Lucas Kwan Peterson, award-winning columnist and video producer for the Food section of the Los Angeles Times, shares some of his favorite food spots in LA and Las Vegas, as well as the experiences that led him to a career built on loving food. (Intro: A New Way Of Togetherness)
In a world full of noise, is silence more than just the absence of sound? Filmmaker Patrick Shen shares what he's learned while making his latest film "In Pursuit Of Silence", a meditative exploration of our relationship with silence and the impact of noise on our lives. (Intro: It's Time To Move On)
Valerie Soe comes by the podcast to talk about her documentary feature film "Love Boat: Taiwan" that explores how a small government sponsored cultural program to promote Taiwan became a coming-of-age experience for many Chinese and Taiwanese Americans to hook up and find romance. (Intro: This Father's Day)
As a writer-director who grew up closeted in the conservative church, Steven J Kung couldn't find stories about Asian American men in leading roles or exploring LGBTQ+ identity, so he created his own: his feature film A Leading Man and the Koreatown episode of HereTV’s Falling For Angels. (Intro: Not An Agenda Pt. 2)
Ella Baker shares her journey of coming out as a transgender woman shortly after she turned 30, navigating her life as a person of faith as well as a queer transgender woman, and how she plans to use her experience as an educator to uplift transgender students. (Intro: Is This A Calling Bullshit Moment In History?)
Actor Michael Tow talks about his role in the newly released film "Lucky Grandma" and the cultural easter eggs in it that await Asian-American audiences. He also reflects on his seasoned career as an actor and producer, and how casting calls for Asian-American roles in Hollywood have changed over time. (Intro: 8 Minutes)
Victoria Vang Rivera, host of the podcast "American Born Hmong", reflects on her experience as a Hmong American and her mission to spark dialogue within the Hmong community through the stories of healing and personal growth that she shares on her podcast. (Intro: Searching Individual)
(Part 2 of 2) Al & Jane Nakatani share about how gun violence and HIV/AIDS led to the deaths of each of their three sons, Glen, Greg, and Guy. After their deaths, Al and Jane formed the non-profit, "Honor Thy Children, Inc.", to honor their memory. (Intro: Not An Agenda)
(Part 1 of 2) Al & Jane Nakatani talk about the systemic and societal failures that contributed to the deaths of all three of their sons and how they arrived at their lifelong mission of educating parents and institutions how to affirm the inherent value and diversity of children and youth. (Intro: Try New Things, But Also Do What's Helpful)
It's a special episode to kick off our 6th year of the podcast! We get an extensive overview of the new PBS documentary series "Asian Americans" from showrunner and senior producer Renee Tajima-Peña, as well as a look at the unique curriculum created for the series with educator Nick Yeh. (Intro: Welcome to Los Angeles)
Michelle Hanabusa, Bryan Pham, and Tammy Cho talk about creating #HateIsAVirus, a social media campaign raising $1 million to support small Asian-owned businesses and bringing awareness of racism in the community due to COVID-19. (Intro: An Acute Pain Felt All Over)
Nina Wallace, communications coordinator at Densho, addresses why Andrew Yang's Op-Ed for The Washington Post, particularly his reference to Japanese Americans serving during WWII, is a problematic one. She also discusses Yang's recent response to the criticisms towards his controversial remarks. (Intro: Back Pain)
From his musical influences, the story behind how he chose his artist name, and how he plans to expand his career path after graduation from Wesleyan University, it is clear that rapper Son of Paper (Kyle Jae Shin) applies thoughtful intentionality in everything he does. (Intro: The Limits of Sympathy).
Psychotherapist, former journalist, and spoken word poet Sam Louie returns to discuss the problematic racialization of the COVID-19 pandemic on AAPIs, including President Trump's use of the term "Chinese Virus" to describe the virus. (Intro: Andrew Yang, You're Not Helping).
Infectious diseases MD Dr. Scott Kim offers his informed view on what may lie ahead with the novel COVID-19 pandemic and what the United States needs to do effectively right now, as well as his predictions of how long the pandemic will last depending on what action is taken. (Intro: Masks).
Hana Wu shares her journey to becoming an actor after a life in academia, discovering along the way her own definitions of calling, faith, and success. She also opens up about her personal struggle with depression and practicing self care in a competitive acting industry. (Intro: An Unexpected New Friend).
Shandra Woworuntu recounts how she became a survivor of human trafficking after coming to the US from Indonesia. Not only did she eventually escape her captors and help convict her traffickers, she now serves as an advisor and founder of organizations fighting for human rights. (Intro: Care During Coronavirus)
Ken invites physician Dr. Leana Wen and sociologist Dr. Rosalind Chou to discuss the current impact of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), including clearing up misconceptions about the virus and fighting against awakened xenophobia towards Asians and AAPIs. (Intro: Debunking The Myth)
Husband and wife team Larissa Lam and Baldwin Chiu return to the podcast to talk about how their award-winning short documentary film "Finding Cleveland" turned into full-length documentary "Far East Deep South" that is currently on the festival circuit. (Intro: That's Not Teriyaki)
Josh Chuck talks about co-directing with his father, Harry Chuck, the documentary film "Chinatown Rising", which explores the iconic neighborhood, its rich and changing history, and the activists who helped shape it during times of oppression. (Intro: Checking My Idealized Expectations)
Dr. Soong-Chan Rah reveals the pervasive damage the "Doctrine of Discovery" as a distorted view of Christianity has done to justify American triumphalism, white supremacy, and ongoing injustices towards minorities and indigenous peoples in his new book with co-author Mark Charles, "Unsettling Truths". (Intro: President's Day)
Dr. Jun Young shares his personal journey of coming out as a gay Christian in mid-life and the aftermath, including the rejection by faith organizations that he previously served in, and his new non-profit, Beloved Arise, that serves to celebrate and empower queer youth of faith. (Intro: Things Are Moving)
Rowena Chiu recounts her alleged assault by Harvey Weinstein and the decades of traumatizing silence afterwards. She talks about how her upbringing in a Chinese church culture influenced her fear of speaking up and urges these communities to create safer spaces for people to be imperfect. (Intro: My Daughter's Aquarium)
Walk with Anime is a premiere MC, DJ, host, and full-time accountant. She talks about the struggles of dating as an accomplished woman with ambition, why her mother is the reason for her drive to succeed, and her mission to be "Asian Ellen DeGeneres" and spread positivity through her work. (Intro: A Week of Reminders)
Fashion and graphic designer jeffstaple (née Jeffrey Ng) schools us on street culture in fashion and how he went from college dropout to founder and creative director of the world renowned Staple Design Studio. (Intro: A Prayer For Ryan)