Culture Jumpers

Culture Jumpers discusses a Chilean ad campaign that went viral on Twitter in March 2024 after originally airing over twenty years ago. Considered genius by many, the controversial ads caused a beef with George Lucas almost as big as the one between Kendrick Lamar and Drake. Episode Transcript Timestamps: (00:00:00) - Prologue (00:00:40) - Most Memorable Commercial - Mr. Owl (00:02:00) - Most Memo...

Culture Jumpers looks at how Korean culture has come to dominate the West. Whether it’s K-dramas and Squid Game on Netflix; Academy Award-winning film Parasite ; K-pop stars like BTS and Blackpink; or the latest beauty trends — Korean influence is everywhere. And that’s not an accident. This week’s guest, Dr. Rosalie Kim, explains the history of Korean pop culture and Hallyu — the Korean Wave. Epi...

Culture Jumpers is back with another edition of Does This Word Have an English Equivalent? This time, hosts Lionel & Ilana get some help from their friend, Darien Perez Ryan, to learn about the Spanish word and tradition “sobremesa” and discuss whether the word has an English equivalent. Episode Transcript Timestamps: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:01:55) - What is Sobremesa? (00:10:40) - Do We All Do...

Filipino food is (finally) having a moment in the US. In this episode, host Lionel chats with two Filipino-American chefs about their popular restaurants in Philadelphia. Chance Anies of Tabachoy and Kathy Mirano of Tambayan share their approaches to serving Filipino food and introducing their culture to a wider American audience. Episode Transcript Mentioned in the episode: 1. Tabachoy: @tabachoy...

Office jargon is a fact of corporate life. But what happens when jargon becomes culturally charged? In this episode, host Lionel explores the history of Chinese food in America in order to understand the origin of some strange office shorthand. Episode Transcript Timestamps: (00:00:00) - Prologue (00:02:19) - The Chinese Menu Collection (00:10:19) - Class and Chinese Cuisine (00:19:40) - Is This O...

In this special Halloween premiere, Culture Jumpers Season 2 kicks off with a true-crime whodunit about monsters of Philippine folklore. In the years following World War II, residents of a remote village are rattled by things that go bump in the night. But all is not as it seems… Episode Transcript Timestamps: (00:00:00) - Prologue (00:02:50) - What Is The Aswang? (00:11:46) - What Killed The Huk...

Tune in for this special feed drop featuring the hosts of Culture Jumpers discussing their multicultural relationship on the amazing Immigrantly Podcast, hosted by Saadia Khan. Originally released March 28, 2023. About the episode: Welcome to Immigrantly, the podcast that shares immigrant stories and experiences through a nuanced lens. In this episode, I am joined by Lionel Nicolau and Ilana Weitz...

What does Adam Sandler’s “Chanukah Song” have to do with Culture Jumpers and Filipino Americans? In the Season 1 finale, hosts Ilana and Lionel discuss Fil-Am representation in media, quiz themselves on famous Fil-Ams, and Lionel unleashes his inner rockstar. Episode Transcript Watch the full lyric video for “The Filipino American Song” on Youtube . Timestamps: (00:00:00) - Prologue (00:04:42) - A...

In a new segment, Does This Word Have an English Equivalent? , Culture Jumpers hosts Lionel & Ilana debate whether the words ‘加油 (jiā yóu)’ in Chinese and ‘plotz’ in Yiddish have analogous words in English while Ilana tries to keep Lionel from using ChatGPT to cheat. Episode Transcript Timestamps: (00:00:00) - Prologue (00:01:25) - Act I - Jia You (00:09:44) - Act II - Plotz (00:16:16) - Cre...

Culture Jumpers host Ilana explores her family’s personal connection to the Holocaust. She interviews her late grandfather, who lived in Vienna, Austria before World War II, about finding himself feeling like a foreigner in his own homeland. He discusses his awareness of the Nazis as a young boy, his family’s experiences with antisemitism, and his father’s race to get his family to safety. Episode...

This week, Culture Jumpers is sharing an episode from the show Immigrantly . Immigrantly explores identity and the immigrant experience. In their episode, “My Parents, TikTok & I,” host Saadia Khan interviews Thea Pham, an accomplished biotech entrepreneur and first generation Vietnamese immigrant who went viral on TikTok for sharing an emotional TikTok about her challenges as the daughter of...

Culture Jumpers looks at Animal Crossing and the BIPOC "cozy gaming" community. From blockbuster games like Call of Duty to hit adaptations like HBO’s The Last of Us , gaming has hit the mainstream in a big way; cozy gaming culture is making it more inclusive. Guests Eurice and Jaléssa talk about the importance of diverse characters and how cozy games offer an oasis of healing in a harsh world. Ep...

Culture Jumpers takes a look at how the internet is different in China and why a simple dessert lands the country’s biggest influencer, Austin “Lipstick King” Li, in hot water. The hosts also look at what happens when American pop culture gets exported to China. How does Fight Club ’s anarchist anti-hero hit in an authoritarian country? And could the TV show Friends be any more controversial? Epis...

Culture Jumpers interviews professor Lindy Backues and artist Donna Backues about living in Indonesia for 18 years while doing economic and community development work with their NGO. The couple talks about raising two kids, surviving severe illness, and witnessing several historic events. A challenge they didn’t expect? Trying to fit in after moving back to the United States. Episode Transcript Ti...

Culture Jumpers host Lionel interviews his Lola Virgie (Lola means grandmother in Tagalog) about her life in the Philippines — before he knew her as the mahjong-playing matriarch of 10 kids who used to babysit him after school. She talks about her brushes with death, her entrepreneurial spirit, and the desire to spend her final years in her homeland. Episode Transcript Timestamps: (00:00:00) - Pro...

Culture Jumpers interviews more white people married into Asian families. Eddie explains how his family tried to make his wedding special for his Chinese-American bride, how lion dancers are like Philadelphia Mummers, and why ceiling fans are not Feng Shui. Filmmaker Jon Matthews covers bringing Filipino food to Sesame Street, working with in-laws, and nailing Tagalog pronunciation. Part 2 of 2. E...

Culture Jumpers interviews white people who've married into Asian families. Lionel and Ilana talk about interfaith marriage, dietary culture clashes, and language barriers. Lionel's cousin Tracy discusses raising multiracial children and her husband Kip reflects on his first trip to the Philippines. Occupational therapist Kaylee gains street cred with her Filipino coworkers and patients. Episode T...

A sneak peek at episodes from season one of the Culture Jumpers Podcast Transcript