LOCAL GODZ

Singer-songwriter Luke Chiang has come a long way from his high school band in Phoenix, Arizona. Raised in the musical tradition of church and contemporary worship, Luke's exposure to Korean alternative R&B singers like DEAN and Crush, as well as Daniel Caesar, helped mold a unique sound that is making its mark on the indie pop music scene, with hundreds of millions of streams across platf...

David Zhao is an entrepreneur and investor who is best known for being one of the founders of Chubby Group, the wildly popular family of restaurants serving premium beef, seafood, and even milk tea at their stylish and trendy restaurants all over the United States. From Chubby Cattle to X Pot to Niku X to Chubby Bowls, David Zhao talks about how his background in sports, his love of bringing peopl...

Desmond Chiam is in the vanguard of the obnoxiously talented and good-looking army of Asian Australians that are taking American actors' jobs throughout entertainment. Besides memorable roles on Mortal Kombat II, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Joy Ride, With Love, Partner Track, Reef Break, and The Shannara Chronicles, Desmond shares his passion for Australia and Singapore, how love led to...

Domo Vang is the dating coach Silicon Valley didn't know they needed. Raised in Wisconsin and the oldest of five children, Domo combines her background in nursing and in tech to dispense dating advice and produce results that actually work for her clients. Learn how Domo addresses differences in how men and women communicate, red pill ideology, the importance of finding the right mating market...

Despite his striking resemblance to Vegeta, Larry Gao is not a Saiyan; he's a mere mortal like the rest of us. Born in China and raised all over the Bay Area, Larry's road to achieving a real life anime physique started the same way it does for many young men: getting his heart broken by a girl. Learn how Larry channeled his desire for vengeance into a discipline and determination for natu...

Jeff Chang is a giant in the world of journalism and music criticism, writing for NPR, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Village Voice,  Vibe, The Nation, and Mother Jones. An award-winning author, Jeff wrote a definitive history of hip-hop, Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation  which won an American Book Award in 2005. Besides his writing, the podcast host and record...

In the world of dance choreography, few names resonate like Brian Puspos. A proud Houston native, Brian is known for his emotionally-driven, highly technical style of dance choreo that interacts smoothly with the lyrics and musicality of the songs he works with. Brian chronicles his origins in dance learning step in Houston, his fortuitous connection to BTS and his heart-warming bromance with Jung...

An icon of the early YouTube music era of the 2000s, Melissa Polinar was part of the pioneering wave of singer-songwriters that made the video sharing platform a launchpad for independent music artists of all backgrounds, especially Asian Americans. Melissa talks about her roots in the Dallas/Fort Worth area of Texas, her experience getting signed and working in Nashville, her breakout success on...

Oliver Wang may be the coolest college professor alive. A faculty member of the Department of Sociology at Cal State, Long Beach, Oliver spent his adolescence developing a unique taste in music that has led to an illustrious writing career, penning reviews and commentary for the likes of NPR, the Los Angeles Times, and KCET. Besides being a podcast host in his own right, co-hosting Maximum Fun&#39...

An international man of mystery, SUPDAWK is Mr. Vietnam Worldwide. From his (alleged) roots in Chicago, to his overnight fame blessing the Internet with viral memes and jokes that could only come from the uniquely Vietnamese diaspora experience, SUPDAWK is the Viet fob gangster uncle your parents warned you about. Learn how SUPDAWK took an iconic Little Saigon immigrant accent and leveraged it int...

Remy Morimoto Park is the Asian of the Future! A third generation Asian American from New Jersey by way of Shanghai, Taipei, Seoul, and Tokyo, Remy shares her background growing up as a third culture kid in Asia and how her unconventional teenage years led to her journey in sobriety. Known online by her handle Veggiekins, Remy shares how a focus on wellness led to her exploring vegan recipes and a...

From being mistaken by JasonTheWeen as a generic OC Asian guy to becoming the personification of the SoCal Asian lifestyle, Eric Ou has already lived many lives in the short time he's been in the public consciousness. From growing up in Los Angeles' Chinatown, to moving to Hacienda Heights, to documenting Asian American adventures in college and beyond, the legend of Eric Ou continues one...

Born in Seattle and raised in the nearby city of Bothell, Johnny Huynh is on the vanguard for the new school of Dark Pop artists. Johnny discusses his Washington upbringing, growing up performing at Vietnamese Buddhist temples, being lead snare on his high school drumline, and how all of those experiences came together when his garage covers of popular songs blew up on TikTok and launched his sing...

A veteran MC and comedian who has appeared and hosted at such legendary venues as The Comedy Store in Hollywood, The Hollywood Improv, and The World Famous Laugh Factory in Hollywood, Paul "PK" Kim is a pillar of Los Angeles' Koreatown and a true OG for Asians in entertainment. In 2000, he created Kollaboration, the most important Asian American talent showcase in the country. PK tal...

Born in Qingdao, Shandong Province, Daisy Wang was raised with an appreciation and admiration for Chinese history and culture... only to be surprised at encountering the opposite when she came to study in America as an adolescent. Daisy talks about what inspired her to create her modern Chinese fashion brand, DAWANG, and how her Shandong roots, her education at the Parsons School of Design, and he...

Men's style guru Jeff Yamazaki breaks down the fundamentals of dressing well as a man, from his own fashion epiphanies as a young adult, to the importance of getting rid of old clothes for a fresh start, and how identifying style role models can help you streamline a wardrobe makeover. Jeff also talks about horology and how timepieces play a key role in men's fashion, how to shop in Japan,...

Journalist and documentary filmmaker Dolly Li discusses her body of work covering immigrant stories in America for the South China Morning Post with Goldthread and sharing the little known history of the Mississippi Delta Chinese community for AJ+, which led to her work as a cultural consultant on Ryan Coogler's award-winning hit film, SINNERS. Drawing from her own experiences growing up in Br...

Disney Pixar’s latest director Daniel Chong has come a long way since his halcyon days reading comic strips and watching Saturday morning cartoons. The creator of We Bare Bears and an instrumental part of Inside Out and Bolt, Daniel shares how his childhood love of Calvin and Hobbes, He-Man, and Jodeci all came together to create lovable, cuddly, furry characters with funny and profound things to...

Angela Lin is one of the leaders behind the latest craze that is sweeping the nation and taking over LA: mahjong. Better known as Angie QQ, the founder of East Never Loses shares the origin behind Mahjong Mistress, the not so ancient roots of the game, and what's behind mahjong's renewed popularity all over America. Angie also explores questions of ownership and community when it comes to...

Hip-hop pioneer and Taiwan rap icon Miss Ko takes us on a journey from her roots in Forest Hills Queens, to discovering her cultural identity in Taiwan, to winning the Golden Melody Award (the equivalent of the Grammy’s in the Chinese-speaking world) for Best New Artist in 2013. Miss Ko also discusses her special relationship with the late, great Chinese pop music superstar Khalil Fong, the pressu...

Marco and James look back on the first season of LOCAL GODZ, reflect on what they learned, and consider whether or not they want to re-up for another season. Is this the end or is there a LOCAL GODZ Season 2 in the future?

Legendary dance icon Mike Song shares how his Korean identity makes him a better dancer, his observations on how dance culture has changed over the years, the experience of being a judge and not a contestant on competition shows like Street Woman Fighter (and realizing viewers don't know who you are), the origin story behind The Kinjaz and KinjaBang Noodles, and creating dance choreo "tea...

Filmmaker and co-founder of Wong Fu Productions Wesley Chan talks about 20 years of working in traditional and "new" media, how the Asian American community has evolved over those 20 years, his lifestyle design project BASE GRAY, creating lifelong connections with viewers (and their kids), as well as what he's learned after "sixty years" of being on Earth and what's nex...

Pioneering Korean beauty advocate and content creator Jen Chae talks about growing up Korean American in Kansas, her mother's influence on her beauty routine, discovering her niche audience over Soompi and YouTube, the types of products and treatments she prefers for herself, and the responsibility she feels as a Korean Beauty translator for the West.

Legendary import model, singer-songwriter, and journalist Kaila Yu talks about the gangster origins of ABGs, growing up in Upland, the import car scene in Southern California, her memorable role in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, and what inspired her to write Fetishized, a memoir reflecting on her life and how Asian women as a whole are seen and treated in mainstream American culture.