Podcasts about Chinese Americans

Arthur Sze, one of the most acclaimed poets of our time, is celebrated for exploring the natural world, the human condition and connections between cultures. A second-generation Chinese American based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Sze’s work invites readers to deepen their sense of place and reflect on the world around them. Jeffrey Brown spoke with Sze for our Arts and Culture series, CANVAS. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

Drew and Sean explore the rich world of Chinese American genealogy - from online tools to historical archives and other cultural resources that can help folks trace their family roots. Whether you're reconnecting with your heritage or researching for future generations, this episode of Asians Represent is a great way to level up your understanding of Chinese American ancestry, the diaspora, and tools to uncover your family's story! Free show notes: https://www.patreon.com/posts/132048528 //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

Born in Pittsburgh, Michael Luo is the son of Chinese immigrants. He attended Harvard, and later became a reporter at the New York Times and today he is the Executive Editor at The New Yorker. One rainy afternoon in 2016, he was standing on the sidewalk with his family and some friends after church, trying to decide where to go to lunch when a stranger accosted him and his family. “Go back to China,” she said. Today, he joins us for the hour to talk about his new book on the hidden history of brutality and violence that so many Chinese Americans faced at the turn of the century. GUEST: Michael Luo: Executive Editor for the New Yorker, and author of the book Strangers in the Land: Exclusion, Belonging, and the Epic Story of the Chinese in America Where We Live is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode. This episode originally aired May 20, 2025.Support the show: http://wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A new week means new questions! Hope you have fun with these!A magnifying glass features what kind of lens?Give any of the 3 types of animals in the titles of surviving plays by ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes.Tyrian Purple, aka Royal or Imperial Purple, was once a highly valued dye secreted by several species of what kind of animal?The Second Temple period in Jewish history ended with the Roman siege of which city?In mechanical terms, what are the toothed disks on a conventional bicycle referred to?The grape variety known in France as Syrah is called by which name in Australia, Chile and other wine regions?Comics or graphic novels originating from Japan are known by what collective term?The Louvre Pyramid, the large glass-and-metal entrance way and skylight designed by which Chinese-American architect?Who voiced Ms. Frizzle on the children's television series “Magic School Bus”?MusicHot Swing, Fast Talkin, Bass Walker, Dances and Dames, Ambush by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/Don't forget to follow us on social media:Patreon – patreon.com/quizbang – Please consider supporting us on Patreon. Check out our fun extras for patrons and help us keep this podcast going. We appreciate any level of support!Website – quizbangpod.com Check out our website, it will have all the links for social media that you need and while you're there, why not go to the contact us page and submit a question!Facebook – @quizbangpodcast – we post episode links and silly lego pictures to go with our trivia questions. Enjoy the silly picture and give your best guess, we will respond to your answer the next day to give everyone a chance to guess.Instagram – Quiz Quiz Bang Bang (quizquizbangbang), we post silly lego pictures to go with our trivia questions. Enjoy the silly picture and give your best guess, we will respond to your answer the next day to give everyone a chance to guess.Twitter – @quizbangpod We want to start a fun community for our fellow trivia lovers. If you hear/think of a fun or challenging trivia question, post it to our twitter feed and we will repost it so everyone can take a stab it. Come for the trivia – stay for the trivia.Ko-Fi – ko-fi.com/quizbangpod – Keep that sweet caffeine running through our body with a Ko-Fi, power us through a late night of fact checking and editing!

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

In this episode of The Leader's Journey Podcast, Jim sits down with Houston-area pastor Melissa Emerson to explore what it means to live faithfully in the midst of deep church change. After stepping into leadership of Mosaic Community Covenant Church following her father's sudden passing, Melissa and her husband have led their community through a nomadic, experimental journey—redefining what church can be in the most diverse suburb in the U.S. With honesty, wisdom, and a heart for justice, Melissa shares what it's been like to shed institutional expectations, rediscover community, and follow the Spirit's leading in uncharted territory. If you've ever felt disillusioned with “church as usual,” or if you're discerning a new way forward, this conversation offers courage and clarity for the road ahead. Melissa Lee Emerson is a third generation Chinese American woman co-pastoring Mosaic Community Covenant Church with her husband. Mosaic meets at a YMCA in the most diverse suburban county in the United States. Passionate about the intersection of faith and justice, Melissa dedicates her energy to the church, to Mosaic Learning Center, and raising her two daughters. She has a masters of divinity from North Park Theological Seminary with an emphasis on intercultural ministry and a bachelors in psychology with an emphasis on sociology and human development. She enjoys multicultural learning spaces and trips, especially if food is involved.  Conversation Overview: The shift from institutional church to a nomadic, mission-focused church Creative approaches to discernment  Developing missional partnerships Embracing Unlearning Rebuilding culture: resisting performance-driven worship and prioritizing outreach The role of emotional maturity, spiritual formation, and slowing down in adaptive leadership   Resources:  Mosaic Covenant Community Church Unlikely Nomads: In Search of the New Church by Terry Walling A prophetic and pastoral look at the shifting landscape of the North American Church and how leaders are navigating toward new expressions of faith. Shattered Dreams – a sermon by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. A profound reflection on disappointment, surrender, and trusting God's larger purpose through unfulfilled expectations. Acts 1:8 Model A biblical framework used to guide outreach and mission—beginning in one's immediate community (“Jerusalem”) and expanding outward to the world. Dwelling in the Word (Lectio Divina) A contemplative practice of reading Scripture in community with an emphasis on spiritual listening and discernment. Nomads in the Changing Church - The Leader's Journey Podcast  Find The Leader's Journey on YouTube!

In this hilarious and raw episode of the Tiger Mom Podcast, comedian and podcast host Yannis Pappas dives deep into his personal life, including navigating fatherhood, the ups and downs of being a Greek dad, and his love for history. From his new comedy special "Property Owner" to his take on World War II, history, and the world of sports, Yannis shares stories that are equal parts funny and insightful. Plus, he opens up about his upbringing, his complicated relationship with his mother, and the hilarious moments that shape his comedy. Don't miss this wild conversation about culture, family, and a bit of chaos—because Yannis never holds back. Tune in every week for more Tiger Mom!Watch Yannis Pappas FULL NEW SHOW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HN_irAlyFQgAbout Jiaoying Summers:Jiaoying Summers is a Chinese-American stand-up comedian, actress, and social media influencer known for her bold humor, sharp wit, and unique perspectives on life, culture, and identity. A proud mother and successful performer, Jiaoying's journey from her beginnings in China to becoming a comedy sensation in the U.S. is nothing short of inspiring. She uses herplatform to tackle topics like cultural differences, family, and self-empowerment, always leaving audiences laughing and thinking.Stay Connected With Jiaoying:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jiaoyingsummers Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jiaoyingsummers/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jiaoyingsummersX: https://x.com/jiaoyingsummersWebsite: https://summerscomedy.comSupport the showFollow Jiaoying Summers Social media & get tickets for Tiger Milf Tour!Facebook | Youtube | TikTok | Twitter | Instagram | Merch | Tour | Patreon | OnlyFans

Jen and Sarah review ‘Slanted,' as part of the Seattle International Film Festival. They reflect on the impressive premise and powerful screenplay that helps us explore important themes around beauty standards, belonging, and what it's like being a Chinese-American teenager. Shownotes: Spoilers (~8:23) Remember to leave a rating and review of this episode. Connect with Movies & Us on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky @moviesanduspod or by email at moviesanduspod@gmail.com. Check out our website, andusmedia.co, for the latest on Movies & Us and TV & Us, and don't forget to shop Movies & Us Merch at andusmedia.etsy.com.

In this uncensored and side-splitting episode of the Tiger Mom Podcast, Jiaoying Summers interviews comedian Britney Schmidt. Britney gets real about her path from stand-up comedy to handling family trauma, such as losing her mom and choosing not to have children. From humor to actual challenges, Britney talks about how she used pain to create comedy. Listen for laughs, tears, and a dash of reality!#jiaoyingsummers #comedy About Jiaoying Summers:aJiaoying Summers is a Chinese-American stand-up comedian, actress, and social media influencer known for her bold humor, sharp wit, and unique perspectives on life, culture, and identity. A proud mother and successful performer, Jiaoying's journey from her beginnings in China to becoming a comedy sensation in the U.S. is nothing short of inspiring. She uses herplatform to tackle topics like cultural differences, family, and self-empowerment, always leaving audiences laughing and thinking.Stay Connected With Jiaoying:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jiaoyingsummers Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jiaoyingsummers/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jiaoyingsummersX: https://x.com/jiaoyingsummersWebsite: https://summerscomedy.comCopyright Notice:This video and my YouTube channel contain dialog, music, and images that are property of Jiaoying Summers. You are authorized to share the video link and channel, and embed this video in your website or others as long as a link back to my YouTube channel is provided.Support the showFollow Jiaoying Summers Social media & get tickets for Tiger Milf Tour!Facebook | Youtube | TikTok | Twitter | Instagram | Merch | Tour | Patreon | OnlyFansSupport the showFollow Jiaoying Summers Social media & get tickets for Tiger Milf Tour!Facebook | Youtube | TikTok | Twitter | Instagram | Merch | Tour | Patreon | OnlyFans

Lily Lam is a content creator and designer based in New York City.  She creates content that speaks to underrepresented voices and is an influencer within the world of Magic: The Gathering.  Today, we talk about gentrification in New York's Chinatown, cultural identity as Chinese-Americans, and the recent rise of Chinese soft power.  Lily shares her thoughts on deep systemic problems in America and we discuss how American perceptions of China are shaped and how they're now changing.  We talk about Lily's personal transgender experience, transitioning, its impact on her family, and finding inner peace in a new, yet familiar identity.  We also talk about fashion and how it can be a useful tool in building personal confidence through individual style instead of chasing trends.  This is a heartfelt discussion on identity, acceptance, and change. _____________________ If you enjoy this show don't forget to leave a rating! Follow Us On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehonestdrink_/ RedNote: THD The Honest Drink WeChat: THD_Official Find us on: Spotify, Apple, YouTube, 小红书, Ximalaya, 小宇宙, 网易云音乐, Bilibili or anywhere else you get your podcasts.

Kyle Casey Chu, aka Panda Dulce is a fourth-generation Chinese-American. Her twin brother has autism, and the two went to Jefferson Elementary in the Sunset because the school had a good inclusive special education program. Kyle says that from an early age, she fought for her twin, all the way up to teaching classmates ASL to be able to communicate with her brother. After one year at Lick-Wilmerding High School, Kyle transferred to School of the Arts (now Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts) to major in music. She went to Sarah Lawrence College in New York after that, where she majored in ethnic studies and arts, followed by time at Columbia University for social work. Then Kyle Casey Chu came back to her hometown. She says she missed the calmness here, the Queer scene, and her family. We shift the conversation to the story of how San Francisco Drag Story Hour got started. Michelle Tea founded Drag Story Hour after having a kid of her own and discovering how hard it was to find spaces for queer parents or parents of queer kids. Tea thought, ‘Why not bring the magic of drag to youth spaces?' When she set out, Tea sought drag queens who had worked with youth before, something that proved not too easy. But Kyle and her drag persona, Panda Dulce, did in fact have youth work experience. Kyle had worked as a K–5 Spanish immersion teacher, a special ed. teacher, a music teacher, and a camp counselor. That plus her social work degree definitely qualified her for Drag Story Hour. She along with a handful of other queens joined the pilot program. Fast-forward to June 2022, when members of the so-called “Proud Boys” (ugh) stormed a Drag Story Hour in San Lorenzo in the East Bay that Panda Dulce had been asked to read at. After barging in uninvited and definitely unwanted, they shouted transphobic slurs and calling Panda a pedophile, a “tranny,” and an “it.” She was forced for her own safety to lock herself in a back room of the library until authorities arrived. When they did, they simply asked these horrible people to leave. No citations. Not even a slap on the wrist or taking of names. The goings on in San Lorenzo that day were awful enough. But starting soon after, the missteps by media were relentless for Kyle. Journalists seemed more interested in a preordained narrative than Kyle's actual experience and associated trauma. It was like the story was being fed to her, rather than coming from her own words. But Kyle and her writing partner, Roisin Isner, were talking one day. They decided that they wanted to reclaim authorship of Kyle's story, to add dimensionality and humanity to her experience. Isner had been through a traumatic event of her own years earlier and could easily relate to her friend. We talk at length about Kyle's reliving her trauma to film the short film that came out of writing sessions with her friend. She says that she never really stopped living it, in fact, and that shooting the movie served as a sort of catharsis for her. Then we talk about her new book, The Queen Bees of Tybee County, which is out now wherever you buy books (except for that one place—never buy anything there yuck). When we recorded that day in April, the book had just been optioned and could become a movie in the near future. She's also got another short coming soon, Betty, which just premiered in New York. Follow Kyle/Panda Dulce on Instagram and her Kyle Casey Chu website. We recorded this bonus episode during SFFILM fest in The Presidio in April 2025. Photography by Jeff Hunt

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

Thanks for joining us for Monumental. We'd like to introduce you to another podcast called The Hustle from Feet In Two Worlds. The episode we're sharing today begins with a monument that represents a violent chapter from the American West…the Rock Springs Massacre.On September 2, 1885, white mobs in Rock Springs, Wyoming murdered 28 Chinese coal miners. They wounded 15 more, and then looted and burned Rock Springs' Chinatown. This episode reveals a forgotten history of private industry weaponizing white workers against Chinese workers — and the government failing to stop the violence. You'll hear from three descendants of the Massacre, as well as Chinese Americans in Rock Springs today.This is one of the stories you'll hear on The Hustle, a podcast series about how immigrants are navigating a changing economy, today and throughout history. To hear other episodes, and find out more about the series, go to fi2w.org.

Mayor Adams is announcing a new partnership with city organizations that will increase the number of cops in Central Park this summer. Plus, the New York Yankees play the Los Angeles Dodgers in a 3-game series this weekend. Also, some local leaders hope marking May 10th as “Chinese American Railroad Workers Memorial Day” will help honor the history of those who built parts of the Long Island Rail Road. And finally, the story of a soccer program that tries to bring migrant families together and create a sense of belonging.

New landlords can hike the rent, but they can't kill an L.A. institution—at least not while Marc and Med are around. The duo behind Genghis Cohen (and Dom's favorite restaurant La Dolce Vita) drop by to explain why they're uprooting 42-year-old Chinese-American icon Genghis Cohen and hauling its fish-tank, neon, and NYC aura exactly 2 blocks south on Fairfax.Along the way we get a crash-course in red-sauce minimalism, the lost art of Queens-style egg rolls, and the business math of paying “L.A. landlord prices” without gutting a neighborhood staple. If you care about late-night duck-sauce, community institutions, or how to move a restaurant overnight and reopen for take-out the next morning, this one's for you. Keep up with Marc, Med, and Genghis Cohen at www.genghiscohen.comAnd get yourself some baked clams at www.ladolcevitabeverlyhills.com

Chinese American literary pioneer Maxine Hong Kingston revolutionized storytelling with her groundbreaking 1976 book ‘The Woman Warrior,' which blended reality and myth to capture the immigrant experience. As part of our Bay Area Legends series, we talk with Kingston – who grew up working in her parent's Stockton laundry business and was an integral part of Berkeley's counterculture movement – about her genre-defying work. And we check in with contemporary authors about Kingston's lasting influence on their craft and the evolution of immigrant narratives in American literature. Guests: Vanessa Hua, author, Forbidden City; Hua's previous books include “A River of Stars”; former columnist, San Francisco Chronicle Aimee Phan, author, "The Reeducation of Cherry Truong"; associate professor of writing and literature, California College of the Arts in San Francisco. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, novelist, short story writer and poet; Her most recent novel "Independence" won the American Book Award in 2024. Maxine Hong-Kingston, author Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a textAn insecure Chinese-American teenager undergoes experimental surgery to appear white, hoping to secure the prom queen title and peer acceptance. Slanted will be screening at this year's Sydney Film Festival (SFF) on June 9th, 13th & 15th. As suggested by Amy, double feature watching of Slanted & Being ThereCheck out the video interview.Website | Rotten Tomatoes | Linktree | Youtube | Twitter | Instagram

By Dalia ColónIt's one thing to cook food. But talking about food on the radio takes a lot more than knife skills. And Francis Lam does it so well.Lam is a food writer, cookbook editor and host of the popular public radio program The Splendid Table. On June 1, he'll be at the New Tampa Performing Arts Center for a sold-out live taping of the show.Ahead of his visit to Florida, Francis chatted with Dalia Colón from his hometown of New York City, where he lives and works. In this conversation, Francis shared how his Chinese-American upbringing helped him learn to talk about food on the radio, the Florida foods he's most excited to try and his dream Splendid Table guest—a name that might surprise you. Thanks to The Zest's brand manager, Alexandria Ebron, for suggesting this episode. If you have an idea for a Zest guest, email info@thezestpodcast.comRelated episodes:Yee Farms Brings Chinese Vegetables and a “Sense of Pride” to Boynton BeachIn “My (Half) Latinx Kitchen,” Kiera Wright-Ruiz Explores Identity Through FoodGiuliano Hazan Honors Mother Marcella Hazan's Legacy Through Italian Cooking Classes in Sarasota and Italy

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. Happy Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month! Even though the Trump Administration has eliminated recognizing cultural heritage months, we are still celebrating diversity and inclusion here at APEX Express and KPFA. We believe in lifting up people's voices and tonight on APEX Express the Powerleegirls are focusing on “Asian American Children's book authors”. Powerleegirl hosts Miko Lee and daughter Jalena Keane-Lee speak with: Michele Wong McSween, Gloria Huang, and Andrea Wang   AAPINH Month Children's Books part 1 transcript 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: [00:00:49] Happy Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Even though the Trump administration has eliminated recognizing cultural heritage months, we are still celebrating diversity and inclusion. Here at Apex Express and KPFA, we believe in lifting up people's voices. And tonight on Apex Express, the PowerLeeGirls are focusing on Asian American Children's book authors. PowerLeeGirl hosts Miko Lee and daughter Jalena Keane-Lee. Speak with Michele Wong McSween, Gloria Huang and Andrea Wang. Thanks for joining us tonight on Apex Express. Enjoy the show.   Miko Lee: [00:01:21] Welcome, Michele Wong McSween to Apex Express.    Michele Wong McSween: [00:01:26] Thank you, Miko. It's nice to be here.    Miko Lee: [00:01:28] I'm really happy to talk with you about your whole children's series, Gordon & Li Li, which is absolutely adorable. I wanna start very first with a personal question that I ask all of my guests, which is, who are your people and what legacy do you carry with you?   Michele Wong McSween: [00:01:45] I would say my people are really my family starting with, my great, great grandparents who came here down to my grandparents, my parents, and onto my children because, to me family is. The reason why I created Gordon & Li Li in the first place, it was really to bridge that connection for my children. I didn't grow up feeling that connected with my culture because as a fourth generation Chinese American, I was really in the belief that I'm American. Why do I need to know anything about my culture? Why do I need to speak Chinese? I never learned. As a sidebar to that, I never learned to speak Chinese and it didn't really hit me until I had my own kids that I was really doing a disservice to not only my kids, but to myself. my people are my family. I do this for my kids. I do this to almost apologize to my parents for being so, Disrespectful to my amazing culture and I do it for the families who really want to connect and bridge that gap for their own children and for themselves.    Miko Lee: [00:02:53] And what legacy do you carry with you?    Michele Wong McSween: [00:02:55] Again, my family. My, great grandparents. Really. Started our family's legacy with the hard work and the prejudices and all the things that they endured so that we could have a better life. And I've always felt that it is my responsibility to teach my own kids about the sacrifices that were made and not to make them feel guilty, but to just make them appreciate that we are here. Because of the the blood, sweat, and tears that their ancestors did for them. And so we are, eternally grateful for that. I think it's important for us to continue that legacy of always doing our best, being kind and doing what we can do to further the experience of not just our family, but the people in our community that we connect with and to the greater world.    Miko Lee: [00:03:43] when you were growing up, were your parents speaking with you in Chinese and did you hear about your great grandparents and their legacy? Was that part of your upbringing?    Michele Wong McSween: [00:03:52] I heard about my great grandparents in the stories that my mom told us, but to be quite honest, I wasn't receptive to really digging deep in my cultural understanding of. my great-grandfather and what he went through. I know mom, I know he came over in 19 whatever. I know he brought over all these young sons from his village, but I really didn't fully take it in and. No, I didn't hear Chinese spoken in the house much. The only time my parents spoke it was to each other so that we didn't know what they were talking about. They had like this secret code, language. My experience with my language was not, That positive. we did attempt to go to Chinese school only to be teased by all the other kids because we didn't speak it. It didn't end up well. my mom ended up pulling us out and so no, we were really not connected all that much to the language.   Miko Lee: [00:04:48] I can really relate to what you're saying. As a fifth generation Chinese American, and my parents their ancestors came from different provinces, so their dialects were so different that they even spoke to each other in English. 'cause they couldn't understand each other in Chinese. So it happens so often. Yeah. Yeah. And so I really relate to that. I'm wondering if there was an epiphany in your life or a time where you thought, oh, I. I wish I knew more of those stories about my ancestors or was there some catalyst for you that changed?   Michele Wong McSween: [00:05:17] All of this really kind of happened when I moved to New York. I, you know, raised in Sacramento, went to college in the Bay Area, lived in San Francisco for a while with a job, and then I eventually moved to New York. And it wasn't until I came to New York and I met Asians or Chinese Americans like me that actually spoke Chinese and they knew about cool stuff to do in Chinatown. It really opened my eyes to this new cool world of the Chinese culture because I really experienced Chinatown for the first time when I moved to New York. And it was just so incredible to see all these people, living together in this community. And they all looked the same. But here's the thing, they all spoke Chinese, or the majority of them spoke Chinese. So when I went to Chinatown and they would look at me and speak to me in Chinese and I would give them this blank stare. They would just look at me like, oh my gosh, she doesn't even speak her own language. And it kind of made me feel bad. And this was really the first time that it dawned on me that, oh wow, I, I kind of feel like something's missing. And then it really hit me when I had my kids, because they're half Chinese and I thought, oh my gosh, wait a minute, if I'm their last connection to the Chinese culture and I don't speak the language. They have no chance of learning anything about their language they couldn't go that deep into their culture if I didn't learn about it. So that really sparked this whole, Gordon & Li Li journey of learning and discovering language and culture for my kids.    Miko Lee: [00:06:51] Share more about that. How, what happened actually, what was the inspiration for creating the Children's book series?    Michele Wong McSween: [00:06:58] It was really my children, I really felt that it was my responsibility to teach them about their culture and language and, if I didn't know the language, then I better learn it. So I enrolled all of us in different Mandarin courses. They had this, I found this really cute kids' Mandarin class. I went to adult Mandarin classes and I chose Mandarin because that was the approved official language in China. I am from Taishan, My parents spoke Taishanese, but I thought, well, if Mandarin's the official language, I should choose that one probably so that my kids will have at least a better chance at maybe some better jobs in the future or connecting with, the billion people that speak it. I thought Mandarin would be the way to go. When I started going to these classes and I just realized, wow, this is really hard, not just to learn the language, but to learn Mandarin Chinese, because we're not just talking about learning how to say the four different tones. We're talking about reading these characters that if you look at a Chinese character, you have absolutely no idea what it sounds like if you're, if you're learning Spanish or French or German, you can see the letters and kind of sound it out a little bit. But with Chinese characters. No chance. So I found it extremely difficult and I realized, wow, I really need to support my kids more because if I am going to be the one that's going to be bridging this connection for them, I need to learn more and I need to find some more resources to help us. when we would have bedtime story time, that whole routine. That was always the favorite time of my kids to be really, quiet and they would really absorb what I was saying, or we would talk about our days or just talk about funny things and I realized, wow, these books that they love and we have to read over and over and over again. this is the way that they're going to get the information. And I started searching high and low for these books. back in 2006, they didn't exist. and so I realized if they didn't exist and I really wanted them for my kids, then I needed to create them. That's the impetus, is there was nothing out there and I really wanted it so badly that I had to create it myself.   Miko Lee: [00:09:09] Oh, I love that. And I understand you started out self-publishing. Can you talk a little bit about that journey?    Michele Wong McSween: [00:09:15] I'm glad I didn't know what I know today because it was really hard. luckily I had, A friend who used to work for a toy company, it was all through connections. there was nothing really on Google about it. there was no Amazon print on demand. There were none of these companies that provide these services like today. So I just kept asking questions. Hey, do you know a toy manufacturer in China that maybe prints books? Do you know a company that could help me? get my books to the states. Do you know an illustrator that can help me illustrate my books? Because I had gone to fashion design school, but I had not learned to illustrate characters or things in a book. So asking questions and not being afraid to ask the questions was really how I was able to do it because, Without the help of friends and family, I wouldn't have been able to do this. I had all my friends look at my books, show them to their kids. I had my kids look at them, and I kind of just figured it out as I went along. Ultimately when I did publish my first book, I had so much support from my kids' schools. To read the books there, I had support from a local play space for kids that we would go to. I really leaned on my community to help me, get the books out there, or actually it was just one at the time. Two years later I self-published two more books. So I had three in total. no one tells you that when you self-publish a book, the easy part is actually creating it. The hard part is what comes after that, which is the pr, the marketing, the pounding, the pavement, knocking on the doors to ask people to buy your books, and that was really hard for me. I would just take my books in a bag and I would explain my story to people and I would show them my books. sometimes they would say, okay, I'll take one of each, or Okay, we'll try it out. and slowly but surely they would reorder from me. I just slowly, slowly built up, a whole Roster of bookstores and I kept doing events in New York.    I started doing events in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and through that I gained some following, some fans and people would tell their friends about me. they would give them to their nieces they would give them to their cousin's kids, or, things like that. I knew that I had to do it because my ultimate goal was to have Scholastic be my publisher. That was my ultimate goal. Because they are the publisher that I grew up with, that I love that I connected with, that I was so excited to get their book club, little flyer. I would check off every book that I wanted. And my mom never said no. She always let me get every single book I wanted. I realize now that that's what really Created the love of books for me is just having access to them and, going to the libraries and seeing all these books on the bookshelves and being able to take them out and read them on the spot. And then if I loved them enough, I would check them out and take them home and read them over and over. So it was really, my experience, having that love for books that I thought, oh gosh, it would be a dream. To have Scholastic become my publisher. So after 10 long years of events and community outreach and selling to these bookstores, I finally thought, okay, I've sold, about 17,000, 18,000 books. Maybe, maybe now I can take my series to them. I also had created an app. Maybe I can take this to them and show them what I've done. Maybe they'll be interested in acquiring me. And I got an appointment with the editor and I pitched my books on my app and within a couple of days they offered to acquire my books, which was my dream come true. So anyway, that was a very long story for how self-publishing really is and how ultimately it really helped my dream come true.    Miko Lee: [00:13:08] Now your books are on this Scholastic book, fair Circuit, right?    Michele Wong McSween: [00:13:13] Yes, they are. Well, it's actually just one book. They took the three books, which were everyday Words. Count in Mandarin and learn animals in Mandarin. They took all three books and they put them in one big compilation book, which is called My First Mandarin Words with Gordon & Li Li. So it's a bigger book. It's a bigger board book. Still very, very sturdy and it's a great, starter book for any family because it has those three first themes that were the first themes that I taught my own boys, and I think. It just, it's very natural for kids to want to learn how to count. animals were, and my kids were animal lovers, so I knew that that's what would keep them interested in learning Mandarin because they actually loved the topic. So, yes, my first mandarin words with Gordon & Li Li does live on Scholastics big roster.   Miko Lee: [00:14:01] Fun. Your dream come true. I love it. Yeah. Thanks. And you were speaking earlier about your background in fashion design. Has there been any impact of your fashion design background on your voice as a children's book author?   Michele Wong McSween: [00:14:14] I don't know if my background as a fashion designer has had any impact on my voice. I think it's had an impact on how I imagined my books and how I color my books and how I designed them because of working with, you know, color palettes and, and putting together collections I can visually see and, can anticipate. Because I have that background, I can kind of anticipate what a customer might want. And also, you know, speaking with people at my events and seeing what kids gravitate to, that also helps. But I think there's so much more to being an author than just writing the books. You know, when I go to my events, I have a table display, I have setups, I have props, I have, I actually now have a, a small. Capsule of merchandise because I missed designing clothes. So I have a teeny collection of, you know, sweaters, hoodies, onesies, a tote bag, and plushies   Miko Lee: [00:15:04] they're super cute by the way.    Michele Wong McSween: [00:15:06] Oh, thank you. So, you know, fashion has come in in different ways and I think having that background has really helped. kind of become who they are    Miko Lee: [00:15:17] Can you tell us about the latest book in the series, which is Gordon and Li Li All About Me. Can you tell a little bit about your latest?   Michele Wong McSween: [00:15:25] Gordon & Li Li All About Me is really, it's, to me, it's. I think my most fun interactive book because it really gets kids and parents up and out of their chairs, out of their seats and moving around. And you know, as a parent, I always would think about the kind of books that my kids would gravitate towards. What would they want to read and what as a parent would I want to read with my kids? Because really reading is all about connection with your kids. That's what I loved about books is it gave me a way to connect with my kids. And so a book about body parts to me is just a really fun way to be animated and get up and move around and you can tickle and, and squeeze and shake it around and dance around. And, you know, having three boys, my house was just like a big energy ball. So I knew that this book would be a really fun one for families and I have two nieces and a nephew, and I now, they're my new target market testers, and they just loved it. They had so much fun pointing to their body parts and the book ends with head, shoulders, knees, and toes in English and in Mandarin. And so of course. Every kid knows head, shoulders, knees, and toes in English. So we sing that. We get up, we point to our pottered parts, we shake it around, we dance around. And then the fun part is teaching them head, shoulders, knees, and toes in Mandarin because they're already familiar with the song. It's not scary to learn something in Mandarin. It just kind of naturally happens. And so I think the All About Me book is just a really fun way to connect with kids. I've actually launched it at a couple of events already and the response to the book has been overwhelming. I was at the Brooklyn Children's Museum and even the president of the museum came and did the head shoulders. Knees and toes, songs with us. It was so much fun. Everybody was dancing around and having a great time. So I'm just really, really excited for people to pick up this book and really learn about the body. It's, you know, body positivity, it's body awareness, and it's just a great way to connect with your kids.   Miko Lee: [00:17:31] So fun. I, I saw that you're recently at the Asian American Book Con. Can you talk a little bit about that experience?    Michele Wong McSween: [00:17:38] Oh, that was great. That was the first of its kind and. I led the entire author segment of it. I would say individual authors. There were, there were, publishing companies that brought in their own authors, but I was responsible for bringing in the independent authors. And so I think we had about eight of us. There were Indian, Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese, and we all came together for this one really special day of celebrating our voices and lifting each other up. And there was so much energy and so much positivity in that event, and I. Actually was just thinking about reaching out to the organizers last year and seeing if we could maybe do, part two? So, I'm glad you brought that up. It was a really positive experience.    Miko Lee: [00:18:27] So we're celebrating the end of Asian American Pacific Islander Native Hawaiian month. Can you tell us why this month is important to you?    Michele Wong McSween: [00:18:36] When you have something designated and set aside as, this is the month that we're going to be celebrating Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander heritage all month long, I think it kind of perks up. People's ears and they think, oh wow, this is a great opportunity for me to see what's happening in my community. I think it just brings the awareness to. The broader community and ultimately the world. And I think when we learn about each other and each other's cultures, it brings us closer together and makes us realize that we're really not that different from each other. And I think when there are so many events happening now it peaks the interest of people in the neighborhood that might otherwise not know about it and it can, really bring us closer together as a community.   Miko Lee: [00:19:27] Michelle Wong McSween, thank you so much for joining me on Apex Express. It's great to hear more about you and about your latest book Gordon & Li Li and the entire series. Thank you so much.    Michele Wong McSween: [00:19:39] Thank you, Miko   Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:19:40] Thank you all so much for joining us. I'm here with Gloria l Huang, author of Kaya of the Ocean. Thank you so much for joining us, Gloria.    Gloria Huang: [00:19:48] Oh, thanks so much for having me here.    Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:19:50] So first off, one question that we're asking all of our guests on our show tonight is, who are your people? However you identify, you know, your community, your ancestors, and what legacy do you carry with you?    Gloria Huang: [00:20:01] Oh, that's such a good question. So I am my heritage is Chinese. My parents were born in China and then grew up in Taiwan. And I myself was actually born in Canada. But then moved the states pretty young and and American Canadian dual citizen and now, but I, my heritage plays a lot into my. Kind of my worldview. It really shaped, how I grew up and how I saw things. And so it features very prominently in my writing and in my stories as you could probably tell from Kaya the ocean.    Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:20:34] Yes. And I love the book so much. It was such a    Gloria Huang: [00:20:37] thank you,    Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:20:38] amazing read. And I'm also half Chinese and love the ocean. Just love the beach so much and have always felt such a connection with the water. I don't wanna give away too much things about the book, but I was wondering if you could talk about your inspiration for writing it and a little bit about, setting and everything.   Gloria Huang: [00:20:56] Of course. So the inspiration for the book actually started I came up with the idea when the world was first emerging from the pandemic and I was seeing a lot of people obviously experiencing a lot of anxiety, but a lot of children very close to me in my life. And they were experiencing it for the first time, which was can be so difficult. I remember when it happened to me and there's just this tendency to. Worry that there's something wrong with you or that you've done something and you feel so alone. And so I remember standing by the ocean one night actually and thinking that I'd really love to write a book about a girl who is struggling with. The anxiety just to be able to send a message to all these kids that there's nothing wrong with them. They're not alone and really all parts of who they are. Even the parts they might not love so much are important parts of these amazing, beautiful, complicated people. They are. So that was the inspiration for that part of the story, the setting. I was very inspired. As you mentioned, the ocean is a huge inspiration to me. It actually comes into my mind, a lot of my stories and someone pointed that out once and I was like, you're right, it does. And I think part of it is that I love the ocean. I love the beach. I love being there, but I'm also so in awe of this powerful thing that, you know, where we know so little about it. It is. There's so much mystery to it. It can look so beautiful on the surface and be so dangerous underneath. I love it as a metaphor. I love it as a part of nature. So I think that was a huge part of why I wanted to incorporate that, especially because I think it also plays well into the metaphor for how some people experience anxiety and you can be calm on the surface, but so much is happening underneath.    Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:22:29] Absolutely. Yeah. Those interplay with each other and are metaphors for each other in such a beautiful way, mirror the experience. Yeah. I wanted to talk a little bit more about anxiety and particular, as a young Asian American girl the cultural specificity of having anxiety as a young Asian American woman.    Gloria Huang: [00:22:46] Yes I definitely think it's no coincidence. I think that anxiety often goes hand in hand with perfectionism and pressure and I, many people feel that kind of pressure, but certainly a young Asian girl especially with immigrant parents, will feel specific kind of pressure. And so I was really trying to portray that, Somebody once said to me, they were like, oh, I really like how Kaya on the surface seems so put together. She's, got really good grades. She works really hard at school. She's close to her parents, but there's all this going on underneath. And I actually think that's not unusual in terms of that experience for Asian American children of immigrants, and especially if you're female I was really trying to. Tease that out. And then in addition I think there's a tendency, and this might exist in other cultures as well, but in Asian culture, at least in my family history there's a tendency not to really want to talk about mental health. There was a, there's a joke in my family that my parents thought anything could be solved with good sleep and good nutrition, like anytime you had any problem. And I think that there is a, there's a. resistance to feeling like your child can be struggling in a way you can't help them. So I, really wanted to touch on that, part of the cultural pressures at play in kaya's life.    Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:23:59] And you did so beautifully and it was very relatable, as a anxious Asian girly. And also just, the discussion of big feelings and somehow, having inklings that you may be more powerful than you even realize, but the kind of like emotions that come with that too.    Gloria Huang: [00:24:15] Yes. I think that's a huge part of it is that like when you experience these huge feelings they feel powerful, know, in a negative way. But what I was really trying to get at was, there is also power in accepting these parts of yourself and realizing that They can make up this powerful being that you are, even if you might not love them in that moment.    Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:24:34] Yeah. I felt very seen by the book and I, couldn't help but wonder wow, what would it have been like if I had read this when I was, 13 or 12 or kind of Closer to the age of the characters in the book.   Gloria Huang: [00:24:45] Thank you so much for saying that it actually means a lot because a lot of my motivation when I do write these books is to write for people who are either of that age or, wish they had a book like that at that age, which is also how I feel a lot about books nowadays and oh, I, I'm so glad that exists. I wish that had been around when I was that age.    Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:25:03] Yes. Were there any books that really set an example for you that either you read, maybe when you were, in the young adult. Age range or that you've read now as an adult where you're like, okay, this is definitely the audience that I wanna be writing for.   Gloria Huang: [00:25:17] Definitely. I actually love this question 'cause I'm a big reader and so I love talking about books . When I was a kid, middle grade books were my gateway into my love of reading. So I still remember a lot of my favorite books, but I would say a recent book, it's actually maybe not that recent now, it's maybe a couple years old, but a book that really. Had an effect on the middle grade book was when you trap a tiger by Tae Keller and it explores. The kind of Korean experience, but also through the prism of kind of understanding generational grief. And it was just so beautifully done and really made an impact on me. So that was one recently that I thought was really powerful. And, I was like, this is an important book. This is definitely a book I would've loved as a child. When I was younger and I was reading books, there were three books that meant a lot to me. One was called the true confessions of Charlotte Doyle, and it was like a swashbuckling adventure story starring a girl, which was, at that time not very common. And it was, it meant, it was so earth shattering to me to be able to see a female character in that role. So that was great. There's a book called. Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt. And it's an adventure story and it also stars. The main character is a very strong female character and Tuck everlasting, which I just think is a beautiful book. It's also female characters. Now I'm saying it out loud. They are all female main characters. And all about, existentialism and adventure and things that, it was important for me to see. Female characters exploring. But I did also wanna say that when I was reading middle grade books, some of my favorite books included a series called, babysitters Club, which I think that they've redone now as a graphic novel. And that was actually really important, not necessarily for the stories, but because there's a character named Claudia Kishi who. Was a Japanese American character and she absolutely shattered the minds of, I think all kids that age were Asian descent and female in reading these books because there just wasn't a character like her before that, she was so cool and artistic but she had immigrant parents and she had a sister who was very good at math and they didn't get along and she loved junk food and she was. So incredibly nuanced and it was just not something that we saw back then. So that really inspired me, I think, to want to add to the diversity of voices. And thankfully there are many more diverse voices now than when I was reading.    Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:27:30] I love that. And I also feel like books that you read at that age, they stay with you forever.   Gloria Huang: [00:27:35] They really do.    Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:27:35] And they shape so much of like your worldview and your friendships. And I'm curious, 'cause I know the book was released this year in January. Mm-hmm. So what has it been like for you on your book tour and what's been some other responses that you've heard? I.    Gloria Huang: [00:27:48] It's been really great. It was so exciting to do the book launch and then just the amount of support from the writing community from, my, my kind of network, my agents and my publisher and editor. And also just readers. It's been really great. But one thing I think I wasn't expecting to love quite so much, not because I was expecting to not love it. I just said, it occurred to me that I would feel this way is getting feedback from, child readers is amazing because, I think as writers we love feedback no matter what. And if it's positive feedback, that's even better. But having a child reach out and as some of my friends will send a video of their. Children reacting to the book or they'll, their, let their child type out a text messages and just to hear how the book hits with them and to hear their excitement or to hear that they were moved or to have them want to know what happens next. It meant so much to me because it was, they're the target audience and to have them feel seen in that way was just, it's just the ultimate kind of powerful feeling.    Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:28:51] That is so sweet. Oh my gosh. I can only imagine. And so you're talking about the young readers. Yes. But I'm also curious if you have any advice or thoughts for young writers who might be wanting to share and get similar stories out to the world?   Gloria Huang: [00:29:05] Yeah I definitely do. And one of the. Experiences I've had that's been great is I've been doing, some school visits and I go and I talk about the book, but I actually talk about the writing process. And when I do that, I really talk to the kids. As if they're writers. The one of the first questions I ask is, hold up your hand. If you love writing or you think you want me, you might wanna be a writer someday. And a lot of hands go up and I tell them like, what the publishing process is, what are, the different genre options, what you might wanna consider, how you come up with an idea, how you sit down and write it, how you reach out to an agent. And I am surprised at how. Intensely, they're hanging onto every word and they're insightful questions after it. It shows me that a lot of them are really thinking about this. I think for one of the school visits, I remember someone held up her hand and she said what is the youngest age I. Someone has been able to be published. And I thought that was great. Because they're so inspired and you can tell that, that they're thinking for the first time this is a possibility. I have all kinds of advice during the school visits, the main piece of advice is really. Just that it can be a tough industry. writing is a very isolated process usually. There's a lot of kind of obstacles and there's a lot of gatekeeping. And so I tell 'em that the most important thing they can do is just keep pushing through and not to let any, setbacks stop them, because the ultimate goal is to reach even just one person.    Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:30:24] Absolutely. And what kind of advice do you give around learning how to hone your own voice and also having discipline when it comes to an artistic practice?   Gloria Huang: [00:30:33] Yeah, I think that's such a great question. And I was gonna say this piece of advice is probably more for I. Older writers, but adult writers, I guess I should say. The one thing that I've really been thinking about having published a middle grade book is the very specific and unique experience of writing for middle grade audiences. I think a lot of my friends who write for older audience groups, young adults, adults, They have their own challenges, but one of the things that is different is when they're writing, they are writing for the same target audience. That's also the decision makers. So generally, adults and young adults are picking their own books, and they're speaking to someone who will. Ultimately be the ones to pick up the books where when you're writing for middle grade audiences they're not usually the decision makers. at bookstores, they may or may not be in charge of which book they buy, in. Schools, usually it's a librarian or a teacher. So in some ways you're writing for one audience, but you're also writing a subject matter that you're hoping the decision makers will decide is worthy to put in front of your ultimate readers. So that's one challenge. And then the other challenge is I think middle grade audiences are so. fascinating because they're going through this amazingly unusual time in their lives, whether it's eventful and there's new experiences and that can be exciting, but also scary. So there's a lot to mind in terms of topics, but they are also a mixture of being very sophisticated readers who are on the cusp of being teens. And so there's a healthy dose of, skepticism, but they're still young enough that they. Believe in magic, at least in the literary world. So you, there's a lot of room to play with that. But they also. They sound different. They speak differently than adults. So it's important to get the dialogue, for me I, turn to children in my life, including my own, just to do a check to make sure that the dialogue sounds authentic and something that, people, that kids would say. So a lot of thoughts there, but I think, I've been thinking a lot about middle grade and writing for middle grade, and what a unique experience it is.   Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:32:26] Yeah, that's such a good point about the decision maker and having the multiple audiences, and I'm sure sometimes the decision makers are reading the books too, right? Or reading it with their kids or what have you. For your personal writing practice, are there any upcoming projects that you can share with us? And how do you stay inspired for what I imagine is like the long haul of writing something.    Gloria Huang: [00:32:45] I'm happiest when I have like several projects in the pipeline. So as soon as I am done a book or it's, outta my hands, it's with my agents or my editors. I'm looking to write another book. And I think sometimes I probably overwhelm my amazing book before agents. 'cause I'm like, I'm ready to start another story. And they're like, we're still looking at the book you just sent us. But I, that's very much how. I am happiest. I would definitely say that everybody finds their own rhythm. I'm in some writers groups and some people are incredibly fast drafters and just need multiple projects at a time. And some people are like, no, I need to work on one project and I need to have it to perfection and I'm gonna work on it for a year or two. And I think whatever works for the individual artist, I think is the best kind of process for them. But yes, for me it's very much about having multiple projects. I think I'm most inspired when I have different projects going at the same time. finding your own rhythm, I think is my advice.    Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:33:40] kaya of the ocean has, strong themes and storylines about, myths, mythology, Chinese mythology, and goddesses. I'm curious if you wanna talk any more about that and then also if that shows up in any of the other projects you're working on    Gloria Huang: [00:33:54] Yes, the Chinese mythological water goddess that features. Pretty prominently in Kaya of the Ocean is Matsu. And I find her to be such a fascinating character. She is a real goddess who's worshiped still in Asia. I think. Fishermen often will, pray to her for safe passage when they go out on the water. And my father told me about her when I was younger he told me like the side stories and I thought that was really interesting. But it was only when I started thinking about this book that I thought, I'd love to, I'd love to incorporate her. I hadn't heard about her too much in, in the fictional world, even though I knew she was still like a revered goddess. But I thought it was so cool that she was this strong. I. Strong female figure in a space that didn't always have that, hundreds of years ago. And so I dove into her story a little bit and found out, the story is that she was once a human child who loved to read and then she was afraid of swimming in water until she was older and then she drowned, saving, trying to save some relatives and it was interesting 'cause I'd already started plotting out Kaya and writing Kaya. And so much of her story wove easily into what I had already come up with. Like there, I think she has two sidekicks that were one time enemies that she, made into her friends and I'd already had Kaya written with two friends, Naomi and Ana. So I, there was just so much that I felt was kismet. And it was really fun to be able to weave that story together and fictionalize it. But I think it was also meaningful for me to be able to do that because. When I was younger, I loved reading Greek mythology. the stories are beautiful and they've been redone in beautiful ways, but it definitely was an area where I didn't necessarily see myself reflected. As part of my goal to add to the diversity of voices, I really wanted to feature Chinese mythology and bring those stories in so that. Kids can either see themselves reflected in those stories and or understand a new kind of set of mythology and learn about a new culture.   Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:35:46] Yes. I'm so glad you put it that way because it is, it's such a privilege to have access to, our own I. Cultural stories and knowledge through these, like fun and modern interpretations. Definitely. So I'm so glad that this can provide that.    Gloria Huang: [00:36:00] Oh, thank you. I did realize I didn't answer your other question, which is does it feature my other works? Which so I have sold another middle grade novel and I'm, it's not announced yet. I'm hoping to announce it soon. And I have some other. Books. I'm working on a young adult novel so far. They have not featured Chinese mythology, but I do definitely have a type that my most of my books tend to be contemporary settings, but with elements of speculative. Fantasy, just like the light touch of that and sometimes a little bit of historical elements as well. So they, they definitely all have that similar motif, but so far chi of the ocean is the only one to feature a Chinese mythological goddess.   Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:36:43] Thank you so much for sharing that. I love that. And I really love the relationship that Kaya had with her two friends and just and then also like the cousin that comes and just capturing like the banter amongst, amongst the girls.    Gloria Huang: [00:36:56] Thank you so much. that was really important to me, I think because at the stage that Kaia is in her life the loves of her life really are her two friends, Naomi and Ana, and they feature very prominently in how she learns to cope with her anxiety and her symptoms of anxiety. And so I really, I think that I really wanted to center her their friendship as much as possible. So I'm I'm glad that you saw it that way too.    Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:37:19] Yeah. And I feel like, I mean, it truly is the most important relationship. And so it's nice when works of fiction and yeah, works of fiction, can reflect that in such a beautiful way. I know you mentioned that you have daughters or have children?    Gloria Huang: [00:37:32] I do, yes. I have a son and a daughter. And my daughter actually was quite involved because when I first started writing Kaya, I think she was exactly of the age that she would be the target reader group. And so she actually helped Beta read it. She provided a lot of feedback. She became like a cheerleader. She was definitely involved in the process and I think that was really exciting for her. my son became of the reading age once it came out, so he reads it and he's a big fan too,   Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:38:00] that's so sweet. I love that your daughter was part of the editing process too. That's amazing.    Gloria Huang: [00:38:04] Yeah. Yeah. She loves writing and always says she wants to be a writer herself, so it was really special that she got to be part of this and see it up close.    Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:38:13] Oh wow. Do you think you would do any collaborative projects with her in the future?   Gloria Huang: [00:38:16] It's so funny that you say that. She always suggests that. And then sometimes they'll actually start a Google doc and they'll say, let's write a story together. And we all have, of course, very different writing styles. And then at some point they both actually usually just start reading what I'm writing. And at that point I'm like, this is not collaborative. You have to write as well. So we've had a couple of false starts, but that's always a joke that we're gonna do that together.    Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:38:39] that's so sweet. What else is upcoming for you? I know this is, Asian American and native Hawaiian Pacific Islander month right now, and the episode will come out towards the end of May. So if there's anything else coming up from you for this month or for June or the summer. Yeah. We'd love to hear what you have going on.    Gloria Huang: [00:38:57] Oh, yeah. Today actually Kaya's audio book was released people can listen to it. It was narrated by this amazing, narrator, Cindy K. And so anywhere you find audio books is available. And that was really cool. I've listened to a little bit of it and you, when you write, you hear the words in your head one way, and then it's amazing to hear like another artist do their take on it. So that's really cool. I will be at the Bay Area book Festival at the end of the month of May. There. Doing like different panels and I'll be on a panel. it's about Fantastical Worlds. I'm really excited about that. hopefully we'll be able to announce this other book soon. As you, you may know publishing is a very long lead time it will be a while before it's released, but I think the hope is to release it during, a API month as well just not this year. And working on a young adult novel that hopefully we can go on submission with at some point. But it's an exciting time for sure.    Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:39:51] Wow, that does sound so exciting. I can't wait to hear about your new projects and to continue to read the work that you put out into the world. Is there anything else that you'd like to discuss or talk about?   Gloria Huang: [00:40:01] I think just to say a thank you to you for, having me on here and reading Kaya of the Ocean and really anyone who's been interested in joining Kaya and her friends on their journey. It's just, it's so amazing, I think, to create these characters that become real to you, and then have them become real to other people. I don't have the words to describe how meaningful it is to me, but thank you.    Jalena Keane-Lee: [00:40:24] Thank you for letting us join into the world of Kaya for a little bit 'cause it was very fun and healing and all of the amazing things. And thanks so much for joining us today on Apex Express.    Gloria Huang: [00:40:36] For sure. Thanks so much.   Miko Lee: [00:40:38] Welcome, Andrea Wang, award-winning children's book author to Apex Express.    Andrea Wang: [00:40:43] Thank you, Miko. I'm so happy to be here.    Miko Lee: [00:40:46] Happy to have you. I'd love to start first with a personal question, which is, who are your people and what legacy do you carry with you?   Andrea Wang: [00:40:57] My people are from China. My mother's family belonged to an ethnic minority, called the Haka or the Kaja people, and she and her siblings were. A military family, and we're each born in a different province. And when the Chinese Civil War ended in 1949, they went to Taiwan where she grew up and immigrated to the United States in 1965 or 1966. My father's family are from Guangdong Province, and so I'm Cantonese on that side, although I don't speak any Cantonese. And he went to Hong Kong after the Chinese Civil War. So I am the daughter of Chinese immigrants, second generation Chinese American.    Miko Lee: [00:42:01] And what legacy do you carry with you?   Andrea Wang:[00:42:03]  I carry the legacy of their stories, both the ones that I know and the ones that I don't know yet.    Miko Lee: [00:42:12] Ooh. It sounds like there's lots of juicy things for you still to discover. That is fun.    Andrea Wang: [00:42:16] Yes.    Miko Lee: [00:42:17] Today we're talking about your new book, watercress, can you share what the audience, what the book is about, and then what is your inspiration for this book?    Andrea Wang: [00:42:25] So the book is about a Chinese American girl who is growing up in rural Ohio and her parents spot watercress growing in a ditch by the side of the road, and they immediately pull over and make her enter older brother, get out of the car and get down into the ditch with them and collect this. Vegetable, but to her it's a weed. And so when they serve it to her and her family at dinner, she really is unhappy about this and. For her, picking food out of a ditch has a really different meaning than it does to her parents who survived a lot of hardship in China. And it's not until her mom tells her a story about her childhood growing up in China and spoiler alert, loses a sibling to the famine that the girl begins to understand and better appreciate her parents, her culture, and her heritage.   Miko Lee: [00:43:29] And the inspiration for this book.    Andrea Wang: [00:43:32] So the inspiration is largely my own life. this is a semi autobiographical story. The memory of picking watercress by the side of the road was just something that I couldn't forget, I don't know why this memory continued to haunt me into adulthood. And then after my mom passed away, I started writing down, memories and stories of being with my family in order to maintain a connection to her. When I wrote this, at first it was a personal essay and it just wasn't working. I would put it away and I would occasionally take it out and I would put it away and take it out and work on it again. And it wasn't until I decided to pursue writing for young people that I completely changed the manuscript from a personal essay into a picture book. But at that point it still wasn't working. It was in third person and it wasn't very personal It took me several more years to figure out the heart of the story for me. So it was largely based on my own memories and my mother's childhood stories that she shared with me.   Miko Lee: [00:44:39] Can you share more about the power of memory and the artistic process? 'cause you've written many books and in different genres as well, but can you talk a little bit more about memory and its impact on your work?   Andrea Wang: [00:44:52] Yeah, that's a great question. I tend to write primarily for myself. And to figure out how I felt about certain experiences, how they've changed me, to try and process things I feel like I remember a lot about my childhood. parts of it are very vivid and I like to go back to those. Moments that have stuck with me all these years and explore what it means to me. Like I'm just very curious about why I remember certain things watercress was largely my way of processing my childhood feelings of shame about my family and my culture. I have leaned into that and am still writing stories about identity and the struggle to find our identity. Memory has a lot to do with it. I put myself in every single book.    Miko Lee: [00:45:45] Ooh, that's so interesting. And you're talking a little bit about shame and overcoming that. I'm wondering if you could speak more on, if you feel like memories hold the power to heal.    Andrea Wang: [00:45:56] I firmly believe that memories hold the power to heal. I think that writing watercress and talking about these feelings has really helped me, , heal from, that sort of trauma of not feeling like I belonged as a kid and also that I may have been. Not the nicest kid to my parents, not the most filial, right? And so writing this story was, as I say in the author's note, sort of an apology and a love letter to my parents. So it's been very healing and healing to hear about from all the. People who have read the book and had it resonate with them, the things that they regretted in their lives and hoped to, heal as well.    Miko Lee: [00:46:42] Oh, have you heard that story a lot from adult readers?   Andrea Wang: [00:46:46] I have. They will often tell me about the things that their parents did that embarrassed them. A lot of foraging stories, but also stories about, relatives and ancestors who were sharecroppers or indigenous peoples. And it's just been fascinating how many people connect to the story on different levels. There is that theme of poverty. I think recognizing. That's not often talked about in children's books, I think makes people feel very seen.   Miko Lee: [00:47:14] Yeah. That feeling of shame is really showcased by the illustrator Jason Chin. I mean your young you character kind of has a grumpy look on their face. And it was just so fun. Even in the book notes, Jason Chin, the illustrator, writes about how he combined both the western and eastern style of art, but also his similar cross-cultural background. I'm wondering when you very first saw the artwork and this was kind of young you did anything surprise you by it?    Andrea Wang: [00:47:42] I mean, it's amazing, gorgeous artwork and I was really struck by how he dealt with the flashbacks because when I sold this manuscript, I. Had no idea how an illustrator would deal with how interior it is and, , and how they would tackle those flashbacks. And there's one spread where on the left hand side of the page, it shows the main character's current time and then it morphs across the gutter of the book into. The moms past and her childhood memories in China, and it was just exquisite is really the only way to describe it. It was, it's just brilliant, and amazing. We don't, as picture book authors typically get to work with our illustrators. We often do not have contact with them through the making of a picture book. But in this case. Our editors said since it was such a personal story for me, that he, , felt that Jason and I should collaborate. And so I provided photos, family photos, photos of Ohio, lots of different, , source materials to Jason and would talk to him about the feelings that young me in the book went through. And so the fact that, he was able to take all of that and put it on the page, it was just. Spectacular.    Miko Lee: [00:49:01] Oh, that's so fun. I also understand that you love mythical creatures as you I, and one of your children's books is the Nian Monster, which I love. I'm wondering what is your favorite mythical creature and why?   Andrea Wang: [00:49:15] I. Have been sort of fascinated with the qilin, the, or they call it the Chinese unicorn. Right. Although it looks very different from what we think of a, a European unicorn looks like. Yes. And I think it's because they're supposed to be this really benevolent, creature and Have all sorts of powers and I would love to do more research about the qilin and, you know, incorporate that into a book someday.   Miko Lee: [00:49:42] Ooh, fun. Next book. I love it. you have so many books and I'm really curious about your upcoming book Worthy about Joseph Pierce. I love these as Helen Zia talks about these. MIH moments that are missing in history. And Joseph Pierce was the highest ranking Chinese American man who fought in the Civil War. Some people might recognize this picture of this Chinese American guy in a kind of civil war, uniform. Can you tell us one, when is the book being released and a little bit more about it?    Andrea Wang: [00:50:11] Sure. The book is being released on September 9th, 2025, and it is. A picture book, which we typically think of as for younger readers, but it is 64 pages. So you know, it's an all ages picture book. I think my editor and I would like to say, and it is the story of a Chinese boy born in the, First half of the 18 hundreds in China in Guangdong province, and was sold by his father to an American ship captain named Amos Peck. the reasons for that are, lost to time, right? He left no primary sources behind, there was so much going on in China at the time. Famine war, you know, all of these, Difficult things that his father probably sold him in order to keep the rest of the family alive and as well as give him the opportunity to have a better life. And he did end up in Connecticut. He was raised with the captain's, siblings and sent to school and treated almost like a member of the family except for the fact that he was. Clearly Chinese and there were very few Chinese people in, Connecticut at that time. he joined the Union Army when he came of age and was able to leverage his service into gaining citizenship, which really people of color, weren't really able to do successfully back then. And so. He gained a citizenship. He married, he had a family. He was able to own property and accomplish all these amazing things. Sort of right before the Chinese exclusion Act was, enacted. So he was a very brave guy.    Miko Lee: [00:51:45] It's a wild story and you sent me on a little bit of a rabbit hole, which is fun. Just, looking at Ruth Ann, McCune's. historical piece that there were 10 different Chinese American men in the Civil War, but he was exceptional because he rose to such high ranks. And I just think it's so interesting that, in the 1880 census, he registered as Chinese. But then after the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, he listed his race as Japanese in the 1890 census. but he was racialized as white so that he could buy property and everything. Yeah. Can you just talk a little bit about that, like talk about code switching? He like literally changed his race,    Andrea Wang: [00:52:26] right. And people at that time could not tell the difference. Similar to now, people often can't tell different Asian, ethnicities apart. Right. I found actual newspaper articles where Joseph Pierce was interviewed about the battles, that the United States was having with Japan or the battles that Japan was having. He was asked his opinion on what the Japanese government was doing because he told these reporters he was Japanese and that was really the only clue that I had that he, Was code switching that after the Chinese exclusion Act was passed, he felt like he needed to protect himself and his family and he must have cut off his cue because otherwise, you know, that would've identified him immediately as Chinese. So that went into the book. I think it's a powerful moment, right, where he's doing what he has to do to survive and ensure his protection and his family's safety,   Miko Lee: [00:53:25] You have a, a really interesting background. Just having No really, I mean, having done all these different things and I, you know, I think you have a science background too, right? Can you talk about the times that we're living in right now, the political times that we're living in, where our government is banning books that don't align with certain conservative ideologies, where right now certain words are forbodden suddenly. And can you talk a little bit about how that impacts you as a children's book author?    Andrea Wang: [00:53:59] it is very disheartening and discouraging that the current climate is against, people who look like me or other people of color. And as a children's book author, we are experiencing a huge decrease in the number of teachers and librarians who are asking us to come and visit schools, to talk to students, which is horrible because. These young people are the ones who need to learn from books, right? Knowledge is power. And if we are not keeping them informed, then we are doing them a disservice. I think the attacks on our freedom to read are really unjust. and. personally as an author of color, I understand that books like Worthy may end up on some of these banned book lists because it does talk about racism. but these are the stories that we need now, and I'm going to continue writing these stories about the Hidden History, And to talk about these difficult subjects that I think kids understand on some level. but if they're not reading about it in books, then it's hard to spark a conversation with, educators or adults about it. So I think these books that I'm writing, that many of my friends and other children's book authors are writing are providing that. Sort of gateway to talk about, the topics that are so important right now.    Miko Lee: [00:55:29] Thank you so much for sharing, and thank you so much for being on Apex Express today. We appreciate your voice and the work that you're putting out there in the world. Is there anything else you'd like to say?   Andrea Wang: [00:55:39] you know, there's so much to say, I think just to. Stand up for what we all believe in and to, I encourage people to stand up for their intellectual freedom and that of their children.   Miko Lee: [00:55:56] Thank you, Andrea Wang. I appreciate hearing from you and hearing your voice and seeing your work out there in the world.    Andrea Wang: [00:56:03] Thank you so much, Miko. It was a pleasure.   Miko Lee: [00:56:05] 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 – 5.29.25 AAPI Children's Books appeared first on KPFA.

By Dalia ColónIt's one thing to cook food. But talking about food on the radio takes a lot more than knife skills. And Francis Lam does it so well.Lam is a food writer, cookbook editor and host of the popular public radio program The Splendid Table. On June 1, he'll be at the New Tampa Performing Arts Center for a sold-out live taping of the show.Ahead of his visit to Florida, Francis chatted with Dalia Colón from his hometown of New York City, where he lives and works. In this conversation, Francis shared how his Chinese-American upbringing helped him learn to talk about food on the radio, the Florida foods he's most excited to try and his dream Splendid Table guest—a name that might surprise you. Thanks to The Zest's brand manager, Alexandria Ebron, for suggesting this episode. If you have an idea for a Zest guest, email info@thezestpodcast.comRelated episodes:Yee Farms Brings Chinese Vegetables and a “Sense of Pride” to Boynton BeachIn “My (Half) Latinx Kitchen,” Kiera Wright-Ruiz Explores Identity Through FoodGiuliano Hazan Honors Mother Marcella Hazan's Legacy Through Italian Cooking Classes in Sarasota and Italy

Author Michele Wong McSween is here for AAPIHM to discuss her children's book series, Gordon & Li Li, the challenges of trying to learn Mandarin later in life, and reconnecting to her culture. More about Michele:She s a former fashion designer and creator of Gordon & Li Li. She is a native Californian, but has lived in New York City for the past 23 years. She currently lives in Williamsburg, Brooklyn with her husband and three boys.Growing up as a fourth generation Chinese-American, Michele never learned to speak Chinese, so making sure her own boys were exposed to the language and culture became a priority for her.After enrolling them in early-learning Mandarin classes, Michele looked for first word Mandarin books that were easy to read, engaging, modern, and most importantly, were books that they'd want to cuddle up with at bedtime.When Michele realized what she wanted didn't exist, she created Gordon & Li Li to introduce her children to the joy of learning Mandarin Chinese and to foster a deep appreciation for their heritage and culture. You can find her books at https://gordonandlili.com/ Find us at⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.werewatchingwhat.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠instagram.com/werewatchingwhat⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tiktok.com/@werewatchingwhat⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠THEDHK can be found at⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠instagram.com/thedhk ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠twitter.com/thedhk⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠facebook.com/thedhkmovies⁠

Today, Janice is joined by Andrea Jung, President and CEO of Grameen America and former CEO of Avon, to explore the personal and professional journey of one of the most influential women in business. Andrea shares insights from her upbringing in a Chinese-American household, the mentors who shaped her, and her rise to become the longest-serving female CEO in the Fortune 500. She also reflects on her mission to expand economic opportunity through microfinance for women across the U.S. This conversation offers a rare look into the values, challenges, and pivotal moments that have defined Andrea's trailblazing career.Tags: janice, ellig, ceo, andrea, jung, president, avon, grameenamerica, america, microfinance, women, empowerment, trailblazer, opportunity, professionalism

Long before he directed Wicked, In The Heights, or the groundbreaking film Crazy Rich Asians, Jon M. Chu was a movie-obsessed first-generation Chinese American helping at his parents' Chinese restaurant in Silicon Valley and forever facing the cultural identity crisis endemic to children of immigrants. Growing up on the cutting edge of 21st-century technology gave Chu the tools he needed to make his mark at USC film school and to be discovered by Steven Spielberg, but he soon found himself struggling to understand who he was. In Viewfinder: A Memoir of Seeing and Being Seen, Chu questions what it means when your dreams collide with your circumstances and how it's possible to succeed even when the world changes beyond all recognition.  On August 3, 2024, Jon M. Chu came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco to talk with writer, actor, comedian, and rapper Nora Lum, aka “Awkwafina,”, who starred in Crazy Rich Asians.  This program originally aired in August 2024. 

Jeff and Phil welcome Michael Luo, executive editor at The New Yorker and author of the book Strangers in the Land: Exclusion, Belonging, and the Epic Story of the Chinese in America, a sweeping narrative history of the Chinese in America, and their more than century-long struggle to belong in the face of bigotry, persecution, exclusion and racial terror. Michael talks about the real-life racist incident that partially inspired the project; the complexities and quirks of Chinese American immigration history; some of the fascinating stories and characters he uncovered during his research for Strangers in the Land; and the alarming parallels between past and current debates on immigration, citizenship, and our multiracial democracy.

This episode is dedicated to my family, especially my parents, who I appreciate more and more every year for everything they equipped my arsenal for life with. Happy AAPI month! This week, we are diving into my personal experiences as a first generation female Asian American from growing up in the 90s/2000s to understanding how to break generational habits and trauma as an adult. I chat about the obstacles this specific generation of American-born Asians go through from managing expectations to teaching our elders how to be emotionally equipped and break the chain of harmful cultural beliefs. Lastly, we discuss the phenomenon of "woke" culture and how to properly navigate it as a curious outsider and as an Asian American with the capabilities to educate others. Please keep in mind that this is just touching the surface of my experiences. I did my best to summarize. These are also solely my own experiences, so I am not speaking for anyone but myself. 

Today we chat about our latest dreams and ambitions and explore how they have changed over the years. We chat about the various pressures around dreams, whether it's having The Dream or comparing our dreams to what we see on LinkedIn or those around us. We discuss ways to keep the D&A (dreams & ambitions) alive in the day to day!Support the showFollow us on social media @eatyourcrustpod

In this episode, Dr. Vonda Wright sits down with the multifaceted Dr. Tiffany Moon, a board-certified anesthesiologist, entrepreneur, keynote speaker, twin mom, and author of the upcoming book Joy Prescriptions: How I Learned to Stop Chasing Perfection and Embrace Connection (May 2025). As the founder of Aromasthesia Candles, Three Moons Wine, and LeadHer Summit, Tiffany is also known for breaking barriers as the first Chinese American medical doctor featured on Real Housewives. Together, they dive into what it means to be an authentic woman in medicine and business, from dealing with online criticism to rejecting limiting labels like “influencer.” Dr. Moon shares wisdom on overcoming imposter syndrome, integrating work and life (not just “balancing” it), and shifting from scarcity to abundance through female mentorship and collaboration. The conversation also touches on the loneliness many successful women face, the myth of perfection, and how embracing authenticity is the most powerful prescription for joy. ••• Connect with Tiffany Moon: Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tiffanymoonmd?lang=en Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tiffanymoonmd/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tiffanymoonmd/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiffany-moon-md-fasa-06938455/ Website: https://www.tiffanymoonmd.com/ Joy Prescriptions Book: https://joyprescriptions.com/ ••• Make sure to follow Dr. Vonda Wright: Instagram: @drvondawright Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@vondawright Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drvondawright LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vonda-wright-md-ms-2803374 Website: http://www.DrVondaWright.com ••• If you enjoyed this episode, Subscribe to “HOT For Your Health” for more inspiring episodes. Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hot-for-your-health/id1055206993 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1Q2Al27D79jCLAyzp4hKBv?si=b62b374994884eed We'd love to hear your thoughts on this episode! Share your comments or join the discussion on social media using #HotForYourHealthPodcast.

Born in Pittsburgh, Micahel Luo is the son of Chinese immigrants. He attended Harvard, and later became a reporter at the New York Times and today he is the Executive Editor at The New Yorker. One rainy afternoon in 2016, he was standing on the sidewalk with his family and some friends after church, trying to decide where to go to lunch when a stranger accosted him and his family. “Go back to China,” she said. Today, he joins us for the hour to talk about his new book on the hidden history of brutality and violence that so many Chinese Americans faced at the turn of the century. Learn more about Michael Luo's upcoming event at the Mark Twain House here. GUEST: Michael Luo: Executive Editor for the New Yorker, and author of the book Strangers in the Land: Exclusion, Belonging, and the Epic Story of the Chinese in America Support the show: http://wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1885, white miners brutally murdered 28 Chinese miners in Rock Springs, Wyoming. In 2025, producer Harrison Vijay Tsui goes to Rock Springs to unearth this dark chapter of U.S. history — and to ask: what does it cost to remember, and what does it cost to forget? We'll hear from Chinese Americans in Rock Springs today and the descendants of the Massacre scattered across the country.

Jeff and Phil welcome Dolly Li, documentary filmmaker, journalist and cultural consultant on Ryan Coogler's epic vampire blockbuster Sinners. They discuss Dolly's documentary on The Untold Story of America's Southern Chinese, and the deep-rooted origins of the Mississippi Delta's Chinese American community; how Ryan Coogler's own family connection to the Delta Chinese inspired the Chinese characters in Sinners; and how Dolly worked with the filmmakers to make the movie historically accurate and authentic as possible -- right down to that one horny line of Chinese dialogue. And of course, they offer their own hot takes on Sinners.

In this riveting episode of the Cross Examiner podcast, our host returns with renewed vigor to tackle the pressing issues of today, drawing parallels between the past and present. With a focus on the classic film Blazing Saddles, we explore the historical context of racism in America, particularly against Chinese immigrants during the late 1800s. As we dissect the rise of Christian nationalism and the misinformation fueling it, our host emphasizes the importance of education and critical thinking in combating ignorance. Join us for a thought-provoking journey that connects history to contemporary issues and advocates for a more informed society.Chapters:(00:00) Cross Examiner is the Internet's courtroom in the case of rationality versus religion(00:40) Cross Examiner is alarmed by the rise of Christian nationalism(01:31) Rachel Maddow: Blazing Saddles is one of the smartest films on racism(09:20) To hold people's attentions. Especially since the rise of Trumpism in America(10:44) The story of Chinese immigrants in America begins in the 1800s(16:44) Grant Wasinsky: Congress made Chinese exclusion permanent in 1902(21:19) What did the Chinese Americans do in response to this?(24:25) Wong Kim Ark was born in San Francisco in 1870(29:54) The Supreme Court hears oral arguments today over the immigration executive order(36:24) A federal judge can issue a nationwide injunction on immigration cases(40:16) This case is going to affect 14 different executive orders(47:07) There will be a liberal executive who uses the same tactics that Trump taught(49:20) Cross examiner podcast returns with first episode since presidential electionBlazing Saddleshttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071230/Chinese Exclusion Acthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Exclusion_ActWong Kim Arkhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wong_Kim_ArkAtheist Community of Austinhttps://www.atheist-community.org/American Civil Liberties Unionhttps://www.aclu.org/Freedom From Religion Foundationhttps://ffrf.org/

➡️ Join 321,000 people who read my free weekly newsletter: https://newsletter.scottdclary.com➡️ Like The Podcast? Leave A Rating: https://ratethispodcast.com/successstoryDr. Tiffany Moon is a Chinese-American anesthesiologist, entrepreneur, and television personality best known for appearing on The Real Housewives of Dallas. Born in Beijing and raised in the U.S., she earned her medical degree by age 23 and is now an Associate Professor at UT Southwestern. In addition to her medical career, she is the founder of Aromasthesia Candles and Three Moons Wine. A dedicated philanthropist and advocate for AAPI communities, Dr. Moon shares her story of resilience and connection in her upcoming memoir, Joy Prescriptions.➡️ Show Linkshttps://www.instagram.com/tiffanymoonmd/https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiffany-moon-md-fasa-06938455/https://www.tiffanymoonmd.com/ ➡️ Podcast SponsorsHubspot - https://hubspot.com/ Vanta - https://www.vanta.com/scott Federated Computer - https://www.federated.computer Lingoda - https://try.lingoda.com/success_sprintCornbread Hemp - https://cornbreadhemp.com/success (Code: Success)FreshBooks - https://www.freshbooks.com/pricing-offer/ Quince - https://quince.com/success Northwest Registered Agent - https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/success Prolon - https://prolonlife.com/clary Stash - https://get.stash.com/successstory NetSuite — https://netsuite.com/scottclary/ Indeed - https://indeed.com/clary➡️ Talking Points00:00 – Intro01:34 – The Moment That Changed Everything06:01 – The “Good Asian Daughter” Script08:51 – Breaking Away from Her Parents13:28 – Healing & Finding Joy After Trauma14:39 – Redefining High Performance17:48 – Sponsor Break21:40 – Tiffany's First Taste of Joy30:13 – What Writing Taught Her About Herself32:24 – The #1 Joy-Killing Trait34:30 – Sponsor Break38:35 – Tiffany the Entrepreneur43:15 – Loving the Journey, Not Just the Goal46:57 – Escaping the Scarcity Mindset48:40 – Joy in Her Career53:10 – Comparison: The Thief of Joy1:01:53 – A Lesson for Her KidsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hi friends, happy Wednesday! You know, after living in Los Angeles for a few years, I've learned a lot. Like, for example, if you tell people you live in LA, the first thing they ask about is celebrities.  Who have I seen? What were they like? Am I friends with Kris Jenner? It's always the same question. LA is huge and a lot of people don't realize it has a *crazy* history. Hollywood and celebrity culture is just one small part of it.  We've covered some LA history here on Dark History a couple of times. We did an episode on the Chicano Movement, and we even did one the Zoot Suit Riots.  During my research for those episodes, I came across an event I had never heard of… the Chinese Massacre of 1871. You might think by the name, this massacre happened in China.  But turns out, it happened right here in Los Angeles. It was essentially a mass murder killing spree, targeting Chinese American communities.  I wanted to do this episode because it's one of those stories where I thought to myself: why aren't they teaching this in school? Why has it gotten brushed under the rug and lost to history? Well, today we're going to find out.  Welcome to the Dark History of the Chinese Massacre of 1871.  I appreciate you for coming by, and tune in next week for more Dark History. I sometimes talk about my Good Reads in the show. So here's the link if you want to check it out. IDK. lol: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/139701263-bailey ________ FOLLOW ME AROUND Tik Tok: https://bit.ly/3e3jL9v Instagram: http://bit.ly/2nbO4PR Facebook: http://bit.ly/2mdZtK6 Twitter: http://bit.ly/2yT4BLV Pinterest: http://bit.ly/2mVpXnY Youtube: http://bit.ly/1HGw3Og Snapchat: https://bit.ly/3cC0V9d Discord: https://discord.gg/BaileySarian* RECOMMEND A STORY HERE: cases4bailey@gmail.com Business Related Emails: bailey@underscoretalent.com Business Related Mail: Bailey Sarian 4400 W. Riverside Dr., Ste 110-300 Burbank, CA 91505 ________ Credits: This podcast is Executive Produced by: Bailey Sarian & Kevin Grosch and Joey Scavuzzo from Made In Network Head Writer: Allyson Philobos Writer: Katie Burris Additional Writing: Jessica Charles Research provided by: DH Research Team Special thank you to our Historical Consultant: Scott Zesch, historian and author of "The Chinatown War." Director: Brian Jaggers Additional Editing: Julien Perez & Maria Norris  Post Supervisor: Kelly Hardin  Production Management: Ross Woodruff Hair: Angel Gonzalez Makeup: Roni Herrera ________ Right now, listeners of this show can get an extended 30-day free trial! Just go to https://dipseastories.com/darkhistory to start your free trial.  Calm the chaos of order fulfillment with the shipping software that delivers. Switch to ShipStation today. Go to https://www.shipstation.com and use code DARKHISTORY to sign up for your FREE trial.  Check out the SKIMS Ultimate Bra Collection and more at https://www.skims.com/darkhistory #skimspartner Personal styling for everyone—get started today at https://www.stitchfix.com/darkhistory. 

This week, artist JERRY MA joins us! We talk about his upcoming Conan collaboration with Walt Simonson, drawing comics, art, Kirby, and the ‘The Monkey King in Chinatown: Illustrated Journeys of a Chinese Legend in NYC' … a cool gallery show taking place this month at Pearl River Mart in NYC (452 Broadway) featuring him and a slew of talented Chinese-American artists!   Jerry has been around awhile and is involved in a lot of cool shit, so have a listen and find out about it all!   You can find Jerry on IG: @epicprops for info on the gallery show, and you can check out his shop HERE: www.jerrymaart.bigcartel.com   For all things Jacked Kirby, including links to listen everywhere, our social media pages, and a place to buy yourself a dope Jacked Kirby t-shirt, visit our FlowPage: www.flow.page/jackedkirby   If you like the show, share the show! Spread the word, tell a buddy, tag a friend! And make sure you rate and review us wherever you can! Thanks, kids!

A fatal crash involving a tour bus and SUV shut down the 60 Freeway this morning. This week, the Supreme Court takes up the issue of birthright citizenship more than a century after a Chinese American man born in California successfully defended his right to be in this country. There's a new Pope, so it makes sense that there's now a new Pope sandwich. And more. Support The L.A. Report by donating at LAist.com/join and by visiting https://laist.com 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 the show: https://laist.com

Tong Ge was born and raised in China and moved to Canada in 1988. She began writing the China China trilogy in 2004 with the first book: The House Filler. Although she was challenged by learning to write in English and by her long- term disability, she persevered and since 2012 has published poetry and prose in English and Chinese in publications such as Prism, Ricepaper, Flow, Canadian Stories, and The Polyglot. Tong Ge lives in Calgary, Alberta. Make sure to check out this author on her website https://tong-ge.com/You can listen to the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, or visit my website www.drkatherinehayes.com

Send us a textIn this interview with author Susan Tate Ankeny, we talk about her biography of Chinese American WWII Women Air Force Service Pilot, Hazel Ying Lee, American Flygirl, the Aviatrix Book Club discussion book for May 2025. Buy the book: https://literaryaviatrix.com/book/american-flygirl/Children's Books about Hazel: https://literaryaviatrix.com/book/the-fearless-flights-of-hazel-ying-lee/https://literaryaviatrix.com/book/skyward-the-story-of-female-pilots-in-wwii/The Blurb: One of WWII's most uniquely hidden figures, Hazel Ying Lee was the first Asian American woman to earn a pilot's license, join the WASPs, and fly for the United States military amid widespread anti-Asian sentiment and policies.Her singular story of patriotism, barrier breaking, and fearless sacrifice is told for the first time in full for readers of The Women with Silver Wings by Katherine Sharp Landdeck, A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell, The Last Boat Out of Shanghai by Helen Zia, Facing the Mountain by Daniel James Brown and all Asian American, women's and WWII history books.In 1932, Hazel Ying Lee, a nineteen-year-old American daughter of Chinese immigrants, sat in on a friend's flight lesson. It changed her life. In less than a year, a girl with a wicked sense of humor, a newfound love of flying, and a tough can-do attitude earned her pilot's license and headed for China to help against invading Japanese forces. In time, Hazel would become the first Asian American to fly with the Women Airforce Service Pilots. As thrilling as it may have been, it wasn't easy.In America, Hazel felt the oppression and discrimination of the Chinese Exclusion Act. In China's field of male-dominated aviation she was dismissed for being a woman, and for being an American. But in service to her country, Hazel refused to be limited by gender, race, and impossible dreams. Frustrated but undeterred she forged ahead, married Clifford Louie, a devoted and unconventional husband who cheered his wife on, and gave her all for the cause achieving more in her short remarkable life than even she imagined possible.American Flygirl is the untold account of a spirited fighter and an indomitable hidden figure in American history. She broke every common belief about women. She challenged every social restriction to endure and to succDid you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker

In today's CELEBRATING SUPERMAN episode, Shawn is joined by Gene Luen Yang, the Eisner-Award winning writer and illustrator behind American Born Chinese, Dragon Hoops, and SUPERMAN SMASHES THE KLAN. Shawn and Gene discuss Gene's love of drawing and telling stories, how he self-published his works while teaching full time, and how he transitioned into the realm of professional comic book publishing. They also discuss the origins of Superman Smashes the Klan and how his personal experiences as a Chinese-American helped him expand upon the classic 1940s radio show story for his adaptation. 

Federal aviation officials say Newark Airport was hit with another tech outage Friday morning, the second such meltdown in as many weeks. The NYPD arrested more than a dozen protesters at Brooklyn College Thursday night. Plus, May 10th is now officially Chinese American Railroad Workers Memorial Day. And finally, the Sunset Park community board adopted a plan to redesign Third Avenue under the Gowanus Expressway but they recently learned the plan is on hold.

Today our friend Jessica joins us to talk about one of our favorite pastimes…karaoke! We discuss the optimal karaoke set-up and dissect what draws us in. We dive into hidden etiquette and tips and tricks we've learned over the years to curate a *perfect* karaoke session. We also confess our personal karaoke sins!Support the showFollow us on social media @eatyourcrustpod

Dr. Tiffany Moon isn't just breaking stereotypes — she's rewriting the script.   In this episode, Dr. Tiffany Moon — board-certified anesthesiologist, founder of Aromasthesia, and former cast member of Bravo's Real Housewives — opens up about what it really takes to balance ambition, motherhood, entrepreneurship, and public scrutiny.   From immigrating to the U.S. at age 6 to graduating from college at 19 and medical school at 23, where she finished in the top ten percent of her class, to launching a wellness brand rooted in science and self-care, Tiffany's story is as raw and relatable as it is inspiring.   We cover: The culture of overachievement and how it can become an emotional cage The silent weight of perfectionism in high-achieving women How childhood trauma shaped her relentless drive and how she's healing from it Why asking for help isn't a weakness — it's a strategy The behind-the-scenes reality of being a doctor and a reality TV personality Why she's choosing presence over perfection in parenting, career, and business   Plus: Why even the most “put-together” people struggle with self-worth How Tiffany balances a medical career with being a mother, wife, and founder Why her social media presence is as real as it gets and why that matters   Tiffany also shares the surprising impact of being on reality TV, not on her brand, but on her identity, and why she now uses her platform to champion authenticity, self-care, and breaking generational cycles.   This is an honest, unfiltered conversation about legacy, self-awareness, and the courage to define success on your own terms.    Tiffany Moon, MD, is a board-certified anesthesiologist, entrepreneur, keynote speaker, mother of twins, and author of Joy Prescriptions: How I Learned to Stop Chasing Perfection and Embrace Connection. She is also the founder and CEO of Aromasthesia Candles, Three Moons Wine, and LeadHer Summit. Tiffany has published over fifty peer-reviewed articles, is one of D Magazine's “Best Doctors,” and serves as an Oral Board Examiner for the American Board of Anesthesiology. She was the first medical doctor and Chinese American cast member on Bravo's Real Housewives. Her story has been featured in Forbes, Variety, Harper's Bazaar, USA Today, and more. She lives with her family in Dallas, TX.   Get Tiffany's book here: https://rb.gy/5fvfl5 Joy Prescriptions: How I Learned to Stop Chasing Perfection and Embrace Connection   Here are some free gifts for you: Overall Approach Used in Well-Managed Strategy Studies free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/OverallApproach   McKinsey & BCG winning resume free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/resumepdf   Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo  

It's Monday, May 5th, A.D. 2025. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 125 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Adam McManus 18-wheeler truck plowed in Easter parade, killing 6, injuring 18 A government-appointed committee determined that the Muslim driver of an 18-wheeler truck that plowed into an Easter parade on Sunday, April 21, in the town of Billiri in Gombe State, Nigeria, intentionally struck the Christians as they celebrated Christ's resurrection.  The committee also found that of the 36 people struck in the attack, six died, and 18 remain in critical condition, reports International Christian Concern. Pray Psalm 147:6. It says, “The Lord sustains the humble, but casts the wicked to the ground.” China official hints he wants to end tariff war with U.S. China is hinting that it could be willing to talk to Trump administration officials as a way to end the trade and tariff war, reports The Western Journal. A Chinese Commerce Ministry representative said, “China is currently evaluating” messages from administration officials that “expressed their willingness to negotiate with China on tariffs,” according to the Wall Street Journal. He added, “China's position is consistent. If you want to fight, we will fight to the end; if you want to talk, our door is wide open.” President Donald Trump's 145 percent tariff on Chinese imports led China to impose a 125 percent tariff on American imports. Trump has said he will not blink without concessions that could include greater access to Chinese markets. Chinese-American expert: Get tougher on China Appearing on ‘Fox Report' with Jon Scott, Gatestone Institute senior fellow Gordon Chang explained that China has no tariffs on certain categories of products that only America can provide. SCOTT: “China is making allowances for some US products to be imported without tariffs. Does that suggest that they are finding that it's not so easy to block U.S. products?” CHANG: “Oh, absolutely. And you know, it's not just that they're reducing tariffs. You know, for instance, President Trump reduced tariffs on electronic goods coming in from China. “What China has done, which we learned from both the Reuters and the Financial Times reporting yesterday, is that there are no tariffs on certain categories of U.S goods. So, for instance, aviation parts, semiconductors, medical devices, medicines, industrial chemicals -- things that China can't get elsewhere -- and they're just coming into China tariff-free.” Chang urged Trump to get even tougher on China. CHANG: “Instead of talking about reducing tariffs, I think that we need to start actually imposing some more costs. “So, for instance, China is not taking Boeing aircraft deliveries. We flew back three 737 Maxes from China that were about to be delivered. Well, if I were President Trump, I would say to Boeing, ‘You can no longer provide services or parts to Chinese Airlines because that will ground the Chinese fleet. And I think that will bring the Chinese to heel fairly quickly. “But we need to do some things that would be considered unthinkable. This is not the type of normal trade war that people are used to. This is looking like an all-encompassing struggle. When President Trump last week signaled conciliatory moves, the Chinese even got worse, and they were saying, ‘Well, no talks until the U.S. removes all tariffs.'” Angry parent blasts school board over daughter's gender transition A furious Lakewood, Colorado father, Dustin Gonzalez, lost his temper with woke educators during a county school board meeting, saying his daughter's new gender identity and transition was kept secret from him and affirmed by school staff. GONZALEZ: “I'm not a politician. I'm not a loud voice on social media. I'm a father, a quiet one, one who goes to work, tries to do right by his family, and stays out of the spotlight. But now, now you're gonna remember my name. “My daughter changed her identity, not after years of discussion or family dialogue, not from joint input from both of her parents. No, this happened quickly, secretly, encouraged by a school-appointed therapist in a system that never thought to include me. And the school didn't inform me. They didn't include me. They didn't even ask me. They replaced me! “By the time I found out, I was already labeled ‘the problem.' My objections weren't treated as concerns. They were treated as opposition. My voice was dismissed as hateful. My presence undermined. The therapist, the school, and eventually the court-appointed investigator all decided that because I wouldn't affirm something, I didn't deserve to parent my daughter equally anymore. “They didn't accuse me of abuse. They didn't claim I'd caused harm. The only evidence against me was that I said, ‘I'm not ready to affirm this yet.' That's it! “And now I'm at risk of losing parenting time, of being erased from my daughter's life, not because I failed as a father, but because I dared to ask questions. And it started in your schools. Your systems made it possible, and your silence made it permanent! “You gave my ex all the tools she needed to take our daughter from me, tools that she couldn't have forged on her own. You gave her the therapist, you gave her the ideological support, and you never once thought, ‘Shouldn't the father be involved too?' “You gave her a system that cut me out of the picture. You handed her the tools to eliminate me from my daughter's life. And with your help, she's trying to race me all together. You replaced my voice. You stole my seat at the table. And you made decisions about my daughter without me! “I don't care if you personally signed the policies, stayed silent while he passed, or simply chose not to know, you are all responsible. Don't think you can take a man's child from him and not reap a whirlwind!” Just like Psalm 103:13 articulates, a father has compassion on his child. But sadly, in this case, the government school's woke policies became a wedge between father and child. Texas Governor signs $1 billion school choice program And finally, on Saturday, Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott signed a $1 billion school voucher program into law, cementing the biggest legislative victory of his decade in office, reports the San Antonio Express-News. ABBOTT: “It is time that we put our children on a pathway to having the number one ranked education system in the United States of America. (applause) “Gone are the days that families are limited to only the school assigned by government. The day has arrived that empowers parents to choose the school that's best for their child.” Abbott referenced parents in the crowd who had already pulled their students from “low-performing” public schools to put them into private ones.  Under the $1 billion school choice law, Texas students who are enrolled into the program will receive $10,000 per year to go to an accredited private school. Disabled students will get up to $30,000 per year and home schooled students will receive $2,000 per year per child. The first year of operation will begin in 2027. The state will choose nonprofits to run the program, develop the application process, and pick which 100,000 students will have access to it. Close And that's The Worldview on this Monday, May 5th, in the year of our Lord 2025. Subscribe for free by Amazon Music or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com. Or get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

HB1312 is a bill in Colorado that goes against parental rights, essentially criminalizing parents for disagreeing with their children's gender identity and affirming transgenderism. Too few pastors are showing up and concerned about this bill. While God will fight for us, we need to show up, in support of God's Law and with the courage to oppose the wicked.This program includes:1. The World View in 5 Minutes with Adam McManus (Texas Gov. signs $1 billion school choice program, Angry parent blasts school board over daughter's gender transition, Chinese-American expert: Get tougher on China)2. Generations with Kevin Swanson

About Jiaoying Summers:Jiaoying Summers is a Chinese-American stand-up comedian, actress, and social media influencer known for her bold humor, sharp wit, and unique perspectives on life, culture, and identity. A proud mother and successful performer, Jiaoying's journey from her beginnings in China to becoming a comedy sensation in the U.S. is nothing short of inspiring. She uses herplatform to tackle topics like cultural differences, family, and self-empowerment, always leaving audiences laughing and thinking.Stay Connected With Jiaoying:Facebook:   / jiaoyingsummers  Instagram:   / jiaoyingsummers  TikTok:   / jiaoyingsummers  X: https://x.com/jiaoyingsummersWebsite: https://summerscomedy.comCopyright Notice:This video and my YouTube channel contain dialog, music, and images that are property of Jiaoying Summers. You are authorized to share the video link and channel, and embed this video in your website or others as long as a link back to my YouTube channel is provided.Support the showFollow Jiaoying Summers Social media & get tickets for Tiger Milf Tour!Facebook | Youtube | TikTok | Twitter | Instagram | Merch | Tour | Patreon | OnlyFans

What an amazing guest episode… meet Dr. Tiffany Moon; a trailblazer known as the first doctor and first-generation Asian American to star on The Real Housewives of Dallas. She made headlines for speaking out against racial bullying, which sparked her advocacy for Asian American issues. We had so many different conversation topics today such as…  Women's Empowerment & Entrepreneurship: Transitioning from a successful medical career to a multi-faceted businesswoman and reality TV star. Discovering Inner Joy: How she embraced risks, creativity, and self-care to live a more fulfilling life. Perfectionist Burnout: Overcoming the emotional toll of societal expectations and perfectionism. Leadership as an Asian American: Confronting anti-AAPI hate and exploring racial diversity challenges. Balancing Family & Career: How she successfully manages motherhood while growing professionally. About Tiffany:  TIFFANY MOON, MD, is a board-certified anesthesiologist, entrepreneur, and mother of twins. She is the founder and CEO of Aromasthesia Candles, Three Moons Wine, and LeadHer Summit. She has published over fifty peer-reviewed publications, is one of D Magazine's “Best Doctors,” and serves as an Oral Board Examiner for the American Board of Anesthesiology. Tiffany was the first medical doctor and Chinese American cast member on Bravo's Real Housewives and her story has been featured in Forbes, Variety, Harper's Bazaar, USA Today, and more. She lives with her family in Dallas, TX Find Tiffany Here! :  Tiktok: 1.7M followers Instagram: 830K followers Facebook: 66K followers LinkedIn: 500+ connections   Main website: https://www.tiffanymoonmd.com/ Book website: https://joyprescriptions.com/ Thank you so much for the constant love & support!  LinkTree (all links) : ⁠https://linktr.ee/foryoufromeve⁠ Website + Services: ⁠https://www.foryoufromeve.org⁠ Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/foryoufromeve⁠ Tiktok: ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@foryoufromeve⁠ Amazon Storefront: ⁠https://www.amazon.com/shop/influencer-e333d6b9?utm_source=hoobe&utm_medium=social⁠ LTK: ⁠https://www.shopltk.com/explore/Olivia_Eve_Shabo⁠ Sponsors: Head on over to ⁠Rula.com/fromeve⁠ to get started today. After you sign up they ask you where you heard about them. PLEASE support our show and tell them our show sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a textIn this episode of Friday Night Beers, Tom & Vince drink Tsingtao. This beer comes from Tsingtao Brewery in Qing Dao Shi, Shan Dong Sheng China. They drink it and somehow compare it to things like Chinese-American cultural connections, Yao Ming, Wicked, Kung Fu movies, Jackie Chan and more. At the end, they rate this beer on a unique 1-5 scale. VINCE: 2.75 / 5 VincesTOM: 3 / 5 TomsInstagram: @friday.night.beersTwitter: @fnb_pod Threads: https://www.threads.net/@friday.night.beersEmail: friday.night.beerspodcast@gmail.com Theme music by Billy Hansa. Subscribe, rate and review the podcast on Apple, Spotify or wherever you find your podcasts!

In recent years, there's been a stark uptick in the level of violence and hate crimes that Asian Americans have experienced, but the “precarity of the Asian American experience is not new,” Michael Luo tells David Remnick. Luo is a longtime New Yorker editor, and the author of a new book about the Chinese American experience. He looks at how tensions over labor—with native-born workers often blaming immigrants for their exploitation by business interests—intersected with racial and religious prejudice, culminating in episodes of extraordinary violence and laws that denied immigrants civil rights and excluded new arrivals from Asia. “The way politicians, craven politicians, talk about immigrants today could be just torn from the nineteenth century,” he points out. “I do think that the ‘stranger' label is still there.” But Luo also uncovers the extraordinary support of Chinese Americans from Frederick Douglass, who argued extensively for the immigrants' political participation and civil rights. “Asian American history is American history,” Luo says. “I want all the dads who are reading about World War Two, . . . who are interested in Civil War literature, to read about this different racial conflagration.” Luo's book is “Strangers in the Land: Exclusion, Belonging, and the Epic Story of the Chinese in America.”

Today we sit down and talk about big fears that we have - from heights, to natural disasters, airplane turbulence, and more! We chat through things make our fears better or worse. We also discuss a couple of conspiracy theories *puts on tinfoil hat* and get a little silly with it!Support the showFollow us on social media @eatyourcrustpod