Asian Bitches Down Under

Have you considered adopting? Not a dog or a cat, but a human child! In this episode, we talk about the difficulties of the adoption process, and we are only speaking about the process of adopting a child from Taiwan...there might be more/different barriers regarding other countries. This is part one of our discussion about adoption, mainly the logistics and administrative/regulations about adopti...

In this episode, we welcome the multi-talent musician Matt Hsu. Obscure Orchestra is the winner of the 2020 and 2022 Queensland Music Awards and leads the industry in creating platforms for creativity and diversity. We chat about what music means to Matt, the importance of cultural identity through music and just simply, enjoying the pleasantness of different music.  Matt Hsu's Obscure Orches...

SPOILER ALERT: In this episode, we shared our 'experience' of watching the amazing and extraordinary movie "Everything Everywhere All At Once" starring Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan. The epic cinematic experience got us talking about the visual effects, the plot, the sentiments in parent/child relationships and the poignancy of true love. On other notes, Helen spoke about her disappointment of wor...

In this episode, we shared some of our cultural consumption of the week; Lady Boss:Jackie Collins Story   American Girl  and Old Enough This week we question the reasons that Hollywood or any other English-centred films/TV cannot get foreign languages correctly, how it is perpetuating certain stereotypes of non-English speakers.  YouTube: When Hollywood Speaks Chinese, I cringe When...

In this episode, we have the pleasure of speaking to the amazing young writer/artist Kanako Okiron about her life and artistic creations in drawing and writing, and how her cultural background influences her work. We discuss the concept of fame in this modern age that inspired her to write her debut novel "Not Like In The Movies".  You can get Kanako's book here:  Amazon: Not Like In The...

Content Warning: Racism, sexism, violence against women.  In this episode, we reflect one year on, how the impact of the Atlanta shooting is still very much alive for many women around the world, especially for Asian women in western nations. We unpack the essays written by Elaine Hsieh Chou and May Jeong, and how their writings express the painful and dreadful experiences that traumatise man...

In this episode we talked about some recent news that happened in Taiwan and the US, also the announcement of the shortlisted books for the Stella Award (which is always exciting for the keen readers out there!). And how could we miss the 'slap' that shocked the global at the Oscars last Sunday?! Join us as we unpack and analyse the complexity of one action.   Facebook | Asian Bitches Down Un...

We have had the pleasure of chatting with the incredible Xuan and Marina of Amplify Bookstore on this episode. We talked about the importance of having the platform to showcase books that are written by BIPOC, shared some thoughts on adaptations, and favourite books/authors.  For all your BIPOC books, head to Amplify Bookstore Facebook | Asian Bitches Down Under Instagram | Asian Bitches Down...

In this episode we shared our cultural consumption of the week; Whole Notes by Ed Ayres and Where the Crawdad Sings by Delia Owens. Our topic to discuss this week centres on the social burden that women had been forced to take upon for centuries: Mental Load, aka Emotional Labour.  Whole Notes - Ed Ayres  Where Crawdads Sing - Delia Owen  Why my boyfriend and I drew up a spreadsheet...

In this episode, Helen and Jess shared their weekly cultural consumptions in books (If I had your Face, Kokomo) and Netflix viewings of "Pieces of Her" and "All of us are dead". We unpack Jessie's anger on white feminism through the incident of Jane Campion's speech at Critics Choice Awards and explore the complexity of how Turning Red, a new release from Pixar Disney has affected us as Asian dias...

(This episode was recorded on 11th March. Delayed publish)  In this episode Jess shared the experience of this year's IWD events, some are practical, others aren't. How is the world seeing WID nowadays? It is really about ending the inequality for women or more work for the women to do? Is the responsibility shifting at all? Helen speaks about the racism that the art industry needed to examin...

We are super honoured to speak to the founder of Subtle Asian Baking on this episode. Kat shared her experience growing up as an Asian in America, her journey from a physical therapist to the extraordinary content creator on social media with over 300K followers in promoting Asian style baking. If you love sweet, don't miss this episode and definitely check out the following recommendations from K...

In this episode, Helen shares her love for the book Bestiary (K-Ming Chang); a highly daring and experimental writing style with tragic and beauty surrounding the life of the immigrant family. Jess shares her newly found thriller work Weekend Away (Sarah Alderson) with exciting plots to discover.  This 'Bestiary' Lives In A Family's Multigenerational Stories This week we dive into the wo...

We are joined by Asami from Shapes and Sounds on this episode as she introduces us to the world of music therapy and explores the nuance of Asians when speaking about mental health.  Just Shapes and Sounds        Facebook | Asian Bitches Down Under Instagram | Asian Bitches Down Under  Buy Me A Coffee | Asian Bitches Down Under Email:  asianbdownunder@g...

CW: Discussions of news on violence/murder against women.  We catch up with conversations about what we have been doing lately, Helen's attendance at  Taiwan Film Festival in Australia 's Queer literature event and shared thoughts around queer works and the translation industry. On the news agenda, it was the Oscars, the Asians in Winter Olympics and the horrible attack in NY that affect...

In this episode, ABDU starts with some news about the debate around contemporary arts and traditional values. SBS: Like a funeral, anger over colours used to mark Lunar New Year in Sydney's Chinatown We explore the meaning of love and the commercialisation of love during Valentines' Day. We are honoured to have Shona of Kozziecom  speak to ABDU about her experience in creating a platform for...

In this episode, we started off by sharing our cultural consumption on Nora Effron's film collections, and K-Ming Chang's Beastiary. We talked about Jessie's piece on wage gap determined by the characteristics confined by gender stereotypes. Then~we continue our discussion of the rest of 6 animals that are on Chinese Animal Zodiacs.  Please support young emerging artists by attending their sh...

As 2022 Lunar New Year approaches, we continue to give shout outs to the amazing Asian artists creating unique cultural art pieces! This week we have Linsey and Claire showcasing their amazing works, please check out their sites and follow them on their instagrams!  Helen have had the honour to talk to the super amazing Dominique and Sophie about their experiences working in the performing ar...

As we approach 2022 Year of Tiger, we are seeing more brands and corporations utilise Lunar New Year as a marketing strategy. On this episode we explore the commodifying and capitalising on Lunar New Years’ celebration by the western brands. https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2020/1/20/21069477/lunar-new-year-brandshttps://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/how-lunar-new-year-became-overly-commer...

Hello Bitches! Apologies for the delay of this week's episode! We present you the interview with two brilliant performers on this week's episode, Enoch and Susanna.  You'll hear Helen mention that this is the 'second part of the show'; unfortunately we have first part eaten by the god of technology so we are still trying to recover the first part of recording. Anyway, enjoy the interview and...

Hello bitches, welcome back! We catch up today to talk about our holiday trips, Netflix consumptions as well as animations, and books that kept us occupied during this ever worsening pandemic. We also discuss some news that has been happening around the world of women in the past weeks.  Encanto - IMDB Back to the Outback - IMDB The Silent Sea The Lost Daughter Dissolve - Nikki Gemmel A Separ...

We have finally come to the end of 2021. On this episode we look back on the books, movies, and tv shows we absolute adore this year. We wish everyone a brilliant, safe, and joyful holiday, and we will chat to you in 2021!  (Please enjoy the therapeutic sound of this episode's surrounding, and excuse the noise in the background, LOL)  Xmas Gifts Recommendations Enjoy Illustration Amplify...

This week, we remember the great feminist writer, bell hooks along a discussion on Black and Asian Fishing  Katie Kitamura: Intimacies As we grieve bell hooks, let’s remember all that she taught us Taiwan Plus: Cinema Taiwan Let's talk about 'blackfishing' and Aussie beach culture WHAT IS ASIAN FISHING AND WHY IS IT PROBLEMATIC? ‘I legit thought it was a random K-pop singer’...

On this episode we catch up to talk about our last weekend at Potts Point and Slanted Theatre's brilliant play '3 Virgins Unassembled'. ABDU dives into the discussion on how middle class white people's obsession on finding their own enlightenment through travelling to less privileged countries. We conclude the episode with shout outs to some amazing women of colour in business, if you are still st...

Content/Trigger Warning: This episode contains discussions of violence against women, sexual assaults, racism  Such a chaotic discussion, as we ride through our emotions talking about violence against women and how deeply patriarchy penetrated our society that internalised misogyny appears without people recognising them.  Take care when consuming this episode, it was not a happy chat, b...