ASIAN AMERICA: THE KEN FONG PODCAST

Shin Yu Pai was already a published poet and museologist when she entered a contest by the Pacific Northwest's National Public Radio to pitch an idea for a new podcast that focused on Asian Americans. Around seventy people submitted concepts, but NPR picked Shin Yu's. That propelled her into the very formulaic world of NPR podcasts. She learned quickly, and her show became a huge hit in that region. But after three years, she was t...

In this latest installment of the recurring collaboraton between Ken Fong and Ken Kemp, they attempt to ascertain why Trump and MAGA folks enjoy being cruel to others. Especially those that they believe robbed them of previous stature and status in America. Fong and Kemp also bring in David Brook's recent piece in The Atlantic as he attempts to unpack why so many Americans think Trump is good. And they found a perfect example of wh...

Guest Bryan Yamami is the co-founder and executive director of the acclaimed and award-winning drumming group TAIKOPROJECT (www.taikoproject.org). You'll learn why he was a less than enthusiastic young taiko student, but why he returned to this ancient form of Japanese drumming with fervor while a college student. Notably, Bryan shares why and how he and co-founder Masato Baba felt led to start their own group with the emerging vis...

Long-time friend and Christian colleague Diane Ujiiye, the co-director of nonprofit www.api-rise.org, introduced me to her Program Director Kanaka Mālia Luna Jennings, a proud Native Hawaiian and Filipina who, while a juvenile, had been incarcerated for 23 years. Her father died while she was inside, which served as a desperately needed wake up call to grow up, turn to God, and begin turning her life around. After she was released ...

Third generation Japanese American Philip Kan Gotanda has gained renown as one of the most prolific Asian American playwrights, filmmakers, and musicians, but he came this close to becoming a lawyer. East West Players (www.eastwestplayers.org) is remounting his seminal play Yankee Dawg You Die in July 2025 after first staging it in 2001. Here's your chance to let him educate you about the (sadly) still-relevant message of this play...

Regina Linke was born and raised in Texas, and she always enjoyed the creative arts, but she didn’t learn traditional Chinese painting until after moving with her young family to Taiwan in her mid-thirties. Holding management degrees from Washington University in St. Louis and Cornell University, she worked in marketing technology and information systems for the travel and tourism industry. Now, however, she creates and illustrates...

After a much-too long break, podcasters Fong and Kemp are finally back, this time tackling the uprising within the DNC by young leaders like vice chair David Hogg, the messy public break up of Trump and Musk, and Trump's sending the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles as part of a false narrative to fuel his fascist desires. To find a "No Kings" peaceful protest rally on June 14, just go to www.nokings.org and type in your Zi...

Alaska's Perseverance Theatre's Artistic Director Leslie Ishii has the distinction of recently being awarded to prestigious awards: The 2024 Stage Directors & Choreographers Foundation Zelda Fichandler Award and the 2025 Paul Robeson Award. To win either of these honors is remarkable; but to win them both, back-to-back, is nothing short of extraordinary.

Here's your chance to get to know why and how this fourth generation Japanese ...

Maxwell Lee's Malaysian immigrant parents first put a violin in his hands when he was just three years old, but he soon demonstrated that he had precocious and exceptioinal musical abilities that he would later display as a classical pianist. As he focused on his music in college and graduate school, he seemed destined to make music his career path, either as a performer or an instructor. But after getting married, he dropped music...

Pakistani American actor Taha Mandviwala is now starring as "Pi" in the highly acclaimed theatrical adaptation of the bestselling novel and award-winning film of the same name. As part of the cast that is currently touring stages across America and elsewhere, Mandviwala reveals the depths of his character and what he has to do to come across as a believable teenaged boy. He also unpacks the artistry and athleticism that's required ...

Scholar Dr. Anne Soon Choi has just written L.A. Coroner:Thomas Noguchi and Death in Hollywood, the first-ever biography of Dr. Tsunetomi "Thomas" Noguchi, the Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner of the County of Los Angeles from 1967 to 1982. Throughout his illustrious career, Dr. Noguchi conducted autopsies on some of the most high profile and controversial figures in American history, including Marilyn Monroe, Robert F. Kennedy, Shar...

Even though New Jersey freshman Senator Andy Kim has already served three terms in the House of Representatives, he still primarily sees himself as a life-long public servant rather than a politician. Prior to becoming a member of Congress, Kim served at USAID, the Pentagon, the State Department, the White House National Security Council, and in Afghanistan as an advisor to Generals Petraeus and Allen. The proud son of South Korean...

With federal agency USAID now struggling to survive after being unfairly demeaned and discounted by Elon Musk and his DOGE crew, it's crucial that you hear the story of how USAID helped a poor Thai student to become a board certified radiation oncologist. Dr. Vitune Vongtama inspired both Roy and his brother Danny to follow in his footsteps. All told, the three of them have saved tens of thousands of people from dying from cancer.

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In this episode Bay Area filmmaker Claudia Katayanagi goes into great detail about the myriad little-known incarceration camps that the federal government created to keep Japanese American "troublemakers" away from those confined in the larger and better known incarceration camps following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, HI. Her first two documentaries--"A Bitter Legacy" and "Community in Crisis" offer a fresh retelling of the courage...

Sarah Ahn is America's Test Kitchen's social media manager and the creator of the Ahnest Kitchen website (www.ahnestkitchen.com). She records her experiences on Instagram and Tik Tok of living with her Korean immgrant parents, chronicling her mother's cooking, grocery shopping trips, and more. Many of Sarah's posts have gone viral with 10+ million views and they have sold grocery stores out of product. She has been featured on NBC ...

Kaya of the Ocean is a middle-grade fantasy novel by Gloria Lai Huang that explores themes of mental health, the immigrant experience, and self-acceptance. The story follows Kaya, a thirteen-year-old girl who struggles with anxiety and a fear of water, as she discovers her lineage as a descendant of the Chinese water goddess Mazu. This heartfelt adventure combines elements ...

Bay Area artist and activist Nancy Wang has recently written a captivating fictional historical account of the Chinese who built and worked out of the fishing villages in the Monterey Bay area during the 1850s in California. Entitled Red Altar, her book brings to life the experiences of these early pioneers from China, including her fiesty multilingual ancestor who was the first Chinese American female born in California, and who m...

Whether or not you identify as spiritual or some kind of Christian, I'm pretty sure most of us are quite familiar with the tendency--if not the temptation--to live as if the grass is always greener on the other side of the septic tank. Armed with this mindset, many of us move on, move away, or just keep on moving rather than stay put in hopes of finding what we're looking for where we are.

As you'll soon learn, Rev. Lydia Sohn was ...