Podcasts about Vietnamese

September 2, 1945. Ho Chi Minh declares Vietnamese independence, setting the country on a collision course with America, the very country that inspired his speech. This episode originally aired in 2025. Support the show! Join Into History for ad-free listening and more. History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser.Go to HistoryDaily.com for more history, daily.

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This week: Charlotte Bande, managing director and global food and beverage sector lead at Quantis, talks with Ian Welsh about the mounting pressure on food supply chains from compounding climate shocks. They discuss why low-volume commodities like vanilla can carry outsized business risk, and why procurement teams still resist change when full traceability isn't in place. And, new study finds little measurable forest benefit from corporate zero-deforestation pledges; a Vietnamese cocoa processor turns waste pods into biochar and clean energy, halving drying time; and, Egypt develops a $278 million project to turn sugarcane waste into bioethanol, in the news digest with Babette Pagès. Host: Diana Kim Click here for more information on the Climate Resilience Innovation Forum (2-3 December 2026, New York City).

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Wandering Works for Us PodcastDate: 26 August 2026Title: Glasgow 2: Back again for more Mackintosh, Murals, and MuseumsSummary of EpisodeGlasgow has become one of our favorite cities in Scotland, and after spending five days there on this trip, we decided it deserved its very own episode.We love Edinburgh too, but Glasgow has a completely different feel. Edinburgh is the picture-perfect Scotland that many visitors imagine—castles, bagpipes, kilts, and the Royal Mile. Glasgow feels more like a real, lived-in city. It is creative, friendly, walkable, a little grittier in the best possible way, and full of great food, pubs, art, architecture, and interesting people.On this trip, we revisited a few favorites, including the Willow Tea Rooms, while also exploring new places. Beth went deep into the world of Charles Rennie Mackintosh with a visit to the Hunterian and the recreated Mackintosh House. Shelley took some time on her own to follow Glasgow's incredible mural trail and discovered just how much of the city you can see on foot.Of course, we also went looking for Highland coos at Pollok Country Park, found one of Glasgow's oldest pubs, ate some excellent Thai and Vietnamese food, and had a few adventures with the city's public transportation and construction.And because we were traveling with our friends Sheila and Chris, we also took them out of Glasgow for a visit to our beloved little Scottish town of Strathaven. Their reaction reminded us of something we always encourage travelers to do: make time for the smaller places. The big cities are wonderful, but sometimes the best travel memories happen when you slow down, visit a village, meet some locals, and see what everyday life is really like.Pour yourself a gin and tonic—preferably a Glasgow gin—and come along with us as we talk about five days in one of our favorite Scottish cities.Key Topics00:33 – Welcome to the Glasgow episodeAfter a few technical difficulties—and a couple of false starts—we finally get going and explain why Glasgow deserves its own episode.01:25 – Why we came back to GlasgowWe had visited before on day trips, but this time we stayed in the city for five days and had a chance to really explore.03:25 – Why Glasgow is our favorite Scottish cityWe talk about how walkable and comfortable Glasgow feels and why we keep wanting to return.03:40 – Edinburgh vs. GlasgowEdinburgh is the beautiful, quintessential Scotland that everyone imagines. Glasgow? It feels more like a real, lived-in city—and that is exactly what we love about it.06:00 – Gin and tonic, Glasgow styleWe introduce our special Glasgow gin, brought back for us by our friend Geoff, and talk about the Glasgow street artist featured on the bottle.08:25 – Back to the Willow Tea RoomsGreat tea, scones, Scottish breakfast, and plenty of Charles Rennie Mackintosh.10:40 – The Hunterian and the Mackintosh HouseBeth goes looking for more Mackintosh and discovers a fascinating museum, an unexpected science collection, and the recreated home of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his wife. The “whatever” building is the Mackintosh House at the Glasgow School of Art.15:00 – Shelley takes on the Glasgow mural walkA little solo time turns into a walking tour of Glasgow's incredible murals, hidden alleys, tunnels, and street art.17:50 – Our updated opinion on the hop-on, hop-off busWe loved it on our previous visit, but with all the construction around George Square, we don't think it's the best choice right now.20:30 – Highland coos at Pollok Country ParkThis was an absolute must-do for Sheila—and she was determined to see some Highland coos. We talk about getting there, racing to the field, and finally seeing the famous fluffy cows.24:10 – Hanging out at The Scotia BarOne of Glasgow's oldest pubs, good beer, dark wood, friendly locals, and some memorable conversations.24:55 – Football weekend in GlasgowWe accidentally found ourselves in town during a huge football weekend and discovered just how seriously Glasgow takes its football—and its beer.27:10 – A Sunday roast we wouldn't repeatNot every meal can be a winner. We share our honest experience and then move on to some much better food.30:00 – Where we ate in GlasgowExcellent Thai at Rosa's Thai, delicious Vietnamese at Four Seasons, and a surprisingly good breakfast at Black Sheep Coffee.32:00 – A day trip from Glasgow to StrathavenWe take Sheila and Chris to one of our favorite places in Scotland to meet friends, see more Highland coos, eat ice cream, visit a pub, and spend time in a real Scottish village.34:00 – Why more village time might be better travelOur biggest travel takeaway: don't spend all your time checking off the major cities. Make time for small villages, local pubs, public transportation, and everyday life.36:50 – What's coming nextWe wrap up Glasgow and preview our next Scotland episode: a very different adventure into the Highlands.37:35 – Subscribe, share, and… maybe another gin and tonicWe attempt to close out the episode while proving that two gin and tonics may not be ideal for remembering your outro.Important Links To follow all of our antics and adventures, please visit our social media pages and our website at wwforus.com! You can send us a message at any of these places, and feel free to email us at wandering@wwforus.comLike what we are doing? Buy us a gin and tonic and help us keep going!InstagramFacebookTiktokYouTubeLooking for a tour guide in Portugal? I have a whole list!Blog post for this episode: Glasgow, Scotland: Best things to do and seeAlso, Glaswegin brand gin can be found here.RESOURCES & LINKSLooking to plan your next trip to Portugal? We can help! Check out our guides and Itineraries at wwforus.comFree Lisbon ItineraryPacking ListEssentials for every tripRenting a car in PortugalLooking for a tour guide in Portugal? I have a whole list!Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/wandering-works-for-us/donations

The road to My Lai enters its final stretch as the Tet Offensive leaves the American military desperate for a win and willing to count any Vietnamese body as Viet Cong. Along the way, the boys get into Project 100,000, Task Force Barker, “Mad Dog” Medina, and the dangerously incompetent Lieutenant William Calley before Charlie Company prepares to march into My Lai. For Live Shows, Merch, and More Visit: www.LastPodcastOnTheLeft.comKevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of Last Podcast on the Left ad-free, plus get Friday episodes a whole week early. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Founder, Samantha Ong founded Joeydolls because she could not find dolls that reflected her daughter's culture. With attention to detail to skin tones, authentic culturally represented clothing, and names, dolls have skyrocketed in popularity. Signature dolls showcase Korean, Chinese, Cambodian, and Vietnamese culture.  Dr. Stephanie J. Wong talks with Samantha about starting a toy company with no experience and how this mission-driven company has brought joy to her family and many others. The dolls will soon have books that accompany them!  

[English as below]Vietnam Innovators (Tiếng Anh) tuần này tiếp tục là cuộc trò chuyện giữa host Hảo Trần & ông Michael Kokalari -  Chief Economist tại VinaCapital, xoay quanh tình hình hiện tại của nền kinh tế Việt Nam. Trong bối cảnh thâm hụt thương mại đang có những diễn biến phức tạp, cuộc trò chuyện sẽ đi sâu vào các khía cạnh cốt lõi của nền kinh tế, tập trung đặc biệt vào thị trường chứng khoán, lĩnh vực bất động sản cũng như các chiến lược đầu tư phù hợp nhất trong giai đoạn hiện nay. Một trong những điểm nhấn quan trọng nhất được ông Michael Kokalari mổ xẻ chính là sự phân kỳ đáng ngạc nhiên giữa bức tranh kinh tế vĩ mô và diễn biến thực tế của thị trường chứng khoán. Mặc dù Việt Nam đang ghi nhận những chỉ số kinh tế vô cùng mạnh mẽ, điển hình là mức tăng trưởng GDP vô cùng ấn tượng lên tới 8%, nhưng thị trường chứng khoán dường như vẫn đang dậm chân tại chỗ và đi ngang. Sự nghịch lý này được lý giải bằng việc mức lãi suất tiền gửi ngân hàng hiện đang ở mức rất cao. Chính sách lãi suất hấp dẫn này đã và đang tạo ra một sức hút khổng lồ, trực tiếp rút một lượng tiền thanh khoản lớn ra khỏi các sàn giao dịch chứng khoán để chảy vào kênh trú ẩn an toàn là các ngân hàng. Mời các khán giả cùng lắng nghe để hiểu rõ hơn về những động lực kinh tế này và cách chúng định hình bức tranh tài chính của Việt Nam trong thời gian tới. —This week on Vietnam Innovators (English Edition), host Hao Tran and Mr. Michael Kokalari - Chief Economist at VinaCapital, will delve into the current state of the Vietnamese economy.Amidst complex developments surrounding the trade deficit, the discussion explores core economic drivers, with a special focus on the stock market, the real estate sector, and strategic investment approaches tailored for the current market environment.Tune in to gain a clearer perspective on these economic forces and how they will shape Vietnam's financial landscape moving forward.-Listen to this episode on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Youtube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠And explore many amazing articles about the pioneers at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://vietcetera.com/vn/bo-suu-tap/vietnam-innovator⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠-Feel free to leave any questions or invitations for business cooperation at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠team@vietcetera.com

Lunch Walks continues, and this time I've got company — Te from Saigon Podcast Studio joins me, since Carrie had to duck out after we wrapped a Vietnam Content Marketing episode together. It's pouring rain in Nguyễn Thái Bình, but we push on anyway to a fried chicken and rice spot I only found a couple of weeks ago, tucked down a back alley I hadn't explored before. Along the way we talk about the neighborhood getting recognized by Time Out as one of the coolest in the world (or Vietnam — details are fuzzy), the nonstop construction that's part of daily life here, and why Vietnamese people always seem thrilled to end up on camera. Then the rain really sets in, and getting back to the studio turns into its own adventure.Key TakeawaysThis neighborhood has fans beyond just me: Nguyễn Thái Bình has apparently been named one of the coolest neighborhoods around by Time Out — and between the mix of old buildings, cocktail bars, and hidden local spots, it's easy to see why.The best finds are the ones you almost walked past: This fried chicken and rice place had been on this street the whole time, but it took a few passes before it actually got noticed and tried.Not all rice is created equal: The rice here isn't broken rice (cơm tấm) — it's fried separately, which gives it a different color, texture, and flavor that's worth asking about if you don't recognize it."Developing country" hits different when you live it: Watching construction happen in real time — new buildings going up constantly, the sound of drilling as a daily backdrop — makes the textbook definition of a developing economy feel a lot more real.Rainy season doesn't wait for you to finish lunch: What starts as a light rain can flood a street within minutes, turning a short walk back to the studio into a full production — sandals over sneakers, camera tucked away, and a lot of patience.Chapters and Timestamps00:00 – Heading out with Tay after wrapping Vietnam Content Marketing, rain already falling02:00 – Nguyễn Thái Bình's reputation, and the neighborhood's mix of old and new04:00 – Arriving at the fried chicken and rice spot, ordering fish sauce and garlic chicken08:00 – Talking construction, development, and life as a foreigner watching Vietnam grow11:00 – The bill, and Vietnamese love of being on camera13:00 – Flash flooding on the walk back and sheltering from the rain16:00 – Back at the studio, wrapping up the episode"Send me a message!"Book a free call with me here if you want to start your own podcast! Support the show

Explore APSC's My Family Audio Series A story-driven 3-part audio project about Cambodian, Hmong, Laotian, Vietnamese, and other Southeast Asian families doing everything possible to breathe with ease and live freely besides the people we love.  Created by the Asian Prisoner Support Committee and APEX Express, and hosted by writer and activist Michelle MiJung Kim, My Family seeks to answer many of the questions countless families in our communities are grappling with today. Mass deportation and family separation are fueled by isolation and silence. With My Family, we aim to dismantle both with stories full of heart, compassion, and an honest look at the tangled paths many of us take to reckon with the past, rebuild our lives, and make a new place home.  Our deep gratitude extends to all the community members who shared their stories with us, even while painful to recount. Their commitment to creating stronger, more informed communities is unparalleled.    My Family Ep. 1: How did we get here?  In our first episode, we talk to Roger Viet Chung to bring APSC's longstanding Restoring Our Original True Selves (ROOTS) program from inside San Quentin to listeners outside. Roger is faculty in the Department of Ethnic Studies at Laney College and a founder and faculty lead of Restoring our Communities (ROC), Laney College's program for formerly incarcerated students and justice involved juveniles. He previously served as the lead instructor and curriculum designers of ROOTS.  We also speak with NC, Pam, and T. NC was deported to Laos this past year. Pam was deported to Cambodia three years ago, and T was deported to Cambodia six years ago.  Music from episode 1, as well as related resources, can be found below in the show notes. If you are an impacted community member in California or have a family member who is directly impacted by detention and deportation, we encourage you to contact APSC at info@asianprisonersupport.com or our partners at New Light Wellness and the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants.   Music: Somleng Tro Khmer by Satiya, a Cambodian Australia singer and songwriter Pka Kompong Thom by Satiya   Resources: My Family Episode 1 discussion guide  APSC Data Report on Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Asians and Pacific Islanders Asian Law Caucus legal resources and video explainers for Southeast Asians facing deportation threats Eddy Zheng's story    Transcript Michelle MiJung Kim: [00:00:00] All across the United States, ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is terrorizing immigrant neighborhoods. Every time I scroll on social media, I see horrifying videos of children being ripped apart from their parents as they get shoved inside unmarked cars of ICE agents. You can hear the family's cries for help, children wailing, neighbors and protesters yelling at the abductors.   The scene is [00:01:00] pure chaos, swirling with desperation and fear. I notice I'm clenching my jaw as I imagine the trauma of the moment that will last a lifetime for these families. But the scene usually ends here, and not long after I scroll away, I'm met with another slew of videos of similar intensity. But what happens to the people after this painful moment?   What happens to the families after the protesters depart? What happens when their loved ones actually get detained, get deported? where do they go, and what happens to those who remain? I'm your host, Michelle MiJung Kim, and I'm partnering with the Asian Prisoner Support Committee and APEX Express to bring you stories from families who are grappling with the impossible choices amid the cruelty and horrors of mass detention and deportation, stories full of truth, understanding, and lived experiences that are too often hidden or silenced. [00:02:00]   Tony (pseudonym): Even though I don't have no family and I don't even have no family over there, and I don't even know nothing about Vietnam because I left the country when I was 10 years old.”   My dad raised all four of m- you know, me and my sibling all by himself. So just emotion and everything rush in, it's just like, you know, heartbreaking.   So every time, when my dad come to visit me, he always break down and cry because he just like, feel sad that his oldest son is gonna get shipped back to his country.   Pam (pseudonym): My son bought a car for me. He bought a car. He's like, “Mama, you're not getting deported. I got you a Honda Civic already. I got you a car. I got a place for you.” You know how, that affect me when your family member bought you stuff be thinking they'd be coming home?   Michelle MiJung Kim: [00:03:00] Every family threatened by ICE is different, with their unique traditions, memories, and inside jokes. But there are also fears and questions that every community being ripped apart shares, whether our families are Asian, Latino, Black, or Arab. For many Southeast Asians in the United States, there's one other thing in common.   Their families found refuge here in the '70s and '80s, fleeing unthinkable genocide and war in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Most have loved ones who didn't survive. The ones who made it out, around one point one million, are the largest refugee community ever resettled in the United States. Upon arriving here, families were forced into impoverished and under-resourced neighborhoods.   Parents who just lived through war and genocide never got the mental and physical healthcare they critically needed. To survive poverty and attacks in their neighborhoods and schools, some youth turned to gangs and [00:04:00] crimes. After serving their time, they've since grown up, transformed, and found their ways to heal.   They are now mentors, parents, small business owners, homeowners, just everyday neighbors who, like most of us, take their kids to school and pick up groceries and call this country home. And yet, around sixteen thousand of these Southeast Asian community members are facing imminent deportation based on convictions from years, if not decades ago, and despite the fact that they already served their sentence.   Today, California is home to the largest Southeast Asian American population, followed by Texas, Washington, and Minnesota. And these families are seeking answers. How did we get here? What can we do to keep our family safe and together? And their friends and neighbors are asking questions, too. How can this be?   What can we do? That's where these stories come [00:05:00] in. We're taking a closer look at what happens to families after the headlines pass and the blaring noise quiets down. You'll hear directly from people who are living on all sides of this nightmare, all trying to do what's best for their kids, their parents, their loved ones.   Welcome to My Family.   As some listeners may know, the Asian Prisoner Support Committee based in Oakland, California, was born out of the campaign to support the San Quentin 3, Eddy Zheng, Viet Mike Ngo, and Rico Riemedio. The San Quentin 3 advocated for ethnic studies in the California State Prison, and in retaliation, the prison administration sent them to solitary confinement.   Out of that struggle, they started the Restoring Our Original True Selves, or ROOTS program at San Quentin, which the Asian [00:06:00] Prisoner Support Committee continues today, teaching hundreds of people under the motto, ” No history, no self. Know history, know self.” Together in ROOTS, community members incarcerated in California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation prisons, or CDCR, learn immigrant and refugee histories, address intergenerational and inherited trauma, and build lifelong leadership and community skills.   Many ROOTS alumni are now mentors and counselors in California, while others are working in reentry, violence prevention, faith, and other community organizations across the state.   To kick off our first episode, we'll start with some context from Roger Viet Chung. Roger is faculty in the Department of Ethnic Studies at Laney College in Oakland, and founder and faculty lead of Restoring Our Communities, Laney's program for formerly incarcerated students and justice-involved youth.   He has served as the lead instructor and curriculum developer of the ROOTS in San [00:07:00] Quentin.   A content warning for our listeners that in today's episode we'll be discussing war and genocide, inherited trauma and self-hatred, depression, and family separation. Here's Roger.   Roger Viet Chung: My name is Roger Viet Chung. Uh, I'm from Oakland, California, and I currently work for Laney College. At Laney College I instruct in the Department of Ethnic Studies, a range of classes that range from Southeast Asian studies all the way to courses like race, gender, and sports.   In 2013, um, I had the honor and privilege of, supporting and facilitating a course for Asian Americans and others in San Quentin State Prison, and which launched me on a, a journey of understanding more about incarceration, the prison industrial complex, abolition, the way pipelines form. And since 2013, I've been deeply involved in figuring out how to work reentry, how to support those in custody, how to help people come home, how to help people on parole tell their stories.   Um, [00:08:00] and so since 2013, uh, I've been working for a program called Restoring Our Communities, which is a reentry program at Laney College, where we support the reentry of folks coming home from prison, jail, juvenile hall and help them explore their post-secondary pathways and dreams. In addition to that, I also run our Laney College, a satellite campus inside the Alameda County Juvenile Justice Center, where, we work with, uh, young people who are interested in going to college, transferring to four-year universities, um, and, uh, reuniting with their families.   Uh, I'm a Vietnamese American. I was born in, uh, 1978 and, born in the United States, my proximity to incarceration and the entire carceral landscape you know, was pretty distant up until I went to graduate school. Uh, when I was in graduate school in, um, the early 2000s, I heard a story about a person named Eddy Zheng, who at that time was incarcerated in San Quentin State Prison.   We heard this story about how Eddy and two other folks were asking for ethnic studies programming at their [00:09:00] prison when there was a growing movement for education inside CDCR. Uh, we understood that, you know, that movement, um, you know, landed Eddy in solitary confinement, got him transferred, uh, to another prison.   And I think for me, that was my first moment where as an Asian American, I connected both with this idea that Asian Americans were doing time, but also you know, it intersected with my field of study, ethnic studies. And so, that was probably my first moment where I saw myself possibly in the work.   Michelle MiJung Kim: Before we come back to Roger, we had a chance to talk to Eddy Zheng about his fight for ethnic studies at San Quentin, the early days of APSC, and how he continues to support incarcerated and formerly incarcerated community members. Let's hear from Eddy   Eddy Zheng: Happy New Breath everyone. My name is Eddy Zheng.   The importance of ethnic studies, Asian American study, [00:10:00] is really focuses on the long tradition of the struggles, that many of the immigrants and refugees, the people who came to this country, uh, for multiple reasons, right? Some of them came voluntarily, and some of them came as refugee because the forced migration as a result of the United States' foreign policies, and then many of the push and pull challenges that came from other, uh, countries across the world.   The long tradition of, of that struggle really is a internal one, right? The internal struggle is finding a sense of belonging in a foreign country or in a country even though we may be born here sometimes, there's still this sense of being treated and being respected as an American versus a perpetual uh, foreigner.    And for many of the people who were impacted by the criminal legal system [00:11:00] and by this type of oppressive foreign policy and systemic racism oftentimes people don't necessarily get an opportunity to understand their culture and history that informs their identity. So therefore as even I was learning how to read and write and speak English and to eventually to become thinking critically I have experienced the power of when I was able to comprehend and articulate the connection that I have, right, with my ancestors and my culture and the history that informs my identity.   Immediately, I was able to, find confidence and find that sense of belonging that I was not alone, that there, there was a long lineage of the knowledge, The connected point to, not only who I am as an individual, but then who I am connected [00:12:00] to, the rest of the humanity, right?   I think when we talk about that lineage really ties back to the 1968 Third World Liberation Front, when students and people in the community, the activists that who stood up fighting for the opportunity to have curriculums and, or materials that really teaches a more well-rounded history around, the makeup of the United States of America, So the fight for the Asian American studies, women's studies, and global studies was very important, as it continue to 1969 in UC Berkeley, and then also later on in 1999, where students are also facing threats of having ethnic studies and Asian American studies eliminated, from the university curriculum, right?   So I have experienced all those lineage of struggles to fight for what the basic academic right, for people [00:13:00] to learn about each other's culture and history and how that historically has been continued to also trying to erase history. when I was in San Quentin State Prison, then once I was able to start to become a thinker, then I realized especially after September 11, the scapegoating of people of color, scapegoating of people that who came from other countries is perpetuated within the prison industrial complex, myself and three of my friends, we were advocating for, uh, the opportunity to be able to, uh, engage, in this process of, Asking to have Asian American studies or ethnic studies within the prison college program, And so that, that was when we signed a proposal, you know, advocating not only for the opportunity, to study, Asian American histories a- and cultures, but other people's culture and [00:14:00] histories at the same time, and then also honoring the prisoners' rights, right?   To choose, what we want to learn and how we participate in the decision-making process within the volunteer-ran college program in the San Quentin State Prison. The outcome was the three of my friends who signed the proposal you know, Mike Ngo Rico Riemedio we were, uh, put into solitary confinement uh, for signing that proposal.   And then my other friend that, who signed the proposal, Stephen Liebb, you know, even though he didn't go to solitary confinement, that he, but he was punished as a result of signing the proposal. That's when the forming of an unexpected Asian American movement, right, in the Bay Area, which is the Asian Prisoner Support Committee, where volunteers and activists that who have heard of the struggles, of the activism inside San Quentin advocas- in advocacy for Asian American studies, ethnic studies, and prisoners rights, that they [00:15:00] came together to support us, you know, inside the prison system.   And so it's very interesting in that, the dynamic, uh, between, we want you to, uh, learn and we wanna give you opportunity to learn, but then learning and applying what you learn comes at a price, that's where the importance of why ethnic studies of Asian Americans are important because it allow us to gain power, right? when we gain power of thinking, and critical thinking, then there's this fear from the, the people that, who have power and don't wanna share that power.   And so that's why it's very important. So fast-forward to post-incarceration after… first of all, I spent 11 months, uh, in solitary confinement as a result of that advocacy in San Quentin. And then later on, uh, when I was finally released after, uh, being incarcerated for 21 years, [00:16:00] I've never forgotten the importance of, creating more learning opportunities within the prison system for those that who are still incarcerated.   Around 2012, that's when we, you we meaning that, you know, that's when I me and members of the Asian Prisoner Support Committee, we started thinking about how do we go inside the prison and create Asian American studies and ethnic studies program inside, We were able to went under you know, as volunteers, we were able to go into San Quentin State Prison to participate, uh, in in this program called, TRUST. I believe the acronym is, uh, Teaching Responsibility Utilizing Sociological Training, uh, which is designed to transform incarcerated men, uh, from social liabilities into assets, right?   So, Uh, while we were participating, we were able to get an opportunity to engage The participants who are [00:17:00] AAPIs to ask them if they are interested into creating a program where we're able to, learn about our culture and history, And they all agreed that it's important.   After about, like, almost like a year or more of kind of like a collaboration, brainstorming, and advocacy from within the prison, finally in 2013, I think that's when, we started the first cohort of the ROOTS program. The ROOTS acronym is Restoring Our Original True Selves, uh, which is, really came about as a result of the brainstorming of the prisoners, a lo- of many of the lifetime prisoners who were inside.    Because they felt that along the way they have lost themselves, right, as they were trying to find a sense of belonging.   So the goal is to, uh, use that as a way to heal intergenerational trauma that many of the prisoners experience when they came to the United States, and that ended up, making poor choices and then, [00:18:00] uh, involved in the criminal legal system.   that's when the first ROOTS program was started in 20, uh, 13. And then what is interesting was that when it started, I wasn't allowed to go in to participate in the program that I co-founded with the people inside, it wasn't, uh- Until the graduation of the first cohort of ROOTS, uh, that they allow me to go in to do a keynote speech, right? Because the participants inside, advocated saying that, “Hey, we would like Eddy to come in to be our keynote speaker at our graduation.”   And so that's when I was able to go in and really, experience this fruition of all the advocacy. seeing many of those leaders and participants graduating from the first year of the ROOTS program really solidified why an Asian American study is so important, right? It really focuses on, uh, for the participant to [00:19:00] learn about the connection the, to the ancestors and the culture and, and the history.   I mean, That sense of belonging they had lost along the way or for many was not able to learn in traditional economic environment, and then part of this is also even though the curriculum focused Asian American studies, but then it also connects to other people's colors of histories and how the intersection of that of that experience domestically, internationally, are connected to the same systems of oppression in, in that space.   I think what, what is also important is that once they were able to learn about their own culture and history, they inform their identity. They're able to also learn about other people's history, other people's culture that inform their identities. So immediately there's opportunity to, humanize each other And so that's why this is so important that we must engage in the collective learning [00:20:00] process that allow us the opportunity for collective healing. And when the collective learning, collective healing is invested and engaged in racial solidarity, that's how we can embark on this journey of collective liberation.   The ROOTS program is the first ever Asian American studies ethnic studies program in the history of the penal system, and then this continues on to today, right? since 2013.   Michelle MiJung Kim: That was Eddy Zheng. In 2017, Eddy founded the New Breath Foundation to help underserved frontline groups empower, heal, and change the lives of Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander community members with a focus on the incarcerated, formerly incarcerated, and those who have been impacted by immigration and criminal legal [00:21:00] systems.   Let's return to Roger and what stood out to him when he first started working in San Quentin.   Roger Viet Chung: I think when I first went into San Quentin State Prison in 2013, um, again, I mentioned I was born in 1978, and, um, you know, I looked across the room to people who were around my age, um, none of whom were actually born in the United States. And so I think there's this really interesting question that needs to be pursued around Southeast Asians, Asian Americans that have immigrated at a young age, you know, largely through, the pathways of war that make that experience so much different than a, an experience like my own, right?   Born here in the United States, but also different than my parents, who immigrated to the United States as adults. And so the 1.5 generation as we will frame it today, we're gonna be talking about Asian Americans, Southeast Asians, refugees, immigrants that came to the United States at a, a young age, you know, all the way up until their adolescence. We're looking at a population that has had significant experience with [00:22:00] social institutions like schools, uh, elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools that their parents may not have.   This was a time in California where we began to see more prisons being built, more apparatuses designed to be able to figure out how to work with young people, mainly through the lens of punishment and deterrence.   And so I think the idea of coming into, a state like California during a political landscape where, punishment, prisons and tough on crime positions were being applied to both adults and young people is something to consider when we're thinking about the 1.5 generation, um, that has been incarcerated.   I think that as the 1.5 generation immigrated into the United States you know, through various refugee and immigration policies, you know, they're inheriting a context in California where they've already been criminalized and their pathways into, uh, juvenile halls, into county jails, and into state prisons are being mapped out, without them really even knowing.   In [00:23:00] ROOTS, um, which was an Asian Prisoner Support Committee sponsored program, everyone has an, a unique and individual story, but, you know, the more we learned about people's stories, there just seemed to be a lot of collective threads that, tied everyone together. so if we were to talk about the 1.5 generation, you know, like a common collective journey would be something like this, right?   You know, whether a person escaped from Vietnam, Cambodia or Laos a lot of the common stories were, young people were born in Southeast Asia during or at the tail end of the wars in Southeast Asia, and most of them were not part of the original refugee exodus, which mainly featured, the elite and the educated.   And so one of the collective stories has been that a lot of the 1.5 generation, who would have otherwise left at much younger ages or even been born in the United States were experiencing significant transitions in countries that, were returning from civil [00:24:00] war. a lot of that destruction and a lot of the, the trauma and those experiences, right, began right around there.   And when people began thinking about, exiting, these positions, whether it be for political or, or class-based reasons or both, one of the collective stories that we tended to hear very often was that young people were really able to visualize, remember, right, even today, a lot of violence, a lot of trauma, that, you know, really propelled their, either their escape or, their emigration Young people met, went to camps oftentimes.   If they left Vietnam, they were in the Philippines, Malaysia, Hong Kong or Thailand. And if, you left Cambodia or you left Laos, you ended up in a variety of different forms of camps in Thailand awaiting for United Nations sponsorship. I think this is an important part of understanding the journey, because a lot of the one point five generation that became incarcerated were exposed to a variety of different traumas at [00:25:00] young ages that they still had kind of these vivid memories of.   And so as they, they left camps, you know, many stayed in camps for months, some even years. They were resettled into the United States, often in places that didn't have a lot of Asian Americans. And so at the time, United States refugee policy really asked all the states to share, right, some sort of, right, burden in resettling refugees.   And so a lot of the one point five generation that we met inside San Quentin, you know, their story in the United States didn't actually originate in California. Many of them were in Wisconsin or Ohio or Florida or Arkansas as their first stop into the United States before their parents did a secondary migration into a place that had more support, had a stronger ethnic community, um, and in some cases, right, just had, more protection against racial discrimination.   And so as parents, moved into ethnic communities and, and sought spaces that could protect themselves from racial [00:26:00] discrimination, the young students, right, the one point five generation didn't have, those same protections. And so many of them were enrolled into public schools, oftentimes schools that were underfunded and oftentimes schools that, uh, were in districts that had young people of color competing for resources.   When it came to that, that 1.5 generation, that journey into United States schools, was, I think, the beginning of understanding how to survive in a place where, a unique form of racial discrimination, a unique form, right, of class identity had to be navigated as they began their journeys in education, a lot of them feeling a lot of pressure to be, strong students in order to, you know, deliver their parents out of poverty. A lot of themes came up. One of the approaches that we took in the ROOTS program was looking at trauma.   We're not the first program to look at this, but I, I do think that it's a very important and interesting way to think about, [00:27:00] understanding the stories of people who are incarcerated. You know, oftentimes the, the narrative of people who are incarcerated is that they have committed an act that has traumatized another person, and therefore, right, their own trauma is something that we often either don't allow, ignore, or outright say, right?   “You don't deserve your own trauma because of the things that landed you in custody.” And so I think one of the projects that we really wanted to look at was to help people kind of, like, name their trauma, explore it, and, right, heal from it. And so when we thought about, the activities and the curriculum design, you know, we had people kind of, share stories of immigration, share stories of how, their parents came to name them, stuff like that.   And, you know, one humongous theme that came out in the ROOTS program was this idea of self-hatred and how much being in, right, the United States and being in places where you experience discrimination and you experience poverty led to really, really low concepts of [00:28:00] self and, , really resulted in, people, literally writing, right, reflections, saying things like, “I hated myself.   I hated how I looked,” right? “I hated my name.” Those are some of the themes that kind of were fleshed out as we explored the ROOTS program. And we wanted to take a look at, How that trauma not only would h-help people kind of understand their own trajectories more, but how that trauma could also be translated into, right, a more institutional form of advocacy for themselves and understanding how to do things like describe and explain, right, and be introspective about the things in their youth that led to, right, their incarceration.   Because one of the things we also noticed was that people were struggling to tell stories about their families because they didn't wanna bring shame, they didn't want to blame their families. And so, a lot of our 1.5 generation folks struggled with being able to tell a story to a parole board that kind of held their freedom in their hands.   And so being [00:29:00] able to have people tell their stories, right, to engage, right, some of the things that they experienced as traumatic, help them heal from those things, but also name them, , through ethnic studies concepts, through, history and through culture, was in a lot of ways, very freeing.   I think I'd be remiss to not mention that, you know, when we did programming inside ROOTS, there was a very, very, I think collective agreed upon, workshop that people inside wanted to do, and it was a workshop about gangs. Not just the criminalization of gangs and how gangs have become criminalized into the '90s, into the 2000s, but I think, incarcerated people, were really advocating around things like gang prevention. And so a lot of stories came out around, like, why people join gangs in the first place and, , it's not a brand-new story at all, but it was something that they wanted to explore and they were really, I think, very adamant about exploring among themselves.   And, you know, I think if you talk to incarcerated people, one of the things that they're so passionate about is [00:30:00] making sure their stories reach young people, which has also inspired me to go into juvenile hall to do a lot of work. But, one of the things that they wanted to develop, I think conceptually, was the idea of the migration to school-to-gang pipeline.   And, you know, whether or not the gang itself, should be conceptualized as, right, a protective, mechanism against racism, against bullying, against harassment, against exploitation. I mean, those are all things that we know, young people are looking for, as they join gangs, especially those that are immigrating from Southeast Asia or even, right, Latin America.   I think the folks inside were really, really adamant about making that connection and understanding that, not only their participation in gangs, but the criminalization of the gangs through that participation was one of the pathways that led them to places like juvenile hall, the California Youth Authority, the Division of Juvenile Justice.   I think the folks inside would, um, say that they need to be accountable to you know, the decisions that [00:31:00] they made and they wish that they were stronger about not making decisions to do things like join, criminal-based organizations. But, I think that there is a reality that, you know, there are a lot of social forces that, drove, that type of youth behavior.   And so, when we were in San Quentin, I think a lot of the folks were like, we need to improve this idea by, you know, understanding that, part of our journey has been, as 1.5 generation young people is , our responses to our trauma, our responses to racism, our responses to, disconnects between us and our families, particularly our parents, right, led us through a path, that was laden with policies that were designed to punish us.   You know, I think something that's really important that that I would wanna mention is, you know, the apparatuses that were designed to control and to rehabilitate and to correct youth, those apparatuses have been abolished because they didn't work.   And so when I think about the 1.5 generation that immigrated to the United States during a time of [00:32:00] heavy, heavy juvenile punishment, had they immigrated today, right, and, these systems not existing, you know, would they have done a significant time in state prison? You know, I don't know.   Would they been criminally adjudicated as adults? I don't know. And so I think that when we think about, you know, Asian Americans and Southeast Asians and Pacific Islanders that are coming to the United States at a very specific time, specifically those guys we worked with in ROOTS, you know, history was just not on their side, and that's not something that individuals can control.   And so when we think about the situations that we're put in, I reflect on my own life about, you know, looking at people that look like me that were the same age as me and, just weren't born in the United States and had privileges like I did. You know, I think those are some of the things that, I would ask the community to reflect upon.   That, you know, we're looking at, such a traumatic and punished time in California and U.S. history to really kind of take, a broader approach and to be able to, you know, deconstruct some of the things that have happened to help understand the lives of people who, you know, are in ICE detention today   Michelle MiJung Kim: [00:33:00] That was Roger Viet Chung, faculty in Laney College's Department of Ethnic Studies and founder of Restoring Our Communities. This is APEX Express. We'll return after a short break. [00:34:00]   NC (pseudonym): We were refugees. It was because of the, the war, the secret war in Laos, I guess.   Michelle MiJung Kim: This is NC. He grew up in California after his parents' harrowing escape from war and persecution in Laos. He was incarcerated for 24 years as a result of a conviction when he was a young person. He earned parole last year in [00:35:00] 2025.   NC (pseudonym): You know, I don't know for sure, but I'm just going off what people say and what they tell me is because- we were refugees, and we were hunted, and, so we fled, and crossed the river into Thailand.   And from Thailand we were, um, we were sent to the US. That's it.   When my, when I came here, my dad says, ” Well, you gotta learn everything here, know the language and everything, because this is your country now.   You're gonna live here.” So that's, that's what he told me.   Things were tough because my parents don't know nothing about this country, so they don't, You know, it's help was very, I would say, I think the best word I can use is help was very narrow, because we had, like, an…   I had, like, an uncle who knew the language, and they would help my, dad and my mom. And then, um, my dad actually went to a vocational training school to learn how to do auto body, This was in when we were in, in Long Beach, but they [00:36:00] came over to, uh, Stockton to open up a, um, garage, you to fix cars and do auto body. Growing up it was just hard because, you know, we were, uh, always poor and we didn't know how to adjust to the c- you know, the community.   America is, like, totally different, 'cause we go to school and then we read, write, speak English, and then we don't, we don't do none of that inside the house. So there's kind of that culture clash where, you know, the parents wanna teach you something and then you go to school and you learn something else, and then you're s- you struggle with your, um, you know, everyday life because, those are two different things   I was basically working while I was in prison, taking a lot of self-help classes and, um, earning certifications and trying to better myself, um, learning job skills. So when I, parole, I can, become a productive member of society. So while I was in, also incarcerated, I was taking college courses, to try to, attain a [00:37:00] AA degree.   So I was doing a lot of that stuff while I was in prison programming. My plan was… when I got out, as far as for work I would just like any job will do, just as long as I got work, any job will do.   But the goal was to continue my education, get my, uh, degree in, um, sociology, try to to open up a, a place and to be, um, LCSW certified, a licensed clinical social worker so I can help people, just like how, um, when I was, um, incarcerated, I was talking to, um, an LCSW so they can like, help you when you get back from this environment to the streets to help you adjust. First of all, it's helping people, and a lot of people, when you come out and get out, there's really nothing, like nobody's… the way I see it is, like- I don't see a lot of help, you know?   I don't see a lot of help or any [00:38:00] help, in my community that I'm at. I figured that, you know what? More help or help is always good, and a lot of times people… While, while I was in, um, incarcerated, you know, incarceration does affect you, it, in a way, institutionalizes you and makes you think a certain way, act a certain way, be a certain way, and when you come out, you have to, like, try to adjust to, you know, the norms of, outside living.   When I was talking to my, um, social worker, she was giving me a lot of those pointers. So I was thinking, like, “Okay, you know what? This is something I could do.” I could help, you know, like, a youth who's been incarcerated or young people coming out or anybody of any ages from anywhere that has, um, cultural issues, You know, like, if they're coming from a different country and they're, they're coming to the US and they're having, like, cultural issues. it's just about transitioning from one place to another place.” when I paroled from prison and they told me that, I have a ICE hold, an immigration hold. And [00:39:00] then I wasn't sure, like, what that was, if it's happening or not. And then when they paroled me, uh, immigration came and picked me up and took me to a detention facility.    ICE came and picked me up at the prison and, um, I went to a detention facility in Bakersfield called Mesa Verde   Michelle MiJung Kim: We're gonna come back to NC and what he experienced at Mesa Verde on the next episode, and what happened after he was deported to Laos just four months ago. Right now, I want to introduce you to another community member, Pam. Pam also grew up in California. She was incarcerated for 16 years. Three years ago, she was detained by ICE and then deported to Cambodia   Pam (pseudonym): [00:40:00] So I'm gonna start it off when the day I find out that, um, I probably get deported in 2000… yeah, 2012. ICE came and see me, and they say, ” Well, we got you on record that, you know, you're on a list that you're gonna get deported when you parole.” So if I have any kind, like American citizen to prove that, you know, I can't parole, and this and that.   I was like, “Okay.” I really didn't pay attention. My mind was more like stuck. On that day, my mind was more like, “Wait, my attorney told me I'm not ever gonna get deported,” and it just, my mind is like wondering off, like, why is this happening now? So other than that, I started doing research. I just signed the paper.   I didn't even hear exactly what they told me because I, my mind's already like blow. So I just signed the paper. Didn't even know what I'm signing, so I just signed the paper like so they can leave me alone. I just [00:41:00] need to process something on my own.   When I finally process, I start doing research and…   But before I start doing research, I call my parent up and told them, “What's gonna happen?” And they, you know, and my parents tell me, “Just tell them you don't have a family over there. There's nobody over there that could support you, take care of you. You've been, uh, here in America all your life. There's nobody.   Nobody. So why they came and… why did someone send it to you, send you over there, and since you already did your time?” So it's some kinda- mixed feeling. It's a lot of mixed feeling as I can see there's a lot of hurt inside my family. I can see what they go through, and then I was like, “Okay, now just too much.”   So after I talk to my parent and then see how they feel about it, and I understand, and I do feel them, too.   And I do understand, and, um, ‘ cause I've never been really separate from my family that long until I got [00:42:00] locked up. So it's harder difficulty than anything. I don't even move away from my mom that far.   I live across the street. So it's hard for me to see that, I'm really, like, can't see my mom ever again. I started doing research for years and years and still, hoping that I could fight and why I'm in prison, but people keep on telling me, “You can't fight your case until you get through, um, the ICE detainer, and that's how you fight your case.”   And it's like, eh, I need to find a… You know, I started doing more research on the law library about ICE and, you know, about deportation, everything about the law. I did all that, but it's nothing that really helped me unless it's something against my life. So and I did more research about, like anything They say the only way you could get away from it is, like, something affects your life, something that danger you. It's like, it mean life or death. [00:43:00] But I even do research on that. They say if they stop the war in Cambodian… So it was hard. It was just a lot. It was just a lot of paperwork that I would have to go through and try to do the research and find out.   So I started talking to more about with my family about that, and then my dad say, “You know, I can see this is really stressing you out, and I can see that you're looking through a lot of stuff that don't help you to get out. But we still have hope that you're gonna come home to us.”   Michelle MiJung Kim:  Every person who shared their story with us talked about the family members and friends who supported them through these traumatic experiences, those who have stood with them in the darkest of times. Those relationships are what keeps people going, and it's no different for the person you're about to hear from, T.   T served his time in prison many years ago. After he got out of prison, he led a [00:44:00] full life. He got married, became a father, and grew in his career as a superintendent of a welding business, including jobs for the US Navy. And then one day, everything changed.   T (pseudonym): You know, I, I'd been reporting, uh, as scheduled, to the, you know, the ICE agent e- every, you know, I start out once a month, once every three months, once every six months, once every year.   And I, I, I've been reporting perfectly how they want. And then one day, you know, I, I came home and I went look at, check my mail and, there's a, a mail from them. So I opened the mail up and it tells me, the mail tells me they're gonna detain me. They give me a date to be there, and they say they're gonna detain me.   You know, I, and my, my heart just sank, you know. When I saw that letter- Mm … I'm like, “Oh my God.” And you know, I, I, it broke me down right there, standing over there by the mailbox. And then I told my wife and, , we [00:45:00] both, sat and, you know, did a little, a little crying.   And it's just like depressed knowing that they can, uh, detain me, that scheduled date that they gave me, yeah, it, it, it was tough. It's like a, a little… I think they gave us like a, a month or something. No, three weeks, half a month, something like that. it, it, it was tough 'cause I, I, me, me and my wife and my two daughter we, you know, we have family.   They, they okay, you know. yeah, I, I've checked in and, uh, they, they, they did detain me and, uh, of course my wife's all crying and, you know, my daughter, my, both my daughters young at that time. They're still young. They don't know what, what happened, you know. They asked my wife, “Hey, where's Dad?”   And you know, my, my wife didn't tell them what happened yet because they didn't, my wife didn't want them to, you know, worry. So my wife just told them, “Oh, you know, uh, your dad went to work. Maybe he'll be gone maybe a month or so.” She just don't want them to feel bad.   But yeah, my wife went through some stuff and trying to figure things out while I was in the detention center. and uh, [00:46:00] yeah, I got interview and got deported. and my wife, she was struggling at that time. She didn't work either because she's the, you know, she stayed home as a housewife, take the kids to school and stuff like that.   Michelle MiJung Kim: T's wife and daughter are now with him in Cambodia. He's currently serving as a staff member at New Light Wellness in Phnom Penh providing mental health and healing services to other people and families who are deported and separated   T (pseudonym): Yes. To me it's very important, to have someone to talk to 'cause when you're deported, uh, you, you already broken. you feel like you're a broken person, and, and sometime you don't know who to talk to because you're at a new, new place.   You don't really know no one, you know? And, uh, it, it, it's heartbreaking you trying to, uh, find someone to talk to. You, you feel like you're alone.   But at New Light, [00:47:00] we provide all that. You need someone to talk to, here. We, we, here you could pick one of our team here to talk to. You can go to the facility that we have over there and just talk to someone and just relax over there and just, you know, we, we have, always have someone there to help, talk about anything you want, to guide to bring closure, that, that's the thing, uh, about our team here.   We wanna make sure we have all that, everything Cause we understand, we understand, uh, being deported need someone to talk to, because that's what I, I did when, uh, the first couple years when I got deported here and I, I was so stressed out, and I don't know who to turn to, where to go.   Luckily, I found New Light, and I'm so glad, and I'm still with them now.   Deportation to me, I feel it is very cruel. It breaks families apart, and then it'll change the life and future of, your children. You know, it, it… Deportation, it, it's just a sad [00:48:00] word, it's just a sad word. It, it's just… It's like pain. It's a lot of pain, that word deportation.   It's a lot of pain. I mean, I, I… It, it's just… To me, it's just a lot of pain. It is just getting ripped off from your family, and affect everyone. It affect, you know, your brother and sister, your cousin, your niece, your nephew. You know, that's how, that's how I, I sees it,   Roger Viet Chung: Yeah, I think it's, um You know, I, I think it's important to, understand that, um, you know, deportation, isn't something that existed, since 1776, right?   Michelle MiJung Kim: That familiar voice is Roger, who you heard from earlier. Here's what he thinks about previously incarcerated people getting deported despite having already served their time.   Roger Viet Chung: And so I think when we kinda think about the logics of a [00:49:00] person who is serving a sentence and is being released by even authorities around in the carceral state and determining that they're not a threat to society, that they're no longer harmful to society, that they've done their rehabilitation in order to continue to contribute to, right, the nation and to their families and their communities, I think we have a very contradictory message where, you know, you actually have, a, a carceral apparatus naming a person as no longer a harm to society, but then, right, being deported.   And so when we think about these stories and, you know, I remember talking to a life term prisoner who has children who were born in the United States. And, he's going up to the parole board, and he has, an ICE hold. He has, you know, a mandatory deportation because of his conviction. He's asking the questions to himself, you know, “What do I do? do I fight to be released from prison? If that's the case, I might get taken to ICE custody right away and, [00:50:00] get my travel documents prepared to be deported. Or do I stay in prison so that my family can continue to see me in the United States, right?   And maybe, I don't do the types of things that are gonna win me my freedom in front of a parole board.” And I think those are the types of contradictions in the stories that I think illuminate the contradictions and, right, like, the problems with the way that we approach, deportation today.   There's, the idea of deportation, we often, I think because it's related to law, oftentimes, right, you know, our communities, see that as an objective or neutral phenomenon, that's always been that way. And so I think, when we try to get folks to kinda understand the ways that deportation and, you know, immigration policy, has been shaped, one of the things that I'll ask students, I remember being inside San Quentin, and I, I ask this of my Laney students all the time, you know, I ask them, “When was Immigration and Customs Enforcement founded?”, “What year was like the birth of what we understand now as ICE?” And, [00:51:00] students will guess, they'll guess, they'll guess, and maybe they'll look it up online, and they'll say, ” Oh, Roger, it's 2001.” Then I'll ask people, “Who's older, you or ICE?”   And most of the time, the people that I ask are older than ICE. And so I think one of the ways that we kind of approach this is, you know, by understanding that what's happening now is a, a very new and contemporary phenomenon immigration in its most brutal form, right? Or deportation in its most brutal form.   And I ask people, right, you know, “What was ICE called before it was called ICE?” There was an, a, an organization that existed before. And, you know, people will struggle a little bit, and then, you know, I'll say the initials, uh, INS. And then people will say, “What does that stand for?” INS stands for, uh, Immigration Naturalization Services.   And so you have this really significant institutional difference, just in the name itself around how a migrant is being treated and perceived. Right? On the one hand, right, you have enforcement through [00:52:00] ICE. But for the most part, right, immigration policy in the United States was not ICE. It was Naturalization Services, right?   It was about welcoming people to come to the United States, contribute, be taxpayers, right? And, become citizens, become naturalized. And so I think that's one of the ways that we begin thinking about how to deconstruct the idea that deportation is just a matter of law, it's a neutral idea, and that it's always existed in the form that it has.   And, you know, we know that the law that really is driving Asian American deportation or a- and other immigrant-based deportation today is a law that was designed in 1996. And so- The way that we see, right, immigration today is really kind of like a parcel, a very small piece of immigration history and deportation history for that matter in the United States.   And I think that's one way that I think helps people understand that you know, what we're seeing now is, a phenomenon that doesn't have to be what it is.   I'm lucky enough to be able to be [00:53:00] part of a post-secondary system that is, you know, one of the largest in the world and one of the most welcoming in the world.   I feel like part of my passion or my drive to keep going is I feel like there are some things that are still very much unexplored around this concept of re-entry. When I was in juvenile hall a couple of years ago, I met a young person who told me that he didn't have a good relationship with his dad.   His dad wasn't in his life. His dad has been in and out of prison and learned mostly about his dad through his sister, but began reconnecting with him a little bit. this young person had, a pretty significant conviction inside the juvenile hall which, like I mentioned earlier, which had it happened 10, 15 years ago, he would be in the California Youth Authority.   And, you know, he was telling me about his dad and, you know, there were so many things that felt like I knew him. He told me the job that his dad had, which was a very unique job [00:54:00] that is not very common. And I wrote who I thought his dad was on a piece of paper and I showed it to him and he said, “Yes, that's my dad.”   And so his dad, came to Laney College, um, joined the machining program after years in prison and got you know, a living wage job, in the steel industry, was able to buy a home and he was able to put his daughter through graduate school. but he never mentioned a son to me. And I left the hall that day and, I called him walking to my car and I said, “Hey, like, um, I think I met your son.   I didn't know you had one.” And he said, “Yeah, that's still a shameful part of my life that I'm, still trying to figure out.” And so I, I think that there's something that we're missing still. I think, you know, when in San Quentin we talked about, intergenerational trauma and the trauma that you can inherit from your parents and your parents' parents, and I think there's something here where, you know, we, we can engage both generations at [00:55:00] once to really kind of figure out some of this healing.   I feel like there's still something that, we as a team as a family and as a community are on the verge of understanding a little bit better and breaking those cycles.   Michelle MiJung Kim: I can't stop thinking about what T said about the word deportation. It's cruel. It's a painful word. It's a sad word that rips you off from your family. Many of our listeners are here because you believe a different world is possible, one that replaces isolation with kinship, trauma with repair, and loss with transformation.   You want a future full of families together and safe. That's the kind of future we at My Family want, too. Each story we share is not only a reminder about the violent systems that harm so many communities, but it's also a reminder of how much each of us is [00:56:00] needed in this fight for a more just and liberatory future.   There is so much pain and trauma in each person's story, there's also so much strength, resilience, and a steadfast belief in community and hope. I'm taking a deep breath as I reflect on these stories, and I invite you to do the same.   And if you're impacted by mass deportation and detention, there are organizations and advocates who can help you, from mental health and wellness to legal help and family support. In Northern California, where we are based, we encourage you to reach out to the Asian Prisoner Support Committee, the Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants, and New Light Wellness.   You'll [00:57:00] find links to these organizations in the show notes at kpfa.org/programs/APEX-express. The music in today's program is by Cambodian Australian singer and songwriter Satiya. We'll include links to his songs in the show notes, too.   We hope you'll join us for episodes two and three of My Family, where we'll deep dive into what happens when our family and neighbors are detained, and what happens when they are forced to move to a country they've never known. Thank you for joining, and we'll see you next time on My Family.   I'm your host, Michelle Mijung Kim, and this podcast is brought to you by APEX Express and the Asian Prisoner Support Committee. APEX Express is produced by Ayame Keane-Lee, Anuj Vaidya, Isabel Li, Jalena Keane-Lee, Miko Lee, Miata Tan, Preeti Mangala Shekar and Swati Rayasam.   Have a great night.   [00:58:00]    The post APEX Express – 8.20.26 – My Family Ep. 1 appeared first on KPFA.

learn how to use the verb định to talk about your plans

The first Vietnamese migrants began arriving in what was then Czechoslovakia nearly seventy years ago. Today, around 10,000 Vietnamese people live in Slovakia, yet their journey toward recognition as an established and valued part of Slovak society has been a long one. One group working to strengthen that recognition is Vietnamske Korene, or Vietnamese Roots. Led largely by members of the second generation, the organization created Vietnam Day—a festival celebrating Vietnamese culture and the ties between Vietnamese and Slovak communities. In this program, we visit this year's festival to meet organizers, participants, and attendees and explore how the event is introducing Vietnamese culture to a wider Slovak audience, building bridges between communities, and bringing together generations of Vietnamese living in Slovakia.

Send us Fan MailCoffee is everywhere in Vietnam—from a tiny coffee stall on a boat in the Mekong Delta to bustling cafés in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. In this episode, we dive into the fascinating history of Vietnamese coffee and learn how the country went from French-introduced coffee plants to becoming the world's second-largest coffee producer with its own style and a rich coffee culture.We'll make and taste some of Vietnam's most iconic coffees, including strong black coffee, creamy white coffee, famous Hanoi egg coffee, salty coffee from Hue, and sweet coconut coffee. We'll visit Giang Cafe in Hanoi, the birthplace of egg coffee, and along the way discover why civet coffee has a fascinating history but is definitely one coffee you should think twice about trying.By the end, we had tasted our way through Vietnam—and probably consumed enough caffeine to keep us awake for the rest of our trip. Music and Sound Credits: Jazz Coffee Shop Music by Alex Morgan, Midnight Garden Overature by Whatssmoth and Khúc Trống Ra Trận by u_yko112bed1 provided by PixabaySupport the showWant to support the podcast? Go to Laura's Patreon site to see photos from the episode, maps of places she talks about and you can become a patron too!Follow the show on instagram or facebook.Buy any of these products that I fully stand behind- and I'll earn a commission.Buy cute sustainable bags at: https://torrain.org/   Use Promo code: TRAVELALONG to get 15% off.  Buy matcha at: https://mantramatcha.com/  Use Promo code: TRAVELALONG to get 15% off.  Buy sustainably produced coffee:  https://www.afueracoffee.com/  Enter promo code: TRAVELALONG for 15% off.  Music in advertisement by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay

learn how to talk about likes and dislikes and read a menu

When Phong Nguyen stepped into the CEO role at Modus—a technology platform processing over $2 Billion annually in driver reimbursements—he skipped the victory lap and did something his team was terrified to arrange: he got on a call with one of their biggest, angriest ex-customers.The client "ripped them a new one," exposing a hard reality: Modus had lost its innovation edge and treated them transactionally. But instead of getting defensive, Fong took a walk to cool down, gathered his leadership team, and used that uncomfortable call to recalibrate the company's "true north". Within 12 months, they won that customer back.In this episode of Lead The Team, host Ben Fanning sits down with Phong Nguyen to discuss:The Ex-Customer Playbook: Why calling lost accounts yields the rawest, most valuable strategic data.Customer Centricity vs. Customer Success: Why true customer focus is a business strategy, not a metrics-driven department.Leading Through Perspective: How growing up as a Vietnamese refugee shaped his long-term view on work ethic, discipline, and opportunity."Liked vs. Respected": The screaming match early in his career that forced him to develop his own philosophy on modern management.Uncovering Hidden Signals: Moving past surface-level KPIs to align with actual customer business outcomes.Resources & LinksGet Weekly Insights: Receive vital takeaways from every episode directly to your inbox at benfanning.com/insight.Rate & Review: Enjoying the show? Take 10 seconds to rate, follow, and drop a review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to help more leaders discover the show.-----Connect with the Host, #1 bestselling author Ben FanningSpeaking and Training inquiresSubscribe to my Youtube channelLinkedInInstagramTwitter

Rizz officially turned 48, which means it's time to celebrate the only way responsible middle-aged adults know how: announce that birthdays are stupid, eat olives, drink approximately nine birthday beers, stay out until 1:45 in the morning and immediately begin discussing whether birthdays should be banned altogether next year.Lern returns from Nashville after one of her favorite trips with Tim, complete with cowboy boots, Broadway people-watching and a Foo Fighters show at Nissan Stadium that was approximately three degrees cooler than walking directly into a pizza oven. She missed Queens of the Stone Age thanks to dinner running late and a forgotten phone, but made it for Foo Fighters, Shane West randomly appearing during the band's trip through its members' musical histories, and a romantic finish listening from the pedestrian bridge while fireworks went off. Cute. Disgusting. We're happy for them.Guns N' Roses had their own weather problems when storms forced the band to shorten the Busch Stadium show. Naturally, this leads to the important journalistic question: if you're Guns N' Roses and rain is coming, HOW DO YOU NOT IMMEDIATELY PLAY “NOVEMBER RAIN”? We don't make the rules. Actually, apparently neither do they.Pin-Up Bowl goes from Rizz worrying nobody will show up to being absolutely packed. The special Dangler beer flows freely. Rizz receives spaghetti-and-meatball dangler earrings, another signed Don Mattingly baseball and a massive strawberry birthday cake featuring a photo of Rizz with a truly breathtaking hair situation. There's bowling, questionable decisions and eventually a migration to Delmar Hall — except for Scott, whom everyone insists they didn't abandon collectively. They merely abandoned him individually.At Delmar Hall, the Blink-182 tribute brings the hits, Bangs Against the Machine brings the Rage, Rizz keeps getting handed beverages, and eventually Mrs. Rizzuto performs the evening's most important public service by shutting down the birthday shots before somebody had to replace another shower curtain.Then comes the Quincy lottery story.Rizz brings up a movie theory that sounds just believable enough to ruin your productivity for the next hour: could The Goonies and Back to the Future take place on the exact same day?Back to the Future establishes October 26, 1985. Meanwhile, clues in The Goonies appear to place its adventure right around that same Saturday. Coincidence? Intentional cinematic universe? Evidence that Chunk was one DeLorean ride away from completely destroying the space-time continuum? We investigate with exactly the level of academic rigor you'd expect from this program.Then Brian arrives with enough food to turn the studio into a French bakery: croissants, bread, ham and Swiss, smoked deviled eggs and more. This comes after the gigantic birthday cake he'd already made for Rizz, because apparently we're now trying to see whether a radio host can be defeated entirely by carbohydrates.Nate Bargatze also sets a massive comedy ticket-sales record, sending Rafe and the crew into a genuinely interesting conversation about club comedy versus arena comedy. Rafe explains why smaller rooms create that perfect pressure cooker of laughs while superstar comics eventually reach a level where playing a 200-seat club makes about as much financial sense as opening a lemonade stand inside Costco.The entertainment conversation keeps rolling into movies, celebrity stories and eventually Brad Pitt declaring that bad acting is so distracting he can't watch porn. This results in Rafe questioning Brad Pitt's acting credentials and nearly getting thrown off the show by everyone else. The crew debates whether Pitt is actually an elite actor, just exceptionally talented at playing Brad Pitt, or both.The crew surprises him with cards carefully selected to remind him that he's old, grouchy and one year closer to death. Lern gives him a Tommy Wiseau pasta spoon. Then Rafe produces Italian rainbow cookies from Sweet Seven Layers, delivered by a New York/Jersey baker who listens to the show and apparently understands exactly how to win over a “greasy meatball” birthday boy.Sweet Seven Layers has everybody losing their minds over traditional Italian rainbow cookies, pistachio and blackberry creations, cherry amaretto and enough sugar to make Moon openly admit he's buzzing. Throw in the pastries from Le Bon Boucher and we're basically broadcasting from inside a carbohydrate emergency.Sexy Time Fun Facts arrives with a legitimately groundbreaking medical story: surgeons in Vietnam successfully performed the country's first penile transplant from a brain-dead donor.What starts as an unbelievable medical headline turns into a surprisingly thoughtful conversation about organ donation, brain death and transplant ethics. Rafe brings some firsthand perspective from witnessing organ harvesting during his previous surgical work, while Moon reflects on his own recent experience being with his father at the end of his life.A ranking of all 50 states examines factors including clubs, online communities, hotels and other indicators of an active swinging lifestyle. Florida takes the top spot because Florida apparently looked at its existing reputation and decided to lean in. Missouri lands at number 20 overall, while ranking eighth for its number of physical swinger clubs.Science apparently has an answer for how much you should reveal in your dating profile. Say too little and people assume you're sketchy. Overshare every trauma you've experienced since kindergarten and romantic interest drops. The sweet spot is the “Goldilocks bio”: enough personality and detail to seem interesting without making somebody feel like they've accidentally opened your therapist's case notes.Rafe isn't particularly interested. He'd rather meet somebody naturally and “let the universe do it,” which is adorable and therefore completely unacceptable to his coworkers. Tinder, Hinge, Bumble and Raya all enter the discussion, along with stories of celebrities appearing in people's inboxes and the realization that getting Rafe approved for Raya may require more references than getting a mortgage.Follow The Rizzuto Show → linktr.ee/rizzshow for more from your favorite daily comedy show.Connect with The Rizzuto Show Comedy Podcast online → 1057thepoint.com/RizzShow.Hear The Rizz Show daily on the radio at 105.7 The Point | Hubbard Radio in St. Louis, MO.Vietnamese doctors perform nation's first successful penis transplantThe best states for swingers revealed — with a few surprising Southern states taking the top 3 spotsNew Jumbotron at Illinois High School Falls, Damages Gym During Installation on VideoSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Devil's Ledger — Week of August 17, 2026 The universe put on one hell of a show this week. We begin with Spain's spectacular August 12 solar eclipse and humanity's long, occasionally unhinged relationship with watching the sun disappear. For The Creepiest Thing I Heard This Week, we travel from ancient Greece—where an eclipse could signal that the gods had essentially abandoned humanity—to Choctaw stories of a giant black squirrel attempting to devour the sun and Vietnamese legends of a celestial frog swallowing it whole. And apparently scientific literacy hasn't completely saved us. Modern eclipse superstitions warn of poisoned food, birthday curses and even the possibility that washing your hair during an eclipse could somehow affect your sanity. Three thousand years ago we feared an angry god had extinguished the sun. Today we're worried about the potato salad. Progress remains uneven. Then, across the Evio Universe this week: On The Devil Within, The New Monsters continues with The Backrooms, the internet-born nightmare built around the idea that reality itself has seams. Slip through the wrong one and you could find yourself trapped inside an apparently endless maze of yellow wallpaper, stained carpeting, fluorescent lights and empty rooms. What began as an unsettling image evolved into an enormous collaborative mythology of levels, entities, rules and stories—and ultimately escaped the internet into games, movies and mainstream popular culture. On Criminal Mischief, Carolyn Ossorio breaks down the extraordinary new developments surrounding Luigi Mangione. Following his federal guilty plea in connection with the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, attention now turns toward New York's pending murder case and an increasingly important question: double jeopardy. Federal and state governments are generally treated as separate sovereigns under federal constitutional law, while New York provides additional statutory protections against successive prosecutions. Carolyn examines what Mangione's plea means, what it doesn't mean, and why the next major battle may happen before another jury ever hears the case. On The Slippery, we meet Olga Rutterschmidt and Helen Golay, the elderly Los Angeles women whose apparent efforts to help unhoused men concealed an astonishing insurance scheme. Prosecutors established that the pair befriended vulnerable men, obtained numerous life-insurance policies on them and eventually murdered Paul Vados and Kenneth McDavid in staged hit-and-run incidents before collecting millions in insurance proceeds. The scheme began unraveling when one detective overheard another discussing a suspicious death and remembered an eerily similar case. The same two women appeared in both files. From there came insurance investigators, undercover operations and the slow dismantling of an extraordinary criminal enterprise. And This Week in Horror, we're talking Ice Cream Man, Eli Roth's gleefully deranged throwback to the excesses of 1980s horror: an idyllic summer town, a mysterious ice cream man and frozen treats capable of turning children into homicidal killers. It's bloody, ridiculous and precisely the sort of movie that understands sometimes the best horror premise begins by taking something completely innocent and ruining it forever. So keep looking toward the stars, enjoy these final weeks of summer, and we'll see you somewhere this week across the Evio Universe.

What does God see when He looks at our giving, our service, and our faith? In this powerful episode, Brother Jim explores the story of the poor widow in Mark 12 and the two tiny coins she placed in the temple treasury. While everyone else saw a gift that seemed insignificant, Jesus saw something completely different—a sacrifice born from complete faith and trust in God. Through this story, Brother Jim challenges us to look beyond appearances and ask the questions that truly matter: Are we giving God our leftovers or our best? Are we serving Him only when it is comfortable and convenient? And how much of our lives truly belongs to Him? From a remarkable story of a Vietnamese family who sacrificed their prized water buffalo for the work of the Gospel, to the ultimate example of sacrificial giving found in Jesus Christ, this episode reminds us that God measures sacrifice, not size; faithfulness, not recognition; and the heart, not the outward appearance. Brother Jim encourages us to consider what God has entrusted to each of us—our time, talents, resources, finances, and opportunities—and challenges us to stop asking, “God, what can You give me?” and start asking, “God, what can I give You today?” Because Jesus sees what everyone else misses. Key Scriptures: Mark 12:41–44, 1 Samuel 16:7, James 4:10, John 3:16–17, and 2 Corinthians 9:6–8. Listen, reflect, and ask yourself: What has God entrusted to me, and what am I doing with it for His glory?

Send us Fan MailLinking the Travel Industry is a business travel podcast where we review the top travel industry stories that are posted on LinkedIn by LinkedIn members.  We curate the top posts and discuss with them with travel industry veterans in a live session with audience members.  You can join the live recording session by visiting BusinessTravel360.comYour Hosts are Riaan van Schoor, Ann Cederhall and Aash ShravahStories covered on this podcast episode include:The trip management solution provider Engine acquires the TMC Options Travel. Expedia acquires the Berlin based AI travel planning startup solution Layla AI Travel Agent.The most recent Amadeus earnings results show that air bookings dropped by 7.6% during the second quarter of this year.The Vietnamese airline Bamboo Airways ceases operations.Air India Limited appoints former Ethiopian Airlines executive Tewolde Gebremariam as their new CEO.Apollo Global Management, Inc. wins the easyJet bidding war with their $7.7 Billion offer.You can subscribe to this podcast by searching 'BusinessTravel360' on your favorite podcast player or visiting BusinessTravel360.comThis podcast was created, edited and distributed by BusinessTravel360.  Be sure to sign up for regular updates at BusinessTravel360.com - Enjoy!Support the show

Episode 3344 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a a letter to the editor that expresses Vietnamese refugees great gratitude to Australian Vietnam Veterans. The letter is titled: A debt of gratitude to Australia’s Vietnam veterans. It appeared … Continue reading → The post Episode 3344– Vietnamese Refugee thanks Australian Vietnam Veterans first appeared on Vietnam Veteran News.

With two-thirds of 2026 almost complete, tourism strategies, plans and developments are loaded with extra meaning. 2027 is looming up ahead… This week, Gary and Hannah journey across South East Asia and to Australia to ask and answer this week's top tourism questions. We begin Down Under where Australia's new 10-year tourism roadmap is simply world class. We discuss why. Next to Brunei, which is rolling out various tourism initiatives as it targets 1 million arrivals in 2027. Meanwhile, Vietnam's national payment system is now connected to China's WeChat Pay, enabling Chinese visitors to Vietnam and Vietnamese tourists in China to swipe and pay seamlessly. Plus, The Haze is back, blanketing parts of Malaysia and Singapore in a gloomy fug. It could get much worse yet… Meanwhile, Indonesia's high-speed rail route continues to bleed mega-money, Malaysians are spending more on domestic tourism - and China issues a solemn warning that destinations across the region should take seriously. 

Former Detective Sergeant, Deb Wallace on policing the heroin hotspot of Cabramatta in the 1990s and how Sun Tzu's 'The Art of War' gave her new ideas for clamping down on illegal gang activity.When Deb joined the NSW Police Force in 1983, there were very few women on the front line. She quickly discovered she had the cool-headed resilience ideal for police work, and she was determined to make a career of it.In the mid-1990s Deb was a junior Detective when she was given a tough assignment — breaking up the gangs who ruled the streets of the Sydney suburb of Cabramatta.At the time, Cabramatta was a vibrant place full of migrant families trying to carve out a new life in Australia, but crime was surging, and the train station was the centre of a thriving heroin trade.After reading Sun Tzu's "The Art of War", Deb met up with the gang members in person to ask them about their lives. They told her that they were lost to the world crime, but she should focus on the next generation, so she helped set up a street school with Father Chris Riley.Some years later Deb was given a new challenge — leading Strike Force Raptor, a squad charged with breaking up bikie gangs. Deb retired after 36 years on the force and now volunteers at Grace's Place, a site of healing and restoration for young people affected by homicide.Further informationOriginally broadcast May 2023.Read more about Graces's Place.Michael Murphy, one of the men convicted for the murder of Anita Cobby, died from cancer at Long Bay Jail in 2019.This episode was produced by Nicola Harrison. The Executive Producer was Carmel Rooney.It explores gang violence, drugs, toxic masculinity, Vietnamese community, improving the next generation, street school, bikies, outlaw motorcycle gangs, culottes, female cop, bar brawls, DV, domestic violence, happy childhood, legislation, cops, Anita Cobby, murder, how policing has changed, beat, partner, colleague.To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you'll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Although it's increasingly common to describe the Palestinian struggle for liberation in terms of a conflict with settler colonialism, it's more rare for Palestine to be situated in the broader context of anti-imperialist struggles of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and specifically the wars for liberation conducted by the FLN in Algeria and the Vietminh and the National Liberation Front in Vietnam. Hamza Hamouchene seeks to do just that. In our conversation we talked about the importance of recognising that although the success of past decolonisation struggles is seen today as inevitable, they were not so perceived at the time and that in the cases of both Algeria and Vietnam their battles for independence endured for an extremely long time and were punctuated by what seemed to be possibly permanent defeats. We also talked about the Vietminh's victory of the French at Dien Bien Phu in 1954 and the shockwaves this sent through territories under the control of the French and other European empires elsewhere. We went on to talk about the direct assistance the Vietnamese and Algerians provided to each other, and how both aided the Palestinians after they had achieved independence. Finally, we talked about the relevance of the moment of the high point of anti-colonial struggle to the Palestinian cause now, given the even more challenging geopolitical situation that Palestinian resistance faces today. Notes: Towards Palestinian Liberation: Global Perspectives on Anti-Colonial Resistance and Solidarity, edited by Abi Bae and Hamza Hamouchene: https://www.tni.org/en/publication/towards-palestinian-liberation

Grim and James are joined by Jerry Cthulhu, ThatGuy, Nickie the Dude, Pirateshipping, Endless, and Suzanne! Enjoy the chat!! Email me for the Guilded chatroom link! Check out our anime review show Shonen Dump www.shonendump.com James Cruz Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/cruz_controllin Grimsteak Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/grimcrt Grimsteak Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@grimsteak Send us hatemail or love mail at grimsteak@gmail.com Live Show Every Tuesday at 9pm est on CwS Radio https://s3.radio.co/s230f698de/listen Check out Jerry's show "Nox Mente' at https://noxmente.simplecast.com/

As Greg starts to settle into local Vietnamese culture and cuisine, there are early signs of homesickness kicking in, we unpack those feelings and remind him to continue to push them down. Front doors without keys, fancy sheets and fridges with stickers, it's just a different world in Danang. What has a greater valuation IRONMAN or HYROX?  Training hours are through the roof as some of triathlons greatest events are just around the corner and out athletes put in the hard yards to ensure goals are hit! Did someone say ‘demountable'? Comment below for your BOCO Performance Bucket Hat, while stocks last! Join the Tribe www.koasports.com.au 

Wednesday 8-12-26 Show #1302: We talk Cons, coffee, Jeff's broken finger, making bad promises, and Ken has beef with Vietnamese people.

Wednesday 8-12-26 Show #1302: We talk Cons, coffee, Jeff's broken finger, making bad promises, and Ken has beef with Vietnamese people.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

[English as below]Mối quan hệ hợp tác Việt - Mỹ đang bước vào một giai đoạn mới với nhiều thay đổi quan trọng. Trong tập tiếp theo của phiên bản Vietnam Innovators 2.0, host Hảo Trần cùng Mr. Michael Kokalari (Chief Economist, VinaCapital) & Mr. Dan Martin (Head of Hanoi Office, AmCham Vietnam) sẽ mang đến góc nhìn toàn cảnh về tác động của mối quan hệ này tới nền kinh tế toàn cầu.Cuộc trò chuyện sẽ giải mã bước ngoặt đằng sau chiến lược hợp nhất hai chi hội độc lập tại Hà Nội và TP. Hồ Chí Minh của Hiệp hội Thương mại Mỹ tại Việt Nam sau 32 năm, thực trạng biến động thuế quan, và lý do Việt Nam đang trở thành một "nền kinh tế kết nối" chiến lược. Không chỉ dừng lại ở các con số FDI hay chính sách thương mại, cuộc trò chuyện còn chỉ ra cơ hội để doanh nghiệp Việt vươn ra thị trường Mỹ và khẳng định vị thế quốc tế.—The US-Vietnam partnership is entering a new chapter marked by critical shifts. In this next episode of Vietnam Innovators 2.0, host Hao Tran talks with Mr. Michael Kokalari (Chief Economist, VinaCapital) and Mr. Dan Martin (Head of Hanoi Office, AmCham Vietnam) to offer a comprehensive look at how this evolving relationship impacts the global economy.The conversation unpacks the strategic milestone behind AmCham Vietnam unifying its independent Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City chapters after 32 years. The speakers also dive into ongoing tariff dynamics and explain why Vietnam is emerging as a strategic "connector economy". Beyond trade policies and FDI numbers, discover how Vietnamese enterprises can capitalize on new opportunities to expand into the US market and assert their global presence.-Listen to this episode on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Youtube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠And explore many amazing articles about the pioneers at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://vietcetera.com/vn/bo-suu-tap/vietnam-innovator⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠-Feel free to leave any questions or invitations for business cooperation at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠team@vietcetera.com

Every Coffee Fest we sit down with presenters and speakers to talk about their field of expertise and learn from their experience in coffee. This time we had a wonderful time talking with three professionals at Coffee Fest Chicago!  We start with Lan Ho, Founder of Fat Miilk Vietnamese coffee bar in Chicago! Lan Ho is the founder and CEO of Fat Miilk, a Chicago-based Vietnamese coffee company redefining the role of Robusta in modern coffee. Through a platform spanning direct sourcing, roasting, retail cafés, and consumer packaged goods, she is building a brand that connects origin to everyday ritual. With a background in pharmacy, Lan brings a systems-driven mindset to an industry often led by tradition. She left a six-figure healthcare career to pursue entrepreneurship and has since been featured on CNBC and appeared on Gordon Ramsay's Food Stars. Fat Miilk opened its first Chicago storefront in 2024, with a second location in Naperville set to open this summer. Deeply interested in consumer psychology, Lan approaches coffee through the lens of lifestyle, how people drink, feel, and connect through daily habits. She is a leading voice in advancing Robusta's place in the global coffee conversation.   Links: https://fatmiilk.com/ http://instagram.com/fatmiilk/   Next we are talking about approachable and joyful coffee training and eduction with Miranda Haney of Barista Friend!  Miranda Haney is a coffee educator and consultant based in Austin, TX. She is the founder of Barista Friend, a mobile barista training service for home and professional baristas.  Hailing from a long line of teachers, Miranda is especially passionate about delivering information in a way that's engaging and easy to understand. She's a permanent fixture at the local latte art competitions, a two-time U.S. Barista Championships national competitor, runner-up in the 2024 Barista League, Denver, and currently serves as vice president of the Austin Coffee Collective. Most recently, she was a 2025 Coffee Sustainability Fellow with The Chain Collaborative.   Links: https://www.instagram.com/baristafriend/ https://baristafriend.substack.com/   Finally we talk with Asia Vo of Loba Pastry and Coffee  Asia Vo is a Chicago-based artist devoted to curating intentional food and beverage experiences. In her present role as the Beverage Director of Loba Pastry, Vo honors craftsmanship through her continual pursuit of authentic creation and curiosity.   Links: https://www.lobapastry.com/ https://www.instagram.com/asia__vo/     Go check out Coffee Fest Trade Shows Today!  www.coffeefest.com    

Join John Crossman on "The Crossman Conversation" as he sits down with former Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy for a captivating conversation that spans her extraordinary life and career. From her deeply moving story as a Vietnamese refugee and her impactful visit to the Hanoi Hilton with Senator John McCain, to her insights on bridging political divides, this episode is a masterclass in principled leadership. Stephanie shares how education transformed her life and why she's passionately committed to workforce training and affordable housing in Orange County, Florida. Discover her unique approach to public service, driven by deep passion and a relentless focus on mission over party lines. Young professionals and seasoned leaders alike will gain practical takeaways on discipline, community impact, and the courage to challenge the status quo, all delivered with Stephanie's authentic, results-oriented perspective.

Pressure in the CPG world to raise capital, spend capital, and grow quickly is real. Capital expenditure is a necessity with the push to get into more retailers, advertise, scale up production, build the right team, and the list goes on and on. What if there were a different way? What if you could be more intentional about your growth, build a strong footing in your community, and develop deep relationships that gave you leverage? Wynn Austin, Founder & CEO of Wynn's Kitchen, is taking that approach, i.e. slow & steady growth. Building relationships with regional retailers like Erewhon over the course of several years has given her credibility and the velocity she needs to be successful and profitable. Big box stores may have never given her that chance, due to the time expectancy around building on-shelf velocity. Grab your coconut aminos and let's start seasoning.What they coverConsumers are more health conscious than ever, which has impacted buying decisions over the past several years.For better or worse, your body is incredibly adaptable. You often don't know how bad you feel until you get rid of certain foods from your diet and reintroduce them later.Everyone has to be an advocate for their own health. We have access to so much knowledge. We just need to investigate and have conversations with healthcare professionals about our goals. We can use food and medicine as part of one holistic toolbox, instead of living in the extremes of either/or._____________________The Longer Game explores the future of retail across Amazon, ecommerce, and brick-and-mortar.The goal is simple: help brands grow by understanding how all channels work together.Retail is evolving. The brands that win are the ones willing to adapt.Subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Learn more: https://thelongergame.com_____________________About the Guest: Wynn Austin is a San Diego based entrepreneur, mom, and joyful ambassador for healthy living. Born in Vietnam and raised in the States, she stayed connected to her roots through Vietnamese cuisine. After facing personal health challenges, she began a healing journey that meant cutting sugar, soy, and gluten, and she saw how many store-bought sauces hid sugar and highly processed ingredients. That led her to recreate her favorite Vietnamese dishes in a cleaner way and to launch Wynn's Kitchen, her line of better-for-you Asian sauces.Connect with Wynn: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wynnaustin/ Website: https://wynnskitchen.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wynnskitchen/_____________________About the Host:Michael Maher is Chief Idea Officer of Cartology, an Amazon-focused agency helping brands grow revenue and profitability.Connect with Michael: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/immichaelmaher Email: michael@thinkcartology.com_____________________Sponsored by Cartology https://thinkcartology.com

When two friends journey to a remote Vietnamese island to investigate rumors of a Bigfoot-like creature, they expect blurry photographs, strange footprints, and perhaps another internet hoax. Instead, they stumble upon a secret so disturbing it challenges everything they believe about the human mind—and the price some people are willing to pay to escape it.Listen on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@chillingtalesfordarknights/

The global awakening, according to Larry Ballard, cannot happen without a global currency reset. In this in-depth conversation, Larry joins Michael Jaco to explain why he believes the revaluation of currencies such as the Iraqi dinar and Vietnamese đồng is only one piece of a much larger transformation. Drawing from years of research, Larry shares his perspective on how energy, geopolitics, economics, and national sovereignty fit into what he believes is an unfolding global reset. Larry explains why he believes President Trump's long-term strategy extends far beyond politics and connects to international trade, resource development, energy independence, and a restructuring of the global financial system. Throughout the discussion, Larry shares his analysis of: • The global currency reset and why he believes it matters • The Iraqi dinar and Vietnamese đồng • President Trump's long-term economic strategy • Energy independence and global resources • The future of the U.S. dollar and international finance • Why he believes the financial system is entering a historic transition Whether you're interested in geopolitics, global finance, or alternative economic perspectives, this conversation offers Larry Ballard's analysis of where he believes the world is headed and why he sees today's events as part of a much larger plan. Larry Ballard

Victor Penev, Founder and CEO of Edamam LLC, is on a mission to help people make healthier food choices by organizing the world’s food knowledge, while building a Zero-Spend Marketing Engine that fuels sustainable growth through a proprietary semantic food database. By combining food science, nutrition expertise, and AI-powered technology, Victor has built Edamam into a trusted food intelligence platform that enables businesses to develop innovative health, wellness, and nutrition applications while making reliable food data accessible at scale. In this conversation, Victor introduces The Democratic Decisions Framework—No Pre-Judgement, Freedom to Speak Up, Intellectual Environment, Robust Discussion, and Work Towards Consensus. He explains why removing preconceived opinions encourages better ideas, how open dialogue and diverse perspectives lead to stronger decisions, and why working toward consensus builds lasting commitment across teams. Victor also shares how partnerships, referrals, and search authority fueled Edamam’s sustainable growth, and why proprietary data and continuous human refinement remain the company’s competitive advantage in the age of AI. — Zero-Spend Marketing Engine with Victor Penev  Good day, dear listeners. Steve Preda here with the Management Blueprint Podcast. Today, my guest is Victor Penev, the Founder and CEO of Edamam LLC. Edamam is helping people eat better by making daily food choices simple and easy, eventually organizing all the food knowledge in the world. To that end, the company has built a proprietary semantic food knowledge base and is creating, on top of it, a range of consumer and business applications to solve real-world, everyday problems. Wow. Victor, welcome to the show.  Thank you. Good to be here. I’m very excited.  So I was shocked to learn that you’ve got 900,000 foods in the system and 2.3 million recipes. I mean, I don’t know who is even able to create so many recipes. So how did that whole thing come about? How did you come up with this idea? Are you a foodie?  I am a foodie. Yeah, that’s kind of the origin story. I’m a serial entrepreneur. I’ve done a few startups. I had a successful exit about 15 years ago. A friend of mine and I built Bulgaria’s largest internet company. Then I started looking for what to do next. I was actually going to start a news organization, but then I realized one day, on a beach in Thailand, that I think about food five hours a day, and I cook every day.  So I might as well do something around food that helps people. I married my passion for food with my passion for technology and built a company.Share on X The problem we set out to solve back then is still a very valid problem. People need the right information, just in time, to make the right food choices. The data is always inconsistent, incomplete, and lacking. So we set out to organize the world’s food knowledge so we can help people make the right food choices.  Wow, this is fascinating. So what is your personal ‘Why’ that you’re manifesting in this business?  So, in terms of philosophy—and my philosophy changes. Everybody’s personal philosophy changes over time. But where I am right now, I think there are a couple of things that really matter if you want to live what one would call the good life—a meaningful life. One is to be really present in the moment. You know, be here now. The other is to help people. I think my business falls into…Share on X For us, the measure of success is not revenue or profit.  It’s how many people we ultimately reach through our data. It’s worth noting that we’re a business-to-business company, so we don’t reach people directly. But we have partnerships with companies like Nestlé, Microsoft, Amazon, and Food Network. Through those partnerships, we think we reach at least a billion people. For us, that’s the real measure of success.  Helping everybody eat better and live longer, healthier lives. My vision is that everybody can live to 120 without chronic illness or mental conditions. A big part of that is food. So we're trying to help people. That's my 'Why'.Share on X  Yeah, I love it. Obviously, eating healthy is a big thing. You know, garbage in, garbage out. This is fascinating. Do you find that certain cultures have better eating habits than others? And what drives it?  I think history and geography, to some extent. Everybody knows about the Mediterranean diet. And it’s not only the countries around the Mediterranean. Vietnamese and Japanese cuisine are Mediterranean in the composition of the food. A lot of it comes from being close to water, living in a certain climate, and having a huge variety of fruits, vegetables, and fish. But I think the biggest change over the last hundred years hasn’t been culture. It’s been technology—quote-unquote—and the processing of food so it’s shelf-stable, can be shipped, and sold at a lower price.  I think that’s the biggest problem. It’s changing eating habits everywhere in the world. It’s very well known in the United States and, to some extent, in Western Europe. But even places like Japan are starting to eat a lot more processed food. Mexico is starting to eat a lot more processed food. This is more technology-driven than anything else. If I had to say one thing that would help people, it would be this: Go back to your roots. Get food directly from the soil. Cook it at home. It's a question of time and effort, but if you value your health, that's one of the best investments you…Share on X  Yeah, as we’re getting busier and busier, the opportunity cost of cooking our own meals is becoming higher. And that’s the real problem.  It is a problem. I mean, it’s a question of priority. I cook every day. I’m very busy, but for me, it’s an important enough thing. Food, apart from nourishment and nutrition, is also a very social thing. People connect through food and spend time together, and that’s another thing that correlates very well with longevity and a well-lived life. So there’s a lot more to be said about having good food.  Yeah, I think Woody Allen said in one of his movies that eating together is the second sexiest thing to do, or something like that.  Yeah, there you go. I’m not going to ask what the first one is.  Yeah. That’s awesome. So let’s talk about frameworks. This podcast is all about frameworks. What’s a framework that you’ve discovered along the way that helps you think about your business, create outcomes in your business, help other people be productive, or whatever it is that’s driving results in your business?  A couple of things come to mind. I’ll start with the non-obvious one. Some people speak about it, but I’ve practiced it, and I think going slow gets you further. You know, the hare and the tortoise. I am definitely against growth for growth’s sake. That drives a lot of decisions: who you raise money from, how you run your business, and so on. Over the years—and I’ve been an entrepreneur for probably close to 40 years—I’ve discovered that every successful product has its timing and its soul.  You just have to let it come to fruition. Sometimes that means slowing down instead of rushing forward. For me, being deliberate about the end goal without having time constraints is a framework that’s always helped me. It’s not for everyone. Definitely not for the modern world, where VC money is trying to get you to grow very fast, and everybody competes based on how fast their revenue or customer base has grown.  But I find that this does not lead to lasting results in terms of impacting humanity and having a meaningful life—both for yourself and for everybody in the company. So that’s one framework. The other, which is also very simple, though not too many people execute it, is just: treat people like people. This means there’s no hierarchy in my company. I’m super proud to say that in my last company, I never had an employee leave. And that was over 15 years.  It’s because I treat people as people. Going back to the Latin origin of the word companion, companio, which means “to break bread together.” We are a band of people breaking bread together on a journey. That’s how it works. That means doing things that are not intuitive in business. For example, having no advance notice requirement for vacations. If you want to take a vacation, take it now. Giving responsibility to people and treating them well. Those are the two frameworks that I think have helped me. In addition, making decisions democratically, which is a very contentious thing in business. Okay.  So how do you do that?  There is always, ultimately, an arbiter, which is oftentimes me or some kind of board. But that means having a robust discussion around a topic without preconceived notions of what the end decision or result should be. Creating a culture where everybody can speak up, argue, and tell you they disagree with you. Having that freedom creates an intellectual environment where people really debate.Share on X  At the end, more often than not, the obvious decision emerges. It takes a long time, but the reality is that once a decision is made, everybody has bought into it, and it’s usually the right decision. So I don’t make wrong turns. Now, there are times when it’s a coin flip. There are two equally good—or equally bad—options, and somebody has to make the call. Then it falls to me. But for the most part, it’s democratic decision-making.  So how do you cultivate that? How do you foster it? How do you make sure people contribute to it?  I’ve had the luxury of starting a company from scratch. It’s a lot easier to do when you start from scratch because you establish the culture with the first hire. It’s a lot harder to change a culture and instill new values. For me, it's been a very deliberate choice about what I want the company to be. People working together toward a common goal. People who don't get overworked. People who always have something exciting to do and an amazing group of people to work…Share on X  So it’s about hiring people who are reliable, self-sufficient, and want to move things forward. Then really showing that any conversation and any intellectual argument is absolutely allowed. There is no hierarchy where you can say something and I’ll just shut you down because I’m the boss. You have to demonstrate that in practice. You have to actively solicit everything a person has to say. After the first couple of hires, it becomes easier with the next ones because they see what’s going on. That’s how you do it. It’s a deliberate choice to build the culture through day-to-day interactions. There’s no easier way, unfortunately.  So how scalable is this flat, democratic culture? Does it impact scalability in any way?  It is scalable. My current company is small, but my previous company had about 150 people. Even when we sold the company and had to find a replacement CEO, the candidates had about 50 interviews each. At the end, the whole company voted on who the CEO would be. It is scalable. It slows down the decision-making process, but it speeds up the progress of the company.  An individual, even the smartest individual, is more likely to make mistakes than the crowd. Now, there are exceptions. I’m pretty sure Steve Jobs would have done it differently. But for the most part, I think people make fewer errors through a democratic process than by making decisions on their own. So yes, I think it’s scalable. It’s really a matter of deciding which decisions belong at which level. You don’t have the entire company of, say, 10,000 people voting on one thing. For a particular problem, there might be 10 people who are the relevant decision-makers. They get together and sort it out, and everybody else accepts what those people decide.  So it’s more of an approach to tapping into the minds of the people who can potentially bring diverse opinions.  Yeah. Diversity of opinion. They all have a different angle from which to look at the issue that needs to be resolved. So different angles. Because they’re all impacted, everybody can contribute. There’s respect in listening to everybody else. It’s not that one person establishes the ground truth and everybody else has to agree. There is actual debate.  Yeah. Interesting. By the way, I just want to comment on this bootstrapping aspect. I saw your post on bootstrapping. You spoke at a recent conference on it. So what are your thoughts on bootstrapping? What are the critical ingredients there?  So bootstrapping is the way business has been run for a very long time. It’s only recently—in historical terms—that the venture capital industry emerged and allowed businesses the luxury of building without thinking too much about the bottom line. But I think the disciplining effect of constantly thinking about the bottom line is super important. To some extent, it takes a certain kind of individual to do it, which I call the true entrepreneur. Those are the people who are risk-takers and can live with a very high degree of ambiguity.  When you don’t have money in the bank to cover next month’s expenses, you have to be comfortable with that. To me, that’s the right entrepreneur. It has become too easy for people to become “entrepreneurs” by raising tens of millions of dollars. That’s not to say they might not be brilliant people who execute very well and create amazing companies. I think those are probably one in a thousand. The majority get the money, spend it in two years, and they’re gone. So for me, bootstrapping is the proof in the pudding. If you do it day in and day out and keep moving forward, you're actually building something that's valuable.Share on X  Yeah, I agree. Some people say it’s akin to being an employee when you raise money and just have to get to the next fundraising round, and then the next fundraising round. It’s almost like executing the business plan your board has given you.  Exactly.  Worst case, you go take a job somewhere else if things don’t work out. But you’re not losing your livelihood, and your family isn’t going to starve, right?  It is a certain type of personality, and I don’t think it’s for everyone. But my personal belief is that if you’re going to build a business, you’re better off building it with a little bit of hunger. Not always having enough. Having just enough so you can keep moving forward.  Yeah. Necessity is the mother of invention, right? If you don’t have too many resources, that’s a constraint you can push against and come up with better ideas. It’s a forcing function.  Correct.  There you go. So, Victor, what drives growth in your business?  Like I said, I’m not pro-growth per se. This was also a deliberate choice for the company. Just as a parenthesis, the last business I ran before this was a media business. We sold advertising. I personally don’t believe that spending money on advertising is a good idea. So I built a business with the explicit desire not to spend any money on marketing. That meant I had to build mechanisms for referrals, inbound traffic, and so on.  A lot of our early customers—including companies like The New York Times and Food Network—received very high discounts, but with the requirement to display “Powered by Edamam,” linking back to us. Search engines like that. It builds authority and so on. Over the years, we’ve built enough authority that most of our traffic now comes from search engines and chatbots. That’s what’s driving our growth.  The other thing is that we try to stay nimble. We build technological assets and products, but the market changes. Who needs the data? For what use cases? It’s important to stay aware of the market and adjust to wherever the opportunity is. That’s how I’ve built the business. I’ve built it to generate lots of inbound traffic and then adjust very quickly if the market changes. The rest is we’re almost like a spider waiting for the flies to come in.  So you say you’re not pro-growth. Do you mean you don’t want to make this a bigger company?  No. I’m not for growth just for the sake of growth. Let’s grow 300% this year in top-line revenue. For me, as I said, what drives the business is how many people we reach with our data. That’s the metric I’d like to grow as much as possible. If possible, I’d like to reach every person on the planet. That’s the aspiration. When I say I’m not for growth, I mean that  sometimes growth becomes its own incentive. You grow without asking, “What’s the ultimate goal here?” Why do you have to grow?  Oftentimes, the answer is because you want to sell the company at a big profit. That’s why VCs put money into your company. You’re feeding the VC business model. But if you’re not feeding the VC business model, why do you have to grow the company? What’s the point? You may have investors, but you have patient capital, and they’re aligned with you. Eventually they’ll get their money back, but it doesn’t have to come at the expense of the company’s mission. When I talk about growth, I mean the pressure to constantly grow top-line revenue, which has become very popular over the last couple of decades.  So when you say you eventually want to organize all the food knowledge in the world, it sounds a little like Google organizing the world’s information—just for food. Isn’t that a big vision that requires growth?  No. Again, I don’t think growth is necessary to execute that vision. I think you can organize the world’s food knowledge, and we’re already well along the way. There’s always more to do. Even with very limited resources, we’ve been able to do it. I think that having more customers and more revenue would probably help, but only on the margin. It’s not a prerequisite.  The prerequisite is having the right technology and the right setup to constantly ingest new information about food, pass it through our pipeline, clean it, verify it’s accurate, structure it, organize it, and link it to other data. Food is a relatively limited universe. You started by asking whether people really create 2.3 million recipes. There are only so many ways to combine food items into something people eat. So it’s a limited universe. What’s exciting is the depth of food.  There are macronutrients, micronutrients, allergies, diets—we all know about those. But there’s much more. There are many more molecules in food. Eventually, even the soil it was grown in and the amount of sun exposure could become valuable data. There’s always more work to do, but we focus on what’s actually doable right now.  So do you envisage that the growth of technology, especially AI, means you can keep the company the same size as it is and accomplish your ultimate mission?  I think so. Similar size. To some extent, AI is helping us because it’s bringing a lot more customers. People are building all kinds of applications with large language models and agents, and they need accurate, deep data, so they come to us. We are also using AI to build tools and meet the demand, so our engineers are becoming more effective. So, to some extent, that helps keep the team small.  That being said, in terms of the speed with which AI moves, it’d be nice to have a few extra people. That doesn’t mean doubling the size of the company. I think it’s probably having 20 to 30% more people would be sufficient to actually leverage the technology—which is AI—to the best effect. So that’s kind of my view now. Ask me in two months, I may have a different view.  So what is one thing that you’re actively trying to figure out in this business right now?  Well, AI is throwing a wrench into everything, so it is a very fast-moving environment. Our clients are constantly changing their demands. The profile of our clients is changing. There’s a lot more new health, wellness, prevention, and weight-loss companies that are showing up and starting because they can now build with AI. So all of that makes for a very choppy sea. We can’t figure out exactly where the wind is blowing from and where we should head.  So for me, it’s kind of like having the North Star of, “Okay, we are a data company. We leverage our data asset, and we just keep doing that. Then we’ll innovate on the technologies that we need to offer, but stay there, as opposed to trying to change what the company does.” That’s kind of what’s keeping me steady. But again, it’s a very choppy sea, so I don’t know what’s going to happen. One big worry is whether Anthropic or OpenAI are eventually going to replicate everything that we’ve done. I don’t know. I don’t think so. But artificial superintelligence is something that nobody knows about.  Yeah. So the technology evolves very fast. So how do you avoid being commoditized by AI? I think the data—our moat is the data, right? It’s taken us so much time to actually clean, organize, and structure the data, and that’s not a process you can do easily just by throwing people or AI at it. We’ve used what used to be called AI since the beginning of the company: machine learning, natural language processing, and so on. Now we use generative AI. But we’ve used that, plus super-smart engineers, food experts, nutritionists, and week in, week out, we’ve been improving the data, improving the algorithms, refining it, and so on. That is not something you can just throw resources at.  It requires that constant iteration between humans and technology in order to get there. So for us, I think that’s an important moat because if somebody wants to build it and commoditize us, they’ll have to replicate that. I think the more likely scenario is they may end up buying us. Like I said, artificial superintelligence could be a completely different ballgame. But with the technology that exists right now, with large language models, I don’t think that’s replicable. We know it because enough people have tried.  Yeah. Would you be okay with someone buying you? Is this your…  Sure.  Yeah?  Yeah. The way I think of companies is the following. They’re like children. At some point, children become 18-year-olds. They can earn their own bread. They can walk on their own two feet. You kind of have to let them go. I think this company has gotten to that stage. It’s a teenager that can walk on its own. It doesn’t need me. And I have ideas for 10 more businesses. Who knows? If I’m healthy, I think I could probably build another four or five businesses in the next 40 or 50 years. Why not?  Yeah. I love it. So who do you want to connect with you, go on your website, check things out, and what’s the best way to engage with what Edamam is doing?  Two categories of people or entities. One is companies that are building something around diet management, nutrition, health, or food. I think they’ll find that we have valuable resources that can speed up whatever they’re developing. So that’s one category. The other is like-minded individuals. They could be investors, but they could also just be people who really care about healthy eating and the prosperity of humanity.  Those are the types of people I’d like to talk to because aligned minds often come up with new ideas. It’s kind of the Y Combinator thing—lateral thinking. If we have an aligned goal and we come from different fields, we may come up with something new.  Okay. So that’s a way for you to find people worth brainstorming with, I guess, who have the same ideas: healthy eating, helping people live longer—to 120 years. And other companies that could be using the data you’re processing and organizing. So if you’re out there and you’re in the food business or the healthy living business, then definitely pay attention.  Check out Edamam LLC‘s website. Talk to Victor Penev on LinkedIn. So, Victor, thank you for coming on the show and sharing your wisdom. And if you enjoyed this conversation, stay tuned because we have wonderful entrepreneurs like Victor every week. Anything else, Victor, you want to share? Any famous last words?  Yeah. I just want to say thank you. I appreciate the opportunity. Keep up the good work. I really enjoyed the conversation.  Thank you, Victor. And thanks for listening. Important Links: Victor's LinkedIn Victor's  website

learn how to express necessity and obligations

RUNDOWN Mitch and Hotshot Scott dissect a trade deadline that produced more shrugs than shockwaves, debating whether the Mariners actually bought or simply trimmed payroll. They weigh the additions of Taylor Ward and Seranthony Domínguez, the Luis Castillo trade, and why Seattle's playoff hopes still rest on Julio Rodríguez, Cal Raleigh, and the hitters already in uniform before wrapping up with birthday trivia. Joe Doyle and Brady Farkas debate whether Jerry Dipoto did enough at the deadline, breaking down Taylor Ward, Seranthony Domínguez, Luis Castillo, and the decision to keep George Kirby and Logan Gilbert. They also examine Seattle's lineup questions and what the club's quiet deadline reveals about its future. Scott Spiezio recounts how a devastating back injury with the Mariners sent his life into a spiral of depression, addiction, and personal collapse. The former World Series hero opens up about alcohol, cocaine, failed relationships, and the long road that inspired his memoir, The Hardest Comeback. Scott Spiezio shares the remarkable turnaround that followed baseball's darkest chapter, describing liver failure, sobriety, restored family relationships, and the faith that transformed his life. Eight years sober, he explains why helping others has become a greater victory than any championship.   GUESTS   Brady Farkas | Host, Refuse to Lose podcast Joe Doyle | MLB analyst, Over-Slot Scott Spiezio | Former Seattle Mariners Infielder & Author, The Hardest Comeback   TABLE OF CONTENTS   0:00 | Mariners Stand Pat as the Trade Deadline Comes and Goes. 25:30 | Mariners No-Table: Joe and Brady Break Down Seattle's Deadline Gamble. 45:56 | Scott Spiezio Part 1: From World Series Hero to Addiction—and Back Again. 1:05:38 | Scott Spiezio Part 2: Redemption Arrives After Baseball's Darkest Detour. 1:218:00 | Other Stuff: 16-year-old Santa Cruz lifeguard's heroic ocean rescue, Kyle Shanahan crash cover-up questions, Ricky Pearsall out for the season as Deebo Samuel returns to San Francisco, Ahman Green reveals Parkinson's diagnosis, Tony Romo placed on leave by CBS, Shohei Ohtani card sells for $11 million, Eric Bieniemy's wife shot by their son, new allegations in the J.P. Morgan/Lorna Hajdinj lawsuit, Donna Mills joins OnlyFans. HEADLINES Bride-to-be accused of setting Utah church on fire the night before her wedding, Minnesota man charged for using homemade spike strips to keep kids off his lawn, FCC approves giant space mirror to provide sunlight on demand, Vietnamese doctors perform nation's first successful penis transplant. RIPS Billy Ray Smith Jr. (64), Vincent Pastore (80), Glen Hansard (56).

In this interview, I chat with Thao Thai about The Seekers of Deer Creek, her inspiration for the story, incorporating Vietnamese art and culture, creating a strong sense of place, the stunning cover, and much more. Thao's recommended reads are: Son of Nobody by Yann Martel Between You a River by Kimberly Garza Understory by Chloe Benjamin Looking for some great summer reads? Check out my printable 18-page Summer Reading Guide ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for a tip of your choice or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for a set price here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ via credit card with over 45 new titles vetted by me that will provide great entertainment this summer - a number of books you will not see on other guides. So many fabulous books are coming out in 2026, and you can learn about a bunch of them in my guide. Thanks so much to those of you who have donated to the show. Donate to the podcast ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠on Venmo⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Want to know which new titles are publishing in June - October of 2026? Check out our sixth ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Literary Lookbook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠which contains a comprehensive but not exhaustive list all in one place so you can plan ahead, and we color-code by genre in this one!  Looking for something new to read? Here is my monthly ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Buzz Reads⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ column with five new recommendations each month. Connect with me on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Threads⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What do you cook when it's too hot to turn on the oven (or even the stovetop)… but everyone still needs dinner?When summer temperatures climb, even the simplest meal can feel like too much effort. If you've been relying on takeout, eating cereal for dinner, or are staring into the fridge hoping for inspiration, this episode is full of practical ideas for keeping your kitchen cool.We're sharing our favorite no-cook and low-cook meals, make-ahead recipes, refreshing drinks, and easy summer desserts that make the most of the season without heating up the house.By the end of this episode, you'll discover:A 5-minute meal built around a single package of tofuHow a rotisserie chicken can become a picnic-friendly Vietnamese-inspired dinnerTwo noodle dishes that rely on quick, flavorful, no-cook saucesPress play now and build a rotation of easy summer recipes you'll rely on that will keep you well-fed and out of a hot kitchen!***For more recipes and cooking inspiration, sign up for our free Substack here.And join us on our live monthly calls by upgrading your subscription to paid!***Links:Spicy cold silken tofu with soy and scallions from The Woks of LifeSalsa cruda di Pomodoro — pasta with raw summer tomato sauce — from Lidia BastianichZucchini quesadillas by Smitten Kitchen, and a wonderful squash blossom quesadilla recipe can be found in the Frida's Fiestsa's (a Friday Khalo cookbook)Rainbow veggie pinwheels by Dinner at the ZooBiBim Guksu (spicy mixed noodles) by MaangchiItalian grinder bean salad by Alexis de Boschnek for The Kitchn, and Edi's favorite sun-dried tomato dense bean saladSummer tartines four ways from Serious EatsChicken banh mi by Recipe Tin EatsLemon possets by Toni Chapman for NYT CookingHomemade Gatorade by Lexi at Crowded KitchenFrozen coconut limeade by Smitten Kitchen****Got a cooking question? Leave us a message on our hotline at: 323-452-9084For more recipes and cooking inspiration, sign up for our Substack here.Are you a local to Portland or planning a visit? You can now book a private farmers' market tour with Sonya through Airbnb Experiences! Or order Sonya's cookbook Braids for more Food Friends recipes!

Turning Passion Into Profit: How Tanny Diep Built a Thriving Beauty Business In this inspiring episode of the Stuck In My Mind Podcast, host Wize El Jefe sits down with beauty entrepreneur, educator, and business coach Tanny Diep. Together, they dive deep into the realities of turning passion into profit, overcoming self-doubt, and building a successful business and brand from the ground up—even when the odds seem stacked against you. From Humble Beginnings to Beauty Boss Tanny Diep opens up about her early life as the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants. Growing up, she watched her mother work tirelessly as a nail technician and eventually open her own nail salons—an experience that planted the seeds for Tanny Diep's love for beauty and business (01:44). But despite her early exposure, entrepreneurship wasn't always on her radar. Like many with immigrant backgrounds, she felt family pressure to pursue “stable” careers like medicine or law (02:38). After a detour into business school and a decade-long stint in the fashion industry, Tanny Diep found herself burned out by corporate life (05:05). It was her journey through a transformative 200-hour yoga teacher training that gave her the self-belief and discipline to pursue her own dreams (05:58). This pivotal experience not only helped her address limiting mindsets and past trauma but also equipped her with the resilience and clarity necessary for entrepreneurship (06:55). Taking the Leap Pivoting from fashion, Tanny Diep discovered microblading and permanent makeup—a field where she could combine her creativity with her desire to help others feel confident (09:16). She didn't simply leap blindly; she crafted a practical, year-long exit strategy from her corporate job, committing to training, building her skills, and slowly growing a client base on nights and weekends (09:47). Her candid retelling of working seven days a week, facing burnout and fear, and the uncertainty of “going all in” delivers a powerful reminder that entrepreneurship is rarely glamorous at the outset (09:53). Through family support and her own determination, Tanny Diep opened her first solo studio in late 2018. Even with humble beginnings—a 100-square-foot room with no windows—she used her background in sales, marketing, and design to set herself apart and attract clients (13:07). Her big break came after a successful client transformation and a single, well-placed social media ad, which filled her entire first month and brought in more income than she had ever earned in a single month (14:44). But as she shares, maintaining momentum meant commitment and facing her fears every step of the way (15:55). Leveraging Content and Building an Authentic Brand One of Tanny Diep's most critical success factors was her commitment to consistent, authentic content creation (16:14). She candidly talks about starting from zero followers, making a vow to post something every single day, and using her creativity and research to discover what resonated with her audience—ultimately going viral with behind-the-scenes content that showcased her process and skill (18:01). This relentless discipline in showing up on social media not only drove bookings but also positioned her as an industry leader. Juggling the roles of artist and business owner was no easy feat, as she balanced performing high-stakes, artistic procedures during the day with the administrative, marketing, and growth tasks at night (19:50). Yet, Tanny Diep credits her yoga background for cultivating the discipline and mindset needed to consistently “work on her business”—not just in it—and never allow herself to simply wonder where her next client was coming from (21:04). Why Many Talented Artists Struggle The reality, Tanny Diep explains, is that talent alone is rarely enough. Most beauty schools—and even advanced training courses—teach technical skills but neglect essential business topics, such as branding, marketing, operations, and client retention (25:13). For many creative professionals, the daunting leap from technician to entrepreneur comes without a roadmap: imposter syndrome, lack of business acumen, and a misunderstanding of what it takes to attract and keep clients can derail even the most passionate artists (26:19). Together, Wize El Jefe and Tanny Diep reflect on their parallel experiences in building something from scratch—sharing stories about self-doubt, the importance of investing in yourself, and the power of believing in your vision long before it yields tangible results (27:30; 28:19). They stress that a growth mindset, nurtured through gratitude and journaling, is as vital as technical expertise (29:07). Sustainable Success, Impact, and Giving Back Now a 7-figure business owner and sought-after educator, Tanny Diep has channeled her success into supporting other professionals. She describes the fulfillment of launching her own academy, teaching both skills and business strategy, and mentoring students who have now outpaced their own expectations (42:23). Her commitment to not gatekeeping knowledge sets her apart in an industry rife with “get-rich-quick” educators and scams (43:33). She sees supporting others as the most rewarding aspect of her journey: watching students quit their day jobs, replace their incomes, and find confidence in their calling (43:00). Both Wize El Jefe and Tanny Diep agree that, in the long run, passion-driven purpose and authentic service will always outlast a fixation on money (39:46). The episode is filled with hard-won wisdom about how even a 1% improvement every day, sustained over years, leads to mastery and, eventually, the confidence to achieve any goal (46:02). Advice for Aspiring Beauty Entrepreneurs To close out the conversation, Tanny Diep shares powerful advice for anyone teetering on the edge of starting a business but struggling with fear or imposter syndrome: “Confidence is built through action and clarity” (46:47). She encourages listeners to take the first step—not because it's the perfect move, but because clarity and confidence only come from doing the work, learning from setbacks, and allowing each experience to guide you closer to your unique path (47:02). Connect and Learn More Listeners interested in Tanny Diep's services, training, or mentorship opportunities can connect via Sway Brows Academy and Studio or follow her social accounts to access resources, events, and community (48:20). This episode is a must-listen for any aspiring entrepreneur, beauty professional, or creative looking for real talk about building a brand, overcoming fear, and finding fulfillment through disciplined, purpose-driven work. Whether you're just starting out or deep in the grind, Tanny Diep's candid story will inspire you to take action, invest deeply in your vision, and build a business—and a life—on your own terms.

What skill do you wish you'd learned as a kid so you'd be an expert by now? Big Rich, TD, and Fletch dive into the talents they wish they had, from musical instruments to speaking new languages. It's also Power Tool Tuesday, so listeners share their funniest (and most painful) DIY disaster stories. Plus, Rich makes a bold promise: he's secretly going to learn Vietnamese over the next two years without telling anyone… just so he can randomly start speaking it one day and completely blow our minds. Will he actually pull it off? Only time will tell!

What skill do you wish you'd learned as a kid so you'd be an expert by now? Big Rich, TD, and Fletch dive into the talents they wish they had, from musical instruments to speaking new languages. It's also Power Tool Tuesday, so listeners share their funniest (and most painful) DIY disaster stories. Plus, Rich makes a bold promise: he's secretly going to learn Vietnamese over the next two years without telling anyone… just so he can randomly start speaking it one day and completely blow our minds. Will he actually pull it off? Only time will tell!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Listen without ads on patreon: www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast This week on the replay! Dave revisits Dopey Episode 39, one of the strangest and most influential episodes from the show's early years. Before the replay, he announces his latest attempt at a Dopey Fitness Challenge, shares a DopeyCon update, untangles the increasingly confusing Patreon tiers, reads listener reactions to the infamous Modi episode, and reflects on what this recording revealed about his relationship with Chris. In the original episode, Dave and Chris recover from their disastrous interview with Modi by eating Vietnamese food and chocolate, arguing about whether Dave is a control freak, and repeatedly attempting to sing the Chili's baby-back-ribs jingle. Chris tells the story of traumatizing his epileptic Portuguese water dog, plays an accidentally stolen Howard Stern prank, and recalls buying cocaine from a garbage bag in an abandoned Caribbean house—before lighting his hair on fire. The episode eventually turns toward recovery, connection, and the importance of calling another sober person when things get dark. Then, naturally, Dave and Chris destroy “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” A chaotic early Dopey classic that captures exactly why their partnership worked. All that plus more!     Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Naked man claiming to be Jesus crashes his car into a church in Detroit. Elderly woman arrested for a drive-by bear spray attack in a Trader Joe's parking lot. Vietnamese doctors perform the nation's first successful penis transplant. Weird AF News is the only daily weird news podcast in the world. Weird news 5 days/week and on Friday it's only Floridaman. SUPPORT by joining the Weird AF News Patreon http://patreon.com/weirdafnews - OR buy Jonesy a coffee at http://buymeacoffee.com/funnyjones Buy MERCH: https://weirdafnews.merchmake.com/ - Check out the official website https://WeirdAFnews.com and FOLLOW host Jonesy at http://instagram.com/funnyjones - wants Jonesy to come perform standup comedy in your city? Fill out the form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfvYbm8Wgz3Oc2KSDg0-C6EtSlx369bvi7xdUpx_7UNGA_fIw/viewform Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Here in Louisiana, intergenerational cooking is a way of life. Who doesn't treasure their great grandmother's gumbo recipe or still use their mom's roasting pan? This week, we talk with two women of East Asian heritage whose families and cultures share that motherly love expressed through food. Local-girl-made-good, Chef Nini Nguyen, grew up among the large Vietnamese population in New Orleans and shot to national prominence on "Top Chef." Nini joins us to talk about her rise to fame, her family, and her publication, "Đặc Biệt: An Extra Special Vietnamese Cookbook," which was named cookbook of the year by NPR. Then, we hear from Sarah Ahn, the social media manager for America's Test Kitchen and creator of Ahnest Kitchen, the website on which she recounts stories of her life and those of her Korean immigrant parents. Sarah's also the author of, "Umma: A Korean Mom's Kitchen Wisdom and 100 Family Recipes." She tells us about her bestselling cookbook, which is also part family memoir and part cultural history. For more of all things Louisiana Eats, be sure to visit us at PoppyTooker.com.

Thao Thai returns to Book Gang with The Seekers of Deer Creek—a lush, moving novel about sisters, art, and the inherited secrets that bind and break families. I'm delighted to welcome Thao Thai back to Book Gang as she takes us behind the scenes of The Seekers of Deer Creek. Thao's work is immersive, atmospheric, and deeply tender, and her newest novel is a testament to the power of art and family history. Today, we explore Thao's writing process, the evolution from Banyan Moon to this new work, and her approach to language, research, and the changing landscape of literary fiction. The Seekers of Deer Creek tells the story of two estranged sisters, Calla and Vivi, reunited by their father's passing and an inheritance that could reshape their futures. Their journey is sparked by a mysterious sketch and a journal entry, launching them into a search for family truth that spans Wisconsin, France, and Vietnam. Thao unpacks generational secrets, Vietnamese artistic legacy, and the longing to be seen and understood—inviting us to revisit the stories we inherit and the ones we choose to live. In this week's fascinating episode, we discuss:

Leonard Ganz knew he was going to be drafted, so he studied all of the branches and enlisted in the U.S. Army. After basic and other training, he pursued Officer Candidate School. By the time he deployed to Vietnam in the summer of 1969, Ganz was also part of Military Assistance Command, which was designed to work with and support our South Vietnamese allies. In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Ganz explains Military Assistance Command and what it was like for a California kid to arrive in the heat and humidity of Vietnam. He also shares what type of training he did to prepare for his responsibilities and what the relationship with his Vietnamese officer was like.Ganz also takes us inside two of the toughest days he spent in Vietnam. He tells us about the saddest day of his deployment when a young Vietnamese soldier died in his arms waiting for an evacuation.He also details Thanksgiving Day 1969. From refusing orders to dire warnings and from leeches to receiving a medal, Ganz walks us through the events of that harrowing day. He also describes the pain of returning to an ungrateful nation.

Alexa should have a Sassy-pants voice. DeHuff demos the idea for Amazon.Vietnamese doctors perform the nation's first successful p3nis transplant.A woman spends years biting husband's toes to help him recover from brain injury. The weird part is how this started.A man was impaled by a trekking pole while climbing Montana's Granite Peak. Then walked down from the mountain to reach medical attention. Now, he has become the world's worst co-worker.Woman says laughing at a movie scene led to a man hitting her with a pizza pan inside Cinépolis Luxury Cinemas in Coconut Grove. DeHuff could be the next victim.Marmot researchers in Colorado are raising funds with 'OnlyMarms' page on OnlyFans.Katy Perry got trapped inside a giant plastic bottle.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Pandora | Amazon Music | YouTubeThis summer we're bringing you a road trip series, exploring food destinations and cuisines with the writers and storytellers who know them best. This week, we revisit a conversation from one of our Live shows in Orange County, CA, where we talked with the good people behind some of the best barbecue and purveyors of Vietnamese tacos in California, to find out why you really, really want to eat in Orange County. For this road-tripping series, we wanted to highlight our conversation with award-winning journalist Gustavo Arellano.

Bo Fowler is a true Chicago restaurant powerhouse, though she is far too modest to describe herself that way. After leaving medical school and finding her way into professional kitchens, she went on to open some of the city's most memorable restaurants, including Fat Willy's Rib Shack, Owen & Engine, and Bixi Beer. Her food reflects the full range of her upbringing -- Korean, Vietnamese, Scandinavian, and deeply Midwestern -- while her career has been defined by persistence, instinct, hard work, and a willingness to learn as she goes. In this episode, we discuss leaving medical school for the kitchen, growing up in a sprawling multicultural family, the rise and legacy of Owen & Engine -- and so much more!