The As I Am podcast
Episode 26: Food and Authenticity
This episode features a chat about the obsession with authenticity that many Asian people hold as it pertains to food, particularly Asian food. We discuss the relevance of authenticity, the reasons why we've tried to gatekeep "traditional" food in the past, as well as the importance of not allowing authenticity to be a barrier to innovation and creativity. This is an episode where we tried very hard to take the logical path, however the discussion highlights that we still have much to learn in terms of navigating this complex issue.
Episode 25: Soy + Spice
Mary Liu is the Asian-Australian founder behind Soy + Spice, a brand built on the core belief that their lingerie symbolises the empowerment of women and enables women to feel confident, to self love and to be courageous. We chat with Mary about what it takes to launch a successful apparel business, her entrepreneurial spirit and explore the idea of sexual conservatism in Asian culture. Episode out now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.
Episode 24: Lunar New Year
Our first episode of 2022 is all about the new year, and more specifically, new years according to the west vs. new years according to the east. We give our thoughts on the obsession with new years resolutions, the new year traditions within our families, in addition to the broader sinofication of Lunar New Year. On another exciting note, look forward to fortnightly episodes from us moving forward!
Episode 23: Scoopy
Tesia Tran and Angelo Labrador are 2 of 4 founders behind Scoopy Milk Bar. In this episode, we speak about the transition from their humble beginnings testing out bingsu recipes in their own kitchen, all the way to becoming a household name in the Melbourne food scene. Angelo and Tesia also speak about how the business launched in the midst of a perfect storm, the diversity of Asian influences they draw from, as well as their desire to build an Asian-Australian foodie community.
Episode 22: Colourism
Devni Wimalasena is a law student that is heavily active in the feminist and body positivity space. She is currently based in Sri Lanka and recently worked with CNN on issues of colourism as part of their AsEquals series. In this episode, we discuss colourism in the context of beauty standards, the influence of skin lightening products and the biggest factors that drive attitudes towards skin colour within our society. Episode out now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.
Episode 21: Avatar: A Love Letter
Avatar: The Last Airbender is probably one of the greatest television shows to date. We sit down and unpack a show that hosts complex characters in a truly epic narrative that imagines a ‘world free of whiteness’. This one’s a lighthearted episode, exploring how the show successfully portrayed Asian influences, culture, and ideologies - as well as the missteps - as we revisit the storylines we intimately know and love.
Episode 20: Mr Yum
Our first post-hiatus episode features a sit down with Co-Founder and CEO of Mr Yum, Kim Teo. Mr Yum is a start up focussed on showing beautiful mobile menus married with the ability to order and pay through a QR code. QR codes have become integral with everyday life during the era of COVID-19, and there aren’t many more recognisable than Mr Yum. We chat with Kim about her experiences navigating the tech startup scene, and her key motivations in paving a new narrative on gender norms for the Asian identity.
Episode 19: Michelle Law
An Asian-Australian writer, actor and screenwriter extraordinaire, we had the privilege to sit down with Michelle Law (writer of the smash-hit play Single Asian Female, and co-creator of the SBS series Homecoming Queens, just to name a few). Join us as we discuss the importance of Asian representation, storytelling, her relationship to her brother, Ben Law, the landscape of Asian oriented narratives in Australian media, and its future.
Episode 18: Naked Asian Grocer
Global warming, environmental degradation and sustainability are amongst the key challenges of the 21st century. Yet, the magnitude of these problems can make tackling them seem daunting and unapproachable. We sit down with Brian and Jian, the co-founders of Naked Asian Grocer - Australia’s first zero waste Asian grocer - to chat through their founder journey, as well as how people can implement sustainable practices in their lives through small progressive changes.
Episode 17: Advocacy & Activism
What’s the difference between advocacy & activism? Do the merits of slactivism outweigh the costs? How can we make activism less daunting? We discuss these questions and much more in this episode with Asian Youth Act, a non-partisan organisation that seeks to promote political and civic engagement of Asian youth. Engaging in advocacy and activism can often be intimidating for many, including the As I Am team. However, by breaking down the barriers and understanding the many ways in which you can support the causes you care most about, however small, being an advocate or taking action becomes that much more approachable and accessible.
Episode 16: Tough Conversations
Conversations about difficult topics are never easy and easily avoidable. When you add in the hierarchical nature of many Asian cultures, this difficulty doubles. In this episode, we discuss our personal experience of talking to family members about topics ranging from racism and anti-blackness, to mental health and perspectives on Vietnamese colonialism.
As you will hear, we are not great at doing it ourselves. However, our hope is that through this episode, you may hear similarities with discussions that you have avoided or tried to engage in, and then just maybe, learn something to kickstart those tough conversations again.
Episode 15: The Politics of Drinking
Do you Asian flush? We do, along with approximately 1 in 3 East Asians in the world. We discuss the politics of drinking in this episode with our friend Moi, a wine industry professional and author of Veraison Magazine. Join us as we explore the joys and stigmas that comes with drinking, the interaction between race, Eurocentrism and wine, and our hopes of changing attitudes to Asian flush and the makeup of the wine industry.
Episode 14: Alice Pung
For our first episode of 2021, we had the pleasure of speaking with Alice Pung, an award-winning writer, editor, teacher and lawyer based in Melbourne. She is the bestselling author of Unpolished Gem and Her Father’s Daughter and the editor of the anthologies Growing Up Asian in Australia and My First Lesson. Our discussion spans stories about Alice's family, her experience of giving birth and raising a child in the wake of COVID-19, the future of Asian parenting and much much more. Speaking with Alice has been one of the biggest highlights of our podcasting career and we're so excited for you to listen.
Episode 13: Year in Review
Our final episode for 2020 serves as a laugh about our shortcomings and mistakes, a reflection of the year that was, as well as a discussion on key sociocultural events. This episode is also a thank you to all our listeners, old and new, for your words of support, your continued encouragement, your well structured criticism and your eloquent ideas. You have made it possible for the As I Am brand to grow and mature and have enabled us to continue spotlighting Asian voices across Australia and beyond. We're incredibly excited for 2021, and can't wait to show you what we've got in store for you.
Episode 12: Workplace Diversity
Less than 5 per cent of Asian-Australians make it to senior executive levels. Only 1.6 per cent become CEOs. It’s no secret that Asians are severely underrepresented in corporate leadership, despite being overrepresented among high-achieving university graduates. How can we overcome the ‘bamboo ceiling’? Are quotas necessary? Or is affirmative action just one part of the story? Join us as we dissect the social, cultural and structural barriers to diversity in corporate leadership with Keerthi Ravi - an Australian lawyer from Allens and founder of Diverse Women in Law, a non-for-profit organisation aiming to promote and support diverse women lawyers and law students.
Episode 11: Appropriation in Fashion
What is cultural appropriation? What is considered as appropriate and inappropriate in fashion? Who gets to decide? In this episode, we sit down and tackle arguably some of our hardest questions yet. We consider the inevitability of the borrowing and mixing of cultures in fashion, and attempt to draw the line between appropriation and appreciation. We interrogate the imbalanced power and privilege that underlie cultural appropriation and ask: who gets to benefit from a culture, and at what cost?
Episode 10: Being Mixed Race
What does it mean to be mixed race? And how does the duality of being from two cultures impact someone’s world view? This is a special episode where we collaborated with two friends and our dear listeners in order to understand these two questions. Being mixed race is undoubtedly a unique experience with both its flourishing highs and ambiguous lows, but most importantly, it is the celebration of diversity and cultural richness through the ability to draw from and experience multiple identities.
Episode 09: Bias of Attraction
We think it's pretty safe to say that dating as an Asian can be a roller coaster of an experience. Navigating a sea of stereotypes, "preferences" and trying to work out if they really like you for you, are just a few of the topics we discuss in our first episode on love and relationships.
Episode 08: Behind the Line
Race and privilege in the kitchen, the values we give to Western and Eastern food, and Jeff challenging a fine dining chef to a crab-off are a few of the many things we chatted about with Attica Junior Sous Chef and our friend, Cameron Tay-Yap.
Episode 07: Understanding Disability
In this episode, we sit down with Matt Pierri - an Australian lawyer, Rhodes Scholar and an extraordinary disability advocate.