Body Snatchers: Manjula Padmanabhan discusses the drama of technology and the black market of organ harvesting

Today’s episode is the final episode of our season. The episode features a very special conversation, one that I have wanted to have since I started the show two years ago. In the episode, I sit down with Manjula Padmanabhan. We talk about her play, Harvest, and the connection between market demand in the West and body supply in the global South, and we discuss the relationship between organ donation, as a technology, and human rights, as a philosophy. And Manjula explains why science fiction matters for our ability to understand, and to create, what it means to be human.

Manjula Padmanabhan is an author, playwright, artist and cartoonist. She grew up in Europe and South Asia, returning to India as a teenager. Her play Harvest won the Onassis Award for Theatre, in 1997, in Greece. Her books include Getting There, Escape, and The Island of Lost Girls. She has illustrated over twenty children’s books including I Am Different and Shrinking Vanita. She lives in the US, with a home in New Delhi.

This episode concludes the 7th season of "Technically Human." We’ll be back at the beginning of April, with more episodes of the show. 

One important note: our producer, Matt Perry, who has been with the show since its early days, is moving on to pursue some dreams. Matt's work, his brilliance, and his vision has helped to build the show to what it is today. Thank you, Matt! 

To our listeners, thanks for listening, and we will see you in April with more episodes of Technically Human.

This episode was produced by Matt Perry and Sakina Nuruddin.

Art by Desi Aleman.