Misfits

As National Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month 2023 comes to a close, we are releasing a series of episodes recorded in 2022 that feature conversations with Asian Americans. We talk about race and identity, but we also address other topics in our community including religion, family, careers and our creative pursuits. 

In this episode, we hear from Ronald Yee-Mon (he/him), a Chinese-Trinidadian Catholic priest living in Fargo, North Dakota, and his nephew Christopher (Chris) Yee Mon (he/him), a software engineer in Seattle, Washington. We discuss issues of colorism and the nuances of race in Caribbean communities. We also talk about family history and religion across generations.

*Please note that Ronald prefers his surname hyphenated whereas Chris prefers it without the hyphen, which is why there is a discrepancy in name format.

*Also apologies that this actually came out after AANHPI Heritage Month ended

Happy Black History Month! For this episode, we tackle some questions about Black identity, Black activism and how Black History Month is celebrated.

Look out for a video version of this episode on YouTube coming soon!

Check out Obinna’s podcasts here:

Limi Simbakalia (they/them) is a manager at a media company and the producer and host of the podcast “Take This Rose or Take an L.” Originally from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Limi talks about navigating an American college campus as an international student, discovering their queer identity and working through imposter syndrome. 

Limi's Socials:

Jasmine Nguyen Gutierrez (she/her) was feeling burnout from her career as a social worker when she decided to become a graphic designer/illustrator and start her own small business. In today’s episode, Jasmine talks about career changes, the importance of mental health and self-care, and raising her son as proud to be Asian and Mexican.

Melissa Shrestha (she/her/hers) is a Sydney, Australia-based social media executive and the founder of the not-yet-released podcast Asian Girl Movement. In today’s episode, Melissa talks about trying to find acceptance as a Middle Eastern and South Asian woman, moving from England to Australia as a teen, and her vision for Asian Girl Movement.

Asian Creative Network is a private group for Asian creators that can be found on Facebook.

Info on Baháʼí faith:

Kristin Frank (she/her) is an emotional health facilitator, trauma-informed adaptive yoga teacher, mindfulness educator, and reiki practitioner based in the Fargo-Moorhead area. She is listed as an Advanced Integrative Processing Technique Facilitator with the Institute of Healing Arts. Along with her many roles, Kristin is also a person living with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which is a group of hereditary connective tissue disorders characterized by elastic skin, hypermobile joints, and weakened muscle and tissue. Today we talk about Kristin’s views on how to best support someone with chronic pain, teaching adaptive yoga for every body, and learning to let go of negativity through reiki.

Info about and sources for Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS): 

Justin Nguyen (he/him) is a Boston-based filmmaker. In today’s episode, Justin talks about the pains of moving to a new place where he became the minority, how his dad’s love of rock music inspired him to become a filmmaker, and the impact that having representation in film can make.

*Please note that this episode was recorded in January 2022. Justin did not immediately respond to requests for a follow up.

Salvador (Sal) Alvarez (he/they) is a musician and music producer who was raised by Mexican immigrant parents in San Francisco, California. On today’s episode of Misfits, Sal talks about family, overcoming self-doubt and finding inspiration for his music.

Note about Sal’s parents: They are now U.S. citizens.

Josephine (Jos) Tjandra (she/her) is a Chinese-Indonesian woman who lives in New Zealand. She works in food science and recently wrote a book on her experiences with ADHD and autism.  In today’s episode, Jos talks about moving from Indonesia to New Zealand as a kid, Chinese immigration across the globe, and the challenges of getting diagnosed with developmental disorders as an adult and as an Asian woman.

Alex Chester-Iwata (she/her) is an actor and the the editor in chief of Mixed Asian Media, an online media platform that strives to spark conversations around mixed-race Asian and Pacific Islander identities. In today’s episode, Alex and I talk about navigating a media industry that she says left little room for mixed race people and the exciting ways she believes it's beginning to change. We also dive into why Alex started Mixed Asian Media.

Obinna Iwuji (he/him) is a British-Nigerian writer and host of the podcast Afripple, which follows the career journeys of Africans. He also hosts a Youtube channel called Africa Explainer, which dispels myths about the diverse continent of Africa. In this episode, Obinna talks about focusing on your goals across different continents, reframing success, and using the media to subvert racial stereotypes.

Falcon Gott (he/him) is a Native American filmmaker and photographer of the Sapotaweyak Cree Nation. Currently based in Minneapolis, MN, you can frequently find him rollerblading and skateboarding throughout the city, which often inspires his art. Today, we talk about Falcon’s journey to becoming an artist, the importance of creating with intention, and the wild stunts he pulls to get the perfect shot.

Falcon’s website and socials:

This is the third and final episode of my podcast Chinese Adoptees: Not Abandoned or Alone, which was produced in partnership with Prairie Public Radio in 2021.

This is the second episode in a 3-part series called Chinese Adoptees: Not Abandoned or Alone, which was produced in partnership with Prairie Public Radio in 2021. 

This episode is the first in a 3-part series called Chinese Adoptees: Not Abandoned or Alone, which was produced in partnership with Prairie Public Radio in 2021.

Chuefeng Yang (she/her) is a queer, transgender HMoob (Hmong) singer-songwriter living in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota. In today’s episode, Chuefeng talks with Annie about her experiences coming out as trans in a family with traditional Asian gender norms, sharing her Hmong identity through her music, and how she strives to see people beyond their labels.

*Please note that “HMoob” is a newer spelling of “Hmong” that is used to be inclusive of people who speak both HMoob dialects spoken in the US.

Sources/Information on HMoob history:

Claire Erickson (she/her) is a public health student at the University of North Dakota. For most of her life, Claire has had a strained relationship with her father, who she remembers drank excessively. Her unstable home life led to severe anxiety and an eating disorder known as bulimia. Over the course of many years and lots of therapy, Claire and her dad have started to unpack their own trauma and rebuild their relationship.

Please note that at the time of this interview, Claire was a medical student at UND. She has since switched over to the public health program. We apologize for any confusion in the interview.

Claire and I chose to not include her dad’s name or the agency he worked for in this episode in order to protect his identity, given the high-profile cases he was involved in.

Bulimia: 

Lauren Lola (she/her) is the author of the novels A Moment’s Worth and An Absolute Mind. Her play Not in Kansas was recently featured in Rainy Day Artistic Collective’s Halfway Historical Festival. Lauren, who is of Filipino, German, Irish, and Portuguese descent, says that growing up, her family emphasized her European roots more than her Asian heritage, which she has spent much of her adult life exploring. In today’s episode, Annie and Lauren talk about taking pride in your ethnic heritage, the complexities of Asian identities, and writing science fiction.

JT Kim (they/them) is an IT director and DJ from Philadelphia, PA. JT’s parents are both Vietnamese immigrants with mixed ancestry. JT wasn’t raised to identify strongly with their Cambodian, Black, and Indigenous roots and was sometimes shamed for their body, which JT claims, “doesn’t look 100% Vietnamese.” After the tragedy of an ex-girlfriend passing away, JT turned away from their Christian upbringing. Soon after, they had a spiritual epiphany, leading to the discovery of their alter ego and stage name Unicorn Daddy and finding healing through music.

Aml Hamed is a campus life event coordinator at Bates College in Maine. She is also a practicing Muslim from Egypt and former international student at St. Olaf College, where she graduated last year. In this episode, Annie and Aml talk about identifying as Muslim in Christian-dominated spaces, being an international student on an American college campus, and navigating the blurriness of racial and geographic categories for North Africans.

St. Olaf and Lutheranism:

Rick Leaman is an accountancy professor at the University of Denver Daniels College of Business. In this episode, Annie and Rick discuss growing up Jewish in Christian-dominated West Fargo during the 1950s & 60s, attending Stanford University in the midst of the anti-Vietnam war protests, and understanding generational differences regarding political activism and how discrimination should be defined.

In this episode, Annie talks with Mike Kim, Founder and Creative Director of the L.A. and Austin-based kindness company Some Neat Place. Annie and Mike discuss the harsh awakening from the “American Dream” many immigrants experience, as well as a gang attack that transformed Mike’s life. They also address coping with depression combined with family tragedy and deciding to turn kindness into a career.  

In this episode, Annie speaks with Dillon Alexander Methven Cathro (he/him), a university program manager who supports BIPOC and other socioeconomically marginalized student populations. The only child of a single mother, and the product of a community-based approach to child-raising, Dillon has a passion for helping students access academic, professional, and social resources, in order to foster a wraparound approach to wellness and success. Dillon and Annie also discuss reframing identity when living abroad as well as drawing parallels between the refugee crisis in Europe and the situation of migrants in the U.S.

Education programs referenced in the episode:

Zhuhua Ni is a Chinese adoptee who has Asperger Syndrome (now considered part of autism spectrum disorders or ASD) and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Zhuhua describes herself as a “square peg trying to fit into a round hole” because of both her adoptee identity and her neurodivergent one. In this episode, Annie and Zhuhua discuss finding meaningful connections, understanding the loss of adoption, and managing mental health.   

Destini Hall identifies as a queer, mixed-race, Black woman, working as an educator in Berkeley California. In this episode, Annie and Destini discuss growing up in multiracial homes, thinking about motherhood, and navigating relationships.