Sweet And Sour

Sonia Chopra, the managing editor of Eater.com, joins us this week to discuss Asian food trends and how certain foods reach the mainstream, who gets to be an authority on ethnic cuisine, and the importance of authenticity in popularizing food that isn’t yours. Why hasn’t Indian food enjoyed the same success and popularity like ramen or matcha? She also dives into Eater’s approach to covering food and its intersections with other aspects of society in diverse and holistic ways. We chat briefly about self-care and the p-word, and Sonia tells us what she does that’s Hella Asian.

We chat with Kaitlin Gu, a software engineer at Google and the cofounder of Flawless Hacks, an annual Beyoncé-themed hackathon for women by women. Kaitlin shares her experience as an Asian woman in technology and tells us about how Flawless Hacks started. We discuss her passion for education and how she’s shaped Flawless Hacks to be a collaborative, non-competitive space for women in technology. On Hella Asian, we swap dating expectations our Asian parents have for us.

Jason Shen joins us this week to discuss the Asian American Man Study, an annual survey of the experiences and perspectives of American men of East, Southeast, and South Asian descent. Jason breaks down the 2016 results, discussing demographics, race and identity, stereotypes, media, dating, politics, and religion. We also chat about his views on masculinity as an Asian American man. On Hella Asian, Jason brings up an hot button issue: shoe-free households.

Ellen Wu joins us this week to discuss her book, "The Color of Success: Asian Americans and the Origins of the Model Minority." Ellen breaks down Asian American history from the 1920s onward, analyzing the contradiction of the model minority myth being rooted in both inclusion and exclusion. We dive into race-making, geopolitical dimensions of Asian American identity, and the effect of the model minority on other groups such as Blacks, Latinx, South Asian and Southeast Asians. Ellen also unpacks the role that Asian American communities played in the formation of their own stereotypes.

Preetisha Sen joins us on the pod this week, a proud coconut—brown on the outside, white on the inside. Preetisha talks to us about growing up Indian American, why being Asian American doesn't mean she's always in a constant identity crisis, and how she thinks about religion through her experiences with Hinduism and Christianity. She also shares a Hella Indian story about her family on this week's Hella Asian. Plus: Can We Not... always assume the Asian woman is the nanny? kthx.

Elise Hu joins us this week as Sweet and Sour's first foreign correspondent. Elise works for NPR and is based in Seoul. We talk to her about gender stereotypes in Korea and Japan, discuss Asian fetish and its ~consequences~, and what it's like to raise biracial kids in the time of Trump. On Hella Asian, Elise shares her love of Asian convenience stores.

This week, we hang out with Priya Krishnakumar, a visual journalist at the LA Times. We talk to Priya about her overachieving parents, her insecurities as an Indian American, and she gives us her take on the state South Asians in Hollywood. We also swoon over Dev Patel and roast Ashton Kutcher for racializing Popchips. On Hella Asian, Priya recounts the power of a ganesha doll in exterminating pests. On IRL, Nicole recaps a panel on the Asian American community's needs in the time of Trump. ScarJo... Can We Not?

On this week's episode, Felicia Liang joins us for a conversation on art, culture, and everything in between. We talk about her #100daysians project, her creative process, and what's next. On Hella Asian, Felicia flexes her abacus skills and we bond over the shared burden of weekend Chinese school. Can We Not Steve Harvey? katie and Nicole dive into the TV personality's offensive remarks about Asian American men.

This week, katie and Nicole dive into diversity in Hollywood, centered on a discussion of Margaret Cho and Tilda Swinton’s quest for racial absolution. On the new Can We Not segment: Rappers who only shout out Asian women with references to Chinese takeout... can we not? And you'll hear some tips and tricks about food storage on Hella Asian.

For our first episode, katie and Nicole discuss their Chinese to American ratio with their parents, Jiming and Li, who also shared their perspective on raising kids in America. katie and Nicole discuss the contradictions of being Asian American, both as a model minority and persistent other. The Book and Essay Club kicks off with Erika Lee's "The Making of Asian America." On Hella Asian, Nicole investigates the ubiquity of the Danish cookie tins.

A preview of Sweet and Sour, a podcast exploring different facets of the Asian American experience.