As I Am

Devni Wimalasena is a law student that is heavily active in the feminist and body positivity space. She is currently based in Sri Lanka and recently worked with CNN on issues of colourism as part of their AsEquals series. In this episode, we discuss colourism in the context of beauty standards, the influence of skin lightening products and the biggest factors that drive attitudes towards skin colo...

Avatar: The Last Airbender is probably one of the greatest television shows to date. We sit down and unpack a show that hosts complex characters in a truly epic narrative that imagines a ‘world free of whiteness’. This one’s a lighthearted episode, exploring how the show successfully portrayed Asian influences, culture, and ideologies - as well as the missteps - as we revisit the storylines we int...

Our first post-hiatus episode features a sit down with Co-Founder and CEO of Mr Yum, Kim Teo. Mr Yum is a start up focussed on showing beautiful mobile menus married with the ability to order and pay through a QR code. QR codes have become integral with everyday life during the era of COVID-19, and there aren’t many more recognisable than Mr Yum. We chat with Kim about her experiences navigating t...

An Asian-Australian writer, actor and screenwriter extraordinaire, we had the privilege to sit down with Michelle Law (writer of the smash-hit play Single Asian Female, and co-creator of the SBS series Homecoming Queens, just to name a few). Join us as we discuss the importance of Asian representation, storytelling, her relationship to her brother, Ben Law, the landscape of Asian oriented narrativ...

Global warming, environmental degradation and sustainability are amongst the key challenges of the 21st century. Yet, the magnitude of these problems can make tackling them seem daunting and unapproachable. We sit down with Brian and Jian, the co-founders of Naked Asian Grocer - Australia’s first zero waste Asian grocer - to chat through their founder journey, as well as how people can implement s...

What’s the difference between advocacy & activism? Do the merits of slactivism outweigh the costs? How can we make activism less daunting? We discuss these questions and much more in this episode with Asian Youth Act, a non-partisan organisation that seeks to promote political and civic engagement of Asian youth. Engaging in advocacy and activism can often be intimidating for many, including the A...

Conversations about difficult topics are never easy and easily avoidable. When you add in the hierarchical nature of many Asian cultures, this difficulty doubles. In this episode, we discuss our personal experience of talking to family members about topics ranging from racism and anti-blackness, to mental health and perspectives on Vietnamese colonialism. As you will hear, we are not great at doin...

Do you Asian flush? We do, along with approximately 1 in 3 East Asians in the world. We discuss the politics of drinking in this episode with our friend Moi, a wine industry professional and author of Veraison Magazine. Join us as we explore the joys and stigmas that comes with drinking, the interaction between race, Eurocentrism and wine, and our hopes of changing attitudes to Asian flush and the...

For our first episode of 2021, we had the pleasure of speaking with Alice Pung, an award-winning writer, editor, teacher and lawyer based in Melbourne. She is the bestselling author of Unpolished Gem and Her Father’s Daughter and the editor of the anthologies Growing Up Asian in Australia and My First Lesson. Our discussion spans stories about Alice's family, her experience of giving birth and rai...

Our final episode for 2020 serves as a laugh about our shortcomings and mistakes, a reflection of the year that was, as well as a discussion on key sociocultural events. This episode is also a thank you to all our listeners, old and new, for your words of support, your continued encouragement, your well structured criticism and your eloquent ideas. You have made it possible for the As I Am brand t...

Less than 5 per cent of Asian-Australians make it to senior executive levels. Only 1.6 per cent become CEOs. It’s no secret that Asians are severely underrepresented in corporate leadership, despite being overrepresented among high-achieving university graduates. How can we overcome the ‘bamboo ceiling’? Are quotas necessary? Or is affirmative action just one part of the story? Join us as we disse...

What is cultural appropriation? What is considered as appropriate and inappropriate in fashion? Who gets to decide? In this episode, we sit down and tackle arguably some of our hardest questions yet. We consider the inevitability of the borrowing and mixing of cultures in fashion, and attempt to draw the line between appropriation and appreciation. We interrogate the imbalanced power and privilege...

What does it mean to be mixed race? And how does the experience of being from multiple cultures impact someone’s world view? This is a special episode where we collaborated with two friends and our dear listeners in order to understand these two questions. Being mixed race is undoubtedly a unique experience with both its flourishing highs and ambiguous lows, but most importantly, it is the celebra...

We think it's pretty safe to say that dating as an Asian can be a roller coaster of an experience. Navigating a sea of stereotypes, "preferences" and trying to work out if they really like you for you, are just a few of the topics we discuss in our first episode on love and relationships. Beyond the saucier subject matter, this is also Jeff and Isabella's first official insight into each other's d...

Race and privilege in the kitchen, the values we give to Western and Eastern food, and Jeff challenging a fine dining chef to a crab-off are a few of the many things we chatted about with Attica Junior Sous Chef and our friend, Cameron Tay-Yap. Cam shares with us his experience and rise through the kitchen ranks, retelling heartwarming tales of openness as well as run-ins with racism. In our quest...

In this episode, we sit down with Matt Pierri - an Australian lawyer, Rhodes Scholar and an extraordinary disability advocate. We discuss the complexities of disability, how this intersects with Asian perspectives, the need for more representation and ultimately, how we can create a more inclusive society by empowering disabled people and communities. You can find out more about Matt and the work...

Why do we obsess over the notion of authenticity? Why is Asian fusion so popular nowadays? Why do these restaurants put mayonnaise on everything? These are some of the questions we try to explore in our very first food episode. Our original plan to rant about "authentically Asian" restaurants turned into a discussion about the difference between authenticity in the East vs. the West, and the polit...

In this episode, we interview Yu Su, a Vancouver based DJ and producer extraordinaire from Kaifeng China. She is at the forefront of the electronic music talent and scene that is growing out of China and has released music on labels like Technicolour and Second Circle. We talk about her music journey, inspirations, creation process, and also explore her thoughts about the rise of Asians in music....

In our very first interview, we explore the topic of languages with our guest and friend Baopu He. Baopu wrote an excellent article detailing the Asian Australian ethnolect, and we explore this in more detail along with our thoughts on the future of language diversity in Australia, the difficulty of passing language on to subsequent generations, and much more. Check out Baopu's article:  http://ho...

I wish I was white. I wish I had the blonde hair, light skin and the blue eyes that I saw grace my screens. But I realise that this is a false narrative, one that has conditioned so many like me to believe that someone who looks like us is not worthy to ever be the hero, the heroine, the protagonist. Now, I’m beginning to see people with darker hair, darker skin and darker eyes. These people who t...

Dear mum and dad - thank you for everything you have done for us. It has taken us a long time to understand and come to terms with how you raised us. We have felt angry, sad, confused and frustrated. But now, we reflect on our upbringing and we are so thankful. We are thankful for all the sacrifices you have made for us, we are thankful for the hard lessons you taught us, and we are thankful for h...

Our first episode draws out a rough sketch of the podcast - who we are, what this podcast will be about and ultimately why we're doing this. This episode is the first step on an expedition into all topics relating to the experience of being Asian in a Western environment. We hope that you're as excited as us to explore a subject matter that is ultimately not spoken about very often.