Modern Minorities

“They want your immigrant voice — they don't want to hear about me just growing up, even though that's the truth, right? And then I realized I could clearly make a living just performing for my people.” Keith Pedro is a renowned Canadian comedian who has garnered worldwide acclaim through his captivating live performances. In 2022, he was honored with a Juno Award nomination for his Comedy Album,...

“When everything changed recently, we promised ourselves we would not get wrapped into the daily news. Yes, we're paying attention, but  it's going to happen - and the coping mechanisms have never changed.” Suresh is a Malaysian-born, London-raised, gay media exec in NY, who over the years, has become an important voice about authenticity, discipline, and hard work. Suresh is direct, honest and re...

“ I certainly learned about how media works — our faces and our stories weren't included. That was my bat signal to make that change.” Nicole Ponseca is a pioneering voice in the culinary world and one of the most respected thought leaders in the Hospitality and Filipino community. Nicole has proven herself on the NYC scene with critically acclaimed restaurants, Maharlika and Jeepney. She revoluti...

“Food is our love language. It's those types of food memories that are straight from the motherland — these are the things we carry with us.” Did you know April was Filipino Food Month? While we’ve all got a Filipino friend (or three), can you name more than one Filipino food besides those amazing tiny spring rolls (Lumpia FTW)? Either way, we’ve got something special for you. Co-host Lisa Angulo...

“Living in the US was like a hand in a glove for me — I just came here and loved it. Now, my opinion is slowly changing - seeing everything that's happening. But I still miss it because it  made me the person I am today.” Vaib’s a friend of a friend - we were told we should meet because we’d get along. We covered a lot of ground — the political difference between India and America, the role of act...

“It's important we bring our whole self — that's how you create trust, you bring that vulnerability. I had to learn to let my guard down, and it's made me a better leader.” Susie Quesada is President of Ramar Foods - one of the oldest leading manufacturers of Filipino foods in America. While Ramar is news to most of us - it’s not to the 4M+ Filipino Americans out there - and we’ve all got a Filipi...

“There was literally nothing I could do to fit in — and at some point, I decided to not bother trying. It really encouraged an independence that has carried me through the rest of my life and career.” David Yin, is an exec working at the intersection of consumer health and technology - who through happenstance, became a kindred spirit on so many conversations, about work, life, and even comic book...

“Just because your parents wanted the best for you in one way doesn't mean that you rebelling doesn't mean you still can't give back to them by living a good life.” Michael Wong is basically a cultural anthropologist for Asian America. A Seattle-based commentator, Michael’s best known for Asian Verified on Instagram + TikTok, and also writes a monthly column for The Stranger, a Seattle newspaper....

“ A lot of women are living in uncertainty about their health — so most of us are in a really weird situationship with our health. And that to me is quite sad.” Dr. Varuna Srinivasan is the Founder & CEO of Fluid Health — she is a sexual health expert, writer, and speaker based in Brooklyn. For the past decade, Varuna has worked on improving reproductive health access with organizations such a...

“Day in and day out, you work with these people — doctors, engineers and developers from India — I felt compelled to tell the story of a diaspora in this broken immigration system.” Vidyut Latay — an award-winning documentary filmmaker - and director of ALIEN: AMERICAN DREAM DENIED - a new documentary (on Amazon Prime) that spotlights the emotional journey of high-skilled, documented immigrants as...

As we wrap 2024, here’s the year’s “minority voices for all our majority ears.” While it’s certainly been a long and winding year, we hope our conversations have shared some relief and perspective. So why not give us the gift of a fresh 5-star review? apple.co/2Le6lpM Featuring the voices of Kamala Harris, Isaac Saul, Edel Rodriguez, Kris Stith, Ed Rigaud, Najoh Tita-Reid, John Pepper, Ursula Jone...

“She asked, ‘do you go by Peter or Pedro? You're writing a memoir - shouldn't, you know?’ I'm writing a story about myself and I don't know myself — so I'm going to take the journey with the character.” ” Pedro Martín is creator of MEXIKID, a graphic memoir about Pedro’s Mexican-American childhood and family in the 1970s - specifically a road trip to Mexico to their legendary abuelito - who may o...

 “Growing up, emotional support was non-existent. Rightfully so, because they went through hell and back - their entire journey of having to escape and redoing life in a foreign country. There was no time to look back.” Vanessa Huynh is a rising professional in Chicago - who Raman met in NY on an “intergenerational” panel, where Vanessa was one of the “younger folk” at our event. And while there a...

Vice President Kamala Harris' speech from Howard University on Wednesday, November 6, 2024 See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

It's the morning after, I’ll leave some fresh comments at the top of the episode. It was crushingly hard to tell my daughter before she went off to school. We're probably all asking ourselves, how did we get here?  So easier to just re-air this Quarantined Comics episode from August 2022 about the vibrant and harrowing graphic novel Berlin, by Jason Lutes, which I've actually referenced in many co...

“ Growing up in Hawaii is a really, really special experience — natural beauty, family and community. But you're really trying to fit into a local culture that has such a complex relationship with Caucasian people.” Chris Schmicker is a a Honolulu-born and New York City-based writer and brand marketer who’s currently working on a debut short fiction collection set in contemporary Hawaii. Chris is...

“We wanted something that was familiar, but also Filipino — the whole culture of the older sister that knows and gives advice without judgment.” Lisa Angulo Reid the co-founder and CEO of Dear Flor, the first Filipina-owned cannabis company that makes gummies that are 100% vegan with 100% Filipino flavors like ube, calamansi, and buko pandan. Founded by Lisa and her husband Brian, Dear Flor’s miss...

“I didn't ask my dad many questions, and now I'll never know. And I could call my mom up right now, but I'm not going to do that because - ‘the culture’ - we don't really ask each other personal questions.” Kathy MacLeod is an illustrator and cartoonist - the author of CONTINENTAL DRIFTER, her debut graphic novel - a memoir about a youth split between growing up in Bangkok, and her first summer ca...

“Distraction is not a technology problem or a moral failing. The vast majority of distraction is simply that you have not learned the skill of dealing with discomfort. Master internal triggers, or they will become your master.” Nir Eyal is a best-selling author and instructor working at the intersection of psychology, technology, and business. In a research-driven conversation about his latest boo...

“You need to get people registered, you need to get them informed, you need them voting. This is not the work of just one cycle, but this is the work of a generation.” Wendy Nguyen is Founder and President of AsianAmericansRise.com — a political advocacy nonprofit focused on civic engagement from the Asian American community. Right now, Wendy and her team are most focused on registering voters - a...

 ” I was in survival mode for so long — then I finally dealt with it - shedding all the old stories I told myself that society put on — those stories stick with us and form our identity without us even realizing it.” Ida Abdalkhani is a longtime FrieMMd of the pod, and a co-host on Raman’s other podcast, “Learnings from Leaders.” Ida is many things...an entrepreneur, marketer, board member, speake...

 ”I’ve come to my parents with challenges and they say, keep working hard, keep pushing through it — they're so used to working 12 hour days, making ends meet — it’s interesting to see them understanding my career.” Raman recently moderated a community conversation on "Building Bridges across Generations" for the inaugural Asians in Marketing and More summit - where we explored the personal and pr...

“I was not gonna follow rules if they didn't make any sense to me. There's a healthy sense of curiosity and a willingness to challenge the status quo.” Sudha Ranganathan is an emotionally intelligent leader. Drew Tarvin is a humor engineer. Both are P&G Alumni, and old friends of Raman’s from different parts of his life. This is a bonus conversation from Raman (+Drew’s) other podcast, Learning...

“He bears witness - in a very disarming way - what's really going on in this country.” “It’s often expressed without a single word, vivid enough that It hits a bit differently — It's not sugar coated —  this is what they're up against.” BURMA CHRONICLES is the 2007 graphic travelogue by French-Canadian cartoonist Guy Delisle — which presents a personal and distinctively humorous glimpse into a pol...

ROAMING is the graphic novel winner of three 2024 EISNER awards for best graphic novel, best writer, and best penciller/inker - by cousins Mariko + Jillian Tamaki. It's a book about three young women touring New York City in the late aughts, and it's both a love letter to New York City and a nostalgic look at the relationship between three friends who are about to follow very different paths in li...