If you could go back and revisit another life, would you? This week we sit down with Angela and recap her experience with past-life regression. She recounts her journey to experiencing her past lives and the lessons that she's learned from this therapeutic adventure. We dive fully into the ins-and-outs of this hypnosis-based therapy, from the prep work required beforehand to the actual feeling of experiencing a past life. If you've ever wanted to learn more about past life regression, listen in!...
Apr 29, 2022•46 min•Season 1Ep. 86
We're following up on our first episode about the Ukraine War that featured a Russian civilian with a counter-episode featuring a Ukrainian guest from the capital city of Kyiv - Alexey Siniavtsev. It is a strange and amazing world we live in now, that through the power of the internet we have all crossed paths. Alex saw clips from our first Ukraine war episode on Tik Tok and reached out to offer additional context, which is how we were able to secure him as a guest for this follow-up episode. Bo...
Apr 22, 2022•49 min•Season 1Ep. 85
They say the only way out is through, and we are truly still going through a lot when it comes to COVID-19. Two years after the initial rolling wave of shutdowns, what have we and the world collectively learned? In this episode, we reflect on both the positive and negatives that COVID-19 unleashed upon the world. From government responses to the "end of COVID" to the mental health debt, we talk about it all - and hopefully for the last time. Join us for this retrospective on how COVID-19 has for...
Apr 15, 2022•49 min•Season 1Ep. 84
Everything Everywhere All At Once is maybe one of the best movies we've ever seen...?! Starring the legendary Michelle Yeoh, this movie is seriously unlike any other. Your podcast hosts were lucky enough to be invited to watch advanced screenings of this multi-verse movie, out now. This episode is a (largely) NO SPOILERS review of the movie, discussing the major themes that stood out to us without revealing specifics around the scenes so as not to ruin the movie for any of you (the only spoiler ...
Apr 08, 2022•47 min•Season 1Ep. 83
There is a war being waged on Ukraine, and we need to talk about it. In this episode, we are joined by an anonymous Russian civilian to discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine. Did you know that even calling this war "a war" can get a Russian citizen thrown in jail for up to 15 years? It's heavy stakes to speak the truth, and we are so grateful to our guest for being brave enough to do so. We start with a brief recap of how we got here, including historical and recent events, and the entangled relati...
Apr 01, 2022•55 min•Season 1Ep. 82
It's our 2 year pod-versary!! We are truly in awe that we've made it this far, and so much of that is because of all of the support from you, dear listeners! In this episode, we reflect back on "then and now" in terms of why we started the pod vs. what keeps us going now, our favorite guests, topics, and formats, what our future goals are for the pod, how this community has expanded over the years, and a whole lot more. Join us to celebrate reaching this milestone and continuing to grow this ama...
Mar 25, 2022•44 min•Season 1Ep. 81
Must...eat...brainssss! On another edition of "Go Home We're Drunk," we raise a glass to the cinematic adventure that is Train to Busan. We wanted to revisit one of the older zombie films that's now source material for the current wave of Korean/zombie content being consumed by global audiences ("All of Us Are Dead," anyone?!). With a meticulous ensemble cast, dramatic story pacing, and powerful emotional arcs, join us as we recap this zombie-rific movie and hear why we think Train to Busan is m...
Feb 25, 2022•49 min•Season 1Ep. 80
Who else obsessively watched Sailor Moon growing up? We did! We're rebooting our previous format of "Go Home We're Drunk" where we drink on the show and discuss stuff! In this rebooted format, we're watching Asian content across the board and reviewing what stood out to us, problematic/weird things we noticed, our favorite characters, etc. In this episode, we watched Season 1 Episode 1 of Sailor Moon Crystal, aka the reboot of the original Sailor Moon series that's on Netflix. We discuss our tho...
Feb 18, 2022•33 min•Season 1Ep. 79
Wheel! Of! Fortune!!! Who hasn't thought about taking a lucky spin and peering into their future? This week we talk all about traditional fortune-telling from the motherland (as told indirectly to us by our parents) and how it contrasts with Western styles of fortune-telling. We explore the different themes of traditional fortune telling, from arranging one's surroundings to become more auspicious to the usage of animals in luck-based divination. We also dive into why a fortune teller might be u...
Feb 11, 2022•51 min•Season 1Ep. 78
Did you know that there are actually two forms of written Chinese - simplified and traditional? We're bringing you a schoolin' lesson this week (while we teach ourselves too lol), diving into the differences between simplified and traditional Chinese. We take a look at the history of the divergence between the two forms, from the origins of simplified Chinese and han yu pin yin (aka the phonetic system used to "spell" out Chinese with English letters), to how current students learn the language ...
Feb 04, 2022•45 min•Season 1Ep. 77
"No, but what's your REAL name?!" Have you ever been asked that question by someone who didn't believe your English name was your "real" name because you're Asian? We have! This week we discuss what it was like growing up with both English and Chinese names, what our Chinese names are and what they mean, the process our parents went through of choosing them back in the motherland with the help of fortune tellers, and how relatively little thought went into our English name selections, conversely...
Jan 28, 2022•43 min•Season 1Ep. 76
No, neither of your podcast hosts is imminently about to have a baby! ...but, as we get older and move into different stages of life (i.e., getting married, friends having kids), it's certainly something we're thinking about. With that said, we have vastly different opinions on if we will have kids and for what reasons. Listen in as we discuss our different perspectives on the matter, as well as the various pressures we do or don't have to face (i.e., biological clock, continuing family legacy, ...
Jan 21, 2022•48 min•Season 1Ep. 75
Can you turn a job as a model into a career across many industries and nonprofits? In this episode, we are joined by Pritika Swarup who has done exactly that! Pritika is an international fashion model, Founder/CEO of Prakti Beauty, and global ambassador for Operation Smile. We kick off the discussion by asking Pritika about her experience in fashion, and how being a visible minority in the industry has inspired others who have seen her in the limelight. We also discuss how she took her experien...
Jan 14, 2022•49 min•Season 1Ep. 74
Raise your hand if you had to learn how to date virtually via Zoom/FaceTime because of the pandemic! In this episode, we interrogate... err, interview... Angela's good friend Michael about what his experience was like dating over Zoom during the height of the pandemic, and how that compared with "real" (IRL) dating. We can all imagine the drawbacks that virtual dating can create, but tune in to hear some surprisingly positive outcomes Michael got out of being forced to date in this strange new m...
Jan 07, 2022•43 min•Season 1Ep. 73
What do we find when we quiet the mind and look inside ourselves? With so much hustle and bustle on the daily, it's hard to take time and really listen to our inner selves. But once you do get in touch with your inner thoughts and feelings, what do you do? Co-host Angela returns from a ten-day silent meditation retreat to help answer this question. What does a silent meditation retreat even entail? In this episode, we interview Angela on her silent meditation journey (specifically, through the "...
Dec 31, 2021•50 min•Season 1Ep. 72
Let it s-NO, let it s-NO, let it s-NO! The holidays are here but cheer is somewhat missing! The holiday season has always been a mixed bag for us. There's so much being thrown at you about how to feel, what you should be doing, and the enjoyment you should be having. The reality is that many people might not be feeling the holiday glow. And feeling apart from that can make the season's greetings more of a "f*ck you" than "happy holidays." So why do the holidays exert such an emotional pull on us...
Dec 24, 2021•32 min•Season 1Ep. 71
Have you ever tried special K? And no, we're not talking about the cereal! Growing up, we've been told in many ways that drugs are inherently dangerous and harmful. But having experienced some substances first hand, we've come to the conclusion that some drugs can actually be beneficial. Some can help you deal with trauma, while others can just add more fun to your weekend. So why are all drugs so maligned? In this episode, we explore why we think drugs have such a bad rap. We evaluate our own e...
Dec 17, 2021•49 min•Season 1Ep. 70
How risk-seeking vs. risk-averse are you? As we've gotten older, we've generally trended towards being more risk-averse, being scared or unwilling to put in the effort to try new things. However, after respectively going through our mid-life crises within the past few years, we've been rejuvenated and inspired to take on new risks to change course in our lives. For example, did you know that Angela quit her job and is making this podcast her full-time gig?! In this episode, we speculate about wh...
Dec 10, 2021•49 min•Season 1Ep. 69
We know, we know, we're late in discussing Squid Game... but we still think it's a worthwhile topic to discuss because of all the different levels of influence the show has had on making "foreign" content mainstream for a global audience. We speculate on why we think it was such a runaway success and why it resonated with so many people across all different global/cultural backgrounds despite similarities with existing other shows/movies (i.e., Alice in Borderland, Hunger Games, Hostel), the hot...
Dec 03, 2021•44 min•Season 1Ep. 68
Happy Thanksgiving weekend to all of our US-based friends! In this episode, we bring back friend of the pod, rapper/producer/performer Lil Waterboi to discuss the holiday from a Canadian perspective. First of all, did my fellow self-centered Americans even know that the US is not the only country with Thanksgiving?! There are actually 17 (!!) around the world, and Canada's is a month prior to ours. We discuss the difference in importance of the holiday between our two countries, f...
Nov 26, 2021•50 min•Season 1Ep. 67
We're baaaaack! Did you miss us? For the first time in our podcast's history, Jesse and Angela are actually recording in the same physical location, so we're trying out new stuff and re-introducing ourselves to all you dear listeners! We're playing everyone's favorite classic.... ice breakers! But frankly, they may be some of the most random ice breakers we've ever answered. Gotta love the internet, amirite? We like to call this the "But How Well Do You Guys Know Us Anyways?" game. Hope you find...
Nov 19, 2021•28 min•Season 1Ep. 66
20 years have passed since the horrendous events of 9/11. It feels like ages ago, and at the same time, just like yesterday. For most of us, thinking back on 9/11 brings back sad memories of a vulnerable time for our nation. However, for Arab-Americans, those feelings go even further because there is a clear delineation between life before and life after 9/11 in terms of how welcome and accepted they have felt by American society. In honor of the 20th anniversary of this landmark day, we invite ...
Sep 10, 2021•38 min•Season 1Ep. 65
Have you heard of the "lie flat" or "tang ping" movement in China? It's a movement among young people that first cropped up in April 2021 largely in reaction to China's infamous 9/9/6 culture (working from 9am-9pm, 6 days/week), and has since been reported on widely by western and eastern media. Young people are rejecting the ideas they've been sold on what makes for success and happiness - constantly hustling at work to move up the ladder (even at the expense of your personal life and mental we...
Sep 03, 2021•34 min•Season 1Ep. 64
We've spent a lot of time investigating our own perspectives of what it means to be Asian American. But what does being Asian American mean to other Asians across the world, and how does the larger Asian diaspora think of race and identity? We're joined this week by Cherrie from With Chinese Characteristics podcast to dive into this topic. We kick off the episode by asking Cherrie to explain her experience transitioning from the majority in China to a minority individual in the US. Along the way...
Aug 27, 2021•35 min•Season 1Ep. 63
The idea of "saving face" is so foundational to Chinese and broader Asian culture that it's often difficult to accurately describe in English words and within a western context. Shame? Disgrace? The opposite of bringing honor to your family/community? How do you explain the importance and impact of such an underlying, community-first concept to a "me first" western society? In this episode we break down what "saving face" or avoiding "diu lian" (in Mandarin) means to us, how it's driven some of ...
Aug 20, 2021•37 min•Season 1Ep. 62
Acupuncture, gua sha, ashwaganda - as a lot of East/South Asian medicine become more popularized in western society, we wanted to discuss what happens when East meets West. This week we discuss Chinese medicine, Ayurvedic medicine, and "traditional" aka western medicine with special guest, Dr. Sandeepa Mullady, an Indian-American neurologist who is trained in western medicine but who is very spiritually-centered and grew up seeing Ayurvedic doctors. We discuss how the thousand years-long practic...
Aug 13, 2021•38 min•Season 1Ep. 61
Dating can be a minefield of expectations, both from yourself and from your culture. This week we're exploring what it means to date outside the race, and why we would want to (hint, hint: societal pressures growing up telling us what was attractive played a huge part). While our parents had expectations of who we should be courting, the reality of not living in our motherland is that those expectations tended to fall really short. We dive into this and other ideals our parents had about who we ...
Aug 06, 2021•34 min•Season 1Ep. 60
We always like to end on a sweet treat, but why not dedicate an entire episode to one? This week we're talking about boba or bubble tea - the delicious dessert imported from our motherland Taiwan. Prepare for a history lesson, as we open the episode with a look into how boba came to be and how it found its way to the United States. As such a ubiquitous treat, we discuss how this tasty snack is actually entangled with Asian culture both here for Asian-Americans and in Asia where it originated. Of...
Jul 30, 2021•35 min•Season 1Ep. 59
Sorry y'all, we're not talking about XLBs (xiao long baos) today - in fact, we're talking about the Taiwanese universal health care system and the colloquially referred to "jian bao," which is the health insurance card every Taiwanese citizen carries to get access to these services. We introduce how Taiwan was able to reform their health care system in the 90s to provide universal health care, what benefits its citizens gain from this system as well as the drawbacks for not only citizens but als...
Jul 23, 2021•37 min•Season 1Ep. 58
Have you ever wondered what your college degree has done for you? Well, so have we! It has been such a contentious topic that we decided to turn it into an episode! This week we're talking all about college education - our personal experiences as well as our perspective on how our parents viewed it. We discuss the investment versus payoff of matriculating at a name-brand school, both from an undergraduate and graduate level. We also dive into what we actually got out of education, whether it's a...
Jul 16, 2021•37 min•Season 1Ep. 57
