In our Season 2 finale, Angela and Annie relive the best Taiwanese meal they ate this year, and discuss books that connect us with different parts of our Taiwanese, Chinese, and American heritage. We share our Spotify Wrapped and play a listener voicemail. Credits: “PUNCHLINE” and “LITTLE FIRES” from BUNNY MODE courtesy of the artist Jaguar Jonze (@jaguarjonze on IG) Resources: Good to Eat restaurant (read Gathering Taiwanese American community at Emeryville’s “Good to Eat”) First Generation: Recipes from My Taiwanese-American Home by Frankie Gaw The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang We Were ..read more

In this episode, we get to know Joy Huang, one of the founders and moderators for the Taiwanese Home Cooking Facebook group. She started her food blog, The Cooking of Joy, because she was inspired to document her mom's Taiwanese dishes. This hobby continued to grow and now you can find her work on Instagram at @joyosity where she is known for her artistic take on baked goods. We asked Joy to share her early influences, tips for food photography, and some of the most lively topics discussed in the Facebook group of over 35,000 people who love to make Taiwanese food. Featuring Joy Huang: The Co ..read more

Angela’s mom shares a memory from her college days and Angela learns more about her mom as a person through this story. Let us know if you do a similar exercise recording the stories your parents tell you behind their old photos! Resources: Google PhotoScan app instagram.com/cutfruitcollective instagram.com/parentsarehuman instagram.com/asiansformentalhealth Connect: instagram.com/heartsintaiwan facebook.com/heartsintaiwan buymeacoffee.com/heartsintaiwan ← Buy us a boba! heartsintaiwan.com ..read more

In this episode, we examine the dark side of the model minority myth and the “tiger mom” stereotype. Joanna Ho’s first young adult novel, The Silence that Binds Us, is inspired by a real community’s anti-Asian reaction to teen suicides. Discussing the novel also compels Annie and Angela to get real about passive and active anti-Blackness in the Asian American community.  Featuring Joanna Ho: Buy The Silence that Binds Us by Joanna Ho @joannahowrites on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok Book author visits on joannahowrites.com About Joanna: Joanna Ho is the New York Times bestsell ..read more

About 32% of people in Taiwan identify as both Taiwanese and Chinese, while diaspora from Taiwan in America tend to identify as solely one or the other. We talk about blending Chinese, Taiwanese, and American identity with Michelle Kuo and Albert Wu. Michelle and Albert moved back to their heritage country mid-career and have been sharing their Asian American observations and introspections about living in Taiwan in their weekly newsletter, A Broad and Ample Road. Featuring Michelle Kuo and Albert Wu: Remembering Michelle’s grandmother in A Broad and Ample Road Reflecting on Albert’s mother i ..read more

The mass shooting at the Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods, CA has sparked conversation about the significance of the Presbyterian Church for many Taiwanese individuals. Annie and Angela interview Christine Lin, a lawyer and expert on the history and influence of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan who also conducts research on Taiwanese American identity. The hosts also share their own experiences with Christianity. Featuring Christine Lin: Respond to Christine’s current research: “Survey of Taiwanese Americans on Identity Issues”, 2022 “The Presbyterian Church in Taiwan and ..read more

The Chinese name for America, 美国, translates to “Beautiful Country”. We talked with author Jane Kuo about her experience as a 1.5-generation immigrant bridging Chinese, Taiwanese, and American identity. Her family’s pursuit of the American Dream inspired her debut novel In the Beautiful Country which is available for pre-order before its June 14 release. Featuring Jane Kuo: In the Beautiful Country by Jane Kuo janekuo.com for upcoming tour dates and projects instagram.com/janekuowrites facebook.com/janekuowrites twitter.com/janekuowrites  About Jane: Jane Kuo is a Chinese and Taiwanese ..read more

Who were the Taiwanese before they called themselves Taiwanese? In this episode, we’re going back to school for a crash course in history with Dr. Evan Dawley. We discuss identity on the island before the Japanese colonial period, the influences of Japanese colonizers and the Kuomintang-led Republic of China, and identity among the modern Chinese diaspora. This historical overview of the formation and evolution of the Taiwanese identity provides context for present day conversations. Resources mentioned: Becoming Taiwanese: Ethnogenesis in a Colonial City, 1880s to 1950s (Harvard University P ..read more

We hope that sharing this conversation helps anyone who has chased top grades, Instagram followers, performance ratings and promotions at work, or other external metrics of success. Taking and sharing personality tests teaches us new things about ourselves and each other.  We discover that we each have a strong inner tiger parent, and we discuss the paradox that seeking external validation actually ends up blocking deeper social connections. Throughout, we realize how our respective beliefs about our own self-worth manifest differently in our podcast partnership. Take the personality test ..read more

Inspired by our conversation with Carey Lai, hosts Angela and Annie share the rocky beginnings of starting their careers in the early ‘00s when nobody was hiring after the dot-com bubble burst. We also share a different way of looking at the career journey to get around leadership ceilings. Mentioned: “10 big dot-com flops” (money.cnn.com) “Careers are a jungle gym, not a ladder” - excerpt from Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg Related episode: Bringing Taiwanese values to entrepreneurship with Carey Lai (Hearts in Taiwan S2E3) Connect: instagram.com/heartsintaiwan facebook.com/heartsintaiwan heart ..read more