Episodes

TW: Mentions of Palestinian & state-sanctioned violence / Covid Trauma regarding evictions -- (S7, E2) Noor Hindi (she/her/hers) stopped by for this week's episode back in April as she is preparing for the release of her debut poetry collection book, DEAR GOD, DEAR BONES, DEAR YELLOW coming out this May. We talked about her journey in poetry including her critically acclaimed 2020 poem, "Fuck Your Lecture on Craft, My People Are Dying" which focuses on the continual violence against the Palest...

TW / CW: Discussions of Undocumented Immigrant Trauma (S7, EP 1) To kick things off, Ju Hong joined me for this season 7 official 1st episode as he shared his experiences in immigration activism as an undocumented Asian immigrant. He talked about the moment when he interrupted President Obama's speech in 2013 when he called him out on the administration's inaction on immigration and its record deportations under his watch. Ju brought up his recent experience when his DACA renewal was delayed, c...

(Season 7 Opener): After being (mostly) away for 6 months since my last season, I am back and set to kick off Season 7 with a new lineup, new stories, and a new theme called, "reClaim." reClaim. is about documenting our own lived experiences as part of our history and future-making, how reclaiming our stories through our agency sets us up to reimagine a world that we want to live in, and to position our younger generations to become stewards of our community's legacy. In this Season 7 opener, ...

TW / CW: Police Violence, Mental Health, Adoptee Trauma I sat down with Fe and Gareth Hall who are the parents of Christian Hall and joined with Nicole Henriquez, . Christian was a 19 yr old Chinese American adoptee who was murdered by police in a mental health crisis in NE Pennsylvania on 12/30/2020 for an upcoming emergency episode of my podcast. Currently, no one has been charged with his murder nor has there been any action from the PA state's attorney's office. With the help of Black, Asian...

Re-live my interview with Vietnamese-American singer TRACE from (S4, EP 1) who joined me on Season 4 when this episode was aired back in January 2021. This is an exclusive video interview re-release through Spotify. TRACE, at the time, was just fresh off her latest single and video release, "Cool Women". TRACE shared her experiences becoming a singer-songwriter in the American indie music scene, and her relationship with her mother Carol Kim, a Vietnam-War survivor and also a well-known Vietname...

Trigger Warning: Discussions of child abuse Relive my interview with Phuc Tran, author of his 2020 critically-acclaimed childhood memoir, "Sigh, Gone" . This interview was recorded back in December 2020 after spending the Covid lockdown year promoting his memoir virtually. This video version can be seen exclusively through Spotify. Look below for more information on this episode. Original show note: (S4, EP 12) Viet-American best-selling and critically acclaimed author Phuc Tran joined me for ...

Exclusive re-release of my previous interview w/ Joshua Nguyen, poet and author of his recently released poetry book, "Come Clean". Check out the video on Spotify. PS. Joshua and I did not, at the time, intend to release this as a video episode. He would have showed off of his Houston Rockets jerseys including one from the departed James Harden, and I for one am glad that I did not have to be subjected to it. :-). (S5, EP 12) Joshua Nguyen (He / Him) joined me as the final guest of Season 5's t...

Re-release of my previous interview w/ MILCK from Season 3, Episode 11 (S3, EP 11) We reached our final guest to close out Season 3 continuing the theme, "Where Do We Stand?". MILCK (Connie Lim) is an Asian-American recording artist who first received international attention for her song "Quiet" which became viral during the Women's March in DC in 2017. It would be named by Billboard Music as "The Protest Song of the Year" in 2017. We discuss the impact that the song has had on her work as an a...

Season 6 Finale!!!! .. We reached the conclusion of Season 6, "Unfinished Business", and with that said, I am taking a hiatus from recording new episodes until next summer. After 80+ episodes in two years, it will be great to finally take a step back and give myself some time to pause and reflect on my work. What an amazing run it has been for me thus far, and I couldn't be more grateful for that. For Season 6, I am honored to hear so many incredible stories from my guests, and so thankful to ...

(S6, EP 9) Nisha Mody is my final guest for this Season 6 series. Nisha is a healing & wellness coach, content creator behind @HealingHypeGirl on Instagram, and her podcast MigrAsians, and a former long-time librarian. We talked back in mid-summer when she transitioned from her work as a librarian to being an independent healing coach. In this episode, we discuss how wellness and healing work must prioritize intersectionality and practice a decapitalism approach. Nisha shares her own journey tha...

(S6, EP 8) Vĩ Sơn Trinh joins me for this week's episode as part of Season 6's "Unfinished Business". Vĩ Sơn is a 1.5 generation Vietnamese-American photographer, storyteller, and nurse. We spoke back in June about his experience being a nurse during Covid and the daily realities that he and his colleagues faced during the pandemic. We talked about what led him into nursing after his partner passed away. He shared with us his own upbringing and his connection to his Vietnamese culture through hi...

Trigger & Content Warning: Topics will include mentions of genocidal / sexual violence and child abuse (S6, EP 7) Cambodian human rights advocate leader Dany Pen joined me for this week's episode as we talk about her work to support survivors of violence. Her dad's side of the family were executed at the infamous Tuol Sleng Prison Center during the Khmer Rouge and after learning of her family's tragic fate there, Dany was compelled to go into human rights advocacy work and support survivors fro...

Trigger Warning: Content will include topics on PTSD / intergenerational trauma (S6, EP 6) Ly Ky Tran, Viet-American millennial based out of NYC, and author of her recently released memoir, "House of Sticks" joined me for this week's episode. We talked back in late June as she was promoting her debut memoir. We discussed about her parents' trauma from the Vietnam War and how it affected her relationship with them and her siblings growing up. In the wake of the Atlanta shooting, Ly shared her ow...

Trigger Warning: Discussions of parental death and PTSD trauma (S6, EP 5) Rose Khun is a guest for this week's episode as part of the 6th season theme, "Unfinished Business". Rose is a Cambodian-American Holistic Nutritionist and Lifestyle Coach based out in Northern California. In this episode, we talk about her upbringing during her family's resettlement in the US after the Khmer Rouge genocide. At 7 years old, she experienced the murder of her father during a robbery at their family's store....

(S6, EP 4) Virginia Nguyen and Stacy Yung, two longtime secondary Ed history teachers from Southern California joined me for this episode as we talk about Asian Americans educators in K-12 and pushing for racially equitable and inclusive curriculums, including Asian and Pacific Islander history. Learn more about the work that they are doing in this episode. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------...

(S6, EP 3) Akemi Kochiyama joined in for this week's episode. Akemi is the granddaughter of late Japanese-American activist icon Yuri Kochiyama. In this interview, we talk about Yuri's activism that began when she and her family were forcibly sent to the Japanese incarceration camps during WWII. In her activism work, Yuri connected with Malcolm X, Assata Shakur, and other Black activists to support the Black liberation movement while also speaking out against the Vietnam War, the US military ind...

(S6, EP 2) Eric Nguyen (He / Him) is a queer Viet-American author based in DC. He recently released his debut fiction novel, Things We Lost To The Water which is a story about a Vietnamese single mother raising her two teenage sons in Louisiana in the late 80s - early 90s. His book was named by former President Obama as his top 2021 summer reading list. We talk about the genesis in creating his novel, and his own vision in writing stories about the Vietnamese diaspora. Please check out this epis...

(S6, EP 1) To kick off Season 6, Andy Marra (she / her / hers) joined me for this episode. Andy is currently the Executive Director with Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF). She has been a visible force in the Asian & trans community. We sat down and talked about the current anti-trans legislation that's been introduced in several states across the US, and what TLDEF and trans activists are doing to resist against this wave. After listening to this episode, check out www.transgend...

We have reached the conclusion of Season 5 "Our Becoming: An Asian LGBTQ Experience" and Season 6 is about to get started! Thank you to the following Season 5 guests: Kevin Stea, Alex Jenny, Helen Zia, Hunny Hach, Rohan Zhou Lee, Ishani Chokshi, Vichet Chum, Alex Torres, Deepankar Tripurana, Danielle Tanimura, Steven Wakabayashi, and Joshua Nguyen The theme for Season 6 will be "Unfinished Business"--Listen in as I explain what this theme means. More new episodes for this season coming each wee...

(S5, EP 12) Joshua Nguyen (He / Him) joined me as the final guest of Season 5's theme, "Our Becoming: An LGBTQ Asian Experience". He is fresh off from his mini chapbook debut release, "An American Lục Bát For My Mother" this past Spring, and is now set to release his full length poetry debut book, "Come Clean" this October which explores issues of sexual trauma, personal identity among others. I talk to Joshua about his poetry, and his anticipation of releasing his debut poetry collection. We ta...

(S5, EP 11) Steven Wakabayashi (he / him) joined me as my guest for Season 5's "Our Becoming: An LGBTQ Asian Experience". He is the host and creator of the podcast, "Yellow Glitter" and has been proactive on social media sharing his takes on LGBTQ Asian American issues, social justice, and healing. This recording was done on May 19th. In this episode, we talk about Asian male allyship during the time of Anti-Asian Hate that disproportionately affects Asian women, and how Asian men can serve to b...

(S5, EP 10) In honoring queer Cambodian-American writer Anthony Veasna So who suddenly passed away in December 2020 and to celebrate his posthumous short-stories fiction book, "Afterparties", I invited Anthony's long-time partner Alex Torres to be a guest on my show. In this episode, Alex shared many fond memories of Anthony during their travels together. He recalled many conversations that they had as writers, and reflected on what Anthony wanted to convey through his writing. Alex is currently...

(S5, EP 9) Danielle Tanimura (She / Hers) joined me for this episode as part of the Season 5 theme, "Our Becoming: An LGBTQ Asian Experience." This episode was recorded in mid-April. In this episode, Danielle talked about her family's past leading up to the Japanese American incarceration camps during WWII and the trauma that would affect her family for decades long after that period. She talked about her own interest in digging through her family's history as well as the history of the Japanese...

(S5, EP 7) Trigger Warning: Episode will contain topics on personal Anti-Asian violence. Queer Khmer American playwright Vichet Chum joins me as part of Season 5's "Our Becoming: An LGBTQ Asian Experience" for this week's episode. This episode was recorded back in April 15th during Khmer New Year's. We talk about the ongoing anti-Asian violence and his family's own experience with anti-Asian racism as a child. We discussed the controversy with VICE News and the Tuol Sleng Prison photo controvers...