an ambitious goal. “Silk” evokes India’s textiles, but also the vulnerability and softness that can be carefully guarded within South Asian culture.

“There’s two sides to all of us,” said Mangat. “And those two words were just a no-brainer when it came to telling these South Asian stories.”

The podcast’s first guest is Priyanka, winner of the inaugural season of Canada’s Drag Race, a musician and a cast member in season 2 of the hit hockey romance series Heated Rivalry. Mangat said their conversation moves beyond professional milestones to examine family and identity, including Priyanka’s experience of not having spoken with her father about coming out.

By tracing the decisions, setbacks and sacrifices behind each success, Mangat hopes the series can offer recognition, inspiration and a practical blueprint to listeners who see their own ambitions reflected in a guest.