Model Minority Moms

Kate Wang, Susan Lieu, Jeanette Park
  • 4.7 (103)
  • PARENTING
  • UPDATED DAILY

Welcome to Model Minority Moms where we reckon with the myth of success in career, family and life. We’re Jeanette, Kate, and Susan - Harvard classmates and Asian American working moms who get real about the pressures of fitting in while standing out. https://modelminoritymoms.com Model Minority Moms is a project of Real Life Media LLC.

  1. 8H AGO

    Ep131: Dad postpartum depression and being a biracial dad - interview with Daniel Tam-Claiborne

    **Special note to our listeners** Love the show? Help us keep the conversation going!Become a paid subscriber through our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Your contributions help us continue to make contenton issues related to the Asian-American, immigrant, modern parent experience. THANK YOU to our super awesome listeners who have already signed up! --------------------------------------- We welcome Daniel Tam-Claiborne back for a second recording because as Susan would say, there was just too much juice to squeeze in just one episode :) While we talked about his experience growing up as a Chinese-Jewish biracial kid in New York City in the last recording, we fast forward in this one to his experience of becoming a dad. Daniel experienced significant symptoms of postpartum depression after his daughter arrived and he talks us through that often hidden experience that many dads go through after they become parents. He started speaking to his quarter- Chinese daughter in Mandarin as he was coming out of the worst of his postpartum depression and we discuss how he and his wife arrived at the decision to commit to a bilingual upbringing for their child who doesn't easily "read" as Chinese or Chinese American. If you'd like to learn more about Daniel Tam-Claiborne and his work, check out: - His debut novel ⁠Transplants⁠ which was a 2023 PEN America Literary Award Finalist- Website at ⁠www.travelbreedscontent.com

    1h 20m

  2. JAN 30

    Ep130: Navigating belonging as a biracial person - interview with Daniel Tam-Claiborne

    Do you sometimes ask your kids questions like "are you doing ok?" or "am I causing you trauma" and then they stare at you blankly and ask if they can have candy now? All three of us have kids who are of multiple racial and ethnic ancestry. We all worry about how they will relate to various parts of their identities and if they will feel a healthy sense of belonging... but that's not the sort of thing most kids will be able to straight up tell you. So we brought on an incredibly thoughtful adult who grew up as a bi-racial person in America and we had a very honest and vulnerable discussion of what that was like for him. Daniel Tam-Claiborne is the author of Transplants, which was a 2023 PEN America Literary Award Finalist. Daniel talks about his childhood growing up in New York City with an ethnically Chinese mother who herself grew up in Cuba and his Jewish father. He discusses how he felt both insider/outsider in many aspects of his identity as a biracial person and how that has shaped his life as an adult and even now as a father of a young daughter. If you have a biracial person in your life that you care for, this one is a must-listen. Learn more about Daniel Tam-Claiborne: - Debut novel Transplants - Website at www.travelbreedscontent.com

    1h 26m

  3. JAN 16

    Ep129: K-everything series- KDramas

    **Special note to our listeners** Love the show? Help us keep the conversation going! Become a paid subscriber through our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Your contributions help us continue to make content on issues related to the Asian-American, immigrant, modern parent experience. THANK YOU to our super awesome listeners who have already signed up! ---------------------------------------Spoiler alert! Though we don't go into any shows in deep detail, we do talk about the high-level plot lines of Crash Landing on You, Queen of Tears, Castaway Diva, The Extraordinary Attorney Woo, Winter Sonata, Bon Appetit Your Majesty and When Life Gives You Tangerines. If you've ever promised yourself "just one more episode and I'll go to sleep" past midnight while watching a Kdrama, this is a safe space for you ≧☉_☉≦. If you don't know what we are talking about, you can skip this episode... or listen and choose to enter the delightfully addictive world of Kdramas +_+ Why so delightful you ask? Why so addictive? Isn't this just a soap opera but filled with Korean actors instead of American ones? Oh no my dearie... Kdramas are a whole 'nother beast, by turns beautiful, cuddly, cute, hilarious, dark and vengeful. There are storylines that grab you but you won't see often in Western shows (we explore why). Characters that pretty much check every box (and are completely unrealistic but who cares). One episode and you will be invested and hitting that "play next" button until it's embarrassingly late (or early :p).

    1h 14m

  4. JAN 2

    Ep128: K-everything series - Korean food (Warning: don't listen hungry!)

    **Special note to our listeners** Love the show? Help us keep the conversation going! Become a paid subscriber through our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Your contributions help us continue to make content on issues related to the Asian-American, immigrant, modern parent experience. THANK YOU to our super awesome listeners who have already signed up! --------------------------------------- Korean BBQ, Kimchi, Bibimbap, Kimbap, Seafood Pancake, Soondu Jigae, Seolleongtang, Naengmyun, Kalbi Jjim - is your mouth watering yet? Riding the broader wave of "Hallyu" (or Korean pop culture) in America, Korean food and ingredients are showing up in more places as well. Kimchi at your local Krogers, gochujang on your pork ribs? And it's not only traditional Korean food that's having a significant influence - what's the story with Paris Baguette in Pittsburgh or (gasp)... Paris? (yes the one in France). In true MMM fashion, we walk through the wonder world that is Korean food and its rising influence in the West. We make your mouth savor with our loving descriptions of how Korean flavors and textures hit our taste buds (we told you - don't listen hungry!), give you a 101 on the traditional Korean table to help deepen your understanding and give you the socio-political-economic take on why Korean food is the way it is and how it's been exported, re-imported and re-exported to be the delightfully delicious array it is today.

    1h 9m

  5. 12/19/2025

    Ep127: K-everything series - Kpop Demon Hunters

    **Special note to our listeners** Love the show? Help us keep the conversation going! Become a paid subscriber through our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Your contributions help us continue to make content on issues related to the Asian-American, immigrant, modern parent experience. THANK YOU to our super awesome listeners who have already signed up! --------------------------------------- Talking about Korean culture in America right now, we couldn't walk past Kpop Demon Hunters. As of now, it is THE MOST WATCHED ORIGINAL NETFLIX TITLE OF ALL TIME, its film soundtrack has 4 songs in the top 10 of the Billboard 100 and was double-platinum certified and it received five Grammy nominations. We see IG reels of Mormon dads dancing with their daughters to Golden. 8-year-old girls with no Korean heritage belting out Take Down at birthday parties. All this delivered by a anime-style cartoon about a modern-day shamanistic Kpop girl group who defeats demons on the side - pretty crazy right? As Asian American women (including one resident Korean-American), we have all the feels about Kpop Demon Hunters and clue you into what we felt were all the secret winks.

    1h 6m

  6. 12/05/2025

    Ep126: K-everything series - K beauty

    Snail mucin, "glass" or "mochi" skin, BB creams, face masks galore... if you are even remotely interested in makeup and skincare, you've probably noticed the rising influence (bordering on takeover) of Korean beauty in America. Emphasizing skin care and a more "demure" look, Korean beauty products have gone mainstream in the US and are everywhere now from Sephora to Walmart. What's behind the rise of K-beauty products in the US? Do these products even work? What are the beauty standards that underpin them? What about the more invasive beauty procedures (like plastic surgery) that Korea has also become known for? As Asian-Americans (including one resident Korean-American, one makeup and skincare connoisseur, and one professed "cavewoman" skincare adherent :) we've got the exclusive cross-cultural breakdown for you in this fun and honest look at the K-beauty phenomenon in America.

    1h 1m

  7. 11/21/2025

    Ep125: To save your child, what would you do?

    We speak with Peggy, who received devastating news six months ago that her baby had a rare genetic mutation that meant she may not survive childhood. She and her partner are on a journey to try to beat the odds by developing a gene-editing treatment for her daughter's condition that would require them to raise millions of dollars in charitable giving and convince leading scientists to work on this with them. What would parents do to try to save their kid? If you are at all moved by Peggy's story, please consider donating to keep hopes for a cure alive. We will match all donations that are made through our MMM fundraising page for Peggy's daughter by the end of 2025, up to $5000. Anything you can afford to give, any connections you can make, anyway you can share Peggy's family's story, helps. Here is the link for the MMM fundraising page for Jojo: https://give.rarevillage.org/fundraiser/6839575 For those of you who were looking for more k-culture episodes, we'll resume those in two weeks. As Thanksgiving approaches, we are thankful for listeners like you and our MMM community!

    58 min

  8. 11/07/2025

    Ep124: K-everything series - Kpop

    **Special note to our listeners** Love the show? Help us keep the conversation going! Become a paid subscriber through our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Your contributions help us continue to make content on issues related to the Asian-American, immigrant, modern parent experience. THANK YOU to our super awesome listeners who have already signed up! --------------------------------------- Have you noticed that Korean stuff is REALLY popular these days? BTS, Black Pink, Kpop Demon Hunters, K-beauty, Korean food, Netflix's Extraordinary Attorney Woo are but a few of the Korean cultural exports that have had immense cultural success in Western markets in recent years. As Asian-Americans (and one resident Korean-American :) we grew up consuming content in the 80's, 90s and the aughts from the largely separate worlds of Asian and American entertainment. So it's kind of a head rush to see how the two worlds are colliding now. We give our unique and under-the-hood perspective on Korean content being embraced in America and beyond - in true MMM fashion, we dive into everything from the geopolitical factors surrounding cultural exports, the unique socio-cultural role that Korean-Americans have played in the global rise of Korean media, to the gossipy bits about Korean celebs.

    1h 8m
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4.7
out of 5
103 Ratings

About

Welcome to Model Minority Moms where we reckon with the myth of success in career, family and life. We’re Jeanette, Kate, and Susan - Harvard classmates and Asian American working moms who get real about the pressures of fitting in while standing out. https://modelminoritymoms.com Model Minority Moms is a project of Real Life Media LLC.

Information

  • Creator
    Kate Wang, Susan Lieu, Jeanette Park
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    131
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Kate Wang, Susan Lieu, Jeanette Park
  • Show Website
    Model Minority Moms

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