ÁCCENTED

Scholar and anthropologist Allen Tran speaks with hosts Viet Thanh Nguyen and Philip Nguyen about his research publication, "A life of worry: Politics, Mental Health, and Vietnam's Age of Anxiety."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Allen Tran is an associate professor of anthropology at Bucknell University. He is the author of A Life of Worry: Politics, mental health, and Vietnam's age of anxiety, which is available on Open Access, and teaches classes on medical anthropology and Southeast Asia. 

Children's book authoer Hanh Bui converse with hosts Viet Thanh Nguyen and Philip Nguyen about her book, "The Yellow Áo Dài."

ABOUT THE GUEST

At eight years old, Hanh Bui and her family left war-torn Vietnam for safety and a new beginning. After nine days at sea, they were rescued by the United States Navy. Hanh will always be grateful for the kindness of her first American helpers.

Growing up, she connected with universal themes of family, friendship, and love in the books she read. However, she didn’t see stories about families similar to her own represented between the pages of books. There weren’t any characters she could identify with or who looked like her.

Inspired by her first American teacher at Fort Indiantown Gap, a refugee camp, Hanh grew up to also become a teacher. During her years as an educator, she was disappointed that there were few books with Asian American characters or stories written by Vietnamese American authors. She wanted all of the students in her class to see themselves represented in the books they read. When her own children’s love of books blossomed, Hanh decided to write stories based on her childhood refugee experiences and Vietnamese heritage. Hanh feels honored to add her voice to the countless diverse creators sharing their stories with young readers today. As noted by renowned school librarian, Dr. Rudine Bishop, Hanh hopes her books will be a “mirror” for more children to know their experiences matter and serve as a “window or sliding door” for all readers.

The second book,  Ánh’s New Word illustrated by Bao Luu, which will be released in 2024, is inspired by Hanh’s own refugee experience. It was written as a tribute to her grandparents and the teacher who taught her English at the refugee camp. Hanh hopes her book embodies the gratitude she feels for the teacher who helped her embrace her voice in a new country.

Poet Angela Peñaredondo speaks with hosts Viet Thanh Nguyen and Philip Nguyen about their book "nature felt but never apprehended."

ABOUT THE GUEST

ANGELA PEÑAREDONDO is a queer Filipinx, interdisciplinary writer and educator. Peñaredondo is the author of nature felt but never apprehended (Noemi Press), All Things Lose Thousands of Times (Inlandia Institute, Winner of the Hillary Gravendyk Book Prize) and Maroon (Jamii Publications). Their work has appeared in The Academy of American Poets, Pleiades, Michigan Quarterly Review and elsewhere. They've received fellowships and awards from Hedgebrook, Kundiman, Macondo, TinHouse among others. They are Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at California State University San Bernardino. Currently, Peñaredondo lives in Los Angeles with their partner and many cramped plants. Follow them on @domaindenarwhal or www.angelapenaredondo.com

This episode is sponsored by AppLovin. AppLovin’s leading marketing platform provides developers a powerful set of solutions to grow their mobile apps. AppLovin’s technology platform enables developers to market, monetize, analyze and publish their apps. The company’s first-party content includes over 200+ popular, engaging apps and its technology brings that content to millions of users around the world. AppLovin is headquartered in Palo Alto, California with several offices globally. Learn more at ⁠⁠applovin.com⁠⁠.

Chef and food writer Andrea Nguyen converses with hosts Viet Thanh Nguyen and Philip Nguyen about her cookbook, "Ever-Green Vietnamese"

ABOUT THE GUEST

Andrea Nguyen is a Vietnamese-born, American teacher, food writer, cookbook author and chef living in the San Francisco area. An expert on Asian cuisine and cooking methods, Nguyen has written numerous cookbooks on the food of her native Vietnam, as well as an account of her family's escape during the Fall of Saigon.

This episode is sponsored by AppLovin. AppLovin’s leading marketing platform provides developers a powerful set of solutions to grow their mobile apps. AppLovin’s technology platform enables developers to market, monetize, analyze and publish their apps. The company’s first-party content includes over 200+ popular, engaging apps and its technology brings that content to millions of users around the world. AppLovin is headquartered in Palo Alto, California with several offices globally. Learn more at ⁠⁠applovin.com⁠⁠.

Writer Beth Nguyen speaks with hosts Viet Thanh Nguyen and Philip Nguyen about her memoir, "Owner of a Lonely Heart."

ABOUT THE GUEST

Beth Nguyen, who has also written under the name Bich Minh Nguyen, is the author of three previous books: the memoir Stealing Buddha’s Dinner and the novels Short Girls and Pioneer Girl. Her awards and honors include an American Book Award and a PEN/Jerard Award from the PEN American Center. Nguyen’s work has also appeared in numerous anthologies and publications including The New Yorker, The Paris Review, The New York Times, and Best American Essays. Nguyen teaches creative writing at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

This episode is sponsored by AppLovin. AppLovin’s leading marketing platform provides developers a powerful set of solutions to grow their mobile apps. AppLovin’s technology platform enables developers to market, monetize, analyze and publish their apps. The company’s first-party content includes over 200+ popular, engaging apps and its technology brings that content to millions of users around the world. AppLovin is headquartered in Palo Alto, California with several offices globally. Learn more at ⁠⁠applovin.com⁠⁠.

Award-winning poet Kimberly Nguyen converses with hosts Viet Thanh Nguyen and Philip Nguyen about her book, "Here I Am Burn Me."

ABOUT THE GUEST

Kimberly Nguyen is a Vietnamese-American poet and the author of ghosts in the stalks and Here I Am Burn Me. She is originally from Omaha, Nebraska but currently living in New York City. She is a graduate of Vassar College where she holds a degree in both English and Russian Studies. Additionally, she studied abroad at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom. She is a recipient of the Beatrice Daw Brown Prize and two Best of the Net nominations, and she was a finalist for Kundiman’s 2021 Mentorship Lab and the Asian American Writer’s Workshop 2022 Margins Fellowship. She was a 2021 Emerging Voices Fellow at PEN America and was formerly a 2022- 2023 Poetry Coalition Fellow.

In addition to poetry, Kimberly was a journalist at The Miscellany News. Her articles have garnered attention in the community as a form of activism and have been a catalyst for institutional change. She aspires to be a full-time poet and eventually wants to hold an advanced degree in poetry.

This episode is sponsored by AppLovin. AppLovin’s leading marketing platform provides developers a powerful set of solutions to grow their mobile apps. AppLovin’s technology platform enables developers to market, monetize, analyze and publish their apps. The company’s first-party content includes over 200+ popular, engaging apps and its technology brings that content to millions of users around the world. AppLovin is headquartered in Palo Alto, California with several offices globally. Learn more at ⁠applovin.com⁠.

Children's book author Angela Pham Krans speaks with hosts Viet Thanh Nguyen and Philip Nguyen about her book "Finding Papa."

ABOUT THE GUEST:
Angela Pham Krans, author of FINDING PAPA and WORDS BETWEEN US, enjoys writing humorous and heartfelt stories that highlight relationships between family, friends, and the community. When Angela is not writing, she enjoys traveling, hiking, and visiting bakeshops. Angela lives in Atlanta with her husband and two rambunctious dogs. Connect with her at https://www.angelakrans.com/.

This episode is sponsored by AppLovin. AppLovin’s leading marketing platform provides developers a powerful set of solutions to grow their mobile apps. AppLovin’s technology platform enables developers to market, monetize, analyze and publish their apps. The company’s first-party content includes over 200+ popular, engaging apps and its technology brings that content to millions of users around the world. AppLovin is headquartered in Palo Alto, California with several offices globally. Learn more at ⁠applovin.com⁠.

Fashion designer and entrepreneur Kathy Minh Bach converses with hosts Viet Thanh Nguyen and Philip Nguyen about her clothing brand, KAAREM

ABOUT THE GUEST:

Kathy Minh Bạch is a co-founder of Kaarem, a contemporary design brand based in Saigon, California and New York. Kathy was born in San Jose, CA, just four months after her parents arrived from the Bataan refugee camp in the Philippines. She was raised on bún riêu, New Wave music, Hong Kong cinema, and Paris by Night. Kathy studied architecture at UC Berkeley where she co-founded the Southeast Asian Student Coalition in 2000 and met her cohort of friends, collaborators and partners who continue to be the foundation of her community today.
Kathy started her career in e-commerce, but sought a more meaningful and personal way to connect her life’s work with her passions: community, design and culture. Since 2013, she has focused her efforts on Kaarem and scaling its business sustainably through its own design and production studio located in Bình Thạnh District in Saigon. Kaarem’s ethos is grounded in the preservation and celebration of artisanal and craft techniques, including Kaarem’s use of the blind hem stitch (where no seams are visible on the exterior) inspired by the construction of an áo dài. In 2020, Kaarem opened Que, a retail concept space, also in Bình Thạnh and just a few blocks from where her dad grew up.

This episode is sponsored by AppLovin. AppLovin’s leading marketing platform provides developers a powerful set of solutions to grow their mobile apps. AppLovin’s technology platform enables developers to market, monetize, analyze and publish their apps. The company’s first-party content includes over 200+ popular, engaging apps and its technology brings that content to millions of users around the world. AppLovin is headquartered in Palo Alto, California with several offices globally. Learn more at ⁠applovin.com⁠.

Writer Phong Nguyen speaks with hosts Viet Thanh Nguyen and Philip Nguyen about his book, "Bronze Drum."

ABOUT THE GUEST:

Phong Nguyen is the author of three novels: BRONZE DRUM (Grand Central Publishing, 2022), ROUNDABOUT (Moon City Press, 2019) and THE ADVENTURES OF JOE HARPER (Outpost19, 2016), winner of the Prairie Heritage Book Award; and two short fiction collections: PAGES FROM THE TEXTBOOK OF ALTERNATE HISTORY (Mastodon Publishing, 2019) and MEMORY SICKNESS (Elixir Press, 2011). He is coeditor, with Dan Chaon, of NANCY HALE: ON THE LIFE AND WORK OF A LOST AMERICAN MASTER (Pleiades Press/LSU, 2012) and coeditor, with Robert Olen Butler, of BEST PEACE FICTION: A SOCIAL JUSTICE ANTHOLOGY. His own stories have appeared in more than 50 national literary journals, including Agni, Boulevard, Chattahoochee Review, Florida Review, Gulf Coast Online, Kenyon Review Online, Massachusetts Review, and North American Review. He teaches fiction at the University of Missouri, where he is the Miller Family Endowed Chair in Literature and Writing.

This episode is sponsored by AppLovin. AppLovin’s leading marketing platform provides developers a powerful set of solutions to grow their mobile apps. AppLovin’s technology platform enables developers to market, monetize, analyze and publish their apps. The company’s first-party content includes over 200+ popular, engaging apps and its technology brings that content to millions of users around the world. AppLovin is headquartered in Palo Alto, California with several offices globally. Learn more at ⁠applovin.com⁠.

Poet and novelist Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai converses with hosts Viet Thanh Nguyen and Philip Nguyen about her recent publication, "Dust Child."

ABOUT THE GUEST:

Born and raised in Việt Nam, Dr. Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai (pronounced ŋwiən fα:n kwey mai) is the author of the global best-selling novels The Mountains Sing and Dust Child, Winner of the BookBrowse Best Debut Award, the International Book Awards, the PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award, the Nota Bene Prize, the Rhegium Julii Award, the Lannan Literary Award Fellowship for Fiction, as well as Runner-up for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. She has published twelve books of poetry,  fiction, and non-fiction in Vietnamese and English and has received some of the top literary prizes in Việt Nam. Her writing has been translated into more than twenty languages and has appeared in major publications, including The New York Times. Quế Mai is a translator of ten books of poetry and fiction from English into Vietnamese and vice versa. She has a PhD in creative writing from the UK's Lancaster University. She is an advocate for the rights of disadvantaged groups in Việt Nam and was named by Forbes Việt Nam as one of twenty inspiring women of 2021. 

This episode is sponsored by AppLovin. AppLovin’s leading marketing platform provides developers a powerful set of solutions to grow their mobile apps. AppLovin’s technology platform enables developers to market, monetize, analyze and publish their apps. The company’s first-party content includes over 200+ popular, engaging apps and its technology brings that content to millions of users around the world. AppLovin is headquartered in Palo Alto, California with several offices globally. Learn more at applovin.com.