Nuances: Our Asian Stories

See full show notes for transcript: https://nuancespod.com/2026/02/15/lunar-new-year-episode/ @nuancespod on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook.

To participate in our Lunar New Year episode, see instructions on nuancespod.com (final deadline Feb 8) Today's episode is a re-run of my nuanced conversation with Dr. Manijeh Moradian, an Iranian American feminist and professor at Barnard College. The episode originally aired in 2023. You can view the original full show notes here. https://nuancespod.com/2023/07/02/s3-e03-dr-manijeh-moradian-on-why-iran-isnt-always-considered-part-of-asia-and-how-the-west-may-be-misinterpreting-what-iranians-truly-want-out-of-the-current-feminist-revolution/

Lunar New Year Hey everyone, it’s your host LAZOU here. You may have followed this feed for our Queering Premodern Asia series, or maybe you’ve heard one of our interviews in the previous seasons. However you came to be subscribed to this feed, thank you so much for sticking around. In addition to the ongoing genocide and 2024 elections, I had a lot of personal things to deal with in 2025, which left me with very little bandwidth or energy to make new episodes. But things are finally looking up, and I think I might be in a place where I can start releasing episodes again and I want you, the listeners, to be a part of it. I really enjoyed the mix of narrative storytelling and interview snippets in season 5 and I’d like to move the podcast into a more community-based format where each month or so, I’ll let you know the theme of the next episode, and if you have a story to share, you can submit something. You could record it as a video or voice memo on your phone, or if you’re super shy, you could even submit it as text for me to read on your behalf. I will then put them together. And we’ll start right now. Feb 17, 2026 will be Lunar New Year based on the Chinese Lunar Calendar, which is celebrated in China, Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Hong Kong. However, many other cultures also have a Lunar New Year that happens on a different date according to different Lunar Calendars. My goal with this episode is to get a sense of how Lunar New Year is celebrated in different cultures, so the more the merrier! For this episode, I am looking for: You only have to submit to one of these three prompts. Your submission should be no longer than 5 minutes. If you’re interested in participating, send your script via email to nuancespodcast@gmail.com. This will help ensure that your submission fits what I’m looking for. I might suggest minor edits for length and clarity before you go ahead and record it. Deadlines: Jan 25: Last day to send me your script/pitch by email. Feb 01: Last day to send me your final recordings. Feb 15: Episode goes live! When you are ready to record, make sure you are in a quiet space where there is no background noise like TV, fan, or leaf blowers. If your audio has too much noise, I will not be able to accept your submission. In your car, in your garage is a good backup plan if your house isn’t quiet enough. Cars generally have good sound isolation when all the doors and windows are closed.

Welcome back to the Nuances podcast! I hope you’re having a wonderful holiday week if you celebrate. If not, I hope you get some rest at the very least as we wind down 2024. Last week I told you that my next release will be for you if you’re not into the festive vibe, but would rather hear something spooky! Well, I am here to deliver on that promise with our latest feed drop. Today I’d love to introduce you to the podcast “That Scares Me Too”. In it, Dr. Sophie Yang and K.A Statz discuss myths and tales of horror from Taiwan and Asia. Together they compare and contrast stories from their cultures and talk about the shared humanity that is fear. In this episode, we’re introduced to unknown entities in the mountains of Taiwan. Enjoy! If you would like to share input about the upcoming seasons, I’d love to hear from you! Find @nuancespod on socials! Instagram | TikTok | Threads | LinkedIn | YouTube | Facebook | Twitter Subscribe to LAZOU’s Substack Write us a review. BOOKS - If you’d like to support Asian diaspora authors this holiday season, I gotchuuuuuu!!! Subscribe to That Scares Me Too: https://pod.link/1768039621/episode/5b3588d978a736e7b932c4cd05b9bf26

Subscribe to LAZOU's Substack Review Nuances: Our Asian Stories BOOKS!! Support Asian diaspora authors this holiday season! MUSIC “Have You Noticed the Season?” by 23rd Hour “Let a Day Together Be Christmas” by 23rd Hour Spotify | Apple | Website CONTACT Instagram | TikTok | Blog | LinkedIn | Twitter GUESTS Rahul Borkar - S1 E2 Tonie Nguyen - S1 E3 | S5 E3 Lisa Danaë - S1 E4 Cece Chow - S1 E7 | S4 E7 | S5 E6(2) Edmond Chan - S1 E8 | S5 E1 Ashley Chung-Fat-Yim - S1 E11 Charlene Vela - S2 E2 Tiffany Chou - S2 E3 Rod Kim - S2 E12 Offering Rain - S2 E9

Season finale!!!! See full show notes for references & additional info. Queering Premodern Asia is a limited series and the 5th season of the Nuances podcast about Our Asian Stories. Each episode explores different aspects of sexual diversity in premodern Asia with commentary from guest scholars. Episodes are divided into a narrative portion, and a discussion with a guest co-host from the queer Asian community. Ep. 9: In search of the “socially acceptable” Spotify playlist Did you enjoy this episode? 🧧 If you would like to help me spread the word about the show, or support it financially, learn more at nuancespod.com/support ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ If you’d like to tell other people how much they will enjoy this show, please consider writing a review. ☎️ You can even leave me a voicemail! 💌 Subscribe to LAZOU’s substack, where I’ll be sharing some behind-the-scenes + additional essays! Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | LinkedIn | Threads | Facebook Guest co-host bio Ridwan (Ryan) Ah Seek, known as Ryan, is LGBTQIA+ activist in Mauritius. He is the former President and current vice president of Collectif Arc-En-Ciel, the biggest LGBTQIA+ NGO in Mauritius. He challenged Section 250 of the Mauritian Penal Code in 2019 and won the case on 4th Oct 2023, against the State of Mauritius. Instagram | TikTok | Facebook

See full show notes for references & additional info. Queering Premodern Asia is a limited series and the 5th season of the Nuances podcast about Our Asian Stories. Each episode explores different aspects of sexual diversity in premodern Asia with commentary from guest scholars. Episodes are divided into a narrative portion, and a discussion with a guest co-host from the queer Asian community. Ep. 8: For the Record Did you enjoy this episode? 🧧 If you would like to help me spread the word about the show, or support it financially, learn more at nuancespod.com/support ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ If you’d like to tell other people how much they will enjoy this show, please consider writing a review. ☎️ You can even leave me a voicemail! 💌 Subscribe to LAZOU’s substack, where I’ll be sharing some behind-the-scenes + additional essays! Guest bio Izat El Amoor is an assistant professor of sociology, public scholar, and a queer Palestinian (citizen of Israel). He studies queer issues in Palestine with a focus on education, family life, and the Palestinian Queer Movement. He also studies queer life in the SWANA Region with a focus on political and cultural factors of mobilizing for towards queer change since the Arab uprisings erupted in 2011.

Queering Premodern Asia is a limited series and the 5th season of the Nuances podcast about Our Asian Stories. Each episode explores different aspects of sexual diversity in premodern Asia with commentary from guest scholars. Episodes are divided into a narrative portion, and a discussion with a guest co-host from the queer Asian community. Did you enjoy this episode? 🧧If you would like to help me spread the word about the show, or support it financially, learn more at nuancespod.com/support ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ If you'd like to tell other people how much they will enjoy this show, please consider writing a review. 💌 Subscribe to LAZOU's substack, where I'll be sharing some behind-the-scenes + additional essays! CONTACT @nuancespod on socials! Instagram | TikTok | Web | LinkedIn | Twitter Host: Lazou GUEST BIO Stella Gold is a queer and nonbinary Rebirth + Wealth Coach for changemakers and comes from a lineage of activists. They are the founder of My Gold Standard, a believer in wealth activism, pro liberation from all oppressive systems, and collective care. They believe in using business as an ecosystem for financial solidarity for yourself AND the collective. Their ancestors are filipinx, romanian jewish, scottish, irish, chinese, italian, iranian, french, german, british, and likely so much more. They hold values and beliefs in abolitionism, anarchism, decolonization, collective and ancestral liberation, and leftism. Instagram | LinkedIn | Web

Your host LAZOU is a chronically ill girlie and is dealing with a lot of brain fog and fatigue these last 2 weeks, so episode 7 will be out next week. Don't worry, I'm fine, I just need rest. However, I do have something to share in the meantime, and that's a feed drop of my interview on the show Immigrantly. Feed drops are a way we podcasters collaborate and introduce our audiences to each other's show because our shows share common interests. If you enjoy Nuances: Our Asian Stories, you will likely also enjoy Saadia Khan's work with Immigrantly. Follow Immigrantly on your favorite podcast platform here. If you don't already, you can follow @nuancespod on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, X, Threads and BlueSky. Does anyone use BlueSky?

Queering Premodern Asia is a limited series of Nuances: Our Asian Stories. Each episode explores different aspects of sexual diversity in premodern Asia with commentary from guest scholars. Episodes are divided into a narrative portion, and a discussion with a guest co-host from the queer Asian community. Guest co-host: Cece is a Canadian born Chinese transgender trans model, advocate, poet, and public speaker who is using her voice to lift up the marginalized, fill in the gaps, and instigate journeys of discovery Did you enjoy this episode? 🧧If you would like to help me spread the word about the show, or support it financially, learn more at nuancespod.com/support ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ If you'd like to tell other people how much they will enjoy this show, please consider writing a review. 💌 Subscribe to LAZOU's substack, where I'll be sharing some behind-the-scenes + additional essays! CONTACT Instagram | TikTok | Web | LinkedIn | Twitter

Nuances podcast about Our Asian Stories. Each episode explores different aspects of sexual diversity in premodern Asia with commentary from guest scholars. Episodes are divided into a narrative portion, and a discussion with a guest co-host from the queer Asian community. Guest co-host: Stella is a writer, editor, and co-host for the Brazn Azn podcast along with the lovely Virginia Duan. Did you enjoy this episode? 🧧If you would like to help me spread the word about the show, or support it financially, learn more at nuancespod.com/support ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ If you'd like to tell other people how much they will enjoy this show, please consider writing a review. 💌 Subscribe to LAZOU's substack, where I'll be sharing some behind-the-scenes + additional essays! CONTACT Instagram | TikTok | Web | LinkedIn | Twitter

Nuances podcast about Our Asian Stories. Each episode explores different aspects of sexual diversity in premodern Asia with commentary from guest scholars. Episodes are divided into a narrative portion, and a discussion with a guest co-host from the queer Asian community. Ep. 6: Part 1 Guest co-host: Stella is a writer, editor, and co-host for the Brazn Azn podcast along with the lovely Virginia Duan. Did you enjoy this episode? 🧧If you would like to help me spread the word about the show, or support it financially, learn more at nuancespod.com/support ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ If you'd like to tell other people how much they will enjoy this show, please consider writing a review. ☎️☎️☎️ You can even leave me a voicemail! 💌 Subscribe to LAZOU's substack, where I'll be sharing some behind-the-scenes + additional essays! CONTACT Instagram | TikTok | Web | LinkedIn | Twitter

This week's feed drop will have familiar voices! Remember Karen Zheng, who co-hosted Ep. 2 But Where Are The Lesbians? with me? Well, this time she's interviewing me on her podcast, Mx Asian American!

Did you enjoy the last episode "5. Gods, Sex and the Patriarchy"? I'll be back with episode 6 of Queering Premodern Asia very soon! A new opportunity to interview another scholar came up and I couldn't pass it up. I think it would greatly add to the remaining episodes, hence the wait. But I didn't want to leave you hanging so in the meantime, I'm doing a few feed swaps with podcasts that I think you might enjoy if you're enjoying this series. Warning: this episode has explicit content and is definitely not suitable for work or young ears. We’ve been focusing on premodern queer history on this show, but the Fruitbowl podcast is an oral history of queer sex today. The first 4 seasons of fruitbowl were interviews with queer individuals sharing their coming of age stories and their journey discovering their sexual identity. The current season is a compilation of the past interviews that outline the common threads in these diverse stories. The episode I’m sharing today is S2E2 with Aditya who grew up in India, and eventually moved to NYC. Episode description: Raised in Hyderbad, India, Aditya didn’t come out until his second year of college in New Delhi. Luckily his family and friends accepted him, but an awkward experience he had at a bath house in Hong Kong served as a reminder that queer people can often be as racist and socially elitist as straight people. Over the years, Aditya has learned to follow his instincts as he has navigated his journey from India to New York City. It hasn’t been easy, but he eventually found his tribe. If you enjoy this episode, feel free to subscribe to Fruitbowl wherever you listen or connect with them on Instagram. NUANCES CONTACT Instagram | TikTok | Web | LinkedIn | Twitter Host: Lazou Subscribe to Lazou's Substack

If you enjoy this show and would like to help me spread the word about it, or support it financially, you can find out more at ⁠nuancespod.com/support⁠. View the full show notes⁠⁠. Subscribe to ⁠LAZOU's substack⁠. GUEST BIO Shreya Sharma, pronouns she and her, is a podcast marketer by day who finds herself immersed in questions about intersectional identity by night. Thankfully for her, she is a writer too. She occasionally publishes her love affairs with sounds and audio on the Shreya's Audio Affairs newsletter on Substack.. Instagram CONTACT Instagram | TikTok | Web | LinkedIn | Twitter Host: Lazou Support this podcast: nuancespod.com/support Subscribe to Lazou's Substack

Queering Premodern Asia is a limited series and 5th season of the podcast Nuances: Our Asian Stories. Each episode explores different aspects of sexual diversity in premodern Asia with commentary from guest scholars. Episodes are divided into a narrative portion, and a discussion with a guest co-host from the queer Asian community. 4. LOVE, MARRIAGE & THEIR CASUAL RELATIONSHIP Introduction & content warnings Marrying for love China China - Male-Male marriages in Fujian China - Marrying ghosts Iran - the many forms of love How the definition of love and marriage evolved in Korea and Japan Vietnamese village customs Female agency in South East Asia (Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines The only people without marriage When did love and marriage tie the knot? Discussion with Dr. Badie What monogamous people can learn from polyamorous folks Outro If you enjoy this show and would like to help me spread the word about it, or support it financially, you can find out more at nuancespod.com/support If you'd like to leave a review, these are the places you can do so write a review GUEST BIO Dr. Manijeh Badiee (she/her/hers) is an Iranian, queer, bisexual, polyamorous, neurospicy, cisgender femme professor, psychologist, and CEO of Poly Therapist Psychology Corporation.. Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Facebook | LinkedIn | Web CONTACT Instagram | TikTok | Web | LinkedIn | Twitter Host: Lazou --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nuancespod/support

See the FULL SHOW NOTES for references, links & more. Queering Premodern Asia is a limited series and the 5th season of the Nuances podcast about Our Asian Stories. Each episode explores different aspects of sexual diversity in premodern Asia with commentary from guest scholars. Episodes are divided into a narrative portion, and a discussion with a guest co-host from the queer Asian community. Featured Song: More Than My Body by TONIE Guest scholars: professor of Japanese literature & culture at Dartmouth College⁠⁠professor of Chinese literature at the University of Hong Kong⁠⁠ Guest co-host TONIE is doing their very best to make you cry, in all the best ways. The LA-native writes and produces each synth-pop track from the comfort of their skylit home studio in Brooklyn, NY — a perfect backdrop for the emotional vulnerability that colors their lyrics. Proudly Vietnamese American, nonbinary, and themselves! TONIE can be reached on Instagram & TikTok and their website Itstonie.com Connect with Nuances: Our Asian Stories on Instagram, TikTok, Threads or YouTube --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nuancespod/support

Queering Premodern Asia is a limited series and the 5th season of the Nuances podcast about Our Asian Stories. Each episode explores different aspects of sexual diversity in premodern Asia with commentary from guest scholars. Episodes are divided into a narrative portion, and a discussion with a guest co-host from the queer Asian community. References - in the shownotes on nuancespod.com Episode transcript: COMING SOON Guest scholar: doctoral fellow at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology⁠professor of Chinese literature at the University of Hong Kong⁠ Guest co-host bio: Karen Zheng is a first-generation, queer, Chinese-American poet. Her poetry has been featured in Sine Theta Magazine, Honey Literary, Benningham Review, Harbor Review and elsewhere. She has received fellowships from the Breadloaf Writers’ Conference, Roots. Wounds. Words, Chicago Storystudio, and The Poetry Lab. She has been a finalist for Harbor Review’s Washburn Chapbook Prize. In her free time, she hosts the Mx. Asian American podcast and Tucked in Bed podcast. Find out more about her on her website and listen to Mx. Asian American here and here. You can also follow us on all social media: @nuancespod --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nuancespod/support

Queering Premodern Asia is a limited series and the 5th season of the Nuances podcast about Our Asian Stories. Each episode explores different aspects of sexual diversity in premodern Asia with commentary from guest scholars. Episodes are divided into a narrative portion, and a discussion with a guest co-host from the queer Asian community. Ep. 1: In search of Prince Charming and his King Episode transcript: COMING SOON Guest scholar: Wu CunCun, professor of Chinese literature at the University of Hong Kong. She specializes in gender & sexuality in late Imperial Chinese literature and culture. She is widely published in both English and Chinese. Guest co-host bio: Corpus Christi, Texas native Edmond Chan (Historical violin family instruments) has performed with many early music ensembles and orchestras in the United States, Europe, and Hong Kong, some of which include Tempesta di Mare: Philadelphia Baroque Orchestra, Brandywine Baroque, the Dryden Ensemble, the Washington National Cathedral Baroque Orchestra, Holland Baroque, l’arte del mondo Köln, and the Early Music Society of Hong Kong. He is first prize winner in the 2022 International Clara Schumann Competition, and second prize winner in the 2022 France Music Competition. Edmond holds a master's degree in Baroque violin from the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht: Utrechts Conservatorium in the Netherlands where he studied with Antoinette Lohmann. His master’s thesis entitled “The Fashionable Violinist: Fashion and How to Hold the Violin in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries” explores the relationship between 17th and 18th century clothing and period violin performance, and how this relationship can better inform historical violinists (and historical musicians in general) on performance practice techniques. Edmond also holds an Artist’s Certificate in Baroque violin from the Koninklijk Conservatorium den Haag where he studied with Kati Debretzeni and Walter Reiter. Edmond has taught and lectured at conservatories and universities in Europe and the United States along with workshops in Ecuador and Hong Kong. When Edmond is not teaching, performing, or continuing his research into historical clothing, he enjoys cooking, swimming, running, going on bike rides, and playing board/card/computer games with friends and family. @brqvlnfoodie on Instagram | TikTok --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nuancespod/support

Full transcript here | Support the show here. In search of our queer Asian roots The idea for this series came about a year ago, inspired by my interviews with the queer Asian community. Many of the guests shared a desire to connect more with their culture, but also a feeling of being rejected by it because of their queerness, like Cece S1 E07⁠ Queer representation in the media has primarily centered white narratives which is often not relatable to queer Asian folks, like Josh explains in S1 E06 A lot of families see queerness as a Western concept that is incompatible with their Asian heritage or cultural tradition, especially the part of our culture that expects us to get married and have kids. Like Travis says on S3 E06 My queer guests also often feel like queer spaces aren’t safe for them, as those are typically very white spaces and often have very overt anti-Asian sentiment. Edmond talks about this in S1 E08 Another issue our queer Asian community faces is fetishization, as well as misogyny in their Asian family circles. Like Sally, S1 E09 For some of my guests, it was religion, more specifically Christianity, that made it hard for their parents to accept their queerness. Like Dani S3 E05 A common theme I also picked up in those conversations is how lonely it was for them as young people trying to navigate their queerness. Like Tonie S1 E03 I was really struck by how little I knew of these experiences. As a straight woman, I lived decades completely oblivious of these experiences. But the more I heard, the more I wanted to encourage my fellow straight folks to be curious, to care, and to engage with these stories. One day, I was scrolling on TikTok when I saw a video about how in 1651, there was a Chinese play that featured lesbian characters. It immediately piqued my interest. If that story was out there in a hit play in 1651, what else is out there? Could history bridge the gap between our current diasporic existence and conversations that seem too futuristic for our parents? More importantly, what if we could validate the idea that queerness and cultural pride are not alien concepts, but in fact intertwined in our past? And thus began my journey. For my Queer Asian listeners, my hope is that this series will help you feel more connected to your Asian roots, and bring hope & healing as you laugh and cry with us on this journey. For my fellow straight folks, I hope it makes you curious to learn more. Because I don’t think creating a society that is more inclusive of queer folks should fall squarely on our queer community’s shoulders. In a society where cis-hetero folks like us are the norm, we’d get much further if more of us pitched in. And we can start by listening. And for the activists and educators listening, I hope this series helps you reflect on the language you use in your activism, whether it perpetuates orientalist tropes, and how we might do better together. Episodes: 1. In search of Prince Charming (and his King) 2. But Where are the lesbians? 3. 50 Shades of Gender 4. Love, marriage & their casual relationship 5. Gods, sex, and the patriarchy 6. The West: savior or demonizer? The LGBTQIA+ terms, often doesn’t map quite neatly onto other cultures or eras. In the West, queerness is seen as part of your core identity. But this was not the case in premodern Asia at all. Who you slept with did not put you in a different “gay” category. We think of Lesbians as the female version of Gays. That equivalence also didn’t exist. In some cultures, the English language doesn’t have the appropriate terms to describe their gender constructs. I learned so much from researching this series and I can’t wait for you to go on that journey too. Queering Premodern Asia drops on June 2nd, 2024. Hosted by @itslazou, featuring queer Asian guest co-hosts and scholars. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts or go to nuancespod.com to learn more. You can also follow us on all social media:...