What can creating healthier masculinity look like for all Asian men?

Leo Xia (IG: lowhiofficial), founder of JinShan Collective, joins me to discuss his personal experiences as a straight Asian man and what he has continued to unlearn and heal from over the years. We discuss the toxicity of the “manosphere,” the challenges that Asian men face, and how to create a safer space for vulnerability and empathy to happen. Leo shares what he observes in those spaces through his virtual groups, and I share a few of my experiences as a queer Southeast Asian and my relationship to straight Asian men. Take a listen to the full episode as we get into the nitty-gritty of what vulnerability and empathy can look like as Asian men.

To learn more about JinShan Collective, visit here

Bio:

Leo Xia is a men’s group leader and facilitator of support groups for Asian men. He has spent over 6 years holding conversations about masculinity, identity, and culture for 500+ men.

He facilitates his own men’s group, JinShan Men’s Community through his company JinShan Collective, as well as the Proud Asian Men group under Asian Mental Health Project.

TW/CW: Discussions of g*nocide regarding Palestine, Congo, and Sudan. Vicarious trauma

Palestinian American poet and doctor, Fady Joudah shares his poetry, essays, and photography in collaboration with Gaza Soup Kitchen on his upcoming collection, Exhibit G. We discuss the vicarious trauma of witnessing a g*nocide through his work as an artist but also as a Palestinian. Fady shared the painful and complicated process of trying to share the resilience, strength, and humanity of the Palestinian people while also reminding the world of what was done to them. We had a very frank conversation about the process of creating this collection and what he hopes to see for the future of Gaza and its people.

Order your copy of Exhibit G: Link Here

Bio:

Fady Joudah is the author of [...], a finalist for the National Book Award and winner of the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize. His other poetic works include: The Earth in the Attic; Alight; Textu, a book-long sequence of short poems whose meter is based on cellphone character count; Footnotes in the Order of Disappearance; and Tethered to Stars. He has translated several collections of poetry from Arabic and is the co-editor and co-founder of the Etel Adnan Poetry Prize. He was a winner of the Yale Series of Younger Poets competition and has received the Jackson Poetry Prize, a PEN award, a Banipal/Times Literary Supplement Prize from the UK, the Griffin Poetry Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Arab American Book Award. He lives in Houston, with his wife and kids, where he practices internal medicine.

How is Aaliyah remembered and celebrated 25 years after her untimely passing at age 22? Do you remember where you were when you found out the tragic news?

Aaliyah’s fast rise from a teen R&B idol into global superstardom showed so much promise for what could have been. From her final critically acclaimed self-titled album to a potential world tour, to being a highly sought-after film star, and whether she could have been a fashion and cosmetics entrepreneur like Rihanna, these are all possibilities that will never be realized.

Returning guest and veteran music journalist brittany spanos and I discuss the pop culture impact of Aaliyah’s legacy, from her early upbringing, controversial pairing with R. Kelly, her introduction of Missy Elliott and Timbaland, who would change the R&B landscape, the trajectory that her final album released weeks before her passing would have taken her into, and her promising film career after her debut in the hit movie alongside Jet Li, “Romeo Must Die.”

We talk about the messy rollout of her posthumous legacy, led by her uncle Barry Hankerson, where for a long period, her music (except her debut album) was out-of-print and not available for digital purchase or streaming, leading to years of squandered opportunities to honor her legacy and introduce Aaliyah’s music to a new generation. We think of the impact that she is making today and where it can lead to next.

Bio:

Brittany Spanos is a renowned music journalist and former senior writer for Rolling Stone. Throughout her tenure at the magazine, she authored more than 15 cover stories, profiling era-defining artists including Lorde, Adele, Harry Styles, Janelle Monáe, Jennie and Addison Rae.

Beyond her long-form profiles, Spanos has gained acclaim for her insightful commentary on music history and internet culture. She currently produces BRIT POP, a weekly newsletter where she reviews new music and rounds up the week’s most essential pop news for a dedicated community of subscribers.

To reach out to Sohaib for the Virtual Queer POC Group (NY residents only): [email protected]

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.