This week, we have host Chenni Xu to discuss the new book of an old friend from her expat days in Beijing, Qin Qin (formerly Lisa Qin), Model Minority Gone Rogue: How an unfulfilled daughter of a tiger mother went way off-script, which debuted earlier this year in Australia and New Zealand and was published by Hachette.

In this episode, Qin Qin discusses her journey of transformation into her true self, challenges along the way of this reconstruction, and also her writing journey and the road to publishing. Qin Qin and Chenni also discuss their similar upbringings, expectations, and how to break out of those constrictions -- successfully or not. Qin Qin's spiritual, career, personal and her own sexual identity figure into her "Becoming" story.

In this two-part episode, we have Yi Chien Jade Ho on anti-gentrification activism in Vancouver's Chinatown and Judith Shapiro on environmentalism in China. 

We are ending our spring 2024 season with a collaboration between NüVoices and four students from the University of British Columbia's Human Rights in a Globalized World class. Over the course of last semester, these students conducted interviews and tied their research into their coursework.

Part I (which starts at 1:25) is with Yi Chien Jade Ho, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Victoria, about her anti-gentrification efforts and tenant organizing in Vancouver’s Chinatown. With students Vanessa Matsubara and Kylla Castillo, Yi Chien discusses her work protesting the Keefer 105 Project.

Part II (which starts at 21:26) is Dr. Judith Shapiro of American University on the intersection of social and political influences that shape environmental challenges in China.

In November 2023, both China and the U.S. pledged to work together to increase renewable energy sources and lower carbon emissions. But what are the unexamined effects of China’s environmental policy implementation? In this episode, students Jake Yuen and Ariyana Dina seek to answer these questions as they consult Dr. Shapiro’s expertise on China’s environmental movements and policy. 

Many thanks to UBC course coordinator Gaylean Davies for working with us. 

In the latest episode of our series focusing on Taiwan, Solarina Ho speaks with Tuhi Martukaw, an Indigenous policy advocate, journalist, community organizer.

Solarina and Tuhi delve into what it means to be Indigenous, what reconciliation and activism look like today, as well as the communities' complicated relationship with Taiwan politics and Taiwanese settlers. Tuhi shares her own journey of how she connected with her roots and addresses some common misconceptions. We discuss the history, politics, and political structures that impacted  (and continue to impact)  Indigenous communities across the island.

This week, we have prolific cartoonist and illustrator Kaitlin Chan joining the podcast to discuss her recently published graphic novel, 'Eric's Sister.' Kaitlin talks about why she wanted to focus a narrative on sibling relationships, family, creative doubt, and the importance of friendship and community. This episode was hosted by Megan Cattel and produced by Kyle Leung and Megan Cattel.

When Leta Hong Fincher’s book “Leftover Women” was first published ten years ago, it was considered a seminal work on Chinese feminism. The book outlines the structural discrimination, wholly reinforced by the government, used to demonize educated women in their late twenties and early thirties who remain unmarried. A decade later, and with Xi’s continual reinforcement of patriarchal ideals and traditional family structures, the book is more pertinent than ever. 

This week on the podcast, host Jessie Lau speaks with Leta about why the book is still as relevant today and what has changed (for better and for worse) since the book was first published. Leta shares the book’s origin story and how she started researching ‘leftover women’ in the first place while pursuing a PhD at Tsinghua University. Jessie and Leta also discuss whether women in China are still facing the same immense pressure to settle down, get married, and have a family. Lastly, Leta outlines how she went about rewriting this latest edition and what topics she felt were important to include in the new preface. 

Happy Lunar New Year to all who celebrate! To kick off the year of the dragon, we have the one and only Fuchsia Dunlop on our podcast this week. She discusses her recent book, 'Invitation to a Banquet: The Story of Chinese Food.'

This episode is hosted by Lijia Zhang.

Thank you for your interest in our bimonthly, independent podcast. To support our editorial goals and help us keep producing podcast episodes, please consider donating through our Paypal page or becoming a Patreon member. We encourage listeners to send us feedback, questions, and connect with our podcast team at [email protected]. 

This week, NüVoices board members and co-hosts Jessie Lau and Lijia Zhang are in conversation with Wanqing Zhang, an independent journalist, to discuss China's feminist movement taking place online. Despite formidable challenges such as censorship, harassment, and societal pressures, these feminists continue to resist patriarchal norms, as revealed in Wanqing's recent in-depth feature for Rest of World.

In the podcast episode, Wanqing shares the stories of women she spoke to regarding this latest wave of digital activism — taking place on Chinese social media platforms like Xiaohongshu. Lijia Zhang discusses how feminism in China has transformed since the early 2000s, and Jessie highlights the ongoing crackdowns on Chinese gender activism both domestically and internationally. Together, the three writers discuss how feminists are innovatively navigating recent periods of crackdowns and immense adversity.

Everyone in our NüVoices community: happy 2024! To start the new year, host Solarina Ho delves into the new captivating documentary, "How to Have an American Baby" with filmmaker Leslie Tai. An exploration of a shadow economy catering to Chinese tourists seeking U.S. citizenship for their newborns, the film unveils the fortunes and tragedies of the mothers involved.

Leslie Tai, the creative force behind this documentary, is a recipient of the 2019 Creative Capital Award and an MFA graduate from Stanford University. Leslie's short films have graced prestigious platforms like Tribeca Film Festival and MoMA.

Solarina and Leslie engage in a thought-provoking conversation exploring the intricate dynamics of trust-building with the women at the heart of the film. Leslie shares the challenges of maintaining detachment in the face of personal and often harrowing stories. The dialogue also navigates the evolving landscape of birth tourism post-Trump and amid the COVID-19 pandemic, unraveling the tensions between these women and the adjacent American communities.

It has been more than half a year since a Facebook post referencing the Netflix drama Wave Makers sparked a wave of #MeToo revelations across Taiwanese society. In this episode, we trace the origins of the movement, what has happened since, and where things stand going forward with guests Darice Chang and Rita Jhang. Alongside host Solarina Ho, they also share their insights and perspectives on the attitudes and conflicts over #MeToo issues, feminism, the challenges that arise when competing concerns get in the way, and the intersection of #MeToo with the upcoming Taiwan election.

Darice Chang is a non-binary Taiwanese American writer, artist, activist, journalist, host, speaker, and filmmaker. They were featured in the Netflix docuseries “Midnight Asia” for their drag performance. As an activist they are concerned with intersectional trans-inclusive women’s rights, human rights, veganism & animal rights, consistent anti-oppression, climate change mitigation & ethical sustainable living. They are currently working on an independent documentary highlighting the gender non-conforming experience in Taiwan.

JhuCin Rita Jhang is an activist, podcast host, and teacher. She’s a project assistant professor at the Global Health Program at National Taiwan University and a long-time gender equity and tongzhi/LGBTQ+ rights activist. Her podcast show Z Green Party Z色派對 provides social commentaries on gender, sex, sexuality, and other social issues.

In this special collaboration with Ghost Island Media,  host Emily Y. Wu discusses the importance of local and diverse perspectives when it comes to global coverage of Taiwan. Taipei-based journalists Silva Shih, Afore Hsieh, Wen-Yee Lee join Emily in this wide-ranging discussion.  

Taiwan's upcoming election has become one of the most closely monitored  events in decades, drawing the attention of foreign press members, international scholars, and think-tank or trade delegations. This heightened interest is reflected not only in the increased number of books published about Taiwan, spanning countries such as Denmark, Germany, and the U.S., but also in the creation of numerous high-quality newsletters dedicated to Taiwan this year.

As global attention on Taiwan intensifies, so does the significance of the work undertaken by domestic journalists. During a recent news forum hosted by RTI, the Chief China Correspondent of the New York Times emphasized the crucial role of local journalism, stating that the ideas shaping global news often originate from local reporting. In light of this, Emily Y. Wu, Silva, Wen-Yee, and Afore provide a glimpse into the landscape of local reporting during this period of rare foreign press attention and international curiosity focused on Taiwan. 

Many thanks to our panelists, Emily, and the team at Ghost Island Media for partnering with us for this collaborative episode. 

Have you ever been laughed at by family or friends when you tried speaking a new language? It's particularly disheartening when it’s the language your family speaks.

In this episode,  we speak to artist and illustrator Pearl Low on the difficulties of finding safe spaces for language learning, especially for heritage language learners. Heritage language learners are people who have a certain language in their family, can understand it to a basic degree, but cannot speak it fluently.  Learning a heritage language can be especially difficult because of the immense cultural expectations, lack of resources, and the harmful legacy of assimilation and racism in many countries (where speaking a foreign language could bring great prejudice or harm.)

Pearl knows firsthand the difficulties in finding an inclusive environment to learn your heritage language. That’s why they founded Cantonese Connection, a learning platform with resources to learn Cantonese in a way that feels welcoming and open — no matter one's familiarity with the language. 

Join host Megan Cattel and Pearl as they candidly address the delicate experiences of navigating heritage languages within one's family circle, discuss the do's and don'ts of heritage language learning, and also try to figure out why Chinese language textbooks always feature a guy named Dawei (the businessman) in all their examples.