Southern Fried Asian

Happy Holidays! Not only is it Christmastime, but this is also Jamie Noguchi week on Hard NOC Media! Before he appears on a special Rise of Skywalker focused edition of Hard NOC Life, Jamie is also Keith's guest on this month's Southern Fried Asian.

Jamie and Keith start by negotiating the southern bona fides of the DC-Maryland-Virginia region, otherwise known as "The DMV" (1:15). Jamie then reflects on what it was like growing up in Montgomery County in a less-than-diverse school (5:30), how nerd culture went from being welcoming to being toxic (8:30), and when he started to interrogate his Asian American identity (15:00). Later, Jamie extols the virtues of practice over talent (20:00) and reflects on the moment he decided to be an artist (27:30). Then Jamie shares some details on a new project he's collaborating on with Jeremy Whitley (36:30), before he and Keith reminisce about working on SIUniverse-related projects (40:20) and the secret origins of Super Art Fight (45:30). Finally, they explain why Chinese sausage and Panda Express is the best (52:30).

Subscribe to the Southern Fried Asian podcast on iTunes, Google Play, NPR One, Spotify, and Stitcher Radio! Support Hard NOC Media on Patreon and GoFundMe. Buy merch on TeePublic!

Our official theme music is the song "Top Down" by Chops, Timothy Flu, and Mic Barz. Podcast logo by Jef Castro.

Southern Fried Asian is produced by Keith Chow and Jes Vu.

On this month's Southern Fried Asian, Keith sits down with The New Yorker's Jia Tolentino about her new book, Trick Mirror and life on the internet in the 21st century.

Jia reflects on her book tour and how it feels to promote her work while also combating late stage capitalism (1:30). Later, she talks about meeting readers on tour and the gift and curse of social media (6:45) and the monoculture of the internet (13:30). Then she talks about growing up in Houston in a predominantly white and religious community (18:05) and how her view of Christianity has evolved since she was younger (28:45). They also discuss Jia's Jezebel article about Rolling Stone's recanted story involving sexual assault at the University of Virginia, her alma mater, and how the campus' culture has changed since her time there (39:00). Finally, they reminisce about Houston's Shipley Do-Nuts and the best biscuits in Charlottesville (47:00).

Subscribe to the Southern Fried Asian podcast on iTunes, Google Play, NPR One, Spotify, and Stitcher Radio! Support Hard NOC Media on Patreon andGoFundMe. Buy merch on TeePublic!

Our official theme music is the song "Top Down" by Chops, Timothy Flu, and Mic Barz. Podcast logo by Jef Castro.

Southern Fried Asian is produced by Keith Chow and Jes Vu.

A few weeks ago, Keith had the pleasure of welcoming to Southern Fried Asian human rights lawyer, policy advocate, and candidate for State Senate in the 28th district of Virginia, Qasim Rashid. With less than two weeks to go until voters go to the polls in Virginia, Keith and Qasim talk about why he's running and why it's important to get involved in politics at every level of society.

Qasim reflects on being a candidate running for public office while also being an immigrant during the Trump era (1:30) and how politicians exploit racism to distract from economic warfare between the haves and have nots (5:15). They also discuss how hard it is to get voters motivated for off-year and local elections but why it's absolutely crucial to get out the vote for these kinds of elections (11:00) and why organizing is the answer (13:00). He also reflects on the experience running for office in a part of Virginia that is traditionally very rural and conservative (16:00) before looking back at his own immigration story (18:15). Finally, Qasim shares his idea for bringing a food festival to Stafford County to celebrate the local cuisine of the area (29:00).

Even though the election is right around the corner, you can still donate to Qasim's people-powered campaign here. You can also go here to learn how to be a volunteer.

Subscribe to the Southern Fried Asian podcast on iTunes, Google Play, NPR One, Spotify, and Stitcher Radio! Support Hard NOC Media on Patreon and GoFundMe. Buy merch on TeePublic!

Our official theme music is the song "Top Down" by Chops, Timothy Flu, and Mic Barz. Podcast logo by Jef Castro.

Southern Fried Asian is produced by Keith Chow and Jes Vu.

Southern Fried Asian is back! This time, Keith is joined by New York Times-bestselling YA science-fiction author Marie Lu. Her new novel, Rebel, the follow-up to her epic Legend series of books, will be available in bookstores October 1 -- as will the graphic novel adaptation of her DC Icons story, Batman: Nightwalker.

Marie recounts what it was like moving from China first to New Orleans, and then to Houston (1:45) including those traumatic "lunch box moments" of childhood (7:30. Then, she shares her long journey toward becoming a writer, which started off in middle school (10:30) and took a brief detour into the video game industry after college (24:00). Later, she reveals how she fell into writing YA science-fiction novels, the importance of featuring characters of color in her stories (32:00), and what it was like writing Batman and returning to the world of the Legend trilogy with her new book, Rebel (49:00). Finally, Marie shares her Southern Fried food memories of dumplings and cajun food (54:00).

Subscribe to the Southern Fried Asian podcast on iTunes, Google Play, NPR One, Spotify, and Stitcher Radio! Support Hard NOC Media on Patreon and GoFundMe.

Our official theme music is the song "Top Down" by Chops, Timothy Flu, and Mic Barz. Podcast logo by Jef Castro.

Southern Fried Asian is produced by Keith Chow and Jes Vu.

Southern Fried Asian returns with a brand new episode! Keith is joined by Soman Chainani, the New York Times-bestselling author of the hit children's fantasy series, the School For Good and Evil. The fifth book in the series, A Crystal of Time, is available now wherever books are sold.

Soman kicks off the show by recounting what it was like growing up as one of the only Indian kids on an essentially "deserted and boring" island off the coast of Miami (1:00) and how tennis and Disney movies shaped his childhood (5:00). Looking at those same Disney movies from a different perspective is what ultimately led to Soman's first novel's redefinition of what is good and what is evil (8:30). Speaking of School For Good and Evil, Soman gives some updates on the live action adaptation of the first novel (11:15) and what it takes to adapt a book into film (12:30). Having gone to film school, Soman also describes the transition from being a filmmaker to a children's book author (16:00) and YouTuber (19:00). Soman and Keith also dive in to some of the criticisms of the final season of Game of Thrones [SPOILER] (23:30). They also spend some time talking about how a fantasy world can reflect the real one (27:00) and the difference between film and television's place in the monoculture (33:00). Finally, Soman shares food memories of his late grandmother's cooking, as well as a very specific pasta dish at a Key Biscayne Italian spot in Key Biscayne that can't be replicated in New York (40:30).

Subscribe to the Southern Fried Asian podcast on iTunes, Google Play, NPR One, Spotify, and Stitcher Radio! Support Hard NOC Media on Patreon.

Our official theme music is the song "Top Down" by Chops, Timothy Flu, and Mic Barz.

Southern Fried Asian is produced by Keith Chow and Jes Vu.

On a new episode of Southern Fried Asian, Keith is joined by Vanity Fair TV critic Sonia Saraiya to talk about growing up Indian American in rural Florida.

Sonia tells Keith about why her family preferred settling in the middle of nowhere (2:00), how many Asian American communities buy into -- and thus perpetuate the model minority myth (8:30). She also recalls an infamous lunchbox moment (13:00) and how acceptance of ethnic food has evolved since then (16:00). Sonia also describes how television became her lifeline to the outside world (20:00) and using pop culture to help formulate an Indian American identity (29:00). Then, they talk about how important it is to upend stereotypes redefining what it means to be Asian in America (40:00). Finally, Sonia shares memories of her mother's cooking and remembers the excitement of Taco Bell coming to town (53:00).

Subscribe to the Southern Fried Asian podcast on iTunes, Google Play, NPR One, and now on Spotify! Support Hard NOC Media on Patreon.

Our official theme music is the song "Top Down" by Chops, Timothy Flu, and Mic Barz.

Southern Fried Asian is produced by Keith Chow and Jes Vu.

Southern Fried Asian returns with a brand new episode to kick off the new year! Joining the show is Los Angeles Times reporter and Nashville native, Frank Shyong!

Frank and Keith discuss the mystery of non-existent Southern accents (1:30) and how growing up in the South has made him comfortable being an outsider (4:00). Then, Frank talks about a recent column in the LA Times in which he wrote about growing up in Nashville and reconnecting as an adult with the food he scorned as a child (7:00). They also spend a significant amount of time talking about the merits of American Chinese food (15:00), what celebrity chef Andrew Zimmern calls "horseshit Chinese." Later, they assess the phenomenon that is Subtle Asian Traits and how it's defining Asian-ness for a whole generation -- for good or ill (22:00) and how they came to Asian pop culture through the nascent days of the internet (32:00). Finally, Frank reminisces about his favorite American Chinese dish, egg foo young, as well as his obsession with Sonic Drive-In (41:00).

Subscribe to the Southern Fried Asian podcast on iTunes, Google Play, NPR One, and now on Spotify! Support Hard NOC Media on Patreon.

Our official theme music is the song "Top Down" by Chops, Timothy Flu, and Mic Barz.

Southern Fried Asian is produced by Keith Chow and Jes Vu.

With less than a week to go before Election Day, Southern Fried Asian sits down with a candidate to represent the 97th District in the Georgia House, Aisha Yaqoob!

Aisha tells Keith about how her parents immigrated from Pakistan and eventually to Georgia (2:00) and her experience growing up in the South as an American Muslim (5:00). She also recounts how she founded a Muslim voter registration organization and became more active in the political arena (11:30). Then, they try to figure out ways to get people more involved in midterm elections (15:30), why Georgia's not really a red state (17:00), and how to get more voters to turn out every cycle (20:00), why it's important for progressives to compete in every election (23:00), and how to push back against voter suppression (25:00). Finally, Aisha describes finding Halal chicken bánh mì for a recent rally and why Korean coffee shops will always remind her of home (33:00).

Subscribe to the Southern Fried Asian podcast on iTunes, Google Play, NPR One, and now on Spotify! Support Hard NOC Media on Patreon.

Our official theme music is the song "Top Down" by Chops, Timothy Flu, and Mic Barz.

Southern Fried Asian is produced by Keith Chow and Jes Vu.

Southern Fried Asian returns with an all new episode featuring the former head of creator development at YouTube and a co-founder of #GoldOpen, digital entrepreneur and Third Culture Kid, Bing Chen!

Before diving into his own origins, Bing reveals the secret origin of the Gold Open movement (2:00) and how far the Asian American community has come since he was growing up in Knoxville (10:00). Speaking of Tennessee, Bing shares about how he came to terms with his Asian identity after moving from Knoxville to Shanghai (14:00). Then, Bing and Keith discuss the differences (or lack thereof) between Asian Americans and Asians from Asia (18:15) and the reverse culture shock moving back to the States (29:00). Finally, they close out the show reminiscing about buffet restaurants like Golden Corral and Ryan's (37:30) and Bing remembers catching catfish at the now closed Crosseyed Cricket fishing hole (39:30)

Subscribe to the Southern Fried Asian podcast on iTunes, Google Play, NPR One, and now on Spotify! Support Hard NOC Media on Patreon.

Our official theme music is the song "Top Down" by Chops, Timothy Flu, and Mic Barz.

Southern Fried Asian is produced by Keith Chow and Jes Vu.

On a brand new episode of Southern Fried Asian, children's lit author Christina Soontornvat is Keith's special guest.

Christina tells Keith about reading fantasy stories as a child in her parents' Thai restaurant in West Texas (2:00) where her parents had opened a Chinese and Thai restaurant in the early '80s (5:00). Of course, they have to go over Texas' qualifications for being considered a "Southern" state (6:15). Then, Christina shares about her STEM background and reconciling her love of science and love of fantasy (11:30), how she decided to write children's literature (14:30), and authors challenging the Euro-centrism of the fantasy genre (21:00). She then dives into the nature of shapeshifting in her debut novel The Changelings and how its themes resonate in her own life (23:00) before revealing what compelled her to tell the story of the Thai Cave rescue (34:00). Finally, Christina shares her favorite Thai dish from her family's restaurant in Texas (44:00).

Subscribe to the Southern Fried Asian podcast on iTunes, Google Play, NPR One, and TuneIn Premium! Support Hard NOC Media on Patreon.

Our official theme music is the song "Top Down" by Chops, Timothy Flu, and Mic Barz.

Southern Fried Asian is produced by Keith Chow and Jes Vu.