Ep130: Navigating belonging as a biracial person - interview with Daniel Tam-Claiborne

About this episode

The episode features an interview with Daniel Tam-Claiborne discussing his experiences growing up biracial in America and the complexities of identity and belonging.

Do you sometimes ask your kids questions like "are you doing ok?" or "am I causing you trauma" and then they stare at you blankly and ask if they can have candy now? All three of us have kids who are of multiple racial and ethnic ancestry. We all worry about how they will relate to various parts of their identities and if they will feel a healthy sense of belonging... but that's not the sort of thing most kids will be able to straight up tell you. So we brought on an incredibly thoughtful adult who grew up as a bi-racial person in America and we had a very honest and vulnerable discussion of what that was like for him. Daniel Tam-Claiborne is the author of Transplants, which was a 2023 PEN America Literary Award Finalist. Daniel talks about his childhood growing up in New York City with an ethnically Chinese mother who herself grew up in Cuba and his Jewish father. He discusses how he felt both insider/outsider in many aspects of his identity as a biracial person and how that has shaped his life as an adult and even now as a father of a young daughter. If you have a biracial person in your life that you care for, this one is a must-listen. Learn more about…

People in this episode

Hosts: Kate Wang, Susan Lieu, Jeanette Park

Guest: Daniel Tam-Claiborne

Topics covered

• biracial identity
• parenting
• belonging
• cultural heritage
• childhood experiences

Keywords

• biracial
• identity
• parenting
• belonging
• Daniel Tam-Claiborne
• Transplants
• cultural identity

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: PEN America

Books & works: Transplants

Places: New York City, Cuba

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