We've got a special episode recapping the opportunity to host an official AAPI meetup at South by Southwest (SXSW) this year along with teasing our new season this year. Topics Covered: • Our experience at SXSW this year and what we hope to see next year • A brief unofficial primer on SXSW along with a few pro tips on how to navigate the festival • Our plans for Season 3 and the podcast Materials Referenced: • AAPI Meetup at SXSW• Vietnamese-Hungarian Singer, Hien ..read more

Jenni Lee is an investigative reporter and Midday anchor at KVUE in Austin, Texas. Jenni joined the KVUE news Team in June 2015 as the Weekend Daybreak anchor and weekday reporter but the veteran journalist has worked in the Austin TV market since 2001. Before arriving in Austin, Jenni worked at KBTX-TV in Bryan and College Station after graduating from the University of Texas at Austin. For more than 20 years now, Jenni has been breaking and covering stories important to our community and to our world. Her work has been recognized by several organizations: the Texas Associated Press of Broadc ..read more

Yola Lu is a comedian and actress based out of Austin, TX. She is the co-founder of Y'all We Asian, Austin's first and only all-Asian American improv troupe. She also is the 2022 Austin Chronicle Best Actress winner, and is currently in post production of her short film, Patsy. You can see her perform with her all female-identifying improv troupe, Garage, every Thursday at the Fallout Theater, and with Y'all We Asian every first Friday of the month also at Fallout Theater. She also hosts a monthly stand up show called Oops! All Headliners which is every last Saturday of the month at ColdTowne ..read more

The first-born child of immigrants, Zohaib 'Zo' Qadri is the first South Asian American and Muslim elected to serve on the Austin City Council. He was elected to represent District 9 in 2022 and serves the residents of some of Austin’s oldest neighborhoods, including Travis Heights, Hyde Park, and Downtown. He is committed to tackling Austin’s housing crisis, fighting for an expanded and equitable transit system, and protecting and uplifting Austin most marginalized residents. He currently lives in Downtown Austin with his wife, Wafa, a physician assistant at Baylor Scott & White, and thei ..read more

Sherry Kong is the co-founder of Mama Kong, a nomadic kitchen cooking up Cambodian food with her husband, Brandon since 2017. Her family immigrated to Austin in 1982 after fleeing the war in Cambodia. After teaching in Japan and New York’s Chinatown, she nad her husband decided to reset the button on life, move back home and introduce Austinites to Cambodian food. She trained and cooked with her mom every week until she mastered  the recipes she grew up eating. You can find them at pop-ups, festivals and organizing private dinners / supper clubs. They're constantly introducing people to C ..read more

We kick off Season 2 with Ayshea Khan, former Asian American Community Archivist at the Austin History Center, Austin Public Library and current Equity & Inclusion Coordinator at the Austin Equity Office. Ayshea's worked in Austin as a storyteller, facilitator and community archivist for over 10 years and has been a longtime volunteer and collaborator with the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA) and is proud to serve as their current Board President. She believes deeply in the history of Black, Indigenous and People of Color as a site for healing, organizing and building a more hu ..read more

Benjamin Suh am currently a third-year student at the University of Texas at Austin studying economics. He's also the Social Media Director in (un)Jaded, an AAPI-centered mental health & social advocacy organization. Growing up in both the U.S. and South Korea, he was bombarded with two drastically different environments, and this unfortunately provided a lack of sense of community to him. However, through (un)Jaded, he found a healthy sense of community where I was able to flourish and dive deeper into my interest in social media management. This month, we learn more about his experience ..read more

Lily Trieu is the daughter of Vietnamese refugees and grew up in Southwest Houston, Texas. Currently she serves as the Interim Executive Director of Asian Texans for Justice, a statewide nonprofit with a mission to connect Asian and Pacific Islander Texans to meaningful civic action to build personal and political power. This month we talk about her Chinese-Vietnamese heritage, family journey and pivot from more than a decade experience in corporate life to education and advocacy. Referenced Materials in the Episode: Asian Texans for Justice ATJ Instagram "Minority Rule: How 3 Percent of Texan ..read more

Born-and-raised in Texas, Mars has been creating music under the stage name Honey Son for over a decade. In this month's episode, Mars shares more about growing up as bi-racially Filipino and Black in San Antonio, navigating the music scene in Austin, and staying true and authentic in his music.  Outside of music, he very much enjoys fathering his precocious 9 year-old daughter Olivia. Referenced Materials in the Episode: Honey Son Dawa Fund "If We Hold On Together" by Diana Ross ..read more

Nadia Chaudhury, editor of Eater Austin, is a Austin-based photographer, writer, and New Yorker. She covers Austin's restaurant and dining scene and this month we learn about her journey with her Bangladeshi background weaved throughout her life, food and her work. Referenced Materials in the Episode Eater Austin Partition Podcast Eater Austin: Welcome to Texas Wine Country ..read more