Chatting with Asians

Foreword: This episode was recorded around May or June 2020 as the Black Lives Matter movement was growing. With the rise of anti-Asian hate crimes this month, it's important to remember that being over-dependent on the police doesn't serve anyone else but white supremacy and that we need to invest in reimagined public safety if we want racial solidarity with the Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and Pacific Islander communities.

Foreword: This episode was recorded around May or June 2020 as the Black Lives Matter movement was growing. With the rise of anti-Asian hate crimes this month, it's important to remember that being over-dependent on the police doesn't serve anyone else but white supremacy and that we need to invest in reimagined public safety if we want racial solidarity with the Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and Pacific Islander communities.

On this episode, I'm joined by Professor Daryl Maeda whose main interest is the social movements for racial justice of the late 1960s and early 1970s. We talk about the history of AAPI activism, the importance of racial solidarity, and whether we could see another wave of AAPI activism because of COVID-19. So here's my chat with Professor Daryl Maeda!

I chat with Chris Chyung, who recently became the first Asian-American state legislator in Indiana's history at 25 years old. With no previous political experience, he was able to beat longtime Republican State Rep Hal Slager by 82 votes. This was such an inspiring conversation where we talk about his winning strategy, how his ethnicity played a role during his campaign, and what he considers his accomplishments and setbacks from the 2019 house session.

Tanya Zhang is a co-founder of a men's fashion company called Nimble Made. If that brand sounds familiar to you, that's because I interviewed her partner Wesley in the first season! Inspired by her dad's struggle to find clothes that fit him in America, she quit her corporate visual designer job to pursue Nimble Made with a mission to bring diversity and inclusion to men's fashion. They've been featured on Money Magazine, Yahoo!, and HuffPost and I feel so lucky to have chatted with her about her experiences as a female entrepreneur and dealing with imposter syndrome.

On this episode, I have a heart-to-heart with Vivian Chan, co-founder of a fashion company called East Meets Dress. Along with her best friend and co-founder, they design modern Chinese wedding dresses, or cheongsams, for Asian Americans. We talk about her experiences growing up with a single mother, how coming out to her friends was a totally different experience than with her family, and why she decided not to pursue med school after going to Yale for pre-med.

Before she pursued writing, Michelle Yang was climbing the corporate ladder at Fortune 500 companies. She also received her MBA and studied abroad in China. But what she is truly passionate about is being a mental health advocate. She was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at 20 years old and had trouble finding role models, especially POC and those who’ve immigrated to America. With the right treatment and hard work, she has proven to be her own role model. Nowadays, she uses her writing to share her stories so that they will reassure others who are facing similar challenges. 

This is part 2 of my conversation with writer and director, Dinh Thai. We talk about if Hollywood is ready for more movies about Asian American topics and his advice to those looking to get into filmmaking. So here’s part 2 of our conversation!