How to Second Gen

Show description: My guest on this episode is Reimond Ni, a teacher and school administrator in Howard County, Maryland. Rei grew up in Taiwan before moving with his family to the U.S. at the age of 10. We discuss his experience growing up in the Taiwanese and American education systems, being the one Asian kid in predominantly African-American and Hispanic schools in Little Rock, his own struggle to find his place and succeed, and why he chose to teach in Baltimore City.

Theme music is “Protofund” by Kevin Macleod: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4247-protofunk

For more info, visit: markhiew3.wix.com/howtosecondgen

My guests on this episode are the Won brothers--Andrew and Jonathan--who share their personal stories with food growing up in a Peruvian-Chinese-Colombian family on their food channel, Hungry Wons. We discuss their family’s unique mix of Latino, Chinese and American culture, and how it shows up in Chifa, a culinary style based on Cantonese elements fused with Peruvian ingredients and traditions, as well as their childhood growing up riding the 7 line subway train in between Queens, New York.

Won Brothers website: https://www.hungrywons.com/ | Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/hungrywons/?hl=en

Theme music is “Protofund” by Kevin Macleod: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4247-protofunk

For more info, visit: markhiew3.wix.com/howtosecondgen

Show notes:

VOSH New York: The eye care NGO their father Jorge Won, founded and ran: http://www.vosh-ny.org/

Chifa cuisine: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chifa

Documentary: ‘The Search for General Tso’: http://www.thesearchforgeneraltso.com/

Andrew mentioned how the AMC show ‘Hell on Wheels’ season 5 features Chinese railroad workers - here’s a clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcdQVefArWc&ab_channel=amc

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Introduction: 1:27

Family story: 3:52

Chinese in Peru: 12:25

Chifa cuisine: 17:15

Chinese food in US cities: 22:45

Grandparents’ cooking: 28:05

Childhood in NYC and Long Island: 38:39

Mixing Latino and Chinese culture: 50:23

Memorable stories: 57:30

My guest on this episode is Erica Schlaikjer, a writer and strategist based in Los Angeles. Erica is the product of an Aboriginal Taiwanese mother and a white American father whose career as a US diplomat led to her growing up in a variety of countries before settling in the United States. We discussed the joys and sorrows of her idyllic-sounding ‘third culture kid’ childhood, and how it influenced her path into journalism.

Erica’s website: https://eschlaik.com/

Theme music is “Protofund” by Kevin Macleod: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4247-protofunk

For more info, visit: markhiew3.wix.com/howtosecondgen or facebook.com/howtosecondgen

Format: I got some positive feedback on the longer format of the last episode, so I've continued to move further in that direction. Let me know how you like it!

Show notes:

Introduction: 0:55

Parent’s story: 2:33

Globe-hopping childhood: 6:30

Common traits, kinship of 'Third Culture Kids' (TCK): 14:46

Planting roots in suburban Maryland: 18:34

On reframing her identity in high school: 28:06

Memorable stories from childhood: 35:45

Class and privilege among TCK: 39:52

Parents’ differences and influence: 43:12

Path into journalism: 47:11

On being accepted, liked, authentic: 51:39

Multicultural, multiracial family:  57:00

On racial equity & multiracial identity: 1:03:50

Advice for younger self: 1:09:19

My guests on this episode are Natasha Arora and Apurva Chandra. In addition to being married to one another, Natasha is a children’s speech therapist and Apurva is a program manager at Microsoft. Their parents are from India and they were raised in the US. Topics discussed include arranged marriage, their parents’ evolving relationship with India and the US, Indian multiculturalism, and the phrase “ABCD.”

Show notes: Apurva referenced the following extended initialism of ‘ABCD’: American Born Confused Desi, Emigrated From Gujarat, Housed In Jersey, Keeping Lotsa Motels, Named Omkarnath Patel, Quickly Reached Success Through Underhanded Venal Ways, Xenophobic Yet Zestful.

We discussed the book “The Namesake” by Jhumpa Lahiri: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Namesake_(novel)

I referenced the film “Saving Face” by Alice Wu: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0384504/

Theme music is “Protofund” by Kevin Macleod: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4247-protofunk

For more info, visit: markhiew3.wix.com/howtosecondgen

Format: This episode is a lot longer than earlier episodes. I’m experimenting with a looser, less edited format. How do you like it? I appreciate your feedback!

My guest on this episode is Felipe Jacome, a photojournalist whose work focuses on human mobility and human rights. His work has appeared in publications including National Geographic, the Washington Post, Vice, and CNN. Felipe emigrated from Ecuador to the US at the age of 14. We discussed how his immigrant experience differed from that of his siblings, race and class in Ecuador and the US, and how photography gives him the chance to live certain moments with people vastly different from himself.

Felipe’s website: https://www.felipejacome.com/

Felipe’s Instagram handle: felipejacomephoto

Theme music is “Protofund” by Kevin Macleod: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4247-protofunk

For more info, visit: markhiew3.wix.com/howtosecondgen

Note: I know that Felipe is not technically “second gen” as I’ve defined it (based on my definition, he would probably be considered “first gen”. But I’m playing pretty fast and loose with what this podcast is about without renaming it. I hope you’ll agree that he has a lot of interesting thoughts to share!

Our guest on this episode is Victoria Wisniewski Otero, a human rights advocate in Hong Kong and founder and CEO of Resolve. Victoria’s mother is from Spain and her father is from the United States. Our conversation ranged from her family’s journey moving from Spain to the United States, to culture shock on summer trips back to Spain, to how her time in Central America shaped her career path.

You can learn more about Victoria's NGO Resolve here: https://www.resolvehk.org/

Theme music is “Protofund” by Kevin Macleod: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4247-protofunk

For more info, visit: markhiew3.wix.com/howtosecondgen

Our first guest on the podcast is Andrew Napier, a labor and employment lawyer in Philadelphia. Andrew’s parents immigrated from the Caribbean nation of Jamaica to the middle-class neighborhood of Jamaica, Queens in New York City.

Our conversation ranged over a variety of topics, including growing up geeky while black in New York City, differences between being African-American versus Jamaican-American, and how his parents felt about the Peace Corps.

Theme music is “Protofund” by Kevin Macleod: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4247-protofunk

To learn more about the podcast, visit: markhiew3.wix.com/howtosecondgen