Rice for Breakfast Ian de Borja

Introducing the first mini-episode of Rice for Breakfast! Listen in as I introduce what the mini-episodes will be about and discuss the first topic, three books about the history of Asian Americans.

This week’s guest is comedian, is award-winning writer, actor, filmmaker, storyteller and cultural producer, Naomi Ko. Naomi's independent tv pilot, Nice, is an official selection for the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival in the Indie Episodic Category. Naomi created, wrote, and stars in this half-hour series pilot about Teddy Park, a 20-something Korean American living in Minnesota, who must deal with the consequences of keeping her breast cancer a secret from her friends and family.

Naomi and I sit down to talk about about why Minnesotans are so nice, racism in musical theatre, the importance of Sandra Oh's portrayal of Dr. Christina Yang on Grey’s Anatomy, her homoerotic Harry Potter Fan Fic that she performed on Netflix’s MORTIFIED, her classes and strategy for fighting microaggression and much more.

This week’s guest is comedian, actress and writer Alex Song! Alex has started training and performing with the Upright Citizens Brigade in 2012, and has since gone on to co-host/produce Asian-AF and write for TV shows like NBC's 'The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon'. We talk about her first foray into writing via her Dragon Ball Z fansite, the influence Debate Club had on her life, battling depression in college, why Asians are still 'ok' to make jokes about, the UCB and much more.

This week’s guest is chef and restaurateur, Dale Talde. Some of you may know Dale from his two seasons on Top Chef or from one of his 10 restaurants including the appropriately named, Talde. We talk about growing up in Chicago, the importance of preparing rice properly as a kid, the grueling life of a young chef, the politics and appropriation of Asian food, his experience on Top Chef and more.

This week’s guest is musician, Vijay Iyer. Vijay is not only a grammy nominated jazz pianist, he’s also a professor at harvard, and a MacArthur Fellow, which is also known as the ‘genius grant’ given to 20 and 30 individuals every year, working in any field, who have shown "extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction" and are citizens or residents of the United States.

We talk about how the classical music community in his hometown affected his early life, learning how to play piano by ear by listening to Michael Jackson and Prince, how the great Herbie Hancock influenced his approach to music, and the politics of jazz. The highlight of hte episode however is the way he talks about music and performance, and you can really hear his brilliance when he does.

This week’s guests are Evan Kidera and Gil Payumo, founders of my favorite San Francisco food truck, Señor Sisig! We talk about growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, meeting in yearbook class, Evan’s passion of Asian American history, the intricacies of starting a food truck, what the early SF food truck scene was like and the struggles of having to let go of some control in order to expand the business.