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Jeff and Phil welcome Eileen Chow, Professor and Director of Graduate Studies at Duke University's Asian/Pacific Studies Institute, and Ava Chin, CUNY professor and author of Mott Street: A Chinese American Family's Story of Exclusion and Homecoming, to talk about birthright citizenship, a fundamental right enshrined in the Constitution, now under attack (again) by the Trump administration. They talk about their anger in this moment, who is really under attack -- not rich white folks! -- in this latest attempt to revoke birthright citizenship, the landmark precedent set by United States v. Wong Kim Ark, and why the lessons of history must be constantly learned and re-learned.
Ava Chin was confused that the stories her grandparents told her did not match the history she learned in school. Her research into family history and the father she never met, led to a single building in New York's Chinatown where many of her ancestors lived. “Mott Street” by Ava Chin
Ava Chin, Fae Myenne Ng, and Paisley Rekdal, moderated by Kathryn Ma The Chinese exclusion era started in 1882 and ended (at least on paper) some sixty years later, but, as the authors in this session profoundly reveal, its echoes still reverberate from coast to coast. Buy the books here
The Disrupted team has been welcoming the new year by choosing a few of the episodes we loved from 2023. We have so many favorites that we couldn't reair all of them, but these are a few that we wanted to listen back to. This week is the last of our "2023 favorites" episodes. Producer Kevin Chang Barnum chose our episode on Chinese American exclusion and resistance not only because of how it highlights the discrimination that Chinese Americans face, but also because it shows something that isn't covered enough in the media— the way Chinese Americans have fought against that discrimination. This hour, Ava Chin discusses how the Chinese Exclusion Act continues to impact people today as we interview her about her book 'Mott Street: A Chinese American Family's Story of Exclusion and Homecoming.' And Russell Jeung, one of the co-founders of Stop AAPI Hate, talks about the historical precedent for the current wave of anti-Asian racism and how people who oppose it can take action. GUESTS: Ava Chin: Professor of Creative Nonfiction and Journalism at the City University of New York Graduate Center and College of Staten Island. Her most recent book is Mott Street: A Chinese American Family's Story of Exclusion and Homecoming Russell Jeung: Professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University and a Co-Founder of Stop AAPI Hate. In 2021, he was named one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World along with his fellow Stop AAPI Hate co-founders This episode originally aired on September 13, 2023.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
New York City's Chinatown is arguably one of the most famous neighborhoods in the world—and perhaps one of the most storied, too. Ava Chin, whose memoir, Mott Street: A Chinese American Family's Story of Exclusion and Homecoming, came out this spring, chats with Lale about the apartment building that housed four generations of her family, and the journey a look into her heritage took her on. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
This hour, we take a look at anti-Chinese racism, anti-Asian racism and how government policy plays a role in both. Ava Chin discusses how the Chinese Exclusion Act continues to impact people today as we interview her about her book 'Mott Street: A Chinese American Family's Story of Exclusion and Homecoming.' And Russell Jeung, one of the co-founders of Stop AAPI Hate, talks about the historical precedent for the current wave of anti-Asian racism and how people who oppose it can take action. GUESTS: Ava Chin: Professor of Creative Nonfiction and Journalism at the City University of New York Graduate Center and College of Staten Island. Her most recent book is Mott Street: A Chinese American Family's Story of Exclusion and Homecoming Russell Jeung: Professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University and a Co-Founder of Stop AAPI Hate. In 2021, he was named one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World along with his fellow Stop AAPI Hate co-founders See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
CSI and Graduate Center professor Ava Chin uncovers her family's remarkable history and reveals the deeper history of exclusion that defined the Chinese American experience for a century in "Mott Street."
Zibby speaks to award-winning writer Ava Chin about Mott Street: A Chinese American Family's Story of Exclusion and Homecoming, a gorgeously written, deeply researched, and intimate portrayal of the Chinese Exclusion Act and her family's epic journey to lay down roots in America. Ava shares how this book came to be – from collecting family stories since she was a child, to traveling to Shanghai on a Fulbright to investigate her village, to putting piles and piles of notes into book form. She also talks about her job as a professor of creative writing, the pains of audiobook recording, and her best advice for aspiring writers. Purchase on Bookshop: https://bit.ly/44B0rWBListen, share, rate & review!Want to listen ad-free? Sign up for Acast+ HERE Now there's more! Subscribe to Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books on Acast+ and get ad-free episodes. https://plus.acast.com/s/moms-dont-have-time-to-read-books. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Ava Chin tells us about her stunning family memoir/history of the Chinese Exclusion Act in America, Mott Street: A Chinese American Family's Story of Exclusion and Homecoming. Then we talk with Tanis Rideout about her new novel The Sea Between Two Shores. It's about two families, one Canadian and one from an island in Vanuatu, who must deal with the legacy of colonialism in the South Pacific and the responsibilities they have to each other.
I go over my review of the memoir, Mott Street by author, Eva Chin. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/annoyed-lemon/support
New York City's Chinatown is arguably one of the most famous neighborhoods in the world—and perhaps one of the most storied, too. Ava Chin, whose memoir, Mott Street: A Chinese American Family's Story of Exclusion and Homecoming, came out this spring, chats with Lale about the apartment building that housed four generations of her family, and the journey a look into her heritage took her on. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In seeking to learn more about her family history, author Ava Chin was able to trace many of her relatives back to one building on Mott Street in Chinatown. From the Chinese Exclusion Act to present day, Chin traces the history of her family, and the Chinese community in America, through this one building. Chin joins us to discuss her new book, Mott Street: A Chinese American Family's Story of Exclusion and Homecoming.
Ava Chin's family has been in the U.S. for generations — but Ava was disheartened to learn that so much of what they had experienced was totally absent from American history books. So she embarked on a journey to learn more about her ancestors, and in doing so, to work toward correcting the historical record for all Americans.
In this episode, author and CUNY professor Ava Chin, a 5th generation Chinese New Yorker, discusses her new book, Mott Street: A Chinese American Family's Story of Exclusion and Homecoming.The book artfully explores themes of exclusion as it relates to all Chinese Americans, plus personally for Chin with her father, a "crown prince" of Chinatown that she didn't meet until adulthood. Chin reveals personal family stories against the backdrop of the U.S. eugenics movement and draws a connecting line between the current rise in violence against Asians in North America and anti-immigration laws more than 100 years old.Chin also showcases the resilience, love lives and dreams of Chinese immigrants as well as their resistance to the attitudes and laws of the era.In our conversation, Chin said:> This story goes back to a period in time, in the era of reconstruction, when the country, when the young country was asking itself, who is an American and who is not, who is one of us? And the decisions that they made back then in the 19th century set us on a course as a nation towards viewing all Asians as being foreign and suspicious. And so the great aim of this book is to shed light on Asian American stories and place Asian Americans into our proper space into the larger American story.
MOTT STREET: A Chinese American Family's Story of Exclusion and Homecoming, is a sweeping narrative history of the Chinese Exclusion Act, told through an intimate portrayal of one family's epic journey to lay down roots in America, researched and written by Ava Chin, Professor at City University of New York.
In this interview, Ava and I discuss Mott Street, the Chinese Exclusion Act, her family's close connection to Mott Street and how 49 of her family members have lived in this one building on the street, the importance of oral histories, how she is a 5th generation Chinese-American, and much more. Ava's recommended reads are: How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water by Angie Cruz Stay True by Hua Hsu Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark Support the podcast by becoming a Page Turner on Patreon. Other ways to support the podcast can be found here. If you enjoyed this episode and want to listen to more episodes, try Julie Metz, Adam Stern, Ly Tran, Cate Doty, or Mary Laura Philpott. Want to submit a Read-Alike Request for the podcast? Submit it here. Mott Street can be purchased at my Bookshop storefront. Connect with me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Ava Chin reflected on her family's American experience across five generations & the impact the Chinese Exclusion Act had on her family & community. She was interviewed by Yale University American studies & history professor Mary Lui. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
These riveting works of nonfiction by two incredible women have powerful narratives on family, race, and the way we get to tell our stories. Ordinary Notes by Christina Sharpe compiles art and short vignettes into a beautiful work that explores the Black experience through a wide variety of themes. Sharpe joined us to talk about how these notes came to be, the wealth of literary influences on the project and more. Ava Chin's Mott Street follows one Chinese American family through generations of struggle and resiliency as they work to build their lives. Chin joined us to talk about uncovering her family's past, researching an intergenerational story and more. Listen in as both talk separately with Poured Over's host, Miwa Messer. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Jamie. This episode of Poured Over was hosted by Executive Producer Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays). Featured Books (Episode): Ordinary Notes by Christina Sharpe Mott Street by Ava Chin In the Wake by Christina Sharpe Counternarratives by John Keene Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maugham Obasan by Joy Kogawa Auschwitz and After by Charlotte Delbo Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark Wayward Lives by Saidiya Hartman Lose Your Mother by Saidiya Hartman Featured Books (TBR Topoff): Black Futures by Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham Sour Heart by Jenny Zhang
In the 1860s, Chinese immigrants built vast stretches of railroad in the American West. But two decades later, they found themselves the targets of the first federal law restricting immigration by race and nationality: the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which remained on the books until 1943. One of writer Ava Chin's forefathers worked on the railroad, and much of her family suffered from the consequences of the Exclusion Act. The violence it enabled pushed both sides of her family east, to New York City. Chin, raised by her mother's relatives in Queens, had grown up without meeting her father or his family—until years of research led her to a building on Mott Street where, she soon learned, both sides of her family spent decades living, squabbling, and loving. Chin's new book, Mott Street, is the result of painstaking research across continents and oceans, into oral and written records, to trace five generations of Chinese-American history.Go beyond the episode:Ava Chin's Mott Street: A Chinese American Family's Story of Exclusion and HomecomingRead her reflections on her railworker great-great-grandfather and contemporary immigration controlHer columns as the Urban Forager for The New York Times grew into Eating Wildly, her 2015 bookVisit our website for a selection of family photographs Tune in every week to catch interviews with the liveliest voices from literature, the arts, sciences, history, and public affairs; reports on cutting-edge works in progress; long-form narratives; and compelling excerpts from new books. Hosted by Stephanie Bastek. Follow us on Twitter @TheAmScho or on Facebook.Subscribe: iTunes • Stitcher • Google Play • AcastHave suggestions for projects you'd like us to catch up on, or writers you want to hear from? Send us a note: podcast [at] theamericanscholar [dot] org. And rate us on iTunes! Our theme music was composed by Nathan Prillaman. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This podcast dives into two compelling books: 'Mott Street' by Ava Chin, a deeply researched memoir exploring a Chinese-American family's journey from exclusion to homecoming, and 'Small Mercies' by Dennis Lehane, a potent novel set amid the racial tensions of 1970s Boston following a mother looking for her missing daughter. The host discusses both books in depth providing an insightful commentary on their themes, plot and setting.
In this episode, meet actress Sheetal Sheth, award-winning writer Ava Chin, and book critic, essayist, and reporter Claire Dederer. Tune in to hear the very personal reasons these authors wrote their audiobooks, and the ways they are working towards more well-rounded representation through their work. ALWAYS ANJALI by Sheetal Sheth https://www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com/book/721351/always-anjali/ MOTT STREET by Ava Chin https://www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com/book/563929/mott-street/ MONSTERS by Claire Dederer https://www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com/book/589194/monsters/
Good things are growing wild! Donna makes a Turkish Nettle Salad. Donna and Lonna talk about dandelions, Good King Henry, mint, sorrel, lambs quarter, purslane and more. Donna and Lonna learn about the herb motherwort from author Ava Chin and how local vegetable farmer, Kate Solko, is preparing for farmers market season.
What stories should we remember, and which ones are we forced to forget? What if we discover a truth from the past that shaped us even though we didn't know it? Maxine Hong Kingston's 1975 masterpiece, The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts, transformed American literature by adding a voice that had been with us all along yet insufficiently recognized. The book gives expression to the experience of Chinese Americans, which Kingston splices, multiplies and amplifies in five powerful sections of a book that delve into Chinese mythology, the experience of immigrants, and the difficult and tenuous ways of passing stories from generation to generation. In my conversation with professor Ava Chin, author of Eating Wildly: Foraging for Life, Love and the Perfect Meal, who has been teaching The Woman Warrior for many years, we examine how this gripping book of one girl's coming of age teaches us to figure out which parts of us are true to ourselves, and which ones have been imposed on us by others. Uli Baer is a professor at New York University. He is also the host of the excellent podcast "Think About It" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What stories should we remember, and which ones are we forced to forget? What if we discover a truth from the past that shaped us even though we didn't know it? Maxine Hong Kingston's 1975 masterpiece, The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts, transformed American literature by adding a voice that had been with us all along yet insufficiently recognized. The book gives expression to the experience of Chinese Americans, which Kingston splices, multiplies and amplifies in five powerful sections of a book that delve into Chinese mythology, the experience of immigrants, and the difficult and tenuous ways of passing stories from generation to generation. In my conversation with professor Ava Chin, author of Eating Wildly: Foraging for Life, Love and the Perfect Meal, who has been teaching The Woman Warrior for many years, we examine how this gripping book of one girl's coming of age teaches us to figure out which parts of us are true to ourselves, and which ones have been imposed on us by others. Uli Baer is a professor at New York University. He is also the host of the excellent podcast "Think About It" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What stories should we remember, and which ones are we forced to forget? What if we discover a truth from the past that shaped us even though we didn't know it? Maxine Hong Kingston's 1975 masterpiece, The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts, transformed American literature by adding a voice that had been with us all along yet insufficiently recognized. The book gives expression to the experience of Chinese Americans, which Kingston splices, multiplies and amplifies in five powerful sections of a book that delve into Chinese mythology, the experience of immigrants, and the difficult and tenuous ways of passing stories from generation to generation. In my conversation with professor Ava Chin, author of Eating Wildly: Foraging for Life, Love and the Perfect Meal, who has been teaching The Woman Warrior for many years, we examine how this gripping book of one girl's coming of age teaches us to figure out which parts of us are true to ourselves, and which ones have been imposed on us by others. Uli Baer is a professor at New York University. He is also the host of the excellent podcast "Think About It" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What stories should we remember, and which ones are we forced to forget? What if we discover a truth from the past that shaped us even though we didn't know it? Maxine Hong Kingston's 1975 masterpiece, The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts, transformed American literature by adding a voice that had been with us all along yet insufficiently recognized. The book gives expression to the experience of Chinese Americans, which Kingston splices, multiplies and amplifies in five powerful sections of a book that delve into Chinese mythology, the experience of immigrants, and the difficult and tenuous ways of passing stories from generation to generation. In my conversation with professor Ava Chin, author of Eating Wildly: Foraging for Life, Love and the Perfect Meal, who has been teaching The Woman Warrior for many years, we examine how this gripping book of one girl's coming of age teaches us to figure out which parts of us are true to ourselves, and which ones have been imposed on us by others. Uli Baer is a professor at New York University. He is also the host of the excellent podcast "Think About It" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What stories should we remember, and which ones are we forced to forget? What if we discover a truth from the past that shaped us even though we didn't know it? Maxine Hong Kingston's 1975 masterpiece, The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts, transformed American literature by adding a voice that had been with us all along yet insufficiently recognized. The book gives expression to the experience of Chinese Americans, which Kingston splices, multiplies and amplifies in five powerful sections of a book that delve into Chinese mythology, the experience of immigrants, and the difficult and tenuous ways of passing stories from generation to generation. In my conversation with author and professor Ava Chin, who has been teaching The Woman Warrior for many years, we examine how this gripping book of one girl's coming of age teaches us to figure out which parts of us are true to ourselves, and which ones have been imposed on us by others.
Interview with Ava Chin about her book Eating Wildly
This month’s Study With the Best dives into the world of food. With Tomer Zilkha, Bryan Lindsay, Ava Chin and more.
As a New York Times columnist, Ava Chin spent several years writing about her experiences foraging for edible plant life within the city limits. But Eating Wildly isn't just a handbook on how to find mulberries, (safe) mushrooms or other potential foodstuffs in an urban environment. It's also a memoir about how growing up feeling as if her own identity was defined by the father who left before she was born, and about her relationships with her mother and grandparents... and about taking the steps, in adulthood, to create a healthier emotional self-identity for herself... a process in which the mushrooms (among other flora) actually do play a meaningful role, as you'll learn during our conversation.
With the rise of interest in local ingredients, “New Nordic cuisine”, and sustainability – foraging has become quite the buzz-word. What does it actually mean to forage? What does foraging look like in a place like New York City? We find out this week on Eat Your Words, as guest-host Talia Ralph chats with Ava Chin. A native New Yorker from Flushing, Queens, Ava Chin forages throughout the five boroughs and the tri-state area, writing about her finds for places like the NY Times City Room and Saveur magazine. Her memoir Eating Wildly: Foraging for Life, Love, and the Perfect Meal (Simon & Schuster, May 2014), about being raised by a single mother and loving Chinese grandparents, reveals how foraging and the DIY-food movement helped Ava to heal up from the wound of an absent father and taught her important lessons in self-reliance. Tune in and get an insightful primer on foraging! This program was sponsored by Fairway Market. “As a foraging when I think about edible weeds – these are the things that to me are gold. When you put a plant in the category of weed – you render it useless, it’s as if it has no purpose. But in fact, edible weeds are pretty amazing.” [03:00] “If you can recognize a dandelion, you’ve already started on your foraging journey. It’s as simple as that.” [20:00] –Ava Chin on Eat Your Words
The cool weather this spring means that farmers markets may be looking surprisingly bare for late May. Parks and forests, however, are already bursting with life — and tasty, nutritious finds for knowledgeable foragers. One commonly foraged favorite is lambsquarters. The leafy green grows in sunny meadows, college campuses, and even between the sidewalk cracks in Brooklyn. Forager Ava Chin might ogle the hearty specimens shooting up along city streets, but she admitted that she stays away from eating plants growing in high-traffic areas. Lambsquarters leaves taste like spinach, and Chin likes to sauté them with garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. In her new memoir Eating Wildly: Foraging for Life, Love and the Perfect Meal, she describes feeling like Popeye upon trying it for the first time. “Lambsquarters has the distinction of being one of the most nutritious plants in the world,” Chin said. “It is a member of the chenopodium family, which means that it’s related to quinoa, spinach, and beets. It’s high in vitamins A and C. It’s also high in things like riboflavin, niacin, potassium, calcium, and manganese.” The leafy, stalky plant is a sustainable choice for foragers since it is highly adaptable to various climates. “It’s actually not native to the United States,” said Chin. “It’s native to the Mediterranean and Asia, where, by the way, it’s a revered vegetable in Greek, Persian, and Bangladeshi cuisine.” (Photo: Ava Chin/Owen Brunette) Another important advantage of lambsquarters is that there are no poisonous look-alikes. The leaves on the tall stalky plant are triangular and give it the common name of “white goosefoot.” It’s also known as “pigweed,” and those in the U.K. might recognize it from the name “fat hen.” “Another characteristic besides the leaves is that it has this white, powdery coating on the new growth, up at the top of the plant, and also at the bottom of the top leaves,” explained Chin. That coating is naturally produced by lambsquarters and has no effect on its edibility. So the next time you see a tall stalk with triangular leaves and a white powdery coating on the new growth, give it a second look, positively identify it, and then give it a try in the kitchen. “One of the great things about foraging and being in touch with nature in the city is you start to realize that there’s a great abundance of natural things that are growing all around us on every block, on every street, in every borough,” says Chin. “Nature really likes to rub its elbows against the city and, for me, that’s the interesting thing about foraging.” Lambsquarters Ricotta PieAdapted from the "Wild Greens Pie" recipe in Eating Wildly: Foraging for Life, Love and the Perfect Meal Ingredients Pie pastry, enough for base and latticework topping Filling 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil 1 clove of garlic, crushed 1 medium onion, diced 3 cups of lambsquarters 1 cup of spinach, Swiss chard, or store-bought dandelions, roughly chopped 1 cup mustard greens, roughly chopped ½ teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon pepper 15-ounce container ricotta cheese ½ cup grated Pecorino Romano (can substitute Parmesan) ½ grated fontina cheese (or any other good melting cheese you prefer) ½ cup grated mozzarella cheese 3 large eggs, beaten 1 egg white, optional 1 teaspoon water, optional 1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Press pastry into a 10-inch diameter springform pan. Build pastry up wall of pan at least 1½ inches tall. 2. In a pan over medium flame, heat 1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil. Add the garlic until lightly browned (3 minutes), and sauté the onions about another 3 minutes. Heat the remaining teaspoon of oil, then mix in the wild and store-bought greens, salt, and pepper. Sauté until all liquid from the greens evaporates, about 3 minutes. 3. Combine the ricotta, romano, fontina, mozzarella, and eggs in a large bowl. Add the wild greens mixture, blending well. 4. Spoon the filling into the pastry-covered pan. Cut the remaining pastry into thin strips and weave into a latticework topping; place over pie, trimming edges. Mix the egg white with water and brush over pastry, if using. Bake until the filling is set in center and browning on top, approximately 40 minutes.
Steve “Wildman” Brill, Leda Meredith & Ava Chin all join Cathy for a discussion on urban foraging.