Margin Notes

Life on the margins, chapter by chapter. Join co-hosts Yen Eriksen and Zoya Patel as they explore a different theme each week and unpack it through the lens of race, feminism and identity. Season 1 dives into pop culture, food, travel, grief, chronic illness and queer identity, just to name a few things. Hosts: Yen Eriksen & Zoya Patel Producer: Kim Lester Theme music: Fossil Rabbit

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Episodes

Margin Notes S2 Episode 3: On parenting, loss and grief

In this episode, we feature guest writer, Gemma Killen. Gem and Yen share their experience of losing their son to stillbirth. Trigger warning - we talk about grief, infant death, and loss.

Jul 07, 2022•45 min•Season 2Ep. 10

Margin Notes S2 Episode 1: On bodies and body hair

In the first episode of Season 2, we chat all things body hair - when it is and isn't deemed socially acceptable on queer and culturally diverse bodies, and how it shapes our identities.

Jul 07, 2022•43 min•Season 2Ep. 8

Margin Notes S2 Episode 5: On animals

This episode, we talk animals and culture. How do we treat animals? And how does our culture inform this?

Jul 07, 2022•50 min•Season 2Ep. 12

Margin Notes S2 Episode 2: On micro aggressions

We talk about microaggressions - when racism, homophobia and other prejudice is experienced, even in 'small doses', it builds up and corrodes our sense of self and belonging.

Jul 07, 2022•48 min•Season 2Ep. 9

Margin Notes S2 Episode 4: On interracial relationships

What's it like being in an interracial relationship? How do we navigate the expectations of our families, and society at large? And when does cultural difference become a challenge?

Jul 07, 2022•40 min•Season 2Ep. 11

Margin Notes S2 Episode 6: On sexuality and coming of age

Ah, our twenties. We remember those years fondly - full of sexual awakening, poor decision making, and riotous fun. We get nostalgic, talk love and sex, and our halcyon days of youth.

Jul 07, 2022•59 min•Season 2Ep. 12

Margin Notes S2 Episode 7: On work and culture

We hear from guest writer, Phi Phi Nguyen, who shares her story of growing up as the child of migrants on the NSW South Coast. Watching her family work incredibly hard to make a life in their new home shaped Phi Phi's attitude towards work, which we explore alongside what it's like to grow up in a majority white town as a migrant, and more!

Jul 07, 2022•56 min•Season 2Ep. 13

Margin Notes Episode 6 : Living with chronic pain

In the final episode of Season 1 of Margin Notes, guest artists Naomi Barnbaum shares her memoir of living with chronic illness. How do our experiences of pain define who we are? And how do we come to terms with our bodies being forever changed by illness?

Jul 27, 2020•34 min•Season 1Ep. 6

Margin Notes Episode 5 : Travelling and migrant guilt

In this episode, Yen and Zoya explore the unique experience of travelling as a migrant, and the phenomenon of migrant guilt. How do we reconcile our privilege as immigrants with the simultaneous experience of alienation?

Jul 15, 2020•41 min•Season 1Ep. 5

Margin Notes Episode 4: When race and sexual identity collide

When you've grown up in worlds that are wildly apart, can migrant parents ever truly understand their children who are more a product of their adopted country than their parents' birthplace? And how does migrant identity intersect with sexuality? This episode of Margin Notes is about family, identity, and understanding each other despite the distances between our experiences. Yen Eriksen shares their memoir of visiting China with their mother, and the process of coming out as queer to migrant pa...

Jul 07, 2020•26 min•Season 1Ep. 4

Margin Notes Episode 3: Growing up with a migrant work ethic

Migrant workers are everywhere - your local 7-Eleven, pushing trolleys at Coles, in your Doctor's surgery and in front of the university lecture podium. So is it true what they say about the migrant work ethic? And what does that do to the generations that come after them? Yen and Zoya discuss the reality of living as the children of hardworking migrants.

Jun 29, 2020•39 min•Season 1Ep. 3

Margin Notes Episode 2: Food and cultural identity

In this episode, Yen Eriksen shares an evocative piece of memoir about cultural legacy, family and making sticky rice. How does food create a connection to culture, and how do we maintain this link as migrants?

Jun 22, 2020•42 min•Season 1Ep. 2

Margin Notes Episode 1 : Pop culture on the margins

In our pilot episode, author Zoya Patel shares her reflections on finding herself in pop culture through watching Bend It Like Beckham. Together with co-host Yen Eriksen, she explores what it means to be represented in media as a person of colour, and on the flipside, what the impact is of not being able to see yourself in the television, books or media you consume.

Jun 13, 2020•34 min•Season 1Ep. 1

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