Asian in Austin: Recent Episodes
Minh Vu and Sandra Pham
Asian in Austin is a podcast by Minh Vu and Sandra Pham to elevate the voices and stories of Asian Americans living in Austin, Texas while exploring what it means to come into one's own Asian American identity and experience by inviting open dialogue and conversation with community members.
Lily Trieu is the daughter of Vietnamese refugees and grew up in Southwest Houston, Texas. Currently she serves as the Interim Executive Director of Asian Texans for Justice, a statewide nonprofit with a mission to connect Asian and Pacific Islander Texans to meaningful civic action to build personal and political power.
This month we talk about her Chinese-Vietnamese heritage, family journey and pivot from more than a decade experience in corporate life to education and advocacy.
Referenced Materials in the Episode:
Asian Texans for Justice
ATJ Instagram
"Minority Rule: How 3 Percent of Texans Call the Shots for the Rest of Us" - Texas Monthly
"Ahead of elections, Asian American and Pacific Islander organizers try to break down language barriers" - Texas Tribune
Born-and-raised in Texas, Mars has been creating music under the stage name Honey Son for over a decade. In this month's episode, Mars shares more about growing up as bi-racially Filipino and Black in San Antonio, navigating the music scene in Austin, and staying true and authentic in his music.
Outside of music, he very much enjoys fathering his precocious 9 year-old daughter Olivia.
Referenced Materials in the Episode:
- Honey Son
- Dawa Fund
- "If We Hold On Together" by Diana Ross
Nadia Chaudhury, editor of Eater Austin, is a Austin-based photographer, writer, and New Yorker. She covers Austin's restaurant and dining scene and this month we learn about her journey with her Bangladeshi background weaved throughout her life, food and her work.
Referenced Materials in the Episode
Eater Austin
Partition Podcast
Eater Austin: Welcome to Texas Wine Country
Yen Tan is an Austin-based, Malaysian-born writer, director, and graphic artist. He premiered the critically-acclaimed "Pit Stop" at the Sundance Film Festival in 2013. His NYT Critic's Pick feature, "1985," premiered at SXSW 2018. This month we hear from him on how the intersectionality of his Asian American and queer identities inspire his film work and storytelling projects.
Yen also co-directed "Until We Could" (2014) with David Lowery, an Addy-winning PSA for Freedom to Marry that was narrated by Robin Wright and Ben Foster. He's been a fellow of Austin Film Society’s Artist Intensive, IFP’s Film Week, and Film Independent’s Fast Track. He was named one of Out Magazine's OUT100 of 2018.
Referenced Materials in the Episode
- Yen's Website
What is it like to navigate the world as a bi-racial child? Join us for this episode as we chat with Aisha Lewis, a social impact leader and DJ, of Black and Japanese descent. She shares her experiences of growing up with a Japanese mother and Black father in Los Angeles and what eventually led her to make her way to Austin, TX. She gives us intimate views into her cultures and what being Asian American means to her.
Referenced Materials in the Episode:
- Aisha's SoundCloud
- Liquor Store Dreams (Documentary)
- The L.A. riots, 30 years later (Podcast)
Asian American Organizations in Austin
Follow us on Instagram: @AsianinATX
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How do we even define Asian American and which ethnicities does it encompass? And what's the context that brought the first Asians to Austin? In this episode, we learn all that plus more about Dr. Eric Tang's own relationship to his Asian American identity, being a racialized subject and W.E.B. DuBois' Double Consciousness, and what the future holds for the Asian community in Austin with our special guest, Dr. Eric Tang, the Associate Professor of African and African Diaspora Studies and Director of the Center for Asian American Studies.
Referenced Materials from the Episode:
- Dr. Eric Tang's Book "Unsettled: Cambodian Refugees in the NYC Hyperghetto" http://www.unsettledcity.com/
- W.E.B. Du Bois' Double Consciousness: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1897/08/strivings-of-the-negro-people/305446/
- Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/605371/minor-feelings-by-cathy-park-hong/
- City of Austin's Master Plan of 1928: https://austinpbs.org/highlight/atx-together-roots-of-racism-in-austin
- Sing Family - Austin Revealed: Pioneers from the East: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8ERkBx138w&t=3s
Asian American Organizations in Austin: https://bit.ly/asianinatxorgs
Follow us on Instagram: @AsianinATX
Follow us on TikTok: @AsianinATX
The series premiere of Asian in Austin shares the purpose and goals for the podcast and we dive into our personal experiences and relationship to our Asian American identity as a gay Vietnamese American man and Vietnamese American woman. Each month, we will have a specific theme and invite special guests from the Asian American community in Austin to share more about their own relationship to their identities and talk about the theme at hand.
Asian American Organizations in Austin: https://bit.ly/asianinatxorgs
Follow us on Instagram: @AsianinATX
Folluw us on TikTok: @AsianinATX
Asian in Austin is a podcast to elevate the voices and stories of Asian Americans living in Austin, Texas while exploring what it means to come into one's own identity. The podcast will premiere May 2 and is hosted by Sandra Pham and Minh Vu.