(S8, EP 6)  For this week's episode, Nisha Mody steps in as guest host, and chats with Fiza Pirani, the founder of Foreign Bodies, an award-winning newsletter on immigrant mental health. Hear them discuss the meaning of immigrant mental health, and what it means for our Asian communities.  Tune in to hear this amazing discussion!

Bio:

Fiza Pirani is an Atlanta-based freelance writer and editor, and the founder of Foreign Bodies, an award-winning newsletter on immigrant mental health. She is also currently an MFA student in the University of Georgia's Narrative Nonfiction program and is sloooowly working on what is shaping up to be a book project. In her free time, Fiza loves to dabble in painting, read memoirs and novels, and write alongside her always-sleepy rescue mutt and kitty.

Nisha Mody (she/her) is a Feminist Healing Coach, Writer, and Library Advocate. Her work explores the intersection of anti-oppression, intergenerational healing, and relating. She is passionate about making spaces relational, meaningful, and delightful. If you hear Nisha speak or coach with her, she will support you with being with your feelings, claiming your agency, and relating to the world with care. You can find Nisha on Instagram @healinghypegirl, on her website at www.nishaland.com, and you can get the latest updates from her by signing up for her newsletter at https://bit.ly/notesfromnishaland.

Sponsored by:

VietFive Coffee: Start your day right with VietFive Coffee.  Freshly grown coffee harvested straight from Vietnam and roasted in Chicago, VietFive offers rich quality tasting Vietnamese coffee straight to your soul.  Visit VietFive Coffee in Chicago to grab a fresh cup and a Banh Mi to go along with it, or go to www.vietfive.com and use the code in all Caps: VMNCHIV5 to get 15% off your purchase.

Circa-Pintig: The Center for Immigrant Resources and Community Arts - CIRCA Pintig is a 501c3 engaging communities through the power of the arts to challenge injustice and transcend social change. CIRCA Pintig produces timely works to provide education, activation, and advocacy. For information about upcoming events and to learn about how to get involved, visit www.circapintig.org

Trigger Warning:  Medical Scare

(S8, EP 5)

Meet Darro Chea, a Khmer American emo pop-punk artist originally from Brooklyn, NY.  Hear his story about what got him into music, and his survival from a threatening brain tumor a few years back.  Learn and follow his work now!

Bio:

Hailing from Brooklyn, NY, Asian-American artist Darro is fusing together the strongest and catchiest elements of emo and pop-punk to form his own hybrid subgenre of alternative anthems.

After releasing his debut EP ‘Nostalgia’ in 2017, the then 24-year-old musician was diagnosed with a brain tumor that resulted in surgery and rehabilitation that saw him re-learning to speak and sing.

Despite his hardships, Darro persevered and utilized his recovery as a means of inspiration to release his debut full-length album Songs of Recovery in November 2020. Though met with life’s unexpected difficulties, Darro’s debut garnered critical acclaim on various charts and became emblematic of his journey as a musician.

Darro has gotten airplay by idobi Radio, charted internationally and been praised by the likes of Billboard, Rolling Stone India, and Alternative Press, as well as editorial features on Spotify, Apple Music and VEVO.

With his second album Accidents produced by Kris Crummett, Darro is bound to be a repeat in your library.

Sponsored by:

VietFive Coffee: Start your day right with VietFive Coffee.  Freshly grown coffee harvested straight from Vietnam and roasted in Chicago, VietFive offers rich quality tasting Vietnamese coffee straight to your soul.  Visit VietFive Coffee in Chicago to grab a fresh cup and a Banh Mi to go along with it, or go to www.vietfive.com and use the code in all Caps: VMNCHIV5 to get 15% off your purchase.

Circa-Pintig: The Center for Immigrant Resources and Community Arts - CIRCA Pintig is a 501c3 engaging communities through the power of the arts to challenge injustice and transcend social change. CIRCA Pintig produces timely works to provide education, activation, and advocacy. For information about upcoming events and to learn about how to get involved, visit www.circapintig.org

S8, EP 4:  Sara Blanchard and Misasha Suzuki Graham, co-hosts of the Dear White Women Podcast join me for this week's episode as we talk about the genesis of putting together their podcast, what unlearning white supremacy and recognizing privilege means, and offering anti-racism tools. 

Bio:

Misasha Suzuki Graham: A graduate of Harvard College and Columbia Law School, Misasha Suzuki Graham has been a practicing litigator for over 15 years, and is passionate about diversity, equity, and inclusion in the legal profession as well as in her communities. She is a facilitator, writer, and speaker regarding issues of racial justice, especially with regard to children, the co-author of Dear White Women: Let’s Get (Un)comfortable Talking About Racism, and the co-host of Dear White Women, an award-winning social justice podcast. Misasha, who is biracial (Japanese and White), is married to a Black man, and is the proud mom of two very active multiracial young boys. They live in the Bay Area of California with their largely indifferent cat.

Sara Blanchard helps build community and connection through conscious conversations, which she does as a facilitator, TEDx speaker, writer, and consultant. After graduating from Harvard and working at Goldman Sachs, Sara pursued the science and techniques of well-being and is a certified life coach, author of two books, and also the co-host of Dear White Women. Sara is biracial (Japanese and White), married to a White Canadian man, and is raising their two White-presenting girls to be compassionate, thoughtful advocates. They live in Denver, CO with their incredibly lovable dog.

Sponsored by:

VietFive Coffee: Start your day right with VietFive Coffee.  Freshly grown coffee harvested straight from Vietnam and roasted in Chicago, VietFive offers rich quality tasting Vietnamese coffee straight to your soul.  Visit VietFive Coffee in Chicago to grab a fresh cup and a Banh Mi to go along with it, or go to www.vietfive.com and use the code in all Caps: VMNCHIV5 to get 15% off your purchase.

Circa-Pintig: The Center for Immigrant Resources and Community Arts - CIRCA Pintig is a 501c3 engaging communities through the power of the arts to challenge injustice and transcend social change. CIRCA Pintig produces timely works to provide education, activation, and advocacy. For information about upcoming events and to learn about how to get involved, visit www.circapintig.org

(S8, EP3) Check out this episode w/author, journalist, and educator Erika Hayasaki who recently released her book, "Somewhere Sisters: A Story of Adoption, Identity, and the Meaning of Family".  We talked about the release of her book, as well as the themes (e.g. adoption, adoptee trauma, diaspora) in "Somewhere Sisters."

Bio:

Erika Hayasaki teaches in the Literary Journalism Program at the University of California, Irvine. She is a journalist interested in the intersections of identity, race, psychology, inequality, science, technology, history, and the human condition. Her stories appear in The New York Times Magazine, Wired, The Atlantic, Marie Claire, and many more. She is a former national correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, where she spent nine years covering breaking news and writing feature stories.

Erika is the author of Somewhere Sisters: A Story of Adoption, Identity and the Meaning of Family, (Algonquin Books, October 2022), and The Death Class: A True Story About Life (Simon & Schuster 2014).

Sponsored by: 

VietFive Coffee: Start your day right with VietFive Coffee.  Freshly grown coffee harvested straight from Vietnam and roasted in Chicago, VietFive offers rich quality tasting Vietnamese coffee straight to your soul.  Visit VietFive Coffee in Chicago to grab a fresh cup and a Banh Mi to go along with it, or go to www.vietfive.com and use the code in all Caps: VMNCHIV5 to get 15% off your purchase.

Circa-Pintig: The Center for Immigrant Resources and Community Arts - CIRCA Pintig is a 501c3 engaging communities through the power of the arts to challenge injustice and transcend social change. CIRCA Pintig produces timely works to provide education, activation, and advocacy. For information about upcoming events and to learn about how to get involved, visit www.circapintig.org

TW/CW:  Mentions of Anti-Asian hate, sexual violence, and gaslighting

(S8, EP 2) Leslie Lew joins me for this week's episode as she talks about her work as a trauma-informed self-defense coach and what it means to break down the patriarchy and ableism in self-defense work.  We discussed the ongoing Stop Asian Hate movement, and what it means to reclaim one's courage. 

Bio:

Leslie is the Founder of Reclaiming Your Courage, a Trauma-Informed Self-Defense Coach, International best-selling author and speaker. She values love, courage, and community. Her mission is to save the lives of women globally. Leslie is a second-generation Korean and Chinese American, San Francisco native, mother of two, and wife. She is a two-time black belt and has been a martial artist for over 20 years.

Leslie empowers purpose-driven women to ignite their strength through their mind, body, and voice. At the start of the pandemic, Leslie was deeply impacted by the rise of anti-Asian hate crimes. She has dedicated her life to #stopasianhate and strengthening her community by helping Asian women find their voice and not fall victim to being perceived as easy prey.

She is an ally to the BIPOC, Latinx, LGBTQIA+, Neurodivergent, and Differently Abled communities.

Sponsored by:

VietFive Coffee: Start your day right with VietFive Coffee.  Freshly grown coffee harvested straight from Vietnam and roasted in Chicago, VietFive offers rich quality tasting Vietnamese coffee straight to your soul.  Visit VietFive Coffee in Chicago to grab a fresh cup and a Banh Mi to go along with it, or go to www.vietfive.com and use the code in all Caps: VMNCHIV5 to get 15% off your purchase.

Circa-Pintig: The Center for Immigrant Resources and Community Arts - CIRCA Pintig is a 501c3 engaging communities through the power of the arts to challenge injustice and transcend social change. CIRCA Pintig produces timely works to provide education, activation, and advocacy. For information about upcoming events and to learn about how to get involved, visit www.circapintig.org

On Season 8's first episode, I interviewed leading nonprofit commentator, Vu Le about the issues concerning philanthropy, and why it's deeply flawed and rooted in white supremacy.  We chatted about what it's like to date a nonprofit professional, and why he believes in the full good of the Oxford comma.  

Bio:

Vu Le (“voo lay”) is a writer, speaker, vegan, Pisces, and the former Executive Director of RVC, a nonprofit in Seattle.

Vu’s passion to make the world better, combined with a low score on the Law School Admission Test, drove him into the field of nonprofit work, where he learned that we should take the work seriously, but not ourselves. There’s tons of humor in the nonprofit world, and someone needs to document it. He is going to do that, with the hope that one day, a TV producer will see how cool and interesting our field is and make a show about nonprofit work, featuring attractive actors attending strategic planning meetings and filing 990 tax forms.

Known for his no-BS approach, irreverent sense of humor, and love of unicorns, Vu has been featured in dozens, if not hundreds, of his own blog posts at NonprofitAF.com.

Sponsored by:

VietFive Coffee:  Start your day right with VietFive Coffee.  Freshly grown coffee harvested straight from Vietnam and roasted in Chicago, VietFive offers rich quality tasting Vietnamese coffee straight to your soul.  Visit VietFive Coffee in Chicago to grab a fresh cup and a Banh Mi to go along with it, or go to www.vietfive.com and use the code in all Caps: VMNCHIV5 to get 15% off your purchase.

Circa-Pintig: The Center for Immigrant Resources and Community Arts - CIRCA Pintig is a 501c3 engaging communities through the power of the arts to challenge injustice and transcend social change. CIRCA Pintig produces timely works to provide education, activation, and advocacy. For information about upcoming events and to learn about how to get involved, visit www.circapintig.org

Thank you for your patience as I am finally back from my months-long hiatus.  Learn what's in store for Season 8.  Enjoy the ride with new episodes each week!

Sponsored by:

VietFive Coffee: Start your day right with VietFive Coffee.  Freshly grown coffee harvested straight from Vietnam and roasted in Chicago, VietFive offers rich quality tasting Vietnamese coffee straight to your soul.  Visit VietFive Coffee in Chicago to grab a fresh cup and a Banh Mi to go along with it, or go to www.vietfive.com and use the code in all Caps: VMNCHIV5 to get 15% off your purchase.

Circa-Pintig: The Center for Immigrant Resources and Community Arts - CIRCA Pintig is a 501c3 engaging communities through the power of the arts to challenge injustice and transcend social change. CIRCA Pintig produces timely works to provide education, activation, and advocacy. For information about upcoming events and to learn about how to get involved, visit www.circapintig.org

BONUS EPISODE:

So I'm back for a moment with a new shared episode w/ Kenneth Nguyen from The Vietnamese Podcast and Tracey Nguyen Mang from The Vietnamese Boat People Podcast.  We discussed our experiences as podcasters from a Vietnamese lens, and the current landscape of Vietnamese podcasting today.  Check out our discussion and don't forget to follow each of our works! 

Season 7's "reClaim" is over and I'm here to share my closing remarks about the season.  Many thanks to the following guests of Season 7: Michelle Li, Ju Hong, Noor Hindi, Sotheara Lim, Soultree Camba, Marpheen Chann, Consuela Hendricks, Angela Lin, and Nidhi Shastri.  

Season 7 is sponsored by the following:

Nguyen Coffee Supply, America’s first specialty Vietnamese coffee company and proud champion of the resilient robusta bean. Follow them on IG @NguyenCoffeeSupply or visit www.nguyencoffeesupply.com. Be sure to use the code: BANHMI10 to get your discount!

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Red Scarf Revolution (RSR) is a merchandise line that celebrates and uplifts the Khmer diaspora identity and experiences. Visit them on IG @red_scarf_revolution or at https://redscarfrevolution.com

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Chann Sou Consulting specializes in customizing Salesforce for your organizational needs. They will provide hands-on training for your nonprofit. Don't miss out on this amazing opportunity to help raise money for your nonprofit so you can keep making a positive impact in your community! Check out www.channsou.com and get up to two hours of free consultation. www.channsou.com

As Season 7 is about to soon wrap up, Nidhi Shastri rounds up this Season 7 guest lineup.  Nidhi is the founder and producer of her podcast, "Model Minority: Uniquely American".  She is a South Asian American based in Chicago. We talked about the process of starting her podcast which explores stories and issues of the Asian, African, and Middle Eastern American / diaspora, her upbringing in the Chicagoland suburbs, the impact that her father's death had, and how this informed her own experiences, her relationship with her family, and political beliefs.  Don't miss out on this episode as you get to hear more about her beautiful journey!

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Bio:

Nidhi Shastri is an independent podcast writer, host and producer from Chicago, IL. After graduating from the University of Illinois in 2019, she worked as a campaign organizer for healthcare justice and Medicare for All during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her podcast, Model Minority: Uniquely American (released in 2020) stems from her own experiences of growing up as a South Asian woman in the States. Her work strives to pass the mic to other Asian, African and Middle Eastern Americans to share their stories, and to also use the podcasting platform as a medium for educating and inspiring social change.

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Season 7 sponsors:

Nguyen Coffee Supply: You know what goes well with a banh mi?  Freshly roasted Vietnamese coffee from Nguyen Coffee Supply.   Yes, that’s right! Nguyen Coffee Supply is America’s first specialty Vietnamese coffee company and proud champion of the resilient robusta bean.The company imports through direct-trade relationships with Vietnamese farmers and roasts in Brooklyn, New York. Founded in 2018 by 1st generation entrepreneur-activist Sahra Nguyen, the company is on a mission to change the future of coffee through diversity, sustainability and cultural integrity.  Specifically, they diversify the industry through Vietnamese coffee, elevate resilient robusta as the key to our sustainable coffee future and transform the landscape through economic advancement for both arabica & robusta farmers, globally.  Check out their website at www.nguyencoffeesupply.com or follow them on Facebook [tag].  Be sure to use the code: BANHMI10 to get your discount when you make a purchase on their website.

Red Scarf Revolution (RSR) is a merchandise line that celebrates and uplifts the Khmer diaspora identity and experiences. Get yourself a t-shirt, hoodie, or hat and learn more about them by visiting them on IG @red_scarf_revolution or at https://redscarfrevolution.com

Chann Sou Consulting specializes in customizing Salesforce for your organizational needs. They will provide hands-on training for your nonprofit. Don't miss out on this amazing opportunity to help raise money for your nonprofit so you can keep making a positive impact in your community! Check out www.channsou.com and get up to two hours of free consultation.