Hearts in Taiwan podcast

Hearts in Taiwan

Annie Wang and Angela Yu

As kids of immigrants from Taiwan, our Asian identity started with beef noodle soup and ended with Chinese school. Now that we’re adults, we’ve found that we still have a lot to learn about Taiwan’s history and its unique culture. Cousins Annie Wang and Angela Yu share their journey as they discover their family’s heritage and celebrate Taiwanese culture in the context of the Asian American experience.

33 Episodes

Dumplings for everyone
1/21/2023
32:56
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 GawThe Poppy War by R. F. KuangWe Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story by Simu LiuThe Many Daughters of Afong Moy by Jamie FordBlueprints by Jeanelle FuS02E09 Can you be Chinese and Taiwanese at the same time?S01E12 Twinkies and BananasS02E03 Bringing Taiwanese values to entrepreneurshipS01E14 Hearts (and ears) in JapanS01E05 Wang or Wang?Appearances:Hyphen Magazine A Roundtable On Taiwan's Recent Representation In Western MediaEYECTV on YouTube How ROC immigrants recognize themselves?Ryan Ma on TaiwaneseAmerican.org Cōng yóu Bǐng: A Catalyst for Taiwanese Self-IdentityYLE Radio (Finnish) Russia, Ukraine, China, and TaiwanFeaturing:Olivia Chen, Twrl Milk TeaAngie Lin, Good to EatGrace Hwang Lynch, freelance writerLeona Chen, TaiwaneseAmerican.orgPeter Chu, TAP-SFKimberly Yang, Formosa ChocolatesWilly Wang, Taiwan BentoStephanie Lin, KRON 4Connect:instagram.com/heartsintaiwanfacebook.com/heartsintaiwanbuymeacoffee.com/heartsintaiwan ← Buy us a boba!heartsintaiwan.com
Taiwanese Home Cooking with Joy Huang
8/24/2022
33:47
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 Cooking of Joy blog: www.cookingofjoy.com @joyosity and #thecookingofjoy on InstagramTaiwanese Home Cooking Facebook GroupResources mentioned:Joy Huang on Some Good News by John Krasinski, Bon Appetit, and Food52Taiwanese Restaurant Recommendations around the world (Google MyMap)Joy’s guide to making bread including her sourdough recipeJoy’s beef noodle soup (niu rou mian) recipe (original, latest)Joy’s recipes for various dumplingsTaiwanese American Foundation (TAF) summer conferenceBoston Organics produce deliveryJocelyn Shyong’s homemade pineapple cakes in the Boston area (must be in Facebook Group), or @jjcookery on InstagramEric Sze on Munchies YouTube on white pepper in Taiwanese food and five-spice tooCover art photo credits: Joy HuangConnect:instagram.com/heartsintaiwanfacebook.com/heartsintaiwanbuymeacoffee.com/heartsintaiwan ← Buy us a boba!heartsintaiwan.comConnect:instagram.com/heartsintaiwanfacebook.com/heartsintaiwanbuymeacoffee.com/heartsintaiwan ← Buy us a boba!heartsintaiwan.com
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Learning our parents’ love languages through their stories
8/4/2022
13:10
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 appinstagram.com/cutfruitcollectiveinstagram.com/parentsarehumaninstagram.com/asiansformentalhealthConnect:instagram.com/heartsintaiwanfacebook.com/heartsintaiwanbuymeacoffee.com/heartsintaiwan ← Buy us a boba!heartsintaiwan.comConnect:instagram.com/heartsintaiwanfacebook.com/heartsintaiwanbuymeacoffee.com/heartsintaiwan ← Buy us a boba!heartsintaiwan.com
Taking back the narrative about Asian Americans (feat. Joanna Ho)
7/10/2022
41:23
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 TikTokBook author visits on joannahowrites.comAbout Joanna: Joanna Ho is the New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of Eyes that Kiss in the Corners, Eyes that Speak to the Stars, Playing at the Border: A Story of Yo-Yo Ma, and The Silence that Binds Us. She is a writer and educator with a passion for anti-bias, anti-racism and equity work. She has been an English teacher, a vice principal, a dean, the designer of an alternative-to-prison program, and a professional development creator partnering with educational leaders around the country. She survives on homemade chocolate chip cookies, outdoor adventures, and dance parties with her kids.More resources (primarily for US listeners):Gratitude giveaway details on Instagram, Facebook, and TwitterSuicide Prevention Lifeline Network, 1-800-273-TALK (8255)The Trevor Project for LGBTQ+ and questioningAsians for Mental Health therapist directoryResources for survivors of suicide lossTiger parenting (Wikipedia), Panda parenting (Psychology Today)LA riots following 1992 acquittal of officers for beating Rodney King (Wikipedia)Hearts in Taiwan in the news:Hyphen Magazine (link coming soon)Radio Taiwan International, Russian ServiceNew York Times articleConnect:instagram.com/heartsintaiwanfacebook.com/heartsintaiwanbuymeacoffee.com/heartsintaiwan ← Buy us a boba!heartsintaiwan.comConnect:instagram.com/heartsintaiwanfacebook.com/heartsintaiwanbuymeacoffee.com/heartsintaiwan ← Buy us a boba!heartsintaiwan.com
Can you be Chinese and Taiwanese at the same time?
6/23/2022
51:45
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 RoadReflecting on Albert’s mother in A Broad and Ample RoadIs “Asian-American” a viable category? in A Broad and Ample RoadBreaking Bad review by Albert Wu and Michelle Kuo in the Los Angeles Review of Books, their first collaborationReading with Patrick by Michelle Kuo (陪你讀下去 in Taiwan)Michelle Kuo: @kuokuomich on Twitter and Instagram Albert Wu: @albertowu on TwitterAbout Michelle: Michelle Kuo is a visiting professor in the law program at National Taiwan University. She has worked with Teach for America, the Criminal Justice Institute, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Centro Legal de la Raza, the Prison University Project at San Quentin, RAICES, and the Stanford Three Strikes Project. She has started a nonprofit, Dialogue & Transformation, which works to create dialogue among formerly incarcerated people across the world.About Albert: Albert Wu is a global historian, focusing particularly on the transnational connections between Germany and China, the history of religion, and the history of medicine. He is currently an Associate Research Fellow at the Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica. After studying history at Columbia University, he has taught at the American University of Paris, UC Berkeley (where he earned his PhD), and the Prison University Project at San Quentin State Prison.Vocab:外省人 waishengren - Family from mainland China who moved to Taiwan to escape Communism in the late 1940s本省人 benshengren - Family who was already in Taiwan when waishengren cameOther resources mentioned:Changes in the Taiwanese/Chinese identity of Taiwanese as Tracked in Surveys by the Election Study Center, NCCU (1992-2021)The Ethics of Identity by Kwame Anthony AppiahI've Got the Light of Freedom by Charles M. PayneConnect:instagram.com/heartsintaiwanfacebook.com/heartsintaiwanbuymeacoffee.com/heartsintaiwan ← Buy us a boba!heartsintaiwan.comConnect:instagram.com/heartsintaiwanfacebook.com/heartsintaiwanbuymeacoffee.com/heartsintaiwan ← Buy us a boba!heartsintaiwan.com
What does the Presbyterian Church mean to Taiwanese Christians?
6/13/2022
47:19
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 the Advocacy of Local Autonomy” (PDF) by Christine Louise Lin for Sino-Platonic Papers, 1999“What Impacts a Taiwanese Americans' Political Identity?” by Christine Lin for Chinese America: History & Perspectives–The Journal of the Chinese Historical Society of America, Special Issue: Taiwanese Americans, 2017Christine Lin quoted in “Gunman Targets Taiwanese Faith With Long Pro-Democracy Link” (Associated Press)Contact Christine Lin on LinkedInAbout Christine: Christine Lin is a Taiwanese American lawyer. Her research on the topic of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan inspired her to pursue a career in human rights, refugee, and immigration law. Currently, she is the Director of Training and Technical Assistance at the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies based at UC Hastings College of the Law where she has taught the Refugee & Human Rights Clinic. Previously, she was the Legal Director of Hong Kong Refugee Advice Centre and taught refugee legal assistance clinics at the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong.More resources:Major branches of Christianity (Wikipedia)Presbyterian Church USA allows same-sex marriages (NPR, 2015)Related episode: “Taiwanese by the Numbers” (Hearts in Taiwan, August 5, 2021)New York Times interview that consulted Christine Lin and interviewed Annie and Angela: "Coming From Separate Worlds in Taiwan, They Collided at California Church" (https://nyti.ms/3mDXG2q)Connect:instagram.com/heartsintaiwanfacebook.com/heartsintaiwanbuymeacoffee.com/heartsintaiwan ← Buy us a boba!heartsintaiwan.comConnect:instagram.com/heartsintaiwanfacebook.com/heartsintaiwanbuymeacoffee.com/heartsintaiwan ← Buy us a boba!heartsintaiwan.com
Recognizing the struggle of the American Dream with Jane Kuo
5/20/2022
59:46
The Chinese name for America, 美国/美國/měiguó, 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 28 release (delayed from June 14 due to supply chain issues).Featuring Jane Kuo:In the Beautiful Country by Jane Kuojanekuo.com for upcoming tour dates and projectsinstagram.com/janekuowritesfacebook.com/janekuowritestwitter.com/janekuowrites About Jane: Jane Kuo is a Chinese and Taiwanese American writer. She is an immigrant and the daughter of immigrants. Jane grew up in Los Angeles in the 1980s and as a child, she spent her weekends and summers working in her family’s fast food restaurant. Jane’s middle grade novel, In the Beautiful Country, is a fictional story inspired by the events of her childhood.Other works mentioned:Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha LaiMaslow’s hierarchy of needs (Wikipedia)Asian Comedian Destroys America!, Ronny Chieng’s first special on NetflixEnglish language writing by Taiwanese Americans about the May 15 shooting in Laguna Woods, CaliforniaBrian Hioe for New Bloom Magazine, “Confusion About ‘Chinese’ Or ‘Taiwanese’ Identity Of Gunman After Shooting At Taiwanese Church In California”HoChie Tsai and Leona Chen for TaiwaneseAmerican.org, “We grieve the May 15th Shooting at Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church”Jocelyn Chung for USA Today, “Church shooting is deeply personal for us as Taiwanese Americans”A prayer by Jocelyn’s ama for the Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church (Instagram video in Taiwanese with English translation in the caption)Connect:instagram.com/heartsintaiwanfacebook.com/heartsintaiwanheartsintaiwan.comConnect:instagram.com/heartsintaiwanfacebook.com/heartsintaiwanbuymeacoffee.com/heartsintaiwan ← Buy us a boba!heartsintaiwan.com
Becoming Taiwanese: Identity formation with Evan Dawley
5/4/2022
1:05:25
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 Press) by Evan N. Dawley, Chinese edition (NTU Press)TaiwanPrimarySources.com, collected by Wayne Soon (Vassar College) and Evan Dawley (Goucher College)The 4th World Congress of Taiwan Studies, June 27 to 29, 2022 in Seattle, WashingtonOrphan of Asia by Zhuoliu WuGreen Island by Shawna Yang RyanTrends of Core Political Attitudes survey data by the Election Study Center at National Chengchi UniversityThe Good Immigrants: How the Yellow Peril Became the Model Minority by Madeline HsuThe Great Exodus from China: Trauma, Memory, and Identity in Modern Taiwan by Dominic YangAmerican Exodus: Second-Generation Chinese Americans in China, 1901–1949 by Charlotte BrooksRemembering China from Taiwan: Divided Families and Bittersweet Reunions after the Chinese Civil War by Mahlon Meyer“The War in Ukraine Has Unleashed a New Word” by Timothy Snyder for The New York Times MagazineMore publications by Evan DawleyAbout Evan: Evan Dawley is Associate Professor of History at Goucher College, where he has taught since 2013, and he previously worked in the Office of the Historian at the U.S. Department of State. His research relates to modern East Asian history, with particular attention to Taiwan, China, and Japan, as well as identity formation, imperialism, and international/transnational history.Connect:instagram.com/heartsintaiwanfacebook.com/heartsintaiwanheartsintaiwan.comConnect:instagram.com/heartsintaiwanfacebook.com/heartsintaiwanbuymeacoffee.com/heartsintaiwan ← Buy us a boba!heartsintaiwan.com
Inner critics: the secret to success or perpetual dissatisfaction?
4/6/2022
40:35
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 tests:16personalities.com/free-personality-testpersonalitypath.com/free-enneagram-personality-testPersonality Types mentioned about ourselves:Enneagram Type 1: PerfectionistEnneagram Type 3: AchieverEnneagram Type 5: Investigator16 Personalities ISTJ LogisticianAlso mentioned: Myers-Briggs MBTI® TypesConnect:instagram.com/heartsintaiwanfacebook.com/heartsintaiwanheartsintaiwan.comConnect:instagram.com/heartsintaiwanfacebook.com/heartsintaiwanbuymeacoffee.com/heartsintaiwan ← Buy us a boba!heartsintaiwan.com
Our first jobs in Silicon Valley
3/17/2022
18:16
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 SandbergRelated episode: Bringing Taiwanese values to entrepreneurship with Carey Lai (Hearts in Taiwan S2E3)Connect:instagram.com/heartsintaiwanfacebook.com/heartsintaiwanheartsintaiwan.comConnect:instagram.com/heartsintaiwanfacebook.com/heartsintaiwanbuymeacoffee.com/heartsintaiwan ← Buy us a boba!heartsintaiwan.com

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