The Not So Model Minority Podcast: Recent Episodes
Amanda & Audrey
Welcome to The Not so Model Minority Podcast, a podcast by two friends sharing stories of empowerment, struggle, self-discovery, and everything in between as they navigate the world of “adulting” while living abroad.
Instagram: @notso_modelminority
What makes up one’s identity? In this episode, our guest Shota joins us to share some aspects that has shaped his over the years. Having moved to the UK from Japan as a kid, Shota dives into his experiences with cultural identity and fitting in at school. We talk about the role of parents, taking pride in heritage, nerdy portrayals of Asian men, and toxic masculinity.
This week, we are super excited to welcome Vivian onto our podcast to talk about the enigmatic world of female friendships. Vivian shares her thoughts on how societal norms can drive women to be the harshest critics of other women, the obsession of being “not like other girls” and how her perception of female friendships have changed over time.
On a cuter side note, we also share a little back story about how we all met and how empowering support from one’s female friends can be :)
Instagram: @notso_modelminority
This week we are doing a deep dive into university friendships. Simran joins us as we look back on high school cliques, loud society socials, loneliness, and our lack of experience of sitting on a patch of grass with a group of multicultural friends. Everyone has felt lonely or awkward while socialising at one point in their life, but its comforting to know that a lot of friendships have been formed in circumstances and with those we least expect. Tune in for the tea on how mutual hatred brought some of us closer, and stay for the advice we wish we could give our younger selves.
“Self-help” is a relatively recent phenomenon, only gaining huge popularity in the last 50 years. Tune in as two huge skeptics (us!) debate with an avid self-help book reader, Viancqa, on whether the genre brings any value to its readers.
Viancqa also share some tips and tricks on how you can get the most out of these books, including having an open yet critical mindset and having post-reading discussions with fellow readers or even the authors themselves.
Instagram: @notso_modelminority
This week we are giving you a peek into the unique world of medical journalism with our lovely guest Isabelle! She shares her day-to-day experience interning at a journalism firm (from translating scientific journals into easily-digestible to hosting panel events with pharmaceutical companies) along with thoughts on the importance of health literacy. We also touch upon possible ethical dilemmas one can face in the field, as well as the importance of trusting the reliability of sources.
In this week’s episode, we talk about the recent political unrest that has been happening in Myanmar. Thuza breaks down the situation of the country’s political and cultural history. From the world’s largest refugee camp formed by the Rohingya crisis to the recent riots and military coup, Thuza helps us better understand the conflict and how we can help from our own respective countries.
She shares her perspective surrounding the controversial involvement of Nobel Peace Prize winner Daw Su in the genocide and some theories behind why the military choose to end Myanmar’s “experiment with democracy” now.
With centuries of underrepresentation in medical research, it is not a surprise that our understanding of the human body is one that is very heavily white-male centric. This week, Jiaqi shares her experiences as a medical student on how these unconscious biases are formed due to the way medicine is taught and exacerbated by demographic stereotypes and the exclusion of women and racial minorities from medical research.
She also explains how, paradoxically, these stereotypes can sometimes come in handy for diagnosis and how the introduction of AI in the healthcare industry can act as a double edge sword in reducing or further aggravating these biases.
Instagram: @notso_modelminority
In the last episode, we discussed the concept of hustle culture. This week, we are joined by Elizabeth in discussing how this becomes a greater challenge once we join the workforce. Especially as young interns and fresh grads, the lines between crunch time and down-time can really blur because of face time culture, remote working and (potentially self-imposed) expectations from your supervisors.
Liz shares with us her stories and dilemmas working as an intern across multiple law firms and the interesting contrast between the work-life balance culture between the UK and Southeast Asia.
Instagram: @notso_modelminiority
Have you ever felt the crippling anxiety of not being productive 24/7? In this episode, we explore the concept of hustle culture (a.k.a the GRIND). From capitalism and the immigrant mentality to high school motivators and the “kiasu” mindset, we discuss why we glorify long working hours despite recognising its harm and why Asians and internationals are especially susceptible to it.
Instagram: @notso_modelminority
Pale skin, sharp jawlines and slim figures - we are all too familiar with the endless unrealistic beauty ideals surrounding us. We are back this week joined by Karina to explore small ways in which we can dismantle our obsession with physical attributes.
We talk all things body neutrality, constructive praise, reclaiming the word "fat" and the painful realisation that Chloe Ting's workout did not give us abs in 2 weeks :')
Instagram: @notso_modelminiority
As some of you may know, we asked our friends and listeners to share their experiences of discrimination to create a montage at the start of episode 4. But these stories were so powerful that we thought they warranted their own episode.
From being thrown bricks to more subtle acts of racism, these stories reveal how frequently racism still occurs in our daily lives. While far from all-encompassing, these four recordings show just how multi-faceted the manifestations of racism can be.
Thank you so much for those who not just bravely shared their experiences, but also their reflections on what happened. We know that it can be a difficult conversation, but we hope that we can all provide a safe space for each other to speak up about these events and concerns.
Instagram: @notso_modelminority
Since the pandemic, Asian hate crime has more than tripled. However, the discrimination of Asians goes far beyond the recent shootings and heartbreaking assaults on our elderly. In this episode, we introduce the broken windows theory and how we can contribute to reducing hate crime without compromising our safety.
We also discuss how the model minority myth is harmful in driving a wedge between Asians and other minorities. We recognise how minorities can be racist too and share our thoughts on how to make the incredibly difficult conversation about race with our families just a little bit easier.
Instagram: @notso_modelminority
In this week’s episode, we are joined by Amanda (yes there are two this week!) to explore the ups downs round and rounds of long distance and cross-culture dating.
We had so much fun talking about all the questions we had on casual dating and LDR while abroad. We also share our thoughts on dating people of different ethnicities and the role families play in these more complicated relationships.
Instagram: @notso_modelminority
Ever wondered what it’s like to work in a corporate job in London? In this episode, we talk to Christy, who shares her experiences working at a British bank and gives us a glimpse into the true face of diversity in her workplace.
From difficulties relating with clients to lowering voices and starting fantasy football teams, Christy candidly shares the struggles she faces working as a young Asian woman and shares some seriously good tips on how to deal with them.
Instagram: @notso_modelminority
One of the internal struggles we face as young Asians living abroad is finding the balance between maintaining our cultural identity while adapting to a new environment. In our first episode, we explore how our values have changed throughout our time living abroad and what this means for our cultural identity. We also touch upon the implications and dangers of the term “whitewashed”. Join us as we discuss changing views on vulnerability, struggles in socialising, and being the "perfect representation" of our culture.
Instagram: @notso_modelminority