Big Asian Energy

🥳🎉 Big Asian Energy is officially a winner of the 2026 Signal Awards!  The Signal Awards is one of the largest awards in podcasting and this year, we were nominated and awarded the Bronze prize in the Culture, Belonging, and Inclusion category.  In honor of the win, we went back through the past few years of interviews to pull our favorite moments for our "Best Of" series. In this third episode,...

Today is the last day to vote for Big Asian Energy in the listener choice awards! We recently was nominated for the Signal Awards — one of the largest awards in podcasting— and I’m so grateful to be listed alongside so many incredible voices, especially as one of the only AAPI-focused podcasts on the list this year. We’re fully independent. In four years we’ve never taken a sponsor or done a paid...

🥳🎉 Excited to announce that Big Asian Energy just got named as a 2026 Signal Awards Finalist in the Culture, Belonging & Inclusion category!  Signal Awards is one of the largest awards in podcasting, and I’m so excited to be listed amongst so many incredible voices– especially since we’re one of the only AAPI-focused podcasts to make it to the list in 2026.  Being chosen as a finalist also p...

"You can believe that life happens to you. Or you can use your agency to believe that life happens for you." — Vincent Rodriguez III A few years ago, in the middle of a rough breakup, I started watching a show on The CW called Crazy Ex-Girlfriend . For the first time in my life I was watching an Asian man written as the love interest on network television. Hunky, sweet, genuinely funny, chased aft...

"Travel builds the environment where your meaning finds you." — Dr. Calvin Sun Dr. Calvin Sun is one of the youngest people who has traveled to every country on earth, an emergency medicine physician and clinical assistant professor in New York City, and the founder of The Monsoon Diaries, a blog-turned-travel-community that has brought everyday travelers to more than 190 countries and territories...

"Embrace your culture. You are not half — you are full. And even for my quarter babies: embrace your heritage. It's a beautiful thing." — Alex Chester-Iwata In this episode, Alex Chester-Iwata, founder and CEO of Mixed Asian Media and founder of Mixed Asian Day, joins John to unpack the word that's been everywhere the last few weeks: "Wasian." The term has been around since the early 2000s, but it...

"We're moving into the post-swipe era — more intentional dating, less endless scrolling." — Quincy Yang In this episode, Quincy Yang, CEO of Coffee Meets Bagel, joins John to talk about what's actually driving dating and relationships for Asian Americans right now. Coffee Meets Bagel was started in 2012 by three Korean American sisters who thought swiping was broken, famously turned down a $30 mil...

In this episode, two-time Emmy Award–winning journalist Dion Lim joins John to talk about her new book Amplify!: My Fight for Asian America — the first mainstream book on anti-Asian hate in the COVID era. Dion is the first Asian American woman to anchor primary weekday newscasts in three major American markets, a Gold House A100 honoree, and the defining national voice on anti-Asian hate during th...

In this episode, John takes the guest seat. From growing up as one of the only Asian kids in a predominantly white school to building a career around helping others reach inner mastery, John unpacks the journey that shaped the work he does today: the lonely teenager who read self-help books to learn how to make friends, the chameleon who built a popular persona to hide behind, and the Dark Night o...

Show notes:  In this episode, John sits down with Dr. Sam Wang, Princeton neuroscience professor, founder of the Princeton Gerrymandering Project, and Congressional candidate for New Jersey's 12th District. From growing up as the son of Chinese immigrants in the Midwest to eating a live cricket on CNN, Sam has never been the kind of scientist who stays in his lane. He took his research on gerryman...

In this episode, John sits down with Katy Ho, author and founder of BAD ASIAN , a community and Substack dedicated to exploring what it means to push back against the expectations placed on Asian people in the diaspora. From growing up as a minority in a predominantly White city to building a platform around reclaiming identity on your own terms, Katy is a sharp, fearless voice on the intersection...

What do you do when the industry tells you there's no space for you? You build your own. In this episode, John Wang sits down with Don Michael "Don Mike" Mendoza, Broadway producer, talent manager, entrepreneur, and host of the podcast Producing While Asian , for a conversation about what it really takes to create opportunity when the door hasn't been opened for you yet. Don Mike shares the one pi...

You worked hard, hit the goal, and then felt nothing. If you've ever reached a milestone you'd been chasing for years only to feel strangely empty on the other side, you're not broken. You're on the Achiever Treadmill, and this episode is going to show you exactly how to step off it. In this deeply personal episode, John opens up about what happened after publishing his book Big Asian Energy , a c...

In this episode of Big Asian Energy, host John Wang sits down with resident psychologist, sexuality and relationships expert, and author of Patterns That Remain ,  Dr. Stacy Litam, for one of the most honest, charged, and long-overdue conversations in the Asian diaspora space: interracial relationships, and everything society projects onto them. In this episode, they cover: The "Oxford Study" expl...

Ever feel a knot in your stomach when a cousin gets into med school, or a coworker lands a big promotion? If you grew up in an Asian household, you may have felt that sense of comparison dread before.  In this episode, John breaks down the fascinating science behind why Asian and Western cultures are wired to respond to success and failure in almost completely opposite ways.  In this episode, you'...

Guest: Diana YK Chan, Personal Branding & Authority Strategist, LinkedIn Learning Instructor, 7-time UN Speaker Episode Overview: Have you ever talked yourself out of an opportunity before you even tried? In this episode, John sits down with Diana YK Chan, personal branding strategist, LinkedIn top voice, and one of the most practical voices in the space when it comes to visibility and confide...

Stephen Lee is the president of the Asian American Bar Association of Greater Chicago.  He was a federal prosecutor for 11 years and was a partner at a law firm, and he now has a solo practice where he primarily defends people who are accused of health care fraud.  Before becoming a lawyer, he was a newspaper reporter, and he still writes in his spare time about topics including Asian American leg...

In this episode of Big Asian Energy , host John Wang sits down with our amazing resident psychologist Dr. Stacey Litam to jam on what’s in and what’s out for 2026. From how to rewire our brain for joy to oversharing, this new episode uncovers what’s actually working to make a change in your life.  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drstaceyalitam/ Website: https://www.staceylitam.com/ Amazon boo...

In this episode, we dive into the "invisible weight" carried by many Asian adults, particularly those from immigrant families who grew up as the "competent ones" everyone turns to. We explore how early role responsibilities, such as translating at the doctor’s office or managing a parent’s emotional state, create a survival strategy that follows us into adulthood. Our conversation breaks down the...

Guest: Dave Lu (Managing Partner of Hyphen Capital. Founder of Expo and Fanpop. Founder of Stand with Asian Americans. Producer of 38 at the Garden. Board of Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center.) Host: John Wang In this episode, John sits down with Dave Lu, a serial entrepreneur, Emmy-winning producer, and the founder and managing partner of Hyphen Capital, one of the top VC funds focused on...

In this conversation, Sun Yi and John Wang explore the significance of authenticity in personal branding, particularly within the context of Asian American cultural expectations. They discuss the challenges of navigating identity, the importance of vulnerability in storytelling, and how honesty in business can build trust. The dialogue emphasizes the need for individuals to embrace their true selv...

In this episode of Big Asian Energy, John Wang sits down with Sheila Lirio Marcelo, co-founder of the Asian American Foundation and CEO of Ohai.ai. Sheila shares her remarkable journey from arriving in the US from the Philippines as a child to becoming a serial entrepreneur who built Care.com into a platform serving 45 million families. She opens up about transforming from a "tiger mom" leadership...

In this episode of Big Asian Energy, John Wang sits down with Dr. Ken Fong, the godfather of Asian American pastors and host of the top 1% Asian America Ken Fong podcast. Dr. Fong shares his journey from being told he was "30 years too soon" to creating the first Pan-Asian church in America, and reveals how Asian Americans can break free from gatekeeping systems to forge entirely new paths of lead...

In this episode of Big Asian Energy, John Wang sits down with clinical psychologists Dr. Michelle Chung and Dr. Laura Berssenbrugge to explore their groundbreaking Modern Asian Parent (MAP) movement—a research-based approach that challenges traditional tiger parenting while honoring cultural heritage. The doctors share why effective parenting starts with parents doing their own inner work around g...

In this episode of Big Asian Energy, John Wang sits down with Leo Xia (professionally known as Lowhi), a Los Angeles-based men's mental health facilitator and founder of JinShan Collective and Proud Asian Men. Leo shares his powerful journey from classical pianist to leading transformative men's circles across the US, revealing how Asian men can break free from the belief that pain must precede wo...