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)
Cartoonist Gene Luen Yang returns to talk about his latest work as a writer for DC comics ("Superman Smashes the Klan", "New Super-Man") and his upcoming graphic novel "Dragon Hoops", showing us a historical look behind the similarities between superhero culture and the immigrant journey. (Intro: The Green Ninja)
Arthur Dong returns to promote his book "Hollywood Chinese: The Chinese in American Feature Films", a richly detailed look at the Chinese American influence on American cinema. He also shares his passion for exploring stories about oppression within the AA and LGBTQ communities. (Intro: From Sidewalk To Press Tower)
Dr. Karen Umemoto, the current director of the Asian American Studies Center at UCLA, talks about her influential work in the fields of race relations and restorative justice, as well as how ethnic studies programs help foster more empathy in students and citizens. (Intro: 2019 Recap)
Chef Jenny Dorsey dives into how she uses her culinary art to explore complex emotions related to her Asian-American experience, the lessons she learned in both business and culinary school, and how she uses VR to create immersive culinary pop-up events. (Intro: A Fundamental Decision)