Nuances: Our Asian Stories

If you enjoy this show and would like to help me spread the word about it, or support it financially, you can find out more at nuancespod.com/support GUEST BIO Ryan Alexander Holmes [何仁安] is an actor and content creator based out of Los Angeles, CA. Having garnered a sizable presence on social media by using his platform to embrace his mixed Chinese/African American background through comedic s...

GUEST BIO Paul Y. Song is an MD, entrepreneur and health activist. He is currently CEO of NKGen Biotech. Dr. Song served as the very first visiting fellow on healthcare policy in the California Department of Insurance in 2013. His last clinical role was Asst. Professor at the Samuel Oschin Cancer Center at Cedars Sinai Medical Center. He currently serves on several boards including: the Pritzker S...

GUEST BIO Soo Jin Lee is a licensed therapist, the author of 'Where I Belong: Healing Trauma and Embracing Asian American Identity,' and a guiding force at the Yellow Chair Collective. Her journey from an undocumented immigrant to a mental health advocate shapes her unique approach to healing. When not writing or in session, she’s reconnecting with nature on a hike. Let’s dive into her story!. Ins...

https://nuancespod.com/2023/09/24/amanda-b/ GUEST BIO Amanda B. is the executive producer and host of 6 Degrees of Cats, a cat-themed culture, history and occasionally science podcast that investigates the surprising intersections between human and feline kind, with the help of a interdisciplinary roster of guest experts. She has worked internationally in the fields of clinical research, public he...

https://nuancespod.com/2023/09/17/charles-levan/ GUEST BIO Established in 2002, Charles Levan, C.E.O/Owner of Blue Buddha Entertainment, LLC specializes in sync placement for independent artists and labels, serving as a premier conduit for contemporary groundbreaking artists and repertoire. Past sync placements include: Shrinking, Found, All American, This Is Us, Supreme Models, & Grey's Anato...

https://nuancespod.com/2023/09/10/samantha-ong/ GUEST BIO Samantha Ong is an entrepreneur, business owner, and mother to two young girls based in Toronto, Canada. Samantha founded Joeydolls in response to the rise in anti-Asian hate around the world during the pandemic lockdowns. Her goal is to help young children feel proud of their heritage and feel valued in society by creating diverse Asian cu...

https://nuancespod.com/2023/09/03/ivy-le/ GUEST BIO Ivy Le is a Vietnamese American comedian, actress, and writer based in Austin, Texas. She is the creator of the critically-acclaimed Spotify Studios podcast FOGO: Fear of Going Outside, a nature show by the most reluctant host ever. FOGO is featured on Delta flights and recommended by The Guardian, CBC, Oprah and, inexplicably, Outside. She hosts...

For the full show notes, go to https://nuancespod.com/2023/08/27/nastassia-jagatsingh GUEST BIO Nastassia is a 31 Indo-Mauritian Montrealer currently based in so-called Vancouver. After a little under a decade in the banking and ESL teaching spaces, she’s exploring non-traditional avenues for work and embracing slow living as she learns to live with chronic illness. During the “summer of racial re...

GUEST BIO June Chua loves to tell stories in a myriad of ways. She's an award-winning filmmaker with more than 20 years experience in journalism, writing, editing, broadcasting and communications. She also helps artists with their proposals and grants. She's now developing a creative nonfiction project - a collection of poems & stories. In 2015, she decided to resign from her life in Canada, s...

GUEST BIO Rita is a 2nd generation Lao Isaan (pronounced E-sahn) American holistic mental health & wellness professional based in Los Angeles. She is also the creator/host of the Healing Out Lao'd podcast, which explores the intersections of Lao diaspora storytelling, healing, and tools for sustainability. Instagram | TikTok | Twitter | Facebook | Web DEFINITIONS Pho: Vietnamese soup dish cons...

GUEST BIO Kiran Kaur Gill is the executive director at SALDEF, the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, where she oversees and executes programs related to policy, research, education, civic engagement, and youth leadership in the Sikh American community. Prior to her executive role, she volunteered at SALDEF to create and conduct Sikh awareness training around the country for schools,...

GUEST BIO Scott Okamoto is a former English professor and ex-Evangelical writer, musician, and home chef. His newly released book is called Asian American Apostate: Losing Religion and Finding Myself at an Evangelical University. In the book, Scott tells his story of losing all faith while teaching at an evangelical university. Through this process, he dug deep into his roots as a 4th generation J...

GUEST BIO Travis Giuse Nguyen (he/él) is an interpreter and translator born and raised in Southeast Texas. The son of a Vietnamese fisherman in the U.S. and the long-time resident of two minority-majority cities (Port Arthur and Houston), syncretism is the defining attribute of Travis's lived experience. In his free time, Travis practices self-care by playing boleros on his trusty ukulele, singing...

GUEST BIO Dani is a Filipino Canadian artist who creates music that effortlessly laments on young love and self-discovery. Moody, melancholic, and dreamy coming of age instrumentation complement the oozing nostalgia of her honest, hyper vulnerable, and conversational lyrics. Dani's song "All I Need" was featured on Anna Kendrick's movie, "Alice Darling", and several of her collaborations have been...

GUEST BIO Teresa Suydam is a lost bird songwriter and producer of Indigenous and Filipino descent who makes cinematic pop infused with honey-like vocals. Based out of Denver, Colorado, Teresa chases their own culture and identity with their music, and is a safe haven to other multicultural individuals who don’t feel at home in their own skin. In 2022, Teresa's music video for "Take Me to the Water...

If you’ve ever wondered why Iran sometimes is, sometimes isn’t considered part of Asia, this episode has the answer. Because of the revolution in Iran, I really wanted to talk to a woman from the Iranian American diaspora and had the privilege of talking to Women’s, Gender & Sexuality studies professor, Dr. Manijeh Moradian. Manijeh talks about how the U.S. - Iran relationship evolved over dec...

GUEST BIO Cherie Hu is the founder of the music-tech research organization Water & Music. Water & Music's mission is to make the music industry more innovative, cooperative, and transparent, by building a collaborative data and education hub that consistently beats the market on identifying trends in music, technology, and culture. Previously, Cherie penned hundreds of articles on music an...

Nuances: beyond first impressions with the Asian diaspora is a podcast exploring diverse intersectional identities, career paths and more. Support the show: nuancespod.com/support Join our discord: nuancespod.com/community GUEST BIO Mimi Chen is a long time radio DJ who has been heard in Philadelphia, San Francisco, San Jose and Los Angeles. She is currently at KCSN 88.5FM in Los Angeles. In her s...

What's the history behind AAPI heritage month? When did it start? Who were the first Asians to reach the Americas? Find out in this episode! The Nuances Podcast is now one year old! Two seasons and 25 nuanced conversations in, we're only just getting started. Host LAZOU shares some insight on the show's goals and reflects on the impact of the podcast. For books, movies, events mentioned in the sho...

DESCRIPTION Winemaker Justine Osilla walks us through the various career opportunities in wine, and how she is creating the support network and community of diverse wine professionals she wishes existed when she first started. If you've ever wondered what wine would pair well with sashimi, Vietnamese spring rolls, Mongolian beef, sinigang, adobo, or kare-kare, be sure to listen to the full episode...

GUEST BIO Nicolas Kee Mew is a Sino-Mauritian-British award-winning care home manager based in London. He was recently awarded the British Citizen Award Medal at the Palace of Westminster and has won several national dementia awards. When he is not taking care care of patients, he is raising awareness or fundraising for dementia research.. Instagram | Facebook DEFINITIONS Hakka: Chinese ethnic gro...

GUEST BIO Waddy Dacay is from the island of Kauai, Hawaii. He attended Kapiolani Community College on Oahu in 1973 then went to art school in 1976 in Oakland CA at California College of Arts and Crafts, now called California College of the Arts. He graduated BFA in 1978 and got a job in Palo Alto doing technical illustrations for two years. Then he took another position with Lockheed Martin as a t...

DESCRIPTION Rod had every intention of following the traditional path and become an automotive engineer in Indiana. But he chose to follow his passion instead. We talk about breaking the news to his family, how his parents struggled to understand what being a professional musician really means, and how the BLM protests have inspired him to reclaim his youth and be more vocal about his experiences....

. GUEST BIO As AIR APPARENT, San Francisco-based artist and producer Neil Sethi makes exuberant electronic pop that invites both escapism and self-discovery. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Sethi grew up on Bollywood and Hindu spiritual music, early 2000s Atlanta rap, and explosive nu-metal. Since releasing his first tracks in 2017, the independent Indian American musician has swiftly gained buzz for hi...

GUEST BIO Jess Pillay is an Indo-Fijian-American independent singer/songwriter and podcaster from the Pacific Northwest. Growing up in Seattle with Indo-Fijian roots, she spent most of her life feeling like a cultural orphan, but music gave her a sense of identity and purpose. Now in her 30s, she's deeply passionate about racial and gender equity and always looks for ways to explore these subjects...