In this episode of The Bánh Mì Chronicles, I’m joined by Dr. Akilah Cadet—author, founder, and executive coach of Change Cadet (@changecadet on IG) for a no-holds-barred and necessary conversation on what it must take to dismantle systemic barriers and show up fully in spaces that weren’t built for us.

We get into the weeds on the following:

• Navigating White-Majority Spaces: What it really looks like through the intersectional lens of Black, women, and disabled identity.

• Intentional Accessibility: Moving beyond bare minimum checkboxes to build genuine, thoughtful access and equity for disabled folks.

• White Adjacency in BIPOC Communities: Unpacking how proximity to whiteness and being trapped in a colonized mindset operates within communities of color and how we can work toward collective unlearning.

Bio:

Dr. Akilah Cadet is the Founder and CEO of Change Cadet, a creative organizational development consulting firm that offers services that support embedding belonging into overall company culture, identity, strategy and storytelling (you know what Donald is actively attacking). As a Forbes Next 1000 Entrepreneur and one of San Francisco Business Times Most Influential Women of the Bay Area, her work is behind some of the biggest brands you use every day. Dismantling white supremacy through storytelling is at the core of her work as a leader, speaker, creative director, producer, writer, editor, co-owner of the Oakland Roots and Soul soccer teams (she led the most successful community investment round in sports history), host of Humane Rights podcast and author of White Supremacy is All Around: Notes From a Black Disabled Woman in a White World. She literally has all the degrees, lives in and loves Oakland, CA, celebrates her disability, is a proud Beyoncé advocate, and has an incredible shoe game.

Pronouns: she/her/hers

#changecadet #thebanhmichronicles #BIPOCpodcast #DEI #intersectionalfeminism #disabilityadvocacy

What does it mean to honor your parents’ legacy while they are still here?

Returning as a guest on my show for the first time since 2020, singer/songwriter, filmmaker, and creative TRACE chatted with me about preparing the upcoming Saigon Jazz Revival with her mom, Carol Kim, a legendary Vietnamese singer known in the Vietnamese music scene for decades. We talk about the anticipation for the Saigon Jazz Revival, partnered with the Vietnamese Association of Illinois (VAI), that’s coming to Chicago on Sat, August 29th at Live Bash. TRACE goes into the process of working with her mom and collaborating with the New Orleans jazz ensemble. She shares more about her relationship with her mom while finding ways to honor her mom’s legacy in the Vietnamese community. I got to chat with her about TRACE’s own music and filmmaking, and so much more!

If you’re in the Chicago area, please get your tickets now to the Saigon Jazz Revival below.

Purchase your tickets to the Chicago Saigon Jazz Revival here

BIO:

Trace is a second-generation Vietnamese American artist and writer who has spent the last decade in Los Angeles immersed in the music industry. Since 2016, resonating with themes of longing, belonging, and queerness, her music has reached over 84 million streams, including major-label releases and a partnership with NAMI to spotlight mental health.Her love for storytelling naturally evolved into filmmaking, showcased by her semi-autobiographical debut short film, No More Sad Songs, which premiered in the fall of 2024. Trace's second short, Cry, Baby, premiered this past August in anticipation of its 2026 festival circuit run. In the meantime, she is developing a documentary about her mother and, in tandem, writing her debut semi-autobiographical memoir.

IG: TRACE

Website: https://listentotrace.com/

Information about the Vietnamese Association of Illinois (VAI):

• IG: vai_chicago

• VAI Website

For this week’s episode, I sit down with author and television executive Nayantara Roy to discuss her new second novel, Sisters of a Halved Heart. We go in-depth into the chaotic nature of sibling relationships, what it takes to balance high-level TV development and fiction writing, and the art of telling stories across different mediums.

IG: tararoi

Website: https://nayantararoy.com/

Bio:Nayantara Roy (also known as Tara Roy) is an author and television executive. By day, she serves as the Senior Vice President of Television at Sandbox Entertainment (and previously worked at Endeavor Content and AGBO), where she acquires and oversees the creative development of original scripted television series.As an author, she wrote the highly acclaimed debut novel The Magnificent Ruins (2024), which was named a New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice, a Washington Post Notable/Best Book, a People Magazine Best Book, and a Gold House Book Club Pick. Her second novel, Sisters of a Halved Heart, was published by Algonquin Books on June 2, 2026.Additionally, Roy won the Rick DeMarinis Short Story Prize in 2018 for her short story "8C," and her plays have been performed internationally, including in the UK and India. She is a 2020 alumna of the CAPE Leaders Program and a jury member for the STARZ #TakeTheLead director's program. Born in Kolkata, India, she currently resides in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.

Trigger Warning: Mention of hospitalization

I’m slowly coming back after one hellish month (thank you, Mercury Retrograde for nothing).

• Hospital stays are no joke, and I go into a little story about some of my misadventures.

• Responding to the call-out on Dani Rodriguez-Pen and Phatry Derek Pan from Khmerican

• My first anniversary since coming back to the podcast

• Other random thoughts

Be on the lookout for new episodes for the rest of this summer!

What do your own stories help you learn about yourself?

I brought on Jitesh Jaggi, a 5x winner of The Moth, veteran storytelling coach currently based in Chicago who immigrated from India, to explore the events in his life that shaped his storytelling and how he works with the South Asian communities to share their oral history and stories. We get into the challenges of the Chicago storytelling scene and how inaccessible it remains for people of color. We go into depth about what it takes to become an authentic storyteller.

Bio:

Jitesh Jaggi is an immigrant storyteller, educator, and oral historian from India. A five-time The Moth Story Slam winner, his stories were recently played on NPR’s The Moth Radio Hour and on WGN TV’s Day Time Chicago Show. As a storytelling coach, he has taught workshops for the World Health Organization and the University of Chicago, among others. Jitesh’s one-man show “Suitcase Stories” played at the Steppenwolf Theatre and The Second City. Jitesh was a keynote speaker at the International Educators’ Conference- NAFSA and a panelist at the AWP (American Writers’ Program). As an Oral Historian, he collects the stories of the South Asian diaspora living in Illinois since the 1950s and often weaves his own personal tales with those of his immigrant ancestors in his performances. He will share these amalgamated stories as an Illinois Road Scholar for 2026-27.

https://ilhumanities.org/speakers/jitesh-jaggi

IG: the_pun_dit

Longtime Filipino American content creator and commentator Ranier Maningding from LLAG Media joins me for this episode. We discuss about the beginning of his LLAG journey and his role in social media highlighting the stories of Asian American, his burnout and motivation as a content creator, the manosphere in podcasting, the ongoing struggle that Asians have on Anti-Black racism, and his latest podcast, “Seasoned Fighters.” So glad to finally have him on my show after following him for years. You can check him out on IG: LLAG or on llagmedia.com

Bio:

Ranier Maningding is a Filipino-American copywriter, brand strategist, and founder of LLAG Media, a strategic communications and content production agency built for progressive brands and organizations. For over a decade, he's written political and cultural commentary on the intersection of race, propaganda, geopolitics, and pop culture. He is also the host of Seasoned Fighters, a podcast series highlighting the uncrowned champions of social and political change.

Fresh off releasing his second book, The Temple Road: A Doctor’s Journey, retired oncologist and professor Fazlur Rahman, M.D. shares his process of writing his memoir. Losing his mom at 7 years old, Dr. Rahman has been navigating his journey through grief, his relationship with his family and community in Bangladesh, his homeland, immigrating to the US and living in a rural town in Texas, and his decades-long medical career working closely with cancer patients and their families. Check out this episode and his latest book available now.

Bio:

Fazlur Rahman, M.D. was born and brought up in what is now Bangladesh. After his medical education in Dhaka, New York, and Houston, he practiced cancer medicine for thirty-five years in San Angelo, Texas. He is an adjunct professor of biology (medical humanities and ethics) at Angelo State University, a senior trustee of Austin College in Sherman, Texas, and an advisory council member of the Charles E. Cheever Jr. Center for Medical Humanities and Ethics at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. His articles, essays, and stories have appeared in many publications, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Guardian Weekly, International Herald Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, Newsweek, Harvard Review, Short Story International, Dallas Morning News, and Houston Chronicle. He is the author of Our Connected Lives: Caring for Cancer Patients in Rural Texas and The Temple Road: A Doctor’s Journey.

He and his wife, Jahanara (Ara), have lived in West Texas for most of their lives and have raised four children. They love walking in nature and going on wildflower adventures.

The Queen of Pop decided that Pride Month is continuing, so Tranna and I break down the track-by-track of the Confessions II album and whether it beats the first Confessions album.

I brought back my favorite recurring guest and amazing trans Internet personality, comedian, and pop culture nerd hailing from Montreal, Tranna Wintour. Fresh off the release of Madonna’s latest album, “Confessions II,” we shared our own experiences listening to this album and how this has stopped the 20-year cycle of disappointing and underwhelming releases (e.g. Hard Candy, MDNA, Rebel Heart, and Madame X). We go over the track-by-track of Confessions II and share our reactions to each of them. Give it a listen whether you are a newbie or a longtime fan. Agree or disagree with us? Share your thoughts on this album or on any Madonna albums here.

Bio:

Tranna Wintour is a highly-acclaimed bilingual comedian, singer, writer, hostess, and producer.

Legendary comedienne Sandra Bernhard described her as “a candle in the window on a cold, dark winter’s night.” A Just For Laughs New Face Canada (2019), Tranna was named one of the queens of Canadian comedy by Fashion magazine.

Performing in both English and French, she appeared in a Juste Pour Rire gala in 2021 before starring in Québec’s hit series, Big Brother Célébrités. Her run to the top 4 was hailed as the show’s breakthrough moment and “the best moment on Québec TV in years” by the Journal Métro.

Tranna co-hosted the successful CBC Podcast Chosen Family for three seasons, which was named one of Apple’s Best Podcasts for two consecutive years. Her debut album, Safe From Your Affection, is available on all streaming platforms, and she is currently developing an original comedy series with a major Canadian broadcaster.

Also, check out her new podcast, The Blank List

Substack: Tranna Wintour

Instagram: TrannaWintour

Website:

https://www.trannawintour.com

What does it mean to capture the dark moments of our history in real time?

I’ve been witnessing the powerful work of Adriano Kalin, who has been photographing and documenting protests, including the ICE raids in Chicago, Minneapolis, and other parts of the US. Adriano gives us an in-depth and intimate look at what it means to give voice to what is happening in real time, to navigate the growing AI and state surveillance, and to be on the front lines risking safety while being both a person of color and disabled in this work. We unpack a lot of this here on this episode. Please share and follow Adriano on IG at adriano_kalin.

Adriano Kalin is a disabled documentary photographer specializing in social justice. He draws on his experience as an Afro-Indigenous Brazilian adoptee, with dual U.S. and Brazilian citizenship, to examine race, identity and oppression within the United States. Adriano’s current work is dedicated to documenting ICE abuses and atrocities in cities across the United States. Adriano graduated with a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and lives in Chicago with his wife and three cats.

Bio

Bio:

MILCK (Connie K. Lim) is a singer/songwriter/recording artist and humanitarian who pens anthems in hopes to spark healing and empathy. Her viral song “Quiet” was named a Billboard #1 protest song, NPR’s featured “American Anthems,” and a top feminist anthem of all time by Harper’s Bazaar. Recently Elle UK named MILCK as a top 40 Women of Hope. MILCK also composes songs for film, television, and artists, from John Legend to Natasha Bedingfield. MILCK has since gone viral again with another song titled “Sisters of Winter,” as featured on ACLU’s 2026 national campaign. In July 2026 La Jolla Playhouse will host the world premiere of The Family Album, an original musical co-composed by MILCK, and inspired by MILCK’s healing journey.