The Bánh Mì Chronicles

Fresh off releasing his second book, The Temple Road: A Doctor’s Journey, retired oncologist and professor Fazlur Rahman, M.D. shares his process of writing his memoir. Losing his mom at 7 years old, Dr. Rahman has been navigating his journey through grief, his relationship with his family and community in Bangladesh, his homeland, immigrating to the US and living in a rural town in Texas, and his...

The Queen of Pop decided that Pride Month is continuing, so Tranna and I break down the track-by-track of the Confessions II album and whether it beats the first Confessions album. I brought back my favorite recurring guest and amazing trans Internet personality, comedian, and pop culture nerd hailing from Montreal, Tranna Wintour. Fresh off the release of Madonna’s latest album, “Confessions II,”...

What does it mean to capture the dark moments of our history in real time? I’ve been witnessing the powerful work of Adriano Kalin, who has been photographing and documenting protests, including the ICE raids in Chicago, Minneapolis, and other parts of the US. Adriano gives us an in-depth and intimate look at what it means to give voice to what is happening in real time, to navigate the growing AI...

Bio: MILCK (Connie K. Lim) is a singer/songwriter/recording artist and humanitarian who pens anthems in hopes to spark healing and empathy. Her viral song “Quiet” was named a Billboard #1 protest song, NPR’s featured “American Anthems,” and a top feminist anthem of all time by Harper’s Bazaar. Recently Elle UK named MILCK as a top 40 Women of Hope. MILCK also composes songs for film, television, a...

Award-winning Block Club Chicago journalist, Francia Garcia Hernandez returns as a guest to share the latest breaking updates regarding the ICE raids in Chicago. Since Operation Midway Blitz, Chicago has been the target of the federal government’s deployment of ICE and Border Patrol agents, which has led to unlawful and violent detainments of residents, aggressive escalation against residents and...

Happy Pride Month, listeners! 🏳️‍🌈 To kick off the celebrations, the incredibly brilliant Canadian comedian, TV personality, and pop-culture maven Tranna Wintour is back on my podcast again! This week, we are taking a deep dive into the underrated/forgotten gems from the Queen of Pop. Madonna has given us decades of era-defining anthems, but what about the masterpieces that often get overlooked,...

It's been awhile since I've done a solo episode, so here's a special one for you as I celebrate turning 43 and my recent milestone: hitting 50K streams, and 100K views on my YouTube channel. As a queer Viet-Khmer American, the transition from AAPI Heritage Month to Pride Month always carries a reminder for me on what it means to live abundantly through my identities. In my reflection o...

Happy AAPI Heritage Month! Everyday health advice is often written through a Western lens, but when it comes to chronic health risks, a one-size-fits-all approach is leaving AAPI communities behind and disregarding other key factors. In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Jonar de Guzman, MD, to discuss the unique, often hidden metabolic and systemic health risks facing Asian American and Pacific Is...

Celebrating AAPI Heritage Month with a deep dive into the stories that shape us. In this episode, I’m joined by fellow Khmer diaspora podcaster and friend Vanny Whitchelo , the Host and Producer of Khmer Voices . Based in Vancouver, BC , Vanny is at the forefront of preserving Khmer culture, not only through her podcast but also as the Co-Founder and Director of the Cambodian Cultural Centre . We...

Janet Jackson is more than just Michael’s baby sister; she is one of the original architects of modern-day pop music. To celebrate her 60th birthday, I am joined by acclaimed music critic and BritPop founder Brittany Spanos . In this special “legacy deep-dive,” we attempt the impossible: tracing Janet’s five-decade career in under an hour. From her early days after being a famous child actor to th...

In this episode, I sit down with Cameron McCloud, the electrifying frontman of the Dallas-based collective Cure for Paranoia . Fresh off the momentum of being a four-time finalist for the NPR Tiny Desk Contest, Cameron opens up about the determination and self-confidence required to become visible in an increasingly challenging music landscape. We go deep into the complexities of navigating the mu...

Lin Sun aka “Lintorious” is a risk-taker. Known for her fearless presence and razor-sharp wit, she has spent years lighting up stages and connecting with crowds like old friends. As the first Cambodian American comedian to secure a one-hour special on Prime Video and a half-hour special on Peacock , Lin takes us inside her humorous and sometimes chaotic journey as a daughter of Cambodian refugees...

In this episode of The Banh Mi Chronicles , I’m joined by Russ, a pop music enthusiast and co-host with DJ Louie XIV behind the Pop Pantheon Podcast , for a deep dive into the history and future of the concert-going experience. As “elder millennials,” we take a trip back in time to the era before cell phone cameras and social media have taken over the concertgoing experience. I reflect on the life...

On April 30, 1975, the Fall of Saigon changed the course of history forever, sparking a mass migration of Vietnamese refugees to the United States and across the globe. Today, 51 years later, we reflect on that legacy not just through the stories of those who left, but through the tireless work of those who went back to find the pieces left behind. In this episode (and with special thanks to my fr...

I’m super delighted to bring you a surprise guest on my show. He’s a Latin Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and one of Colombia’s beloved artists, Andrés Cepeda . He is set to kick off his US tour in Chicago on May 10th at the Riviera. As he is preparing for his tour, I caught up with him for a brief chat about his 30-year career legacy, his pride as a native Colombian, the growing success o...

Do you remember Lilith Fair in the late 90s? Have you ever attended a festival fronted by women headlining acts? In this “Chill-Out Chronicles” episode of The Bánh Mì Chronicles , Jung and I are taking a deep dive into the 1997-1999 phenomenon that was Lilith Fair. While the world remembers it as a “girls-only” music festival, we’re looking closer at the structural shift it represented in the indu...

This week on The Banh Mi Chronicles , I sit down with Katrina Pham , a Vietnamese American journalist with Borderless Magazine , a Chicago-based, immigrant-centered news publication. Katrina shares her reflections on the recent ICE raids in Chicago and the weight of reporting on stories that directly impact the safety and livelihoods of our neighbors. We dive deep into how the digital media landsc...

The countdown reaches its finale! In this episode, I’m joined once again by my friend and pop culture enthusiast, Anjali Misra , to wrap up our journey through the top 25 songs of the 21st century. While Part 1 set the stage, Part 2 dives into the “Chill-Out Chronicles”—the tracks that provided the vibe, the soul, and the soundtrack to our lives from #18 all the way to #25. In this episode, we dis...

The world is a lot right now. Between the headlines and the collective burnout, we all need a second to just pause and breathe. In the first of this two-episode special of the“Chill-Out Chronicles” edition of the pod, I’m joined by my good friend and resident pop culture nerd Anjali Misra . We are temporarily stepping away from the doomscrolling to get into a rabbit hole on another topic: What is...

Trigger/Content Warning : Kala and Randy discussing examples of state-sanctioned v*olence from ICE, law enforcement, and government agents Episode recorded on Tuesday, March 24th, 2026; 3:30 pm US Central Time In this emergency episode, I connect with Kala (He/They) aka “Your Protest Safety Kuya” to address the current wave of ICE raids happening at U.S. airports. He dives deep into the changing l...

TW/CW: Mentions of child ab*se, ICE v*olence, and other state-sanctioned v*olence. There was a brief mention of the late union-leader, Cesar Chavez during the recording of the episode on (3/10) before the recent allegations of s*xual assa*lt against Chavez came to light. A great honor to bring in Joon “J.S.” Park to the podcast. J.S. is a Korean American based in Tampa, FL, and currently serves as...

What does discovering an author who shares your similar lived experiences mean to you? I sit down with my friend and Khmer American content creator, Sophia Lee based out in the Boston area. She is the founder of the IG account BeyondtheMekong, which highlights books and writings by Khmer diasporic authors and other Asian American/diasporic authors. Sophia shares with me about her love of reading a...

Award-winning, critically acclaimed queer Korean author and literary translator Anton Hur makes a special appearance on this episode from Australia, where he’s currently doing his residency. I’ve known Anton for the past 10+ years, and have watched his ascending rise in the Korean and Western literary world. I asked him questions about his debut fiction novel, Toward Eternity, and what he has lear...

I’ve known Travis C. Lau since the beginning of the pandemic, as we follow each other on social media. My interview with him for this episode was the first real conversation I’ve had with him. From the moment I hit record, we hit it off like long-lost siblings discovering new things about each other. In this episode, Travis looks back on his complicated relationship with his parents and his relati...

TW/CW: Discussion of G*nocide, State-Sanctioned V*olence, Racism Jenny Chan, Executive Director of Pacific Atrocities Education (PAE), joins me as a guest for this week’s episode as we discuss the many parts of Asian American history during the 19th century to pre-World War 2 that have been forgotten in US History, and the racialized harm and v*olence that Asian Americans experienced during that t...