DW and The Indian Express launch co-produced podcast 'Love Matters with Evelyn Sharma'

The podcast, a collaboration between DW and its partner The Indian Express, deals with controversial topics such as sexual orientation, divorce or interfaith relationships in India. Each week, Evelyn Sharma presents a listener's relationship challenge and speaks with well-known Indian celebrities and influencers. The podcast features guests like singer Benny Dayal, comedian Kaneez Surka, drag queen and activist Sushant Divgikar and influencer Leeza Mangaldas.

"Acceptance, understanding, care for each other, are matters of the heart and we all desire them in our lives," says Evelyn Sharma. "Sadly, there are many topics that are still taboo to talk about in India. With Love Matters I wanted to create a safe space to speak about them."

Rolf Rische, DW Director Culture and Lifestyle: "Several positive factors militate in favor of the new podcast: a host who is well-known from DW programming and prominent in India, journalistic expertise, a competent regional partner with a high reach, and a topic that is important to a young audience in India."

Close to the listeners' needs

DW's Digital Format and Product Development led the development process; in consequence, the podcast is particularly close to the needs of the listeners: The format provides a safe space in which people can share their relationship problems, which the department identified as one of the target group's core needs. The podcast is aimed at India's young and especially female audience.

"We have really not had a good podcast that tries to listen, and talk, to the younger audiences when it comes to their relationships," says Nandagopal Rajan, Editor New Media at The Indian Express. "This collaboration with DW gives The Indian Express the opportunity to leverage our access to the conversations among a Young India to a global platform with the best possible production aesthetics."

In the first episode, Evelyn Sharma discusses with her guests Benny and Cathy Dayal how they keep their long-distance relationship alive when they are thousands of miles apart. New episodes of Love Matters will be published weekly on all podcasting platforms. The first season is made up of ten episodes.

Evelyn Sharma is known for her appearances in Bollywood films like "Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani" and "Yaariyan." She also hosts DW's Culture and Lifestyle magazine Euromaxx in German and in English.