Episodes

(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...

(S5, EP 6) Ishani Chokshi (She / They) joins me for this episode as she speaks on the recent challenges she experienced as a South Asian trans woman studying in law school, and names the barriers that current policy and law makers have enforced that harms queer and transgender communities. We talk about her own becoming as a trans woman of color, and her close bond with her communities to celebrate her community family. Check out for more on this episode and follow the work of Trikone on IG @Tri...

(S5, EP 5) In honoring Pride Month, Rohan Zhou Lee (They/Siya/祂 (Tā)), artist, activist, and founder of the Blasian March, joined me for this episode as part of the 5th season theme "Our Becoming: An LGBTQ Asian Experience). They took the time out of their busy schedule to chat with me about the creation of the Blasian March, and how critical it was to have a movement that included Blasian community members, and to build Black and Asian solidarity in a time where Anti-Black and Anti-Asian violen...

(S5, EP 4) In celebrating Pride Month, Khmer-American DJ and community leader, Hunny Hach (she / her) joined me for this episode. Currently based in Long Beach, Hunny Hach is also the co-founder of Qhmer, an LGBTQ Khmer / Khmer American organization. In this episode, we talked about her recent struggles as a caregiver to her mother who is battling dementia, and making the difficult decision to begin her mom's transition to a nursing home. We talked about Hunny's own challenges of her queer ident...

(S5, EP3) Helen Zia (She / Hers) joined me for this episode of the 5th season theme, "Our Becoming: An LGBTQ Asian Experience." Helen is a longtime queer Asian-American journalist, author and activist. During the time of Vincent Chin's murder in a racial violent attack in 1982 in Detroit, she and many APIA community members and leaders ignited movements nationally to call for justice and address the anti-Asian American violence. Helen shares in this episode about the parallels between Vincent's ...

(S5, EP2): Alex Jenny (She / They) joined me for this episode as part of the 5th season theme, "Our Becoming: An LGBTQ Asian Experience". Alex is a Chinese-Vietnamese American trans woman, licensed psychotherapist, social worker, drag artist, host of "The Moment" produced by A Queer Pride and is known as "The Drag Therapist" through her social media platform. In our conversation, we talk about the response to the anti-Asian violence, the barriers that transgender / trans folks of color often fac...

(S5, EP 1) As we wrap up #AAPIMonth and begin #PrideMonth Longtime dancer, artist and model Kevin SteaKevin Stea kicks things off as my 1st guest for this Season 5's "Our Becoming: An Asian LGBTQ experience" on The Banh Mi Chronicles Podcast. This interview was recorded in mid March right after the Atlanta shooting. Kevin is of biracial, mixed Chinese American descent who danced for Madonna's worldwide hit tour, "The Blond Ambition" in 1990. He would go on to perform as an actor, model, and chor...

Welcome back for a new 5th season coming your way! In this preview, I talk about what this 5th season will dive into, as well as honoring the LGBTQ identities and experiences in our AAPI communities. I interview a number of amazing guests from our LGBTQ Asian community folks who will take us on their journey. Each episode of this season will be released weekly to kick off Pride Month and throughout this summer. Be sure to stay tuned and check out each of these episodes. Instagram: @BanhMi_Chroni...