Nuances: Our Asian Stories
Nuances is an award-nominated audio space where guests from a wide range of Asian ethnic groups, careers, countries, and communities explore our often complicated relationships with our culture(s) and how they shape us. It can be a source of validation, a space for healing, a call to self-reflection, or a good laugh, often all at the same time. The current 5th season is a limited series exploring wholesome queer stories from premodern Asia, what they can teach us about our cultures, and why they were forgotten in modern times. It features scholars and guest co-hosts from the queer Asian community. We talk about the careers we’ve pursued: winemaker, writer, actor, musician, politician, activist, brain scientist, care worker, doctor, & so many more. Our intersectional conversations explore how our experiences affect our views on anti-racism, disability justice, feminism, LGBTQIA+ rights, religion, etc., and how we can create change in our own circles to build solidarity across moveme...
Episodes
Sunday Oct 13, 2024
7. Performing Gender (and Gender Benders)
Sunday Oct 13, 2024
Sunday Oct 13, 2024
Queering Premodern Asia is a limited series and the 5th season of the Nuances podcast about Our Asian Stories. Each episode explores different aspects of sexual diversity in premodern Asia with commentary from guest scholars. Episodes are divided into a narrative portion, and a discussion with a guest co-host from the queer Asian community.
Content warnings
Introduction
Performing gender in Indonesia, Philippines, Japan
Cross-dressing in theater in Korea, China, India, Japan
Gender bender icons from China, Vietnam, Korea
Gender boundaries in premodern China, Japan and Iran
Conclusion
Discussion with co-host Stella Gold
Did you enjoy this episode?
🧧If you would like to help me spread the word about the show, or support it financially, learn more at nuancespod.com/support
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ If you'd like to tell other people how much they will enjoy this show, please consider writing a review.
💌 Subscribe to LAZOU's substack, where I'll be sharing some behind-the-scenes + additional essays!
CONTACT @nuancespod on socials!
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Host: Lazou
GUEST BIO
Stella Gold is a queer and nonbinary Rebirth + Wealth Coach for changemakers and comes from a lineage of activists. They are the founder of My Gold Standard, a believer in wealth activism, pro liberation from all oppressive systems, and collective care. They believe in using business as an ecosystem for financial solidarity for yourself AND the collective. Their ancestors are filipinx, romanian jewish, scottish, irish, chinese, italian, iranian, french, german, british, and likely so much more. They hold values and beliefs in abolitionism, anarchism, decolonization, collective and ancestral liberation, and leftism. Instagram | LinkedIn | Web
Sunday Oct 06, 2024
Feed drop: Immigrantly
Sunday Oct 06, 2024
Sunday Oct 06, 2024
Your host LAZOU is a chronically ill girlie and is dealing with a lot of brain fog and fatigue these last 2 weeks, so episode 7 will be out next week. Don't worry, I'm fine, I just need rest. However, I do have something to share in the meantime, and that's a feed drop of my interview on the show Immigrantly.
Feed drops are a way we podcasters collaborate and introduce our audiences to each other's show because our shows share common interests. If you enjoy Nuances: Our Asian Stories, you will likely also enjoy Saadia Khan's work with Immigrantly.
Follow Immigrantly on your favorite podcast platform here.
If you don't already, you can follow @nuancespod on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, X, Threads and BlueSky. Does anyone use BlueSky?
Sunday Sep 22, 2024
6. The West: Savior or Demonizer? - Part 2
Sunday Sep 22, 2024
Sunday Sep 22, 2024
Queering Premodern Asia is a limited series of Nuances: Our Asian Stories. Each episode explores different aspects of sexual diversity in premodern Asia with commentary from guest scholars. Episodes are divided into a narrative portion, and a discussion with a guest co-host from the queer Asian community.
Introduction & content warnings
China & the missionaries
China, Britain, and the Opium Wars
Japan, gun boat diplomacy, and rapid modernization
Thailand, Iran, Turkey
Regulating prostitution
Conclusion
Discussion with co-host Cece
Acknowledgments
Guest co-host: Cece is a Canadian born Chinese transgender trans model, advocate, poet, and public speaker who is using her voice to lift up the marginalized, fill in the gaps, and instigate journeys of discovery
Did you enjoy this episode?
🧧If you would like to help me spread the word about the show, or support it financially, learn more at nuancespod.com/support
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ If you'd like to tell other people how much they will enjoy this show, please consider writing a review.
💌 Subscribe to LAZOU's substack, where I'll be sharing some behind-the-scenes + additional essays!
CONTACT
Instagram | TikTok | Web | LinkedIn | Twitter
Sunday Sep 08, 2024
6. The West: Savior or Demonizer? - Part 1
Sunday Sep 08, 2024
Sunday Sep 08, 2024
Nuances podcast about Our Asian Stories. Each episode explores different aspects of sexual diversity in premodern Asia with commentary from guest scholars. Episodes are divided into a narrative portion, and a discussion with a guest co-host from the queer Asian community.
Introduction & content warnings
Why is this series focusing on premodern Asia?
The West isn't the only imperial power
From the Silk Road to the Age of Exploration
British colonization of India, Section 377 & vagrancy Laws
Premodern Chinese law about sexual crimes (w. Prof. CunCun Wu)
Portuguese vs British India (w. Prof. Anjali Arondekar)
Spanish colonization of the Philippines
French colonization of Vietnam/Cambodia/Laos
Discussion with co-host Stella
Acknowledgments
Guest co-host: Stella is a writer, editor, and co-host for the Brazn Azn podcast along with the lovely Virginia Duan.
Did you enjoy this episode?
🧧If you would like to help me spread the word about the show, or support it financially, learn more at nuancespod.com/support
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ If you'd like to tell other people how much they will enjoy this show, please consider writing a review.
💌 Subscribe to LAZOU's substack, where I'll be sharing some behind-the-scenes + additional essays!
CONTACT
Instagram | TikTok | Web | LinkedIn | Twitter
Sunday Aug 18, 2024
Feed drop: Mx Asian American
Sunday Aug 18, 2024
Sunday Aug 18, 2024
This week's feed drop will have familiar voices!
Remember Karen Zheng, who co-hosted Ep. 2 But Where Are The Lesbians? with me?
Well, this time she's interviewing me on her podcast, Mx Asian American!
Sunday Aug 11, 2024
Feed drop: Fruitbowl - An oral history of queer sex
Sunday Aug 11, 2024
Sunday Aug 11, 2024
Did you enjoy the last episode "5. Gods, Sex and the Patriarchy"?
I'll be back with episode 6 of Queering Premodern Asia very soon! A new opportunity to interview another scholar came up and I couldn't pass it up. I think it would greatly add to the remaining episodes, hence the wait. But I didn't want to leave you hanging so in the meantime, I'm doing a few feed swaps with podcasts that I think you might enjoy if you're enjoying this series.
Warning: this episode has explicit content and is definitely not suitable for work or young ears.
We’ve been focusing on premodern queer history on this show, but the Fruitbowl podcast is an oral history of queer sex today. The first 4 seasons of fruitbowl were interviews with queer individuals sharing their coming of age stories and their journey discovering their sexual identity. The current season is a compilation of the past interviews that outline the common threads in these diverse stories.
The episode I’m sharing today is S2E2 with Aditya who grew up in India, and eventually moved to NYC.
Episode description:
Raised in Hyderbad, India, Aditya didn’t come out until his second year of college in New Delhi. Luckily his family and friends accepted him, but an awkward experience he had at a bath house in Hong Kong served as a reminder that queer people can often be as racist and socially elitist as straight people. Over the years, Aditya has learned to follow his instincts as he has navigated his journey from India to New York City. It hasn’t been easy, but he eventually found his tribe.
If you enjoy this episode, feel free to subscribe to Fruitbowl wherever you listen or connect with them on Instagram.
NUANCES CONTACT
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Host: Lazou
Subscribe to Lazou's Substack
Sunday Jul 28, 2024
5. Gods, Sex, and the Patriarchy
Sunday Jul 28, 2024
Sunday Jul 28, 2024
If you enjoy this show and would like to help me spread the word about it, or support it financially, you can find out more at nuancespod.com/support.
View the full show notes.
Subscribe to LAZOU's substack.
GUEST BIO
Shreya Sharma, pronouns she and her, is a podcast marketer by day who finds herself immersed in questions about intersectional identity by night. Thankfully for her, she is a writer too. She occasionally publishes her love affairs with sounds and audio on the Shreya's Audio Affairs newsletter on Substack..
Instagram
CONTACT
Instagram | TikTok | Web | LinkedIn | Twitter
Host: Lazou
Support this podcast: nuancespod.com/support
Subscribe to Lazou's Substack
Sunday Jul 14, 2024
Sunday Jul 14, 2024
Queering Premodern Asia is a limited series and 5th season of the podcast Nuances: Our Asian Stories. Each episode explores different aspects of sexual diversity in premodern Asia with commentary from guest scholars. Episodes are divided into a narrative portion, and a discussion with a guest co-host from the queer Asian community.
4. LOVE, MARRIAGE & THEIR CASUAL RELATIONSHIP
Introduction & content warnings
Marrying for love
China
China - Male-Male marriages in Fujian
China - Marrying ghosts
Iran - the many forms of love
How the definition of love and marriage evolved in Korea and Japan
Vietnamese village customs
Female agency in South East Asia (Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines
The only people without marriage
When did love and marriage tie the knot?
Discussion with Dr. Badie
What monogamous people can learn from polyamorous folks
Outro
If you enjoy this show and would like to help me spread the word about it, or support it financially, you can find out more at nuancespod.com/support
If you'd like to leave a review, these are the places you can do so write a review
GUEST BIO
Dr. Manijeh Badiee (she/her/hers) is an Iranian, queer, bisexual, polyamorous, neurospicy, cisgender femme professor, psychologist, and CEO of Poly Therapist Psychology Corporation..
Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Facebook | LinkedIn | Web
CONTACT
Instagram | TikTok | Web | LinkedIn | Twitter
Host: Lazou
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Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nuancespod/support
Sunday Jun 30, 2024
3. Fifty Shades of Gender (Queering Premodern Asia - a limited series)
Sunday Jun 30, 2024
Sunday Jun 30, 2024
See the FULL SHOW NOTES for references, links & more.
Queering Premodern Asia is a limited series and the 5th season of the Nuances podcast about Our Asian Stories. Each episode explores different aspects of sexual diversity in premodern Asia with commentary from guest scholars. Episodes are divided into a narrative portion, and a discussion with a guest co-host from the queer Asian community.
Introduction & content warnings
Third Gender as spiritual leaders/ people with special powersAsog Babaylans (Philippines)
Manangbali (Malaysian Borneo)
Hijras (South Asia)
Bissu (South Sulawesi, Indonesia)
Bayasa (Central Sulawesi, Indonesia)
RatoNale/Seaworm Priest (West Sumba, Indonesia)
Balian and Basir (Kalimantan, Indonesia)
Sexuality as fluidChigo (Japan)
Beyond the Western modelGay & Lesbian non-equivalence
Baklâ (Philippines)
Heterosexuals and Lesbians in Thailand vs. the West
Kathoey (Thailand, Laos, Cambodia)
Gender ambiguity in premodern Muslim societies
5 genders of the Bugis culture (Indonesia)
Intersex
Outro
Discussion with TONIE
Featured Song: More Than My Body by TONIE
Guest scholars:
Sachi Schmidt-Hori, professor of Japanese literature & culture at Dartmouth College.
Wu CunCun, professor of Chinese literature at the University of Hong Kong.
Guest co-host
TONIE is doing their very best to make you cry, in all the best ways. The LA-native writes and produces each synth-pop track from the comfort of their skylit home studio in Brooklyn, NY — a perfect backdrop for the emotional vulnerability that colors their lyrics. Proudly Vietnamese American, nonbinary, and themselves!
TONIE can be reached on Instagram & TikTok and their website Itstonie.com
Connect with Nuances: Our Asian Stories on Instagram, TikTok, Threads or YouTube
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Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nuancespod/support
Sunday Jun 16, 2024
2. But where are the lesbians? (Queering Premodern Asia - a limited series)
Sunday Jun 16, 2024
Sunday Jun 16, 2024
Queering Premodern Asia is a limited series and the 5th season of the Nuances podcast about Our Asian Stories. Each episode explores different aspects of sexual diversity in premodern Asia with commentary from guest scholars. Episodes are divided into a narrative portion, and a discussion with a guest co-host from the queer Asian community.
Introduction & content warnings
China – Literacy as a barrier (Prof. Wu)
China – Li Yu's "The Fragrant Companion" (read by Karen)
China – Lesbian consort in the Ming dynasty (Prof. Wu)
China – Wu Zao
China – Golden Orchid Societies
Korea – Deposed Crown Princess Sun Bin
Japan – Lesbian sex toys
Iran – The cross-dressed woman (Niloofar Rasooli)
Discussion with Karen
References - in the shownotes on nuancespod.com
Episode transcript: COMING SOON
Guest scholar:
Niloofar Rasooli, doctoral fellow at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.
Wu CunCun, professor of Chinese literature at the University of Hong Kong.
Guest co-host bio:
Karen Zheng is a first-generation, queer, Chinese-American poet. Her poetry has been featured in Sine Theta Magazine, Honey Literary, Benningham Review, Harbor Review and elsewhere. She has received fellowships from the Breadloaf Writers’ Conference, Roots. Wounds. Words, Chicago Storystudio, and The Poetry Lab. She has been a finalist for Harbor Review’s Washburn Chapbook Prize. In her free time, she hosts the Mx. Asian American podcast and Tucked in Bed podcast. Find out more about her on her website and listen to Mx. Asian American here and here.
You can also follow us on all social media: @nuancespod
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Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nuancespod/support
NUANCES: OUR ASIAN STORIES – SEASON 5 (Premiers Jun 2, 2024)
Queering Premodern Asia
The upcoming 5th season will be a limited narrative series exploring “queer” history in premodern Asia, where sexual diversity was much more prevalent than is commonly known today.
Featuring queer Asian co-hosts and scholars, these episodes will have you questioning everything you thought you knew about queerness, love, and premodern life in Asia:
Prince Charming & His King
But Where Are the Lesbians?
50 shades of Gender
Love, Marriage & Their Casual Relationship
Gods, Sex & The Patriarchy
The West: Savior or Demonizer?
Gender: A performance
For the record...
In Search of the Socially Acceptable