Excavations with Connie Chen

I started listening to the first episode and my first thoughts were "Connie is so poetic. How beautiful..." but as it progressed boom...my tears started rolling. What a power with words she has, not only calligraphed, but written and spoken. Honestly, it felt like daggers to my heart the way she talks so bluntly about George Floyd's death without sugar coating it. I sincerely admire the courage to speak like this to others, in a very educated, eloquent yet truthful way; something I definitely need to work on for myself.

This podcast approaches perfection The delivery is flawless The subject is timely and eternal The distance is intimate and far All of us who write should seek this impeccable balance of art and love and empathy Chapeau Connie Chen chapeau

Thoughtful and captivating, Connie walks alongside you through the many expressions that she felt within a given and lived story, just as she is unearthing each momentary observations of the past step by step.

Poignant, articulate, and demanding (but in a good, make-this-world-better, sort of way). Ms. Chen correlates visions of her childhood to a photograph of the worldwide pandemic, to master works of art, and she never skips a beat. My favorite part is the end. I certainly won’t spoil it for you. But she gives us cause to remember we’re all in the same storm but on very different boats.