Episodes

Season 7's "reClaim" is over and I'm here to share my closing remarks about the season. Many thanks to the following guests of Season 7: Michelle Li, Ju Hong, Noor Hindi, Sotheara Lim, Soultree Camba, Marpheen Chann, Consuela Hendricks, Angela Lin, and Nidhi Shastri. Season 7 is sponsored by the following: Nguyen Coffee Supply, America’s first specialty Vietnamese coffee company and proud champion of the resilient robusta bean. Follow them on IG @NguyenCoffeeSupply or visit www.nguyencoffeesup...

As Season 7 is about to soon wrap up, Nidhi Shastri rounds up this Season 7 guest lineup. Nidhi is the founder and producer of her podcast, "Model Minority: Uniquely American". She is a South Asian American based in Chicago. We talked about the process of starting her podcast which explores stories and issues of the Asian, African, and Middle Eastern American / diaspora, her upbringing in the Chicagoland suburbs, the impact that her father's death had, and how this informed her own experiences, ...

(S7, EP 6): For this episode, I invited both Consuela Hendricks and Angela Lin, co-presidents of People Matter, a community-based organization whose mission is to uplift, unearth, and untether people in different communities in the Chicago area, particularly in Chinatown, McKinley Park, , Bridgeport, Bronzeville and more. We talk about People Matter's work in improving race relations among Black/Latinx/Asian communities, and what the work of undoing anti-Black and anti-Asian racism can look like...

TW: Discussions of intergenerational & adoptee trauma (S7, EP 5) Marpheen Chann joined me for this week's episode. He's a queer Khmer American community advocate and now an author of his new memoir. We spent time talking about his memoir, going through his family's struggle with the US refugee resettlement after the Khmer Rouge genocide, and going through his experiences being adopted. We shared about what healing means in breaking the intergenerational trauma and honoring his wellness. Don't...

(S7, EP 4) Soultree Camba (they/them), Filipinx Marshallese American artist, creator, and longtime friend joined me for this week's episode. They shared their experience transition from immigrant organizing to healing and artistry work. Soultree talked about the importance of honoring independent artists for their time and labor, as well as their upcoming projects. Soultree gives a special performance of their new song, "Can't Wait" here and ends the show with a breathing exercise session. You w...

(S7, EP 3) Sotheara Lim, founder of Khmer Renaissance which is a community-driven Instagram platform that celebrates the Khmer identity and experience, talked about what led him to create his digital platform. We discussed how the deficit-level approach when there are only stories told about the Khmer culture and people through trauma, specifically with the Khmer Rouge genocide can often be harmful to the Khmer community. Sotheara offers ways in which we can share the stories that revolve around...

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, ...