Nuances: Our Asian Stories Nuances Podcast

If you enjoy this show and would like to help me spread the word about it, or support it financially, you can find out more at nuancespod.com/support

GUEST BIO

Jenny is a professional chef and food writer, researcher, and educator who studies food as the foundation for human meaning-making and identity formation. She holds a Master of Education from Harvard University and is currently a Fulbright-National Geographic Fellow in Singapore, researching food security in the context of hawker centres. Jenny is an IACP-winning photographer, James Beard Awards-nominated writer, and has been named an industry Game Changer by Food & Wine and a Trailblazing Activist by the World’s 50 Best. In pre-pandemic 2020, she also gave a TEDx titled, How Food Can Be A Source of Identity, Intimacy, and Vulnerability..

Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Facebook | LinkedIn | Web





MENTIONED


Reem's
Billie Eilish's book flops
Jenny's TEDx Talk

TAKEAWAYS


The people we advocate for should be the ones dictating what advocacy looks like for their cause.
Food is inherently political.
Most books don't sell well - something to keep in mind if you're going to invest time and energy writing one.
The U.S. has many of the pieces that could be leveraged for a more equitable future but we've been brainwashed to fear socialism.
Aligning our business practices with our values can have significant positive impact within our own spheres of influence.
Immigrant parents often struggle with their kids choosing a career that isn't seen as "moving up in the world" and while their fears around financial stability are understandable, there is an element of classism there that we need to acknowledge and work on.
Recipes using grams are much easier to replicate accurately than those using cups and arbitrary units like "one onion".
The US gallon isn't the same as the Imperial gallon.

CONTACT

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Host: Lazou


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GUEST BIO

Gideon is a 17 year old Canadian high school student, raised by two mothers. He strives to provide a balanced youthful perspective; formed from his diverse friend group and unique life experience. He's spent 12 years studying Mandarin under a Mandarin bilingual program and 3 years studying French whilst speaking Cantonese and English at home. Throughout all his studies he has been exposed and connected to many different East-Asian and North American cultures and holds it as a central part of his identity.

MENTIONED


S4 E07: Trans Day of Visibility special with Cece Chow & her son Gideon – the wholesome Asian trans representation you needed to hear.
GDPR
TikTok Ban

CONTACT

⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠TikTok⁠ | ⁠Web⁠ | ⁠LinkedIn⁠ | ⁠Twitter⁠



Featured Song

Bloom Without Me by LAZOU


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Today is Trans Day of Visibility (March 31).

I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate than to share this wholesome portrait of Cece Chow, an Asian trans woman who transitioned later in life, with support from their ex-spouse and kids, and who finally feels at home in her own body.



GUEST BIO

Cece Chow is an autistic, ADHD, disabled, Canadian born Chinese trans woman, parent, model, and transgender rights advocate. She strongly believes that representation changes lives and is dedicated to creating positive Asian trans representation so that trans kiddos will see a future for themselves and so that adults who grew up the way she did will see that it is possible to come out later in life and find joy in authenticity.

Instagram | TikTok | LinkedIn



DEFINITIONS


Gender dysphoria: A sense of unease that a person may have because of a mismatch between their biological sex and their gender identity. This sense of unease or dissatisfaction may be so intense it can lead to depression and anxiety and have a harmful impact on daily life.
CPTSD: Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) can result from experiencing chronic trauma, such as prolonged child abuse or domestic violence. It’s closely related to PTSD and borderline personality disorder.



MENTIONED


Cece's S1 E07 episode


What anti-trans bills passed in 2024? (US)


66% of NYT stories about trans issues failed to quote a trans person


Alberta restrictions on transgender youth access to care





CONTACT

Instagram | TikTok | Web | LinkedIn | Twitter

Host: Lazou


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Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nuancespod/message
Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nuancespod/support

If you enjoy this show and would like to help me spread the word about it, or support it financially, you can find out more at nuancespod.com/support



GUEST BIO

Prof. Sachi Schmidt-Hori is interested in investigating how gender, sexuality, corporeality, and power are represented and negotiated in pre-seventeenth-century Japanese narratives and illustrations. Her first book, Tales of Idolized Boys: Male-Male Love in Medieval Japanese Narratives (University of Hawai`i Press, 2021) is on medieval chigo monogatari (Buddhist acolyte tales), which often depict romantic relationships between Buddhist priests and adolescent boys. These tales challenge a host of normative and moral standards we (academics, especially) internalize, including such ideas as "sexual orientation," "transgenerational sex," and "sexual agency."
Her current project is on the literary representations of "milk kinships" in pre-seventeenth Japanese tales, in cluding the Tale of Ochikubo, the Tale of Genji, the Tales of the Heike.
She is also the director of the Springboard Japan Project, a multi-purpose open-access forum for Japan Studies.

Web



MENTIONED


YOASOBI (J-Pop duo)
The Tale of Ochikubo (Ochikubo Monogatari)
The Tale of Genji (Genji Monogatari)
Tales of Idolized Boys: Male-Male Love in Medieval Japanese Buddhist Narratives

TAKEAWAYS


The equation of your career/life choices is for you to solve. It doesn't have to make sense to anyone else if it makes sense for you.
You can seek out spaces where being you is a plus instead of a minus. Don't settle.
If you're not a white man, emulating white men probably won't help. Be goofy :-)
Language shapes our discussions.
Identity is seen as static, whereas actions are choices that we could change in the future, not immutable character traits.
How integrity is perceived is one of many things that can vary widely outside the West.
In Japan, parenting is about taming the child's ego. In the U.S., parenting is about nurturing the child's ego.
Do not talk to cats and babies in Japan.

CONTACT

Instagram | TikTok | Web | LinkedIn | Twitter

Host: Lazou


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Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nuancespod/message
Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nuancespod/support

If you enjoy this show and would like to help me spread the word about it, or support it financially, you can find out more at nuancespod.com/support
GUEST BIO
Er-Gene is a Korean-American violinist and college professor who lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas. As an immigrant, she was always interested in assimilation as a survival strategy until she discovered Florence Price, the first Black American woman composer whose compositions were performed by major symphony orchestras. Since then, she has championed Price's music and continues to investigate ways classical music can participate in global conversations around diversity, social justice, and equity..

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MENTIONED
Florence PriceEr-Gene Kahng performing Florence Price's concertosRandall GoosbyDoenjang Jjigae
TAKEAWAYS
People from so-called progressive states like California often make assumptions about the South but fail to realize the same issues exist at home.Exposure to classical music early and ability to afford lessons is a key determinant of one's chances of making it into an orchestra. Diversity efforts need to start there.History is far from static because it only shows the perspective of those who wrote it. Whose perspective might have been left out?To be in community is not only to receive, but also to give back.
CONTACT
Instagram | TikTok | Web | LinkedIn | Twitter
Host: Lazou


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Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nuancespod/message
Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nuancespod/support

If you enjoy this show and would like to help me spread the word about it, or support it financially, you can find out more at nuancespod.com/support
GUEST BIO
Edward Yoo Pokropski is one of the Executive Producers of the Asian Comedy Fest and Emmy Nominated Senior Writer/Producer at NBCUniversal. He is also a comedian touring his storytelling show, Case 84: Adopted in the U.S.A.. The show touches on how the media shapes our view and misconceptions about adoption. .

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MENTIONED
Also-Known-As (AKA)Case 84: Adopted in the USA in Minneapolis 3/23/24
TAKEAWAYS
Everyone has an accent. Part of decentering whiteness is to no longer center certain types of accents and look down on othersIt's better to try, fail, and do better next time, than to not do anything at all. We don't make choices based on whether it's an Asian thing to do. Breaking the mold or fitting into a stereotype is often not the intention driving our choices, but a side effect of being ourselves.When we have limited time to to tell a story, we build on existing understandings as a shortcut. We just gotta make sure that those foundation pieces are solid.Writing for kids is a lot harder than it sounds. You have to be family friendly, educational, and still exciting and fun.There's never been a better time to create art.
CONTACT
Instagram | TikTok | Web | LinkedIn | Twitter
Host: Lazou


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Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nuancespod/message
Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nuancespod/support