"To Asian women, not for—there's no speaking for us, splendidly vast and manifold as our people are." So writes Korean-American novelist R.O. Kwon in an essay in Vanity Fair. The essay explores the reasons that R.O. was unable to talk openly with her own mother about rising anti-Asian rhetoric and violence in the past year, and how she finally broke that silence. In this episode, Rough Translation producer Justine Yan talks with R.O. about what the essay meant to her, and how to break familiar silences surrounding Asian American communities.

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