Podcasts about Asian Americans

Third generation Japanese American Philip Kan Gotanda has gained renown as one of the most prolific Asian American playwrights, filmmakers, and musicians, but he came this close to becoming a lawyer. East West Players (www.eastwestplayers.org) is remounting his seminal play Yankee Dawg You Die in July 2025 after first staging it in 2001. Here's your chance to let him educate you about the (sadly) still-relevant message of this play, while he regales you with astonishing and hilarious stories of his journey to embrace his calling as a pioneering artist.

In this conversation, Helen Raleigh discusses her book 'Not Outsiders' which explores the political activism of Asian Americans from the 19th century to today. She addresses the misconceptions surrounding Asian American identity, the historical waves of activism, and the current challenges faced by the community, particularly in education and meritocracy. Raleigh shares personal anecdotes about her journey as an immigrant and emphasizes the importance of understanding and cherishing Western ideals. The Karol Markowicz Show is part of the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Podcast Network - new episodes debut every Wednesday & Friday. Buy Helen's NEW book HERESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, deejays, and activists. Tonight's show is June 19th. We are all connected. We are talking with Asian and Asian American Children's book authors. PowerLeeGirls host Miko Lee talks with Chi Thai and Livia Blackburne about the power of storytelling, maternal heritage, generational trauma, and much more. Title:  We Are All Connected Show Transcripts Opening: [00:00:00] Apex Express Asian Pacific expression. Community and cultural coverage, music and calendar, new visions and voices, coming to you with an Asian Pacific Islander point of view. It's time to get on board the Apex Express.   Ayame Keane-Lee: [00:01:17] Welcome to Apex Express. Tonight's show is June 19th. We are all connected. We are talking with Asian and Asian American Children's book authors. PowerLeeGirls host Miko Lee talks with Chi Thai and Livia Blackburne about the power of storytelling, maternal heritage, generational trauma, and much more. First, we want to start by wishing everyone a happy Juneteenth, Juneteenth commemorates, an end to slavery and the emancipation of Black Americans after the Civil War. In 1865, 2 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, enslaved people in Galveston, Texas finally learned of their freedom. Juneteenth marks the day the last enslaved people learned of their freedom. Though outright slavery became illegal, the systematic oppression of African Americans continues to this day. We see that show up in almost every aspect of American culture, from the high rate of infant mortality to the over punishing of Black children in schools, to police brutality, to incarceration. We must continue to recognize the importance of championing Black lives and lifting up Black voices. We are all connected. June 19th is also an important day in Asian American history. In 1982 in Detroit, Vincent Chin was at a bar celebrating his bachelor party prior to his wedding the next day. Ronald Ebens, a white auto worker, and his stepson Michael Nitz taunted Vincent with racial epithets. They thought he was Japanese and were angry about the Japanese rise in the auto industry. When Vincent left the bar later, the two men attacked and killed Vincent with a baseball bat. He was 27 years old. Ronald Ebens never did time for this murder. Ronald Ebens is 85 years old now. Ebens not only skirted prosecution, he has used bankruptcy and homesteading laws in Nevada to avoid a wrongful death civil suit settlement. Ordered by the court in 1987 to pay $1.5 million to Chin's family, the Chin estate has received nothing. Lily Chin, Vincent's mom could have stayed silent about the racist attack on her son. Instead she spoke out. She took a courageous stance to highlight this most painful moment in her life. In doing so, she helped ignite a new generation of Asian American activists working for civil rights and social justice. We find ourselves in a new wave of activism as our communities band together to work against the injustices of the current regime. And what does this have to do with children's books? It is all connected. We highlight children's books by Asian and Asian American authors because we want our next generation of children to know and appreciate their own heritage. We want them to proudly represent who they are so that they can work in solidarity with other peoples. Our struggle is interwoven. As Grace Lee Boggs said, “History is a story not only of the past, but of the future.” Thank you for joining us on apex express. Enjoy the show.   Miko Lee: [00:04:24] First off. Let's take a listen to one of Byron Au Young's compositions called “Know Your Rights” This is part of the trilogy of the Activist Songbook. This multi-lingual rap, give steps to know what to do when ICE officers come to your door.    MUSIC   That was “Know Your Rights” performed by Jason Chu with lyrics by Aaron Jeffries and composed by Byron Au Yong Welcome, Chi Thai to Apex Express.    Chi Thai: [00:07:13] Hello. I'm really happy to be joining you, Miko.  Miko Lee: [00:07:16] I'm really happy to meet you and learn about you as an artist, as a filmmaker, as a children's book author. And I wanna first start with a personal question, which is, who are your people and what legacy do you carry with you? Chi Thai: [00:07:30] Ooh, what a great question. You know what? I love being asked stuff that hasn't been asked kind of before. I mean, there's a kinda really kinda natural answer to that, which is, you know, family are my people. Of course. 100%. And certainly, you know, the reason why I'm talking to you today, you know, in regard to the, to the book, you know, it's about my family's journey. But I found, and I don't know if this is. Somewhat to do with, you know, being a child of two cultures and you know, being a child of the diaspora that you really have to kind of find your own family too. 'cause I suppose I grew up feeling, I didn't quite relate to maybe my parents in a way that, you know, you normally would if you weren't part of the diaspora. And I felt estranged from my birth country and I didn't really feel like British either a lot of the time. So in terms of like, who are my people? I've gathered those people as I've kind of grown up and it's, it's a kind of strange feeling too. I feel like it's taken me a really long to grow up and to figure out who I am. And I suppose that's why, you know, the people that I have a really, a lot of people that have come, kinda later in my life, I actually have no friends in my childhood as an example of that. I've had to kind of find these people as I've grown up, but it's taken me a long time to grow up because growing up in the UK there wasn't any literature to read about what it was like to be Asian. And British, to be a refugee and things like that. So it just took me longer and I then, as a result, it just took me longer to find my tribe. but I have it now, but it's still work in progress. That was a very convoluted answer. I'm very sorry Miko.    Miko Lee: [00:09:15] No, it wasn't. No worries. It's fine. And what legacy do you carry with you?   Chi Thai: [00:09:19] Kind of an extension to that answer, I think when you're an artist, practicing your voice, figuring out your voice, can take a while. And I think I've only really started maybe the last like five to 10 years at the most really figured out what I want my legacy to be. The things I wanna talk about are really about s tories from the diaspora, certainly, and about community and healing. These are the things I think that are really important to me, especially when we talk about maybe coming from struggle. I don't feel it's enough to be an artist today and just talk about struggle. I want to talk about justice as well. And justice really is about healing, you know?    Miko Lee: [00:10:00] Oh, that's beautiful. Can you talk a little bit more about that healing and what that means to you and how that shows up in your work?    Chi Thai: [00:10:07] A couple years ago, no, not even that long ago, I produced a, a feature film. This is probably the best example for it, but I produced a feature film called Raging Grace, which we called it Horror with a small H and it. Basically took the story of what it was like to be, undocumented Filipina in the uk who was also a mother. And I think if that film had been made 10 years ago, it would just shown how hard her life was, and unrelentingly. So, and I think the reason why Raising Grace is so special is it goes beyond the trauma, it takes us to a place of justice, of being able to speak out for someone who has felt invisible, to be visible for someone who's not. Had a voice, to have a voice and to begin that kind of healing process of sticking up for herself, making a change transforming herself from maybe the good immigrant to the bad immigrant and things like that. I think that's a really great example and I think I read a really wonderful thing. It might have been in a Guardian article where we, so a lot of my work is around, inclusion representation of like diasporic stories. And I think when you have, when you exist in the poverty of like representation, I. the solution to that is plentitude. I think that Viet Thanh Nguyen probably said that, so I don't wanna take credit for it. He comes up with so many wonderful things, and that's a wonderful thing to be able to move from poverty, like to plentitude and that be the solution, is kinda really wonderful. So I enjoy being really prolific. I enjoy supporting artists to be able to do their work. So as a community, we can also be prolific and I wanna support, narratives that. Take us beyond a place of struggle and trauma to a place of like healing and justice and so forth.    Miko Lee: [00:11:57] Your work crosses so many genres. You were just mentioning how that film was kind of a horror film and, and then you've done these kind of dreamy animation pieces and then now this children's book. Do you select the genre and the format and the medium, or does it select you?   Chi Thai: [00:12:16] Oh, I think the story chooses it. I like 100% believe that. I just actually was thinking about this 'cause I was doing an interview on something else, people, often ask about the creative process and I, can only speak for my own. But usually when I get an idea for a story, the general shape of it comes almost like really well formed. There's a sense of a lready kinda what genre it'll be. There's a sense of the character, there's a sense of the journey and all these things. I felt the same about, writing The Endless Sea I knew it would be from the voice of a child. This probably sounds like my creative process is terrible, but it was just. This is how it was going to be. That kind of part was writing itself, or at least I feel that it'd been writing itself like that in my subconscious for many, many years before it kind of surfacing and writing. Like the writing bit is just the tip of the iceberg at the end of the day. there wasn't like a kind of decision about that. the story in that sense was quite intact. So I often feel like the story is demanding something about kind genre and for, for Raging Grace 'cause I've talked about this a lot, not just in listen to me, but other things. But we always said like if you are an an undocumented person, every breath you take is taken in a hostile environment. It's so natural for it to be a horror. So there's not a sense that you kinda decide that it's like that is the very reality of someone who's going, you know, that's their lived experience. And if you're going to represent that truthfully, it will be through the prism of horror. And I suppose that's how I think about genre. the story is kind of telling you what it needs to tell its emotional truth. and I felt that way, with The Endless Sea same thing with the Raging Grace, with Lullaby. And I think you talked about The Promise, I suppose I, with The Promise, which is an adaptation I had less choice about that because that was a book and it was a adapted into an animation. I've heard Nicola, who's the author of the book, talk about that and she talks about like the story coming to her in a dream and tiptoeing down her arm coming onto the page, she like describes it really beautifully. so maybe our processes are the same. It feels that way. there's not long deliberations. I mean, that's not to say the writing process isn't difficult. It is. But that, I've never found the, [genre] the difficulty or the bit that's required a lot of, I don't know soul searching with it.    Miko Lee: [00:14:28] So with that being said, how did Endless Sea your latest children's book? How did that tiptoe into your imagination?    Chi Thai: [00:14:36] This is a strange one because this is probably the closest thing to like, almost autobiographical work. What I can say is like, it's the true story o f how I and my family, which would've been at the time my mom and dad, my older sister, me, how we fled Vietnam after the fall of an Saigon. we actually left quite late we left in 1979 w hen things were tr were getting truly, truly, truly, quite terrible. And, this was very much a last resort. I think my parents would try to make things work, but realized that they couldn't. This journey that we took on these, boats that were made badly, made poorly, that many of which sank has become almost like the genesis story of our family. It's like it's a big, it has a long shadow, right? Ever since you know I, it is like the first story that I can remember. It's one of the few stories my mom would tell me again and again when we, when they see their old friends, it's something they talk about. So it's something that has happened to it to us, but it's such a big thing that it's just, echoed In my life growing up, as I've you know, got older and older, and the wonderful thing about having a story kinda live with you eventually it's in your blood and in your bones, but also if it's a thing that's kinda shared with you again and again, you actually build up this, there's something about the repetition of it, and then every time you hear it told from an uncle or a family friend or from your mom, a new little detail is embroidered that someone adds. So I've kinda lived with this story for 40 plus years and I've been collecting all these little things about it all this time and all that time it was, I think, kind of just writing itself, you know? You know, it was doing all that work before I actually put like pen to paper. Um, yeah.    Miko Lee: [00:16:31] Was there a catalyst or something that made you actually put the pen to paper?   Chi Thai: [00:16:36] That's really interesting. You know, I probably don't mind it is probably something really banal like. I think I probably wrote it during Covid and I had more time. Um, I think there are probably be some bigger forces in place. And you know what, I can tell you what it is actually if I'm, I'm forcing myself to think and examine a bit closer so when this is totally true. So I remember hearing the news about Viet Thanh Nguyen win winning the Pulitzer for The Sympathizer. And it made such a mark on me and I kind of felt, wow, someone from our community has achieved this incredible thing. And I thought, why? Why now? Like, and I was like, well, you know what? It's probably taken our community certain amount of time to come of age, to develop not just the abilities to write, to create, to make art, but also to have possibly the relationships or networks in place to be able to then make the art and get it out into the world. And I kind of felt when he was able to do that and came of age, I kind of felt there was going to be like other people from the kind of diasporic Vietnamese community that would also start to flourish. And that made me feel really good. About probably being a bit older than the average kind of artist, like making their, kinda like their pieces and everything and saying, you know what? My time can be now. It's okay. And I just find it just really inspiring that, you know our community was kind of growing, growing up, coming of age and being able to do these, these things And I kind of felt like it had given me the permission, I suppose the, the confidence to go, “Oh this story that I've been carrying my whole life, which I don't really see a version of out there I can write that and now I can write it and I'm the right person to write it.” And I had just done The Promise so I had a relationship with Walker. I was like, I have a, you know, a relationship with the publisher. I feel my writing is matured. Like I can do this. And so it was like a culmination and, you know, convergence of those things. And, but I do remember having that thought thinking, “This is a good time to be alive in our community 'cause we're actually able to make our art and get it out there now.” I, I felt it was like a real watershed moment really.   Miko Lee: [00:19:11] What made you decide to do it in this format as a Little Kid's Children's Illustrated book? We were talking earlier about how to, to me, this is the first more realistic version of a boat people experience in a very little kid's voice. What made you decide to do it in this style?    Chi Thai: [00:19:33] So interesting. At the same time, I was writing The Endless Sea. I was writing also the script for a short film, which is called Lullaby, which is takes an incident that happened on my boat but expresses it as a film, as a little kinda horror kinda drama, but a kid cannot watch that. It's like too terrifying. Um, and I wrote, you know, The Endless Sea at the same time. And again, I can't, it's really hard for me to articulate. I just knew it was gonna be a kid's book, like, and I knew it'd be written from the voice of a kid, and I didn't actually, can I say I didn't even ascribe a particular kind of value to that. It wasn't until I had started conversations with the publisher they're like, you know, we see like there's a really high, like this is really great that it's written in the voice of the kid. It somehow gives it something else. Something more is something kind of special. I didn't set out to like, overthink, like what was the most effective way to tell this story? I, I think I just told the story as honestly as I could, you know, with the words that I felt that, you know, I had in me to de, you know, to describe it. In the most authentic way to, to me. And like I say, at the same time, I knew, like I knew that was a kid's book. There was another part of that I wanted to express that was really important to me and that was survivor's guilt. But that I felt was like, that was a horror, so that was really not gonna be suitable for kids. So I was definitely thinking about lots of things to do with the same subject of the same time, but they were definitely being expressed in different ways. And again, Lullaby came to me very kind of quickly, almost fully formed. And I knew, you know, it would be a ghost story. I knew it would be the story of a mother and things like that. And I often maybe, you know, I should, I, I should interrogate more, but I kinda, I take these kinda. These ideas, which are quite well shaped and, and then I just like lean into them more and more and more. But they, the way they arrive it, I've kinda, I, I can see a lot of what is already about to unfold.   Miko Lee: [00:21:43] And do you still dream about that experience of being on the boat as a kid?    Chi Thai: [00:21:52] It's, it's a really difficult thing to explain because you know that that happened now so long ago, and I've probably heard the story thousands of times. I've watched all the terrible Hollywood movies, I've seen all the news clippings, I've watched all the archive. I've listened to, you know, people talk, and I have my own memories and I look at photographs and I have memories of looking at photographs. I feel like, you know, my memory is really unreliable, but what it is instead is it's this, this kind of, kind of tapestry of, you know, of the story of memories, of, you know, images as I grow up of hearing the story, like all coming together. One of the things I did when I wrote, I wrote The Endless Sea, is I then went back to my mom and I did a recorded interview with her 'cause I was really worried about how unreliable my memory might be. And I interviewed her and I asked a lot of questions and I said, and I, it was like, you know, in the way I would've just like listened to the story quite passively before this time I interviewed her and I asked a lot of questions about details and all sorts of things. 'cause I really wanted to be able to represent things, you know, as factually as I could. And that was kinda one of my kinda kind of fact checking kinda exercises I did 'cause I was, I was much quite worried about how unreliable my memory was about it all. And you know, what is, what is a memory of a memory of memory, like, you know, especially when it comes to thinking about that time on the boat and the feelings I had. Yeah. So, you know,    Miko Lee: [00:23:34] and you were so young also to    Chi Thai: [00:23:37] Totally 100%. And sometimes, I don't know, you know, is it a memory of a memory? Is it a dream of a dream?   Miko Lee: [00:23:44] Mm-hmm.    Chi Thai: [00:23:44] Or just some, yeah.   Miko Lee: [00:23:46] Was there anything that your mom said that surprised you?    Chi Thai: [00:23:50] Yeah. Um, she didn't realize how bad it was gonna be and she was like, “God, if it, I'd known how terrifying it was I dunno if I, we could have done it.” I think there's a certain amount of naivety involved and I suppose that surprised me. You know? 'cause we know already now how bad it was. Um, so things like that surprised me.    Miko Lee: [00:24:15] and your mom, the dedication of the book is to your mom. What does she think when she first read it?    Chi Thai: [00:24:22] I've got a funny story. My parents, you know, they, we left, they were in their early twenties and I think it was, you know, the escape was hard for them, but settling in new country was really hard for them. That's. That's been kind of their struggle. They had to work so hard, so many hours to kind of, you know, give us a great life. And, I think a lot of that meant they weren't people that could go out, enjoy, enjoy movies, look at art, read lots of literature and things like that. They're very, very simple, very working class. Simple life or working class kinda life. Very much all about, uh, the work. Um, and I remember when I had a, the publisher had made like a mockup of the book and I gave it to my mum to read 'cause I wanted her to be happy about it too, and she's probably been my toughest critic. I think everything I've done, she hasn't really liked, to be honest. Um, and when I gave her the mockup to read. She went, “Yeah,” but she said it in such a way I knew what she meant was Yeah, that's right. You know, that's the truth. That's the, you know, the book isn't the testimony, but it felt like she was saying yeah. It was like the simple kind of approval. It wasn't like a lot    Miko Lee: [00:25:50] That is the most Asian mom's approval ever.    Chi Thai: [00:25:54] It's so funny, like people say to me, oh Chi, it's such a beautiful book. Oh, the writing so lit, like lyrical. It's stripped back, it's elegant. Like, you know, Viet Thanh Nguyen , like God bless his like consults, gave me a comment to put in the book, said these wonderful things, and my mom goes, “yeah.”. You know, it made me laugh at the time, but I knew what it meant. And I also was old enough, I was mature enough, you know, God, if she'd given me that, if I'd been 20 written that I might have cried and my heart might have broken. Right. But I, I knew I had, I've so much compassion, you know, for my parents. Mm-hmm. And people like my parents, what they've been through and, you know, but    Miko Lee: [00:26:38] That was incredibly high praise for her.    Chi Thai: [00:26:40] It was, I couldn't have asked more.   Miko Lee: [00:26:47] Oh, I totally get that. I think that's such an Asian thing. That is so funny.    Chi Thai: [00:26:53] It is, it is. I didn't feel bad. I, I remember showing her Lullaby, um, and she didn't like it at all.    Miko Lee: [00:27:02] What did she say? What is her not like voice? What did she say to that?    Chi Thai: [00:27:05] Oh, she. Well, firstly, she, well, the, the film is almost silent because basically it tells a story. It's inspired by a mother that was on our boat who lost her baby on the border crossing, and I was very much ever, for as long as I knew about this woman's story, I was like, I was very much haunted by it, and I was haunted by, you know, the fact that that's how she felt and her guilt. Over losing her baby on this journey. And I knew, I knew I wanted to tell her story. 'cause one of the things I feel very strongly about is when you are on the losing side. So I'm from South Vietnam, like that's not the, you know, that's not the story that's told, the story is told of who triumphs at the end of the day. And I was just like all those people that we lost at sea, this mother, her baby. The stories kind of aren't told. So I kind of felt really strongly that this was somehow a very creative way to put down like a, an historical record like this happened. And actually I found out after making the film that five babies were lost in our boat, not just one.   Miko Lee: [00:28:24] Wow. So what did she say, your mom say?   Chi Thai: [00:28:28] Yes. So I made this film, which was for the most part, a silent film. This is a woman that's shut down. She barely speaks anymore. She is living with the guilt ever. You know, when she was on the boat before her baby died, she sang a lullaby, and ever since then, she hasn't been able to speak again. And then we find out that she has been haunted by the ghost of her child that she lost. And then a bit too, you know, to kind of free herself from that. She, she actually sings, you know, the, the film culminates in her singing the Luby one last time. S saying Goodbye finally being able to move beyond her Gild and I Griffin, saying goodbye and hoping she's able to, you know, progress. So I made a film about that was largely silence except for this lullaby, and my mum watched it. She went, next time you make a film, you know you need more words. I was just like, oh, I think my heart probably did crumple off a bit a bit at that point.    Miko Lee: [00:29:30] Aw.    Chi Thai: [00:29:31] You know? Um, but yeah. But yeah, it's okay. It's okay because you know what? My mom doesn't get to see stuff like that very often. So sometimes she doesn't have the wider, and this is why, I mean, like, the life that she's had, you know, hasn't been one where she's been able to surround herself with, oh, I'm so lucky. You know, my life has been so different, but it's been different. Different because of, you know what she's, what she's done for us, so it's okay. I can take it on the chin when she says my film doesn't have enough dialogue in it.    Miko Lee: [00:30:04] I love that. For you, have you had conversations with your mom about your life as an artist, and what are her thoughts on that?   Chi Thai: [00:30:16] Well say. So I, so my mom, I don't really like, you know, she's probably not that into it. I'll be honest about being an artist. I can understand why she wants you to have a good life. And I would say for the most part, being an artist is, is a, is a tough life because it's hard to make, you know, the, the pennies work, right?   Miko Lee: [00:30:44] She wants stability for you, right?    Chi Thai: [00:30:45] Yeah, exactly. But she's made a peace with it. And basically what happened, I think all the best story is gonna be about my mom, right? Is that she basically, I, I, um, I have a partner, we've been together for 15 years. Um, he's a really nice guy and he has a reliable job and we have two kids together and i,    Miko Lee: [00:31:08] So that makes it okay.   Chi Thai: [00:31:10] So yeah, this is what I was saying. So she said to me like. It doesn't really matter what you do now. 'cause she, you are already peaked. You're somebody's wife. We're not married. But she told everyone in Vietnam we were married 'cause she couldn't cope with this not being like having kids out of wedlock. In her head. She's rewritten that we are married. Right. She's like, you are married, you're somebody's wife and you mother, it doesn't get better than that. So if you are an artist or if you're a filmmaker, whatever, it doesn't matter. 'cause nothing can be better than that. Right. So she's accepted on the basis that I've already fulfilled, kind of my promise.   Miko Lee: [00:31:46] Wow. Interesting.    Chi Thai: [00:31:50] And she means that in the nicest possible way.    Miko Lee: [00:31:52] Yeah.    Chi Thai: [00:31:52] That she feels like you have a home, you have stability, you have someone who loves you, you know, you have a, a purpose in life, but really her value, you know, the way, I think, the way she measures my value is like, that's how she looks at it. The, the art is something else.    Miko Lee: [00:32:10] Well, I really appreciate you sharing your art with us in the world and your various, um, genres and styles. And I'm wondering how our audience can find out more about your work. Clearly we'll put links to where people can buy the book and let's see, but how do they find out more about your films?   Chi Thai: [00:32:28] Um, so that like, because it is the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War in 2025. Actually the very anniversary of that is the tomorrow, the 30th, April, right? Um, you can watch Lullaby on Altar, which is a YouTube channel. Um, and I can give you the link for it. Rating Grace is on Paramount Plus if you want to, if you've got Paramount Plus, but you can also buy it from all the usual kind of places too. Um, and you know, and we'll see us from all great book stockists, I imagine in, in the us.   Miko Lee: [00:33:07] Thank you so much. Um, I'd love to get, I'd love for you to send me the link so I could put 'em in the show notes. I really appreciate chatting with you today. Um, is there anything else you'd like to share?    Chi Thai: [00:33:19] Um, no, I think, I think that's good. Your, your questions are so good. Mika, I'm already like, kinda like processing them all. Uh, yes.    Miko Lee: [00:33:30] Well, it was a delight to chat with you and to learn more about your artistic vision, and my wishes are that you continue to grow and feel blessed no matter what your mama says, because deep down, she's still proud of you. Even if she doesn't say it out loud.    Chi Thai: [00:33:47] I believe it. I totally believe it.    Miko Lee: [00:33:50] Yay. Thank you so much for spending time with us on Apex Express.Next up, listen to stay, go from dark heart, a concert narrative by singer and songwriter Golda Sargento.   MUSIC   That was the voice of Golda Sargento from the new Filipino futurism punk rock sci-fi dark heart. Welcome, Livia Blackburne Children's book, author of Nainai's Mountain. Welcome to Apex Express.    Livia Blackburne: [00:38:56] Thank you so much for having me.    Miko Lee: [00:38:58] I wanna start with a personal question, which is, who are your people and what legacy do you carry with you?    Livia Blackburne: [00:39:05] I am Chinese American, and so I carry the stories of my grandparents who fled China to Taiwan, fled that war. And I also carry the stories of my parents and myself who immigrated. To America, and I am, I grew up in New Mexico, so I have fond memories of green chili and new Mexican food. I went to college, Harvard and MIT on the east coast. So I've got a bit of that kind of ivory tower. And now I'm in LA and, you know, my people are, my family and my community, the writing community here. So I, I'm a big mix. Yes.    Miko Lee: [00:39:44] What legacy do you carry with you?    Livia Blackburne: [00:39:47] I mentioned a bit of my grandparents and my parents. What they went through in the war in China, and then my parents and me coming here. the experience of being here in two worlds, coming from Taiwan having that cultural background and also, growing up in the United States. The culture I've been surrounded with here as well.    Miko Lee: [00:40:06] Thank you so much for sharing. Can you tell us about your new illustrated children's book? Nainai's Mountain. What inspired this work?    Livia Blackburne: [00:40:14] The story of this book actually started with another book that is coming out in a couple years that actually I can't share too much about. My grandparents fled the war in China and then my. Parents grew up in Taiwan and I wanted to preserve that family story. My parents are getting older. So I started doing oral interviews with my parents about their childhood, what it was like, growing up. I wouldn't say they weren't refugees in Taiwan. It's a very complicated political situation, but they were transplants to Taiwan, and what it was like growing up there, their daily life. What kind of things they did when they were a child, their pastimes, I wanted to preserve their stories and I got a lot of great material., A lot of that is going into a novel that I'm currently working on. But also as I worked on it, there were so many great details that I thought would be really good in a picture book as well. Also, I'm a mother now. I have an 8-year-old daughter, and she is half Caucasian, half Asian. She has never gone to Taiwan before and I. As I'm writing this, I'm thinking, it would be really great to, I do want to share Taiwan and, my own childhood, home with her at some point. And so I start imagining what would it be like to bring her back to Taiwan and show her everything. And that became the seed for Nainai's Mountain, which is a. Story of a girl visiting Taiwan for the first time with her grandmother. And her grandmother shows her around and tells her stories about her childhood, and the girl through her grandmother's eyes, sees Taiwan, you know, for the beautiful place that it is.    Miko Lee: [00:41:56] You also wrote the book I Dream of Popo. How are these companions to each other and also for audiences that might not speak Chinese. One is a grandmother on the mother's side, and the other is the grandmother on the father's side. Can you talk about how I dream of Popo is linked to Nainai's Mountain?   Livia Blackburne: [00:42:15] Thank you for pointing that out. Yes. So Popo is maternal grandmother, and Nainai is a paternal grandmother. And that is a fantastic question. So I dream of popo is kind of my story. So it's about a little girl who moves from Taiwan , to the United States and it's about her relationship with her grandmother who stays in Taiwan. And it talks about, how a close relationship, navigating long geographical distances about the language barrier that comes up. And that was very much me, Nainai's Mountain. It's kind of like Popo in reverse, you know, it's now it's someone going back to Taiwan and kind of getting in touch with those roots. That, as I mentioned, that's inspired by my daughter. And you'll see in Nainai's Mountain, I specified that the child should be, half Asian, half Caucasian. Because, I wanted more of that representation in the children's literature.    Miko Lee: [00:43:07] Thank you. I, I wonder if you could talk a little bit about the artistic style. So you are the author, but you had different illustrators for both of the books and the style is really different. The in, when I look at Nainai's Mountain, which I'm holding here, it's sort of collage and really vibrant colors. Where I Dream of Popo has a different, more. I'm almost realistic, kind of look to it. And I'm wondering what your process was like in collaborating with illustrators.    Livia Blackburne: [00:43:37] That's one of the best things about being a picture book author, is that you get to collaborate with so many illustrators and they all have such different styles, such different visions. Most of the time it's the publisher who chooses the illustrator, although they. Consult me usually. My editor for I Dream of Popo picked Julia Kuo. And she sent me samples and I loved it. And, it was great. I'm friends with Julia now and that book did really well. It was very well known, especially in kind of Taiwanese American, Asian American circles. And so when I did, Nainai's mountain, that was with a different publishing house and my editor. He very consciously said, you know, because it's also a book about Taiwan and a grandmother. We don't want to get it confused with I dream of Popo. So, we made a conscious decision to pick an artist with a very different style and Joey Chou is fantastic. He's very well known for his Disney art. You can see his art in a lot of the hotels and cruise ships. And, he, very bright, vibrant, and I, he's also from Taiwan. I think he did a fantastic job.   Miko Lee: [00:44:41] And have the artistic work ever surprised you as being really different from your imagination while you were writing?    Livia Blackburne: [00:44:48] That's a great question. I don't think they've ever surprised me. By being different. They surprised me in the specifics that they've chosen. For example, I dream of Popo. Julia, spent a lot of time in Taiwan and she put in these great, Taiwan details that, you know, if you're from Taiwan, you would know for sure. There's like a specific brand of rice cooker called the rice cooker, and she has one there and like the giant bag of rice in the corner, and the calendar on the wall.   Miko Lee: [00:45:16] Even the specificities of the food and the trays and everything is quite lovely.    Livia Blackburne: [00:45:20] Yeah, yeah. You know, every time I read that, I look at that spread, I get hungry. So surprise there. And, with Joey, I, I love how he does the different, there's kind of flashback pictures and there's, pictures now and. The thing about him, his color, I just love the color that he put in from the greens, of Taiwan to kind of the bright fluorescent lights, neon lights of Taipei, and then there's kind of the slight sepia tones of the past and he just, you know, brings it so to life so well.   Miko Lee: [00:45:49] I didn't know he was a Disney animator, but it totally makes sense because it feels very layered. It does feel animated in a way and kind of alive. So I appreciate that.   Livia Blackburne: [00:45:59] I'm not sure. If he's an animator. He does a lot of art for the theme parks and like products and the cruise ships and stuff. I'm not sure.    Miko Lee: [00:46:07] Oh, interesting.   Livia Blackburne: [00:46:07] He does like movies and  stuff.    Miko Lee: [00:46:08] Interesting. It looks like animation though. Your book.    Livia Blackburne: [00:46:13] It does look very, yeah. Lively. Mm-hmm.    Miko Lee: [00:46:16] That I'm looking forward to that series. That would be so cute. The grandmother series as a whole little mini series traveling to different places. can you tell us about your new book, Dreams to Ashes? Has that been released yet?   Livia Blackburne: [00:46:29] Dreams to Ashes? That has been released that, released about a month before Nainai's Mountain. Yeah, that one's quite a bit different. So that one is a nonfiction book and it's a picture book, and it's about the Los Angeles massacre of 1871. Whenever people, I tell people about that, they're like, wait, you wrote a picture book about a massacre? Which is slightly counterintuitive. So I never knew about the Los Angeles massacre growing up. And, and, given that I am a Chinese person in Los Angeles, that is kind of weird. Basically, it was a race massacre that occurred. One of the biggest mass lynchings in history, uh, where there was a between two rival Chinese organizations and a white bystander was killed. And because of that, , a mob formed and they rounded the Chinese population up basically. And. Blame them for that death. In the end, 18 Chinese men were killed and only one of them were involved in the original gunfight. It was a horrible tragedy. And unfortunately, as often happened with these kind of historical tragedies in our country, nobody was really punished for it. A few men were indicted and convicted, but their convictions were overturned and it just kind of disappeared into history. And it really struck me that, you know, nobody knew about this. I wanted to kind of bring this to light and unfortunately when I was writing it, it was also, during the Covid pandemic and, I was seeing a lot of anti-Asian rhetoric, anti-Asian hate crimes were going up. And I saw so many parallels between what happened. Back then, because, you know, Chinese people specifically were being vilified , they were being called immoral, stealing people's jobs. And you can see in the years before the massacre the newspapers were saying horrible things and, you know, the hate was just becoming very strong and all that exploded one night into an unspeakable tragedy. Unfortunately as an author, you want your work to be relevant, but sometimes you don't want your work to be relevant in this way. Right. Nowadays I'm seeing so much rhetoric again against immigrants and not of many ethnicities. And in some ways I'm sad. That, this is happening now. And I also hope that this book will contribute to the conversation and show how the danger of racism and xenophobia and hate and what, what can happen because of that.   Miko Lee: [00:48:55] So this occurred in the late 1800s, right? Was it before the Chinese Exclusion Act?    Livia Blackburne: [00:49:03] Yes, it was before the Chinese Exclusion Act. So you'd hope that people kinda learn from these things. And it was just kind of one of the, one of the horrible things that happened on the way to the Chinese Exclusion Act and Chinese immigrants being excluded basically Chinese laborers at least.   Miko Lee: [00:49:23] Oh wow. Okay. I'm looking this up now. And 1882 we know was the Chinese Exclusion Act and this incident actually happened in 1871. Yes. A decade beforehand, Helen Zia always talks about these moments that are missing. MIH missing in history and this is clearly another one of, another time of just wiping out a population.I'm wondering if you could speak a little bit more about how Children's Books can make a difference in the world that we're currently living in, where our government is banning books and you know that there's a narratives that they want to align with a certain kind of conservative ideology. Can you talk about the power of being a Children's Book author in this time that we're living in right now? . I'm really thinking about dreams to Ashes and even I dream of Popo and even Nainai's Mountain, which you would think, oh, they're, you, they're visiting their grandparent, their grandmothers, that would not be controversial. But now when even words like inclusion and diversity are threatened and books are being banned, I'm just wondering if you could. Share a little bit more about your superpower as a children's book author?    Livia Blackburne: [00:50:31] Yeah, that's a fantastic question. We live in a time right now, there's, a lot of hate, a lot of intolerance, a lot of fear of different people groups. And a lot of that I think is because people are unfamiliar with people unlike themselves. They see. People who are different, look differently, act differently, speak differently, and it scares them. And I think the best way to get around that is to actually get to know people of other backgrounds, to see them as human. And I think that's where children's books come in. ‘Cause we don't, children are not born. With this hate of the other. They learn it. But, if they grow up being familiar with people of different backgrounds seeing their stories seeing them as, normal human beings, which, should be obvious, but sometimes it's hard, for adults to realize. Then, I'm hoping, as a children's book author that it will lead to a more empathetic world. And perhaps that's why the government sometimes in certain groups are wanting to, censor this and control the flow of children's books because, children are the most their minds are still open. They're still able to learn.    Miko Lee: [00:51:48] And Livia, tell us what you're working on next.   Livia Blackburne: [00:51:53] So right now I am. Working on a historical middle grade. We haven't quite announced it yet, so I can't say the title or too many details, but it is based on my family history of my parents and grandparents who moved from China to Taiwan after the civil War.   Miko Lee: [00:52:12] Please check out our website, kpfa.org. To find out more about our show tonight. We thank all of you listeners out there. Keep resisting, keep organizing, keep creating and sharing your visions with the world because your voices are important. Apex Express is created by Miko Lee, Jalena Keane-Lee, Preti Mangala-Shekar, Swati Rayasam, Aisa Villarosa, Estella Owoimaha-Church, Gabriel Tanglao, Cheryl Truong and Ayame Keane-Lee.   The post APEX Express – 6.19.25 We Are All Connected appeared first on KPFA.

Today we talk about our hormonal health and periods! We discuss the process of going off a long-term birth control and getting reintroduced to the hormonal cycle. We talk about how to work with the different phases of the cycle and changes we notice in our body and mood. We also share what we personally like to do during our periods.Support the showFollow us on social media @eatyourcrustpod

Host Jason Blitman talks with author Allison King about her debut novel The Phoenix Pencil Company, June's Reese's Book Club selection. They explore themes of memory, the importance of preserving and sharing stories, and yes—pencils. Later, Jason is joined by Guest Gay Reader Jeff Hiller (HBO's Somebody Somewhere), who shares his current reads and discusses his new memoir Actress of a Certain Age.Allison King is an Asian American writer and software engineer based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In technology, her work has ranged from semiconductors to platforms for community conversations to data privacy. Her short stories have appeared in Fantasy Magazine, Diabolical Plots, and LeVar Burton Reads, among others. She is a 2023 Reese's Book Club LitUp fellow. The Phoenix Pencil Company is her first novel.Jeff Hiller is an actor, writer and comedian who has appeared on TV shows such as Somebody Somewhere, American Horror Story: NYC, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, 30Rock, and Law and Order: CI, among numerous others. His film roles include Greta, Morning Glory, Ghost Town, and Set it Up, and he has performed on Broadway, off-Broadway, in Shakespeare in the Park, Disney musicals, and regional theater. Jeff regularly performs solo shows at Joe's Pub at the Public Theatre and improvises at The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in LA and NYC. BOOK CLUB!Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERE for only $1July Book: Disappoint Me by Nicola Dinan SUBSTACK!https://gaysreading.substack.com/ MERCH!http://gaysreading.printful.me PARTNERSHIP!Use code READING to get 15% off your madeleine order! https://cornbread26.com/ WATCH!https://youtube.com/@gaysreading FOLLOW!Instagram: @gaysreading | @jasonblitmanBluesky: @gaysreading | @jasonblitmanCONTACT!hello@gaysreading.com

Chase, a young red panda has met a literally colorful group of fellow travelers at first pride. But can he sort out these new feelings about one of them in particular?Today's story is the second and final part of “Chase the Pride” by D.J. Fahl, American Southwest native and baking enthusiast and author of Save the Day, published by FurPlanet. Though he insisted we tell you instead to go find some Asian American furry authors, of which there are several, and give them more attention then his book.Last time, Chase St. James had been considering going home early from his first Pride until he ran into Vic, a fellow Red Panda, who introduced him to a cadre of other red pandas from many walks of life with different colored stripes dyed on their tails. Just as Chase was settling into the warm afternoon with picnic food a stranger arrived and Chase is about to learn Pride is about Attitude as much as Orientation.Read for you by Rob MacWolf — werewolf hitchhiker.thevoice.dog | Apple podcasts | Spotify | Google PodcastsIf you have a story you think would be a good fit, you can check out the requirements, fill out the submission template and get in touch with us.https://thevoice.dog/episode/chase-the-pride-by-d-j-fahl-part-2-of-2

It's YOUR time to #EdUpClick here to support Elvin & Joe!In this episode, sponsored by CoursedogYOUR guest is Dr. Arlene Rodríguez, Provost & Vice President of Academic & Student Affairs, Middlesex Community CollegeYOUR cohost is Bridget Moran , Senior Content Manager at CoursedogYOUR host is Dr. Joe SallustioHow does integrating academic & student affairs create synergy for student success? What makes the "Pedagogy of Real Talk" transformative for community colleges? How can institutions build belonging that restarts every semester? Why is community engagement beyond workforce development essential? How does disaggregated data drive equity-minded initiatives? Topics include:Integrated leadership model Wraparound services & peer tutoring Learn & earn biotech programs Asian-American & Hispanic student success Community vibrancy framework Listen in to #EdUpThank YOU so much for tuning in. Join us on the next episode for YOUR time to EdUp!Connect with YOUR EdUp Team - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Elvin Freytes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Dr. Joe Sallustio⁠⁠⁠⁠● Join YOUR EdUp community at The EdUp Experience!We make education YOUR business!P.S. If YOU like what YOU hear, feel free to ​ ⁠support our efforts to keep us going!​

A sweet, bubbly tale about a young boba tea who learns that being you is being enough! A heartwarming new picture book by Joanna Ho, the New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of Eyes That Kiss in the Corners that invites readers on a colorful journey of self-discovery. This charming tale celebrates self-love and identity, skillfully weaving in themes of Asian American experience and history. Illustrated by New York Times bestselling illustrator Amber Ren, this delightful story reminds readers that there's always room for unique flavors in our communities. Milk Tea Town was steeped in tradition. That is, until... Mindy came along. Mindy isn't like the other classic milk tea flavors, with their sensible straws and varying shades of brown. Instead, Mindy shines with her green, white and red colors. Worried about not being milk tea enough, Mindy decides to dive into their history so she can be less different. As she and her friends embark on this journey, they make a surprising discovery about the truth behind milk tea that could change the town forever. These cute boba characters and the charming Milk Tea Town tell the story of many immigrants, Asian or otherwise, who have grown up in their communities feeling like they're not Asian enough. BECOMING BOBA gently dismantles that argument by showing that people, like milk tea, are ever changing and more vibrant for it. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-unplugged-totally-uncut--994165/support.

Former Congressman Peter Roskam, who leads BakerHostetler's Federal Policy team, provides listeners with a front-row seat to the most important policy and political debates in Congress. In this episode of “The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam,” Peter is joined at the 36th Annual Legislative Seminar in Washington, D.C., by his BakerHostetler colleague, former Congressman Heath Shuler. Also joining is Congressman Ted Lieu, a Democrat from California. Lieu is the vice chairman of the Democratic Caucus, the fourth-highest ranking House Democrat – also making him the highest-ranking Asian American to ever serve in House leadership. First elected in 2014, Lieu serves on the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Judiciary Committee, and he is a leading policy voice on artificial intelligence, climate and civil liberties.Questions & Comments: proskam@bakerlaw.com

This week on Whiskey Ginger, Andrew Santino is joined by the one-of-a-kind Atsuko Okatsuka — comedian, actress, and viral sensation — for a wild ride through her unique upbringing, her love of awkwardness, and how she turned trauma into triumph through comedy. They talk about growing up undocumented, how her “toilet paper dance” went viral during the pandemic, her hilarious takes on Asian-American identity, and how comedy saved her life. It's heartfelt, weird, and classic Atsuko.

Join "Mind Over Murder" co-hosts Bill Thomas and Kristin Dilley as they meet award winning author and historian Anne Soon Choi to discuss her new book "L.A. Coroner: Thomas Noguchi and Death in Hollywood," which tells the story of one of America's most prominent medical examiners. Dr. Noguchi's outstanding and sometimes controversial work earned him the nickname "Coroner to the Stars."  This bonus episode of "mind Over Murder" originally ran on February 17, 2025.L.A. Coroner: Thomas Noguchi and Death in Hollywood book:  https://thirdstatebooks.com/pages/la-coronerAmazon:  L.A. Coroner: Thomas Noguchi and Death in Hollywoodhttps://www.amazon.com/L-Coroner-Thomas-Noguchi-Hollywood/dp/B0CRKJSRWFGoodreads:  L.A. Coroner: Thomas Noguchi and Death in Hollywoodhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/204879625-l-a-coroner?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=Uze0rfkiU9&rank=2WTKR News 3: One year after development in Colonial Parkway Murders, where do things stand?https://www.wtkr.com/news/in-the-community/historic-triangle/one-year-after-development-in-colonial-parkway-murders-where-do-things-standWon't you help the Mind Over Murder podcast increase our visibility and shine the spotlight on the "Colonial Parkway Murders" and other unsolved cases? Contribute any amount you can here:https://www.gofundme.com/f/mind-over-murder-podcast-expenses?utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customerWTVR CBS News:  Colonial Parkway murders victims' families keep hope cases will be solved:https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/colonial-parkway-murders-update-april-19-2024WAVY TV 10 News:  New questions raised in Colonial Parkway murders:https://www.wavy.com/news/local-news/new-questions-raised-in-colonial-parkway-murders/Alan Wade Wilmer, Sr. has been named as the killer of Robin Edwards and David Knobling in the Colonial Parkway Murders in September 1987, as well as the murderer of Teresa Howell in June 1989. He has also been linked to the April 1988 disappearance and likely murder of Keith Call and Cassandra Hailey, another pair in the Colonial Parkway Murders.13News Now investigates: A serial killer's DNA will not be entered into CODIS database:https://www.13newsnow.com/video/news/local/13news-now-investigates/291-e82a9e0b-38e3-4f95-982a-40e960a71e49WAVY TV 10 on the Colonial Parkway Murders Announcement with photos:https://www.wavy.com/news/crime/deceased-man-identified-as-suspect-in-decades-old-homicides/WTKR News 3https://www.wtkr.com/news/is-man-linked-to-one-of-the-colonial-parkway-murders-connected-to-the-other-casesVirginian Pilot: Who was Alan Wade Wilmer Sr.? Man suspected in two ‘Colonial Parkway' murders died alone in 2017https://www.pilotonline.com/2024/01/14/who-was-alan-wade-wilmer-sr-man-suspected-in-colonial-parkway-murders-died-alone-in-2017/Colonial Parkway Murders Facebook page with more than 18,000 followers: https://www.facebook.com/ColonialParkwayCaseYou can also participate in an in-depth discussion of the Colonial Parkway Murders here:https://earonsgsk.proboards.com/board/50/colonial-parkway-murdersMind Over Murder is proud to be a Spreaker Prime Podcaster:https://www.spreaker.comJoin the discussion on our Mind Over MurderColonial Parkway Murders website: https://colonialparkwaymurders.com Mind Over Murder Podcast website: https://mindovermurderpodcast.comPlease subscribe and rate us at your favorite podcast sites. Ratings and reviews are very important. Please share and tell your friends!We launch a new episode of "Mind Over Murder" every Monday morning, and a bonus episode every Thursday morning.Sponsors: Othram and DNAsolves.comContribute Your DNA to help solve cases: https://dnasolves.com/user/registerFollow "Mind Over Murder" on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MurderOverFollow Bill Thomas on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillThomas56Follow "Colonial Parkway Murders" on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ColonialParkwayCase/Follow us on InstaGram:: https://www.instagram.com/colonialparkwaymurders/Check out the entire Crawlspace Media network at http://crawlspace-media.com/All rights reserved. Mind Over Murder, Copyright Bill Thomas and Kristin Dilley, Another Dog Productions/Absolute Zero ProductionsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/mind-over-murder--4847179/support.

On our mid-month check in for June 2025, we highlight some of the latest Asian American publishing announcements, and catch up on the latest book tea!Upcoming books mentioned in our publishing news:Stormraven by Kelsea YuMomma's Christmas Gift by Kao Kalia Yang; illust. by Jacqueline TamBlood of Silver by Allie NguyenWorth a Shot by Dora WangLion Dancer's Lost Lettuce by Michelle Jing Chan Leaf It to Me! by Katrina Moore; illust. by Biva NguyenFried Rice Surprise by Patricia Tanumihardja; illust. by Shiho PateMore Than What Eyes See by Miso Kwak; illust. by Thaís MesquitaKiri by Alice ChuThe Quest for the Longest Noodle by Stephanie Sy; illust. by Cindy WumeHunger Fighter by Jacqueline Chio-Lauri; illust. by Kristin SorraOh, My Affogato! by Daphne Ang and Donna GhorbanpoorPlanted by Niña MataToday Is Children's Day by Aram KimThe Shape of Love by Carren Jao; illust. by Corinne CaroShaping Ramadan by Mustaali RajBeneath the Same Round Moon by Jasmine Fang; illust. by Rồng Phạm & Vinh Nguyễn Book news mentioned on this episode:Chicago Sun-Times publishes a summer reading list filled with fake titles generated by AIBookToker given book deals despite having zero writing experienceBooks & Boba is a podcast dedicated to reading and featuring books by Asian and Asian American authorsSupport the Books & Boba Podcast by:Joining our Patreon to receive exclusive perksPurchasing books at our bookshopRocking our Books & Boba merchFollow our hosts:Reera Yoo (@reeraboo)Marvin Yueh (@marvinyueh)Follow us:InstagramTwitterGoodreadsFacebookThe Books & Boba June 2025 pick is

Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Lorraine K. Lee. A LinkedIn Top Voice and author of Unforgettable Presence: Get Seen, Gain Influence, and Catapult Your Career. Hosted by Rushion McDonald, the conversation dives deep into the power of presence, personal branding, and workplace advancement in a digital-first world. Lorraine shares tactical strategies and career-transforming insights from her own corporate journey and bestselling book.

Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Lorraine K. Lee. A LinkedIn Top Voice and author of Unforgettable Presence: Get Seen, Gain Influence, and Catapult Your Career. Hosted by Rushion McDonald, the conversation dives deep into the power of presence, personal branding, and workplace advancement in a digital-first world. Lorraine shares tactical strategies and career-transforming insights from her own corporate journey and bestselling book.

Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Lorraine K. Lee. A LinkedIn Top Voice and author of Unforgettable Presence: Get Seen, Gain Influence, and Catapult Your Career. Hosted by Rushion McDonald, the conversation dives deep into the power of presence, personal branding, and workplace advancement in a digital-first world. Lorraine shares tactical strategies and career-transforming insights from her own corporate journey and bestselling book.

May is a month full of meaning. May is associated with themes of growth, renewal and new beginnings perfectly tying it to Mental Health Awareness Month and Trauma Awareness Month.May is also a month of tradition, and celebration tied to Asian American and Pacific Islander Month, Jewish Heritage Month and Haitian Heritage Month.How can heritage can strengthen identity, promote resilience, wellbeing and greater purpose? How can heritage provide hope? How can the traditions, customs, beliefs, values, and other cultural practices passed down from one generation to the next fuel our self actualization today? Join fellow author and educator Jeremy Goldstein and I as we discuss these topics and his book.J.S. Gold is a proud son of New Rochelle, New York – go Huguenots! He graduated from SUNY Binghamton with an undergrad degree in Politics, Philosophy and Law, LIU with a Masters in Education, and Gettysburg College with a Masters in American History. Fantasy has been a constant companion throughout Gold's life, the cry of a Kamehameha lifting his spirits as much as Gandalf's wisdom. By day, he teaches history to high schoolers who hopefully remember it. He lives (and jokes, and dances, and sings) with his wife, daughter, son and two cats on Long Island, New York.Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/people/JS-Gold/61567156786557/ Website: jsgoldauthor@gmail.com Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/216847616-the-sanhedrin-chronicles Instagram https://www.instagram.com/jsgoldauthor/ TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@jsgoldauthor Links To Purchase Book:- https://www.amazon.com/Sanhedrin-Chronicles-1-J-S-Gold/dp/1961511886 - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-sanhedrin-chronicles-js-gold/1146047774 - https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-sanhedrin-chronicles-volume-1_js-gold/53531755/?srsltid=AfmBOopHfzLnSERgyrNcP0HJm-nDuxAtYXILVvZpuzaRa2HMvjrQxi1XSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-zennurgy-podcast/exclusive-content

Send us a textWe're proud to announce that starting today (June 11th, 2025), San Francisco officially has a women's sports bar! Rikki's is located in the iconic Castro district, and we got a sneak peak at the spot during their soft opening over the weekend. From the food, to the cocktails, to the company, this spot has it all! We sat down with co-owners Danielle Thoe and Sara Yergovich to discuss the importance of creating a welcoming bar that doubles as a community space, how they make difficult decisions despite them both being Libras, the overwhelming excitement and support they're received from both locals and local businesses, and some of their sports and business icons, including Rikki Streicher, the bar's namesake.Rikki's officially opens on Wednesday, June 11th from 3:30pm-10pm. See you there!Follow Rikki's on IGFollow Danielle Thoe on IGOnsite production support by Jeff Hunt of Storied: San FranciscoSupport the showThanks for listening and for your support! We couldn't have won Best of the Bay Best Podcast in 2022 , 2023 , and 2024 without you! -- Fight fascism. Shop small. Use cash. -- Subscribe to our channel on YouTube for behind the scenes footage! Rate and review us wherever you listen to podcasts! Visit our website! www.bitchtalkpodcast.com Follow us on Instagram & Facebook Listen every Tuesday at 9 - 10 am on BFF.FM

Following Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month in May, Kimberly Kam, Senior Vice President and Sales Director for Union Commercial Services at the Amalgamated Bank of Chicago (ABOC), joined the America's Work Force Union Podcast. She discussed her journey as an Asian American in the financial sector, strategies for overcoming cultural challenges and her involvement in empowering entrepreneurs in low-income countries. Jacqueline Cañola, Professional Development & Technical Assistance Program Manager with the Service Employees International Union Education and Support Fund, joined the America's Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the challenges faced by family child care educators, support efforts through the We Empower Providers Assembly (WEPA) Conference and progress made through collective bargaining.

Yowei Shaw (Proxy) joins the Redacted Friends and talks about Mic's biggest regret.C O M E S E E H A C K C I T Y C O M E D Y TicketsF O L L O W U Shttps://www.instagram.com/asiannotasianpodhttps://www.instagram.com/nicepantsbrohttps://www.instagram.com/jennyarimoto/P A T R E O Nhttps://www.patreon.com/asiannotasianpod P A R T N E R S -Check out friend of the pod John's cabin on Airbnb! https://www.airbnb.com/slink/penXRFgl - Helix Sleep Mattress: visit helixsleep.com/asian - Nutrafol: www.nutrafol.com (Promo code: Asian) This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/ASIAN and get on your way to being your best self.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter Hyphenly; it's our no-fluff love letter with hot takes, heartfelt stories, and all the feels of living in between cultures. Come for the nuance, stay for the vibes! Link below ⁠⁠⁠https://immigrantlys-newsletter.beehiiv.com/subscribe⁠⁠ This episode is brought to you by Zocdoc. Stop putting off those doctor appointments and visit http://Zocdoc.com/Immigrantly to find and instantly book a top-rated doctor today. A quick note before we start. For Immigrant Heritage Month, we are revisiting one of those conversations that stays with you. Today's guest is ⁠Emily Kwong⁠, a dedicated journalist and storyteller renowned for her outstanding work at NPR. Emily's reporting spans a broad spectrum, from climate change and science to compelling human interest stories that shed light on the rich tapestry of immigrant communities. Her keen insights and propensity to capture the essence of human experiences have garnered widespread acclaim in journalism. I've been deeply engaged with Emily's latest podcast, 'Inheriting,' which delves into Asian American and Pacific-Islander families. Through her exploration of how historical events reverberate across generations, Emily creates a narrative that feels intimate and profound, akin to sharing a moment with her in a cozy living room. Each episode, including the one on Pakistan, resonates deeply, showcasing Emily's passion for unraveling the complexities of identity, culture, and belonging. Immigrantly is a weekly podcast that celebrates the extraordinariness of immigrant life. We do this by providing our listeners with authentic, accurate insights into the immigrant identity in America. Immigrantly has garnered significant recognition and has been featured in renowned media outlets such as the ⁠Nieman Storyboard⁠, ⁠The Guardian⁠, ⁠The Slowdown⁠, and ⁠CNN⁠. Join us as we create new intellectual engagement for our audience. You can get more information at ⁠http://immigrantlypod.com⁠. Please share the love and leave us a review on ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠ & ⁠Spotify⁠ to help more people find us!  You can connect with Saadia on ⁠Twitter ⁠@swkkhan Email: saadia@immigrantlypod.com Host & Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Saadia Khan I Editorial review: Shei Yu I Sound Designer & Editor: Haziq Ahmed Farid & Lou RaskinI Immigrantly Theme Music: Simon Hutchinson | Other Music: Epidemic Sound Immigrantly podcast is an Immigrantly Media Production. For advertising inquiries, you can contact us at info@immigrantlypod.com Don't forget to subscribe to our Apple podcast⁠ channel ⁠for insightful podcasts. Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The battle for New York City's future is heating up as former Governor Andrew Cuomo faces off against progressive challenger Zoran Mamdani in what's shaping up to be an unpredictable mayoral race. With ranked-choice voting, multiple candidates, and current Mayor Eric Adams making a last-minute decision not to run in the Democratic primary, the city's political landscape has never been more complex.At the heart of this contest are two fundamental issues dividing voters: public safety and housing affordability. Crime rates remain about 30% higher than pre-pandemic levels, with highly publicized random attacks continuing to make headlines. This concern propelled Adams to victory in 2021, and Cuomo has positioned himself as the experienced leader who can restore order while actually delivering results. Meanwhile, Mamdani represents a new generation of progressive politics, promising municipal housing construction with union labor and free citywide bus service – policies that resonate deeply with younger voters feeling priced out of the city they love.The demographic divide in this election couldn't be starker. Older voters, particularly in Orthodox Jewish and Asian American communities, prioritize safety and stability, while younger transplants demand affordability and fresh approaches to governance. What's notably missing is engagement from traditional power centers – the business community has largely retreated from public advocacy, while unions show diminished influence compared to previous election cycles. This vacuum creates space for new movements but raises serious questions about coalition-building after the election.Despite these challenges, there's reason for cautious optimism. The city shows signs of pandemic recovery, with rebounding tourism, increased subway ridership, and renewed street-level energy. As one journalist noted, "New York is not at a moment of profound crisis" – but it does face serious obstacles ahead. The outcome of this election will reveal whether America's largest city can navigate these challenges and create an effective template for urban governance that other cities might follow. For a nation watching closely, New York's choice represents far more than just a mayoral race; it's a referendum on the future of cities in American political life.Support Our WorkThe Center for Demographics and Policy focuses on research and analysis of global, national, and regional demographic trends and explores policies that might produce favorable demographic results over time. It involves Chapman students in demographic research under the supervision of the Center's senior staff.Students work with the Center's director and engage in research that will serve them well as they look to develop their careers in business, the social sciences, and the arts. Students also have access to our advisory board, which includes distinguished Chapman faculty and major demographic scholars from across the country and the world.For additional information, please contact Mahnaz Asghari, Associate Director for the Center for Demographics and Policy, at (714) 744-7635 or asghari@chapman.edu.Follow us on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-feudal-future-podcast/Tweet thoughts: @joelkotkin, @mtoplansky, #FeudalFuture #BeyondFeudalismLearn more about Joel's book 'The Coming of Neo-Feudalism': https://amzn.to/3a1VV87Sign Up For News & Alerts: http://joelkotkin.com/#subscribeThis show is presented by the Chapman Center for Demographics and Policy, which focuses on research and analysis of global, national and regional demographic trends and explores policies that might produce favorable demographic results over time.

Meaningful relationships are mutual. Balanced with give and take, equal influence between partners, and a vibrant dance of loving responsiveness and caring attention.Marriage and Family Therapist and professor Dr. Jessica ChenFeng is calling us toward a more justice-oriented approach to relationships and to mental health and well-being, She invites us to open-hearted and empathic perspective taking, and seeking an integrated wholeness that incorporates all of who we are—highlighting the gift of mutuality in our most intimate relationships in marriage and family life.In this conversation with Jessica ChenFeng, we discuss:The importance of integrated and whole experience of ourselves—allowing racial, gender, and cultural identities to weave together in our sense of vocation and contribution to the worldThe importance of mutuality in relationships—but particularly in marriage and family systems.The ways emotional power flows in a relationship and impacts marriage and family dynamicsThe difference between partners focusing on meeting their individual needs and caring for the health of an intimate relationshipAnd she offers a guided practical exercise to help us lovingly notice and accept our inner experience with a heart open to justice, vulnerability, and the reminder that we are beloved in the eyes of God.Episode Highlights"Systems of power harm everyone—and to live life to the full, we have to see each other fully.""I believe our move toward life to the full requires us to see the world through a third-order lens: not just family systems, but the racial, gender, and societal systems they exist within.""Mutuality means not just expressing our needs but being willing to be changed by the needs of others.""If we're not attuned to the pleasant sensations in our bodies, we miss the invitations to thrive.""Cultural norms are not God-given realities; they are social constructs we are invited to discern and transform.""Knowledge without authentic relationship keeps us from truly seeing the embodied experiences of others."Helpful Links and ResourcesCheck out the programs in Marriage & Family Therapy at Fuller School of Psychology www.fuller.edu/school-of-psychology/Fuller Asian American Center aac.fuller.edu/Socio-Emotional Relationship Therapy (SERT) OverviewCircle of Care Model ExplainedPositive Psychology and EmotionsJeanne Tsai's Research on Culture and EmotionAsian American Values Scale ReferenceRace and Trauma ResourcesJeanne Tsai's research on culture and emotion – Stanford SPARQJohn and Julie Gottman Relationship ResearchAsian American Values Scale – Paniagua & Yamada (Academic resource)Show NotesJessica ChenFeng shares her "yes and" identity as a second-generation Taiwanese American grounded in both math and creativity.How earthy aesthetics and connection to nature shape Jessica's professional and personal flourishing.The integration of Christian faith with clinical work at Fuller Seminary."Seeing systems of systems" — why thriving requires understanding how race, gender, and cultural forces shape individuals and families.Introduction to socio-emotional relationship therapy (SERT) and the value of mutuality in relationships.Defining mutuality: mutual attunement, mutual influence, mutual vulnerability, and mutual relational responsibility."Mutuality asks: Are both people tending to the relationship itself?"Practical signs of mutual and non-mutual relationships, including emotional attunement and willingness to be influenced.The importance of humility and relational awareness in building mutual relationships.The Circle of Care model: cultivating healthy relational dynamics through attunement and responsiveness.Discerning relational power dynamics in marriages, friendships, and work relationships."Thriving is an open heart, even on a stressful day."How emotional self-control in Asian American cultures is often rooted in relational ethics, not personal repression.The risk and gift of navigating cross-generational emotional communication in immigrant families.Differentiated selfhood: balancing authenticity with cultural respect in relational dynamics.Race, culture, and relational healing: why systems of privilege harm everyone."Love your neighbor as yourself" as an ethic for mutual flourishing across racial and cultural difference.Building trust by leaning into discomfort and courageous conversations.The need for embodied encounters with real people beyond theories of race and difference.Mindfulness practice: Jessica leads a guided exercise in attuning to pleasant sensations in the body.The transformational power of positive emotions and embodiment for creativity and resilience.The relational impact of systemic racialization and why "colorblindness" fails to honor real lived experience.Final reflections: How knowing who we are through systemic and relational lenses allows deeper thriving.Pam King's Key TakeawaysEach of us in the human family is a beloved child of God—and we need to continue to shape society to reflect this foundational truth.The path to meaning and fulfillment in a relationship starts with noticing and acknowledging the flow of emotional power, and its destination is mutuality and humilityThriving means incorporating all of who we are—our heritage and histories especially—into our love of ourselves, our love of others, and love of God.Our intimate relationships need care and attention as a third reality beyond our selves and our partners.And finally, thriving means opening our hearts each day, connecting our inner and relational realities, and learning to love patiently the multitudes we all contain.About Jessica ChenFengDr. Jessica ChenFeng is Associate Professor at the School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy at Fuller Seminary, and is also Director of the Asian American Well-being Collaboratory at Fuller's Asian American Center. Prior to her time at Fuller she was a professor at Loma Linda University and California State University, Northridge.Jessica is known for her clinical expertise and scholarship integrating socio-contextual lenses of race, gender, and generation into work with minoritized individuals, families, and communities. In the last few years, her primary clinical focus has been the well-being of physicians, especially through pandemic-related trauma and burnout. She's co-authored two books, Finding Your Voice as a Beginning Marriage and FamilyTherapist, as well as Asian American Identities, Relationships, and Cultural Legacies: Reflections from Marriage and Family Therapists. She received the 2022 American Family Therapy Academy Early Career Award. About the Thrive CenterLearn more at thethrivecenter.org.Follow us on Instagram @thrivecenterFollow us on X @thrivecenterFollow us on LinkedIn @thethrivecenter About Dr. Pam KingDr. Pam King is Executive Director the Thrive Center and is Peter L. Benson Professor of Applied Developmental Science at Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy. Follow her @drpamking. About With & ForHost: Pam KingSenior Director and Producer: Jill WestbrookOperations Manager: Lauren KimSocial Media Graphic Designer: Wren JuergensenConsulting Producer: Evan RosaSpecial thanks to the team at Fuller Studio and the Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy.

Asians Represent is back with a charity actual play benefiting AAPI United! Liana facilitated "A Family Affair", a Valor adventure she contributed to Unbreakable: Pathways. Unbreakable: Pathways is a collection of Asian-centric adventures that showcase the intersections of culture, tradition, and experiences utilizing a plethora of Tabletop Roleplaying systems and rulesets. AAPI UNITED is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization committed to championing the diverse and collective interests of the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. AAPI UNITED aims to address systemic challenges, promote equality, and amplify the voices of the AAPI community. Crew: Liana - @valorliana.bsky.social Steve - @dmsteve.bsky.social Michelle - @kilnfiendpotter.bsky.social Danny - @br00taldan.bsky.social Kevin - @knitnack.bsky.social //SUPPORT  Help us produce new and exclusive content! Join us on Patreon for ad-free audio and exclusive series! ⁠⁠patreon.com/aznsrepresent⁠⁠ Join the conversation on our Discord server | ⁠⁠discord.gg/aznsrepresent⁠⁠ Check out Daniel's new TTRPG, Wandering Blades, at ⁠⁠wanderingblades.com⁠⁠ //SPONSOR  The Asians Represent! podcast is brought to you by HERO FORGE! Visit ⁠⁠HeroForge.com ⁠⁠to start designing your custom miniature today and check back often: new content is added every week! //FOLLOW  Website | aznsrepresent.com  Blue Sky | @aznsrepresent  YouTube | @aznsrepresent  //CONTACT  If you have questions about this episode's themes, suggestions, or anything else related to Asians Represent, get in touch with us at ⁠⁠aznsrepresent.com⁠⁠  //MUSIC Euphoria by PAVALON

A sweet, bubbly tale about a young boba tea who learns that being you is being enough! A heartwarming new picture book by Joanna Ho, the New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of Eyes That Kiss in the Corners that invites readers on a colorful journey of self-discovery. This charming tale celebrates self-love and identity, skillfully weaving in themes of Asian American experience and history. Illustrated by New York Times bestselling illustrator Amber Ren, this delightful story reminds readers that there's always room for unique flavors in our communities. Milk Tea Town was steeped in tradition. That is, until... Mindy came along. Mindy isn't like the other classic milk tea flavors, with their sensible straws and varying shades of brown. Instead, Mindy shines with her green, white and red colors. Worried about not being milk tea enough, Mindy decides to dive into their history so she can be less different. As she and her friends embark on this journey, they make a surprising discovery about the truth behind milk tea that could change the town forever. These cute boba characters and the charming Milk Tea Town tell the story of many immigrants, Asian or otherwise, who have grown up in their communities feeling like they're not Asian enough. BECOMING BOBA gently dismantles that argument by showing that people, like milk tea, are ever changing and more vibrant for it. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-like-it-s-live--4113802/support.

The Dreams Come True Foundation advocates for the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAIP) Community. In this episode, Adam Torres interviews Peter Park, Founder, CEO at Dreams Come True Foundation, explore Peter's journey as an entrepreneur and the Dreams Come True Foundation. Follow Adam on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/askadamtorres/ for up to date information on book releases and tour schedule. Apply to be a guest on our podcast: https://missionmatters.lpages.co/podcastguest/ Visit our website: https://missionmatters.com/ More FREE content from Mission Matters here: https://linktr.ee/missionmattersmedia Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jeff and Phil welcome back their old friend Andrew Ahn, writer/director of The Wedding Banquet, a reimagining of Ang Lee's beloved classic. They discuss Andrew's journey as a filmmaker; assembling an all-star team -- including Youn Yuh-jung, Joan Chen, Kelly Marie Tran, Lily Gladstone and Bowen Yang -- for the project; navigating the complexities and subtleties of contemporary queer representation; being a part of the legacy of Asian American cinema; and of course, The Good, The Bad, and The WTF of remaking The Wedding Banquet.  

You've read his work (or you should); this awesome guy has been pumping out informative weekly history columns (and now YouTube videos) for close to a decade. His name is Han Cheung (learn how to pronounce that by listening to this interview), and he went from being one of the only Asian-Americans in a small town in Wyoming - where he wrote for a local newspaper about the history of that state's Wild West era - to returning to his parents' adopted home of Taiwan to write "Taiwan in Time." It's been quite a journey for Han, and in this interview, we talk about everything from history to "slow death metal" with half-Cantonese lyrics. Enjoy! PS: Sorry for the delay in release. Eryk caught some covid-adjacent flu and was unable to move. Gratefully, Eryk is feeling better, but Eryk is still referring to himself in the third person, which history shows isn't such a good idea.

On our May 2025 edition of "Do We Want This?" Good Pop's monthly Asian American entertainment news roundup, the crew discusses Asians in the running for the Tony Awards, the reunion of Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, new Japanese/Finnish Noir co-pros, and what Manny Jacinto is up to next!What's Popping? - G Dragon, Sports Docs, Top ChefFollow our hosts:Marvin Yueh - @marvinyuehJess Ju - @jessjutweetsHanh Nguyen - @hanhonymousFollow the show and engage with us at @goodpopclubPart of the Potluck Podcast CollectiveProduced by HappyEcstatic Media

**Special note to our listeners** Love the show? Help us keep the conversation going! Become a paid subscriber through our ⁠⁠Substack. ⁠⁠Your contributions help us continue to make content on issues related to the Asian-American, immigrant, modern parent experience.****************Let us explain. No, we haven't bought a red convertible, had an affair or gotten a divorce. But reaching this stage of life, what we once looked as a somewhat baffling, even humorous, stereotype of modern American life... makes a little more sense to us. Or at least we feel like we could see how someone landed there. We take a deep-dive into what we think counts as a mid-life crisis, what we think causes it and how maybe, just maybe, we can channel it into more productive ends. Or to justify that basement pottery studio that you've been dreaming of :)

Today, on the Hudson Mohawk Magazine, First, Mark Dunlea was at the Albany Capitol to report on a news conference in support of the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act. Then, Roaming Labor Correspondent Willie Terry records a presentation about James Knapp and his life as a Black person in the Gilded Age at the Historic Cherry Hill's Albany History Fair. Later on, for TripleE's, H Bosh Jr speaks with Kim Wafer on playing historical figures on stage, running her own business, and becoming a minister. After that, Sina Basila Hickey and Jacob Boston take listeners to the TroyAsia Night Market where food vendors and other Asian night market entertainment marked the end of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Finally, McKenna Connors brings us a story on food insecurity

Street food, karaoke, dragon dancing, and happy folks, this is what the TroyAsia Night Market was composed of. Jacob Boston and Sina Basila Hickey visited when most food vendors were already sold out to hear about the vibe and the value of the event. 518sian-- an all-volunteer, Asian-led initiative which both brings together and celebrates the Asian American community in the Capital Region.

Today we talk about how we balance our personal independence with our romantic relationships! We chat about our ideal balance of solo time vs. time with our partners. We also talk about signs that alert us that we need more independence when in a relationship.Support the showFollow us on social media @eatyourcrustpod

Why are so many talented community organizers burning out and leaving the field just when we need them most? What would it look like if nonprofits collectively committed to improving wages and working conditions for the people doing the most essential work in our movements? How can funders shift from perpetuating a cycle of underpayment to investing in the workforce that drives social change?In this episode, you'll get promising ideas from guests who are answering these questions with practical, real-world efforts on the ground. Host Rusty Stahl sits down with Kara Park from All Due Respect, and Gaby Hernandez from Órale, to explore a groundbreaking project in Southern California where 20 organizations came together to create shared labor standards for the community organizers on their teams. Through candid conversation, they reveal findings from their compensation study showing that organizers are making an average of $57,000 while directors wish they could pay $65,000, and that there's a troubling salary plateau that pushes experienced organizers out of the field after five years. The guests share how their collective, multi-organizational approach moved beyond individual organizations to create more system-wide change, including transparent pay scales, wellness budgets, and a direct appeal to funders.This conversation offers practical insights for any nonprofit leaders grappling with staff recruitment, compensation, and retention, funders seeking to make meaningful impact, and anyone who believes that the people fighting for justice deserve to thrive while doing that work. Kara and Gaby demonstrate that addressing burnout requires both better compensation and improved working conditions - you can't have one without the other. Their work provides a roadmap for how organizations can move from accepting poverty wages as inevitable to collectively demanding the resources needed to sustain a powerful movement for social change.Resources:All Due Respect websitePublications page on All Due Respect websiteAll Due Respect: Building Strong Organizations by Creating Fair Labor Standards for Organizers (initial national study by All Due Respect, April 2022)What is the Status of Organizer Compensation in Southern California? (All Due Respect, April 2024)SoCal Organizer Compensation and Benefits Standards (All Due Respect, December 2024)Compensación y Beneficios para Organizadores del Sur de California (Diciembre 2024)Órale website (en español)Fair Labor Standards for Community Organizers – with Kinzie Mabon and Kevin Simowitz, All Due Respect, FTP Podcast episodeBiosKara Park is an organizer, facilitator and coalition builder with over a decade of experience in state and national social justice movements. Her work has included grassroots organizing, issue-based advocacy, civic engagement, leadership development and political education, including consulting on curriculum and training for multiple organizations. Kara has served as the Director of Programs for Asian American organizing efforts in both Minnesota and Oregon, building state-based power and leading organizational strategy and program development. In 2017, she helped to pass Oregon's landmark Reproductive Health Equity Act, which has since become a model for multiple other state policy campaigns. Kara has also worked as Civic Engagement Manager for Forward Together, a national organization that unites communities to win rights, recognition and resources for all families, and co-created an Asian and Pacific Islander reproductive justice storytelling project called We Carry Oceans.Gaby Hernandez is the Executive Director of ÓRALE, an immigrant-led organization dedicated to dismantling the criminalization of immigrants and securing protections that allow communities to flourish. Gaby is a graduate from the Coaching for Healing, Justice, and Liberation program, a certification training designed for social justice movement leaders.

Today it's all about Bay Area basketball. The WNBA's first Asian-American coach is hungry to win. Then, a muralist inspired by the dream of playing big league basketball.

Rebecca Nie talks about the common misconception that China is an ethnic monolith, and how she identifies with her Huaren heritage. Although her spiritual path was discouraged in her early life, she discusses being connected to a centuries old heritage of a resilient Dharma that allows us to dream without limitations even through turbulent times.Rebecca also mentions a book-in-progress which will be a translation of Chan Zen Master poems responding to turbulent historical moments, pointing out how there is much more to Zen poetry than peaceful monks in serene mountains.GUEST BIO:ZEN MASTER REBECCA DAWN NIE is the founder of MV Sanctuary and Vice President of the Maitreya Association for Buddhist College Chaplains. As Stanford's Chaplain-Affiliate, she oversees the Buddhist religious and spiritual life for students, faculty, and staff. Her offerings ranges from Continental Zen to Buddhist Yoga, offering healing wisdom for contemporary life through dharma teaching, translation, and new media art.Learn more about Rebecca athttp://mvseon.com/Highlighted WorksYin Mountain: The Immortal Poetry by Three Daoist Women (2022, Shambhala). Heart Sutra: A Network Audio Technology-Assisted Visual Music CompositionHOSTREVEREND DANA TAKAGI (she/her) is a retired professor of Sociology and zen priest, practicing zen since 1998. She spent 33 years teaching sociology and Asian American history at UC Santa Cruz, and she is a past president of the Association for Asian American Studies. 

It started, as promised, on Day 1 of this super-charged Trump Administration. His targeting of political foes, immigrants, the LGBTQ community, people of color and the nonprofit organizations that defend their rights morphed into punitive and legally dubious executive orders. Fortunately, the civil rights community was prepared for the onslaught. They had studied Project 2025, pre-election, the administration's playbook for autocratic rule. John C. Yang, President and Executive Director of Advancing Justice - AAJC, my guest on this episode of Power Station, is one of those insightful and courageous leaders. He and his team at Advancing Justice - AAJC are standing up, in court and on Capital Hill, to the administration's efforts to defund Asian American organizations, decimate the federal workforce (8% of which is Asian American) and deport community members, including naturalized citizens. Advancing Justice - AAJC is working in concert with civil right and public interest organizations representing all communities who are being maligned and attacked. And these efforts are winning. We talk about diversity, a word that Trump now prohibits, and John reminds us that diversity is our strength and part of our national identity. This is a conversation about truth, hope and action. Listen and share!  

Send us a textWatch the video conversation on YouTube here!In this soul-stirring episode of MAIM TIME, we dive into the transformative journey of voice, identity, and liberation with none other than Gavin Masumiya—vocal confidence coach, spoken word artist, and founder of FlowFam. Gavin is not just a coach—he's a movement. He works with professionals, leaders, and everyday introverts alike to unlock the voice that's been buried deep inside us, stifled by shame, expectations, and generations of silence.Together, we explore what it means to be Asian American in today's world—not just in appearance or heritage, but in voice, posture, and soul. What does it mean to be free? To speak freely? To own your identity unapologetically? For anyone who's ever felt like the quiet one in the room, this episode is for you.Connect with Gavin Masumiya

On this episode, we discuss our May 2025 book club pick Blob: A Love Story by Maggie Su. A story about Vi, a twenty three year old biracial midwest Asian American woman, reeling from a bad breakup and a lifetime of bad choices, who finds a sentient blob in the alleys behind a bar and decides to mold it into her ideal romantic partner. What could go wrong?Books & Boba is a podcast dedicated to reading and featuring books by Asian and Asian American authorsSupport the Books & Boba Podcast by:Joining our Patreon to receive exclusive perksPurchasing books at our bookshopRocking our Books & Boba merchFollow our hosts:Reera Yoo (@reeraboo)Marvin Yueh (@marvinyueh)Follow us:InstagramTwitterGoodreadsFacebookThe Books & Boba June 2025 pick is Afterparties by Anthony Veasna SoThis podcast is part of Potluck: An Asian American Podcast Collective

The GGACP team marks May's Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month by revisiting this interview with one of the world's best-loved pop culture figures, actor-activist George Takei. In this episode, George shares his feelings about Caucasian actors in Asian roles, speaks frankly about Japanese-American internment, expresses his gratitude to Trekkies and fondly remembers old friend Leonard Nimoy. Also, George feuds with William Shatner, chats up Jerry Lewis, runs into Cary Grant and rebukes Arnold Schwarzenegger. PLUS: Frank Gorshin! Celebrating James Hong! George channels Sir John Gielgud! Gilbert does his best Richard Burton! And the last of the Paramount contract players! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What does it mean to truly belong in America?  Michael Luo, executive editor at The New Yorker and author of Strangers in the Land, joins Redeeming Babel's director of content, DT Slouffman, to explore the Asian American experience—from the legacy of the Chinese Exclusion Act to the rise in anti-Asian hate during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing from personal stories and a viral moment that sparked national conversation, Luo confronts the “perpetual foreigner” stereotype and envisions a more inclusive vision of American identity. DT and Michael unpack how race, immigration, and belonging continue to shape all of our lives. Send written questions or voice memos for “Ask Curtis” episodes to: askcurtis@redeemingbabel.org Send Campfire Stories to: info@redeemingbabel.org   Resources mentioned in this episode: Michael Luo's An Open Letter to the Woman Who Told My Family to Go Back to China Kirkus Reviews: A Vast History Began With One Sidewalk Encounter  Chinese Exclusion Act, 1882 The Burlingame-Seward Treaty, 1868 Immigration and Nationality Act, 1965 Pew Research: Asian American discrimination in the COVID-19 pandemic Pew Research: A third of Asian Americans changed daily routine due to threats   More From Michael Luo: Michael Luo's Strangers in the Land: Exclusion, Belonging, and the Epic Story of the Chinese in America  Michael Luo's latest articles at The New Yorker Follow Michael Luo on Instagram Follow Michael Luo on X (formerly Twitter)   Follow Us: Good Faith on Instagram Good Faith on X (formerly Twitter) Good Faith on Facebook   Sign up: Redeeming Babel Newsletter

Discover the hidden culinary history of Asian heritage chefs who've served U.S. presidents. Host Lauren Clarke welcomes food historian Adrian Miller and chef Deborah Chang, co-authors of "Asian Heritage Chefs in White House History: Cooking to the President's Taste." From Lee Ping Quan's presidential yacht service in the 1920s to Chef Cristeta Comerford's 19-year tenure as White House Executive Chef, learn how these talented cooks navigated anti-Asian immigration policies while introducing authentic dishes to America's first families. The episode explores how military service provided a pathway to citizenship, reveals surprising fusion recipes from presidential kitchens, and demonstrates food's power as cultural diplomacy. Plus, the latest immigration news with EIG partner Rob Taylor.This episode is part of our ongoing "Food of Immigrants" series, this month featuring stories that highlight Asian American, Hawaiian, and Native Pacific Islander heritage during their heritage month.GUESTS: Co-Authors of "Asian Heritage Chefs in White House History: Cooking to the President's Taste"Adrian Miller, Author, Food Historian, James Beard Award WinnerDeborah Chang, Chef, Recipe Developer, AttorneyHOST: LAUREN CLARKENEWS NERD: ROB TAYLORPRODUCER: ADAM BELMARShow Links:Asian Heritage Chefs in White House History: Cooking to the President's Taste

What does healing look like when men are finally allowed to speak? In this powerful episode, we bring together four incredible voices—Leo Xia, Michael Huynh, Jackson Xia, and Noel Garcia, who are each reshaping the conversation around men's mental health, identity, and healing within Asian and Asian American communities. Through stories of pain, resilience, and community, this episode sheds light on how mental health challenges have shaped their identities, not just as individuals, but as men breaking generational silence. We also discuss what the future could look like if more safe spaces existed for men to connect, express, and heal. Whether you're personally navigating your journey or looking to support others, this conversation offers hope, guidance, and a powerful reminder: you are not alone. About the guests: Leo Xia is a men's group leader and facilitator focused on supporting Asian men. Through over six years of work and 500+ conversations, he's explored themes such as masculinity, identity, and culture. He leads JinShan Men's Community under his company, JinShan Collective, and facilitates Proud Asian Men with the nonprofit Asian Mental Health Project. → Leo Xia https://www.instagram.com/lowhiofficial/ → Proud Asian Men Bay Area Retreat 2025 https://lu.ma/2hlvr42p  Michael Huynh is a mental health researcher completing his PhD in Public Health at UC Irvine. He studies the impact of social relationships on mental health within Asian American communities. → Michael Huynh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mphuynh/ Jackson Xia is a dancer and facilitator who brings people together through joyful movement. With 15 years of street dance experience, he's taught youth across 20+ schools and led sessions for groups like Homeboy Industries and the Sierra Club. He also founded Soulful Sundays, a free dance picnic in Echo Park that supports mental health through movement in nature. → Jackson Xia: https://www.instagram.com/jackson.inabox/ → Soulful Sundays: https://www.instagram.com/soulfulsundaysla Noel Garcia is a Filipino American artist and founder of Genbu Daiko, with nearly 30 years of experience in Taiko drumming. His work blends rhythm, story, and soul to create spaces for healing, reflection, and connection. → Noel Garcia: https://www.instagram.com/taikonoel/ → Genbu Daiko of San Diego https://www.instagram.com/genbudaiko/   Useful Links: National Suicide and Mental Health Lifeline:→ https://988lifeline.org/ Teen Line:→ https://www.teenline.org/ How to Support Loved Ones: → https://www.suicideisdifferent.org/ → https://www.suicideispreventable.org/  --- ***This episode is sponsored by:

On this episode of the AACC Podcast, Ray Chang and Reverend Dr. Abraham Cho explore the complexities of Asian American Christian leadership, the journey into ministry, and the cultural identity that shapes their experiences. They discuss the challenges of navigating predominantly white evangelical spaces, the diverging paths of career choices among Asian Americans, and the cultural costs associated with these dynamics. As they explore the evolving landscape of American Christianity, particularly focusing on the experiences and challenges faced by Asian American Christians, Dr. Cho points out the significance of cultural identity in faith and leadership, encouraging younger leaders to embrace their unique experiences and take initiative in their communities. Listen or download for the whole conversation and share your feedback with us! 

In honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we bring you an episode from Inheriting Season One. Inheriting is a show about Asian American and Pacific Islander families, which explores how one event in history can ripple through generations. Nicole Salaver’s uncle, Patrick Salaver, was one of the leaders of the Third World Liberation Front at San Francisco State University in the late 1960s. This movement not only led to the recognition of the term “Asian American,” but also brought ethnic studies to colleges nationwide. Pat made a difference in the world as a Filipino civil rights leader, but is largely unknown by the public. Now, Nicole wants to set the record straight and honor her uncle’s legacy, while building her own. Follow more of Nicole’s work on her show, the Cultural Kultivators Podcast. Stay connected with us! Email us at inheriting@laiststudios.com to share your questions, feelings, and even your story. Grow your business–no matter what stage you’re in. Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at SHOPIFY.COM/paradise Visit www.preppi.com/LAist to receive a FREE Preppi Emergency Kit (with any purchase over $100) and be prepared for the next wildfire, earthquake or emergency! Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live.Support LAist Today: https://LAist.com/join

  In honor of AANHPI Heritage Month and Mental Health Awareness Month, join us for an inspiring conversation with Dr. Noel Ramirez, Founder & Director of Mango Tree Counseling & Consulting, an AAPI mental health resource center in Philadelphia.  This episode delves into the unspoken realities of intergenerational trauma, racial microaggressions and macroaggressions, exploring the complex relationship between work, identity, and self-worth for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders.  Dr. Ramirez shares powerful insights on how cultural narratives around labor and gratitude impact mental health, the struggle to find language for self-care and boundaries in Asian languages, and the vital importance of witnessing and validating shared experiences.  Discover pathways to belonging, resilience, and finding harmony in a world that often questions our "enoughness." Key topics covered: Navigating racial microaggressions, betrayal trauma, and toxic workplace dynamics for AANHPI individuals and communities. Dissecting the "good enough to work, but not good enough to cultivate" narrative for Asian Americans. Understanding compulsive behaviors rooted in societal expectations and "toxic indebtedness" within AANHPI communities. Examining the absence of self-care and boundary language in some Asian cultures and its impact on well-being. Recognizing the critical impact of racial violence and the power of community healing for Asian Americans. Challenging the "not Asian enough" or "not American enough" identity struggle and cultivating wholeness. Addressing mental health disparities and the vital need for culturally sensitive mental healthcare. Connect with us: Learn more about Noel at https://mangotreecc.com/, via email at noel at mangotreecc.com, or Instagram @mangotree.counseling. Follow Samorn on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/samornselim/. Get a copy of Samorn's book, “Belonging: Self Love Lessons From A Workaholic Depressed Insomniac Lawyer” at https://tinyurl.com/2dk5hr2f.  Get weekly career tips by signing up for our advice column at www.careerunicorns.com. Schedule a free 30-minute build your dream career consult by sending a message at www.careerunicorns.com.

The Redacted Friends try to have a single beige thought. Later they check out each other's Explore page. C O M E S E E H A C K C I T Y C O M E D Y TicketsF O L L O W U Shttps://www.instagram.com/asiannotasianpodhttps://www.instagram.com/nicepantsbrohttps://www.instagram.com/jennyarimoto/P A T R E O Nhttps://www.patreon.com/asiannotasianpod P A R T N E R S -Check out friend of the pod John's cabin on Airbnb! https://www.airbnb.com/slink/penXRFgl - Helix Sleep Mattress: visit helixsleep.com/asian - Nutrafol: www.nutrafol.com (Promo code: Asian) This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/ASIAN and get on your way to being your best self.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jenna and Justin weigh in on some tricky social situations submitted by male listeners. Also, Michelle Williams stops by to catch up and talk about heading to Broadway in the Tony-nominated musical ‘Death Becomes Her.' Plus, Faith Xue, editor-in-chief of Coveteur magazine, shares some top beauty picks in honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. And, comedian Urzila Carlson joins to discuss her new comedy tour, ‘Just Jokes.'

NBC News medical contributor Dr. Natalie Azar shares a checklist for tackling arthritis — including symptoms to watch for and the best ways to manage pain. Also, Joshua Jackson stops by to catch up and talk about heading back to the big screen in his new movie ‘Karate Kid: Legends.' Plus, tech expert Katie Linendoll highlights a few must-have summer gadgets, from smart sunglasses to slushie makers. And, chef Judy Joo whips up a delicious BBQ chicken and noodles recipe in honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

Is soy actually good for us? Have we been lied to about soy and phytoestrogens?Today I'm sharing some shocking studies on the health benefits of soy and other foods containing phytoestrogens. Soy may not be for everyone—including me (I share why in this episode)—however, it may actually help several women (and men!) in different ways. Here's what the science says… PLUS… foods that contain phytoestrogens beyond soy. STUDIES: This PubMed study found that Asian-Americans who ate tofu had a reduced risk of developing breast cancer. The more tofu they ate, the lower their risk. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8922298  Here are 11 PubMed studies highlighting how soy benefits our bones: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19367115 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11095177 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16763748 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14557449 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12920508 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15018488 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10757817 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15702593 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10479216 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15309425 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10966908 It appears that just taking a daily pill containing the isoflavone genistein may be enough to reap some of soy's bone density benefits:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17577003 People in Asia consume much, much, much more soy than those in the West:http://www.smart-publications.com/cancer/daidzein.php Interestingly, men may benefit slightly more than women from eating foods rich in phytoestrogens. These compounds are linked to reduced risks of cancer, cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, and several other conditions: http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content-nw/full/294/12/1493/JOC50096T5 http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/136/12/3046 http://content.onlinejacc.org/cgi/content/full/35/6/1403 As always, if you have any questions for the show please email us at digestthispod@gmail.com.  And if you like this show, please share it, rate it, review it and subscribe to it on your favorite podcast app.  Sponsored By: Armra | Use code DIGEST for 15% off at tryarmra.com/digest  Fatty15 | For 15% off the starter kit go to fatty15.com/digest Bethany's Pantry | Go to bethanyspantry.com and use code PODCAST10 for 10$  Check Out Bethany: Bethany's Instagram: @lilsipper YouTube Bethany's Website Discounts & My Favorite Products My Digestive Support Protein Powder Gut Reset Book  Get my Newsletters (Friday Finds)

In honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we'll be sharing three stories from AAPI storytellers - which take place everywhere from a Korean Spa to a crisis hotline. This episode was hosted by Chloe Salmon. Storytellers: Helen Langlee Wyss finds confidence at a jimjilbang. Hari Sanghvi resents the sound of his own voice, until he's able to help someone in crisis. Wendy Suzuki studies memory as a doctor, and finds a new way of looking at her work when she's confronted with her own father's memory loss. Podcast # 920 To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices