Podcast appearances and mentions of sophia chang

On this episode of Currently Reading, Mary and Roxanna are sharing their favorite reads of 2024. We are excited to give them the reins for a full episode, and they bring some awesome reads for you to add to your TBR! Show notes are time-stamped below for your convenience. Read the transcript of the episode (this link only works on the main site) .  .  .  .  1:24 - Mary and Roxanna's Reading Year In review 2:06 - Mary read 84 books in 2024, 59% print, 24% digital, 17% audio 2:54 - Mary read 71% adult, 16% middle grade, 7% young adult and 6% new adult 4:29 - Currently Reading Patreon 7:45 - Roxanna read 70 books in 2024, 19 were 5-star reads. 8:18 - Roxanna read 81% fiction, 19%  nonfiction 9:09 - Both Mary and Roxanna want to increase their POC/Diverse reads im 2025. 10:48 - Mary and Roxanna's Top Reads of 2024 10:57 - The Hotel Nantucket by Elin Hilderbrand (Roxanna #10) 12:15 - The Homewreckers by Mary Kay Andrews 13:23 - The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science by Kate McKinnon (Mary #10) 14:39 - Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett 15:22 - Hotline by Dimitri Nasrallah (Roxanna #9) 16:51 - How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water by Angie Cruz 17:45 - Death in the Dark Woods by Annelise Ryan  (Mary #9) 17:51 - A Death in Door County by Annelise Ryan 20:33 - The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow (Roxanna #8) 21:13 - The Last Dragoners of Bowbazar by Indra Das 23:52 - Cabin: Off the Grid Adventures with a Clueless Craftsman by Patrick Hutchison (Mary #8) 26:27 - It's Easier than you Think by Sylvia Boorstein (Roxanna #7) 30:18 - A Bit Much by Lyndsay Rush (Mary #7) 30:56 - @maryoliversdrunkcousin on Instagram 31:19 - Winter Hours by Mary Oliver 32:03 - Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark (Roxanna #6) 34:58 - The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer (Mary #6) 35:09 - The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer 37:24 - Margot's Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe (Roxanna #5) 40:05 - The Second Ending by Michelle Hoffman 41:52 - Heir by Sabaa Tahir (Mary #5) 43:47 - A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness 46:44 - Burnout by Emily and Amelia Nagoski (Roxanna #4) 50:12 - The Wedding People by Alison Espach (Mary #4) 53:38 - In the Shadow of the Mountain by Sylvia Vasquez-Lovado (Roxanna #3) 54:02 - Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer 54:04 - Finding Me by Viola Davis 57:00 - The Pumpkin Princess and the Forever Night by Steven Banbury (Mary #3) 58:59 - Be Ready when the Luck Happens by Ina Garten (Roxanna #2) 1:02:08 - The Third Gilmore Girl by Kelly Bishop 1:02:25 - The Baddest Bitch in the Room by Sophia Chang 1:04:36 - A Letter to the Luminous Deep by Sylvie Cathrall (Mary #2) 1:08:22 - Matrix by Lauren Groff (Roxanna #1) 1:08:39 - Search by Michelle Huneven 1:11:15 - Sandwich by Catherine Newman (Mary #1) Support Us: Become a Bookish Friend | Grab Some Merch Shop Bookshop dot org | Shop Amazon Bookish Friends Receive: The Indie Press List with a curated list of five books hand sold by the indie of the month. January's IPL is a special episode in partnership with All Things Murderful and a total mystery and thriller stack from Fabled Bookshop in Waco, Texas! Love and Chili Peppers with Kaytee and Rebekah - romance lovers get their due with this special episode focused entirely on the best selling genre fiction in the business.  All Things Murderful with Meredith and Elizabeth - special content for the scary-lovers, brought to you with the behind-the-scenes insights of an independent bookseller From the Editor's Desk with Kaytee and Bunmi Ishola - a quarterly peek behind the curtain at the publishing industry The Bookish Friends Facebook Group - where you can build community with bookish friends from around the globe as well as our hosts Connect With Us: The Show: Instagram | Website | Email | Threads The Hosts and Regulars: Meredith | Kaytee | Mary | Roxanna Production and Editing: Megan Phouthavong Evans Affiliate Disclosure: All affiliate links go to Bookshop unless otherwise noted. Shopping here helps keep the lights on and benefits indie bookstores. Thanks for your support!

National Geographic photographer Cory Richards talks new book; Hurricane Helene intensifies to Category 3 storm; Sophia Chang discusses Asian representation in hip-hop Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

National Geographic photographer Cory Richards talks new book; Hurricane Helene intensifies to Category 3 storm; Sophia Chang discusses Asian representation in hip-hop Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lichen is a strange presence on this planet. Traditionally, scientists have understood lichen as a new organism formed through symbiosis between a fungus and an algae. But the science is evolving. It seems that there may be more than one species of fungus involved in this symbiosis, and some scientists have suggested that lichen could be described as both an ecosystem and an organism. Lichen may even be immortal, in some sense of the word.In lichen, the poet Forrest Gander finds both the mystery of the forest and a rich metaphor for our symbiosis with one another and with the planet, for the relationship between the dead and the living, and for how our relationships with others change us indelibly. In his poem, “Forest,” lichen are a sensual presence, even erotic, living in relationship to the other beings around them. They resemble us, strangely, despite our dramatic differences.The words of the poem teem with life, like the forest they explore, and Forrest's marvelous reading of the poem adds a panoply of meanings and feelings through his annunciation, his breaths, his breaks. It's phenomenal.This poem, and his work more broadly, is about nothing less that who we are on this Earth and how we live—how we thrive—in relationship.Forrest Gander writes poetry, novels, essays, and translations. He is the recipient of many awards and honors, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Pulitzer Prize in poetry for his book, Be With. As an undergraduate, like me, he studied geology, which became foundational to his engagement with ecological ethics and poetics.Forrest often collaborates with other artists on books and exhibitions, including a project with the photographer Sally Mann. His latest book of poetry is a collaboration with the photographer Jack Shear, called Knot (spelled with a “k”). He recently collaborated with artist Ashwini Bhat on an exhibition at the Shoshana Wayne Gallery in Los Angeles, called “In Your Arms I'm Radiant.”His poem, “Forest,” is from his 2021 collection of poems, Twice Alive.Forrest has taught at Harvard University and Brown University. He spoke to me from his home in Northern California, where he now lives.This episode of Chrysalis is part of the Chrysalis Poets series, which focuses on a single poems from poets who confront ecological issues in their work.You can listen on Substack, Apple Podcasts, and other podcast platforms.Please rate, review, and share to help us spread the word!Forrest GanderBorn in the Mojave Desert in Barstow, California, Forrest Gander grew up in Virginia. He spend significant years in San Francisco, Dolores Hidalgo (Mexico), Eureka Springs, and Providence. With the late poet CD Wright, he has a son, the artist Brecht Wright Gander. Forrest holds degrees in both Geology and English literature. He lives now in Northern California with his wife, the artist Ashwini Bhat. Gander's book Be With was awarded the 2019 Pulitzer Prize. Concerned with the way we are revised and translated in encounters with the foreign, his book Core Samples from the World was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Gander has collaborated frequently with other artists including photographers Sally Mann, Graciela Iturbide, Raymond Meeks, and Lucas Foglia, glass artist Michael Rogers, ceramic artists Rick Hirsch and Ashwini Bhat, artists Ann Hamilton, Tjibbe Hooghiemstra, dancers Eiko & Koma, and musicians Vic Chesnutt and Brady Earnhart, among others.   The author of numerous other books of poetry, including Redstart: An Ecological Poetics and Science & Steepleflower, Gander also writes novels (As a Friend; The Trace), essays (A Faithful Existence) and translates. Recent translations include It Must Be a Misunderstanding by Coral Bracho, Names and Rivers by Shuri Kido, and Then Come Back: the Lost Neruda Poems. His most recent anthologies are Pinholes in the Night: Essential Poems from Latin American (selected by Raúl Zurita) and Panic Cure: Poems from Spain for the 21st Century.Gander's books have been translated and published in more than a dozen other languages. He is a United States Artists Rockefeller Fellow and has received fellowships from The National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim, Whiting, and Howard Foundations. In 2011, he was awarded the Library of Congress Witter Bynner Fellowship. Gander was the Briggs-Copeland poet at Harvard University before becoming The Adele Kellenberg Seaver Professor of Literary Arts and Comparative Literature at Brown University where he taught courses such as Poetry & Ethics, EcoPoetics, Latin American Death Trip, and Translation Theory & Practice. He is an Emeritus Chancellor for the Academy for the Academy of American Poets and is an elected member of The Academy of Arts & Sciences.Gander co-edited Lost Roads Publishers with CD Wright for twenty years, soliciting, editing, and publishing books by more than thirty writers, including Michael Harper, Kamau Brathwaite, Arthur Sze, Fanny Howe, Frances Mayes, Steve Stern, Zuleyka Benitez, and René Char.“Forest”By Forrest GanderErogenous zones in oaks slung with stoles of lace lichen the sun's rays spilling through leaves in broken packets a force call it nighttime thrusts mushrooms up from their lair of spawn mycelial loam the whiff of port they pop into un- trammeled air with the sort of gasp that follows a fine chess move like memories are they? or punctuation? was it something the earth said to provoke our response tasking us to recall an evolutionary course our long ago initation into the one- among-others and within my newborn noticing have you popped up beside me love or were you here from the start a swarm of meaning and decay still gripping the underworld both of us half-buried holding fast if briefly to a swelling vastness while our coupling begins to register in the already awake compendium that offers to take us in you take me in and abundance floods us floats us out we fill each with the other all morning breaks as birdsong over us who rise to the surface so our faces might be sprungRecommended Readings & MediaForrest Gander reading his poem “Unto Ourselves” from Twice Alive.TranscriptIntroJohn FiegeLichen is a strange presence on this planet. Traditionally, scientists have understood lichen as a new organism formed through symbiosis between a fungus and an algae. But the science is evolving. It seems there may be more than one species of fungus involved in this symbiosis. And some scientists have suggested that lichen, and could be described as both an ecosystem and an organism. Lichen may even be immortal in some sense of the word. In lichen, the poet Forrest Gander finds both the mystery of the forest and a rich metaphor for our symbiosis with one another and with the planet, for the relationship between the dead and the living, and for how our relationships with others change us indelibly. In his poem, "Forest," lichen are an essential presence, even erotic, living in relationship to the other beings around them. They resemble us strangely, despite our dramatic differences. The words of the poem teem with life, like the forest they explore, and Forrest's marvelous reading of the poem as a panoply of meanings and feelings through his enunciation—his breaths, his breaks; it's phenomenal. This poem in his work, more broadly, is about nothing less than who we are on this earth, and how we live; how we thrive in relationship. I'm John Fiege, and this episode of Chrysalis is part of the Chrysalis Poets series. Forrest Gander writes poetry, novels, essays, and translations. He is the recipient of many awards and honors, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Pulitzer Prize in poetry for his book Be With. Forrest often collaborates with other artists on books and exhibitions, including a project with a photographer Sally Mann. His latest book of poetry is a collaboration with a photographer Jack Scheer called Knot. He recently collaborated with artist Ashwini Bhat on an exhibition at the Shoshana Wayne Gallery in Los Angeles, called In Your Arms I'm Radiant. His poem, "Forest," is from his 2021 collection of poems, Twice Alive. Forrest has taught at Harvard University and Brown University. He spoke to me from his home in Northern California, where he now lives. Here is Forrest Gander reading his poem "Forest."PoemForrest Gander“Forest”Erogenous zones in oaks slung with stoles of lace lichen the sun's rays spilling through leaves in broken packets a force call it nighttime thrusts mushrooms up from their lair of spawn mycelial loam the whiff of port they pop into un- trammeled air with the sort of gasp that follows a fine chess move like memories are they? or punctuation? was it something the earth said to provoke our response tasking us to recall an evolutionary course our long ago initation into the one- among-others and within my newborn noticing have you popped up beside me love or were you here from the start a swarm of meaning and decay still gripping the underworld both of us half-buried holding fast if briefly to a swelling vastness while our coupling begins to register in the already awake compendium that offers to take us in you take me in and abundance floods us floats us out we fill each with the other all morning breaks as birdsong over us who rise to the surface so our faces might be sprungConversationJohn FiegeThank you. It's so wonderful hearing you read it, the intonation and the flow of the words and your emphasis is just like completely new hearing you read it, rather than just reading it myself. I want to start with the sexual imagery. You begin with "erogenous zones in oaks, slung with stoles of lace lichen." And that last line, "stoles of lace lichen the," that was one of the things that jumped out to me, is the is at the end of the line there. And you read it as if it was the end of the line rather than pausing and using it as part of the next stanza. But in addition to these, this erogenous zone, you've got thrusting mushrooms in a layer of spawn, and sexual imagery doesn't often accompany decomposition, and decomposers like lichen and in fungi, but this combination brings a strong sense of the interconnectedness of life and death of reproduction and decomposition. And so this is the cyclical world we live in, even though we're often myopically or delusionally, focused on some kind of progressive, linear, supernaturally immortal view of our lives. How are you imagining the reader encountering the beginning of this poem, and its images of sexually charged decomposition?Forrest GanderI'm, uh, trying to connect decomposition and eros, or the merging of more than one species, one individual, into a community. And I'm trying to use a syntax, which you notice, that also doesn't easily separate itself into clear, discrete sentences, but seems to be connected at both ends. And the sense is for us to lose our security in reading our feeling that we dominate the reading that we can figure it out quickly and divide it up into these parcels, and instead, create a kind of reading experience that mimics the kind of experience that we actually live, where everything is connected, and, and where the erotic and the decomposing are involved in the same processes.John FiegeYeah, and thanks to Governor Jerry Brown, lace lichen is now the official California state lichen making...Forrest Gander(Chuckles) Isn't that great? John Fiege...making California the first state to recognize a lichen as a state symbol. And the poem, like you were saying, how the syntax is mimicking the organic world. Visually, the line breaks and the varied intended indentations appear as local lace lichen itself. Can you talk about your relationship with lichen?Forrest GanderYes. You know, I think like you think, which is why you're doing these podcasts, that we're in an exigent historical moment where the environment is rapidly changing, and species are rapidly disappearing. And we've been hearing about this for decades without really responding in a sufficient way to the exigency of our situation. So I'm trying to find models of, instead of just heaping on more climate information horror, I'm trying to find models of other ways of thinking about our relationship with the world. And one, since I have a background in science—I have a degree in geology—is a scientific one. And I worked with a mycologist, named Anne Pringle, who taught me to see fungus and lichen in places where I hadn't been seeing them before. And it turns out lichen covers about 92% of the world you can find lichen in. And despite that, most people know what it is. They've seen, like on rocks, green, brown, little spots. It turns out, scientists don't really know what lichen is.John FiegeIt's cool to find something that scientists don't feel like they know that much about.Forrest GanderIt is! And yet, it seems like there's more more of those things that we don't really know that we can't measure, that we can't feel like we are in control of it all. And lichen is these two—more actually, it's not just an algae and cyanobacteria, or Sienna bacteria and fungus that get together it there's more organisms that are involved that come together, and are transformed completely and can't go back to what they were. And they formed this new organism that acts completely differently. And we're not so different from that, that our own bodies are full of other organisms, and even our DNA contains DNA of parasites that long ago became incorporated into our system. So lichen gives us a way of thinking about the mutualities that our lives are really made of.John FiegeYeah, and this poem, "Forest," is part of that collection, Twice Alive, where you have "Post-Fire Forest" and other poems related to wildfire and the aftermath of them, and that collection follows on the heels of your previous collection, Be With, which, you know this moving series of eulogistic poems to your late wife. It seems that Be With wrestles with and processes personal grief, while "Twice Alive" adds the element of ecological trauma. How are those two realms of trauma-related phenomena—the personal and the ecological? And how do they play out in the poem?Forrest GanderThe poems of "Be With”… they are so personally painful to me, I couldn't even read from the book after I published it. I think I read twice and then stopped reading from it. And one, as Albert Camus says, you can't live on in a grief or depression that's so terrible that it doesn't leave you with any openings. And so I wanted to find positive things to write about. But we're living during an ecological crisis. So I'm, and I've been writing about that crisis through really most of my adult life. But I wanted to find positive ways of reimagining our relationship with the world and maybe with death also. Because in lichen, and in the metaphor of like, and work, to two or more things come together and are transformed. I thought of human intimacy and the way that my relationship, my close relationships, I'm transformed in those relationships, I become something else. And that thing, which is welded in love, has a durability, and lasts. And in the same way, scientists—some scientists are saying that our whole idea of death comes out of our mammalian orientation. And that may be because some things don't die, and have theoretical immortality, and lichen, given enough nutrients, may be one of those things.John FiegeThat's amazing. How does it make you feel to think about the possibility that there's something that actually has some kind of immortality?Forrest GanderHow does it make us feel? I think it checks what we have always thought we've known. And it checks our instinctual perspective. And that kind of check, I think, is really helpful in terms of how we begin to reimagine our place in a world of other species that are completely different from us, and yet, share so much DNA.John FiegeCan you tell me about the Sangam literary traditions that you've referenced as an important element of your recent work in Eco-poetry?Forrest GanderSure! What brought me to Sangam was looking for other models of relationships between the human and the nonhuman. And it turns out that, you know, 2000 years ago, in Southern India, there was a blossoming of literature, which came to be called Sangam, which means convergence, and that one of the two styles of that poetry, which is called Akam, it was considered not only unethical but impossible to write about human emotions, as though they were independent of the landscape around us, which affects our perceptions. And, it impacts how and what we feel. And so, using that model for poems and finding that the same five landscapes that come up in the Sangam poems are the same five landscapes that one can find in California, where I live, I used those Sangam poems as a kind of model for writing poems that expressed that mutuality of, of the human and the nonhuman in the five landscapes of California in my home.John Fiegeisn't that so satisfying on so many levels to be able to look so far back in history? And to see people encountering the world in ways that are so resonant with the ways you are, we are encountering the world today in a completely different part of the planet, even? It's kind of amazing.Forrest GanderIt is! And yeah, I think it's what we will find everywhere that, you know, the Native Americans in what we now called the United States. They didn't think that these European invaders would last very long because the European invaders hadn't lived for thousands of years, with animals and plants of this continent. And so they thought we would fail. And we have failed, we've failed to live in a way that takes into account our interdependence with the nonhuman world.John FiegeWell, jumping back into the poem, your word choices and juxtapositions and the sounds, and the rhythms of the words in the poem are so powerful. Here's a section that begins at the end of a stanza and carries on to the next, "a force call it nighttime thrusts mushrooms up from their lair." I like this idea of nighttime as a force that has the power to push things up out of the earth. And nighttime is when we rest, but also maybe when we have sex, or maybe when we don't have sex often enough. But how is nighttime of force for you?Forrest GanderBecause there are so many processes, especially plant processes, that take place after the sun goes down. And that often, we're not thinking about night being a reenergizing process for other species. And also, I'm connecting nighttime, and that darkness with the half-buried to the things that go on in the dark, the things that go on underground.John FiegeRight! Well, here's another section I'd like to dig into. If you don't mind me reading, I feel bad reading your poem as you read it so beautifully, but just to go through it again. Like memories, are they or punctuation? Was it something the earth said to provoke a response, tasking us to recall an evolutionary course, our long-ago initiation into the one among others? So in this section of the poem, you shift from third person into first person plural, and we don't exactly know what the 'we' or the 'us' is, but I'm imagining it to be our species collectively speaking with the earth here. I personified a personified Earth. And each of us is merely one among others, one person among other people, but also humans are just one among many other species on the earth. So what's going on here, with the earth being provocative, the shift to first person plural, and to us thinking about our evolutionary course?Forrest GanderSo I'm thinking of mushrooms as kind of exclamation marks that come up and call our attention to the nonhuman, and also how memories are like that, that they pop up from the darkness of our mind into our conscious mind. And that, what they remind us of, what any contact with a nonhuman reminds us of, is our involvement with them; our long ago initiated course as an interdependent species, as a community in a community, that we are one among many others, as you say, and that if we forget that, then we don't take care of the earth because we don't recognize that it's part of taking care of ourselves. And for many human communities and cultures earlier, this was de rigueur, it was understood that, that we were involved. Our lives were educations in how to live with the world around us. But we've become so separated from that in our urban cultures that we need reminding.John FiegeRight, right. Well, and that reminds me of another section of the poem, we have this phrase "newborn noticing." So the stanza it's in is, "and within my newborn noticing, have you popped up beside me, my love? Or were you here from the start?" And I love this idea of newborn noticing it suggests that we're noticing a new, but also noticing, as a newborn does, like Lao says—‘newborn baby, unbiased, undistracted, nonjudgmental.' And this section feels like it touches on our deeply ingrained, anthropocentrism and ignorance of other species, and maybe how poetry can help us notice the world around us more fully, especially the other-than-human world. What is this 'newborn noticing' to you?Forrest GanderRight, I'm so glad you bring up Lao Tzu, also. Lao Tzu says, "Those who are not in constant awe; surely some great tragedy will befall them." And hear the 'newborn noticing,' again, that earlier passage you mentioned, that connects the punctuation to coming out of the ground of the mushrooms, to memories that come out of the darkness of our mind into our conscious mind. That's also the birth of something.John FiegeSo here's... oh, go ahead.Forrest GanderI just like that you've been, I mean, some people ask, you know, what can we do in this environmental crisis, and one of the things we can do is to try to have a chorus of not just scientists and biologists, but a chorus of artists and priests, and poets. And that's what you've been doing: putting together that chorus of responses to our crisis. And I think it's going to take the voices of a lot of people from a lot of different trajectories, to affect any kind of change. So I'm proud of what you're doing.John FiegeYeah, I totally agree. And I'm glad you notice and appreciate that (chuckles). You know, one thing I say all the time is, you know, our environmental discourse is dominated by science, economics, and policy. And those three things are all extremely important, and we have to keep on top of all of them. But it's leaving out the whole rest of the human experience. And if we are not all focused on this problem, and dealing with it in the ways that we know how, and the ways that we know how to interact with the world, we just... we can't get there because the problem is... it's so overwhelming as it is to leave it up to a small portion of the population to address is not sufficient,Forrest GanderRight? Or it would have changed already. And I think what art and poetry and literature can do is add a kind of an emotional and psychological approach to it, that can add it to the science, and can be more convincing,John FiegeRight? And not even just like, a way to convince people, but just a way to, to understand and feel the problem is so much beyond, you know, just a reason-based problem that you can solve or not, you know, but that it's part of who you are and what you value in the world and what you know, get you up out of bed every morning.Forrest GanderThat's beautifully put. Yeah, I agree with you.John FiegeWell, here here's another line I love from the poem, "A swarm of meaning and decay." And this goes back to that cyclical view of life and death; birth and decomposition. And it also brings in this concept of meaning—this thing that humans are obsessed with. Our perpetual question of why—what is the meaning of life? And so much of the foundation of our understanding of meaning is bound up in the perpetuation of life. And oftentimes, in the avoidance of death, despite the need for death to bring life. Can you talk more about this "swarm of meaning and decay?"Forrest GanderSo the "swarm of meaning and decay" comes just a moment after my "newborn noticing." And here, the poem merges the human—we don't really know for sure whether I'm talking about human beings, or I'm talking about other forms of life that are emerging from the underworld, like fungus, for instance. And in that merging of subjectivity and world, I'm trying to emphasize how the human life and the processes of the life—lives that aren't human—are completely related to each other. It's interesting to me that the kind of poetry that I write is sometimes categorized as eco-poetry, the idea of Eco-poetry is that there might be a way of writing in which human subjectivity and the non-human aren't so discrete from each other and that we might be able to show in writing, a different way of experiencing, or really, the real way of experiencing our relationships with otherness, which is that our subjectivities merge into otherness. That we're made of multiple creatures and were made by multiple interactions with the world. And I think that's what art has always done, is that it's expanded our way of thinking of the human.John FiegeDefinitely, definitely. Well, let me jump into the last two stanzas in the poem, which read, "And abundance floods us floats us out, we fill each with the other all morning breaks as songbird over us who rise to the surface, so our faces might be strong." And again, there's so much richness in this language. But to start off with, how does abundance, both flood us and float us?Forrest GanderWell, our lives are abundant; the world is abundant. And that sense of merging with another in intimacy, in love, and merging with the world is a sense of expanding. This, you know, the notion of the self, and that's an abundance, it's recognizing our collaborative relationship with otherness. And it floats us out of ourselves so that we're not locked into our own minds, our own singular psyches, we fill with each other. And then again, here, the syntax is working in two ways. We fill with each other, we fill with the other "all morning". And then we revise that as we, as we make that break. We fill with the other "all morning breaks as birdsong over us." And I'm thinking here about how human beings, Homo sapiens, from the start, almost all of human beings have experienced birdsong since we were born, since early in our lives. We've grown up with the songs of birds infused in our minds, in our hearing. And how much of a part of us birdsong is. We're rising to the surface like the mushrooms coming from underground to blossom so that our faces might be sprung. And here again, the human and the nonhuman? Am I talking about mushrooms here? Or am I talking about human beings? I'm purposely talking about both in a way that is perhaps indistinguishable.John FiegeAnd as you mentioned, the poem starts with the imagery of the mushrooms thrusting upward. And then, at the end here, it seems that the we in the poem rises to the surface. And the last line of the poem is, so our faces might be sprung. This sense of emergence comes to that most intimate thing—our faces—and this vague 'we' suddenly has a face. And we are like flowers or emergent mushrooms in the nighttime. Where does this poem leave you? And how do you think about where you'd like to leave the reader at the end?Forrest GanderI think in that uncertainty about where the human and where the non-human begins, I think that's the strategy of the poems, which is presenting not some romantic notion of our involvement with others, but I think a form of realism, it's recognizing that our involvement with otherness is entire, that were composed of otherness. So I think the feeling of what a mushroom is, is just the face, it's this little—fruited body, they call it—of an organism that's underground that we don't see at all. And, in a way, that's what our lives are also: this brief flourishing of the face of something that's connected to a body that's much larger than ours. And that ambiguous space is what I'm interested in, in thinking about.John FiegeAnd does that noticing or that knowledge calls us to do something? In particular, do you think?Forrest Gander  32:43Well, I don't want to turn the poem into a didacticism. But the poem presents a vision. And that vision can contribute to the way that we see ourselves in the world. And the way we see ourselves in the world forces us to make ethical decisions about how we are and what we do. So in, I want to provide a vision or share a vision. And I want readers to do with it what they feel called upon to do. There have been different ways that we've understood our relationship and our role in a living Earth, through time and in different cultures. And the worldview that we have now, which is using the Earth very transactional, can be changed. And that art can inspire us to imagine those kinds of changes. In some ways, we're like the yeast that gets put with grapes to make wine. The yeast, which is a fungus, eats the sugar, and it secretes basically alcohol. That's what where we get alcohol from, and it proliferates and proliferates, and keeps producing alcohol until at about 13%. The yeast kills itself it dies because it can't live with an alcohol content greater than that. And we're like that yeast on this earth. We're using up all of the resources, and we're proliferating, and pretty soon, there's not going to be room for us to live on the world will pollute ourselves out of existence, and the world will go on. It's just that we won't be part of it.John FiegeThat's a beautiful place to end; with yeast, and lichen, and erogenous zones. All swirling around together. Can you end by reading the poem once again?Forrest GanderSure. So, 'forest' is one of the five major landscapes that appear in the Sangam poems.[See poem as transcribed above]John FiegeForrest, thank you so much. This has been wonderful.Forrest GanderThanks a lot, John. I'm really pleased to be a part of your series and to be part of the chorus of voices that you're putting together.John FiegeAnd it's a beautiful voice that you've brought to it. OutroJohn FiegeThank you so much to Forrest Gander. Go to our website at chrysalispodcast.org, where you can read his poem "Forrest" and find our book and media recommendations. This episode was researched by Elena Cebulash and edited by Brody Mutschler and Sophia Chang. Music is by Daniel Rodriguez Vivas, mixing is by Juan Garcia. If you enjoyed my conversation with Forrest, please rate and review us on your favorite podcast platform. Contact me anytime at chrysalispodcast.org, where you can also support the project, subscribe to our newsletter, and join the conversation. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.chrysalispodcast.org

À quelle fréquence sortez-vous intentionnellement de votre zone de confort pour essayer de nouvelles choses ? Est-ce que c'est facile ou difficile pour vous ? Est-ce que vous avez parfois le sentiment de manquer certaines opportunités dans votre vie parce que vous ne sortez pas de votre zone de confort ?Dans cet épisode j'ai rassemblé 10 stratégies pour sortir de sa zone de confort et entrer dans sa zone de croissance que j'utilise moi-même et qui vous seront -je l'espère- utiles aussi ! Bonne écoute !

Court officials say more than 3,800 claims were filed in New York State under the Adult Survivors Act. Plus, WNYC's Sophia Chang takes us to a park in lower Manhattan that's been plagued by violence in recent years. And finally, WNYC's Sean Carlson talks with Shawn Borgue, investigative reporter at the Washington Post, about Wael Hana, the businessman charged with bribing New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez.

New York State has a new law meant to penalize real estate scammers who use fraud, harassment and forgery to steal people's homes from them. Plus, New Jersey's First Lady, Tammy Murphy, is running for the U.S. Senate seat held by Bob Menendez. And finally, WNYC's Michael Hill talks with reporter Sophia Chang and Willis Elkins, executive director of the Newtown Creek Alliance, about a highly anticipated project in Brooklyn to convert organic waste into natural gas for heating fuel.

Brooklyn's Woodhull Hospital will remain closed for several days as it undergoes repairs from Tropical Storm Ophelia. Plus, New York City Mayor Eric Adams takes a trip to Latin America. Also, WNYC's Sophia Chang reports on a new trash system that's the first of its kind in the entire country. And finally, with the writer's

As the New York City Department of Sanitation plans to ramp up its fines for restaurants and residential buildings, Sophia Chang, WNYC/Gothamist reporter, breaks down the new guidelines and their deadlines, plus other sanitation-related news.

Kate Fagan is an Emmy-award winning journalist and the No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of WHAT MADE MADDY RUN, which was a semi-finalist for the PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sportswriting. Her first book was the coming-of-age memoir THE REAPPEARING ACT, and her third book, ALL THE COLORS CAME OUT, was released in May 2021 from Little, Brown. In March of 2023, her fourth book — HOOP MUSES: an insider's guide to pop culture and the (women's) game — a collaboration with WNBA legend Seimone Augustus and artist Sophia Chang will be released by Twelve. She currently works for Meadowlark Media and co-hosts the podcast Off the Looking Glass. Kate previously spent seven years as a columnist and feature writer for espnW, ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine. She was also a regular panelist on ESPN's Around the Horn and host of Outside the Lines. Kate covered the Philadelphia 76ers for three seasons and played college basketball at the University of Colorado. Why People Love Watching Sports | Kate Fagan | TED Talk: https://youtu.be/3x3X6HELtog Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The city is supposed to hold landlords accountable for problems with the housing they rent out. WNYC's Sophia Chang looks into what happens when landlords don't fix problems and city agencies say their hands are tied. Also, Sofreh is one of the hottest restaurants in Brooklyn, and the owner, Nasim Alikhani says it only took 30 years to open. Today the 64-year-old chef is a finalist for a James Beard Award, nominated for Best Chef in New York State. WNYC's Kerry Shaw caught up with Alikhani to learn more about her unconventional path to the industry's top honor.

We're going back to 1983 with the release of the kung-fu film "Shaolin and Wu Tang" and its influence on the iconic New York hip-hop collective, Wu-Tang Clan.  KEXP's Janice Headley leads a roundtable discussion with content producer Martin Douglas, DJs Gabriel Teodros, Mike Ramos, and Larry Mizell Jr., as well as two special guests: Jeff Chang, author of the award-winning book “Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation”; and Sophia Chang (no relation), widely regarded as the “first Asian woman in hip-hop" and author of the memoir “The Baddest Bitch in the Room.”  Written and produced by Janice Headley. Mixed and mastered by Roddy Nikpour.  Support the podcast: kexp.org/50hiphop See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ebro talks to hip-hop executive and author Sophia Chang for Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month about being the first ever Asian woman in hip-hop, being radicalized by punk music, and her work managing many of your favorite artists, from RZA to Paul Simon.

Celeste and Jeff talk trash (and how to clean up NYC) with special guests Sophia Chang, public policy reporter for WNYC/Gothamist, and City Councilman Erik Bottcher, plus your calls. Original broadcast date: April 20, 2023

On this episode of the Edge of Sports podcast, we speak to author and sports opinionist Kate Fagan about her new illustrated history of the women in basketball, Hoop Muses: An Insider's Account to Pop Culture and the (Women's Game). The book is illustrated by Sophia Chang and curated by the legendary hoopster Seimone Augustus. Fagan and I talk about her inspiration, creative process and what it was like working with Seimone Augustus.We'll have Choice Words about the effort to ban trans athletes from youth sports. We give a Just Stand Up award to the New York Knicks for looking like a legitimate, joyous playoff contender down the home stretch of the season. We also have a Just Sit Down award for Texas Tech basketball coach, Mark Adams for the wild comments he made to members of his team.Subscribe to The Nation to support all of our podcasts: thenation.com/podcastsubscribe. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Kate Fagan, author of HOOP MUSES and writer/podcaster with Meadowlark Media, pulled up with Myles and Owen to talk about her new book, which catalogues the history of women's basketball in a series of insightful essays. Curated by Seimone Augustus and illustrated by Sophia Chang, HOOP MUSES is available everywhere today, 3/7/23. Kate also discussed her podcast OFF THE LOOKING GLASS, answered some rapid fires, and dropped a ton of knowledge. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

What stories about death and the afterlife did you grow up with? We chat with filmmaker Eleanor Cho about her short film Dinner is Ready, Korean folklore about death, and the connections between film and mental health. Watch Dinner is Ready. About Eleanor:Eleanor Cho is a Korean American filmmaker and graduate of the USC School of Cinematic Arts. She is dedicated to writing and directing stories of underrepresented communities, and highlighting the extraordinary stories of ordinary people in order to humanize others and inspire empathy. She worked as a Writers' Production Assistant on THE NEVERS (HBO). She is part of Creative Visions' Women Excel Project, Visual Communications' Armed with a Camera Fellowship, and a finalist for NBC Writers on the Verge and Hillman Grad Rising Voices. She also won the Ghetto Film School (GFS) x Dolby Institute “Finish the Script” competition, where she wrote and directed a short film while being mentored by Academy Award-nominated director, Carlos López Estrada (Raya and the Last Dragon). She is currently being mentored by Academy Award-nominated director, Bing Liu (Minding the Gap) through Sophia Chang's Unlock Her Potential program.Website: eleanorcho.comInstagram: @smileyellyHow to support bamboo & glass:  

In this episode Dr. Robin explains the multitude of decisions that we as Black People have to make and the assault that we have to endure for owning our blackness. JOIN Knubia through Knarrative: https://www.knarrative.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Isn't it more fun to eat alfresco? Outdoor dining got a boost during the pandemic, and Pittsburgh is blooming with pretty patios, rooftop tables, beer gardens, and sidewalk seating. We invited Pittsburgh foodie blogger Sophia Chang — aka @sopheating on Instagram — to help us dish on some of the best spots for romance, ambiance, and a strong summer sipper. Our newsletter is fresh daily at 6 a.m. Sign up here. We're also on Twitter @citycastpgh & Instagram @CityCastPgh!

A spate of auditor resignations for real estate developers in China have prompted whispers of economic contagion. The real estate market in China is really important and if it were to collapse, then the world might go with it. We discuss what ESG has to do with the looming, potential crisis, and how the problems we are already seeing in the market could be fixed with better company governance processes.Host: Mike Disabato, MSCI ESG ResearchGuests: Yan Zhou, Sophia Chang, and Miranda Carr; MSCI ESG Research

This week we step into the shoes of OZY and ask why don't they just give Sophia Chang her show back, live and in public, if you will? Plus, does Jussie Smollett owe President Donald J Trump and MAGA Nation an APOLOGY after BESMIRCHING their NAMES and being found GUILTY of lying to the POLICE about being the VICTIM of a MAGA hate crime?BONUS: How will Don Jr. and Fox News Anchors MITIGATE the wrath of Donald Trump and his followers….in wake of their January 6th texts BEGGING for HELP behind his BACK? Become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/iftheshoesfit

In this week's episode, FUTUREVVORLD's Co-founder Daniel Navetta and Executive Editor Bob Marshall explore the longevity of the garments we own and wear, and how buying better can lead to a more sustainable lifestyle. The hosts are joined by: Transnomadica and Atelier & Repairs founder Maurizio Donadi; artist and Common Ace co-founder Sophia Chang; founder and lead designer of Space Available, Daniel Mitchell; and stylist-slash-creative consultant Rachael Wang. These guests talk about the benefits -- both for people and the planet -- of selecting and extending the life of well-made clothes. Listeners are also encouraged to think about the end-life of their clothes and the options that exist for recycling and repurposing.A special thank you to Timberland and its GreenStride collection for helping us get this series off the ground. 

WNYC/Gothamist reporters Jessica Gould and Sophia Chang talk about the knowns and unknowns of public school reopening in New York City.

This week we're joined by a living hip hop legend - rapper, producer and co-founder of Hieroglyphics, we've got Del the Funky Homosapien in the house

Today we are joined by Romy Samuel and Sophia Chang, the founders of Commonace, the one-stop shop marketplace for women's sneakers.0:29 Introduction to Romy Samuel and Sophia Chang7:21 What similarities have you both been able to find within your journeys through footwear being from two completely different parts of the world?8:26 Commonace was founded in 2018, what was it like when you initially launched?10:20 Why the name Commonace? 13:43 How do you balance your friendship and working together as partners?16:08 How do you both navigate being a voice and vessel for the female market and making sure that you are creating a space for all women and not just some?19:35 You’ve been conducting surveys this past year, are there any findings that have surprised you?22:39 Romy, you jumped from the tech industry to the footwear industry. What spurred that for you and how have you navigated them?25:39 Sophia, you worked for Jeff Staple as a project manager for Staple Design. Can you tell us a little bit about that and how you originally connected with Jeff?33:42 Is there an experience that you had that stood out to you the most to drive you to create Commonace and fill this void in the industry?36:12 Sophia, in 2014 you released your “brooklynite” collection with Puma. How did it feel as a collector to have that moment and what was the creative process like for you?40:17 Recently this year you both hosted the first-ever livestream Nike has done on SNKRS for Air Max Day. What did it feel like to make history on one of the most important holidays in sneakers?45:29 A sneaker collection can be as unique as a fingerprint, what’s the biggest difference between your collections?46:46 What are some different ways you have been able to clear out your sneaker collections without resorting to resale methods?48:51 How would you describe one another by referencing only one sneaker?

Today we are joined by Romy Samuel and Sophia Chang, the founders of Commonace, the one-stop shop marketplace for women's sneakers.0:29 Introduction to Romy Samuel and Sophia Chang7:21 What similarities have you both been able to find within your journeys through footwear being from two completely different parts of the world?8:26 Commonace was founded in 2018, what was it like when you initially launched?10:20 Why the name Commonace? 13:43 How do you balance your friendship and working together as partners?16:08 How do you both navigate being a voice and vessel for the female market and making sure that you are creating a space for all women and not just some?19:35 You’ve been conducting surveys this past year, are there any findings that have surprised you?22:39 Romy, you jumped from the tech industry to the footwear industry. What spurred that for you and how have you navigated them?25:39 Sophia, you worked for Jeff Staple as a project manager for Staple Design. Can you tell us a little bit about that and how you originally connected with Jeff?33:42 Is there an experience that you had that stood out to you the most to drive you to create Commonace and fill this void in the industry?36:12 Sophia, in 2014 you released your “brooklynite” collection with Puma. How did it feel as a collector to have that moment and what was the creative process like for you?40:17 Recently this year you both hosted the first-ever livestream Nike has done on SNKRS for Air Max Day. What did it feel like to make history on one of the most important holidays in sneakers?45:29 A sneaker collection can be as unique as a fingerprint, what’s the biggest difference between your collections?46:46 What are some different ways you have been able to clear out your sneaker collections without resorting to resale methods?48:51 How would you describe one another by referencing only one sneaker?

The Department of Education’s announcement of the 2020-2021 School Year Calendar included a number of changes for city students in the coming school year. Gothamist reporter Sophia Chang joins us to explain, and we take calls from parents.

Sophia Chang is a force to be reckoned with. A soft-spoken French-lit major in college and the child of Korean immigrants raised in Vancouver, when she first heard "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five everything changed. Taken by the mix of urgency, anger, and pride that was hip-hop in the 80s and 90s, Sophia rerouted her life to New York, quickly becoming a fixture in the music industry and hip-hop scene, and finding fast-family with the legendary Wu-Tang Clan.Over the years, Chang would end up not just a member of the Wu-Tang family, but also manage a number of the group's individual members, as well as other legends including A Tribe Called Quest, Raphael Saadiq, and D'Angelo. In 1995, she left the music business to train kung fu and manage a 34th Generation Shaolin monk, who would later become her partner and father of her two children, before returning to music. Now, after decades of being the force behind other amazing artists' stories, she's finally telling her own story in her breakout audiobook, The Baddest Bitch in the Room (https://amzn.to/3sQbE2S). We're so excited to share this Best Of conversation with you today.You can find Sophia at:Website : https://www.sophchang.com/Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/sophchangnyc/Check out our offerings & partners: Expensify: Automate your pre-accounting process for expenses, bills, invoices, and more with the world’s most widely-used expense management service. Approval Workflows. Realtime Customer Support. Next-Day Reimbursements. Company Card Management. Visit Expensify.com/goodlife to get started with a free trial. Air Doctor: Professional quality, medical-grade UltraHEPA air filter that's 100X more effective than ordinary air purifiers. Go to airdoctorpro.com and use promo code GOODLIFE and you’ll receive a 35% discount.OSEA: Plant-based formulas that deliver your best skin. Bioavailable seaweed, sustainably harvested & infused w/ cold-pressed essential oils. Vegan & Cruelty-Free. You can try OSEA risk-free for 30 days and get free shipping on orders over $50 and get 10% OFF your first order at OSEAmalibu.com

In the middle of a deadly pandemic that has shaken the world of higher education to its core, graduate workers at Columbia University are heading into their third week on strike, braving both physical and digital picket lines. We talk with three grad workers and members of GWC-UAW Local 2110 and the Columbia Academic Workers for a Democratic Union (C-AWDU) caucus about the strike, the workers' demands, and what listeners can do to show support. Guests: Joanna Lee, Harlan Chambers, and Cameron Foltz.    Additional links/info below... GWC-UAW Local 2110 website, Facebook page, and Twitter page C-AWDU website and Twitter page GoFundMe: Solidarity with Columbia Academic Student Workers  Joanna's Twitter page Harlan's Twitter page Cameron's Twitter page Sophia Chang, Gothamist, "Columbia Grad Students On Strike Over Wages And Harassment Policies, NYU Counterparts Voting On Similar Actions"   Permanent links below... Working People Patreon page Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show! Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page   Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org) Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

Gothamist and WNYC reporter, Sophia Chang, joins us to discuss the latest in NYC school news, including the city's new hybrid learning plans. This segment is guest-hosted by Ilya Marritz.

Sophia Chang is an illustrator and designer. Growing up in Flushing, Queens Sophia was pressured to become a doctor, lawyer, or engineer. Fortunately for us, she became an artist. Sophia has designed a critically acclaimed line for Puma and has collaborated with Nike, Adidas, Apple, HBO, and the NBA.This conversation is all about breaking through outside pressures and thriving on your own path. Sophia discusses how she defied the expectations of her upbringing but capitalized on her incredible work ethic in the art and design world. She encourages you to hoard skills and sneakers. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter by following @SneakerSalaries! Also, make sure you follow @ONE37pm and @SneakerNews to get the latest in sneaker culture, style and news!

In this episode we follow the story of trailblazing hip hop manager Sophia Chang; the first Asian woman in hip hop. Sophia tells us how she left Canada and embarked on a journey that led her to cross paths with some of the biggest artists in the music business. Some of her notable clients include ODB, RZA, GZA and D'Angelo. Sophia shares how these relationships have impacted her life and led her down the path she's on now. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

America was built on immigration, but is it still a good place for immigrants? Katty Kay and Carlos Watson discuss immigration, acceptance and assimilation with a top chef and a hip hop music manager. Marcus Samuelsson was born in Ethiopia but brought up in Sweden by his Swedish adoptive parents, before moving to America in the 1990s. He now has a chain of restaurants across the US, including the famous Red Rooster in Harlem. Sophia Chang was born in Canada to Korean immigrant parents. She moved to the US in her twenties and has been living in New York for more than three decades. She is known as “the first Asian woman in hip hop.” Amongst others, she has managed three members of Wu Tang Clan. Both discuss their journeys and reasons for coming to America, their experiences of trying to fit into American society, and what they feel about America’s attitudes to immigrants. They also talk about America’s cultural mosaic, opportunities, what immigrants bring to the US, and racism. This is a co-production between BBC World Service and Ozy Media.

Enter the Wu-Tang. Return to the 36 Chambers. People listening to these albums by the Wu-Tang Clan and its members likely never knew about Sophia Chang: a Korean-Canadian woman who worked with members like RZA, ODB and Method Man. Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest called Sophia Chang “an integral part of the golden era of hip-hop.” The Baddest Bitch in the Room (Catapult, 2020) charts Sophia Chang's life, from her childhood in Vancouver, through time in New York's hip-hop scene and travels between the United States and China managing martial arts, through to the present day. Sophia Chang is the music business matriarchitect who managed Ol' Dirty Bastard, RZA, GZA, D'Angelo, Raphael Saadiq, Q Tip, and A Tribe Called Quest as well as working with Paul Simon. She did marketing at Atlantic, A&R at Jive, A&R Admin at Universal, as well as serving as General Manager of RZA's Razor Sharp Records, Cinematic Music Group, and Joey Bada$$' Pro Era Records. Sophia is currently a screenwriter and author developing numerous TV properties, including a scripted series at FX based on her memoir “The Baddest Bitch in the Room”. She trained with and managed a Shaolin Monk, who became her partner and father of her children. She produced runway shows for Vivienne Tam and "Project Runway All Stars," and recently created Unlock Her Potential, a program that provides mentorship for women of color. In this interview, Sophia and I talk about her life: her time in the music business, her relationship with hip-hop, and her transition to martial arts and other cultural activities. We talk about what spurred her to tell her own story, and what it was like to be an Asian woman working in these spaces. You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, where you can find its review of The Baddest Bitch in the Room. Follow on Facebook or on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia. Nicholas Gordon is a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. In his day job, he's a researcher and writer for a think tank in economic and sustainable development. He is also a print and broadcast commentator on local and regional politics. He can be found on Twitter at @nickrigordon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/asian-review

Enter the Wu-Tang. Return to the 36 Chambers. People listening to these albums by the Wu-Tang Clan and its members likely never knew about Sophia Chang: a Korean-Canadian woman who worked with members like RZA, ODB and Method Man. Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest called Sophia Chang “an integral part of the golden era of hip-hop.” The Baddest Bitch in the Room (Catapult, 2020) charts Sophia Chang’s life, from her childhood in Vancouver, through time in New York’s hip-hop scene and travels between the United States and China managing martial arts, through to the present day. Sophia Chang is the music business matriarchitect who managed Ol’ Dirty Bastard, RZA, GZA, D’Angelo, Raphael Saadiq, Q Tip, and A Tribe Called Quest as well as working with Paul Simon. She did marketing at Atlantic, A&R at Jive, A&R Admin at Universal, as well as serving as General Manager of RZA’s Razor Sharp Records, Cinematic Music Group, and Joey Bada$$’ Pro Era Records. Sophia is currently a screenwriter and author developing numerous TV properties, including a scripted series at FX based on her memoir “The Baddest Bitch in the Room”. She trained with and managed a Shaolin Monk, who became her partner and father of her children. She produced runway shows for Vivienne Tam and "Project Runway All Stars," and recently created Unlock Her Potential, a program that provides mentorship for women of color. In this interview, Sophia and I talk about her life: her time in the music business, her relationship with hip-hop, and her transition to martial arts and other cultural activities. We talk about what spurred her to tell her own story, and what it was like to be an Asian woman working in these spaces. You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, where you can find its review of The Baddest Bitch in the Room. Follow on Facebook or on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia. Nicholas Gordon is a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. In his day job, he’s a researcher and writer for a think tank in economic and sustainable development. He is also a print and broadcast commentator on local and regional politics. He can be found on Twitter at @nickrigordon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Enter the Wu-Tang. Return to the 36 Chambers. People listening to these albums by the Wu-Tang Clan and its members likely never knew about Sophia Chang: a Korean-Canadian woman who worked with members like RZA, ODB and Method Man. Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest called Sophia Chang “an integral part of the golden era of hip-hop.” The Baddest Bitch in the Room (Catapult, 2020) charts Sophia Chang’s life, from her childhood in Vancouver, through time in New York’s hip-hop scene and travels between the United States and China managing martial arts, through to the present day. Sophia Chang is the music business matriarchitect who managed Ol’ Dirty Bastard, RZA, GZA, D’Angelo, Raphael Saadiq, Q Tip, and A Tribe Called Quest as well as working with Paul Simon. She did marketing at Atlantic, A&R at Jive, A&R Admin at Universal, as well as serving as General Manager of RZA’s Razor Sharp Records, Cinematic Music Group, and Joey Bada$$’ Pro Era Records. Sophia is currently a screenwriter and author developing numerous TV properties, including a scripted series at FX based on her memoir “The Baddest Bitch in the Room”. She trained with and managed a Shaolin Monk, who became her partner and father of her children. She produced runway shows for Vivienne Tam and "Project Runway All Stars," and recently created Unlock Her Potential, a program that provides mentorship for women of color. In this interview, Sophia and I talk about her life: her time in the music business, her relationship with hip-hop, and her transition to martial arts and other cultural activities. We talk about what spurred her to tell her own story, and what it was like to be an Asian woman working in these spaces. You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, where you can find its review of The Baddest Bitch in the Room. Follow on Facebook or on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia. Nicholas Gordon is a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. In his day job, he’s a researcher and writer for a think tank in economic and sustainable development. He is also a print and broadcast commentator on local and regional politics. He can be found on Twitter at @nickrigordon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Enter the Wu-Tang. Return to the 36 Chambers. People listening to these albums by the Wu-Tang Clan and its members likely never knew about Sophia Chang: a Korean-Canadian woman who worked with members like RZA, ODB and Method Man. Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest called Sophia Chang “an integral part of the golden era of hip-hop.” The Baddest Bitch in the Room (Catapult, 2020) charts Sophia Chang’s life, from her childhood in Vancouver, through time in New York’s hip-hop scene and travels between the United States and China managing martial arts, through to the present day. Sophia Chang is the music business matriarchitect who managed Ol’ Dirty Bastard, RZA, GZA, D’Angelo, Raphael Saadiq, Q Tip, and A Tribe Called Quest as well as working with Paul Simon. She did marketing at Atlantic, A&R at Jive, A&R Admin at Universal, as well as serving as General Manager of RZA’s Razor Sharp Records, Cinematic Music Group, and Joey Bada$$’ Pro Era Records. Sophia is currently a screenwriter and author developing numerous TV properties, including a scripted series at FX based on her memoir “The Baddest Bitch in the Room”. She trained with and managed a Shaolin Monk, who became her partner and father of her children. She produced runway shows for Vivienne Tam and "Project Runway All Stars," and recently created Unlock Her Potential, a program that provides mentorship for women of color. In this interview, Sophia and I talk about her life: her time in the music business, her relationship with hip-hop, and her transition to martial arts and other cultural activities. We talk about what spurred her to tell her own story, and what it was like to be an Asian woman working in these spaces. You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, where you can find its review of The Baddest Bitch in the Room. Follow on Facebook or on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia. Nicholas Gordon is a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. In his day job, he’s a researcher and writer for a think tank in economic and sustainable development. He is also a print and broadcast commentator on local and regional politics. He can be found on Twitter at @nickrigordon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Enter the Wu-Tang. Return to the 36 Chambers. People listening to these albums by the Wu-Tang Clan and its members likely never knew about Sophia Chang: a Korean-Canadian woman who worked with members like RZA, ODB and Method Man. Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest called Sophia Chang “an integral part of the golden era of hip-hop.” The Baddest Bitch in the Room (Catapult, 2020) charts Sophia Chang’s life, from her childhood in Vancouver, through time in New York’s hip-hop scene and travels between the United States and China managing martial arts, through to the present day. Sophia Chang is the music business matriarchitect who managed Ol’ Dirty Bastard, RZA, GZA, D’Angelo, Raphael Saadiq, Q Tip, and A Tribe Called Quest as well as working with Paul Simon. She did marketing at Atlantic, A&R at Jive, A&R Admin at Universal, as well as serving as General Manager of RZA’s Razor Sharp Records, Cinematic Music Group, and Joey Bada$$’ Pro Era Records. Sophia is currently a screenwriter and author developing numerous TV properties, including a scripted series at FX based on her memoir “The Baddest Bitch in the Room”. She trained with and managed a Shaolin Monk, who became her partner and father of her children. She produced runway shows for Vivienne Tam and "Project Runway All Stars," and recently created Unlock Her Potential, a program that provides mentorship for women of color. In this interview, Sophia and I talk about her life: her time in the music business, her relationship with hip-hop, and her transition to martial arts and other cultural activities. We talk about what spurred her to tell her own story, and what it was like to be an Asian woman working in these spaces. You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, where you can find its review of The Baddest Bitch in the Room. Follow on Facebook or on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia. Nicholas Gordon is a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. In his day job, he’s a researcher and writer for a think tank in economic and sustainable development. He is also a print and broadcast commentator on local and regional politics. He can be found on Twitter at @nickrigordon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Enter the Wu-Tang. Return to the 36 Chambers. People listening to these albums by the Wu-Tang Clan and its members likely never knew about Sophia Chang: a Korean-Canadian woman who worked with members like RZA, ODB and Method Man. Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest called Sophia Chang “an integral part of the golden era of hip-hop.” The Baddest Bitch in the Room (Catapult, 2020) charts Sophia Chang’s life, from her childhood in Vancouver, through time in New York’s hip-hop scene and travels between the United States and China managing martial arts, through to the present day. Sophia Chang is the music business matriarchitect who managed Ol’ Dirty Bastard, RZA, GZA, D’Angelo, Raphael Saadiq, Q Tip, and A Tribe Called Quest as well as working with Paul Simon. She did marketing at Atlantic, A&R at Jive, A&R Admin at Universal, as well as serving as General Manager of RZA’s Razor Sharp Records, Cinematic Music Group, and Joey Bada$$’ Pro Era Records. Sophia is currently a screenwriter and author developing numerous TV properties, including a scripted series at FX based on her memoir “The Baddest Bitch in the Room”. She trained with and managed a Shaolin Monk, who became her partner and father of her children. She produced runway shows for Vivienne Tam and "Project Runway All Stars," and recently created Unlock Her Potential, a program that provides mentorship for women of color. In this interview, Sophia and I talk about her life: her time in the music business, her relationship with hip-hop, and her transition to martial arts and other cultural activities. We talk about what spurred her to tell her own story, and what it was like to be an Asian woman working in these spaces. You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, where you can find its review of The Baddest Bitch in the Room. Follow on Facebook or on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia. Nicholas Gordon is a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. In his day job, he’s a researcher and writer for a think tank in economic and sustainable development. He is also a print and broadcast commentator on local and regional politics. He can be found on Twitter at @nickrigordon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sophia Chang, Gothamist and WNYC reporter, talks about the big changes the city announced for middle school admissions last week, including ending screens for this year, and eliminating district priority for high schools -- and listeners react. 

The world of hip-hop is often seen as dominated by urban, black men with very few women able to penetrate the inner sanctum. But one Korean-Canadian woman not only got inside, Sophia Chang broke down barriers and was completely and totally embraced by hip-hop. Her work in A&R and marketing with some of the biggest names in music including ODB, RZA, A Tribe Called Quest and Wu-Tang Clan catapulted Sophia into history as the first Asian female in hip-hop. Her amazing story is now in her memoir, “The Baddest Bitch in the Room”. May and Sophia had A LOT to talk about including how being “the other” helped fuel their determination to fight racism, division and hatred. This is a badass interview you don't want to miss. 

Jimi speaks with Sophia Chang— an illustrator and creative entrepreneur bridging the gaps between streetwear, art and design. Born and raised in Queens, NY but now based in Los Angeles, Sophia has worked with a huge roster of clientele including Samsung, Nike, Apple and the NBA. She is co-founder of the health and wellness focused creative platforms UNDO-Ordinary & UNDO-Labs as well as CommonAce, a new venture described as a one-stop shop for women's sneakers. She shares with Jimi the secrets of what keeps her firing on all cylinders as they discuss topics such as sleep science, listening to your body, authenticity on social media, learning from our pets, gender equality in sneaker culture and email etiquette. Sophia's Instagram - @esymai Jimi's Instagram - @jimi.zendrix Follow Secret Walls on Instagram - @secretwalls

Randy, Bobby, and Derek join forces for Episode 6 of the Views From 314ft Podcast. We're joined by artist and pop culture influencer Sophia Chang. Sophia was commissioned along with nineteen other artists and influencers to reimagine twenty iconic Topps baseball cards. Sophia's first card to release is the 1992 Mariano Rivera card. We discuss how Sophia became a part of the Topps 2020 project, the process behind the design and the importance of MLB intersecting with pop culture. Following our great conversation with Sophia, we discuss the potential MLB plans for starting the regular season in Arizona. We then jump into another plan for the season to take place in both Florida and Arizona. We end the show talking about MLB in...Japan?We are adhering to the shelter in place guidelines of New York State and recording remotely. We will be doing so for as long as the “shelter in place” order remains. We're talking on Skype so we apologize in advance for any sound quality issues.The podcast is now available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify so please subscribe, drop a five-star rating and spread the word. We hope this gives you some distraction from all the craziness in the world right now. Here are the episode notes:[Introduction] We say hello to the blog brothers and meet Sophia Chang[6:05] Arriving at Mariano Rivera as the choice for her first card.[8:00] Exploring how storytelling influences Sophia's specific visual approach.[16:30] The intersectionality between pop culture, street culture and baseball.[19:45] What went into the choice of choosing the Mariano quote featured on the card.[21:00] The interesting dynamic of a vibrant and energetic baseball card to represent an era in Yankees baseball not known for their personality.[25:00] Discussing Sophia's Jackie Robinson card.[26:56] What generations of baseball fans have given the most feedback on Sophia's cards.[29:30] Does baseball need to establish more partnerships with pop culture?[38:59] We discuss MLB's potential plan of holding the regular season in Arizona with the players under quarantine.[50:23] Bob Nightengale suggested another regular season plan. This one calls for realignment according to team spring training site locations. We discuss the potential of this one sticking.[57:10] Japan???Again, we apologize for any sound quality issues. We're making the most of a tough situation as all of you are. Please don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and spread the word.We hope you and your families remain safe and healthy. See you again next week. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Bonus Episode: Rich and Sophia sit down for an SEO AMA* where they dig into her digital footprint in a fun and off-the-cuff game. We find about even more about Sophia like the origin of "The Bun", the Best and Worst Bandwagon Moments of 2019, and her opinion of CROCS (Yay? or Nay?) Also, just how many Sophia Changs are out there??? *Search Engine Optimization Ask Me Anything Check out FirstGenBurden.com for all the episodes. Follow us @firstgenburden and Rich Tu / @rich_tu Recorded at Listening Party (@listeningpartypresents and @canalstreetmarket) Thanks DesGin for their support. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/firstgenburden/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/firstgenburden/support

Sophia Chang returns! One year after her first appearance on First Gen Burden, Rich and Sophia have a total format-busting episode that tries to give you a caffeine-induced rush of design talk and ridiculousness. They talk about her recent projects with Adidas Originals (and how mall culture affected her life), the iPad sketch workshop she did at Apple, how to navigate a brand collaboration, and the most recent issue of UNDO Magazine. Also, Rich discovers how she landed her first big sneaker collab with Puma several years ago. This episode is not to be missed! Check out FirstGenBurden.com for all the episodes. Follow us @firstgenburden and Rich Tu / @rich_tu Recorded at Listening Party (@listeningpartypresents and @canalstreetmarket) Thanks DesGin for their support. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/firstgenburden/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/firstgenburden/support

"A true gem among pastimes" says Sophia Chang Daily "The best white nerd college game since ultimate frisbee" names The Sophia Chang "What did you spend your college years doing - studying?" says Sophia Chang on Show Penis month continues on The Sophia Chang Show

On Session 7, Skin Wade talks to Sophia Chang about her stellar new memoir "The Baddest Bitch in the Room." They talk about her life as the first Asian woman in Hip-Hop working with artists like Wu-Tang Clan and A Tribe Called Quest and they explore the cultural journey she took that led her to running a Shaolin Temple. Check out her memoir here.

Rich sits down with artist and entrepreneur Sophia Chang. You may know her thru collaborations with Adidas, Infiniti, Stella Mcartney, Puma, and most recently Dr Martins. She also just started her own agency WeAscend and art directs the magazine platform UNDO Ordinary, and which focuses on empowerment thru the lens of health and wellness. Today we talk about her Taiwanese upbringing in Queens, New York, and how her lifelong interests in Hip Hop and Streetwear helped make her the creative force that she is today. Check out FirstGenBurden.com for all the episodes Follow us @firstgenburden and Rich Tu / @rich_tu Thanks DesGin for their support --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/firstgenburden/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/firstgenburden/support