Podcasts about filipino american

Welcome to Season 6, Episode 21! Erin Entrada Kelly is a multiple award-winning Filipino American author best known for her emotionally honest and deeply relatable novels for middle grade and young adult readers. Born in Louisiana to a Filipino mother, Kelly often draws from her own experiences growing up between cultures. She uses humor, vulnerability, and empathy to explore what it means to search for identity and belonging. Before becoming a full-time author, she worked as a journalist and magazine editor, experiences that helped shape her sharp dialogue and realistic characters. The Second Life of Snap is a middle grade science fiction novel that was released on May 12, 2026, from Greenwillow Books. The story follows twelve-year-old Zuzu Santos, who lives with her friends in a struggling, drought-ridden community controlled by a powerful corporation in a near-future world shaped by climate change. After Zuzu's father loses his job, the family receives an outdated guardian robot named Snap instead of proper severance support. Although Zuzu is initially suspicious of robots, she slowly forms a deep bond with Snap as his battery life begins to run out. The novel blends themes of friendship, survival, inequality, climate anxiety, and humanity's relationship with technology, while still maintaining the warmth and emotional depth Kelly is known for. Erin is a New York Times bestselling author and has been honored by industry experts, her peers, and the readers multiple times, including the 2025 Newbery Medal for The First State of Being, 2018 Newbery Medal for Hello, Universe, a 2021 Newbery Honor for We Dream of Space, the 2023 NAIBA Book of the Year Award for Those Kids From Fawn Creek, and the 2017 APALA Award for The Land of Forgotten Girls, among many other honors. In our conversation, Erin shares a little about her journey to becoming an award-winning author, how winning multiple awards impacts her mindset, her background in Louisiana and how it shapes her work, what she hopes readers discuss and consider when it comes to technology, the considerations when writing about serious topics, and so much more.  To learn more about Erin, you can visit her website erinentradakelly.com, follow her on instagram @erinentrada, and of course purchase The Second Life of Snap or any of her other work.  If you like what we do, please share, follow, and like us in your podcast directory of choice or on Instagram @AAHistory101. For previous episodes and resources, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or our links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@aahistory101.com.

In this episode of Nashville Restaurant Radio, Brandon sits down with Billy Deck, founder of Sunda and host/star of the PBS documentary Food Roots. Billy shares the deeply personal story behind the film, his Filipino-American upbringing, and the journey back to the Philippines that helped him reconnect with family, heritage, grief, identity, and purpose.The conversation moves through hospitality, Nashville's evolution, Gen Z labor challenges, building restaurant culture, and why true hospitality starts with care. Billy also opens up about success, loss, mental health, the pressure of performing strength, and the power of documenting personal stories so they can help others.This episode is a reminder that restaurants are about far more than what is on the plate. They are about connection, memory, ancestry, healing, and making people feel seen.Topics include:Billy's journey from Chicago to NashvilleThe story behind SundaHis PBS documentary Food RootsReconnecting with Filipino heritageFood as a language of loveLabor and culture challenges in hospitalityNashville's growth and changing identityMental health, grief, and vulnerabilityWhy every family has a story worth preservingWatch Food Roots on Billy's YouTube channel: @billybecklife

This segment exists to push back on that narrative with actual news, real stories, and real evidence that the Holy Spirit is still moving.Five stories. Five reasons to walk into your weekend with your head up.A Nigerian priest is ripped from his rectory at 3 in the morning by armed gunmen. His diocese responds not with panic — but with prayer. Twelve days into a month of dedicated Marian devotions, he walks free from what his diocese called "the den of kidnappers." Twenty-one seminarians lace up their running shoes at the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati, one of them finishing second overall at a 5:30 mile pace — running with the intention of a group of sisters making their perpetual vows. Ireland plasters 50 rosary billboards across the entire country — cities, highways, Belfast, every major county — ahead of the 41st All Ireland Rosary Rally at Knock. A Michigan parish celebrates 100 years standing, built while the KKK marched 100,000 strong through the streets outside and Knights of Columbus stood guard through the night to protect it. And a Filipino-American priest launches a 153-day global rosary campaign for the salvation of every soul Christ came to save.

Send us Fan MailErick and Mitch celebrate being ranked 2ND in the TOP 30 Filipino American Podcasts!  Maraming Salamats and Many Thanks to all our fellow Canna-Kuyas and Marijuana-Ates for listening sharing and growing with us! Listen for the srping buddha lounge reset and don't forget to follow us @cannakuyas on instagram.Support the showFor secret grow story updates and plant footage follow the Canna Kuyas on Instagram @cannakuyas

The story will keep you there.This Mick Unplugged episode features JEFRË, a Public Artist and Creative Director. He explores how pivotal life experiences and a singular vision shaped his career, leading him to create monumental public art around the globe. Discover JEFRË's journey from urban designer to iconic artist.WHAT YOU'LL LEARN- JEFRË's journey after a 35-year-old heart attack- How to become a brand-collaborating artist- The significance behind "Victor" in the Philippines- Why brands seek creative leaders like JEFRË- Developing art from community insightsQUOTES THAT HIT"The story will keep you there." - JEFRË"I'm getting cities and nations together to create icons or moments that they can identify with their own culture." - JEFRË"The key is, is really engineering. That's where it is." - JEFRËCHAPTERS00:00 Mick Unplugged Introduction02:30 JEFRË on legacy and creation06:51 JEFRË's Filipino-American origin story09:42 Heart attack, career change to artist13:47 JEFRË's process for designing art20:06 JEFRË on personal connections24:43 Branding and entrepreneurship with JEFRË31:54 New projects and Shark ArtQUESTIONS THIS EPISODE ANSWERSQ: What motivated JEFRË to become an artist after a career in urban design?A: JEFRË's near-death experience from a heart attack at 35 prompted him to pursue creating impactful art immediately, shifting from long-term urban planning projects to direct artistic creation.Q: How does JEFRË ensure his monumental public artworks resonate with communities?A: JEFRË emphasizes listening to the community to understand their desires, then interpreting that input into his art. He believes the storyline derived from community engagement is more important than the scale of the artwork.Q: What is "Shark Art" and how does Damon John support artists like JEFRË?A: Shark Art is Damon John's initiative to support artists by providing management and business guidance. Damon helps artists like JEFRË navigate commercial aspects, manage their image, and secure licensing deals to expand their reach.Connect & Discover Jefrë:Instagram: @jefre_artistWebsite: jefre.orgLinkedIn: JEFRË StudioTikTok: @jefre_artist

After scrapping a first recording that didn't feel right, Alyssa and Nadia land on a topic that's been sitting in the background: what it actually means to be Filipino-American when you're a generation removed from the immigration story. Nadia is 100% Filipino by heritage — but both her parents were born in the US, and that one fact changes almost everything.The conversation gets specific fast. Nadia recalls arriving at Northeastern's Filipino club and learning there was a taho night — a dessert she'd never heard of. She looked Filipino, but didn't always know the script. A visit to the Philippines brought the same dissonance: people addressed her in Tagalog expecting fluency, only to find she couldn't follow along. Alyssa notes that neither parent spoke Tagalog at home, so there was never a natural path to absorb it — though Nadia still holds herself accountable for not seeking it out.They also get into what it's like to be Asian in mostly non-Asian spaces — something Nadia encounters more in Boston than she ever did in the Bay Area. Outside the community, all Asian identities tend to get collapsed into one. It's frustrating, but Nadia also finds unexpected comfort in her Asian friend group: there's something grounding about being around people who look like you, even when the specific cultural backgrounds differ. The episode closes with both of them acknowledging there's a whole other conversation waiting — including whether the Philippines even belongs in the "Asian" part of AAPI.TakeawaysBeing fully Filipino by ancestry doesn't guarantee fluency in Filipino culture — especially when your parents were also raised in the USLanguage is one of the clearest markers of cultural connection, and its absence tends to surface guilt even when it wasn't really a choicArriving somewhere you're "supposed" to belong and realizing the connection isn't automatic is its own specific kind of dissonancePeople outside a community tend to collapse all Asian identities into one — frustrating, but not always maliciousThere's real comfort in being around people who look like you, even without shared cultural specificsGrowing up in a diverse environment like the Bay Area creates assumptions about normalcy that other places quickly disruptNavigating multiple cultural contexts builds something useful: the ability to hold different worldviews without defaulting to one as the obvious baselineCultural identity isn't a fixed destination — for most people, it's an ongoing negotiation between origin, upbringing, and what you decide to learn nowChapters0:10–0:52 — Do-Over: Why the First Recording Didn't Make the Cut0:52–2:14 — AAPI Heritage Month and the Filipino Moment on TikTok2:14–5:08 — Growing Up Filipino Without the Philippines5:08–7:43 — The Taho Moment: When You Look the Part But Don't Know the Script7:43–10:19 — Why Tagalog Wasn't in the House — and Whether That's Anyone's Fault10:19–12:19 — Being Lumped In: How Non-Asians Read Asian Identity12:19–14:29 — The Quiet Comfort of Your Own Community — and What Boston Made Visible650.701.7686 (o)650.332.2739 (f)510.673.8712 (m)Sports & Dance Rehab | Pilates | Group ClassesOn the Move Physical Therapy501-D Old County Rd. Belmont, CA 94002web - http://www.onthemovephysio.comemail - alyssa@onthemovephysio.comIG - https://www.instagram.com/onthemovephysio

For Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month, we are sitting down with community leaders and trailblazers who have made their mark on San Diego.For much of her life, JoAnn Fields has been a major advocate for AANHPI communities, working for every level of elected office and pushing for the continued recognition and representation of Filipino Americans in San Diego.Monday on Midday Edition, we hear about Fields' journey into advocacy and politics and how she is continuing to bring visibility to Filipino American history and culture in San Diego and beyond.Guest:JoAnn Fields, government and public relations director, API Initiative

Who is the one person you will always save, no matter what?This letter is for the Filipino American woman who has spent her whole life showing up for everyone around her, and only recently started to wonder what that has cost her.In this letter, Ren grows up as her mother's emotional confidant, her younger brother's stand-in parent, and the steadiest friend and partner anyone around her has ever had. She has always been the one holding everyone else together. And for a long time, she believed that was love.But after one relationship too many ends the same way, what begins to surface in Ren is something painful and wordless that she has been carrying for a very long time.If you have spent your whole life showing up for others and somehow (maybe shamefully) still feel unloved, this letter was written for you.Letter 187 is part of The Filipino American Woman Project's letters series, inspired by real conversations. This is our AAPI Heritage Month edition.May is also Mental Health Awareness Month

State attorneys general have been playing an increasingly important role in American law and politics in recent years, as I discussed in my recent podcast interview of former New Jersey attorney general Matthew Platkin. Continuing the conversation on this interesting evolution, last week I interviewed Rob Bonta, the 34th attorney general of our nation's largest state, California.We began by discussing Rob's early life, including how he immigrated to California with his family as an infant, and his legal career, including his service in the San Francisco City Attorney's Office and the California State Assembly. We then turned to current events, including the Supreme Court's recent ruling in Louisiana v. Callais; the 67 lawsuits his office has filed against the Trump administration since January 2025, including election-related cases; and Rob's own future plans, including whether he might run someday for the U.S. Senate or governor of California.I've known Rob for decades, ever since we were members of an informal (and very small) group of Filipino-American students at Yale Law School. Rob is now the first person of Filipino descent to serve as California's AG—making him an especially fitting guest for May, which is Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month.Thanks to Rob for reconnecting with me and for sharing his thoughts on a wide range of timely topics.Show Notes:* Rob Bonta bio, Office of the Attorney General of the State of California* Rob Bonta bio, WikipediaSponsored by:NexFirm helps Biglaw attorneys become founding partners. To learn more about how NexFirm can help you launch your firm, call 212-292-1000 or email careerdevelopment@nexfirm.com. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit davidlat.substack.com/subscribe

Nina Krutan, a Filipino-American singer-songwriter and author raising her baby in Paris, gets real about pregnancy abroad, the French healthcare system, and what it actually takes to stay yourself through motherhood. No filter, no performance, just an honest conversation about identity, grief, creative life, and refusing to disappear into the role.If you're an expat mom, a multipassionate creative, or a woman who's tired of being told motherhood means giving everything else up, this one's for you.Why listen:How Nina navigated pregnancy in France as an American expat, and what the French healthcare system Behind-the-scenes on working with European brands as an American creative abroad, plus how Nina balances brand deals with her own personal brandHow to keep your creative life alive through pregnancy and early motherhood without losing yourself in the processReal talk on the grief of leaving your old self behind, and how to welcome the new one without losing the parts that made you, youHow to build actual community as an expat mom in a country that isn't yoursFind Nina:Instagram: @iamsoldanaBooks: @soldanabooksMusic: SpotifyFind host Laura:Instagram: ⁠@laurafama

Teens shut down the Great American Foodie Fest after brawls forced organizers to close early for the first time in 14 years — so what went wrong and how should Vegas rethink event design? Plus, Las Vegas ranked 19th best city to start a career but does that match the reality on the ground? Host Jesse Merrick and creative producer Jacob Solis are joined by Istorya co-founder Walbert Castillo to break down the headlines and preview Isang Kusina, an immersive Filipino-American dining experience coming May 22nd to the Keep Memory Alive Event Center. It's not too late to become a City Cast Las Vegas Neighbor! Sign up by today, March 12th, to enter into our raffle for a pair of tickets to Istorya's Isang Kusina experience. Learn more about becoming a City Cast Las Vegas Neighbor at membership.citycast.fm. Learn more about the sponsors of this Tuesday, May 12th episode: The Neon Museum Zen Leaf Want to get in touch? Follow us @CityCastVegas on Instagram, or email us at lasvegas@citycast.fm. You can also call or text us at 702-514-0719. For more Las Vegas news, make sure to sign up for our morning newsletter. Looking to advertise on City Cast Las Vegas? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads at citycast.fm/advertise.

How do you find belonging when you've never felt fully Filipino or American?This letter is for the Filipino American woman who has spent years being asked that second question: “But where are you really from?” She learned to answer it smoothly and playfully, without letting anyone notice that being asked the question felt like a wound that kept reopening. In this letter, Hana grows up caught between two worlds. Her American friends see her as foreign. Her Filipino family wishes she could speak their dialect and understand the cultural nuances. But on a college stage, performing mid-song, she discovers how the space created by the pause within a song can change everything.If you've ever felt like you were too much of one thing and not enough of another — this letter was written for you.Letter 186 is part of The Filipino American Woman Project's letters series, inspired by real conversations. This is our AAPI Heritage Month edition. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.tfawletters.com/subscribe

Jess Garcia loves perusing San Francisco thrift stores for treasures. One day, she came across a vinyl record titled "In Baghdad By the Bay: Cora and Santos Beloy," which peeked her curiosity. She rushed home to listen and was amazed at the sweet nostalgic quality of the voices she heard. When she looked for more information on the couple she couldn't find much, but had this feeling there must be more to their story. It turns out this Filipino American couple were "San Francisco famous" in the 1970s, playing a celebrated set in the Fairmount Hotel's Tonga Room among many other gigs. They were also larger than life figures in their local community. We bring you the story of Cora and Santos Beloy. Additional Resources: A Vinyl Found in San Francisco Contains Echoes of Filipino American Love Story Read the transcript for this episode Sign up for our newsletter Got a question you want answered? Ask! Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts This story was reported by Asal Ehsanipour. Bay Curious is made by Katrina Schwartz, Christopher Beale and Olivia Allen-Price. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Ethan Toven-Lindsey and everyone on Team KQED. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Americans have had to remove the late Cesar Chavez from the pedestals we've put him on amidst a recent torrent of credible allegations aimed at him of sexual abuse, rape and pedophilia. This has resulted in a newfound interest in Larry Itliong, a Filipino American labor organizer who's often called the "Father of the West Coast Labor Movement." Until now, he's been unfairly overshadowed by the iconic Chavez, but Larry's son Johnny is relieved that more of the unabridged history of that movement is now finding an audience.

Send us Fan Mail*Warning, this episode contains a conversation about suicide.*In honor of Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Month, we're sharing some interviews from a really special event that we participated in back in November, the fifth annual Pinayista Summit hosted by Make it Mariko. Pinayista is a vibrant community of Filipino women entrepreneurs and creative solopreneurs with a mission to build sisterhood in the hustle, and we were invited to be part of a panel called "Turn Up the Volume: Pinays in Music & Media". It was a day full of inspiration, connection, and Filipino love.First we sit down with Gina Mariko Rosales (Founder and Event Producer for Pinayista and Make it Mariko) and her mother Lillian Rosales for a beautiful discussion about intergenerational healing, and then you'll hear from Lisa Angulo Reid (CEO & Co-Founder of Dear Flor) on the importance of owning our own businesses, followed by Chef Charleen Caabay (CEO & Co-Founder, Culinary Creative Entrepreneur, and first Filipino-American female chef to win Food Network's Chopped) on the beauty of Filipino food and grief as a part of growth, and we cap it off with LadyRAY (former radio personality for 106.1 KMEL and Community Engagement Director) on community and women in media.Follow Make it Mariko on IGFollow Gina Mariko Rosales on IGFollow Lisa Angulo Reid on IGFollow Chef Charleen Caabay on IGFollow LadyRAY on IGSupport the showThanks for listening and for your support! We couldn't have won Best of the Bay Best Podcast in 2022 , 2023 , and 2024 without you!--Fight fascism. Shop small. Use cash. Fuck ice.--Support Bitch Talk here!Subscribe to our channel on YouTube for behind the scenes footage!Rate and review us wherever you listen to podcasts!Visit our website! www.bitchtalkpodcast.comFollow us on Instagram, Threads, and SubstackListen every Monday at 7 am on BFF.FM

No matter what late April got up to, the first day of May brings another shower of sonic stories made up of various reports from this week's text editions of Charlottesville Community Engagement. I'm Sean Tubbs and I got my professional start as an intern at a public radio in Roanoke over thirty years ago and believe the audio form is a good way to get information out to people. If you've not heard any of these stories before, today is a good day to listen. If not, this Friday edition of the newsletter provides links to just some of what I've reported this week:In this edition:* City Council allows CRHA to form a nonprofit for fundraising purposes (read the story)* Charlottesville Area Transit director briefs CARTA (read the story)* Emily Couric Leadership Forum awards $250,000 in scholarships (read the story)* Regional cigarette tax board turns five this October (read the story)* UVA Finance Committee briefed on need for tuition increase (read the story)First shout-out: Piedmont Master Gardeners' Spring Plant Sale Spring is well underway but there's still time to get your home and garden the way you want. Get ready for the Piedmont Master Gardeners' Spring Plant Sale coming up on Saturday, May 2 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Albemarle Square Shopping Center, U.S. 29 North at Rio Road, Charlottesville. The Piedmont Master Gardeners' Spring Plant Sale will offer thousands of annuals, perennials, vegetables, fruit-bearing plants, herbs and houseplants, including a wide selection of native plants. Bags of locally produced compost also will be available.In addition, shoppers can purchase gently used tools, yard ornaments and outdoor furniture at The Green Elephant, a garden-themed thrift store. Cash and credit cards will be accepted. Master Gardeners will be on hand to help customers with their plant selections and will staff a Help Desk for answering gardening questions. An array of displays and information tables will cover such topics as conservation landscaping, soil health, composting, pest management, and controlling invasive plants.All proceeds support the many free and low-cost programs the Piedmont Master Gardeners offer to the community. Learn more at their website! Second shout-out: Inaugural Charlottesville Filipino Spring FestivalThe Inaugural Charlottesville Filipino Spring Festival is coming to the IX Art Park on this Saturday from 3:00 to 8:00pm. This free, family-friendly event celebrates Filipino culture through cuisine, music, and dance, with performances by local and regional artists, including traditional and contemporary Filipino dance and musical groups. There'll be a marketplace showcasing food vendors, retail businesses, artists, crafters, and nonprofits. The celebration aims to promote greater understanding of the Filipino American community in Central Virginia. Check them out on Instagram! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

APEX Express is 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, host Isabel Li speaks with actresses Amielynn Abellera and Kristin Villanueva, who respectively play Nurse Perlah and Nurse Princess on the HBO Max medical drama, The Pitt. Abellera and Villanueva talk about their Filipino heritage and backgrounds and how they represent Filipina healthcare professionals on the show. See also: Filipinos on the Frontline Amielynn Abellera: Instagram Kristin Villanueva: Instagram Transcript [00:00:00] Opening: 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.  00:00:52 Isabel Li  Thank you for tuning in to Apex Express. Last Thursday, season 2 of the HBO Max medical drama The Pitt released its season 2 finale, including a hectic season following medical professionals in the emergency room and giving a realistic depiction of real-world issues in hospitals. I'm Isabel Li, one of the hosts here on APEX Express, and I'm so honored to be joined by two members of that cast tonight who play the two Filipina nurses on The Pitt. They were recently awarded the Actor Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.  00:01:28 Isabel Li  First, let's hear from actress Amielynn Abellera, who plays Nurse Perla, a Muslim Filipina nurse on the show.  00:01:36 Isabel Li  Hi Amielynn, what an honor it is to be speaking to you today. Welcome to Apex Express.  00:01:41 Amielynn Abellera  Thank you. Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be speaking with you, too.  00:01:45 Isabel Li  So many of our listeners might know you from the HBO Max show, The Pitt, which I have so very much enjoyed. This is actually the first medical show that I have watched, and I really, really admire, like, all of the ensemble casts and, you know, everything coming to life. And you play the Muslim Filipina nurse, Perlah Alawi. We'll talk more about your performance and your character in a little bit, but first, this is a question that I ask all my guests: Can you tell us, how do you identify? And is there a story that you think really encapsulates your identity?  00:02:17 Amielynn Abellera  Gosh, I identify as Amielynn Dumac Abellera. She, her, hers. I'm a Filipino American, daughter of two immigrants. And I'm so thrilled and happy to be talking to you and to sharing my experience of my life.  00:02:42 Isabel Li  Absolutely. Of course, The Pitt is a medical show. And is it true that you come from a medical background yourself? Like I heard that you were a psychobiology major in undergrad.  00:02:51 Amielynn Abellera  Yeah, I was pursuing medicine for a long time. I studied pre-med in undergrad at Santa Clara University, majoring in psychobiology, which is psychology with basically a minor in biology. I really wanted to get into neuroscience and or be an oncologist. And I was pursuing that all the way till I graduated and applying to medical school and getting interviews. But ever since I was a kid, for as long as I can remember, I was really also passionate about acting and theater and film and television and being on stage. But it was really just seen as a hobby in my mind and in sort of my environment's mind. I never really prioritized it as a career, and it was never seen as a possible career. Um, so I just had it on the back burner. And, you know, I was getting, getting closer and closer to medical school and getting more and more anxious that I would regret not pursuing acting. And so sort of after waffling for many years, I decided to audition for a master's in fine arts and acting. And that was because I didn't really have any formal training in acting. I didn't study it in undergrad or, you know, in my younger years. It was just all through life experience and being in plays and art and everything like that. And so I thought if I get into one of these programs, maybe that means I have something to offer. And I was going to take that as the sign that I needed to give myself a chance. And so I got into two programs, and I was thrilled. And I moved to LA to attend the University of Southern California's MFA program. And the rest is history. Here I am.  00:04:47 Isabel Li  Wow. How does being a former pre-med influence your current role as a nurse on the show? Do you remember any like terms from science classes that you're like, oh, wow, I remember that in those lines.  00:05:00 Amielynn Abellera  Yeah, yeah, totally. And you know, I spent a lot of time in hospitals and clinics and my dad is a former family practitioner. He had his own medical practice and my mom is a nurse practitioner and she worked in the CCU in the hospital for many years. So I was really familiar with how nurses interacted with patients and hearing the terminology and the medical language a lot.  So it is a cool throwback and always a really, I love how it's so familiar to me 'cause it's, I still have to work at it quite a bit when, you know, when it's all coming at me and I have to have it down for when we're filming, but I'm not as, as intimidated by it as I probably would be if I didn't have a background.  00:05:50 Isabel Li  And out of curiosity, when you got the audition for the pit, did you have to sort of immerse yourself back into that realm of science and that medical background in order to bring out that character when you were  first being introduced to Nurse Perlah?  00:06:04 Amielynn Abellera  Yeah, a little bit. And I feel that with any role, you kind of, before you go in for the audition or even when you're now filming or you have a part, you just have to kind of get into that world, obviously and really put yourself in the actual experience of what this person's going through. And it did help me to be able to use my imagination so vividly from my previous experience of being in an OR and being in a hospital.  I remember when I was doing an internship when I was sort of in the break between graduating undergrad and pursuing medical school, I remember watching a C-section. And I remember — I remember the doctors talking, the surgeons talking, the anesthetic going in, the blood everywhere, the scalpels, the blood pressures, the oxymeter dropping. So, it really — I think back to the real-life fear that I had in all of those those procedures and I just, you know, bring it to Nurse Perlah.  00:07:16 Isabel Li  It's incredible. I want to start off by talking about, for Nurse Perlah specifically, that Perlah's identity is a Filipina and a Muslim nurse.  What did you do to prepare for a role that is so specific in terms of these cultural representations?  00:07:33 Amielynn Abellera  Sure. Thank you for asking that. I am thrilled that Perlah is on television. She is a Filipino American Muslim woman nurse. And I have never seen that. And it's just rarely ever seen on mainstream media. So, in preparing for it, I mean, truly, I had two weeks before we started filming by the time I got the role. And it was go time already. So I didn't have a ton of time, but I did my best to sort of deep dive into learning about the Muslim faith, trying to reach out to different Filipino American Muslims in my community to kind of just hear their experience. And, you know, I quickly learned that it would be impossible for me to sort of understand the full experience completely. And so I just kind of, I realized that the only question that I needed to answer for myself going into filming as Perlah was, is there anything about the Muslim way of life that would influence or adjust or be a part of their nursing or would it shift it at all? And or how would it affect their job?  And, you know, after talking to several Filipino American Muslim nurses, there, there wasn't anything that it would do to either to shift or do anything to get in the way of their patient care. They are, it's still their priority just to care relentlessly for this patient and have as much empathy as possible. And to be honest, I'm still learning as I go along with playing Perlah and as scripts come in and I still ask a lot of questions of how would Perlah specifically understand this procedure or understand this text or understand what she's doing and just keep asking questions.  00:09:30 Isabel Li  And the majority of The Pitt itself takes place on a hospital set. I'm wondering if you had a vision of what Perlah does outside of the hospital?  00:09:39 Amielynn Abellera  Well, I think Perlah is, she's been at this hospital, PTMC, pretty much, this was her first job, she really wanted to work there in this urban setting.  And she's been there probably for over eight years or something, like through COVID. I think she is a single mom and she has two children who are both under the age of 10. So I think she's exhausted, but she loves nursing. She loves her kids. And she is just, she knows how to compartmentalize and work hard and like protect herself. She knows how to leave, at least she thinks she knows how to leave the job at the door in order to go home and be with her children.  00:10:24 Isabel Li  Uh-huh. And is this something, also, I'm just curious, like, is this something that you had to imagine yourself or did some of the writers sort of drop some hints during production?  00:10:35 Amielynn Abellera  I mean, a little bit of both, I think. There are only some hints in the script in the pilot and the first season where it's dropping like, oh, she has some kids and she's exhausted and kind of eye-rolling — Yeah, and pets — And sort of eye-rolling exhausted by what's happening at home. And it's, I am a mother of a five and a half year old. She's almost six right now. So I sort of understand that exhaustion, but like deep love for my child. But it's like, I'm happy to go to work and have them at school, but I'm also missing them. It's just this like journey of a mother. So it was a bit of me sort of creating that backstory, but also just from the hints of the writers.  00:11:23 Isabel Li  Definitely. I think something that's so special about The Pitt as a medical show is its accuracy in depicting the very hectic lives of healthcare professionals, especially in an emergency room setting. So Nurse Perlah is often mediating like some sort of communication and really emphasizing medical jargon or reading off data. What was it like memorizing all of these different lines and delivering it in a way that felt authentic to the way that healthcare professionals might?  00:11:50 Amielynn Abellera  Sure. Oh my gosh. It's really challenging. I think as soon as I get the scripts, and again, thank goodness I have a sort of familiarity with having a little bit of a medical background, but you know, that was years ago. So anytime I get a script, I immediately go to the hard stuff and get that in my brain as soon as possible. And a trick that I do is, as soon as I have it memorized, I'm just saying it all day and doing things with my hands. Like I do it when I'm folding laundry. I do it when I'm washing dishes. I do it when I'm cooking. I'm doing it when I'm driving, just because as soon as it's second nature, and that's the thing about healthcare professionals, they're constantly, like they're not thinking about what they're saying. They're, it's so awesomely competent in their brain, that is not difficult. That's actually like them just having a conversation.  So I love trying to get to that point and showing how Perlah is just so competent in all of that stuff and doesn't even have to think about it while putting in an IV.  00:13:00 Isabel Li  Absolutely. Oh my gosh. And I think like a lot of our listeners, maybe if they watch The Pitt and a lot of audience members really enjoy the lighthearted moments that you share with Princess, also another Filipina nurse played by Kristin Villanueva, especially that Nurse Perlah code-switches with her using Tagalog as a language.  Can you tell our listeners what that code-switching feels like to you and how you relate to Tagalog as a language?  00:13:25 Amielynn Abellera  Yeah, totally. Thank you for asking. I, as Amielynn Abellera, the actor, I grew up, I was born and raised in Stockton, California, and my parents spoke Tagalog and Ilocano at home all the time. And unfortunately, they didn't teach me. So I'm actually not fluent in Tagalog at home.  I'm that Filipino American who later in life got voracious about wanting to embrace her heritage and learn it like in her adult life. And I think that translates with Perlah. I do, I think that Perlah is also, was also born and raised in the United States to two Filipinos who came from Mindanao. And even though she had the ear for it, I think that she's learning it later in life. And I think she absolutely is so happy to have, Princess as her buddy because she can practice.  Um, because I think like the only way to learn is to constantly be talking every day. And I think Perlah does that. I think she finds any opportunity to celebrate joyfully her heritage by speaking the language with Princess. I think they both do. So it's really close to, to my own personal experience with Tagalog because right now I am learning Tagalog on my own, taking lessons and things like that in order to teach my daughter as well, just to have it in our life more. But I think that is also what Perlah is doing.  00:14:58 Isabel Li  Yeah. And for you specifically, how and when did you start learning Tagalog?  00:15:03 Amielynn Abellera  Yeah, I think it really is. Like I said, my parents came in the '70s to Stockton, California, as a doctor and a nurse. And, you know, that generation, at that time, their priority was assimilation, so they didn't really teach me. And our Filipino-ness was a little bit second place, in terms of, not in a negative way, but it just was, it took a little bit of second priority as opposed to assimilating to our environment in Stockton, California. And so, however, whatever seeds were planted in there to not really pursue Tagalog or pursue, to learn and be curious about my Filipino heritage, that was sort of the majority of my childhood and into my college years. And it wasn't until, I think, college and beyond when I started to Honestly, I think it was when I was exposed to Filipino cultural night in university, at Santa Clara University, where, all of a sudden, I was with all these other Filipino-Americans who had such a voracious sort of celebration and wanting to learn like the dances, the language, the style, the textiles, the clothing, the music, and they would study it and we would, they would just be so passionate about it.  And that really was an experience for me of, oh my gosh, I didn't, it wasn't like I was neglecting it on purpose. It's just, that wasn't in my life. So when that was happening for me, I slowly, slowly really wanted to start learning the language and started taking lessons probably in my twenties. And then, you know, but again, it's a lifelong process to learn another language. It's challenging. Um, and I wish, I wish I was, I wish I was at the level of Perlah where she has a buddy all the time to practice, practice, practice. But I don't have that in my home or in my workplace right now, except with Princess at the hospital.  00:17:28 Isabel Li  Gotcha, gotcha. And currently, at the time of this interview, season two of The Pitt is in progress, and you had some really emotionally nuanced moments in the 12 o'clock episode. I'm not going to spoil it too much, but when Perlah reacts to losing a long-term patient, I'm wondering for you, as an actress, can you tell us about how you're able to switch from some, you know, more lighthearted scenes to moments that really emphasize the darker, heavier aspects of being in medicine, like death and disease.  How do you portray and balance that?  00:18:02 Amielynn Abellera  Sure. Yeah. Thank you for asking. I think nurses are amazing in that way where I don't know if it's a blessing or a curse to be able to compartmentalize such extremes of feeling and experiences of loss of patients on the hour, every hour, and being able to move on to sort of uplift and help other patients on the hour, every hour. But I think Perlah, as such an experienced, competent nurse, has learned how to switch it on, switch it off, but I do feel that something that episode 206 was trying to shine a light on is what of that armor has cracks or what of that armor isn't as strong for certain patients or she or what of that armor is, uh, what if that punch… I'm not able to recover as easily as I usually am? So, um, and I think that must happen all the time with healthcare professionals of what they have to do. I think they have to experience losing loved ones and patients and friends who are patients all the time. And how is it that they get back up to be there for the next one?  So I was– it was ultimately challenging, but I'm so glad that that episode showed that dynamic.  00:19:34 Isabel Li  Speaking of a hospital setting, I imagine it's quite a unique set to be one, and The Pitt definitely emphasizes the realism of being in a hospital. Like, we see lots of different types of medical equipment, hand sanitizer, very relevant, pressing things that make us feel like we're almost, like, engaging with the show in a sense. How do you describe that set?  00:19:56 Amielynn Abellera  To me, I really feel like it's a real hospital. Everything pretty much works almost like the real thing, but it doesn't, right? So like the water fountain looks, smells, feels like a real water fountain and it is until it just doesn't shoot out water, right? Like everything is so amazing.  And I think that's what Nina Ruscio, our set designer wanted to build and working with all the executives was they wanted to build this entire whole hospital to really immerse us in the reality of it. And there, a lot of times there are real needles that we have to close up on, but then when we do something actually, we switch it out for a dull needle. So it is, it's really very, this balance and like a real scalpel that needs to look so sharp, but then as soon as it's, actually near the skin, it is a dull scalpel, and then that's also a prosthetic. So sometimes I can't tell what's real and not real. I just kind of…I just have to jump in and kind of engage with it. And then if it's the real thing, not be freaked out. So yeah, but it's, it's, it's a part of the…It's so, it's so incredibly fun.   I'm so fascinated by this hospital that I basically go to work to like a real nurse at 5:00 in the morning every day for a 12-hour shift. And I put on the scrubs, and then I take off the scrubs. So I kind of feel like so much like a real nurse, but also not.  00:21:42 Isabel Li  How do you think The Pitt has influenced you as an actress? After being on this show, have your goals as an actress changed? What do you see yourself doing in the future?  00:21:52 Amielynn Abellera  Yeah, So, I mean, I am really in a dream right now. It feels…like I probably had this dream of, you know, really being invited on a show from its initial season, initial episode, and being a part of a team from the very beginning, originating a role that is representing so many different cultural dimensions, like across the board. And also the show being so successful and having an impact globally, not only for healthcare workers, but, you know, the diversity that is the reality of the world.  So it's hard to think ahead. I kind of just want this to last as long as possible for Nurse Perlah and for Amielynn. And, you know, I've learned to be in my acting career just putting one foot in front of the other and trusting that where it's going will lead to the next piece in my universe. And I– the moment I try to plan something or want something to happen, it will not happen. I think I just have to trust the journey and how the universe will put what's meant to be in front of me.  00:23:17 Isabel Li  And as an actress, what are you the most passionate about doing in any role that you play?  00:23:23 Amielynn Abellera  Well, I love the human experience. I love what that did to me as a young artist and as a young kid and what that ignited in me watching like an actor go through it and it'd be so real and me be so moved. And I love being that vehicle for other audience members. And as the actor, I can feel if I'm hitting a stride with it. And it's a really exhilarating process. And it just reignites why I love being an actor.  00:24:06 Isabel Li  For all the listeners who have watched The Pitt, or for those of our listeners who have yet to watch The Pitt, and they definitely will after hearing this episode — what do you want the listeners or the audience members to take away from watching The Pitt, from seeing you as Nurse Perlah in it?  00:24:23 Amielynn Abellera  Yeah, well, first off, I hope you go home and turn on your HBO Max and watch The Pitt to all of you who haven't seen it yet. And I hope you enjoy it. And I just hope that you watch it and are entertained, but also you walk away with learning something about humanity and our healthcare workers and also laughing and crying and being fascinated as much as we are behind the scenes. We're really having such an excellent time creating this show. And we're so thrilled that audience members love it as much as we love making it.  So I hope you have that same exhilaration and elation as we all do here.  00:25:10 Isabel Li  I'll put a link to your social media on kpfa.org so our listeners can follow you there. And thank you so much, Amielynn, for joining me on Apex Express today.  00:25:20 Amielynn Abellera  Well, thank you for having me. I'm excited to talk to you and to share my story. And thank you for listening.  00:25:27 Isabel Li  That was actress Amielynn Abellera, who plays Nurse Perlah, one of the Filipina nurses on The Pitt. And we're about to hear from one more actress from the show. But before that, here's a music break with 7000 Miles by Ruby Ibarra.  00:25:59 [MUSIC: 7000 Miles by Ruby Ibarra]  00:30:07 Isabel Li  And that was the song 7,000 Miles by Ruby Avara here on KPFA.  00:30:11 Isabel Li  Thanks for tuning in to Apex Express tonight, where our next guest is the actress Kristin Villanueva, who plays Nurse Princess De La Cruz, another Filipina nurse on the HBO Max medical show, The Pitt. Hi Kristin, welcome to APEX Express.  00:30:29 Kristin Villanueva  Hi Isabel, thanks for having me.  00:30:32 Isabel Li  Absolutely. My first question for you is, how do you identify and what's your story?  00:30:37 Kristin Villanueva  I am Filipino American. I was born and raised in Manila, Philippines, and I moved to the Washington DC area when I was 15.  00:30:47 Isabel Li  How did you get into becoming an actress?  00:30:50 Kristin Villanueva  Kind of by accident. When I moved to the States and I was at my new high school. I joined the drama program just because we didn't have that in my school in the Philippines and that was something I've always been interested in. So yeah, I auditioned and I didn't know that the drama teacher was a very serious one. Like, you either join the drama club or you play softball, you can't have both. So yeah, that's how I got introduced.  00:31:27 Isabel Li  And at a young age, what kinds of films or movies really inspired you to pursue drama?  00:31:33 Kristin Villanueva  I don't think it inspired me to pursue drama, but my choice of movies, my favorite movies when I was younger is, I would say, is a little bit peculiar for an eight-year-old, for a 10-year-old. But I remember watching Kramer vs. Kramer with Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep and it having such an effect in my little eight-year-old self. I was so moved by it. And also Legends of the Fall with Anthony Hopkins, Aidan Quinn and Brad Pitt.  And like, what does a 10-year-old Filipino girl have anything in common with these turn of the century, 19th century, you know, Montana cowboys? You know, it's just so random, but for some reason I just fell in love with it. Maybe I just fell in love with Brad Pitt, but, yeah, those heavy dramas had an impact in me, even though I didn't know exactly what it was.  00:32:35 Isabel Li  So you play Nurse Princess on the HBO Max medical show The Pitt, and which, at the time of this interview, we're, you know, getting towards the finale of season two very, very quickly. I've really been enjoying season two. And first of all, congratulations on winning Outstanding Performance by an ensemble in a drama series. That's so incredible.  00:32:54 Kristin Villanueva  Thank you so much. Yeah, it's been a wild ride.  00:32:57 Isabel Li  Yeah. Can I just say, Princess is such an energetic and confident character, and it's really fun watching you play a healthcare professional in such a hectic setting of an emergency room. What do you do to get in character of Princess?  00:33:11 Kristin Villanueva  Ooh, that's a great question. She has such a vibrant energy when she's at the ED, and I don't need a lot to prep myself to get to that level because I'm just excited to be at the Warner Brothers lot, and being on set and being with very kind people. So it doesn't take a lot to get in that mindset. Maybe if it's a 5.30am call, maybe I need a little bit more coffee to get there. But in terms of my emotion and excitement and energy, I don't need to do that much because, yeah, it kind of, it's parallel in my real life and in Princess's life of just doing what they both want to do. But in terms of, I would say, the difference is, I wish I had Princess's confidence in my life more. You know, she's very confident in everything that she does. You know, she knows she's good, and she isn't shy to show it. Because I think when she shows it, it's not to show. It's just to do, you know? Um, so I wish I have more and more of that in my life.  00:34:35 Isabel Li  For you, what's the most challenging part of playing Princess?  00:34:39 Kristin Villanueva  I would say, well, first, the lines, the medical jargon and the technicality of things. So, thankfully, we have amazing med techs that are always right next to us, correcting us, you know, making us feel more confident, guiding us, answering all our questions. So, yeah, making sure that I look like I know what I'm doing. So that would be, I would say, the hardest part.  00:35:08 Isabel Li  Yeah, and on that note, like in many of her moments, Princess is so often mediating communication for medical information in so many different ways. How do you prepare for a role like that where you have to, I mean, you mentioned some things about needing to like look and act the part and you have some people helping you, but what are some other things that you do to really have you, you know, help practice sounding like a healthcare professional?  00:35:35 Kristin Villanueva  First, I Google everything. And then I make sure I'm able to explain it in my own words, so whatever the procedure is. Don't ask me anything now, because once I'm done filming, it leaves my brain. So yes, I research everything. And then when it comes to memorization, if it's, the nurses have a lot of numbers. We may not have a lot of the long words, Latin words, medicine words that the doctors do, but we have to say a lot of different numbers, you know, BP 160 over 20 and all of that. So what I do is I would record the other people's lines, make leave a space for my lines and just play it all day, every day. When I'm walking the dog, when I'm doing dishes, when I'm folding laundry. So I can get it in my body while I'm doing different things. Because I notice that if I'm just sitting down and memorizing my lines, and then I get to set the next day, and all of a sudden, you know, I'm given all these choreography and I'm moving, or they change the choreography in the middle, that gets really tricky. So doing my lines while moving helps a lot. And then of course, the things that I can Google as much as I can, but then I take advantage of having, like I said, the med techs on set. Then I ask them about their emotional experiences behind procedures. So things I start with, okay, is this procedure an everyday thing? How often do you see it? How often do you deal with it? And then from there, I ask if it's something interesting that it's like they've only heard of but never actually seen in practice. What would you do? They say, if you're not busy, you run to that room and watch it, that kind of thing. And if it's an emotional scene, then I ask them, how do you deal with these things? Then I get to hear their experiences and how they cope with it after the shift.  00:37:53 Isabel Li  Did you know anything about medicine or the emergency room before this role?  00:37:59 Kristin Villanueva  No, I think I'm one of those very rare Filipinos that don't really have a lot of healthcare professionals in their families. I do have a cousin who's a radiologist and my husband's side of family. There are a lot of nurses and that's my mother-in-law included, but no, I have zero.  00:38:20 Isabel Li  Oh, wow. So I watched some of your other interviews and I found it really interesting that you had talked about like telling your agent not to submit you to roles on nurses, on projects, unless it was specifically featured.  Can you tell us more about that and how you navigate like the Filipino representation in medical shows, especially in The Pitt as an actress yourself?  00:38:41 Kristin Villanueva  Sure. I was getting a lot of, I wouldn't say a lot, but I would often get auditions for nurses in medical shows or non-medical shows. And I've played them before and I've been very grateful for those experiences. One of them was a movie opposite Susan Sarandon.  So Susan Sarandon was also playing a nurse. So all of my scenes was with her. So those are very cool experiences. But because I've played them a number of times, then I told my agents at one point, hey, unless, like you said, the nurse part is more featured or has more lines other than yes, doctor, then sure, I would audition because I've done it.  And I also didn't want to perpetuate that sad practice of, you know, okay, let's have one Filipino or one Asian nurse and check that box off.  Because it does feel that way. And it's just not the real world. So when The Pitt came and I saw the breakdown, it's a heftier breakdown for the part of Nurse Princess. I mean, and just looking at her name, Princess de la Cruz, I was like, somebody did the research. I'm like, all right, okay, I'll put myself on tape for this.  00:39:59 Isabel Li  Yeah, and I love how Princess as a character is written to be such a crucial part of the team. Very competent, very quick on her feet. Are there any ways where you, yourself, got to influence how Princess was portrayed, maybe beyond the scripts or, you know, in any ways that you could add to that character?  00:40:19 Kristin Villanueva  I think so? I'm not sure, but I have noticed that in season two, on the scripts, Princess's, looks, eye rolls, stares were now written. Whereas before, I was just doing it. So yes, I think so. Because I didn't have a lot of lines. I still don't have a lot of lines, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have an opinion. And yeah, I was just being truthful in all those moments. So if I feel like something's off or, you know, I don't think Princess has a good poker face. So that made its way into the script recently.  00:41:05 Isabel Li  Oh, I see. Well, the show primarily takes place in a hospital setting. But for you, when you're playing Princess, do you imagine what she does, like, outside of the hospital? Like, who is she outside of work?  00:41:16 Kristin Villanueva  I think when there is an after party or somebody's birthday, someone's baptism, or, I think she's the same. I think she's a work hard, party harder kind of girl. But I can also see her turning everything off and having a lot of deep, quiet solo time that she doesn't talk about much often.  00:41:44 Isabel Li  Yeah, something so cool about Princess is the fact that she can apparently speak six languages. But I wanted to talk about the fact that you, as Princess, code-switched to Tagalog in many scenes, especially with Amielynn Abellera, who plays Nurse Perlah. For you, can you tell our listeners how it feels for you switching from English to Tagalog?  00:42:05 Kristin Villanueva  Well, first off, the first word that comes to mind is it's fun. You know, you get to use that skill or use that — used to be a very familiar part of myself again. But I also feel extremely vulnerable because I don't get to do that often. I don't think I've, maybe I've acted once in Tagalog, but I can't remember any other significant roles where I was able to do that. So to do that on The Pitt is, yeah, it's pretty vulnerable just in terms of sharing that part of myself that I haven't shared really acting-wise.  But it's also fun. Because it comes naturally. And I get to there's so many nuances that I would think only Filipinos would get, but it's also so gratifying to hear from from other folks who are not Filipinos that get it. You know, even though they don't understand, um, the Filipino jokes, but they have their own — they have their own version in their own culture. So it's — it's really fun to hear that.  00:43:18 Isabel Li  Just out of curiosity for you, how do you relate to Tagalog as a language? Do you speak it often?  00:43:24 Kristin Villanueva  I don't speak it often, unfortunately. I do still speak it with my family, and we Zoom once, twice a week. But other than that, no, I don't speak it often.  And it's kind of sad, because I feel like some words are leaving my memory. But yeah.  00:43:45 Isabel Li  Yeah, wow. So when they're written in the script, do you translate, or are they already words in Tagalog that you already know?  00:43:54 Kristin Villanueva  When they're written in the script, they're written in English. And season one, I used to translate it for myself. And then season two, we have a coach who gave us a lot more options. But what's wonderful about working with the writers is they're not precious with their own phrases.  They defer to us to translate it as close to the gist of, let's say it's a joke, but if I were to translate it in Tagalog, word per word, it's not going to land the same way as it would in American, in English. Do you know what I mean? So they much rather have us say it in whatever's parallel in Tagalog. So yeah. And I applaud the writers for doing that, 'cause that's one of my pet peeves sometimes when I'm, you know, watching other shows, translation of, it's not quite that, you know, or it's too literal. If it's too literal, then it's, that's not how we talk.  00:44:59 Isabel Li  Right. And putting that in the context of Princess as a character, who is a polyglot, there are some moments where she speaks French and does sign language.  00:45:08 Isabel Li  How did you navigate these multilingual exchanges communicating in different languages, essentially. Oh, I look forward to it. I look forward to them so badly. It's one of the things I got really excited about auditioning for the part, 'cause it was written in her breakdown that she speaks six languages. Um, I personally don't, but I am so enamored by polyglots. Like if I were to meet someone who can speak three languages plus, I'm just, I follow them like a puppy. I don't know, I just find it so sexy and intriguing. And it's like something that I aspire to be, but just haven't had the time to do it. So yes, I look forward to them.  00:45:52 Isabel Li  Yeah, and how do you practice? Like, did you have to practice some French and some ASL?  00:45:57 Kristin Villanueva  Oh, um, for the French, since there's only one line, we didn't hire a coach, but we did hire, um, coaches for ASL. Oh, yeah, I just practiced the hell out of them. Um, but there's also that nuance of, um, how fluent or how good is your pronunciation for someone who doesn't speak it all the time, you know? You got to, like, factor that in as well. But, yes, I just practice it all the time.  00:46:24 Isabel Li  Gotcha. And speaking of that, I love how Princess and Perlah add some lighthearted humor and back and forths and gossip throughout the series. How do you switch from humorous moments to more serious ones?  00:46:36 Kristin Villanueva  I mean, you don't really think about it in life, right? Like one minute you're crying and then something happens and then you find it hilarious. You just go with the flow on set. You don't really ever plan, okay, this beat is a funny beat, and this one is a dramatic beat. You don't. As long as you keep it honest, those colors would come out naturally.  00:47:02 Isabel Li  The Pitt is very current. Like there are so many current events and everyday sort of issues mirrored in the series. What is your experience working with a set and a story that feels like it is very much set in the everyday?  00:47:21 Kristin Villanueva  It hasn't been an issue. It's never– if anything, sometimes it's tougher because you can't escape the real world, right? It's not like when I get to do a Shakespeare comedy, there's a reprieve from, you know, the sad current events that are happening. So yeah, that's– I would say that's the only downside, but there's a lot more upside to that, which is you get to present and work through real life situations. You know, that I'm happy that a TV show like The Pitt, you know, something that's made for entertainment can actually dive into these really serious topics. And what I love about The Pitt is that I don't think it's preachy. I don't think it tackles headlines of the day in a way that it makes you want to turn the TV off. If anything, it shows how, it shows the repercussions on the everyday people. And hopefully audiences that don't have anything to do, like I'll give you an example, like for nurses strikes, right? If you see that on the headline and you don't work, you're not a healthcare worker, you'll probably just, you know, skip that video or not read that article because you think it doesn't affect you.  But hopefully by watching The Pitt, you'll see, oh no, it will affect me if God forbid I have to go to the hospital, if my loved one has to go to the hospital and you don't get seen for 10 hours, or there were mistakes in, the medicine, or it's just not top care that you think you deserve. It's not because the nurses or the doctors or the staff are bad. They're understaffed, period. Right? They haven't had a day off in 12 days. So no, it's a privilege to be able to do a show, have a job that actually reflects what's happening in real life.  00:49:40 Isabel Li  Yeah, thank you for sharing about that. And finally, I want to touch upon your work in general. As an actress, would you say there's something that you're most passionate about doing?  00:49:50 Kristin Villanueva  Ooh. Are we talking about material or medium? Because I would say everything. I do miss doing plays. I haven't done a play since, my gosh, I think pre-COVID. So it's been a while. So I really love doing plays. I have more experience in theater than TV and film combined. A really good material is so inspiring to do, whether it be a classic like Chekhov or any new contemporary plays. You know, there's so many playwrights, those plays I want to do so badly. There's something electric about working on a brand new play when the playwright is in the room. But also, it's also really amazing to work on juicy Shakespearean tragedies. You know, when I get to play Shakespeare ingenues, in those three hours, you've lived a lifetime. You know, usually in a Shakespearean comedy, you meet the ingenue before they fall in love. And then they fall in love, and then they get their hearts broken. And then by the end, they're kind of this new person who's a little bit more learned, but not the same 16-year-old that you met three hours ago. So getting to do those parts are a complete joy.  00:51:29 Isabel Li  I'm wondering, do you have a dream role that you'd like to play in the future? Like either in theater or in film? Who would it be and who would you like to work with?  00:51:37 Kristin Villanueva  I love this question. My imagination just starts going everywhere. Yes. My dream role for the theater would be Martha from Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? I got to do that play a few years ago, but as Honey, as one of the other characters. But I would love to play Martha someday. Another theater role would be Arkadina from The Seagull or Nina, but I think I've aged out of Nina. And in terms for like TV, gosh, I'm obsessed with Narcos, obsessed. And I've always, I've written a part from, if Narcos was ever to do a season about the Philippines, I have a role that I wrote for myself. Cause I don't, you know, you look at my face, like, my face is too round and I'm too short and I smile too much for a show like Narcos or The Wire, which are, like, one of my top, top favorite TV shows.  And I don't have a part for them 'cause I don't look the part, but I found a way to write myself in Narcos season, I don't know, season five Philippines.  00:53:09 Isabel Li  One last question for you. These are such incredible answers. Thank you so much for sharing. One last question for you. Out of your entire acting career right now, what has been the most rewarding moment for you?  00:53:22 Kristin Villanueva  I mean, besides The Pitt, mainly because of the reach and mainly because a lot of Filipino nurses have become so happy just to be seen and represented. And that means so, so much, another role that I am most proud of is this play — I wouldn't even say play — it's more of a performance art piece called The Courtroom. The theater company called Waterwell produced it in New York. And The Courtroom is about a Filipino immigrant to the US who accidentally voted when she was still only on a green card. So she wasn't supposed to vote, but she did not do it maliciously. So the play is about her filing appeal after appeal to stay in the U.S. and not be deported. So I was pretty proud of that. We used, the lines were straight out of the court transcripts. And yeah, I wish we could do it again, especially with, you know, the current climate.  00:54:38 Isabel Li  Yeah, definitely. Well, thank you so much, Kristin, for sharing her story and all of your various experiences. Do you have anything else you'd like to share with our listeners?  00:54:47 Kristin Villanueva  Oh, just thank you so much for watching The Pitt and, you know, for all the nice words about the show. And I hope you keep watching.  00:55:00 Isabel Li  And that was Kristin Villanueva, who plays Nurse Princess De La Cruz on The Pitt, which just released its season 2 finale last week at this time.  Please check out our website, kpfa.org/program/apexexpress to find out more about our show and our two guests tonight, Kristin and Amielynn. We thank all of you listeners out there. Keep resisting, keep organizing, keep creating, and sharing your visions with the world. Your voices are important.  00:55:31 Isabel Li  Apex Express is produced by Ayame Keane-Lee, Anuj Vaidya, Cheryl Truong, Jalena Keane-Lee, Miko Lee, Miata Tan, Preeti Mangala-Shekar and Swati Rayasam. Tonight's show is produced and edited by me, Isabel Li. Have a great evening and thanks so much for listening.  The post APEX Express – 4.23.26 – Nurses of The Pitt appeared first on KPFA.

Send us Fan MailErick and Mitch recall 4/20's past and realize growing your own makes everyday a special day to celebrate this wonderful bountiful plant that is cannabis.Support the showFor secret grow story updates and plant footage follow the Canna Kuyas on Instagram @cannakuyas

Send us Fan MailThe Kuyas discuss the latest rumor from the Marijuana Herald that claims Trump will deschedule cannabis this summer.Support the showFor secret grow story updates and plant footage follow the Canna Kuyas on Instagram @cannakuyas

Send us Fan MailThe Buddha Lounge is BACK after the madness of March, Erick and Mitch are back sampling four different cultivars from the Buddha Lounge harvests.  The kuyas also discuss some of the changing laws for cannabis cultivation in America.Support the showFor secret grow story updates and plant footage follow the Canna Kuyas on Instagram @cannakuyas

Such a deeply insightful conversation with Leslie Slemmons, LISW-CP, CYT 200, Level 2 IFS trained and PRT trained licensed clinical social worker and experienced yoga and somatic teacher. Please join us as we discuss: the whole body as one system – mind and body is one reclaiming lost parts of ourselves all behavior as communication parts work – the body helps us along our own journey what she means by window of tolerance how consciously dissociating can be helpful how Somatics is about re-connection 3 modalities: Internal Family Systems and Pain Reprocessing Therapy and Somatics Neuroplastic pain Internal psyche as multidimensionality healing isn’t always about feeling good and so much more! Welcome to The Healing Place Podcast! I am your host, Teri Wellbrock. You can listen in on Pandora, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Deezer, Amazon Music, and more, or directly on my website at www.teriwellbrock.com/podcasts/. You can also catch our insightful interview on YouTube. Bio: Leslie Slemmons Leslie Slemmons, LISW-CP, CYT 200, Level 2 IFS trained and PRT trained is a licensed clinical social worker and experienced yoga and somatic teacher with two decades of work in mental health care. She specializes in anxiety, trauma, and mind-body healing, integrating therapeutic modalities with movement and nervous system education to support whole-person wellness. She is also a mother of 4, proud Filipino American, and a lover of books, good conversations, and laughs. Website: www.peacebypiecetherapy.care, instagram and facebook @peacebypiecetherapy Upcoming workshops: Jiva center 7 part series of chakras and somatic therapy starting January 10 and runs every other Saturday. Weekly hip hop and yoga fusion class Mondays at 6pm, candlelight somatic yoga Mondays at 7pm both at MindState Movement in Bluffton, SC. Teri’s #1 best-selling books and #1 new-release book can be found here. Teri’s inspirational audiobook productions can be found here. Teri’s monthly newsletter can be found here. Teri’s book launch team can be found here. AMAZON AFFILIATE Teri Wellbrock and Unicorn Shadows are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. In other words, I make commission off of purchases made using any affiliate links on my site.

How can teacher educators build spaces “outside the system” for critical, community-engaged, and personal work? As members of our Writing & Literacies and broader AERA communities travel to LA for this year's AERA annual conference, we invite you to download this Soundcloud exclusive episode for your travel day. Joining us on this episode of Inquiring Minds are two scholars and teacher educators who live and work in the greater Los Angeles area. From California State Dominguez Hills, professors Stephanie Cariaga and Edward Curammeng discuss teacher education at the intersections of critical literacies, ethnic studies, and trauma-informed perspectives on healing. Stephanie Cariaga has served the wider Los Angeles community for about two decades as an English teacher, founding member of the People's Education Movement, and is now an associate professor in teacher education at California State University Dominguez Hills. She is the founder of CrEW — Critical Embodied Wellness for Educators — a space of refuge, restoration, and resistance that supports radical educators to teach and lead from the wisdom of their whole selves. Her teaching and research seek to reintegrate the mind, body, and spirit into classrooms and beyond to cultivate spaces of truth-feeling and healing with marginalized students and educators. She is inspired by many teachers, including Black and Brown feminist world-makers, her ancestors, CrEW co-conspirators, and most of all: her children Laila and Lino. Edward R. Curammeng (Ph.D., Education, UCLA) is an Associate Professor in the College of Education and Graduate Program Director for the MA in Education at California State University, Dominguez Hills. His teaching and research interests include Ethnic Studies Education and critical race theory in education to examine the experiences of students and teachers of color. His scholarship has been published in Review of Educational Research, Teacher Education Quarterly and Journal of Asian American Studies. Upon transferring from Ohlone College, he earned his BA and MA in Asian American Studies from San Francisco State University where he taught middle and high school Filipino American and Ethnic Studies with Pin@y Educational Partnerships. Curammeng is the Project Director and Principal Investigator for the U.S. Department of Education funded Multilingual/Minoritized Educators Networked-Learning and Development (MEND) project.

Carl Angelo was never supposed to be a rapper.He grew up in a Filipino immigrant family that came to America chasing stability, sacrifice, and the promise of a better life. Like many first-generation kids, the expectation was clear: follow the safe path, build a career, make the family proud.But he felt something pulling him in a completely different direction.In this episode of The Rollercoaster Podcast, I sit down with Carl Angelo as he shares the deeply personal journey behind his music, his viral rap video, and the painful choices that come with chasing a dream no one else around you fully understands.He opens up about family pressure, identity as a Filipino-American, the struggle between security and passion, and the moment he realized nobody was coming to save him.This conversation explores courage, sacrifice, and what it really means to choose your own path.If you've ever felt torn between honoring your family and honoring yourself, this episode will hit close to home.Watch, share, and let me know what resonated with you.Key Moments:00:00 The Viral Rap Video That Changed Carl Angelo's Life03:12 Telling My Immigrant Parents I Wanted to Be a Rapper06:18 The Hidden Pressure of Filipino Family Expectations12:05 The Truth About the American Dream for Immigrants15:08 Are Poorer Countries Actually Happier?18:12 How Karaoke Parties Shaped Carl's Love for Music21:02 The Moment I Realised I Had a Rap Talent27:06 Why I Haven't Gone All-In on Music Yet33:05 What Happens When You Finally Commit to Your Dream36:08 Why Social Media Can Change Everything for Artists42:05 I Became the Person I Needed Growing Up48:00 The Painful Choice Between Family and My Dream51:22 Missing My Grandmother's Final Moments54:15 When Choosing Yourself Feels Like Betrayal01:00:48 The Message I Want Filipino Kids to HearGuest Info:Instagram: @‌carlangelomusic (https://www.instagram.com/carlangelomusic/)YouTube: ‪@carlangelomusic (https://www.youtube.com/@carlangelomusic)

CLINT RAMOS is an award-winning creative director, designer, and producer. Most recently, he produced Theater Group Asia's sold-out production of Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods, starring Lea Salonga, Arielle Jacobs and featuring a cast of Filipinos and Filipino-Americans. He currently serves as the Visual Director for Lincoln Center's Summer for the City, where he reimagines the entire Lincoln Center campus each summer into a vibrant stage for more than 300 events that serve New York City's diverse communities. He also serves as Artist-in-Residence at Lincoln Center. Ramos was a lead producer of the groundbreaking Broadway musical Here Lies Love, and is currently the Producing Creative Director for Encores! at New York City Center. There, he has spearheaded acclaimed projects including Billy Porter's reimagining of The Life, The Light in the Piazza featuring Ruthie Ann Miles, and Jelly's Last Jam. As a designer, Ramos has created over 200 productions across theater, opera, and dance. His Broadway credits include Maybe Happy Ending, Eureka Day, Here Lies Love, KPOP, Slave Play, The Rose Tattoo, Eclipsed, Once On This Island, Sunday in the Park with George, and Torch Song. His film work includes production design for Isabel Sandoval's Lingua Franca (Netflix) and costume design for RESPECT, the Aretha Franklin biopic starring Jennifer Hudson (MGM). Ramos made history by becoming the first person of color to win the TONY® Award for Best Costume Design of a Play, for Eclipsed. He has received additional TONY® nominations—six for costume design (Maybe Happy Ending, The Rose Tattoo, Once On This Island, Torch Song, KPOP) and one for scenic design (Slave Play). His numerous honors include two OBIE Awards (including one for Sustained Excellence in Design), three Lucille Lortel Awards, a Drama Desk Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award, two American Theatre Wing Henry Hewes Design Awards, the TDF Irene Sharaff Young Master Award, the Helen Hayes Award, the Craig Noel Award, and two Ani ng Dangal Presidential Medals for Dramatic Arts from the President of the Philippines. Ramos is a member of the Advisory Board of the American Theatre Wing and co-founder of Design Action and Springboard to Design, initiatives focused on equity, inclusion and education. A passionate advocate, his life's work centers on creating equitable opportunities in theater and film for People of Color and immigrants. Born and raised in Cebu, Philippines, Clint now resides in New York City with his husband and daughter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dr. Tina Tran brings more than 20 years of experience in veterinary practice, education and leadership. Her career includes work in small animal private practice, shelter medicine and academic leadership roles at Portland Community College, Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine and the University of Arizona College of Veterinary Medicine, where she served as founding faculty and clinical relations lead veterinarian. Most recently, Tina is founding dean of the proposed veterinary school at Hanover College in Indiana. Tina is widely recognized for her contributions to veterinary education and her commitment to creating learning environments where all students feel supported and empowered to succeed. Outside of work, Tina likes cooking, traveling, and taking care of her many houseplants. In episode 647 of the Fraternity Foodie Podcast, we find out why she chose UC Davis for her undergraduate experience, what made her want to join Kappa Alpha Theta, how the sorority helped to prepare her for the realities of veterinary school and leadership roles, why you don't have to "choose" between Greek life and a demanding career like medicine, the pressure she felt growing up as a first-generation Filipino-American student, what role mentors played in her journey, how student organizations—especially fraternities and sororities—can be better allies for diversity and inclusion, how she protects her mental health, what animals taught her about leadership and empathy, how working in animal welfare shaped her worldview, and what should students be doing now if they want careers in medicine. Enjoy!

Ipinanganak ng mga magulang mula Pampanga, hindi lang basta alam ng Filipino-American chef na si Abi Balingit kung ano ang nagpapasarap sa pagkain, kundi kung papaano gawin itong malikhain.

Have you ever dreamed about a TV show with an all-Filipino American cast? What kind of show it would be? Who would star in it? In this TFAL episode, Elaine, Joe, and Producer Mike dream up their ideal TV show by playing The Fil Am Celebrity Draft! Adapted from a game that Joe used to...

On this episode of the podcast, we have Kristine Citarella. Kristine Citarella is the CEO and Founder of Spark OBM Agency, where she helps online coaches and entrepreneurs streamline their systems, scale with ease, and step fully into their CEO role without the tech headaches. With a background in corporate product management and over a decade of experience in marketing, operations, and project management, Kristine brings both big-picture strategy and roll-up-your-sleeves execution to the businesses she supports.As a mom of two boys and a first-generation Filipino-American, Kristine knows firsthand the juggle of building a business while raising a family. She has built her agency around that same balance of structure and freedom. Her team of skilled professionals spans tech, social media, and design, allowing Spark OBM to provide comprehensive support for coaches who are ready to grow sustainably.Through her done-for-you operations support, scalable launch systems, and VA placement services, Kristine has become the behind-the-scenes partner that personal development and relationship coaches rely on to launch group programs, simplify their backend, and actually enjoy their business again. When she's not managing systems or mapping out scalable offers, you can find her chasing her toddlers in New Jersey, sneaking in a coffee run, or dreaming up her next business venture. You can connect with her on instagram at @spark_obm.

Send a textToday we're bringing you three Sundance Film Festival short film narratives that explore the darker side of life.Crisis Actor follows an impulsive actress as she reaches a breaking point in her addiction to drama. We sit down with director/writer Lily Platt and actor Sarah Steele to talk victimhood, privilege, and why everyone could use a little therapy. Congrats to Crisis Actor for winning the Short Film Jury Award for US Fiction!Taga follows a Filipino American as she travels to the Philippines to reconnect to her roots, but encounters a group of eco-volunteers who disturb the village and awaken ancient monsters. Director/writer Jill Marie Sachs and producer Louise Barretto join us to discuss the wealth of monsters and folklore in Filipino culture, why they prepared an offering for the land before filming in a remote village of the Philippines, and how "woke backpackers" can sometimes turn toxic.In Prime, a trauma victim joins a utopian farm and realizes she's bitten off more than she can chew. Director/writer Meagan Coyle joins us to discuss why people are drawn to cults, the art of pacing in a short film, and how she went from make-up artist to director.Follow director Lily Platt on IGFollow actor Sarah Steele on IGFollow Taga on IGFollow director Jill Marie Sachs on IGFollow producer Louise Barretto on IGFollow director Meagan Coyle on IGSupport the showThanks for listening and for your support! We couldn't have won Best of the Bay Best Podcast in 2022 , 2023 , and 2024 without you! -- Fight fascism. Shop small. Use cash. Fuck ice. -- Support Bitch Talk here! Subscribe to our channel on YouTube for behind the scenes footage! Rate and review us wherever you listen to podcasts! Visit our website! www.bitchtalkpodcast.com Follow us on Instagram, Threads, and Substack Listen every Monday at 7 am on BFF.FM

This week on Sweet or Savory, we're joined by the incredible Josh Dela Cruz—actor, singer, Broadway performer, and the beloved host of Blue's Clues & You. One of our most wholesome episodes yet!Josh opens up about his journey from growing up Filipino American on the East Coast to starring on Broadway (Aladdin, Here Lies Love), and ultimately becoming the first Filipino American host of one of the most iconic children's shows of all time. We talk about representation, family sacrifice, theater life, and what it means to unexpectedly become a role model for kids (and parents

In this episode, we sit down with Walker Antonio, a Virginia-based Filipino-American painter whose work blurs the boundaries between the real and surreal, the physical and psychological. Working primarily on a large scale, Walker's process moves from energetic chaos to deliberate refinement—a philosophy that extends to his remarkable career trajectory. Just 18 months after graduating from Wofford College with his BA in Studio Art and Art History, Walker has built an impressive professional practice. He shares his unconventional journey from receiving the 2023 Whetsell Family Fellowship to spending 10 months at a ski resort in Germany, and how he quickly gained representation with three galleries upon returning stateside. We dive into Walker's evolving artistic practice—from large-scale figurative works exploring themes of environment and identity to experimental 6x6-inch pieces that challenge his understanding of composition. He opens up about the pivot points in his career, including creating 34 pieces in 10 days during the Foundation House Artist Residency and showing alongside Picasso and Basquiat at the Palm Beach Modern Contemporary Art Fair. As the first visual artist selected for the Kenan-Lewis Fellowship at Woodberry Forest School, Walker offers candid insights on balancing teaching, pursuing his MA in Fine Arts from Falmouth University, and managing the business side of art. He emphasizes the power of authentic networking over social media growth, the many hats artists must wear (accountant, marketer, graphic designer), and why he's chosen to avoid commissions to protect his creative vision. With solo exhibitions at Stevenson & Co. (Charleston, SC) and the Rhodes Art Center (Gill, MA) in 2025, plus upcoming shows at Sheridan Studios (Macon, GA) in February 2026 and the Baker Gallery (Woodberry Forest, VA) in November 2026, Walker's career is rapidly expanding. His work has been published in American Art Collector and Suboart Magazine, with forthcoming publication in the Penn Journal of Arts and Sciences. Whether you're an emerging artist or simply curious about the art world, Walker's perspective on treating Instagram as a living portfolio, his strategic approach to artist residencies (including his upcoming 2026 Elf School of the Arts Residency), and his commitment to "just keep going" will inspire you to pursue your creative path with intention and authenticity. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Think about the histories of your family or memories from your past. What if you recounted them with a dash of magic? What happens when we infuse our stories on film with some magical realism? Tonight's edition of APEX Express features three filmmakers who created magical realism short films centering AAPI women. Listen to directors Cami Kwan, Dorothy Xiao, and Rachel Leyco discuss their films and experiences behind the scenes with host Isabel Li. Cami Kwan: Website | Instagram | Seed & Spark Dorothy Xiao: Website | Instagram  Rachel Leyco: Website | Instagram   Transcript 00:01 [INTRO] Isabel: You're tuned into Apex Express on KPFA. Tonight's edition is all about stories. Think about the histories of your family or memories from your past. Now, what if you recounted them with a dash of magic? What happens when we infuse our stories on film with some magical realism? I'm your host, Isabel Li, and today we have three very special guests, Cami Kwan, Dorothy Chow, and Rachel Leyco. All of them are AAPI filmmakers who received the Julia S. Gouw Short Film Challenge grant from the Coalition of Asian Pacifics and Entertainment and have created short films featuring AAPI stories with magical realism. My first guest of the night is Cami Kwan, a Chinese-American director specializing in stop-motion animation who directed the short film Paper Daughter.  Hi Cami, welcome to APEX Express!  Cami: Hello, thank you so much for having me. Isabel: How do you identify and what communities do you consider yourself a part of?  Cami: So I identify as a queer Asian American woman um and I am a descendant of immigrants, of Chinese immigrants. um Then the communities that I am part of, part of the queer community, part of the Los Angeles community, part of the Chinese American and Asian American community, part of the mixed race community and part of the stop-motion animation and independent artist community.  Isabel: I'm so excited to talk to you about your upcoming short film, Paper Daughter, a gothic stop-motion animated Chinese-American fairy tale about a young woman grappling with the guilt of using the identity of a deceased girl to immigrate to the US via Angel Island in 1926, which is such a fascinating concept. Can you tell our listeners a little bit about how you came up with this story and the historical specificity behind it?  Cami: Absolutely, yeah. So like I mentioned, I'm the child of immigrants, descendants of immigrants rather. So my great grandparents immigrated to the US from China. My great grandfather came over in 1916 and my great grandma came over in 1926. And so I've always grown up knowing the story of Angel Island and knowing the story about the paper sons and paper daughters who had to find any way into the United States that they could. And so they were forced to, you know, take on the identities of other people. And those stories have always stuck with me, you know, like it's very personal. Angel Island means a lot to me and my family. And just the extreme measures that people have always had to take just for the chance at a better life have always been really meaningful to learn about. just the like, I'll use romances in like the art movement, like romantic. It's very romantic and kind of fairy tale-ish, the idea of having to take on a new identity and pretend to be somebody that you're not. And often those identities would be people who had passed away, and then those families had then sold those identities or given those identities to new people. And so it's so interesting the idea of being like the last person to know somebody so deeply, but you'll never get to meet them and you'll never be able to thank them or repay what they sacrificed for your future. And that's kind of how I feel as a descendant of immigrants. The sacrifice that my family made for me was made so long ago that there's no way for me to ever pay it back. And I didn't really get a say in whether I received that sacrifice or not. And I think a lot of descendants of immigrants kind of have to struggle with this. What does it mean for us to be given this new chance at the cost of somebody who came before us? And so that's all of that kind of rolled up into this 14-minute film. Isabel: You describe your film as being in a gothic style? Can you describe what this looks like and why gothic?  Cami: The subject matter is just so naturally gothic. It's dealing a lot with death and a lot with guilt and those big capital R romantic subjects and stuff. My day job, my day-to-day job is working in stop-motion animation directing mostly like children's series and mostly toy related stuff. And so I spent so much of my time in the happy brighter like birthday party storyline kind of like space. But what really made me want to be a filmmaker in the first place were all these like heavier themes, these bigger themes, films by Guillermo del Toro and like Tim Burton and Henry Selig and Hayao Miyazaki and all of those kind of have this like gothic edge to them. And so that's like a story that I've been a type of story I've been wanting to tell for about a decade now.  Isabel: Stylistically, how does this show up in your film? So I imagine darker colors or do you have a visual like preview for us?  Cami: it is a little bit in the darker color space, but it's still very colorful despite all that. It's moody more so than dark, I would say. um We have a lot of like light and dark themes, a lot of like shadow. stuff and um a lot of magical realism, which is where that fairy tale aspect kind of comes in, because you're dealing with things that are so abstract, like guilt and sacrifice and wearing the identity of somebody else, that there's no literal way to convey that. Well, there are literal ways to convey that, but none of those literal ways I feel fully convey the emotional weight of everything. And so we've gone in this very magical realism space where people are tearing information out of these booklets that contain information about the person they're supposed to be and creating these paper masks out of them. And so yeah, there's this whole like magical aspect that tends to be kind of darker. There's imagery of just like being consumed by the identity that you're just supposed to temporarily wear. And there's a lot of like, yeah, there's a lot of darkness in those themes, I think.  Isabel: Wow, that's so interesting. I'd love to learn more about stop motion. What does stop motion make possible that isn't as easily accomplished through other forms of filmmaking? Cami: Yeah, I think the reason why I'm drawn to stop motion, what I stop motion makes possible is like a universality of just like a human experience because with other kinds of animation and other kinds of filmmaking, like there is kind of like an opacity to like how it's made. There's this this veneer, this magic to it, and there's that magic to stop motion too. But the difference between all of those and stop motion is made out of like everyday materials. It's made out of fabric. using paper. We're using clay. We're using materials that people have encountered in their day-to-day lives. And like, that's the one thing that we are all guaranteed to have in common is that we live in a material world and we encounter these textures and materials around us. so by like taking such a specific story and trying to convey such universal themes, it really like behooves us to be using like um a medium that is as universal as stop motion is. So I think that's like the big thing that stop motion unlocks for us. Plus also story-wise, like it's very paper centered, paper daughter, they're tearing paper strips, they're making paper masks. So like physically using these paper textures adds a lot to our world. um And I think working in stop motion gives you a degree of control that live action doesn't give you because we're creating. all of our characters, all of our sets by hand, which gives us so much of a say over what they look like and what they convey based on how they're constructed and stuff. And that's just a degree of communication that nothing else brings.  Isabel: I love that this is a magical realism film and you mentioned Guillermo del Toro. I know that in your campaign trailer, you featured Pan's Labyrinth, which is my all-time favorite movie.  Cami: Me too! Isabel: Yeah! How exactly did you come up with this specific blend of history and fantasy for your film?  Cami: I think that it's almost a natural human instinct to kind of have history and fantasy. Like, that's all that histories are, just stories told to us. And it's just being less literal about it and really leaning into the metaphors that we might use to convey the emotional realities of those histories, right? And so I feel like Del Toro does that a lot with his work. And Miyazaki as well does a lot of that with his work. So much of it deals with unpacking like World War II and things like that. And that's something that I've always just personally been drawn to. Even as a kid, my dream jobs were archaeologist or animator. And so here I kind of get to like do a little bit of both of those, know, like using the magic of animation to make history feel a lot more present and tangible and like emotionally relevant, which is It's really quite poetic to be able to be telling this story right now because it's going to mark the 100 year anniversary of my great grandmother's immigration to the US. I think we are due for an examination of immigration in our country. And I'm very interested to see how people respond to the questions that this raises of how different is the immigrant experience 100 years later. Have we gotten better? Have we gotten worse? Like I would posit it's perhaps worse now than it was then, but I'm really hoping to like, yeah, bring that reality into a more approachable space. And I feel like having that blend of magic and history just makes it a little bit more approachable than telling it in a literal way, you know? Isabel: Those are some great questions to ask. And on that same note, I'm interested in the specificity of Angel Island as well. What types of research did you do to produce your film?  Cami: Oh, gosh, I read every book I could find about it. have… How many books were those? Oh, my gosh, I want to say, like, not as many as I want there to be, you know? Like, Angel Island is not as well covered in history as places like Ellis Island, and there's a lot. to unpack as to why that may be, especially like the racial aspect of it. But I probably read about a dozen different books to prepare for this film. One of the most concrete and useful books that I read is a book called Island, and it's a collection of the poems that are carved into the walls of the men's barracks that remain on Angel Island. And those poems are a huge part, perhaps, the reason why Angel Island has even been preserved as a historical landmark. And so um the three authors went to great pains to replicate these poems, translate them into English, and provide a lot of historical context for the different topics of the poems. And there's a lot of like first-hand testimony from people who immigrated through Angel Island that they interviewed and included in this book. And so I do think that that book, Island, is like the primary source of most of my research for it. Everything else is more like quantitative history and quantitative data. Oh, also The Chinese in America by, I believe it's Iris Chang, that it's not just about Angel Island, but I read that and that gave me a much better understanding about like the place that Chinese immigrants have in American history. Because when I was a kid, like I really only ever learned about great grandma came over through Angel Island and now we're American and we live in America. But our history, as far as I was ever taught, begins and ends with us entering the United States. And so reading um the Chinese in America gave me a much broader understanding about, like, why did we leave China in the first place? And like, what has it meant for us to be in America as Chinese people since then? Yeah, all that came out of like in 2020 and 2021 when the rise of anti-Asian hate crimes were kind of coming about. I personally had to have a huge reckoning with like my racial identity and like how that has impacted like my experience growing up as a mixed-race person who's pretty perceivably Asian and all that stuff. So it was a really whole circle broad situation. Oh, I want to do a quick shout out to the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation. They were very generous with their time and they answered a lot of my questions and sent me a lot of archival images from Angel Island. So I want to thank them so much for their help in the research process of this.  Isabel: Oh, wow. How fascinating. Did you have any expectations on how the production process was going to go? And now that you're on the other side of it, what are your reflections?  Cami: I had no expectations as to whether we were going to get outside funding or not. Like I, I'm not an experienced or adept grant applicant. Like, it was really just because this was the right kind of project to fit with those kinds of grants. So I had no expectations there. So I am beyond thrilled to have received the support from Cape and Janet Yang and Julia S. Gouw and Shorescripts that we've received, like beyond thrilled for that. So that exceeded all of my expectations. um But as far as how the actual production has gone, the fabrication and the animation and the post-production, that's all stuff that I'm extremely familiar with. Again, that is my day-to-day life, that is my job, that is like what I have done for the last eight years at my studio, Apartment D.  So that all went pretty much as I hoped and expected that it would, but here on the other side, the one thing that has surprised me about it was how much love all of the artists put in this project because like we've said so much in this conversation, there's so much specificity to this. This is about my great grandma. This is about my family and my feelings about being a descendant of immigrants. It's so specific that I wasn't sure how emotionally it would resonate with anybody else that wasn't me or wasn't part of the AAPI community, you know?  But every single person — doesn't really even matter if they were Asian, doesn't really even matter if they have a specific connection to immigration — every artist that I asked to join me on this project, I immediately understood what it meant and understood what we were trying to say. And they put so much love into it. And like, we all put a lot of love into everything we do. It's stop motion. It's like, you don't do this unless you love it, you know, because you certainly are not doing it for the money or anything. um everyone was just so…I'm gonna say careful, but I don't mean careful like cautious. I mean careful like full of care. And I did not expect that and I am so grateful for it. Yeah, looking back, it's just so precious and so tender and like I'm so fortunate to have had the crew with me that I had to make this film.  Isabel: That's so lovely. What are you most excited about upon completing your film?  Cami: I'm just excited to share it with the world. I'm so proud of it. It is truly, and I'm not just saying this because it's my baby, but it is very beautiful and it is very special. For a lot of us, one of the first times that we've been able to be in charge of our own departments or to make the decisions that we wanna make and tell things, do things, show things the way that we think they should be done. And so it's kind of significant for many of us to have this film come out and to be received. What I want people to take away from it is an appreciation and a gratitude for everything that has had to happen for us to be where we are now. And I also really want people to take away the unconditional love that has occurred for us to be in the country that we have and to be the people that we are. Every single person is where they are. doesn't matter if you're in America or anywhere else, like we are all here because of the sacrifices that were made by the people who came before us. And those were all made out of unconditional love. And that's like, I want people to come away from this film remembering that our country is built on the unconditional love and sacrifice from people who came before us. And then wanting to give that unconditional love and sacrifice to everybody who's gonna come after us. Isabel: Such an amazing message. And I know that there's still lots to do and you still have a lot to celebrate with your upcoming film and with the festival circuit with Paper Daughter. But looking ahead, do you have any plans of what you want to do after the short film?  Cami: Yeah, I would love to bring it into a feature. There was so much that we had to cut out to make this film. On one hand, I'm glad that we cut out what we did because I think the film as it is, is like so tight and so like airtight and good and perfect and sparse in a really nice way, but we don't even get to delve into life before Angel Island. It begins and ends on the island, and I would love to explore the stories that brought this all about and the stories that come after. So bringing this up into a feature version and getting that in front of people would be amazing. And I have a couple other short film and feature film and script ideas that I would like to start working on as well. I've kind of really, I'm really grooving on the like Asian early Chinese American history. um So most of them are going to be set in California and focus on like Chinese immigrants and their role in the founding of America. um I'm really excited for the like, after all the film festivals, I really want this film to end up in classrooms. And I even just the other day like I have a friend who's a third and fourth grade teacher and she showed it to her class and then the students asked me questions about Angel Island and about animation. if this can play any part in helping to spread the story of Angel Island and the people that immigrated through there, like that's all that I could ever want from this. So I'm really excited for that.  Isabel: That's wonderful. I'll put your website, social media and seed and spark page for Paper Daughter up on kpfa.org so our listeners can learn more about this stop motion film and get updates for how they can watch it. I can't wait to see it when it comes out. And Cami, thank you so much for joining me on Apex Express today.  Cami: Of course, thank you so much for having me. It was a great, great time talking with you.  Isabel: You just heard Cami Kwan talk about her film Paper Daughter. On Apex Express tonight, we have two more special guests who made magical realism short films. Next up is Dorothy Xiao, who made the film Only in This World. She's a Los Angeles-based award-winning filmmaker who likes to create grounded family dramas with a hint of fantasy.  Hi, Dorothy. Welcome to APEX Express.  Dorothy: Hi. Thanks for having me!  Isabel: Of course! Thank you for coming here. My first question for you is actually quite broad. How do you identify and what communities are you a part of?  Dorothy: Oh, that is a good question. I think in a broader sense. I would say, obviously, I identify as an Asian American. um But I think, like, for me, because I grew up in the 626 or the San Gabriel Valley, I grew up with a lot of people who looked like me. So I think I didn't truly identify as being Asian or had awareness of my identity until later on when I went to college. And then I took Asian American Studies classes and I was like, oh, wow, I'm Asian. Or like, what does it mean to be Asian? You know, like, I think I, at that time, prior to recognizing and understanding what it meant, and also even to be a minority, because at that, like I said, growing up in 626, even going to UCLA, where I'm surrounded by a lot of Asians, I never really felt like a minority. But I think it was really after graduating where I, depending on the spaces that I would enter into, especially in the film industry, I was learning like, oh, yeah, I am a minority and this is what it feels like. And prior to that, I think I just identified as being a daughter of immigrants. And that still is very strongly the case just because I grew up listening to so many stories that my parents would tell me, like coming from China, growing up like they grew up in China during a completely different time. I can't even imagine what it would be like living in the way that they did, you know, during the Cultural Revolution, under communism, in an intense way where they were starving, all this political stuff. But yeah, a second gen or for a lot of people, first generation, daughter of immigrants, of parents who decided that they wanted to make a better life for their kids out here in the States. I think that I want to stand by me saying that I don't feel like I am, I don't really want to identify as only just single categories all the time, just because within each community, could be, you could have nuances, right? Because I am a woman, but I'm also like a woman who doesn't want children, you know, and there was just so many different things of how I identify. So hard for me to categorize myself like that. But they are, there are tidbits of different communities. Like I still identify, identify as Asian American. I identify as a daughter of immigrants. I identify as a female filmmaker and yeah. And a business owner, I guess. Yeah.  Isabel: Right. Yes. Thank you for that nuanced answer. You know, it's so fascinating because I was reading about your work and you have worked in animal research administration and an afterschool program and even web development for nonprofits. How did you get into writing and directing?  Dorothy: Yeah. So after graduating college, I was definitely in a place where many, I'm sure, fresh grads understand what we call the quarter life crisis, where we don't know what we wanna do with our lives. And I was working at UCLA because that was the only job that I could get out of college for an animal research administration office. And really, I worked for them as a student. So I was like, well, it makes sense to have that be my full-time job, because you're in a place where you don't have skills. So how do you get a job if you don't have skills? That weird silly catch-22 situation. So I studied psychology in undergrad because my goal was to become a therapist. I wanted to work with Asian and Asian immigrant communities to help them with mental health because there's such a stigma attached to it. And being somebody who found mental health really important and also found that it was a really great way to understand myself. I wanted to work with, I guess, the people of my community. But at that time, I realized that there's still a stigma attached to mental health and it's really hard to get people to even go to therapy. Like living with my parents, it's really difficult. I cannot ever convince them to go. um And so I had pivoted into, or at least I discovered this filmmaking competition and ended up just like making a film for fun with a couple of friends, random people that um were not in film at all. And I had a lot of fun and I realized that we could actually create stories talking about things that are very similar to mental health or could provide that catharsis and validation that you could probably get in a session, in a therapy session. And it's not clinical at all. It's not as clinical. So, you know, on all those different jobs that you mentioned, they're all day jobs, know, animal research administration and then working for an after school program. That was me still trying to figure out how to be a filmmaker on my weekends. I still needed a day job. I didn't have the luxury of going to film school. So I would work at different places that gave me the flexibility of having a day job. But then also I had free time during the weekend to just make films with my friends, make friends films with people like my mom, who was one of my first actors earlier on. Love my mom. She did not do the greatest in my film, but I love her for being there for me. But yeah, like the different organizations or just jobs that I worked for were all really good in terms of providing me management skills and also communication skills because I worked in different industries, you know, and so at the end of the day, it all culminated in me at my current place. Like I am a freelance filmmaker and I also run my own video production company. So um becoming a writer, I mean, being a writer director is my main identity as a filmmaker. However, I don't think you could be a good writer-director if you don't have life experience. And having all those different jobs that I've had provided me with a lot of varied life experience and I interacted with a lot of different people, many different personalities.  Isabel: Yeah, no, I love that. So you grew up in Alhambra, which I'm familiar with because I too grew up in the San Gabriel Valley. How would you say that growing up in Alhambra has shaped you as an artist?  Dorothy: Alhambra is really special, I feel like, because in the San Gabriel Valley, there are many cities like this. You have Chinese people who can actually get by without ever having to learn English. And the same goes for Latin communities as well. And, you know, I have aunts and uncles who lived in Alhambra for years and never learned how to speak English. So I think it's like, what's so special about it, it feels like a safe space for a lot of immigrant communities. And then my parents being immigrants from China. living in Alhambra was a place where they could feel safe and feel connected to the people that they left behind in another country. And so being a child of immigrants, a daughter of like an Asian American, like a Chinese American growing up in Alhambra, I definitely felt like I grew up with a lot of people who were similar to me. know, we were like a lot of times the first American born children of our families even, and it was, we had to essentially understand what it meant to be Asian versus American and all of that.  But I think like being in Alhambra, I never felt like I wasn't seen, or at least I never felt like I was a minority. I think I mentioned this earlier, in that growing up in Alhambra, you do see a lot of people who look like you. And I have a lot of friends in the film industry who have moved out to California because they grew up in towns where they were like one, the only person, the only Asian person in their school or whatever. And I didn't have that experience. So for me, it was really special just being able to have a whole group of friends where there's a bunch of Asians. And we all spoke different languages. Like I had a lot of friends who were Cantonese speakers, but I'm a Mandarin speaker, but it was just really cool. It was like going to your friends' places and then you have aunties. So it's almost like having more family. You could feel like you have more aunts and uncles that will feed you all the time because that is the way they show love, right?  Isabel: Oh, certainly. I think there's so many stories in multicultural places like Alhambra. And speaking of which, you did in your film Only in This World. It's about an empty nester who has to face her ex-husband's mistress in order to summon her daughter back from the afterlife, which is featured in the 2025 Silicon Valley Asian Pacific Film Festival in Sunnyvale. Congratulations on such a beautiful film. I will say that I am a huge fan of magical realism, and Only in This World has some magical elements to it. So I'd love to get to know, how did you come up with this specific plot and characters that make up this film? Dorothy: Yeah, and thank you for wanting to talk about this one. It's a special story to me just because it is, I think it's the first film that I've made where I just decided to incorporate elements of where I grew up. And so Only in This World is inspired by my mom and her Tai Chi group at our local park, so Alhambra Park. My mom would go to do Tai Chi every morning for years. And in Alhambra, actually, as I mentioned, because there are so many immigrant communities, many of the immigrant communities tend to stay together with the people who speak their language. So Chinese people usually stick together with the Chinese speakers, Spanish speakers stick together with the Spanish speakers. You don't see a lot of mingling or intersectionality. But one of the special things that I saw with my mom's Tai Chi group was that they were not just Chinese people or Asian people, but there were Latino people in their group as well. And so even though they couldn't speak the same language, they would show up and still do Tai Chi every morning because it was a matter of doing something together. And so I love that a lot. And I wanted to tell a story about just older women who are finding friendship because I think that's really important in older age and in these groups because you see that a lot of the people in these Tai Chi groups are even the ones, not just Tai Chi groups, but there are dancers in the park, you know, like you'll see them in the mornings, not just in Alhambra, but in Monterey Park, all the different parks, open spaces, they'll have little dance groups.  A lot of the people who are part of those groups happen to be seniors, and I think it's just because they don't have work, they don't have children, they're lonely. And so…I think it's really important to be aware that where friendship or loneliness is actually an epidemic in the senior community. And it's really important to providing good quality of life is to just have them have that connection with other people. And seeing that in my mom, because my mom is getting older, having her be part of that community was what kept her happier. And so, yeah, and also my mother-in-law is Colombian. And she's done Tai Chi before as well with her group in Rosemead. And so I just was like, well, I'm part of a multicultural family. I want to tell a multicultural family story. Yeah, in terms of the magical realism element, I thought a lot about just how my family, if our house has ever burned down, the things that they would take out are our photos, the print four by six, like, you know, just the print photos because they're just so precious to them. There's something about hard copy pictures that is so special that digital photos just can't take over. Like there is an actual energy to how a photo is made or even like back then when we used to use film, there's energy that's required to actually create photos. And so, you know, I wanted that to be the power that powers this magical scanner where energy is taken from the picture and then you have the ability to bring someone you love back from the afterlife. And I really love grounded magical realism because I think it just makes difficult things a lot easier to understand when you add a little bit of magic to it, a little bit of fantasy.  Isabel: Yeah, magical realism is such a special genre. What part of the production process that you find the most profound?  Dorothy: I think it was just really my gratitude in how much my family came together for me and also just like the people of this team, know, like there were, I think one major situation that I can think of that I always think is really funny was, um so we filmed at my mother-in-law's house and my husband, Diego, was also working on set with me. He is not in the film industry. He's a software engineer manager. He's like in tech, but he is one of my biggest supporters. And so…when we were like, yeah, can we film at your mom's house? He was like, okay. But he had to end up being the, quote unquote, location manager, right? Because the house was his responsibility. And then, and he was also my PA and he was also DIT. Like he would be the one dumping footage. He did everything. He was amazing. And then ah one day we found out that his neighbor was actually doing construction and they were hammering. It was like drilling stuff and making new windows. They were doing new windows. And we were just like, oh, like, how do we get them to, like, not make noise? And so, and they don't speak English. And so we were like, oh crap, you know. So like, unfortunately, my producers and I don't speak Spanish, like we're all just English speaking. And then I did have Latinos working on my set, but they, you know, they had other jobs. I wasn't going to make them translate and do all that other stuff. So then Diego so kindly went over and talked to them and was like, essentially we set up. They were totally cool about it. They were like, yeah, okay, you're making a film. then whenever you're rolling sound, we'll just like prevent, like not hammer. And then so Diego is sitting outside with a walkie and talking to the first AD and other people inside the house, because we're all filming inside. don't know what's going outside. And then so like, we would be rolling, rolling. And then um the workers, I think his name was Armando, are like…whenever we cut, Diego would hear it through the walkie and he'd be like, Armando, okay, you're good to go. You can drill. Armando would drill. And then when we're going, and we'd be like, I'm going for another take. And then Diego would be like, Armando, please stop. So it was so nice of them to be willing to accommodate to us. Because you hear a lot of horror stories of LA productions where neighbors see you're filming something and they'll purposely turn on the radio to make it really loud and you have to pay them off and whatever. And in this case, it wasn't it was more like, hey, like, you know, we're making a movie and they were so supportive and they're like, yeah, totally. This is so cool. We will definitely pause our work, our actual work and let you roll down during the brief period. So we're really grateful. We definitely brought them donuts the next day to thank them. But that was just something that I was like, oh yeah, like I don't think I could have pulled that off if I didn't have Diego or if the fact, if it wasn't for the fact that these were the neighbors, know, that we were filming at someone's house and the neighbors already had a relationship with the people who lived here.  Isabel: Wow, that's really adaptable. And I'm so glad that went well for you. Dorothy, you've directed 13 films by now. Have you ever seen one of your films resonate with an audience member that you've interacted with in the past?  Dorothy: So there was this one short I had done a couple years ago called Tarot and it came at a time when I was struggling with the idea of whether or not I wanted to have kids and many of my friends are off having their first or second kids, you know, and so I never really wanted to be a mom, but then I have a partner who I can see being a great father, so I'm more open to the idea of being a mother, but it was still something I was conflicted about. And so I put this all into a short film, just my feelings of how my identity would change if I were to become a mom, because I've read so much about that. I found a Reddit thread one day where people were just talking about how being a mother is hard. And they openly stated how much they hated it. And it's okay to feel that way. And I wanted to put those feelings into this film to just put it out there like, hey, like if you don't like being a mom, even though you love your kid, you could still hate having that identity and be lost about, and it's okay to be lost or not sure about who you are. And so it was a really short film and it ended kind of open ended. It was like five minute film, so it didn't have like a full ending, but it was an open ended ending. And then afterwards I had a bunch of people come up. I had people who were parents, not just mothers, like even, or like fathers who had just had their first kid who were coming up and telling me like, oh, I totally identify. I understand that struggle of learning about who your new identity is after you've had a kid. And then I had people who were child free who were coming to me and saying like, yeah, this is a similar feeling that I've had about whether or not I should have any kids. Because, you know, as women, we have a biological clock that ticks. And that's something I feel frustrated about sometimes where it's really because of my body that I feel pressured to have a kid versus wanting to have one because I want one. And so that was a story I wanted to, or just something I wanted to put into a film. Yeah, and I also had another person come up and tell me that they were like, this was something I felt, but I never really openly talked about. And so I resonated a lot with this and it just helped basically articulate or helped me identify like, oh, I totally feel this way. And so that was really validating to me as a filmmaker because my goal is to reach others who don't feel comfortable talking about certain things that they tend to hide because I have a lot of those types of thoughts that I might feel ashamed or embarrassed to share. But then I put it into a story and then it makes it more digestible and it's like, or it's more, it's entertaining. But then like the core message is still there. And so people watch it and if they feel that they can connect to it, then I've done my job because I have resonated with somebody and I've made them feel seen. And that's ultimately what I wanted to do when I wanted to be a therapist was I just wanted to make people feel seen. I wanted to make them feel connected to other people and less lonely because that's something that I also have struggled with. Yeah, so filmmaking is my way of putting something small out there that I feel and then finding other people who feel the same way as me. And then we can feel validated together. Isabel: Ah yes, that is the power of film, and Dorothy's work can be viewed on her website, which I'll be linking on kpfa.org, as well as her social media, so you can get new updates on what she is working on. Dorothy, thank you so much for joining me on APEX Express today!  Dorothy: Thank you! Thank you for having me, it was so great to meet you!  Isabel: That was Dorothy Xiao, our second guest for tonight's edition of Apex Express, featuring magical realism AAPI filmmakers. Now time for our final guest of the night, Rachel Leyco, who is a queer, award-winning Filipina-American filmmaker, writer, actress, and activist. We'll be talking about her upcoming short film, Milk & Honey.  Hi Rachel, it's such an honor to have you here on APEX Express. Rachel: Hi, thank you so much for having me.  Isabel: How do you identify and what communities do you consider yourself a part of?  Rachel: Yeah, I identify as a queer Filipina-American. Isabel: So we're here to talk about your short film, Milk & Honey, which is about an ambitious Filipina nurse who leaves her family behind in the Philippines to chase the American dream in the 1990s and facing conflicts and hardships along the way. How did you come up with this specific 90s immigration story?  Rachel: Yeah. So Milk and Honey is inspired by my mom's immigrant story. you know, that's really her true story of coming to America in the early 1990s as a very young Filipina nurse while, and also a young mother and leaving behind her daughter, which was me at the time. um you know, following her journey in the film though fictionalized, a lot of the moments are true and there's a lot of exploration of assimilation, cultural barriers, loneliness and the emotional cost of pursuing the American dream.  Isabel: Yeah, when I read that synopsis, I immediately thought of this short film could totally be something that's feature length. How did you sort of this story to something that is like under 15 minutes long?  Rachel: Yeah, so I wrote the short film script first. And actually, you know, this is a proof of concept short film for the feature film. I actually wrote the feature film script after I wrote the short because there was just so much more I wanted to explore with the characters and the story. It definitely couldn't fit into a short film, though I have that short film version. But there was just so much richness to my mom's story that I wanted to explore, so I expanded into a feature. So I do have that feature film version, which I hope to make one day. Isabel: And you mentioned that this film is inspired by your mom's story. Is there any other sort of research that you did into this story that really helped you write? Rachel: Yeah, one of the main reasons I wanted to write the story, I mean, there's many reasons, but one is because there, if you ask the average American or the general public, they won't really know why there are so many Filipino nurses in the healthcare system. Because if you walk into any hospital, you'll see a Filipino nurse, more than one for sure. ah so I was really curious about the history. ah Having my mom as a nurse, my sister's also a nurse, I have a lot of healthcare workers around me. I grew up with that. I, you know, growing up, I also didn't really know or learn Filipino American history because it's not taught in schools. And I, you know, I took AP US history and didn't learn anything about, you know, my culture and our history. It's, not in the books at all. And it wasn't until like my early twenties that I was really curious about my roots and my upbringing and what it means to be Filipino-American specifically. And so um I really went into like a deep dive of just researching Filipino-American history. And specifically last year, I had been wanting to tell a story about a Filipino nurse because of my proximity to it with my mother. And you know, myself being an artist, being a filmmaker in the industry, there's so many medical shows out there, like, know, Grey's Anatomy, that's been long running, but very, very few, and rarely do we see Filipino nurses at the forefront and at the center of those stories. um You know, rarely are they series regulars. You know, sometimes they'll feature a Filipino nurse for like one episode or two and, you know, a recurring or a side character, but Filipino nurses are never the main character, never the series regular. And so that was another big driving force for why I wanted to make this story. And, you know, really making my mom's character the center of it. And so as far as like research, too, I definitely interviewed my mom and I asked her to just tell me her her entire story and specifically why she even wanted to move to the United States because she could have stayed in the Philippines or she could have moved somewhere else. um she saw a newspaper or her friend actually at the time when she was in a nursing school, a friend of hers saw an ad in the newspaper that America was sponsoring nurses. And so she had it in her mind already like, oh, yeah, I've heard of America. I've heard of the United States that it's, you know, there's better opportunities for me there. And at the time she had just had me. And so she had, you she's a young mother. She's trying to take care of her baby, her newborn. And so, you know, she had her eyes set on moving to the United States and that's kind of how her journey happened. And on top of that, I also did my own research on you know, our history, I watched this really amazing documentary um by Vox. It's on YouTube. It's all about why there are so many Filipino nurses in America. And it really just ties back to U.S. colonization. And after World War II, was so many, there was big nursing shortage in the United States. you know, white Americans did not want to, you know, fill that role. So they turn to Filipino women to fill the gap.  Isabel: Yeah, was there something special about the production process that looking back, you would want to replicate in the future or that really speaks to you?  Rachel: Absolutely. um Yeah, mean, definitely this experience and a lot of the people that I brought on to this project, I want to continue to make films with them and continue to make art with them because um I'm just so proud of the team that we put together. Everyone was so passionate and they knew how important the story was. They also had their own special connection to the material that they brought so much heart and passion into the film. that really comes through in the project. so like a lot of the people I brought onto this film, I want to continue to make art with them forever. That's one thing that I'm really, really grateful for, because I got to work with some really awesome people that I had never worked before or I had been wanting to work with. And so it was such a great opportunity that was given to me to be able to connect with such amazing and talented AAPI creatives in my circle.  Isabel: Yeah, I saw on your Instagram page for the film that you shot this film in both Los Angeles and Austin, Texas. Have you ever done a production where you had to sort juggle two different sets in two very different locations? And how was that entire process?  Rachel: Yeah, that was really, it was really fun. It was my first time being able to film in two different cities, let alone like two different states, really. A lot of my past projects have just been, you know, shooting it with the resources that I had that were available to me. You know, usually like my past short film, Thank You for Breaking My Heart, that I did last year, we shot all of it in one location, which was of course like, know, that is something that's really impressive in and of itself, of course. But, you know, because of the bigger budget that we had for Milk and Honey, I really wanted to challenge myself with this. And I really advocated for filming a part of the film in Texas because it is set in Texas. I was raised there. That's where my mom was placed when she, because how the process goes is, you know, she applied for the nursing sponsorship and then they placed them in certain areas. And so she was placed in El Paso, Texas at the time. And so that's where I also grew up. So I set the film there and I really advocated for filming in Texas because I wanted the film to have that feeling of the environment and atmosphere of Texas. um And so we shot some exteriors there for like this really fun Texas montage where you can really like feel that the character is there in, you know, in that heat, the Texas heat. So that was really, that was really fun. And I, you know, we shot, we shot two days in LA and we shot half a day in Austin, Texas. And we hired a second unit in Texas, because, you know, again, like, even though we had a really good budget, was still, you know, it was still pretty small. So I wasn't able to, you know, fly my LA crew over there. um So what we did was we just hired a second unit crew in Austin, Texas, and they were amazing. And most of them were queer, non-binary filmmakers. And it was just such a fun, intimate crew that you know, we just breezed by and had such a great time shooting that.  Isabel: That's wonderful. As a director, what inspires you and what are some of your filmmaking influences?  Rachel: Yeah, I mean, I'm constantly inspired by, you know, new films, filmmakers that I've seen, em particularly for Milk and Honey. I um so the film is, you know, this grounded drama, but there are a lot of moments of magical realism that I mix into it. love magical realism. love one of my favorite movies is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It's such a beautiful film, also very grounded, but it's filled with all of this, you know, magical realism, surrealism. And so I infused that into, you know, Milk and Honey, which was really fun and a challenge to execute. But yeah, and some other filmmakers and creatives that I'm inspired by are Ava Duvernay. think her work is just incredible and also just an incredible artist overall. I love the kind of work that she does because it comes from such a deep place. And I love that she can combine art with politics and social justice as well. Isabel: I also love that you said in your one of your project funding descriptions that you use your art as your act of revolution, which is so relevant given that, you know, in our current state of, you know, our administration is silencing and suppressing voices of our immigrant communities. And how do we as filmmakers, as artists, what does that revolution and representation mean to you as a filmmaker and artist?  Rachel: I truly believe that that art is our act of revolution and just merely creating the art is that act in and of itself. We don't have to do more than that as from, in my opinion, as an artist, because the mere fact of us existing as artists, existing, myself existing and creating the work and having the work exists out there and putting it out. The most powerful thing that an artist can do is to make their art and share it with the world. And after that, just let it go, you know, forget about how it's going to be received. Forget about like, you know, the critics and, and, and the, you know, self doubt you may have and all of those things, because yeah, it's going to come. I think especially in the landscape of, like you said, of where we're at right now with our current administration and you know, just who knows what's going to happen in the next few years, but also in the face of like AI and technology and all of that, I think all we can really do as artists is to, in order for us to change the system is we have to be the change, right? And in order for us to be that change is just to continue to tell our stories and stay authentic to ourselves. Because I think that's also what a lot of people out there are really craving right now. People are craving authentic, real stories by people that we really don't get to see or hear their stories very often. And so um that for me is something that fuels me and my artistry every day.  Isabel: Very well said and a great reminder to all of us artists out there to keep making our art. What do you hope for audiences to take away when they watch your film?  Rachel: What I hope for audiences to get out of watching the film, well, one, at the core of it is a mother-daughter story. And I also did it to honor my mother and her sacrifices and her story. So I hope that, one, audiences will, you know, maybe reflect on their relationship with their mother and… um think of ways to honor their mother and their family and their ancestry as well. And another thing is to really think about what the American dream means to you, because that was another driving force for me with the film is it's called Milk & Honey because a lot of immigrants coined Milk & Honey as America's milk and honey as this like land of abundance, land of opportunity and you know, this is a, this is a place for creating a better life for ourselves. But I, for me, as I've grown up and as an adult now, really looking at like, well, what does the American dream mean to me? Is that still true to me? Do I still think the U S is a place where I can, where I can build a better life? Is it a place of abundance and something in the film, a big theme in the film is where Cherry's character scrutinizes that dream and thinks for herself, like, is the American dream worth it? And what does the American dream actually mean to me? What is the definition of that? So I think that's a big thing I would love audiences to also take away from it, you know, asking themselves that question. Isabel: That's a great thought to end on. I'll be including Rachel's social media and website on kpfa.org as usual so you can see if Milk and Honey will be screening in a film festival near your city during its festival run. Well, Rachel, thank you so much for joining me on APEX Express today. Thanks so much for having me. I really enjoyed it. Please check our website kpfa.org to find out more about magical realism in AAPI stories and the guests we spoke to. We thank all of you listeners out there. Keep resisting. Keep organizing. Keep creating and sharing your visions with the world. Your voices are important. APEX Express is produced by Miko Lee, Jalena Keane-Lee, Preeti Mangala Shekar, Anuj Vaidya, Swati Rayasam, Cheryl Truong, and Isabel Li. Tonight's show was produced by me, Isabel Li. Thanks to the team at KPFA for their support. Have a great night. The post APEX Express – 1.08.26 – Magical Realism and AAPI Short Films appeared first on KPFA.

What is the Filipino American anthem? Is it Bebot by the Black Eyed Peas? P.T.I. by Carl Angelo? Lemonade by Jeremy Passion? Us by Ruby Ibarra? Do You Miss Me? by Jocelyn Enriquez? Todo Todo by Daniela Romo (you know who chose that one!)?? In this TFAL episode, we look at so-called Filipino American anthems...

Three hundred episodes! Can you believe it?? How did we get here? What an amazing feat! Never did I ever imagine that I would have a podcast let alone release 300 episodes! To celebrate, I have invited my writer-friends and fellow Pinays, Rebecca Mabanglo-Mayor and Tamiko Nimura! In this episode, we talk about what has kept us steady and tethered during this year of upheavals and drastic change. With the new moon and the winter solstice approaching this weekend, we also talked about what seeds we want to plant for the coming season and new year. Bring a cup of tea and tune in to this episode to feel uplifted by listening in on a chat with good friends. Here's to 300!Tamiko Nimura's forthcoming book, A Place For What We Lose, is due out April 28, 2026 from University of Washington Press. Pre-order your copy today and take advantage of their 40% off sale! Go here: https://uwapress.uw.edu/book/9780295754758/a-place-for-what-we-lose/ ===============Today's poems/ Books mentioned:Tarot/Oracle Card: Three of Swords (Reversed)"Samadhi" by Vikus Menon=============== Courses / Exclusive Content / Book Mentioned:Subscribe to mailing list + community: suryagian.com/subscribe and get the 7-day meditation challenge, “Spark Joy in Chaos”Subscribe to “Adventures in Midlife” newsletter: leslieann.substack.comInstagram: @leslieannhobayan Email: leslieann@suryagian.comYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxAeQWRRsSo5E7PBJdZUeoEAYXnAtuyRyKundalini Yoga Classes: https://www.suryagian.com/anchor-amplify-kundaliniSpeak Your Truth: https://www.suryagian.com/speak-your-truth About Tamiko NimuraTamiko is an award-winning creative nonfiction writer, community journalist, editor, and educator with experience in higher education, the arts, public history, and Asian American communities. Her forthcoming memoir, A Place for What We Lose: A Daughter's Return to Tule Lake, will be published by the University of Washington Press.She is the author of Rosa Franklin: A Life in Health Care, Public Service, and Social Justice (Washington State Legislative Oral History Program, 2019) and co-author of We Hereby Refuse: Japanese American Acts of Wartime Resistance (Chin Music Press/Wing Luke Museum, 2021).For eight years, Tamiko coached writing and literature students across a wide range of academic and non-academic settings. Since leaving academia in 2011, she has expanded her work to include public history, social media support, blogging, grant writing, and writing for newspapers and magazines.For more than a decade, she has written a commissioned monthly essay series on Japanese American history, arts, and culture for Discover Nikkei, with a focus on the Pacific Northwest and Washington State.Her areas of specialization include diversity and equity, higher education, Japanese American history, writing and editing, grant writing, publishing, food writing, proofreading, and Asian American issues.===============About Rebecca Mabanglo-MayorRebecca Mabanglo-Mayor's non-fiction, poetry, and short fiction have appeared in print and online in several journals and anthologies including Katipunan Literary Magazine, Growing Up Filipino II: More Stories for Young Adults, Kuwento: Small Things, and Beyond Lumpia, Pansit, and Seven Manangs Wild: An Anthology. Her poetry chapbook Pause Mid-Flight was released in 2010. She is also the co-editor of True Stories: The Narrative Project Vol. I-IV, and her poetry and essays have been collected in Dancing Between Bamboo Poles. She has been performing as a storyteller since 2006 and specializes in stories based on Filipino folktales and Filipino-American history.Rebecca, as Rebecca A. Saxton, received her MFA in Creative Writing from Pacific Lutheran University in 2012, her BA in Humanities from Washington State University in 1998, and her MA degree in English with honors from Western Washington University in 2003.

What if you could turn customer anxiety into confidence and boost conversions with just a few simple design changes? Today we talk about understanding user behavior through data science, and how it can dramatically improve your digital marketing strategy. Join me for a captivating conversation with Mia Umanos, founder of Clickvoyant, where she uncovers the magic behind data science and human behavior. Mia's expertise lies in understanding the nuances of user experience—how design choices and website interactions can trigger emotions that either lead to a sale or a lost customer. In this episode, Mia shares her entrepreneurial journey, discusses how AI is revolutionizing data science, and offers powerful insights into how businesses can create better digital experiences by connecting with customers on a deeper level. Here are the highlights: -Humanizing Digital Experiences: The discussion on how understanding the psychological impact of website design can either reduce anxiety or create friction for users. -The Harvard vs. Yale Example: A compelling comparison of how Harvard's emotional approach to financial aid pages contrasts with Yale's utilitarian design, highlighting the power of connecting with users. -The Role of Subtle Design Tweaks in E-Commerce: Mia shares how simple adjustments—like addressing shipping concerns—can help boost conversion rates in online stores. -The Pitfalls of Over-Automation: An example of how a client's decision to enable multiple upsells at checkout led to a significant decrease in conversions, emphasizing the importance of thoughtful automation. -AI and Mid-Market Businesses: Mia explains how AI can help mid-market businesses gain access to powerful data science tools, previously reserved for larger corporations, to improve customer insights and decision-making. About the guest:  Mia Umanos is a Filipino-American entrepreneur, AI strategist, and data scientist, known for her innovative work in AI-driven marketing analytics and conversion rate optimization. As the CEO and founder of Clickvoyant, an AI-powered analytics platform, Mia transforms raw data into actionable insights, enabling businesses to make informed decisions faster. With over 16 years of experience, Mia has worked with major brands like Apple, Salesforce, and Netflix, and raised $1.4 million in six months while pregnant. She advises companies on integrating AI to enhance human creativity and business growth. Named a Tory Burch Fellow in 2024, Mia is also a passionate advocate for women in AI, particularly from her Filipino heritage, and ensures her company provides flexible, remote jobs to women in the Philippines. Through her work, she aims to create opportunities, equity, and lasting impact. Connect with Mia: Website: https://clickvoyant.com/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/miaumanos/  Connect with Allison: Feedspot has named Disruptive CEO Nation as one of the Top 25 CEO Podcasts on the web, and it is ranked the number 6 CEO podcast to listen to in 2025! https://podcasts.feedspot.com/ceo_podcasts/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonsummerschicago/  Website: https://www.disruptiveceonation.com/   #CEO #leadership #startup #founder #business #businesspodcast  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What does it really take to break through the myths of entrepreneurship and build a financially independent life—especially as a woman? In this eye-opening episode of The Angel Next Door Podcast, host Marcia Dawood invites listeners to rethink traditional notions of wealth, investing, and risk-taking by exploring the power of money mindset, resilience, and strategic investing.Our guest, Bernadette Joy, is a first-generation Filipino American, acclaimed author of "Crush Your Money Goals," and an entrepreneur who's achieved financial independence by age 40. As a life and money coach, Bernadette Joy opens up about her unconventional path from paying off $300,000 in debt to mentoring the next generation of women investors and entrepreneurs. Her journey is shaped by personal experience, a mission to help others overcome financial misconceptions, and a passion for demystifying the road to millionaire status—especially for women and communities of color.This episode dives deep into actionable strategies for getting your financial house in order, understanding the realities of angel investing, and building businesses designed for both growth and early retirement. Bernadette Joy shares candid stories—both successes and failures—offering a rare, honest perspective on what it means to curate your accounts, invest with intention, and heal your “money wounds.” Whether you're an aspiring investor, established entrepreneur, or simply looking for practical financial wisdom with heart and humor, this is a must-listen conversation that will inspire you to reimagine what's possible for your financial and entrepreneurial journey. To get the latest from Bernadette Joy, you can follow her below!https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernadebtjoy/https://www.crushyourmoneygoals.com/ https://a.co/d/1KJRwvJ - Crush Your Money Goals Bookhttps://www.instagram.com/bernadebtjoy/  Sign up for Marcia's newsletter to receive tips and the latest on Angel Investing!Website: www.marciadawood.comDo Good While Doing WellLearn more about the documentary Show Her the Money: www.showherthemoneymovie.comAnd don't forget to follow us wherever you are!Apple Podcasts: https://pod.link/1586445642.appleSpotify: https://pod.link/1586445642.spotifyLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/angel-next-door-podcast/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theangelnextdoorpodcast/Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/theangelnextdoorpodcast/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@marciadawood

Keke sits down with beauty mogul Patrick Starrr for an inspiring and heartfelt conversation about the journey behind the glam. Patrick shares how he went viral, built his ONE/SIZE empire, navigated growing up as a gay Filipino American, and found the courage to be unapologetically himself while honoring his family. They get into fame, identity, failure, and the lessons behind becoming a true beauty boss, plus Patrick reveals his advice for aspiring entrepreneurs and creators, along with his go-to glam tips. Be the first to know about Wondery's newest podcasts, curated recommendations, and more! Sign up now at https://wondery.fm/wonderynewsletterListen to Baby, This is Keke Palmer on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season. Unlock exclusive early access by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial today by visiting https://wondery.com/links/baby-this-is-keke-palmer/ now.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Show Description (also the podcast Intro): Hello and welcome to the BOSFilipinos podcast. I'm your host, Trish Fontanilla.  Each episode, we celebrate Filipino and Filipino American culture, identity, and community in greater Boston.  Today's guest is Jen Palacio, owner of Tiny Turns Paperie! She also has an art practice called Just Enough Nonsense, and teaches at some of our local colleges around the city. In this episode, we trace the winding path from her Filipino American upbringing in Connecticut to becoming a beloved small-business owner in Somerville.  She talks about discovering art through her grandmother, detouring into the corporate world, and eventually finding her way back to creativity through letterpress. This episode is a celebration of the thousand tiny turns that shape a life. I'm so excited for you all to get to know her. Enjoy!  Stay in touch:  BOSFilipinos - IG: @bosfilipinos, Email: info@bosfilipinos.com Jen Palacio - Personal IG: @kokojuice, Store: @tinyturnspaperie For the full transcript, head to BOSFilipinos.com/blog

Short Summary:In this conversation, Rocky and clothing designer Crespatrick de los Reyes explore the tension between creativity, obedience, and the pressure to “make it” on someone else's timeline. This episode digs into the lies creatives believe about success and the fear of losing themselves in the pursuit of profit. If you've ever wondered whether you can honor your craft without sacrificing your humanity, this one will hit home.Episode Highlights:Why timelines aren't the real enemy...our stories about them are.. The difference between protecting your creativity and propelling your creativity.. How comparison and rushing quietly sabotage the creative process.. The human thing vs. the hard thing: a new way to navigate responsibility.. Why obedience, peace, and purpose may be the gateway to true profitability.. The lie most creatives believe when facing financial pressure.. What changes when you stop selling yourself short and start telling the truth.Get To Know Our Guest:Crespatrick de los Reyes is a Filipino American clothing designer specializing in upcycling denim fabrics to create collections for his brand Crescente Patricio. Having graduated from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles, Crespatrick's journey has taken him through various parts of the fashion industry to eventually lead him to designing for a denim start up which paved the way for starting his brand in 2017. By way of Los Angeles, Crespatrick and his brand are now based out of Dallas, TX where the brand has really found its roots. Crespatrick draws inspiration from his Filipino American heritage to tell stories through his pieces that are designed to feel Different yet Familiar.Websites: www.cpatricio.com | www.crespatrick.comSocial: @crespatrick_dlr @crescente.patricioResources Mentioned . Join Rocky for the Live Leadership Training – https://www.rockygarza.com/confident

Tired of seeing the same titles on every "Best Of" list? In this third annual special episode, host Blaine DeSantis cuts through the noise to deliver his personal baker's dozen of the absolute best books he's read all year. If you're searching for the perfect present for the readers in your life, this list of Christmas book recommendations 2025 has something for everyone, from your spouse and parents to siblings and friends. Forget the popularity contests; these are 13 compulsively readable books, read cover-to-cover, that are guaranteed to surprise and delight.This is the ultimate Books and Looks podcast wish list, curated to solve the overwhelming problem of choosing from over a million books published each year. Blaine dives deep into his top picks across a wide range of genres, ensuring you'll find the perfect match for any taste. We start with some of the best nonfiction books 2025 has to offer, exploring pressing geopolitical issues in America in the Arctic by Mary Thompson-Jones and getting a stunning insider's view of modern Russia with Jill Doherty's My Russia. The episode then moves into a collection of unique memoir recommendations that celebrate the human spirit, from Marie Leautey's incredible story of running a marathon every single day in Leautey's World Run to John Seabrook's fascinating and complex family history in The Spinach King, the story of the family that made frozen lima beans a household staple. We also follow Graham Broyd's journey in Backpack, Jacket, Surfboard, as he retraces his 1980 hitchhiking trip across America.The list continues with incredible historical fiction and mystery books, including Sarah Dunant's masterful novel The Marquesa, which brings to life the first woman of the Italian Renaissance, Isabella d'Este. Blaine also highlights captivating biographies, such as Sister Aimee, Claire Hoffman's look at the spectacular rise and fall of Pentecostal preacher Aimee Semple McPherson, and Jan Gradvall's The Story of ABBA, offering an exclusive look into the lives of the iconic supergroup. We explore captivating nonfiction, from the surprisingly fascinating story of a despised bird in Starlings by Mike Stark to disappearing global traditions in Eliot Stein's Custodians of Wonder. David Krell's Do You Believe in Magic? provides a vibrant snapshot of America during the disco era of 1978. Finally, for those who love a good page-turner, Blaine recommends two compulsively readable mysteries: Danger, No Problem by Cindy F. Fariña, a thriller featuring a Filipino-American bounty hunter, and Ivory Bones by Sara Winokur, which centers on the mysterious and valuable Lewis Chessmen. These Christmas book recommendations 2025 are the best of the best from a year of reading.

How do you redefine a field that's widely misunderstood, even among its own professionals? And how can associations become essential hubs for interdisciplinary collaboration in such a space?In this episode of Associations Thrive, host Joanna Pineda interviews Nathan Victoria, Executive Director of the Society for Personality Assessment (SPA) and Vice President at NextGen Association Management. Nathan discusses:Why “personality assessment” doesn't mean pop personality tests like Myers-Briggs or StrengthsFinder, but instead refers to integrated and multi-method clinical assessments used by psychologists.The clinical and legal applications of personality assessment, including for law enforcement, immigration, air traffic controllers, and reality TV casting.SPA's historical roots as the Rorschach Institute, Inc., and how it's evolving to reclaim and redefine personality assessment.The effort to define personality assessment within the organization and clarify its public perception.SPA's reinvestment in infrastructure: website, branding, database, and strategic plan.The organization's shift to AMC management through NextGen, and the benefits of a more efficient staffing model.How SPA supports international engagement with its first-ever conference outside the U.S., despite visa and travel challenges.SPA's unique conference partnerships with smaller psychology organizations to share resources and cross-pollinate ideas.Nathan's broader role in managing multiple associations simultaneously through NextGen and how technology and transparency enable success.References:SPA WebsiteNextGen AMC Website2025 Expert Insights on Personality Assessment Virtual Conference2026 SPA Convention

In a departure from their usual historical musings, Carmina and Patch talk about two modern Filipino-American women who share a last name but are from different decades, backgrounds, and musical genres. Yet they share a singular love for their heritage and history undeniably reflected in their art. In this Filipino-American History Month, Carmina and Patch are proud to feature two Fil-Ams who are sure to contribute to our storied legacy for years to come.Learn more: Vaccine scientist by day, rapper by night: How Ruby Ibarra is defying stereotypes, Ruby Ibarra - Bakunawa ft. Ouida, Han Han & June Millington (Live) Tiny Desk 2025 Winner, Ruby Ibarra - (Official Music Video), Ruby Ibarra Official Website, Rolling Stone: RUBY IBARRA IGNITES NPR'S ‘TINY DESK' CONCERT: ‘THIS IMMIGRANT IS HERE', Ruby Ibarra, 2025 Tiny Desk Contest Winner: Tiny Desk Concert, June Millington, [HIGHLIGHTS] Sky Islands by Susie Ibarra: World Premiere, 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Music: Sky Islands by Composer/Percussionist Susie Ibarra, Susie Ibarra's "Nest Box" performed in Ojai by the composer and Wu Wei, and Susie Ibarra Official Website.Visit https://filtrip.buzzsprout.com. Drop a note at thefiltrip@gmail.com. Thanks to FilTrip's sponsor SOLEPACK. Visit thesolepack.com for more details.See https://www.buzzsprout.com/privacy for Privacy Policy.

In this episode of Militantly Mixed, Sharmane sits down with the creative team behind Disarm, an animated short film that captures the painful yet powerful intersections of identity, grief, and resilience in the wake of anti-Asian violence.Following the 2021 Atlanta spa shootings, Disarm tells the story of a young woman navigating multiple layers of identity when a hate crime unfolds on her train ride home. Through stunning visuals and heartfelt storytelling, the film explores anti-Asian hate during the COVID-19 pandemic from a mixed-race Filipino American perspective, offering both an artistic and emotional reflection on what it means to exist in a world marked by racism, fear, and strength.Sharmane speaks with:Lauren Lola – Writer & Co-Director @akolaurenlolaDarrick Lazo – Co-Director & Editor @edit.ninjaGeorge Nelson – Animator @wakasasheTogether, they discuss the film's creative process, the intentional choice of animation as a storytelling medium, and how Disarm serves as both art and activism in a time of collective reckoning.Support the Film: You can contribute to the Disarm crowdfunding campaign at Seed & Spark. Every donation helps bring this vital story to life.Support Militantly Mixed: Visit the Website – Listen to episodes, leave a review, or record a voicemail for the show.Support on Patreon – Help keep this independent show thriving.Shop Militantly Mixed Merch – Logo T-shirts, “Mixed & Hella Queer” tees, and more.Instagram: @militantlymixedBluesky: @militantlymixedFacebook: Militantly Mixed Podcast

She came to America at five. She became a Marine. What happened next will stay with you.This week on Urban Valor, we dive into the story of Gunnery Sergeant Kimmy Lamano, a Filipino-American immigrant who rose through the ranks of the U.S. Marine Corps while carrying the weight of trauma, silence, and survival.From growing up in Manila and Hawaii, to surviving a convoy explosion in Afghanistan while teaching Afghan children, Kimmy's journey is one of grit, honor, and post-service healing. For 18 years, she served her country in combat zones, humanitarian crises, and as a trailblazing female Drill Instructor.But it wasn't just the battlefield she had to fight on. It was the return home, the invisible wounds, and the struggle to find purpose beyond the uniform.

If you could reflect on one thing, it's this:Who's driving your story today?This letter is for the quiet, faithful listeners who never thought to share their story—until one letter changes everything.On her usual commute to work, a flashback surfaced—one that reminds the writer why she rarely speaks freely. The memory takes place in the backseat of a family van, when a cousin told her to shut up… and no one said anything.Now, decades later, with her hands on the wheel and her favorite podcast playing, she realizes something has changed:She's the one driving. And she has something to say.If you've ever kept your thoughts to yourself because you were afraid of being reprimanded, this one's for you.If you're searching for resources on Filipino American history, then you are invited to join our FAHM Challenge!

If you could reflect on one thing, it's this:How are you contributing to Filipino American History today?This letter is for anyone who has ever felt lost in the search for cultural belonging—especially during Filipino American History Month.Jen begins with a candid reading of her letter, as if she's speaking directly to our First Readers. She contemplates the difference between longing for lost history and honoring the living history already around us. Whether acknowledging passive observation, caretakers we take for granted, or having empathy for the movers and shakers of our Filipino community today, this letter offers an invitation to get involved.If you've ever romanticized your search for identity, overlooked those already preserving our stories, or waited too long to show appreciation, this one's for you.If you're searching for resources on Filipino American history, then you are invited to join our FAHM Challenge!

“The Philippines isn't the president, it isn't the government. The Philippines is the people. Our role as Filipino Americans living in the diaspora is to stand with them. Tama na. Enough.” Politics is divided, institutions are fragile, and truth feels up for sale. Sounds familiar? Here's the twist — we're not talking about America, we're talking about the Philippines. With over 110 million people, it's one of the largest democracies on Earth — a nation with deep ties to the U.S. that most of us are not taught in school. If recent decades have taught us anything - it mirrors the challenges we face at home in the U.S. today: corruption, disinformation, and the erosion of trust in power. One might say it's a canary in the coal mine, which many Filipinos, and Filipino-Americans have been calling attention to those who will listen.  And since October is Filipino American History Month, FrieMMd of the Pod Lisa Angulo Reid, co-founder of Dear Flor stopped by for a chat. Lisa recently penned a Substack post “Fighting for a Home That Isn't Mine” - we continued a longer conversation we've been having - ranging from her essay, corruption, diaspora identity, her calling, the economic potential on both sides of the ocean. and what it means to fight for a home you no longer live in but still carry inside... ABOUT LISA: dearflor.com // dearflor.substack.com MENTIONS Maria Ressa (Nobel Prize winning journalist): wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Ressa Maria Ressa on the Daily Show (9/18/2025) :  youtube.com/watch?v=Tsb1I7hqaJ4 HISTORY  First landing of Filipinos in the USA (1587): wikipedia.org/wiki/First_landing_of_Filipinos_in_the_United_States Philippine-American War - wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine%E2%80%93American_War Independence Seaport Museum (Philadelphia) / USS Olympia exhibit newyorkpcg.org/pcgny/2024/10/11/philippine-american-war-1899-1902-complex-symbols-conflicting-relationships-exhibit-unveiled-aboard-olympia/ India: British business / colonial rule (~1600 - 1757 - 1947): wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonial_India British East India Company - wikipedia.org/wiki/East_India_Company Duterte drug killings (WARNING - graphic) - nytimes.com/interactive/2016/12/07/world/asia/rodrigo-duterte-philippines-drugs-killings.html BOOK:  Patron Saints of Nothing (Randy Ribay): goodreads.com/book/show/41941681-patron-saints-of-nothing BOOK (Poems): Antiemetic for Homesickness (Romalyn Ante): goodreads.com/book/show/53095607-antiemetic-for-homesickness FOOD: Ginataang Tilapia  panlasangpinoy.com/ginataang-tilapia/ PLACES Visayas: Southern island region, rich in beaches and culture. Ilocos: Northern coastal region known for heritage towns. Baguio: Mountain city with cool climate and tribal roots. Batangas: Cultural heart of the Tagalog people. Taal: Volcano within a lake within a crater. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“The Philippines isn't the president, it isn't the government. The Philippines is the people. Our role as Filipino Americans living in the diaspora is to stand with them. Tama na. Enough.” Politics is divided, institutions are fragile, and truth feels up for sale. Sounds familiar? Here's the twist — we're not talking about America, we're talking about the Philippines. With over 110 million people, it's one of the largest democracies on Earth — a nation with deep ties to the U.S. that most of us are not taught in school. If recent decades have taught us anything - it mirrors the challenges we face at home in the U.S. today: corruption, disinformation, and the erosion of trust in power. One might say it's a canary in the coal mine, which many Filipinos, and Filipino-Americans have been calling attention to those who will listen.  And since October is Filipino American History Month, FrieMMd of the Pod Lisa Angulo Reid, co-founder of Dear Flor stopped by for a chat. Lisa recently penned a Substack post “Fighting for a Home That Isn't Mine” - we continued a longer conversation we've been having - ranging from her essay, corruption, diaspora identity, her calling, the economic potential on both sides of the ocean. and what it means to fight for a home you no longer live in but still carry inside... ABOUT LISA: dearflor.com // dearflor.substack.com MENTIONS Maria Ressa (Nobel Prize winning journalist): wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Ressa Maria Ressa on the Daily Show (9/18/2025) :  youtube.com/watch?v=Tsb1I7hqaJ4 HISTORY  First landing of Filipinos in the USA (1587): wikipedia.org/wiki/First_landing_of_Filipinos_in_the_United_States Philippine-American War - wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine%E2%80%93American_War Independence Seaport Museum (Philadelphia) / USS Olympia exhibit newyorkpcg.org/pcgny/2024/10/11/philippine-american-war-1899-1902-complex-symbols-conflicting-relationships-exhibit-unveiled-aboard-olympia/ India: British business / colonial rule (~1600 - 1757 - 1947): wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonial_India British East India Company - wikipedia.org/wiki/East_India_Company Duterte drug killings (WARNING - graphic) - nytimes.com/interactive/2016/12/07/world/asia/rodrigo-duterte-philippines-drugs-killings.html BOOK:  Patron Saints of Nothing (Randy Ribay): goodreads.com/book/show/41941681-patron-saints-of-nothing BOOK (Poems): Antiemetic for Homesickness (Romalyn Ante): goodreads.com/book/show/53095607-antiemetic-for-homesickness FOOD: Ginataang Tilapia  panlasangpinoy.com/ginataang-tilapia/ PLACES Visayas: Southern island region, rich in beaches and culture. Ilocos: Northern coastal region known for heritage towns. Baguio: Mountain city with cool climate and tribal roots. Batangas: Cultural heart of the Tagalog people. Taal: Volcano within a lake within a crater. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

  In this episode Elaine and Producer Mike have a conversation with singer-songwriter Stephen Ordonez also known as LABIT (@labitlabit). Stephen shares his experience growing up with Filipino American parents born in the States and how their love of music influenced his style. Fans of artists like Laufey and Jason LaPierre will vibe with Stephen’s...

AJ Rafael is an accomplished Filipino-American singer-songwriter from California. He has amassed over 1 million subscribers on YouTube and 1 million monthly listeners on Spotify. His debut album Red Roses has reached the iTunes and Billboard charts, and he has collaborated with artists such as Tori Kelly, Jeremy Passion, Kina Grannis, and past podcast guest Roman from Kolohe Kai. This popular YouTuber is known for his pop-rock music and DIY approach to music promotion and was named a Filipino American Game Changer by the City of Los Angeles in 2018 for his contribution to the music industry as a proud Asian American independent artist. As an actor, he has stage credits in productions such as “Burn all Night,”, “Mamma Mia!”, “Greese”, and “Spring Awakening”. You can catch him on the Sweet or Savory podcast with his wife Alyssa and both of them in person at Blue Note Hawai'i in December during their “Our little Christmas Tour”.In this episode we talk about growing up in California, how he got into music, starting to upload videos to YouTube, his YouTube and music career, his love for Hawai'i, his wife Alyssa, their upcoming Blue Note show in Waikiki, and so much more.Find AJ here: https://www.instagram.com/ajrafael/Buy our merch on:Official website: https://keepitaloha.com/Support us on:Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/kamakadiasFollow us on:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keepitalohapod/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/keepitalohapodTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@keepitalohapod