Victoria Li grew up in Flushing, Queens in NYC, where her parents owned a Chinese takeout restaurant. On this episode of immigrant tales, she recounts the hardships her parents went through in order to give her and her sister a better life. You can follow Victoria at @midsizeasianqueen on Instagram, and check out her pageantry work at @misschinesechicago on Instagram as well. Be sure to also follow MM:UA on Insta @minority_model. Shukriya for listening, and until next time. - Nidhi...
Jun 08, 2024•8 min•Season 2Ep. 6
*CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains recounts of traumatic post-segregation-era racism inflicted on people of color including the storyteller and those in her community.* Punam Saxena talks about the parallels between religious intolerance in America that she’s experienced, and the religious intolerance plaguing India at the moment. She also shares stories from her childhood in Alabama and Georgia and what it was like for her and other people of color and religious minorities in post-segregat...
Mar 20, 2024•11 min•Season 2Ep. 6
*Please hit the FOLLOW button to help support my work!* In January, I sent out a request asking listeners to send in clips about what language means to them - regardless of if they can speak their native tongues or not. And YOU all delivered! In On Losing Our Tongues, we're hearing diaspora folks from over a dozen unique ethnicities in Asia, Africa and the Middle East share what if feels like to struggle to speak their native language, or to be unable to speak it altogether. Some themes in this ...
Oct 19, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Season 2Ep. 4
*Please hit the FOLLOW button to help support my work!* In January, I sent out a request asking listeners to send in clips about what language means to them - regardless of if they can speak their native tongues or not. And YOU all delivered! In On Loving Our Language, we're exploring the benefits of being bilingual in a non-western languages in the US (i.e. having access to unique forms of media and television & the ability to connect with others) as well as some barriers (i.e. facing discr...
Jul 28, 2023•59 min•Season 2Ep. 3
(Please hit the follow button for this show on Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts, to help support my work! <3 ) For Zamzam Dini, growing up in Seattle where there was little diversity meant having to endure ignorance from students and professors alike about her Somali heritage. In this 6-min clip, Zamzam shares how her identity has shifted based on her environment - in Seattle, she was identified by others as Black first, then Muslim, and then Somali. Upon moving to Minneapolis, MN -...
May 05, 2023•9 min•Season 2Ep. 3
Welcome to Season 2 of Model Minority: Uniquely American! As the launch of Season 2, we sit down with Sameer Gadhia , lead singer of Young the Giant , to discuss his heritage, thoughts on the American Dream, and the meaning behind the album American Bollywood. When Sameer Gadhia and his bandmates started the band Young the Giant, few people in the alternative rock music industry knew of the influence of South Asian culture and rhythms on the genre. Since then, Young the Giant has released major ...
Apr 15, 2023•33 min•Season 2Ep. 1
I'm back! Excited to announce Season 2 of Model Minority, and am so grateful for all the people who have grown to love this show. A quick request: I'm working on an upcoming episode about language, and I want to hear from YOU! Email me a 30 second - 1 min clip about what your native language means to you. Email your clip to: [email protected] Anyone is welcome to submit (including if you can't speak your native language or struggle with it) - your voice could end up in a future episode! ...
Jan 28, 2023•4 min
Stories. Histories. What differentiates one from the other? And, why are they so important to document ? With so much going on right now - India’s coronavirus surge, the free Palestine movement, BLM, Stop Asian Hate, and so much more - sharing and saving our stories are more important to presenting history fairly, than ever before. In this episode, Nidhi speaks with the people who are documenting Asian, African and Middle Eastern stories in real-time. Join us as we meet the storytellers, the cha...
May 25, 2021•59 min•Season 1Ep. 9
** Model Minority stands against the recent attacks against AAPI communities. Please consider sharing this podcast on social media with the hashtag #stopAAPIhate to show your support and uplift Asian voices during this time.** Shiwei Zhang moved to the U.S. from China at a young age. But, she quickly realized it wasn't all that she dreamt it'd be. Her mother, who worked as a nail technician at a salon in Chicago, found that the degrees and credentials that she worked so hard to attain in China w...
Apr 05, 2021•15 min
Namah Vyakranam was born in Hyderabad, India. Her family traveled back and forth from India to the U.S. before eventually settling around Chicago, IL. After that, Namah found herself grappling with internalized racism surrounding her South Asian identity, which was often misrepresented in American society. It all boiled over when she began to see the racism against South Asians in a post-9/11 America more clearly. Listen to the second edition of Immigrant Tales to hear Namah's story firsthand. A...
Jan 25, 2021•6 min
In the first episode of our new mini-series "In Conversation," Nidhi sits down with novelist, essayist, and critic writer Karan Mahajan . They discuss how Karan pursued writing as someone from a conservative Indian background, terrorism as a theme in his novels, the broader Desi diaspora, South African apartheid, and more. Then, he reads a bit of his piece "The Two Asian Americas." Karan's writing has been featured in The Believer, The Daily Beast, the San Francisco Chronicle, Granta, and The Ne...
Jan 11, 2021•32 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Welcome to the first episode of Immigrant Tales , a new subseries of Model Minority: Uniquely American ! Chu May Paing is a PhD student and Burmese immigrant who first came to the United States through a visa lottery ticket. Despite having all her immigration papers and status in line, she found herself facing a multitude of barriers when she tried to find employment in the United States, with discrimination coming from both within and outside of the Asian community. In this story of adversity a...
Dec 29, 2020•11 min•Season 1Ep. 9
This clip opens with an excerpt from the author and essayist Karan Mahajan 's piece in the New Yorker titled, The Two Asian Americas . Followed by that, we hear a bit more of the piece read by the author himself, who Nidhi interviewed earlier this year. I am so excited to announce a sub-series of Model Minority: Uniquely American called Immigrant Tales . This series will consist of "mini" episodes that recount stories of success, struggle, and the journey to call this country "home," for immigra...
Dec 22, 2020•5 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Media. Film. TV Representation. For the model minority community, where do WE fit in? Model Minorities in media is an issue of more than just “not enough representation.” For some of us, it’s about bad representation too. It’s about how our countries are depicted, how we are seen in society, and the duality it causes between who we are construed to be, and what we really are. And, it seems we’ve always ended up, just one jump ahead of the punchline, or sometimes, as the punchline itself. I’m Nid...
Dec 14, 2020•41 min•Season 1Ep. 8
COVID-19 spread quickly, but not as quick as the racial discrimination Asians have faced with its arrival. In addition to this, the wealthiest nation in the world — the U.S. — has seen its healthcare system crumble under the demands caused by COVID-19, leading more Americans to speak up about how long the nation has been living in sickness even before the pandemic. In this episode, first, we uncover some stats and hear some stories from people who were affected by the anti-Asian rhetoric plaguin...
Nov 09, 2020•52 min•Season 1Ep. 7
In 2014, Tushar Lall banded with two friends and released a cover of the " Game of Thrones " theme song on YouTube. He did so with a twist; he arranged the piece using his knowledge of Indian classical instruments, featuring tablas (South Asia hand drums) and a bansuri (a South Asian wooden flute) to supplement his keyboard part. 353K YouTube subscribers and over 20 musical covers later, Tushar has been named one of the "Forbes Top 100 Celebrities" of India. He joins us today on Model Minority U...
Oct 27, 2020•17 min•Season 1Ep. 6
Join Model Minority: Uniquely American and Project Voice this week for a very special collaboration: Enigma - The Political Lives of Asian Americans! In this episode, we explore reflections on why the political lives of Asian Americans are... somewhat of an enigma, or puzzle. We examine the ways in which Asians are left out of the political narrative, and how we can work to ensure we aren't simply pandered to with no benefit, or sometimes even fully left out of our country's political decisions....
Oct 12, 2020•23 min•Season 1Ep. 5
The Model Minority Myth is often used to wedge Asian Americans between Black and White America. In this episode, we explore how that is a problematic ideology, and why we need a new approach to understanding race. We also address how African immigrants are wedged between racial groups in the same way. This episode features Mo Sibyl - a fellow podcaster - and Jason Chu - and Asian American rapper. Furthermore, we look to LA Race Riots as an example of racial tensions between Blacks and Asians, an...
Sep 29, 2020•39 min•Season 1Ep. 4
We've all heard the idea that ALL Asians/ Model Minorities are wealthy and economically well off in America. But, if we dig into the stats and stories of our community, how much of that ideology is actually true? And for those who DO make it, at what cost is success? In this two-part episode, we explore the socio-economic status of Asians, Africans, and Middle Eastern Americans, and work to tell some of the stories of those who perhaps, haven't quite "made it." Part 1 features the voices of Hele...
Sep 14, 2020•30 min•Season 1Ep. 3
In the second half of this episode, we explore some excerpts of stories of struggle, adversity, and resilience in our community. We also dive into the stats of ways in which Middle Eastern, African, and other parts of the model minority diaspora face economic oppression. I'm Nidhi Shastri, and this is Model Minority: Uniquely American. If you liked what I do and want to support, you can find me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/modelminority. Thank you/shukriya for listening! All music in this...
Sep 14, 2020•33 min•Season 1Ep. 3
What gave Asians the nickname, "the invisible minorities?" Hi, I'm Nidhi Shastri, and in this episode, I dig into how the Asian demographic got this name and the factors within the model minority myth that erase us in the larger American narrative. Come join me in exploring how factors such as the black and white binary, the U.S. Census, and immigration patterns have led to us being named, the Invisibles. As always, shukriya for listening, and I'm glad to have you here! All music is from the CC ...
Aug 31, 2020•33 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Welcome to Model Minority: Uniquely American! I'm your host, Nidhi Shastri, thanks for being here. In today's episode, we're exploring what exactly it means to be a "model minority," and the baggage that comes with it. All music is from the CC creative commons, and the theme song Cafe Connection is by MorganTj. If you enjoyed this episode, PLEASE share it with others! Shukriya, and stay tuned for more coming soon. Want to help make it happen? My Patreon is: https://www.patreon.com/modelminority...
Aug 17, 2020•15 min•Season 1Ep. 1
My name is Nidhi Shastri, and I’ve created a podcast to discuss what being a Model Minority in America really looks like, the good, the bad, and the invisible. In an effort to break down these biases and shake up our views, I'm discussing poverty, race, education, sexuality, and more in the Asian, African, and Middle Eastern diasporas. Hiding who we are and displaying who we are supposed to be, has often been a survival tactic for model minorities in America. And it's not just about our actions....
May 13, 2020•2 min
