For the last episode of Season 5 of Rock the Boat, Lucia invites Lynne back on the pod to give an update. Lynne also invites her classmate Hua Qu to come speak about a political topic that has recently been at the forefront due to the pandemic, elections, and trade wars: US, China relations. Tune in for the last episode of the year! ——————————————- Xiyue Wang’s Story as an Iranian hostage:...

This week, Lucia speaks with Dr. Thomas Tsang, who is the CEO and co-founder of Valera Health, a physician, and a former congressional staffer in the Obama Administration who helped write and execute the Affordable Care Act. Thomas shares how he pursued a career in healthcare despite growing up not being able to afford healthcare. He also shares how his career at Charles B. Wang, the Chinatown community medical center in New York provided him with an opportunity to help write and execute...

Simon Tam is the founder and bassist of The Slants, the world’s first and only all Asian American rock band. He’s also an author, activist, and self-proclaimed troublemaker, setting a world record by appearing on the TEDx stage 13 times. Asians are one of the most bullied demographics in America. When Simon Tam was growing up in San Diego, he faced the brunt of that. Bullies would make fun of him for the shape of his eyes. Well, when Simon grew up, he reclaimed that slur. Not only did he...

The presidential election is over, well… sort of, but COVID is not. In this episode Lucia speaks with the former health commissioner of Baltimore, Dr. Leana Wen about how to ensure that mask wearing is a public health issue and not a political issue. Dr. Wen also speaks about her journey from being a practicing physician to being a public health advocate, standing up against xenophobia, and how we can all get on the same page when it comes to public health safety. Dr. Leana Wen is an...

Qasim Rashid is a Pakistani-born author, activist, attorney, and is currently running for Congress in VA. When hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, Qasim was a senior in college confronted with a critical decision to make. Would you risk failing all your classes to help your neighbor? His choice was a paradigm shifting moment in his life. Now, Qasim’s campaign runs along similar veins, focused on bringing together and serving the community. In this episode Lucia talks to Qasim about his upbringing...

When we talk about representation, we usually think about representation in the media and in the corporate office. However, there is a place where we rarely see Asian Americans, and that is in the government. When was the last time you saw an Asian governor, or an Asian mayor? Today’s guest Yuh-Line Niou talks about the importance of having representation in the local state government. She shares her journey to becoming an elected Assembly Member of District 65 of Manhattan, an area that...

Welcome to Season 5 of Rock the Boat! In Season 5 we highlight Asian Americans who are challenging the status quo in the world of Government, Politics, Civic Engagement, and Advocacy. We are proud to be partnering with the Model Majority podcast to bring you a short season of incredible guests. Today’s guest is Senator Tammy Duckworth. She is the first Thai American woman elected to Congress. She is the first woman with a disability elected to Congress, and she is the first Senator to give...

Meet Sharon Lee Thony and Raman Sehgal, the hosts of Modern Minorities Podcast. Their podcast focuses on conversations with fellow modern minorities to uncover how our different cultural backgrounds shape how we uniquely experienced the world. Sharon and Roman have unique perspectives of what it means to be a modern minority because they're not only minorities themselves. But they've also married outside of their own race and have multiracial children. So in this conversation, Sharon and...

During our break between Season 4 and Season 5. We’re bringing you bonus episodes from other Asian podcasters. This week, we’re bringing you an episode from an Asian Australian podcast called Shoes Off. Shoes Off explores Asian Australian culture and is beautifully written and produced by Jay Ooi. In this episode, Jay explores the roots of Anti-Asian sentiment spurred by the rise of COVID -19 in Australia. ——————————————- For more episodes of Shoes Off visit them at www.shoesoff.net and...

During our break between Season 4 and Season 5. We’re bringing you 3 bonus episodes from other Asian podcasters. The first episode is from our friends over at Self Evident. Self Evident is a community-driven podcast where Asian American stories challenge the social and political narratives that shape our lives. This episode comes from Season 2 of Self Evident and explores the wave of anti-Asian incidents that’s swept across the country during the COVID-19 pandemic. ——————————————- Listen to...

We’re at the end of Season 4 and what better way to end than with a fellow Penn alum? This week, Lucia sits down with Melissa Mash, founder of digitally native bag brand, Dagne Dover. Melissa shares her journey from working at Coach to spending her life savings to pursue and MBA at Wharton so she could start her company Dagne Dover. Melissa doesn’t sugarcoat her experiences in founding a company and the dedication it takes to also be a mother. ——————————————- Follow Dagne Dover: ...

Grace Kelly is an award-winning singer, saxophonist, songwriter, and performer. Lucia heard her live at a jazz concert where she was a surprise guest and asked Grace to share her music journey on Rock The Boat. In this episode, Lucia sits down with Grace to have a candid conversation about living the life of a jazz musician and balancing her creative side with her practical side. This episode features music by Grace Kelly: Feels Like Home featuring Elliot Skinner Unchain My Heart Miss...

In partnership with the Asian American Business Development Center, we are bringing you more stories from Asian American executives. Lucia sat down with Phillip Han, a managing director at Goldman Sachs, to talk about his career path and his passion for uplifting the Asian American community in corporate America. Phillip opens up about his career failures and triumphs and what he thinks could move the needle on getting more Asians into executive roles. ——————————————- Phillip Han:...

Finding the intersection of what you love and what you’re good at is a tough thing to do. However, Sarah Miyazawa LaFleur, the Founder of the direct to consumer fashion brand M.M. LaFleur discovered it in an unexpected place as an entrepreneur after a zigzag career path in consulting, finance, and international development. Sarah credits her mother for instilling in her the idea that women hold an important place in the workplace. In this episode, Sarah opens up about how her initial desire...

Bootstrapping, facing bankruptcy, and South Park-- this is the startup story of Guitar Hero. In this episode, Lucia sits down with Kai Huang, the cofounder of Red Octane, the company behind Guitar Hero to learn about the ups and downs of starting a company during a recession. Kai speaks about how he and his brother built a video game rental business that evolved into creating one of the most beloved games in the United States. ——————————————- Kai Huang:...

Many people think that Entrepreneurship is the epitome of the American Dream. It’s a meritocracy where anyone can build something and find success. However, Elizabeth Yin, the founder of Hustle Fund recognised otherwise In this episode Lucia has a candid conversation with Elisabeth about why traditional VC models are not working, how minority founders are systemically overlooked, and why she wanted to start a fund that changes VC. ——————————————- Elizabeth Yin’s Blog:...

First and foremost, Rock The Boat supports Black Lives Matter. Last week was a very difficult week. Protests erupted across the country to combat systemic racism and police brutality. Lucia felt compelled to open up a dialogue after a comment her mother made about Blacks targeting Asians during these protests. In this episode, Ed Prokropski, a Korean American adoptee, and Galen Reeves-Darby sit down with Lucia to share some personal stories of their encounters with racism. They also talk...

The Asian American experience is a complicated one. We all have our different realities when it comes to our relationship with our culture and identity. This is compounded by the fact that America is becoming more diverse, but also more divisive. To help combat xenophobia against Asians and reach across the aisle, a group of Asian American leaders and organizations came together to create the #AllAmericans campaign. One of these leaders is Brian Yang. Brian is a community organizer, actor,...

Dating is hard, especially now when meeting-in person is almost impossible. Dating within the Asian American community is even harder since there are unfair dating dynamics at play for Asian men and Asian women. One out of three Asian Americans marry outside of their race where Asian women are two times more likely than Asian men to marry outside their race. Media’s portrayal of Asian men doesn’t help either. To dig a bit deeper into dating dynamics, Lucia sits down with Ruby Le, a...

Do you still remember the feeling of eating out at your favorite restaurant? It’s tough now when most restaurants are closed or only offering delivery. This week, Lucia sits down with Hanson Li, founder of Salt Partners Group, a restaurant investment and development company that co-owns Michelin Starred restaurant Atelier Crenn and investor in Saison in San Francisco. Hanson opens up about founding Salt, how food, culture, and media go hand in hand, and what it’s like to be a restaurant owner...

Lucia sits down with screenwriter of Crazy Rich Asians, Adele Lim, for a hilarious conversation uncovering Adele’s experience working on Crazy Rich Asians, the difference between working in television and feature film, her parents' reaction to her pursuing a career in writing, and then her parents' reaction after watching Crazy Rich Asians. During the conversation, Adele also opens up about her decision to go public about leaving the sequel for crazy rich Asians due to a significant pay...

Happy Asian Pacific American Heritage Month! This week Lucia invites The Fung Bros, Andrew and David Fung to unpack what it means to be Asian during COVID-19. Tune in and join us in answering some of these important questions: Do you feel like you you have a pick of side of being Asian or being American? Do you feel like American-ness is earned or fought for? ——————————————- Subscribe to the Fung Bros YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/FungBrosComedy Follow them on...

Cofounder of Twitch and Gold House Collective almost became a fish farmer?! This week, Lucia sits down with Kevin Lin, the Cofounder and COO of Twitch, the premier live streaming service for gamers. Kevin opens up about being bullied as a child and how gaming became his escape as well as a way to build community. He also speaks about what he’s doing to give back to both Asian Americans and entrepreneurs through Gold House and the AUM Group Film Fund. ——————————————- Follow Kevin Lin on...

What does a young adult novel have to do with conspiracy theories, activism, and a career in politics? This week, Lucia sits down with Loveboat, Taipei author Abigail Hing Wen, a Harvard graduate and practicing lawyer in venture capital about her journey of self-discovery. Abigail opens up about her career decisions, the inspiration behind her young adult novel, and the message she wants to send to her readers. ——————————————- Loveboat, Taipei is available now. Help support your local...