Rerun: experiences at the intersection of sexuality and race with Alex Nguyen

01/25/22 • 75 min

This is a rerun of a conversation released in June 2021.
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Alex was born and raised in the United States and is of Taiwanese and Vietnamese descent. In this conversation, we explore Alex's experiences being both Asian and gay and the challenges those intersecting parts of his identity bring.
He shares his lived experiences being Asian American, why the US isn't really the melting pot that it claims to be, why we need better representation of what being gay means in popular media, and his journey of becoming more comfortable and accepting of his identity.
As always, please share and rate, as well as follow along on Facebook and Instagram! And send me an email [email protected] if you want to share your story - I would love to hear from you!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

Rerun: Shilo Kino on reclaiming her indigenous identity

This is a rerun and extended edit of an episode published in March 2021.
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Challenging the status quo and being the representation you want to see can be a lonely uphill battle. Shilo is an author and journalist who is of Ngāpuhi and Tainui iwi and she on that path to breaking down existing narratives and heavily entrenched racism against Māori in New Zealand through her storytelling.
In our conversation, we talk about our early days as graduate journalists at The Manukau Courier, Shilo's time in Hong Kong as a missionary, confronting racism while working in Tauranga, writing and releasing her first book and how she is feeling ahead of her year-long full-immersion Te Reo Māori course.
Language notes:
1. "iwi" means "people" or "tribe".
2. "Aotearoa" is the Māori name for New Zealand.
3. "Pākehā" means a non-Māori New Zealander, generally of European descent
4. A marae is a meeting ground and focal point of Māori communities, incorporating a carved meeting house, Te Wharenui. It's where the community gathers for celebrations, funerals, and other important events.
5. "Kaumātua" are tribal elders and help to preserve traditions and pass knowledge down to younger generations. They are highly revered.
6. "Mana" is kind of a tricky term to understand fully through words only. In Māori, it refers to an intangible force found in people and objects. It underpins everything and to have mana means to have spiritual power, authority, identity and respect.
7. "Waka" means "canoe", but in the context of this episode, the word is used metaphorically to mean "journey".
You can support and follow Shilo's work through her Instagram account and Twitter, as well as her column at Newsroom. She is documenting her Te Reo Māori journey through her own podcast, Back to Kura. Her book is The Pōrangi Boy.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Next Episode

Golriz Ghahraman: What it means to be a truly representative MP

Golriz Ghahraman is often described as New Zealand’s first refugee Member of Parliament (MP) and it is a label that follows her in all her work with under-represented communities in New Zealand. She came to New Zealand as a nine-year-old child asylum seeker from Iran and went on to study at Oxford University and practise law at the United Nations. She’s now an elected MP representing The Green Party, where she works on a wide range of human rights issues, including refugee and migrant rights.

In this episode, Golriz shares with me:

The influence her background has had on her career choices and the issues she’s most passionate about
How she manages the responsibility of representation for so many different under-represented communities
Her journey with multiple sclerosis and her firsthand experience of how healthcare fails women

You can learn more about Golriz’s story in her book, Know Your Place. You can also follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.