In this off-season episode, Genesis and Abi talk about the importance of food in Asian cultures. From translating familial love to understanding food as a piece of history with cultural weight, this episode covers the many facets of how culinary and culture combine. Later on, listen to anecdotes from the rest of the Dear Asian Girl team about what food they love the most from their respective cultural backgrounds and why! 

CW: Mental illness, suicide, trauma.

In this episode, Isabel and Naina talk to Diana Chao, a Dear Asian Youth Changemaker Awardee who was recognized for her mental health advocacy work as the founder of Letters to Strangers. Listen to hear about Diana's experience as a first generation Bouyei Chinese American, her mental health journey including dealing with psychosomatic symptoms, and her perspectives on healthcare systems, the role of epigenetics in mental health, etc. 

In this episode, Isabel and Naina meet with Rhea Shetty to continue their conversation on South Asian representation, specifically from the perspective of a South Asian creator on Tiktok. Rhea shares her experiences and relationship with her South Indian identity, how her personal expression is influenced by South Asian and Western styles, and how she navigates creating content to discuss issues important to her.

On this episode, Naina and Isabel are joined by Mohuya Khan. She is a first-generation Bangladeshi American and founder of the Labyrinthave clothing brand which combines storytelling and art to empower the Desi community. She's also a co-host of the Difficult-ish podcast where she discusses a range of topics from a South Asian perspective such as mental health, cultural appropriation, etc. In this interview, Mohuya talks about representation during her upbringing, and her journey becoming the representation she never had for herself.

CW: Cancer In Dear Asian Girl’s first offseason episode, our co-hosts Naina and Isabel sit down with a DAY book club co-lead to review Michelle Zauner’s memoir, “Crying in H-Mart” which dives into the musician’s memory and experiences of losing her mother to cancer. Our co-hosts discuss everything from how food can be seen as a source of comfort and connection in times of loss, and the role that Zauner's memoir has played in Asian American literary representation.

In this episode, Eryn discussed monuments and the Filipina diaspora with our guests Jaclyn Reyes and Xenia Diente. They talk about Monument Lab, a non-profit art and history studio, and the Re:Generation project. They go on to discuss Tandang Sora’s legacy, the reasons to build her a monument, and ponderings regarding if monuments should be built to be long lasting and how the implementation of monuments to honor legacies of historical figures should be approached. Listen for insights on healing relationships with history, especially healing from colonialism.

On this episode, Eryn sits down with Kimberly McKee, a Korean adoptee and author of "Disrupting Kinship," and Grace Ping Hua Newton, a Chinese adoptee and author of "Red Thread Broken", to discuss their experiences as Asian adoptees in white dominated cultures. Listen for stories on reconnecting with their birth culture, journeys of self-empowerment, and upcoming plans for their future projects! 

 In this episode, Naina and Eryn meet with Janette Wu, the author of her memoir, "Letters to Home" to discuss her experiences as an American born Chinese (ABC). They unpack topics such as the different love languages seen in Western versus Asian families, the expectations placed upon the eldest daughter in family dynamics, what a "collective beehive" and "survival mentality" looks like, and more!

In this week's episode, Abi and Genesis talk to Patricia Park, an author with an acclaimed debut novel, Re Jane, about depictions of romance within Asian culture. They talk about it through Park's novel and how Park utilizes her novel to showcase familial love but also interracial love and the potential for fetishization and a power dynamic. They also talk about novels in films, movies, and more and how romance is one of the main depictions/stories of Asians in westernized media. 

 In the first episode of Dear Asian Girl's "A World Connected," Naina and Eryn talk with Dahee Lee, the Youth Organizer at the MinKwon Center for Community Action. As a youth organizer, Dahee combines her passions of education and social justice in order to help undocumented immigrant youth in New York City, and this episode dives into how one's relationship to citizenship directly affects the social mobility one is granted. Listen to hear a breakdown of America's relationship with its undocumented immigrants, the challenges COVID-19 has brought upon undocumented families, elitism in New York City's education system, and more.