InfatuAsian Podcast

Ashley Du was living on her own and working before she was 15 years old. She got married, had two kids, and got divorced before she was 21. For most, that would be a recipe for a life of struggle and problems, but Ashley turned it around and started her own childcare business in San Francisco, which she has run and grown to a lucrative business for over 13 years (expanding to a 3rd location in San...

We're still chillaxing during our winter break, but here's one of my favorite interviews from 2023. It's with Lan Lam! If you watch America's Test Kitchen or Techniquely, you've seen Lan. She is so great at explaining food and food science that kitchen noobs and experienced cooks can all learn from her! This chat was so much fun, we've had Lan on a few more times! (with Andrea Nguyen, ep 84, and t...

Happy Holidays to all who are celebrating! I'm taking 2 weeks off, but just in case you need something to listen to on a drive, your walk, while you're wrapping presents, or in the kitchen... here's a replay of an episode from March 2023! Stephanie Jae Park grew up on Guam. Her mom is a professional opera singer. Stephanie started performing on Broadway, NYC in the days before Hamilton, when the r...

Another year is coming to a close, and so I wanted to do a Wrapped Episode and share my Top 5 Episodes of the year. And who better to share it with than Sarah Ahn, of Ahnest Kitchen! It was really fun catching up with Sarah. We talked about a lot of podcast things, and recapped her amazing year, too! Thanks to Sarah for helping me with this episode. Get a copy of her family's amazing cookbook, Umm...

I had a guest cancel on me last week, but as fate would have it, a PR team that I've worked with before reached out about interviewing Nico Santos! Nico is an actor that you may have seen as Mateo on Superstore, and he was definitely memorable as the all-knowing and all-seeing cousin, Oliver T'sien, in Crazy Rich Asians.  It was a very brief but fun chat with Nico. I hope to have him on again and...

Episode 200 y'all! I can't think of a more fitting guest for our 200th episode. Randall Park is the epitome of an infatuAsian! He is an uber-talented actor that we've all seen in multiple huge projects. He is a champion of Asian representation in front of and behind the camera, and he has his own action figure! We are obsessed with him!  Hear Randall talk about his early days of writing and produc...

I had a fun chat with 3 amazing women who are doing cool things in the Asian American entrepreneurial community. Cindy Lim is the Head of Brand at Yuzu, an Asian centered dating app that's part of the Match Group. Julie Zhu and Gloria Liu created a community-building card game to help get people talking about deeper things. In September 2025, the three collaborated to put on a social gathering cal...

We have a rare Monday special episode! Amanda was in town, and so I wanted to record a quick episode to mention that she'll be at On Waverly on Thursday, November 20th, 2025, at 4 PM. Drop by to get a copy of her new book, How to Break a Girl, and meet Amanda in person. The story centers on 3 Asian Canadian immigrant best friends, who are navigating life and love in their 30s while dealing with wo...

We're back at it with our annual K-Drama Draft episode. This year, we're switching it up and assembling a dream cast, including a writer/director and an OST performer. In addition to my usual co-hosts, Jennifer and Nadira, we're bringing back the PodMother herself, Judy! If you haven't heard my origin story, Judy and her pod partner, Linda, were the inspiration for this podcast in 2021. The four o...

Gloo Books produces seven Very Asian Guides to cuisines from around Asia. The seventh book in the series was written by my guest, Nancy Jeng, and is illustrated by the talented Felicia Liang. If you're unfamiliar with Taiwanese food, it's a really good primer to introduce you to iconic Taiwanese foods. If you're a Taiwanese food connoisseur, the book will take you down memory lane. It can be enjoy...

The Blackboard 4 is back with some more ghost stories! We have a new member with us this time, it's Jordan! And Jordan did not disappoint, stealing the show with two stories that have to be heard to be believed! Of course, Vicky and Jackie came through as well; there was not a dry eye in the house! Special thanks to @onwaverly for letting us use the Clubhouse to record. And also thanks to Chat GPT...

There are thousands of cookie cookbooks out there, but only one of them is an Asian themed cookie book! Kat Lieu’s latest book, 108 Asian Cookies, is full of cookie recipes that are so creative and delicious. The recipes are full of fun flavor combinations, packed with Asian ingredients that make them a unique homage to our cultures. Get 108 Asian Cookies wherever you get books. Follow Kat @katlie...

Author Jamie Jo Hoang has written a pair of companion books, My Father the Panda Killer and My Mother the Mermaid Chaser. They explore the Vietnamese American experience through the eyes of American-born teenagers and their refugee parents. They are fictional, but history "adjacent" for many children of immigrants. Also joining me on this episode is returning guest, licensed clinical social worker...

On a warm September evening, 5 cooks/chefs gathered at the On Waverly Clubhouse to share and sample dishes with a live studio audience. It was a fantastic night of food and community. Our tastebuds may never be the same! Cooking for us was 2x James Beard award winner and cookbook author, Kristina Cho @eatchofood. Co-owner and part-time cook at Little Aloha restaurant on Taraval, Winchell Chow @lit...

Since we usually release episodes on Tuesday evenings, I figured we could squeeze in one more #chinforthewin guest in September! Curtis S. Chin is a business leader and public affairs and policy specialist. He is currently a Senior Fellow at the Milken Institute.  He has spent much of his life bridging the gap between America and Asia.  Find out more about Curtis @asiaminute or over at https://mil...

There is nothing I enjoy more on this podcast than catching up with former students of mine! Justin Chin graduated about 25 years ago, and we hadn't spoken since. It was an extra-pleasant surprise to hear that he is the general manager at San Francisco's hottest restaurant, The Happy Crane. I had to call him up to find out how a kid who skipped college to go to the Marines ended up in fine dining....

I know for a fact that Jeff Chinn is NOT related to me (listen to the episode to find out how I know)! But besides being a double N Chinn, he's the world's foremost Bruce Lee memorabilia collector. His collection is immense and important. Even Bruce's widow Linda and daugther Shannon Lee have been to the Bruce Lee Room at Jeff's house. I had a great time hearing Jeff's stories and seeing part of h...

Our 2nd Chinn for the Win Episode, and what better way to celebrate than to have a double N Chinn!  Surae Chinn is a TV host in Salt Lake City, Utah, on the lifestyle show Good Things Utah. Surae is such a professional with a sunny disposition and bright personality; it was a real treat to chat with her! Follow Surae @suraechinn on social media, and keep an eye out for her new side hustle #chinnfl...

Happy Chin(n) for the Win Month! All our guests this month have the name Chin(n), and that's NOT just a gimmick; all our Chin guests are interesting, fun, and all have unique and interesting jobs! I figured it was appropriate to start the month with none other than Curtis Chin! Curtis is the author of the award-winning memoir, Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant. It chronicles...

Adonis has popped up on my Instagram feed many times over the past 2 years. He's a local guy visiting some of Daly City and San Francisco's best mom-and-pop restaurants. His recommendations always hit, so I wanted to hear more about how he got into content creation. I felt like it was only appropriate to break bread together as we chatted, so we popped on down to New Lun Ting in Chinatown for some...

If you were around pop culture in the early 2000s, you know Kaila Yu's face. She was a young import car model and pin-up girl. In her just-released book, Fetishized, Kaila pulls back the curtain on what it was like to be an Asian model in the 2000s. Her book is raw and revealing, and definitely worth a read. We recorded this way back in April, as I think I was one of the first podcasters to jump i...

Are you or someone you know curious about how to start a career in Hollywood? While working at the LA Times Ada Tseng and her co-author Jon Healey interviewed dozens of people from all parts of the entertainment industry. This book is a collection of chapters outlining most of the jobs involved with film and television production. As a TV and movie geek, I found it really interesting! Where was th...

We're back with part 2 of our marathon session with Isabel and Lingjie! This time we're discussing the 2025 drama Karma and the 2016 classic Signal. I think we all enjoyed these shows and would recommend them to you! Let us know the shows or movies you want us to watch next!   Thanks again to Isabel of @proudlyasian podcast and Lingjie of @worstasianpod ! It's always fun recording together. Give t...

We had some free time this summer, so I suckered some podcast friends to watch some shows with me. Lingjie from @worstasianpod and Isabel from @proudlyasian were game to be part of a watch club. We each recommended a show for the others to watch, and a few months later, we jumped on a Zoom call to give our thoughts! The shows picked were: Love After Divorce Season 4 (2023), Karma (2025), and Signa...

From Dartmouth, Harvard, Barnard, and Stanford, to Wall Street and Silicon Valley, Tiger Sisters Jean and Cherie Luo achieved what many can only hope to. In their podcast, Tiger Sisters, they share secrets and mistakes they've learned along the way. Sydney and I had a great chat with them, talking about their journey and learning more about how they manage to work so well together as ambitious sis...