Voices on the Side

Danté is the author of Shoutin’ in the Fire: An American Epistle, an award winning writer, an ordained minister, a husband, and a father. Over the last six months, his words have been a beacon of hope and a reminder of our shared humanity.  We talk about the need to sustain resistance, the way faith can bring out our best and our worst, and the harm that white supremacy causes us all. Danté’s stor...

Bianca is a mother, PhD scholar, activist, and author of the forthcoming Unassimilable. She also cohosts her own podcast, linked below. Our conversation weaves in and out from our personal experiences to global issues. We talk about the impact of our traumatic births and identity as mothers in connecting us with mothers in Palestine, and we question how it is possible to resist the systems we are...

Raj is a husband, father, meditator, and overall life enthusiast. As an advisor and consultant, Raj’s passion for strategy and vision building has allowed him to lead successful strategic initiatives for both profit and non-profit organizations. In our wide-ranging conversation, we talk about what it means to “build a brand,” how meditation helps in parenting, and Raj’s belief that practicing bore...

Michelle is a speaker, writer, and activist, and the award-winning author of The Wake Up. Michelle makes me so proud to be a fellow Korean American — I am so inspired by her humanity, her integrity, and her ability to so clearly articulate her thoughts on many big issues. We talk about the clashing of unmetabolized traumas, the interconnectedness of all social justice causes, and the white suprema...

Arabelle is a writer, beauty consultant, and author of Queer Heroes and the forthcoming The House of Beauty. They have an inspiring ability to weave their worldview into their everyday life, to be in joy while speaking up for change they want to see in the world. We talk about the unique “sociological experiment” of a high school they attended, their New York roots, and being raised by and shoulde...

Yeldā is an artist in every sense of the word. She is a writer, storyteller, DJ, and new mother to her beautiful daughter who joined in on our conversation. As an Afghan in the US, Yeldā has the lived understanding of being viewed as a threat, from when she was a child. Her personal experience and her family’s legacy of resistance is what informs her understanding of oppression throughout the worl...

We’re back with Sasha, an ancestral healing practitioner and a death doula. Sasha shares more about her personal connection to and time in Palestine, and how her studies and her ancestors opened up her curiosity in understanding other parts of the world. We talk about the lie of the American dream, the problem with centering one’s own trauma, and what Sasha believes is her mission. As we are both...

Sasha is an ancestral healing practitioner and a death doula who is committed to collective liberation and dismantling supremacy culture. Those are a lot of big concepts, and we get into all of it in our conversation. When it comes to Palestine, Sasha is a breath of fresh air amidst a largely silent community of “healers,” and her sacred rage is palpable and contagious.  We talk about why ignoranc...

Thanks for joining us for Part 2 of my conversation with Kenta Seki. In this episode, we talk more about the importance of representation, assumptions around race, and the desire to feel like you belong. Kenta shares some family antidotes, having grown up with 8 siblings! We get a peek into his life as a trainer — and he mentions one of his clients that many of you are sure to know. We wistfully r...

Kenta Seki is a yoga teacher, health and fitness trainer, and he specializes in fitness media. He creates programs for the Fit On App, which you can find on flights. He is at once awe-inspiring and motivating, without ever taking himself too seriously. Through all his success, Kenta has somehow stayed the same kind and silly person he was when we first met about 20 years ago.  In addition to healt...

Welcome back to my conversation with Asma — therapist, activist, mother, and so much more. We get into some psychology as we talk about cognitive dissonance and grief, and Asma shares her thoughts on how we can appropriately involve and inform our children.   Asma expresses how meaningful and impactful it is that someone like me (not Palestinian, Arab, or Muslim) is invested in a free Palestine. S...

Asma is a social worker, therapist, and mother. She is also a Muslim, Arab woman whose grandfather was displaced during the 1948 Nakba. As such, Asma was born into the cause for Palestinian liberation. Asma has been tirelessly teaching the world about what is happening in Gaza and Occupied Palestine, with a steady balance of compassion and urgency. In our conversation, she speaks with honesty abou...

Thanks for coming back for Part 2 of my conversation with Joél. We go deeper into the meaning of community and the importance of using your own discernment as you engage with others. I love the way that Joél holds in his heart and mind the authors and activists that have come before him. This in and of itself is a form of community. Joél ultimately leaves us with a message of resounding hope for t...

Joél is an author, performer, storyteller, and father. He is a steady voice of inspiration and information, teaching us the necessity of community. He has a somewhat magical way of speaking his truth both unapologetically and with the deepest compassion.  We talk about the impossibility of being in a constant state of traumatic peril while simultaneously being present with joy. Joél shares his tho...

Daniel is a world-renowned makeup artist and Global Director of Artistry and Education at Tatcha. He is also one of the kindest human beings you will ever meet. He is the definition of multi-cultural, with a French-English-American father and a Vietnamese mother and having grown up in Central America and Seoul.  Daniel shares with us the evolution of his career, which is rooted in such respect for...

Chrissy is an author, a speaker, and an educator. In our conversation, we talk about the many tentacles of white supremacy, including the ways in which we ourselves have clung to our proximity to privilege. Chrissy helps us understand how diet culture is inherently racist and how the body positivity movement was co-opted by the mainstream from Black women. We also dissect the white feminism of the...

Yumi is a Japanese Okinawan American interdisciplinary artist and author. In our conversation, we ground various ideologies into our lived experiences and understanding. Yumi speaks from a deeply personal place of coming from both an occupied and occupying nation and sees the echoes of her history in what we are seeing throughout the world today. We talk about the toxicity of capitalism, the inter...

Thanks for coming back for the continuation of my conversation with psychotherapist Leah. There was too much magic and medicine in what Leah was sharing with us that I had to continue it here in Part 2. We dive deeper into the concept of identity and being in right relationship with each other and with the land. Leah emphasizes the need to have exceptionally high standards when it comes to the car...

Leah is — among many things — a psychotherapist, liberation collaborator, and anti-oppressive relational strategist. Our conversation was so potent and so healing that it went long and will be published in two parts. Leah speaks from an intricate understanding of human psychology, the way our bloodlines and the land shape us, and the systems of oppression that have caused harm to us all. She has a...

Bing is so many things: an impact founder, an investor, and CEO and co-founder of Gold House. He was instrumental in building the global YouTube creator/influencer ecosystem and continues to work with and advise companies including Google. Beyond all of his accomplishments and accolades, Bing is incredibly full of life. I can tend towards the serious but I was bursting into laughter throughout our...

Alice Sparkly Kat — aka Ace — is an astrologer and author who moved to the US from China as a young child. We talk about the power and roots of names and how our respective Chinese and Korean cultures look to create harmony through the process of naming. We talk about language systems, finding community, and of course — astrology. What I find particularly interesting about Ace’s perspective of ast...

Thanks for coming back for Part 2 of my conversation with intuitive guide, Ruby. We get into some pretty spicy topics, questioning the silence of our Asian community during this time of too many humanitarian crises and calling out hypocrisies of the wellness industry. We acknowledge that there is no blueprint for many of us to have these conversations and mistakes are inevitable, but there has to...

Ruby is an intuitive guide. She is Chinese American. Like many Asian Americans, for most of her life she tried to align with whiteness. Immigrant parents often instruct their children, whether explicitly or by example, to keep your head down and your mouth shut, to not cause trouble, to assimilate. This is how we are told we will stay safe and survive, and perhaps get allowed to collect some succe...

Alice Hyoung is a Korean American musician and advocate for mental health. We talk about mental health issues including BPD and anxiety, and I do want to offer the trigger warning that there is a brief mention of suicide. Alice and I share our learnings and realizations, and we’re both on a mission to transform our painful experiences by creating beauty, art, and helping others. Alice also shares...

Axie Oh is a NYT and Indie bestselling author. Her book — The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea is literary magic. As a Korean American, Axie's stories center Korean culture and characters and are inspired by Korean folklore, but her storytelling reaches beyond any cultural limitations, as evidenced by the fact that her books are translated into over 30 languages. We talk about the deep comfort of...