The Mash-Up Americans

In January 2023, Saadia Khan sat down with Amy Choi and Rebecca Lehrer for her weekly podcast Immigrantly. The conversation centered on their series on grief. The interview focused on grief, how we can understand it without over-pathologizing the sentiment, and why it’s both universal and personal. What is most remarkable about the conversation is that the trio kept it light and honest.

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It’s our last episode of the season(!) and we’re talking hospitality — what it looks like, what it means, what it does for our souls — and we can think of no better expert to turn to than Pierre Thiam, the trailblazing chef, author, and activist. He talks about how sharing food is a literal blessing, how it can transcend borders, and he also reveals his firm stance on who makes the best jollof. And if you’ve ever wondered how much food is enough food when you’re hosting people? Pierre’s got the answer for that, too.

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As people who care deeply about many things in this world (inequity, climate change, diversity, you get the idea), we could definitely learn to give less of a sh*t about other stuff — like whether or not people get offended by what we say and do. Enter: Liza Treyger. The hilarious comedian, unapologetic straight talker, and abider of many a bubbe meise joins Rebecca and Amy to talk about the rewards (and risks) of speaking freely and the double standard for men vs women. Also covered: why you’ll never see her at a baby shower.

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Never meet your heroes? Fie, we say. The magnificent author, editor, and queen of Queens Min Jin Lee joined Rebecca and Amy on stage at The Greene Space to kick off The Mash-Up Americans residency, and lucky for us she’s even more generous and staggeringly brilliant than we imagined. From discussing the power of authorship to sharing how being pleasant and difficult has helped her in life, we cover it all — and Amy secured a dinner invite, too. *fist pump*

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To know us at The Mash-Up Americans is to know we love to be told how to do things well — how to be less racist, how to make a killer apple strudel, and so on. So it’s fitting that this week, our pal Zak Rosen invited both Rebecca and Amy on his show, The Best Advice Show, to share a few words of wisdom about small, delightful, maybe unusual ways to make life better — like starfishing. (Just listen and you’ll see.)

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If San Giving, aka Thanksgiving, isn’t the mashiest American holiday of all, we’d be pressed to think of anything else that even comes close. It’s when American culinary traditions (turkey, stuffing) combine with those of our families (kimchi, tortillas) to be that rare holiday that seems to belong to everyone. So as a nod to Thanksgiving and all the different ways we celebrate, we’re revisiting a conversation we had in 2017 with our friend Francis Lam - cookbook editor and writer extraordinaire. It’s a good one from the archives that reminds us that while some things may change, Thanksgiving’s always the same.

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Millennials will never know a world without hip hop, and frankly, we’re all better for it. Author, journalist, scholar, and all-around visionary Jeff Chang joins Amy and Rebecca to share about his first introduction to hip hop, how it serves as a guide to liberation and how it’s just a part of who we all are now. He also weighs in on which album is better: The Low End Theory or Midnight Marauders? 

Jeff Chang is a writer, thinker, and cultural organizer. His Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation was named one of the best U.S. nonfiction books of the last quarter century. His other books include Who We Be: A Cultural History of Race in Post Civil Rights America and We Gon' Be Alright: Notes On Race and Resegregation. He is a Lucas Artist Fellow and has received the American Book Award, the Asian American Literary Award, and the USA Ford Fellowship in Literature. He is the host of the podcast, Edge of Reason. He is finishing Water Mirror Echo: Bruce Lee and the Making of Asian America.

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Where there are boundaries, there’s also healing, love, grief, and acceptance, explains Dr. Pooja Lakshmin — but getting there is often a painful, awkward journey. The board-certified psychiatrist and bestselling author joins Amy and Rebecca to talk about boundary-setting as self-liberation, fake vs. real self-care, and the endless mash-up guilt that comes with saying no.

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Does having money make you a classhole? And what does that even mean? Producer, reporter, and Classy podcast host Jonathan Menjivar joins Amy and Rebecca as they tackle the awkward topic of class, how it butts into the many facets of our lives and our identities, and how we can come to terms with our status — especially when it changes how we perceive ourselves.

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We are all on a spiritual path, according to Rainn Wilson — and he’s not talking about self-care spa days and meditation apps. The actor, author, and devout Bahá'í joins Amy and Rebecca to share what he’s learned about the purpose of life, the beauty of Star Trek, and redefining what’s sacred. There may also be a spoiler about The Meg in there too. He is the author of NYT Best Seller “Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution”.

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