Our voices are powerful tools. We can speak loudly or softly, with urgency or calm. We can make requests or issue commands. Whenever and however we speak, we reveal the way we see the world. But, it’s not just the words we use that people interpret, it’s the way we sound.  Our accents, our cadence tells people something about where we’re from in terms of location and group memberships. But how we speak and the way we are heard says a lot about race and power. This time on Know What You See,...

Selling food that represents who you are and where you’ve been can be a tricky business. What does it mean to serve “authentic” food, and why should it matter? In this episode, we explore how ethnicity affects the experience of creating a food business. Brian Lowery talks to Toronto-based chef Eva Chin about how she is reclaiming her family history and cultural identity through her dishes. Then Brian visits Nong Poonsukwattana, owner of Nong's Khao Man Gai in Portland, Oregon, to hear how she...

What does it mean for food to be authentic? Who owns this or that recipe, ingredient, or flavor? Why do we care? This week Brian Lowery speaks with documentarian, writer, and professor of food studies, Von Diaz. She discusses the fusion of island culinary traditions with Southern-style cooking, and what she's been studying about food and authenticity. Plus, Brian looks back on a conversation with Tunde Wey, a Nigerian artist, writer, and cook who uses food to investigate issues of racism,...

Design is about more than just what looks good. From what we choose to wear to what we bring into our homes, design tells us what matters and sometimes who matters. And, as is true for all of us, a designer’s identity and experiences affect their ideas in both subtle and not so subtle ways. This week on the podcast, Brian Lowery talks with two artists about how issues of identity and power inform their work: Bryce Wong, footwear designer at Nike SB, and Jomo Tariku, furniture designer and...

This week, host Brian Lowery delves into the world of BLACK with the comic’s co-creator Kwanza Osajyefo. The series raises the question: What if only Black people could have superpowers? How would they use these abilities, and at what cost? The conversation explores issues of representation in the themes, artwork, and characters in BLACK and comics today, as well as how the story of superheroes is changing in publishing and onscreen. For more about Brian and his guests, visit...

After a year and a half of the pandemic, ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’, Marvel's first blockbuster film to feature an Asian American superhero did big numbers at the box office. This is from the same country where politicians were calling the COVID-19 virus the "China Flu", and we had a spate of violent crimes targeting Asian-Americans. In this episode of Know What You See, Brian Lowery talks to Jeff Yang and Phil Yu, co-hosts of the podcast "They Call Us Bruce" about how...

What does it cost to achieve the traditional measures of success? What if your racial identity, your cultural heritage, or your family history was an obstacle to getting ahead? In this episode, two highly accomplished people talk about what success required of them. We move beyond the obvious necessities of hard work, talent, and perseverance and explore what people sometimes hide or give up, to exceed societal expectations.

Many of us grew up playing in our neighborhood parks, using those shared spaces for family picnics, going for a run or a game of softball. Over the last year or so of the pandemic, we’ve found a new appreciation for the value of these outdoor community areas. But with a number of racially charged incidents in places like New York’s Central Park and Oakland, CA, we’re also learning anew how race is deeply embedded in who feels safe and welcome in these environmnents. Join Brian Lowery as he...

Whether we think about it or not, race is an ever present aspect of our lives. From our workplace, to our schools, as we walk down the street, race is embedded in our everyday experience. But what's really happening, what’s my role, and what does it mean for me? Those are questions Brian Lowery’s been asking for “Know What You See”, a podcast about the hidden social forces shaping our lives. Brian is a social psychologist and a professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. In this...