Self Evident: Asian America's Stories

Carol Kwang Park was 12 years old, working as a cashier at her family's gas station in Compton, California, when the 1992 LA Uprising forever changed her life. Her mom was at the gas station that day and Carol was unsure if she'd even make it home. At the time, she didn't understand why tensions came to a head in Los Angeles, following the acquittal of the officers who beat Rodney King. She also never understood why her mother insisted on keeping the business going, especially after the Uprising. As an adult, a personal crisis prompts Carol to finally start processing that event and her place in history. Hear more from Inheriting at laist.com/podcasts/inheriting. Content Warning: This episode contains racial slurs and discusses police brutality.

Boen's mom thinks he's brainwashed by the New York Times. Boen thinks his mom is brainwashed by the Chinese Communist Party. But when Boen starts listening more deeply to his mom's stories of growing up in China and then immigrating to the U.S., he spots the signs of his own political conditioning — and unravels the threads of Chinese and American history that led to the very fabrication of "brainwashing" as a concept. This story comes from our friends at Feet in 2 Worlds, originally airing on their podcast, A Better Life? — and was written and produced by Boen Wang. Full transcript, credits, and show notes available on our website.

The LahPai family's arrival to Virginia from Myanmar was highly anticipated: the local resettlement agency prepped their home; the local religious community was ready to provide support; the family's U.S connection lived just minutes down the street. Even with these support systems, resettlement was (and still is) not a straightforward, clean-cut process. Why is that? In this debut episode from Resettled — a series by Virginia Public Media about the real experiences of refugees after they arrive to the U.S. — you'll meet the people helping the LahPais during their early days of resettlement... and explore some of the unexpected difficulties that arise when moving to a new country, a new culture and a new life. Episode Credits: Resettled is a production of VPM Produced by Gilda di Carli and edited by Kelly Jones, with oversight from Angela Massino and Nate Tobey Hosted by Ahmed Badr Production management by Gavin Wright Steve Humble is VPM's Chief Content Officer Music for this episode by Sandhill and Blue Dot Sessions. Special thanks from VPM: Thanks to Catherine Komp, Zar Wahidi, Yasmine Jumaa and interns Safiya Ahmed and Helen Zein Eddine, along with the folks at NPR's Story Lab for helping kickstart the podcast. Thanks to Leslie Bretz, Louise Keeton and Michael Hayes for web and digital support. More photos and stories available at vpm.org/resettled.

Please take our listener survey to tell us what you think of Before Me! The survey is anonymous, takes 5 minutes, and is incredibly important for helping us take our next steps as an independent studio for stories by and about Asian Americans. We use your answers to better understand your needs as a listener — but we also use your feedback to show how we're making an impact as we raise funds for our next new podcast season or storytelling program.

At the moment my mom steps onto a small fishing boat off the coast of Cambodia, headed for a refugee camp in Thailand under cover of night, she becomes the head of our family. It takes her less than a year to make it safely to her new home in New York, give birth to me, and learn how to be a single parent in the U.S. But it will end up taking her decades to process what she's overcome, what she's become, and what she's left behind on the beaches of Cambodia. Full show notes, photos, credits, and transcript on our web site.

As the genocidal regime of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge takes hold of Cambodia, my mom and dad run for their lives — separated from my cousin, Lynn, who is then faced with keeping her siblings alive in a forced labor camp. Full show notes, photos, credits, and transcript on our web site.

Lisa Phu grew up telling a story about how her family left Cambodia as refugees, to start a new life in the United States — but for the longest time, she'd never heard this story firsthand, from her mom, Lan. After Lisa gave birth to her first daughter, her mom flew across the country to meet her first grandchild. And during that visit, she finally shared the real story with Lisa. About growing up in Cambodia, fleeing genocide by the Khmer Rouge, surviving as a gold dealer in Vietnam, building a home in America while navigating the fallout and traumas of war… and carrying the future of four children with her throughout the journey. Before Me follows one woman's life, from Cambodia to America, over the course of decades. But it also follows a long overdue conversation between mother and daughter, about their family's history — through death and birth, separation and reunion, endings and beginnings. Because while we may never fully understand the reality of those who came before us, every story is a chance to get closer. And in listening, find meaning in what's been preserved. During November and December 2022, Self Evident is presenting Before Me through our podcast feed. It's a brand new audio series we're launching in partnership with Lisa, and we hope you'll join us in listening and sharing the story as it unfolds, week by week. Learn how to conduct an oral history interview with your loved ones at selfevidentshow.com/history. To meet other listeners of Self Evident and Before Me, and get started on your own oral history journey, join our Discord community at selfevidentshow.com/participate.

When Augustine Tang's father passed away, Augustine decided to inherit his taxi medallion – the license that had allowed his father to drive a yellow taxi cab in New York City for decades. But the medallion came with a $530,000 debt trap and years of struggling to escape it. Augustine's friend Kenny, a fellow taxi cab driver, committed suicide. So did several other drivers who were crushed under the weight of these impossible debts. In hopes of preventing another death, Tang joined a push by the local taxi drivers' union, to campaign for debt relief. And eventually, city resistance to worker demands culminated in a 15-day hunger strike to convince City Hall that immigrant taxi drivers deserved a fair deal. The drivers' struggles for livable working conditions showed how political power doesn't just come down to votes. It's a reminder how strong collective will can be, especially for those often silenced and ignored by our imperfect democracy. Resources and Reading After listening, please take our survey about this story — to help us fund more stories like this one! This show mentions instances of suicide. We understand this topic may be difficult for some listeners. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a hotline for individuals in crisis or for those looking to help someone else. To speak with a certified listener, call 1-800-273-8255 WATCH: "Cheated, Desperate, Financially Ruined NYC Taxi Drivers Go on Hunger Strike" by Maximillian Alvarez of the Real News Network WATCH: "New York Taxi Drivers Hunger Strike for Debt Relief" by More Perfect Union READ: "'They Were Conned': How Reckless Loans Devastated a Generation of Taxi Drivers" by Brian Rosenthal for the New York Times READ: "How the Taxi Workers Won" by Molly Crabapple for the Economic Hardship Reporting Project READ: "Distressed Drivers: Solving the the New York City Taxi Medallion Debt Crisis" by Aaron Jacobs for Columbia Human Rights Law Review Special Thanks To Augustine Tang, Jaslin Kaur, John Duda, Kader Guerrab, Kuber Sancho-Persad, Maria Santana, Maximillian Alvarez, Michelle Faust Raghavan and Alec Saleens, and the New York Taxi Workers Alliance Media Team Credits: Produced by Self Evident Media Reported by Sahil Nisha, with help from Alina Panek and Janrey Serapio Interview recordings by Sahil Nisha, Stacey Wong, and James Boo Public protest and demonstration recordings by NYTWA, Augustine Tang, CM Zohran Mamdani, and Former CM Brad Lander Edited by James Boo and Julia Shu Fact checked by Harsha Nahata and Tiffany Bui Sound mix by Timothy Lou Ly Music by Epidemic Sound At the Moment theme music by Satoru Ohno Our Executive Producer is Ken Ikeda This episode was made with support from the Solutions Journalism Network's Advancing Democracy program

The Covid-19 pandemic has underscored the importance of caregiving work — and the ways that this work is overlooked, under-resourced, or placed as a burden on families without a sense of fairness or compassion. In this episode we're sharing two stories that show people taking on the role of caregiver, and asking: Who gets to be healthy in a world that leaves so many people with family as their only lifeline? "My Heartbeats": When Indian American filmmaker Tanmaya Shekhar moved his life from Kanpur to New York City, he was running away from family and dreaming of standing on his own two feet. But when the first wave of Covid in India put both of his parents in the hospital, he found himself in a race against time to reunite with them — and then a slow process of rethinking his life's path, as an immigrant and as a son. "Delma and Delvin": Guest contributor Angela Edward shares a day in the life of her aunt Delma, a middle-aged Micronesian mom whose full time job is taking care of Delvin — her 30-year old son who has always lived with cerebral palsy. After being hospitalized for Covid, Delma invites Angela over to spend time with Delvin and share how it feels to be senselessly locked out of the American healthcare system. Resources, Reading, Viewing, and Listening Take our listener survey! LISTEN: For Micronesians by Micronesians podcast READ: "How Decades of Advocacy Helped Restore Medicaid Access to Micronesian Migrants" and "Hirono Seeks to Restore federal Benefits for Pacific Islanders from COFA Nations," by Anita Hofschneider for Honolulu Civil Beat READ: "A Historical and Contemporary Review of the Contextualization and Social Determinants of Health of Micronesian Migrants in the United States" by Davis Rehuher, Earl S. Hishinuma, Deborah A. Goebert,and Neal A. Palafox for the Hawai'i Journal of Health & Social Welfare READ: The Husk, a newsletter covering Micronesian people and happenings WATCH: "Reflections at 29," a documentary short by Tanmaya Shekhar about the costs and regret of living as an immigrant filmmaker in the U.S. SUPPORT: Donate to the Hemkunt Foundation, which has been helping Indians survive, recover from, and weather the impact of Covid-19 Credits Produced by James Boo, Emily Cardinali, and Angela Edward Edited by Julia Shu Fact checked by Tiffany Bui and Harsha Nahata Sound mix by Timothy Lou Ly Self Evident theme music by Dorian Love Our Executive Producer is Ken Ikeda About Self Evident is a Studio to Be production. Our show is made with support from PRX and the Google Podcasts creator program — and our listener community.

For so many Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Spam is a beloved classic food, showing up in everything from musubi to fried rice. But behind that nostalgia is a history of war and colonization, and the inheritance of both favorite foods and hidden traumas. Korean American playwright Jaime Sunwoo's surreal new play, Specially Processed American Me, takes a close look at Spam's legacies, and the lost stories of her own family — who've migrated twice over two generations, from North Korean to South Korea, then from South Korea to the United States. While sharing behind-the-scenes previews of the play, Jaime and Cathy talk about the challenges and rewards of interviewing older generations, and how those conversations have helped her process her own identity as an Asian American. Specially Processed American Me is co-produced by Dixon Place, Ping Chong and Company, and Free Rein Projects. You can learn more about Specially Processed American Me and find tickets to the show (debuting Jan 27 - Feb 19 in New York City) at speciallyprocessed.com. Resources and Reading READ: "SON OF SPAMMEAT-PACKING HEIR GEORDIE HORMEL HAMS IT UP IN PHOENIX SOCIETY," a funny and interesting profile of George A. Hormel II LISTEN: "Tater Pie," sung by the Hormel Girls WATCH: Time for Talk - Hormel Girls of the 1950's WATCH: South Korea's love affair with Spam WATCH: Why SPAM Is So Popular In Guam WATCH: ACP Live Presents: Jaime Sunwoo Credits Produced by James Boo Edited by Julia Shu, with help from Harsha Nahata Fact checked by Tiffany Bui and Harsha Nahata Sound mix by Timothy Lou Ly Self Evident theme music by Dorian Love Our Executive Producer is Ken Ikeda Specially Processed American Me co-produced by Ping Chong and Company and Free Rein Projects (production photos by Toby Tenenbaum

Community Producer Rochelle Kwan (a.k.a. YiuYiu) invites three of her favorite DJs to curate our first annual mixtape — and chat with them about how we can use music to reconnect our diaspora communities, across generations and borders. Our first annual international, transnational mixtape features musical selections from YiuYiu (of NYC Manhattan Chinatown), Les Talusan (a.k.a. Les The DJ of OPM Sundays), Arshia Fatima Haq (of Discostan), and Roger Bong (of Aloha Got Soul). The 22 specially curated tracks on this episode span the South West Asian / North African (SWANA) region, Hawai'i, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and their global diasporas. Just as each song and record comes with its own stories, this mixtape weaves in the personal stories that brought Roger, Les, Arshia, and Rochelle to music and DJing today. Need more music? Did we miss a favorite track of yours that the world absolutely needs to hear? Then check out our public Spotify playlist (a totally separate, community-sourced playlist that we're pairing with this mixtape) to hear a bigger range of tunes from Asian and Pacific diaspora cultures — and add your own favorites! Resources, Reading, and Music READ "Vinyl-Only Nights Return to D.C." by Haley McKey for District Fray Magazine READ "How an obscure '80s album helped this father and son connect" by Aparita Bhandari for CBC/Radio-Canada READ + LISTEN "Kalapana's 1974 debut: the record that forever changed Hawaii" by Aloha Got Soul READ + LISTEN "Chinatown Records" by Rochelle Kwan for The Vinyl Factory LISTEN - DJ Muro - Hawaiian Breaks (with tracklist) by Aloha Got Soul LISTEN - OPM Sundays w/ Les The DJ & Joel Quizon on Twitch LISTEN - Phambinho w/ YiuYiu for NTS Radio LISTEN - My Father's Favorite Music by Discostan LISTEN - Disco Se Aagay by Nermin Niazi and Feisal Mosleh for Discostan LISTEN - Pacific Sounds (inspired by the sounds of Hawaii and the Pacific) SUPPORT Aloha Got Soul and Aloha Got Soul Bandcamp SUPPORT Discostan and Discostan Bandcamp SUPPORT YiuYiu Add your own diaspora tracks to our public Spotify playlist! About the DJs Les Talusan a.k.a. Les The DJ Les The DJ aka Les Talusan is a DJ, photographer, curator, teaching artist and organizer whose practice immerses people in the joy of discovery, empowerment, and community. This approach is informed by Les' own story of resilience, liberation and courage as an immigrant, mother and v/s. Born and raised in Manila, Philippines, Les fell in love with music at a young age, DJing at local clubs and playing in bands. Les has lived in Washington, DC for over 20 years and continues to expand their talents, performing behind the decks in the U.S. and abroad. Arshia Fatima Haq - @discostan | @arshiaxfatima Arshia Fatima Haq (born in Hyderabad, India) works through film, visual art, performance, and sound, in feminist modes outside of the Western model. She is interested in counterachives and speculative narratives, and is currently exploring themes of embodiment, mysticism, indigenous and localized knowledge within the context of Sufism. She is the founder of Discostan, a collaborative decolonial project and record label working with cultural production from South and West Asia and North Africa. She hosts and produces radio shows on Dublab and NTS, and has produced episodes for KCRW's acclaimed "Lost Notes" podcast series. Her work has been presented nationally and internationally at museums, galleries, nightclubs, and in the streets. Roger Bong - @alohagotsoul | @rogerbong Roger Bong launched Aloha Got Soul as a blog in 2010 after graduating college with a journalism degree and — more importantly — after hearing DJ Muro's Hawaiian Breaks mix. Roger's love for story, sound and design has turned the blog into an independent record label that champions all genres and generations of music from Hawai'i. He and his wife run the label from Honolulu. Rochelle Kwan (a.k.a. YiuYiu) - @rochellehkwan Rochelle Kwan, also known as YiuYiu, is a cultural organizer, oral history educator, and DJ based on Lenape land in NYC's Manhattan Chinatown. Bringing together her backgrounds in organizing, history, and music, she trains everyday people to build multigenerational oral history projects and engage with their communities as classrooms. As a cultural archivist, DJ, and dancer, she works to amplify arts and culture as essential to community resilience and foster intergenerational relationships and dance floors. Rochelle's also the Community Producer at Self Evident, where she leads our budding oral history program and helps to grow our listening party program through partnership and collaboration. Credits Produced by Rochelle Kwan and Julia Shu Music curated by Les The DJ (a.k.a. Les Talusan), Arshia Fatima Haq, Roger Bong, and YiuYiu (a.k.a. Rochelle Kwan) Edited by James Boo, with help from Sheena Tan Sound mix by Timothy Lou Ly Self Evident theme music by Dorian Love Our Executive Producer is Ken Ikeda About Self Evident is a Studio To Be production. Our show is made with support from PRX and the Google Podcasts creator program — and our listener community.

This Fall many public primary schools in the U.S. switched back to in-person learning. But that can mean very different things for students, teachers, and parents — depending on their school system, local political environment, family resources, or language needs. We started getting word from listeners about their back-to-school experiences in July, and checked in with them as these first few months of the school year unfolded. Cathy and our team found out how a Chinese American mother of three navigated the anti-mask and anti-CRT activity surrounding school reopenings in Arizona; learned about the hidden harms of this transition from immigrant mental health advocates in New York City; and heard how having an immunocompromised family member affected an Indian American family in Minneapolis. While these conversations are by no means comprehensive, a recurring theme in these conversations was a sense of loss, which many students haven't had the space to properly heal from. Credits Produced by Julia Shu and James Boo Edited by Julia Shu Sound mix by Timothy Lou Ly Fact checking by Harsha Nahata Music by Blue Dot Sessions and Epidemic Sound Self Evident theme music by Dorian Love Our Executive Producer is Ken Ikeda Resources and Reading WATCH: "Towards An Inclusive Reopening: The Mental Health Needs of Asian Children" discussion panel by the Asian American Federation, Sapna NYC, Korean Community Services of Metropolitan New York, Hamilton-Madison House, and the Arab American Association of New York READ: "Anti-mask school law isn't justice, safety for our kids" by Yvonne So for the Arizona Daily Star READ: "Asian American young adults are the only racial group with suicide as their leading cause of death, so why is no one talking about this?" by Amelia Noor-Osho for The Conversation READ: "New York's Once-Thriving Asian Businesses Struggle to Recover From 4,000% Unemployment Spike" by Amy Yee, Adre Tartar, and Christopher Cannon for Bloomberg READ: "Digital Literacy in New York's Asian American Community" by Juo-Hsi (Sylvia) Peng for Advancing Justice | AAJC READ: "Teens in America: How the Covid-19 Pandemic is Shaping the Next Generation" by Maria Abenes for Psychiatric Times

In the summer of 2019, a public fight unfurled in Bloomington, Indiana — over accusations that Sarah Dye and Douglas Mackey, who sold produce at the city-run farmers' market, were members of an organization classified by the Southern Poverty Law Center and Anti-Defamation League as a white nationalist hate group (an association that would soon be confirmed). Abby Ang, a graduate student at Indiana University in Bloomington who had also become a community organizer, picked up on a series of chat leaks and reports from local farmers and activists about Sarah Dye, taking action to further publicize this connection and pressuring the city to remove Sarah and Doug's farm from their market. But when the city refused to do anything of the sort, Abby found herself in a fast-moving conflict that included the full spectrum of American politics: liberal elites, progressive organizers, antifascist activists, right-wing militias, farmers, customers, police, Black Lives Matter leaders… and of course, White nationalists (or in this particular case, as they preferred to be identified, White Identitarians). The story eventually hit mainstream national news, the farmers' market became a political battleground, and an Asian American professor was arrested by Bloomington Police — showing what it really looks like to wield White power in America. Credits Produced by James Boo Edited by Julia Shu, with help from Cathy Erway Sound mix by Timothy Lou Ly Production support from Alex Chun Fact checking by Harsha Nahata Music by Blue Dot Sessions and Epidemic Sound Self Evident theme music by Dorian Love Our Executive Producer is Ken Ikeda Resources and Reading "Bloomington 2019: 'The Year of the Farmers' Market Controversy'" by Ellen Wu for Limestone Post Magazine "What if Your Farmer Is a White Nationalist?" by Kayte Young for Earth Eats, WFIU "I Yield My Time" statement during LAPC public hearing on June 2, 2020 "Federal Charges Filed in Carmel Synagogue Hate Incident" by U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Indiana Southern Poverty Law Center brief on Identity Evropa / American Identity Movement Anti-Defamation League brief on Identity Evropa / American Identity Movement "Identity Evropa's Neo-Nazi Organizing Plans Revealed In New Leaks" by Chris Schiano and Freddy Martinez, for Unicorn Riot No Space for Hate web site and "Market in Context" Timeline "Video: IU Professor Arrested After Demonstration at Farmers' Market" by Adam Pinsker for WFIU (original video by Dina Okamoto)