Here in Hawaii

What if the real legacy of Hawaiʻi’s plantation days isn’t just in our food, slang, or aloha shirts — but in our fight for solidarity?

In this episode we sit down with Dr. Kealani Cook, Associate Professor of History at UH West Oʻahu, for a mini-history lesson on how plantation-era Hawaiʻi shaped the cultural and political landscape we live in today. Dr. Cook traces his own journey — from a kid fascinated by Hawaiian history to a d...

What does it take to become a doctor when no one in your family has even gone to college? In this episode, we sit down with Emily Erika — a first-generation Filipina and medical student — as she shares her incredible journey from doubting her dream to becoming the first in her family to pursue a career in medicine.

Emily opens up about the cultural and financial hurdles she faced, learning she had ADHD after struggling through her ...

In this episode, we sit down with Daniela Stolfi-Tow, the local girl behind 808 Viral — one of Hawai‘i’s biggest digital platforms. From her early days growing up on O‘ahu into the wild world of viral content, Dani shares how she built and continues to nurture a space that celebrates local humor, culture and community.

If you're not already, follow https://www.instagram.com/808viral and https://www.instagram.com/hawaiicreators/ for...

We did not expect this interview to be so much fun! 😂 Lauren is the owner of Hawaii Flora + Fauna in Makawao. She shared about building her bespoke lei business, how she forages for lei ingredients, and the burnout and fears that come with owning a business. And just when you think the interview is over we start talking about the "fauna lei" 😲🤯

🌷 Follow Lauren's shop at https://www.instagram.com/hawaiiflorafauna/

Here in Hawaiʻ...

Julia is the founder and director of Reach for the Stars, the first and only student-led dance program for special needs students in Hawaiʻi. She shares what she saw lacking in opportunities for students with special needs like her sister Lilia, and how Reach for the Stars is addressing those needs.

🌟 Learn more about Reach for the Stars at https://www.reachforthestarshi.org/

🌺 Please join us in supporting our partners

🫶🏼 htt...

Dr. Theresa Wee is a pediatric obesity health and wellness expert who has been practicing in Waipahu for over 40 years. She shares about deciding to become a doctor at 8 years old even though she didn't know of any women doctors, her struggles with adversity including the grief of losing her husband, and her program – Walk with a Doc Oahu.

🚶🏻‍♀️ Feeling up for a walk? Check out https://walkwithadoc.org/join-a-walk/locations/waipa...

Lopaka Kapanui, the master storyteller behind Mysteries of Hawaiʻi, shares about his family history and how he was able to process and heal so that he could become the loving and devoted family man he his today.

🌺 Lopaka's company, Mysteries of Hawaiʻi, was voted the #1 Ghost Tour in the Nation last year! Follow them and book a tour https://www.mysteries-of-hawaii.com/

🌺 Please join us in supporting our partners

🫶🏼 https://ww...

Dayton Asato, 3rd generation owner of KC Drive Inn, shares his family's story in running one of the iconic restaurants on Oahu since 1934. In addition to the stuff that made it into the episode, we also talked about cleaning grease traps, making waffle dog batter and extra thick ono ono shakes by hand, and all the places KC Waffle Dogs have gone around the world.

Here in Hawaiʻi is now on TV – catch it Sundays at 5pm on KHON2! If y...

In Episode 3, we spent the day at Thompson Ranch on Maui with 2nd generation rancher, Jerry Thompson. Jerry took us all over his land, sharing about caring for their animals, their work to restore native trees, his family history (his dad put up the first telegraph poles on Maui 🤯) and issues they deal with like wild deer.

We didn't intend for the tour portion of our visit with Jerry to be the podcast for this episode, but it was ...

Here in Hawaiʻi is now on TV – catch it Sundays at 5pm on KHON2! If you forgot to set your DVR (or if you're not in Hawaiʻi) you can find the TV episodes on our website – https://hereinhawaiitv.com/

Homegrown superstar Kelly Hu was our main guest for Episode 2. We had an amazing conversation and could only fit a tiny bit of it in the edit for TV, so we hope you enjoy hearing the extended cut here.

We mentioned how we talked about g...

Here in Hawaiʻi is now on TV – catch it Sundays at 5pm on KHON2! If you forgot to set your DVR (or if you're not in Hawaiʻi) you can find the TV episodes on our website, https://hereinhawaiitv.com/category/tv-show/

Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award Winner Chardonnay was our main guest for Episode 1. We had an amazing conversation and could only fit a tiny bit of it in the edit for TV, so we hope you enjoy hearing the extended cut here.

🌺...

Miki is the founder and CEO of Education Incubator. She began her career in biosystems engineering, then moved into education where she spent 20 years in teaching, administration and curriculum development. She reflects on the positive changes she's seen in the classroom, and shares lessons from growing up in a tight-knit community on Maui, the importance of creating safe spaces, and how the Foundations of Aloha program allows her ...

Melanie is a media producer, a James Beard award-winner for Best National Cooking Series, and winner of an Emmy Award for best historical, cultural, religious documentary. She shares stories from her career in media production, starting on the mainland working on music videos, coming home and working at PBS, and what she's up to now.

Follow Melanie's current project Small Batch: http://smbatch.co/

Come join us in our facebook group...

Since high school, Ryan has been drawn to helping address the homelessness crisis in our state. Today he serves as Executive Director at Family Promise of Hawaiʻi, an organization dedicated to preventing and ending homelessness for families with children. Ryan shares about his family history of his grandparents fleeing their home country and starting from scratch in America, and how that shaped his values. He also shares his insigh...

Andrew is the co-founder and creative director of Redefined Media, and one of the hosts of UNCUT Hawaiʻi. His parents and grandparents immigrated to the US from Vietnam, and instilled in him a sense of gratitude for the opportunities and blessings he has today. We talk about the decision to stay in Hawaiʻi, the challenges of navigating family dynamics as a new dad, growing pains of building a business, and the importance of self-ca...

Brandon has always been self-motivated, so his parents weren't worried when he switched from medicine to business. He served as COO of Wahiawa General Hospital before becoming Executive Director of Aloha Harvest. He shares some career and leadership lessons, and through his stories (including self-inflicted fitness challenges like doing 45,000 push-ups in one year) we get to see the passion that he funnels into this 25-year-old non...

Allan is a public school teacher, a founding member of 24-VII Danceforce, and Program Coordinator for The I’m A Bright Kid Foundation (IABKF). He shares lessons learned working with Castle High School theater teacher Ronald E. Bright and his incredible wife Aunty Mo, his experience helping people find their spiritual gifts while serving as an Assistant Pastor, and how he continues to carry on that work in the roles he plays today.

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Venus went to college to become a film director, but working at a summer program for kids changed her path. Today she serves as President and CEO of Hale Kipa, which specializes in working with youth and their families who often have nowhere else to turn. Venus shares how she has been shaped by challenges and inspirational people in her life, and brings deeper understanding of how the nonprofit sector works.

Learn more about Hale K...

Kolby is a Native Hawaiian filmmaker, founder of Aria Studios and one of the hosts of UNCUT Hawaiʻi. She shares how her dad inspires her to put in the work to get better, her main goal when it comes to parenting, her journey to self-love and being proud of herself, and how she came up with the film Hometown Legends which captures the stories of kūpuna for future generations.

Find Kolby at:

https://www.ariastudios.com/

https://www.h...