New Narratives

Does Asian American solidarity exist? How can nonprofits genuinely engage with the community? How do Asian Americans interact with politics and organizing? In June 2023, seven Asian-led organizations in the Twin Cities hosted a community event, Spring into Action: Cultivating Grassroots Asian Power. As nonprofits whose mission is to uplift the community, we must also be accountable to what the com...

What do young Asian Americans care about? What issues are important to them? What is their vision for their neighborhoods and communities? In June 2023, seven Asian-led organizations in the Twin Cities hosted a community event, Spring into Action: Cultivating Grassroots Asian Power. As nonprofits whose mission is to uplift the community, we must also be accountable to what the community wants and...

As Asian Americans, art and storytelling is an integral part of our communities, yet Asian American performers and stories continue to be underrepresented in film, television, media, and theater. This special episode of New Narratives features interviews from four Asian American actors based in the Twin Cities who performed in various productions at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. Listen in as...

Episode 17 : For this episode, I spoke with a local Hmong shaman about his journey to becoming a master shaman, balancing his spiritual duties while living in modern times, and an upcoming film called Modern Shaman . The music throughout this episode is the instrumental music of “Me Nyuam Hmoob” by Chuefeng Yang . Guests: Billy Lor

Episode 16 : In this episode, we’re joined by Alex Vang and Lynn Nguyen from the Minnesota Chapter of the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum (NAPAWF). We discuss their journey coming to work with NAPAWF, how abortion restrictions impact the AAPI community and more. Guests: Alex Vang and Lynn Nguyen Music by AudioCoffee from Pixabay

Episode 15 : In this episode, we’re joined by Our Justice to discuss abortion access and reproductive justice in Minnesota. Our Justice is a Minnesota-based abortion fund that provides financial and logistical support for folks seeking an abortion. Guests: Megumi Rierson, Shayla Walker Music by AudioCoffee from Pixabay

Episode 14 : For PRIDE month I speak with three queer Asian Americans about how to navigate difficult conversations with family when it comes to their queer identities. You’ll hear some personal stories and you’ll hear from SEWA-AIFW as well. The music throughout this episode is the instrumental music of “Me Nyuam Hmoob” by Chuefeng Yang. You can find the song on Youtube or Spotify .  Guests:...

Episode 13 : In celebration of May (APAHM), this episode is decided to our names. You’ll hear from four guests about their cultural and personal connections to their names, the meaning behind their names, and the pride they have in them. The music throughout this episode is from pixabay . Guests: Marie Stebbings, Hamy Nguyen Huynh, Simran Chugani, J Nguyen

In this special bonus episode of New Narratives, a companion to our mixed race Asian identity-focused episode “We Are What We Are,” documentary filmmaker serena (they/them) and AAOP Content Creator Intern and New Narratives co-host Siena (she/her) talk about both their experiences growing up mixed, the complex positionality of being mixed race with white, and, fittingly for May and Asian Heritage...

For centuries, mixed race Asian folks’ stories have been mostly told for them rather than by them. They’ve been weaponized as battlegrounds upon which racial wars are fought and they’ve been turned into symbols of a supposedly post-racial utopian world. But no longer. As the numbers of folks who self-identify as mixed race skyrocket, mixed race Asians are reclaiming their narratives in popular cul...

Transgender Day of Visibility is March 31st. To celebrate this day we’re going to hear from Chuefeng Yang, a local transgender queer Asian American musician. We'll also get to hear an exclusive sneak peek of her song "Me Nyuam HMoob" coming out on April 18th!  You can find Chuefeng Yang @chuefengy on all social media platforms Spotify Tiktok Instagram Twitter Facebook Website

March 16th marked the one-year anniversary of the Acworth-Atlanta shooting where eight people died, six of them being Asian American women. In this episode, we hear from Anthea Yur about the solidarity march she organized last year and Professor Jigna Desai on media portrayals of Asian American women and historical events that have led us here. Guests include: Anthea Yur (Kokoro Project), Professo...

Where do we go from here? That’s the guiding question of the finale of our special mini series “Justice for George Floyd.” We’re moving our transformative justice-focused podcasting out of this specific basket and into our main podcast “New Narratives.” But before “Justice for George Floyd” bows out, we’re taking a journey through its episodes to reflect on the impact of storytelling, the incredib...

Election day is fast approaching and alongside important local races, Minnesota voters will be deciding on some crucial ballot measures. None is getting more attention than Minneapolis Ballot Measure 2. Thousands of Minneapolis community members already voiced their support for the ballot measure via petition, and if passed on November 2nd, Ballot Measure 2 would open the door to a model of public...

Join New Narratives' creator & host Anya Steinberg as she says goodbye to AAOP! She'll take you on a tour of some of her favorite interviews -- including moments you've never heard before. Music by Takénobu. Guests include: Jane Jeong Trenka (she/her), Professor Bee Vang-Moua (she/her), and Julian Saporiti (he/him). 

Once upon a time, abolition in its modern sense was an obscure concept that only a handful of organizers and agitators knew about and dreamed of. But in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis, abolition has stepped into the mainstream. You’ve probably heard plenty of explanations about what abolition is and why people do or don’t support it. So rather than repeat definitions or commonly...

A message from New Narratives on the events in Afghanistan and how you can show up in solidarity with Afghanistan and the Afghan people. Mutual aid resources/opportunities (in English) at bit.ly/3z6DP0r Music by Lesfm from Pixabay

On April 11, 2021, 20 year-old Daunte Wright was murdered by police in Brooklyn Center, just miles away from where Derek Chauvin was on trial for the murder of George Floyd. Brooklyn Center erupted into protests which the Brooklyn Center police department met with what many saw as unreasonable force, escalating the unrest. As Minnesota responded in horror to yet another police murder of a Black co...

The COVID-19 pandemic has turned our world upside down for the past year and a half. But life-saving COVID-19 vaccines are now widely available, and free of cost in the United States. In this episode, you’ll hear the vaccination stories of 9 Minnesota Asian American youth who share their vaccine experiences, and why they have stepped up to protect themselves, their families, and their communities....

They say youth are the future, but youth are also the present, often leading the way on issues of racial justice and structural change. We speak with 17 year-old Pa Yao (she/her) about being a young Minnesotan activist in the wake of the murders of George Floyd, Daunte Wright, and Winston Smith, and amidst an alarming rise in violence against Asian Americans. Pa Yao shares why she’s been motivated...

In the season finale of New Narratives, we're taking on a global behemoth -- the international adoption industry. We'll be exploring the experiences of Korean adoptees through the eyes of two women: Diana and Jane. Diana shares her journey to grow more comfortable in her own skin after being raised by a white mother and a Korean adoptee father. Jane, who was brought to America as a baby, tells us...

How can, and should, faith and the work for racial justice interact? We speak with Hmong 4 Black Lives activist and recently lay ordained Buddhist practitioner Sōkyo Chee Xiong (he/they) about the relationship between his social awareness and spirituality. Chee shares the profound affect George Floyd’s murder had on them as a Hmong American person of faith with roots in the Twin Cities, and how he...

What does it mean that a Hmong police officer stood by as an accomplice to the murder of George Floyd? We talk to Vayong Moua (he/him), the Director of Racial and Health Equity at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota. Vayong tells us about the Hmong community's unique position in Minneapolis, illuminates their experiences with police brutality, and discusses what solidarity could look like between...

Two plaques hang in the rotunda of the Minnesota State Capitol, one that memorializes Minnesota's participation in a forgotten war and another that claims the first plaque told is full of lies. Today on New Narratives, we start to tell the story of the second plaque and the Filipinx Minnesotans who were behind it. We'll tell the story of their relentless activism to tell the story of the Philippin...

A plaque hangs in the rotunda of the Minnesota State Capitol, memorializing Minnesota's participation in a forgotten war. Today on New Narratives, we start to tell the story of that plaque--all the way from the beginning, hundreds of years ago. We'll tell the story of the Philippine-American War, talk about why it's a war nobody remembers, and explore what effects the war has today on the Philippi...