The Root & Seed Podcast

Daniel Mazzone grew up surrounded by familial influences in creativity, so it's no surprise that he became an artist. However, his upbringing and lived experiences didn't initially lead to success. Spending much of his youth on the streets of Toronto and pursuing a career that wasn't for him, Daniel eventually tapped into his early influences and a desire for more, leading him to pursu...

It’s one thing to be able to list off the places you've lived and the experiences you’ve experienced.  It’s another to understand how those textures and nuances are interwoven to make you uniquely you and to channel those into being a leader. This episode’s esteemed guest New York Times and Sunday Times best selling author and CEO of Become a Good Ancestor, Layla Saad is one such person.  We t...

We are back with another family duo, this time father & daughter Ab and Layla Freig. Layla reflects on what it was like to grow up not fitting into a box, as a mixed Muslim and Jewish person and how her yearning to be connected to her background led to experiences that pushed the boundaries of what was evident and obvious around her. The connection between father and daughter is apparent throu...

From the Oscars to Root & Seed in under a week!  This episode's guest is photographer of the rich and famous, George Pimentel. As a third generation photographer, George shares the stories behind the man he is today and how family, experience and connection to his roots has led to life of both balance and contradiction.  And he wouldn't want it any other way!  From travelli...

Aren't they?  In Part Two of our interview we hear Ryan's softer side including the people, traditions and rituals that make Ryan, Ryan.  All through the lens of his mixed heritage.  We hear Ryan's perspective on why being sad isn't so bad, how he's connected with his deceased family members through his dreams and how love through unique cultural ways is still love.  All heart,...

This bonus episode includes a special announcement from Root & Seed, including the launch of physical conversation cards on Kickstarter on Tuesday February 28 at 6:00AM PST/9:00AM EST.  Sign up here for launch day discounts!  For more details you can always find us at www.rootandseed.com or on social @rootandseedco

What a way to start off this season!  This episode we talk to Ryan Alexander Holmes in the first of a two part series and kick off Season 5 on the topic of identity. We talk about his mixed-ness, Black excellence, Asian American excellence, how he is always searching for narratives that put his culture at the centre of it and Ryan tells us family stories that he wishes lives on for generation...

Our relationship with our cultural background, significant events in our upbringing, present day societal and even inherited experiences of generations inform our identity and the choices of what to take forward. All helping to answer the question: who do we think we are?  We explore topics like this and more with interviews with some incredible guests like actor and content creator Ryan Alex...

What do the 90s, hip hop and basketball have to do with one another?  For a good number of youth who grew up in Toronto, especially those from immigrant backgrounds during that decade, the answer is everything.  Anish Bhalla has embarked on a playful, yet therapeutic journey of documenting his upbringing in the animated series Bhalla Show.  It’s playful, because of nostalgic humour,...

As a champion for people's stories across the Asian diaspora, Kyle Leung, host of podcast "What kind of Asian are you?" is used to uncovering the relationship of heritage and background on one's identity and sense of belonging.  We are appreciative of his expansion of the definition of third culture to a feeling of "being in the middle", with no clear sense being anchored to places of origin...

We don’t know what we don’t know, but these unknowns still shape us.  And can be passed through generations unless it is given air, tended to, and healed.  This episode we speak to genealogist Theresa McVean from Ancestree Detectives who gives us a glimpse into the world of genealogy and the process of  how working with a professional can help thread seemingly disparate knowledge in...

In our first intergenerational podcast interview, we speak to Peter Pham and his mom about their shared love of cooking, their family stories and history.  As a professional cook, self taught baker and current operator of Phamilyeats, Peter is finding meaning and joy in feeding others. Chockfull of nostalgia and real talk, Peter gives us a glimpse into how a descendent of Vietnamese refugees...

Marel Alemany has a deep sense of how his Afro, Latin and Caribbean backgrounds have influenced his present day sense of self. Yet as a person who connects with multiple generations and with people from various backgrounds, what we appreciate most is his proclamation of “I am from Planet Earth” which sets the tone for this interview from the very beginning. After years of unconsciously expressing...

When Nancy Lam started writing her dying mother's story it was in effort to capture her mother's legacy for her children to know and appreciate.  This journey turned to writing and publishing a work of fiction that, while based on her mother's life, grew in ways that many people from immigrant families can appreciate.  Not knowing all the details but wanting to fill the gaps, the book "T...

When Root & Seed launched, our dream was to talk to a historian. Scratch that.  Our dream was to talk to Robert “Lucky” Budd. So this episode is a dream come true. We have so much respect for Lucky’s tenure in the historical documenting space and his ability to democratize the act of personal and family storytelling, leaving us with just the right amount of inspiration to start somewhere,...

If you heard our season three finale interview with Grace Phan-Nguyen, you know we left that conversation at the genesis of a whole other story. Grace's life purpose is to document cultural stories, especially those previously underrepresented in media, and share a narrative they left untold, one that echoes her experience as a descendant of Vietnamese political refugees. In this episode, we go de...

It's back to school, back to Fall, back to work and back to the Root & Seed podcast time! Season 4 of The Root & Seed Podcast is launching Sept 20 - and this season we are talking about something that is so fundamental to this platform - documenting one’s heritage, cultural stories and practices.    We hear from an immigration lawyer and now author who has written a heartfel...

In our Season 3 finale, we go from a curried goat/goat curry debate :) to bbq pig parades. Food is central to how Grace Phan-Nguyen lives, works, and celebrates. Her familial and geographic cultures come together in stories about everything from her wedding to seasonal holidays. We love how earnest and intentional she is in making sure her current life and future generations embrace the multitudes...

“When East meets West” (Indian, that is) should be the title of Serena’s cultural journey. With pride on both sides of her identity, we hear how she fell in love with the West Indian celebration of Carnival as an adult, but still has incredible heart for her more traditional East Indian roots. We explore how much she values her familial heritage, how she embraces multiple cultures in her children’...

What happens when a literary agent (aka literary genius) in his golden years opens up about his culture and respect for his roots? You get  unfiltered, authentic, tell it like it is, story after story goodness.  Michael Levine prefers to be a “man in the shadows” behind the works for Canada's who's who like Adrienne Clarkson, Silken Laumann and Margaret Trudeau.  But we loved gettin...

From self-proclaimed "weekend brown girl" as a teenager, to relearning traditional Bharatanatyam dance as an adult, and soaking in time with her parents as cultural connection... this episode's guest, Kirthana Sasitharan, takes us on a real journey. Her raw reflection of her parent's sacrifices really resonated with us, and it's no surprise that she's committed to making sure "our (Tamil) culture...

There is something so freeing about shedding the ‘shoulds’ and ‘musts’ and inviting in simple celebration of our cultures into our daily lives - especially for the Indigenous community who have suffered so much shame and restriction through colonization. However, this invitation can be extended to people from a variety of cultural backgrounds. In this episode we talk to Asha Frost, an Indigenous M...

You know when a conversation is next level when it feels like therapy....part informative, part healing, part inspirational.  This episode we speak to Abdul-Rehman Malik, an award-winning journalist, educator, and cultural organizer.   He speaks about his family story, appreciation for intergenerational time during this pandemic time and sheds a light on a tradition he wishes to rec...

What happens when you blend life experiences together with your superpowers and lean into that confluence to bring to the world something that is inviting, knowledgeable and playful?  This episode’s guest, Sunita shares how her inquisitiveness and early experiences together with 25 years in speech and language therapy helped her write books, introduce toys and provide content to help demystif...

Season 3 is here! With the theme of celebration in mind, we are pleased to present Zoe & Brooklyn Brownstone, two sisters who recall how they have been celebrating their Jewish heritage and culture proudly since moving to Europe in very different ways. Zoe is a writer and comedian and has introduced her relationship with her identity into her shows and material. Brooklyn is the founder of The...