In episode five* of We Are All Americans Michele Jaquis and Joshua Beliso share numerous family stories including Michele’s grandfather’s matzo ball wonton soup, Joshua’s family legend of their brutal Scottish ancestor (who may or may not have been a King), how it is possible to not sacrifice one’s ambitions while raising a family just because one’s parents did, and Joshua’s own love for fusion cuisine inherited from his Portuguese and Spanish grandparents who grew up in Hong Kong and the Philippines.
We Are All Americans is a podcast series Inspired by the fact that my Russian great-grandfather gained his US citizenship after serving in the US Army and my Lithuanian (or Austrian, or Russian, or Latvian - depending on who is telling the story) great-grandmother entered the US on fake passport. Each episode is a different recorded conversations about how family stories are passed down from generation to generation and what it means to be American in the contexts of multiculturalism, immigration, military service, black lives matter, white privilege, and indigeneity.
* Recorded on July 16, 2018 at Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, CA.