Self Evident Presents: "Exploring Ancestral Grief" (by Grief, Collected)

Explicit content warning

01/18/23 • 44 min

America! The land of opportunity! And also, for so many, the ambiguous loss of immigration and uprooting a life and a history comes with a complex web of emotions. In this episode of Grief, Collected by The Mash-Up Americans, hosts Amy S. Choi and Rebecca Lehrer speak with trauma therapist and educator Linda Thai — about ancestral grief, and how unmetabolized grief, particularly in "Mash-Up" families, is passed down through generations. We dive into how important understanding historical context is for grief and healing, and ask: What happens to a family structure if we don’t grieve?

Full episode transcript available on the Grief, Collected website.

Episode Credits

Grief, Collected is a production of The Mash-Up Americans
Executive produced by Amy S. Choi and Rebecca Lehrer
Senior editor and producer is Sara Pellegrini
Development Producer is Dupe Oyebolu
Production manager Shelby Sandlin
Original music composed by The Brothers Tang
Sound design support by Pedro Rafael Rosado
Website design by Rebecca Parks Fernandez
Grief, Collected was supported in part by a grant from The Pop Culture Collaborative

Full episode transcript available on the Grief, Collected website.

Episode Credits

Grief, Collected is a production of The Mash-Up Americans
Executive produced by Amy S. Choi and Rebecca Lehrer
Senior editor and producer is Sara Pellegrini
Development Producer is Dupe Oyebolu
Production manager Shelby Sandlin
Original music composed by The Brothers Tang
Sound design support by Pedro Rafael Rosado
Website design by Rebecca Parks Fernandez
Grief, Collected was supported in part by a grant from The Pop Culture Collaborative

Previous Episode

Self Evident Presents: "Arrival" (by VPM's Resettled)

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.

Next Episode

Self Evident Presents: “How to Wash Your Brain” (by Boen Wang and Feet in 2 Worlds)

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.