Asian American History 101

Welcome to Season 5, Episode 16! April 30, 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon. So we’re excited that our conversation today is with Vicky Nguyen, an award-winning NBC News Daily anchor and Senior Consumer Investigative Correspondent. She can be seen regularly on The TODAY Show, NBC Nightly News, and NBC News NOW. And that’s not all! Her latest work is the touching and inspiring memoir Boat Baby. It details the story of her and her parents, and their journey from Saigon to the U.S. Throughout their struggles and successes in America the reader is treated to touching and funny stories of their experiences. Born in Saigon, Vietnam, she and her parents fled the country in the dead of night on May 4, 1979. As with so many Southeast Asian refugees from 1975 through the 80s, they encountered several life or death challenges before finding their way to the refugee camp at Pulau Bidong, Malaysia. After staying there for 10 months, they had the good fortune of being sponsored to come to America. In our conversation, we talk about her personal journey to being an award-winning journalist as well as her thoughts on fate, embracing change, the privilege of being a role model in media, and so much more. We highly recommend going out and getting Boat Baby. If you want more of Vicky, watch her on the various shows she’s on, follow her on instagram, or visit her website to see some of her special reports. We especially like her special reports on the rise of anti-asian hate entitled The Racism Virus as well as her very personal four-part story From Saigon to Silicon Valley. If you like what we do, please share, follow, and like us in your podcast directory of choice or on Instagram @AAHistory101. For previous episodes and resources, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or our links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@aahistory101.com.

Welcome to Season 5, Episode 15! When it comes to Supreme Court decisions that impacted the classroom, most people know about Brown v Board of Education. A lesser known landmark decision was also very impactful in schools across the U.S. We’re talking about Lau v Nichols… a case that influenced the interpretation of Title VI and how U.S. schools needed to support second language learners to succeed in school. In this episode, we talk about the lead up to Lau v Nichols, what the impact of the Supreme Court decision was, and the lasting legacy of the decision. We also take time to address the rhetoric around the ending of the Department of Education and how it would impact not just Bilingual Education but how students are supported in the U.S. We begin the episode with a LOT of current events including growing anti-miscegenation-like decisions, Janet Yang, Alysa Liu, Caitlyn Chen, Te-hina Paopao, and Jonny Kim. We end with another installment of Weird History where we talk about the decision by Levi Strauss and Company to lean into anti-Chinese labor practices back in the late 1800s. If you like what we do, please share, follow, and like us in your podcast directory of choice or on Instagram @AAHistory101. For previous episodes and resources, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or our links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@aahistory101.com. Segments 00:25 Intro and Current Events: Janet Yang, Jonny Kim, Kaitlyn Chen, Te-hina PaoPao, Alysa Liu06:29 The History of Lau v Nichols and Bilingual Education in the U.S.17:05 Weird History: Levi Strauss and Company and Anti-Chinese Labor

Welcome to Season 5, Episode 14! Our guest today is Chef Saeng Douangdara. He’s a food content creator, social media star, and soon-to-be cookbook author. Saeng specializes in Lao cuisine. A first-generation Lao American, he left a job in counseling to pursue his passion for teaching Lao cuisine. A trip back to Laos helped him reconnect with his roots and learn more about both the history and culture of Lao food, and that’s when he decided to launch his personal chef business, Saeng’s Kitchen and leverage social media to raise awareness about Lao cuisine. He may have started small, but he’s amassed over 700K followers and millions of views on his different social media channels. We love how his work is educational, and it’s resonating with others. He’s been featured in numerous publications including Delish, Buzzfeed, the New York Times, and LA Times. He’s even won an episode of the TBS cooking competition show, Rat In The Kitchen. Chef Saeng is outspoken in advocating, uplifting, and raising awareness of the depth and wonder of Lao cuisine. In our conversation, we talk about what Lao cuisine is known for, launching Saeng’s Kitchen, being Lao American, his upcoming book, and so much more. And yes, we do ask him to reflect on the Uncle Roger incident. To learn more about Saeng, or to be inspired by his recipe posts, blogs, and videos, we recommend visiting his website Saeng’s Kitchen, his YouTube Channel, or his Instagram page. You can even take a food tour to Laos with Saeng in October! If you like what we do, please share, follow, and like us in your podcast directory of choice or on Instagram @AAHistory101. For previous episodes and resources, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or our links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@aahistory101.com.

Welcome to Season 5, Episode 13! Have you heard of Walter Tin Kit Achiu? He was the first Native Hawaiian and first Asian American to play in the National Football League. Although his career was groundbreaking, he’s largely been forgotten over time. In this episode, we talk about his life, his football career, and what he did after he finished playing with the NFL’s Dayton Triangles (yes… that was really the name of the American football team he was part of). Nicknamed “Sneeze”, he was a high level athlete all his life and broke barriers on the football field and in the wrestling ring. We begin the episode by talking about some current events (the sad passing of K.W. Lee and the happy green-lighting of the Crazy Rich Asians show on Max). And we end the episode with the recurring segment of What are We Listening To? This time, we talk about the new album Blood on the Silver Screen by singer Sasami as well as the audiobook Homicide and Halo-Halo written by Mia P. Manasala and voice acted by Danice Cabanela. If you like what we do, please share, follow, and like us in your podcast directory of choice or on Instagram @AAHistory101. For previous episodes and resources, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or our links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@aahistory101.com. Segments 00:25 Intro and Current Events: K.W. Lee Passes Away and Crazy Rich Asians is Back!05:54 The History and Career of Walter Tin Kit Achiu14:32 What Are We Listening To? Sasami as well as Homicide and Halo Halo by Mia P. Manansala

Welcome to Season 5, Episode 12! Today’s conversation is with the amazing storyteller, activist, performer, and co-founder of the multicultural storytelling theater group Eth-No-Tec. Along with her real-life partner Robert Kikuchi-Yngojo, Nancy co-founded Eth-No-Tec with a commitment to the preservation, revival, and performance of Asian and Asian American stories. Nancy’s latest work is the novel Red Altar, a story based on her ancestor’s real-life challenges and triumphs in forming a new life in America. Red Altar began as a multimedia storytelling and stage production, and it’s an emotional re-telling of how her ancestors helped develop the fishing industry along the coast of California near the Monterey Bay despite facing racist people and policies. In this conversation, we talk to Nancy about the development of the Red Altar performance, the challenges with adapting it to the book format, the relevance of the story in our challenging times in the U.S., other projects that Eth-No-Tec is working on, and so much more. Red Altar is a great book, and it tells a part of Chinese American and Asian American history that isn’t well-known… and we hope you buy it. But DON’T buy it from Amazon. Purchase it from the Eth-No-Tec website so that they get the benefits. If you want to support Eth-No-Tec’s work, you can follow them on Instagram, make a donation to them, or go to one of their upcoming events. If you like what we do, please share, follow, and like us in your podcast directory of choice or on Instagram @AAHistory101. For previous episodes and resources, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or our links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@aahistory101.com.

Welcome to Season 5, Episode 11! We love dumplings, and we’re not alone in that opinion. We’re talking about asian dumplings… boiled, steamed, pan-fried, or deep-fried, there are a variety of dumplings all across Asia, and they are not only delicious but represent culture, family, and history. In this episode, we discuss the history of dumplings, some different types across Asia, and some notable chefs and groups (like Din Tai Fung) who have done a lot to grow awareness and love for this amazing food. One of the most notable, of course, is Zhang Zhongjing, the believed creator of dumplings. In our recurring segment, we introduce a new topic called Weird History where we talk about a weird moment in API history. Today we’re talking about the Boston Marathon’s ban on Korean runners. If you like what we do, please share, follow, and like us in your podcast directory of choice or on Instagram @AAHistory101. For previous episodes and resources, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or our links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@aahistory101.com. Segments 00:25 Intro… Memories of Dumplings07:22 The History of Dumplings21:36 Weird History… Boston Marathon Bans Korean Runners *Photos courtesy of the amazing Mary's Test Kitchen

Welcome to Season 5, Episode 10! This is Part 2 of Another Conversation with Award-Winning Comic Book Artist and Writer Sarah Myer. Last week (S05E09) we brought you part 1. In this episode, we continue to focus on Cheer Up, Michael!, and Sarah shares how they researched for the series, gives us a few spoilers for future chapters of the story, talks about the transformation of Don, and so much more. As serious as the story can get, we really loved Cheer Up, Michael!, and we highly recommend you check it out, especially if you’re a Disney fan. To learn more about Sarah, then go to their website, sarahmyer.net or Instagram @smeyercomics, and you can support Sarah through their online store where you can purchase originals and signed work. If you like what we do, please share, follow, and like us in your podcast directory of choice or on Instagram @AAHistory101. For previous episodes and resources, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or our links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@aahistory101.com.

Welcome to Season 5, Episode 9! Our returning guest is Sarah Myer, the amazing, award-winning comic book artist and writer who is probably best known for her critically acclaimed and recognized graphic memoir, Monstrous: A Transracial Adoption Story, published by First Second Books. However, they show their skills on so many other titles as well, including as the main artist on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Saturday Morning Adventures, colorist on TMNT vs Street Fighter, as well as a variant cover artist on TMNT Usagi Yojimbo: WhereWhen issues. In this episode, we focus on one of Sarah’s passion projects, Cheer Up, Michael! This is their independent webcomic that they write and illustrate. Cheer Up, Michael! is a story that explores the idea of “What happens AFTER your dreams come true? It follows Michael Theodore Mouse (stage name: "Mickey") who feels lost. A huge star for decades, he's now the burnt out CEO of a massive company, and he longs for the happier days of his youth. In Part 1, we discuss the origin of Cheer Up, Michael!, real-life experiences that have impacted the story, the balancing act of writing characters, and strategies for writing characters who have both affection and annoyance for the main character. Check out Cheer Up, Michael!, we highly recommend it (plus, it’s free)! To hear more about Sarah’s career, then please also listen to S04E24. To learn more about Sarah, then go to their website, sarahmyer.net or Instagram @smeyercomics, and you can support Sarah through their online store where you can purchase originals and signed work. If you like what we do, please share, follow, and like us in your podcast directory of choice or on Instagram @AAHistory101. For previous episodes and resources, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or our links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@aahistory101.com.

Welcome to Season 5, Episode 8! Today’s episode impacts AANHPI communities, but it’s not necessarily solely focuses on our history. We’re going to talk about The History of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. This is an extremely scary topic to some people… especially the leaders of the Republican Party in the U.S. If you believe what they rant about, DEI is at the heart of unqualified candidates, accidents, and probably hurricanes. But when you listen closely, you’ll realize that as much as DEI has become a target, some of the people complaining the loudest actually don’t know much about it. So we take a moment to explain what it is, the history, some myths, and the actual benefits and facts based on research. In our short recurring segment, we have a new one called The Message, where we give a short message… a call to action so to speak. If you like what we do, please share, follow, and like us in your podcast directory of choice or on Instagram @AAHistory101. For previous episodes and resources, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or our links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@aahistory101.com. Segments 00:25 Intro and Explanation01:29 The History of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion20:17 The Message: Stay Actively Involved or Knowledgeable

Welcome to Season 5, Episode 7! Today’s guest is Fajer Saeed Ebrahim, a Senior Policy Manager at the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, AKA NAPAWF. If you’re a longtime listener, then you’ll remember we were fortunate enough to bring in Sydelle Barreto, the Policy Manager NAPAWF to talk about Clocking Inequality back on Season 4, Episode 39! NAPAWF has been hard at work with their latest report entitled “Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare in the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Community: Understanding Barriers to Access in Georgia”. Fajer is a skilled legal advocate with substantial experience in organizing, policy, and legislative advocacy related to reproductive rights and justice, racial equity, survivor justice, and immigrant healthcare. Prior to her work with NAPAWF, she was a senior advisor with the Coalition to Expand Contraceptive Access; a consultant with the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders; a consultant with the Center for Reproductive Rights, as well as other stops. NAPAWF is the only organization dedicated to uplifting and building power with AANHPI women and girls in the US. Employing a reproductive justice framework to guide their work, they use organizing, advocacy, and communications strategies to assert full agency over our lives, our families, and our communities. Working with the Emory University Center for Reproductive Health Research in the Southeast (RISE), this latest report by NAPAWF seeks to uncover the systemic barriers Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) women and gender-expansive individuals face in accessing sexual and reproductive healthcare (SRH). We recommend you read the full report, donate to NAPAWF, stay informed, and take action. If you like what we do, please share, follow, and like us in your podcast directory of choice or on Instagram @AAHistory101. For previous episodes and resources, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or our links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@aahistory101.com.

Welcome to Season 5, Episode 6! Today we’re talking about food (one of our favorite recurring themes). Specifically we’re going to talk about Egg Foo Young, a popular staple in Chinese American restaurants for generations. Egg Foo Young may not be as popular now as it used to be, but it still has a special place in the history of the Chinese diaspora. In this episode, we discuss the Cantonese dish’s origin, it’s adaptation in the U.S. and across the globe, and how Colonialism played a part in transforming it… yep, even with food, we need to talk about Colonialism. We begin the episode with some current events, and we end it with our recurring segment on What Are We Watching. Today on WAWW, we talk about Interior Chinatown (playing on Hulu and starring Jimmy O. Yang, Chloe Bennet, and more) and XO, Kitty (playing on Netflix and starring Anna Cathcart, Anthony Keyvan, and more). If you like what we do, please share, follow, and like us in your podcast directory of choice or on Instagram @AAHistory101. For previous episodes and resources, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or our links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@aahistory101.com. Segments 00:25 Intro and Current Events03:17 The History of Egg Foo Young16:10 What are We Watching: Interior Chinatown and XO, Kitty Note: Above picture of Egg Foo Young is from Made with Lau

Welcome to Season 5, Episode 5! If you didn’t hear the last episode, then go do it! S05E04 is Part 1 of this conversation with Peter Tao, one of the co-founders of the award-winning architectural design firm in St. Louis, TAO + LEE Associates, Inc. In this episode, we continue our conversation with Peter, AKA The Accidental Historian, and we talk more about how his family has supported his journey into researching and telling Chinese American history, his love of hockey (specifically the St. Louis Blues), the documentary Day One, his advice for people with historical artifacts or stories to tell, and so much more. Peter also briefly mentions how he’s the current Board President of the OCA chapter in St. Louis. We recommend you check them out as well as the OCA National Center. And finally, don’t forget to support The Missouri Historical Society’s St. Louis Chinese American Collecting Initiative. They collect pictures and stories of Chinese Americans in St. Louis. You can donate money or contribute artifacts to help! If you like what we do, please share, follow, and like us in your podcast directory of choice or on Instagram @AAHistory101. For previous episodes and resources, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or our links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@aahistory101.com.

Welcome to Season 5, Episode 4! Peter Tao and his real life partner Helen Lee are the force behind TAO + LEE Associates, Inc. an award winning St. Louis based design firm. They provide Architectural, Planning, Interiors, and Creative Design services for a diversity of project types, sizes & applications. Their projects have been built both domestically and internationally. That alone would have interested us enough to have a conversation with Peter, but he’s also heavily involved in the St. Louis community, working to raise awareness of the history and stories of Chinese Americans and the greater Asian Pacific Americans who have lived in Missouri. Inspired to dig deeper to help honor his father’s centennial birthday back in 2017, Peter has gone on to write blogs, curate historical artifacts, and contribute to historical documents. One of his latest pieces is an essay entitled "Why Should We, the Chinese, Meet at the Fair?" in the book in the book The Wonder and Complexity of the 1904 World’s Fair. His deep dive into family and Chinese American history resulted in him creating his site (and great nickname) The Accidental Historian. On the site, you can find pictures of his family’s history as well as posts about a variety of topics including The Life Balance Equation and There Were Chinese in the South? If that wasn’t enough, he’s still heavily involved in The Missouri Historical Society’s St. Louis Chinese American Collecting Initiative that collects pictures and stories of Chinese Americans in St. Louis. You can donate money or contribute artifacts to help! In Part 1, we discuss architecture, how he got into history, things he’d like people to know about Chinese Americans in St. Louis, and more. If you like what we do, please share, follow, and like us in your podcast directory of choice or on Instagram @AAHistory101. For previous episodes and resources, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or our links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@aahistory101.com.

Welcome to Season 5, Episode 3! We’re back with Part 2 of The History of Mahjong. Last episode we talked about the games origins and how it came to America. In this episode, we discuss the rise of Jewish-American Mah-Jongg and how it was standardized and simplified in America by the National Mah-Jongg League. We also take time to talk about cultural appropriation and how the Asian American community has tried to reclaim the narrative of Mahjong as a connection to our culture. We open the episode by talking about some current events that include the Philadelphia arena, the passing of Farewell to Manzanar author Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, and Moana 2. We close the episode with another addition to “What Are We Watching” as we discuss the movie Wicked, directed by the amazing Jon M. Chu. To learn more about Mahjong, check out these two books: Mahjong: A Chinese Game and the Making of Modern American Culture by Annelise Heinz and Mahjong: House Rules from Across the Asian Diaspora by Nicole Wong. Also checkout the Green Tile Social Club who are doing an incredible job of creating events and connecting the community in New York. If you like what we do, please share, follow, and like us in your podcast directory of choice or on Instagram @AAHistory101. For previous episodes and resources, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or our links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@aahistory101.com. Segments 00:25 Intro and talking about the Philadelphia arena project, Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, and Moana 206:21 The History of Mahjong Part 216:30 What Are We Watching, Wicked

Welcome to Season 5, Episode 2! Most people are familiar with the game of Mahjong. Maybe their family or community plays it or maybe they’ve just seen it in the movies or TV. But most people have seen the tiles and heard the clacking. This is part 1 of a 2 part series on The History of Mahjong. In this episode, we talk about the origin of Mahjong, how its popularity went up and down over the years, how it came to the U.S., and how it was received. We talk a little about the gameplay and how to win. In our intro, we talk about some current events including passing of President Jimmy Carter and how you can help people recover from the Los Angeles fires. Some of the groups helping people include: GoFundMe has created their own official fund to help those affected by California Wildfires Red Cross United Way of Greater Los AngelesEmergency Network Los AngelesLos Angeles Regional Food Bank California Community FoundationWorld Central Kitchen Community Organized Relief Effort or CORE We end this episode by bringing back another installment of Obscure Asian Pacific Comic Book Characters where we talk about Bengal, the Vietnamese vigilante by Marvel comics. If you like what we do, please share, follow, and like us in your podcast directory of choice or on Instagram @AAHistory101. For previous episodes and resources, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or our links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@aahistory101.com. Segments 00:25 Intro and Talking about the LA Fires, Jimmy Carter, and the Golden Globes04:56 The History of Mahjong, Part 115:02 Obscure Asian Pacific Comic Book Characters: Bengal

Welcome to Season 5, Episode 1! Happy New Year everyone! The Gregorian New Year, to be specific because the Lunar New Year is right around the corner… A new calendar year means a new season of our podcast. For our first episode of the new season, we want to highlight one of our favorite publishers, Third State Books. To do that, we’ve invited the Co-Founder and CEO of Third State Books, Stephanie Lim. Prior to leading Third State Books, Stephanie spent many years in digital marketing and operations, first as a strategist for advertising clients at Google, then leading e-commerce teams and managing multi-million-dollar advertising budgets for retail brands that include ModCloth, Bebe, and S by Serena (Serena Williams’s eponymous fashion label). She loves literary classics, guilty-pleasure genre fiction, fanfic, and children’s books. Third State Books is the first publishing house that’s 100% focused on bringing Asian American voices, stories, and issues to audiences. They do that through a variety of books that encompass fiction and non-fiction. We highly recommend all of their current publications that include Fighting to Belong! (written by Amy Chu and Alexander Chang and illustrated by Louie Chin), Edison (written by Pallavi Sharma Dixit), Pride and Preston Lin (written by Christina Hwang Dudley), as well as What in the World is Ezra’s Art (by Shay Fan and Eric Toda), and we can’t wait for the 2025 books that they’ve planned. If you like what we do, please share, follow, and like us in your podcast directory of choice or on Instagram @AAHistory101. For previous episodes and resources, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or our links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@aahistory101.com.

Welcome to Season 4, Episode 53! This is it! Our Season 4 year in review. In this episode we talk about the following… "Interesting topics we hope people listen to”. These are topics that need way more attention. E48 and E49, The History of Chinese Exclusion Laws in Canada, Part 1 and Part 2 E46, The History of Asian American Clubs and the Punk Rock Scene E28, The History of George Helm Jr. and Kaho’olawe Island “Topics we learned the most about”. These are topics that we knew almost nothing about before researching. E2, The History of the Paniolo AKA The Hawaiian Cowboy E38, The History of Activist Tye Leung Schulze E26, The History of Instant Ramen “Thought-provoking conversations everyone should listen to”. These are the conversations that made us think deeply. E29, A Conversation with Activists and Co-Owners of Eastwind Books Bea and Harvey Dong E35, A Conversation with Clinical Psychologist, Educator, and Author Dr. Helen Hsu, the author of The Healing Trauma WorkBook for Asian Americans E22, A Conversation with Award-Winning Editor and Author Karen Yin, the author of The Conscious Style Guide “Conversations we wish we had another hour for”. These are the conversations that flew by and we want to bring back the guest for more. E27, A Conversation with Author and Educator Chad Soon, author of The Longest Shot: How Larry Kwong Changed the Face of Hockey E6, E14, and E43, Actors Perry Yung, Chen Tang, and Jaylee Hamidi E13, A Conversation with Educator, Speaker, and Author Dr. Sarah-SoonLing Blackburn, Author of Exclusion and the Chinese American Story E20, A Conversation with Author and Filmmaker Professor William Gow, author of Performing Chinatown: Hollywood, Tourism, and the Making of a Chinese American Community E24, A Conversation with Comic Book Artist and Writer Sarah Myer, Author of Monstrous: A Transracial Adoption StoryWe were also fortunate enough to bring back some returning guests and go deeper into our conversations. These guests who gave us the gift of a second conversation included Grace Lin, Nidhi Chanani, and Karen Yin Another season in the books. Now it’s time for Season 5! Thanks for listening and supporting us. If you like what we do, please share, follow, and like us in your podcast directory of choice or on Instagram @AAHistory101. For previous episodes and resources, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or social media links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@aahistory101.com. Segments 00:25 Introduction01:41 Season 4 Year in Review

Welcome to Season 4, Episode 52! Happy Holidays! This is an ICYMI Encore Episode of S03E49, Christmas Traditions in Asia and the Pacific Islands. Christmas is a holiday that can be celebrated in a religious or secular way. So how is it celebrated in Asia and the Pacific Islands? In this episode, we discuss some of the unique traditions and foods you might find in countries across Asia, Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia. Some of the traditions are pretty interesting and fun. Spoilers… we spend a little extra time talking about the Philippines because they LOVE Christmas! If you like what we do, please share, follow, and like us in your podcast directory of choice or on Instagram @AAHistory101. For previous episodes and resources, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or social media links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@aahistory101.com.

Welcome to Season 4, Episode 51! Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Farm Colony was the first Japanese settlement in America, but it’s so much more than that. Their story is a slice of American history that highlights the struggles immigrants often faced when trying to establish themselves in a new culture without much support. In this episode we talk about the socio-political environment in Japan that led a small group of Japanese (and one German) to move to American and begin the first Japanese settlement. We share some of their struggles and lasting impact. A lot of their history would have remained hidden without the efforts of the American River Conservancy who now manage the Wakamatsu Farm and work tirelessly to preserve the farm and the surrounding area. That’s not all ARC does, of course, so we urge you to learn more about their programs and Donate to ARC in general or Donate to Wakamatsu Farm specifically. In our opening, we celebrate the opening of the T&T Supermarket in Bellevue, Washington. If you like what we do, please share, follow, and like us in your podcast directory of choice or on Instagram @AAHistory101. For previous episodes and resources, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or social media links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@aahistory101.com. Segments 00:25 Current Events: T&T Supermarket Comes to the U.S.03:45 The History of Wakamatsu Farm20:47 Organizations to Support: The American River Conservancy

Welcome to Season 4, Episode 50! Today’s guest is Dr. Virginia Loh-Hagan… she is an author, university faculty member, and former K-8 teacher. She directs the Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) Center at San Diego State University (SDSU), which raises awareness of issues facing Asian Americans, celebrates APIDA culture, and amplifies APIDA contributions. At SDSU, she also led the Liberal Studies program and co-founded the APIDA Employee Resource Group. Beyond SDSU, Dr. Loh-Hagan is an author. To say she’s a “prolific author” wouldn’t do her justice, because she’s authored over 400 books on diverse topics that include Asian American heritage, women’s issues, and quirky subjects like urban legends and monsters. Some of her notable works include A is for Asian American, The Jade Dragon, and Paper Son: Lee’s Journey to America. Her writing also spans multiple series, such as My Itty-Bitty Bio Series, Gods and Goddesses of the Ancient World, and Urban Legends (Don’t Read Alone!). In advocacy, she co-leads The Asian American Education Project, which develops curriculum and professional training for K-12 schools to provide a more accurate and comprehensive understanding of APIDA history. Their work bridges education, literature, and activism, exploring themes from exclusion to acceptance. On their site, they state that “By showcasing the struggles and triumphs of Asian Americans over the course of two centuries, our lesson plans amplify the importance and voices of this growing, integral segment of the U.S. population in building the country into what it is today and can become tomorrow, together as Americans. It is important for all Americans, young and old, to join in on this learning experience.” They helped create the amazing graphic novel Fighting to Belong! written by Amy Chu and Alexander Chang, and illustrated by Louie Chin. Published by Third State Books, the graphic novel was a collaboration between The Asian American Education Project and The Asian American Foundation (TAAF). Volume 1 is out now, Volume 2 will be coming soon, and Volume 3 is planned. If you like what we do, please share, follow, and like us in your podcast directory of choice or on Instagram @AAHistory101. For previous episodes and resources, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or social media links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@aahistory101.com.