Nuances: Our Asian Stories

S1 E08: Edmond Chan (brqvlnfoodie) on music,LGBTQ+ Asian hate, protecting elders,#prideineverycolor

This week, Edmond Chan shares his experience carving out a career as an AAPI violinist and his work on the Pride in Every Color movement. We talk about navigating racial micro-aggressions and the model minority stereotype,, protecting the elderly Asian community, and what true allyship and inclusivity looks like.
GUEST BIO
Corpus Christi, Texas native Edmond Chan is a historical violinist who performs with many early music ensembles and orchestras in the United States, Europe and Hong Kong. Edmond completed his master’s degree in historical violin at the HKU: Utrechts Conservatorium in the Netherlands. His master’s thesis entitled “The Fashionable Violinist: Fashion and How to Hold the Violin in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries” focused on exploring historical clothing and historical violin technique. He also completed an Artist’s Certificate in baroque violin at the Royal Conservatory in the Hague. Edmond teaches historical violin and viola at the University of Pennsylvania as a private lessons instructor and has lectured on historical clothing to audiences in both the US and in the Netherlands. In his free time, Edmond enjoys cooking, swimming, running, going on bike rides and playing board/card/computer games with friends and family.
@brqvlnfoodie on  Instagram | TikTok
@prideineverycolor on  Instagram | TikTok
TERMS DEFINED
Ableism
#prideout Learn more here, here, and here.
Duet / stitch features on TikTok
Model minority
MENTIONED IN THE SHOW:
Timeline of voting rights in the United States
Jean Féry Rebel, Onziéme Sonate B flat Major
Johann Pachelbel, Canon & Gigue in D Major
Eliza VanCort
TAKEAWAYS:
Speaking up for yourself gets exhausting. But having the ability to do so safely is a privilege that not everyone has.
For those who can’t speak up, just hearing other people speak up validates their experiences and helps make voices like theirs matter.
If you want to help protect our elderly Asian American community, you can position yourself near them so that you can easily intervene if need be.
Being an ally is not a label; it’s a habit, an action. Just as musicians practice so that in stressful situations, our muscle memory takes over, we have to practice so that we have muscle memory to act like an ally.
It’s important for every movement and community to be inclusive. Pride In Every Color was created specifically to amplify the voices of BIPOC, 2 spirit, and disabled creators within the LGBTQIA+ community. Within a movement, it’s important to actively uplift the voices of those that typically get even further marginalized.
Hosts: Ariadne Mila & Sherry-Lynn Lee 
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S1 E07: Cece Chow (@thetransplanter) on coming out as a trans woman after filling the role of eldest male in a Chinese family, the value of representa...

This week, Cece Chow a.k.a @thetransplanter, shares what it was like to leave a lucrative career, come out as a trans woman, and become an advocate as someone who was previously filling the role of the eldest male of the family. We talk about how Asian courtesy can get in the way of allyship, how Eurocentric beauty standards affect our self image, and how becoming a woman also meant experiencing misogyny for the first time.
GUEST BIO
Cece Chow is:
A visual artist connecting people through plants.
A filmmaker connecting people through story.
A trans fashion model and advocate, creating positive QTPOC representation
Follow Cece: @thetransplanter Instagram | TikTok | kokedama.ca
TERMS DEFINED
Gaslighting
Body dysmorphia
Transphobia & homophobia
Intersectionality
Third culture kids (TCKs)
Patriarchy & misogyny
Allyship
Eurocentric
TAKEAWAYS
You are not an ally until you perform acts of allyship for someone who needs an ally, whether it's online, on the streets, at family gatherings.
If you're serious about being an ally, practice what you would do in those situations. Role play and prepare so you won't freeze.
Trans people aren't changing who they are. They are no longer accepting to play roles assigned to them that go against who they've always known they were.
Trans women face additional layers of danger and discrimination from men due to homophobia & transphobia.
Bodies idolized by mainstream media often set unrealistic beauty standards, which can cause body dysmorphia. This is why representation matters
Cultural context and intersectionality are crucial to understand. The experience of LGBTQIA+ Asian people can be very different from that of LGBTQIA+ white people.
Third culture kids aren't always a blend of cultures, but rather identify more with one or the other in different situations.
Women are often given unsolicited opinions instead of solicited help.
Links:
Instagram | LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog
Hosts: Ariadne Mila & Sherry-Lynn Lee
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S1 E06: Josh Decolongon (@sommeligay) on bringing diversity to the wine & beverage industry.

Josh Decolongon
is an avid lover of flavor experimentation, especially through a queer and Filipino lens. Josh is dedicated to making the wine world inclusive and fun.
Josh’s links:
Josh Decolongon | @sommeligay | Instagram | TikTok | @readbotelya on IG
Mentioned in the show:
Book: “I Am Filipino” by Nicole Ponseca
Terms:
Tagalog, Ilocano - two of the 100+ distinct languages spoken in the Philippines.
Tinikling - a traditional Philippine folk dance that originated during the Spanish colonial era. The dance involves two people beating, tapping, and sliding bamboo poles on the ground and against each other in coordination with one or more dancers who step over and in between the poles in a dance.
Adobo (the national dish of the Philippines) - chicken marinated in a sauce made up of soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, bay leaves, and black peppercorn.
Piaparan a manok - dish consisting of chicken cooked in a coconut milk-based broth with grated coconut, garlic, onions, ginger, turmeric, young wild shallots, labuyo chili, and various vegetables and spiced with palapa.
Lumpia - spring rolls commonly found in the Philippines and Indonesia, made of thin paper-like pastry skin enveloping savory or sweet fillings.
Manok - the Tagalog word for “chicken”
Lechon - a whole roast pig dish usually prepared for special occasions and gatherings.
Palabok - a rice noodle dish composed of minced pork, tinapa flakes or smoked fish flakes, and annatto water.
Sinigang - a soup or stew with a tamarind base, meat, vegetables, onions, tomatoes, tamarind, and fish sauce.
Pinakbet - an indigenous dish from the northern regions, made from mixed vegetables sautéed in fish or shrimp sauce.
Takeaways:
Wine is at the intersection of science, art, culture, food, and connecting people.
Wine making in a lab might sound like heresy, but with California struggling with severe droughts, it might be just the innovation the industry needs.
Broad recommendations like “Asian food pairs well with dry riesling” is way too simplistic.
The rules of Western wine pairing don’t always apply to pairing wine with Asian foods.
Diversity is not just about gender or skin color, but also language, cuisines and occasions around wine.
Sometimes, leaving the comfort of home is the price to pay to freely explore our truest selves, but of course, that doesn’t mean we don’t miss aspects of living closer to our family.
Many of us now crave the foods that we used to take for granted as kids.
Not all Asians like Boba/Bubble Tea!
Say hi: Instagram | LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog
Hosts: Ariadne Mila & Sherry-Lynn Lee
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S1 E05: AUSLIN, the artist supermom who’s breaking the cycle of intergenerational trauma she experienced as a Hmong American growing up in Wisconsin.

Trigger warning: Sexual assault, self-harm, suicidal ideationSuicide prevention hotline: call 800-273-8255.
Crisis Text Line: text HOME to 741741.
GUEST BIO
Auslin is a singer-songwriter from Green Bay, WI. Shes been able to sing and songwrite for independent producers and artists all online and all from home. She's well versed in writing pop, rnb, and edm. With her being a single mom to two boys, working a full time job, making time to get a workout in, and working on music, you'd wonder how she gets it all done. The main thought that keeps her going is if she gives up what she loves to do then she's teaching her kids to give up on theirs and that is not gonna happen.
DEFINITIONS:
Intergenerational trauma - occurs when the effects of trauma are passed down between generations. This can occur if a parent experienced abuse as a child or Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), and the cycle of trauma and abuse impacts their parenting. Intergenerational trauma can also be the result of oppression, including racial trauma or other systemic oppression. The effects of intergenerational trauma have been documented in descendants of refugees, residential schools, and Holocaust survivors, demonstrating that this type of trauma continues to impact populations for generations after a collective traumatic event has occurred.
Hazing - an initiation process involving harassment.Hazing, initiation, bastardisation, ragging or deposition refers to any activity expected of someone in joining or participating in a group that humiliates, degrades, abuses, or endangers them regardless of a person's willingness to participate.
“one day i’ll own this boot” - refers to a meme which we’ve linked in the show notes. This refers to an internalized oppression mentality where an oppressed person copes with abuse and oppression by telling themselves that one day, they will be in the position of power where they can then abuse and oppress others.
TAKEAWAYS:
Sometimes people have their guard up because of childhood trauma. Be kind.
This trauma response can affect one’s ability to connect with people and takes work to unlearn.
Intergenerational trauma can be overcome, but takes work.
It’s okay to let go of parts of our culture that go against our current values.
We’re all Asian enough.
Small acts of kindness are huge.
Mediocre producers are still producers.
To nominate a guest, please follow and DM on Instagram | LinkedIn | Twitter | Blog
Song:“Better”
AUSLIN: Instagram Facebook TikTok Youtube
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S1 E04: Lisa Danaë on being both ”not Asian enough” and ”not white enough” as a mixed-race dark pop artist.

This week, Lisa Danaë chats with us about being mixed-race, trying to fit in the music industry both in the states and in the Philippines, and finally finding her voice and being accepted into the GRAMMY:NEXT program.
Lisa’s links:
IG/TikTok @lisadanaemusic
Twitter/Pinterest/Youtube: @lisadanae
Website: https://www.lisadanae.com
SoundScrub podcast: lisadanae.com/soundscrub
Filippino dishes mentioned:
Adobo: https://panlasangpinoy.com/filipino-chicken-adobo-recipe/
Lumpia: https://panlasangpinoy.com/longanisa-lumpiang-shanghai/
If you'd like to be featured or nominate a guest, please follow and DM us at @nuancespod. We will be releasing episodes every Sunday during AAPI Heritage Month (May) and Pride Month (June).
Hosts: Ariadne Mila & Sherry-Lynn Lee
VOTING INFO:
https://www.fvap.gov/
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/us/elections/midterm-elections-calendar.html
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S1 E03: Tonie on being a nonbinary Vietnamese-American pop artist and producer in NYC.

This week’s episode is as inspiring as it is educational. Tonie shares how they have navigated uncomfortable conversations around gender identity, race, and mental health as a nonbinary Vietnamese American in the music industry. We’ll also hear Tonie’s latest track “If I Took A Pill’.
Tonie can be reached on Instagram & TikTok and their website Itstonie.com
Stream their latest single “If I Took A Pill”.
Stream The Nuances Podcast AAPI indie music playlist: Apple | Spotify
Learn more about being nonbinary with Alokvmenon
Recipes for the dishes mentioned:
Bún bò Huế (Spicy beef soup)
Bún Riêu (Vermicelli soup)
Bánh Cuốn (Vietnamese rice rolls)
If you'd like to be featured or nominate a guest, please follow and DM us at @nuancespod.
Hosts: Ariadne Mila & Sherry-Lynn Lee
We will be releasing episodes every Sunday during AAPI Heritage Month (May) and Pride Month (June).
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S1 E02: Rahul Borkar on being a rock artist and producer from Louisville, KY.

In this week's episode, we get a glimpse of life in Louisville, KY as a first generation American of Indian descent. Rahul Borkar joins us for a heartening conversation about his upbringing, and how his family's unconditional support has enabled him to have a thriving music career in a genre not often praised for its diversity. Rahul's story defies stereotypes, not only about our perception of AAPI, but also about our perception of America.
Rahul can be reached via his website or on instagram.
If you'd like to be featured or nominate a guest, please follow and DM us at @nuancespod.
Hosts: Ariadne Mila & Sherry-Lynn Lee
We will be releasing episodes every Sunday during AAPI Heritage Month (May) and Pride Month (June).
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S1 E01: Introducing ”Nuances: Beyond first impressions with the Asian diaspora”

Hello!
We are Ariadne Mila & Sherry-Lynn Lee, your co-hosts of "Nuances: Beyond first impressions with the Asian diaspora".
As Asian Americans in a creative industry, it is pretty rare for us to meet other AAPI peers in our field. After a chance meeting at a listening session, we connected and quickly found we had so much in common, even though our experiences were very different in many ways. It feels great to connect with someone who gets it. What started out as a co-write quickly evolved into this podcast, where we hope to learn more about the diverse backgrounds that make up the AAPI community. We hope that, through our guests' stories, our listeners will feel invited to learn more and participate in the culture of those who are from a different ethnic group. Even as members of the AAPI community, we have a lot to learn about the other diasporas under the AAPI umbrella.
In this episode, you'll hear a little bit about our backgrounds, and what led us to create this podcast.
If you'd like to be featured or nominate a guest, please follow and DM us at @nuancespod.
We will be releasing episodes every Sunday during AAPI Heritage Month (May) and Pride Month (June).
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