ACE

In Westchester County on March 9th, an 83-year-old elderly Asian grandmother was punched and spat on in front of the Westchester mall. According to the New York Police Department, anti-Asian violence has risen over 1900% in the past few months over the pandemic and the stop AAPI Hate Movement has recorded over 4000 reports of anti-Asian hate incidents. K and V discuss the disturbing wave of hate crimes, investigating why it is that the elderly are being uniquely targeted. And how does the Model Minority Myth intersect with our history of associating immigrants with disease? Listen to this episode on Spotify.

Welcome back to another episode of the ACE podcast! Here, K and V launch a new series called "Our Unpopular Opinions" where they elaborate and discuss their unpopular (or maybe not so much) takes on a wide range of topics that vary from light-hearted to more serious. In this episode, we talk about our opinions on condiments, PDA, texting habits, cancel culture, the word "b*tch", and spiritual voodoo! Join in for a fun and fresh layout to our discussion!

Happy Lunar New Year! And Happy Valentine’s Day! K and V reunite for a lighthearted, cheerful episode on how their respective cultures celebrate these holidays, including foods, traditions, superstitions, and a romantic story of two lovers in the sky. Check us out

Today we invite another special guest, E, to talk about our personal experiences with internalized racism! As someone who has lived in China for 10 years, E elaborates on how her years in China and in America have affected her relationship with her identity. Along with that, we answer questions such as what is internalized racism? and how does it manifest itself in our everyday lives? Thanks for tuning in!

Happy New Year to all of our listeners! In this episode, K and V adopt a different podcast approach by interviewing a special guest, A. A talks about her experiences being biracial, including her family dynamics and how she was once accused of cultural appropriation. We also elaborate on the importance of biracial identity in bridging the sociocultural gap between people of different races. Check us out on Spotify!

Looking for some New Year’s Resolution inspiration? On this very early Saturday morning (at K’s request), K and V catch up for a lighthearted chitchat on their goals for the new year. We discuss the nature of goal-setting, some of our previous resolutions and why they failed. We discuss the importance (or lack) of specificity and the boundaries for oversharing on social media. Listen to our discussion on Spotify!

The first grueling round of college applications has passed. In this episode, K+V work to see the college applications process for what it is (a circus!) and look beyond the stress to see what it offers. We contemplate questions such as: How might writing the essays invite self-reflection? Why are we expecting fairness from an unfair system? What do college applications teach us about life and failure? We answer these questions in a cozy hour chat that ends with a heartfelt read-aloud of a bona fide teacher’s thoughts and support in an email. Check us out on spotify or apple!

In October 2020, the number of suicides in Japan surpassed the nation’s COVID death toll for the entire year. In this episode, K+V investigate the stigmas around mental health and discuss the disparities between men and women. They then transition to talking about toxic positivity and the underlying causes for stresses during the holiday season. This informative episode is a must listen to understand the comparative cultures and current events in America, Japan, and other East Asian countries. Give us a listen on spotify!

K+V have hit the double digits! In this episode, they discuss the universal yet ever-ubiquitous concept of happiness. Not only do we talk about some personal experiences, but we consider philosophical dilemmas to utilitarianism. Is it possible to ever quantify or measure happiness? Is it a worthwhile pursuit at all? One of the (few) concrete answers that we agreed upon was that we’re all here on this planet to have a good time. Listen to our episode to experience 40 minutes of philosophizing~

On this episode, K & V feature a very special guest, Sophia, to talk about their personal experiences growing up and living in Scarsdale. As fellow students of the same high school, we explore what it means to live in a majority white and upper middle class neighborhood. We touch upon  culture, class, race and ethnicity education, fashion, and much more! Tune in to a fun yet informative discussion with the wonderful Sophia today!

Join K+V on the longest and most ambitious discussion yet — our thoughts on marriage. From the perspective of two high schoolers, what does the life of weddings and baby-catering look like? We consider the pressures to get married and start a family, the clan unit vs. the nuclear family, gender and ethnic dynamics, and roast arguments against same sex marriage. Listen to our newest episode on spotify or soundcloud!

K+V set out on another late-night discussion about their futures and dreams. Personal anecdotes turned philosophical dialogue, join us on our musings about the essence of the self, human selfishness, and the nature of compassion.

Today K and V enjoy a long, late-night discussion about friendship. We consider friendship scenarios, discuss how to set proper boundaries, and talk about our own experiences. Join us as we tackle universal questions such as “what is a friend?”, “what obligations do we have to our friends?”, and “can two heterosexual people of the opposite gender be just friends?"

Join K+V on a chill discussion about self-care! It's a couple weeks after back to school season which means the fatigue is starting to set in. We talked about capitalism (which seems to be in every discussion), how to build good habits, and the body positivity (or neutrality) movement!

What is it like to conform to beauty through the perspective of an Asian American? In this episode, we navigate the different beauty standards that exist in Asia and in America. What is the middle ground between these differences in beauty standards, and how do they clash? We start our discussion by talking through some of our personal experiences with beauty and go on from there. P.S. K apologizes for the poor audio quality!

Join K+V on a trip through the Hallyu Wave. In this episode, they discuss newest hits including Dynamite by BTS, Ice Cream by Blackpink, and the domestic structures and international forces that form the K-pop industry. Follow us on soundcloud and spotify!

In our second episode, we discussed Asian portrayal in American media. Beginning with a more lighthearted conversation on Crazy Rich Asians (a two years later perspective) and Parasite, we then moved to the depiction and discrimination of Asian Americans during the first Coronavirus outbreak. How can all-Asian casts be problematic? What are more examples of horizontal prejudice?

This week we began the first of many conversations on Black-Asian relations. Beginning with recent events with respect to the Black Lives Matter Movement, we discussed issues of Black-on-Asian crime and Asian complicity in antiblackness. What are other examples of horizontal prejudice? And what are the causes?