Best Mable Chan Podcasts (2024)

1
Season 7 Episode #10: "I Love India!" 38:58

5M ago38:58

38:58

Sheetal Sheth is an Indian American actress, author and activist based in New York City. You may remember her breakout role as “Maya” co-starring with Albert Brooks in “Looking For Comedy in the Muslim World” (2005). Since then, Sheetal’s star keeps rising, appearing in dozens of TV shows and films. In 2013, she got married and soon became a mother…

1
Season 7 Episode #9: "Due to You Guys" 36:25

5M ago36:25

36:25

Neil Mody is a media entrepreneur, tech enthusiast and philosopher at heart. In this open-hearted conversation, Neil shares snippets of his phone conversations with his father that would forever be seared into his mind. What did his father say? Why did Neil tell his mother not to wear a “sari” to his eighth grade graduation? Why did he feel embarra…

1
Season 7 Episode #8: "Let me in. Let me in!" 30:54

6M ago30:54

30:54

Martial Arts, Kung Fu Master (師傅) , Yoga Instructor, Political Activist Mai Du was just eight years old when she aspired to learn Kung Fu. Then she became a refugee after the Vietnam war fleeing with her family through Thailand and the Philippines before arriving in America. Today, Mai du is a martial arts instructor, kung fu master and political a…

1
Season 7 Episode #7: "Reflections of a Tiger Mom" 38:34

6M ago38:34

38:34

More than a decade after she was labeled as “Tiger Mom” for her 2011 memoir “The Battle Hymn of a Tiger Mother,” Amy Chua reflects on her strict parenting style as she traces the roots of her culture to Fuzhou, China. Why did Amy feel right about raising her daughters the same way she was raised by her immigrant parents? What lessons has she learne…

1
Season 7 Episode #6: "For Self-Healing" 31:33

7M ago31:33

31:33

Have you ever felt abandoned by your parents? What would you do to reconcile with them? 24-year-old Angela Li was born in New York City but sent back to Fuzhou, China while an infant to be raised by her grandparents until she turned five. When she entered the U.S, she felt she’d closed the door on her childhood in China. Now, she is just beginning …

1
Season 7 Episode #5: "Undying Faith" 38:31

8M ago38:31

38:31

Have you ever lost your sense of purpose after your loved one suddenly died? Whom do you turn to find strength to renew your mind and spirit? Born in Sorsogon, the Philippines, Loida N. Lewis, traces the roots of her undying faith that revives her in her darkest hour after her husband Reginald F. Lewis died of brain cancer. Loida also talks about h…

1
Season 7 Episode #4: "Becoming Whole" 32:25

10M ago32:25

32:25

Have you ever felt the need to know your family history as a way to become whole? What can you remember about your parents’ immigrant journey or struggle that would help you weave a cohesive narrative for their past sacrifices and your current success? Born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, Fran Chin, tells a compelling story about his father and moth…

1
Season 7 Episode #3: "What Got You Here?" 29:15

11M ago29:15

29:15

Have you stopped and considered what got you here? Who paved the way for you to learn and grow up in America? For first-generation Chinese American Paul Lee who was born in Somerville, Massachusetts, it is time for him and his siblings to remember their cultural roots, and to honor his parents’ incredible immigrant journey to America. It is also ti…

1
Season 7 Episode #2: "Felt So Foreign" 36:26

12M ago36:26

36:26

Do you have a hard time identifying with this kind of Chinese, or that kind of American, and wanting to create a third category of cultural identity? Do you feel so foreign while visiting China as a Chinese American? Irene Li is a James Beard Award Winning Chef, Co-founder/Co-owner at Mei Mei Dumplings in Boston, Massachusetts. She is also a tech f…

1
Season 7 Episode #1: "Find Your Roots: Don’t Deny It" 32:02

1y ago32:02

32:02

Are you denying your roots if you ignore them? Why should one’s culture be a forethought and not an afterthought? Who defines your cultural identity? Dr. Elaine Shiang is a retired Chinese American medical doctor at MIT with over 35 years of experience. Episode 1 Don't’ Deny It is her account of her family history in China, their journey to America…

1
Season 6 Episode #5: “LifeChangers: Making a Difference” 27:03

1+ y ago27:03

27:03

How can you make a difference when you are still climbing the career ladder and have little money to spare? How much can you give when you already focus so much of your time and effort to gain acceptance, appreciation, and accolades at work and in life? Listen to my podcast conversation with Kyung B. Yoon - president and co-founder of the Korean Am…

1
Season 6 Episode #4: “LifeChangers: Reconstructing a Positive Image” 27:19

1+ y ago27:19

27:19

Why would a Harvard-educated college graduate and medical school student get thrown out of a UCLA medical residency? What did he do wrong? What did he do right to get back in? And why would he later quit his medical residency to pursue creative projects including documentary-filmmaking in China? Most intriguingly, how did any of these paths pave th…

1
Season 6 Episode #3: “LifeChangers: Reconnecting with Your Roots” 30:39

1+ y ago30:39

30:39

Why does an American-born Chinese philanthropist want to help young Chinese in America reconnect with their roots? Why is that important? What seeded that passion? Tune into my conversation with Carolyn Hsu-Balcer in Episode #3 “Reconnecting with Your Roots.” Carolyn Hsu-Balcer is a designer, philanthropist, and art collector based in Los Angeles a…

1
Season 6 Episode #2: “LifeChangers: Money Matters” 30:42

1+ y ago30:42

30:42

LifeChangers is about Asian philanthropists sharing stories about life-changing turning points that have shaped their mindset and inspired their philanthropic passion. Now, they feel compelled to change the lives of others. How old were you when you first started making money? 16? 17? 18? Meet Mei-Lee Ney - an investment advisor, philanthropist, an…

1
Season 6 Episode #1: "LifeChangers: Am I the Only One?" 24:42

1+ y ago24:42

24:42

We kick off Season 6 “LifeChangers” today (August 26th) with a limited special series. LifeChangers is about Asian philanthropists sharing stories about life-changing turning points that have shaped their mindset and inspired their philanthropic passion. Now, they feel compelled to change the lives of others. You don’t need to give away a lot of mo…

1
Daniel Christopher “D.C.” Rogers: A Storied Career, as Passion and Heart Hit the Screen 42:37

2+ y ago42:37

42:37

What would you do if you’ve written about becoming a Supreme Court justice, dreamed of a life and career in law, put in a lot of time and work to prepare for that track - then one day you change my mind? Is it a waste of time, money and education at that point? These are some of the questions that Daniel Christopher “D.C.” Rogers (Harvard Class of …

1
Neil Shubin: The Evolution of an Evolutionary Biologist 37:04

2+ y ago37:04

37:04

How far will you travel outside of your hometown, your neighborhood, your comfort zone, in order to see the world differently? Why is it important to keep your sense of insecurity as your companion as you embark on your scientific, academic or philosophical enquiry? How does failure keep you hungry for success? Those are some of the questions that …

1
Sangu Delle: Investing in Dignity, Innovation, and a Healthier Future 33:23

2+ y ago33:23

33:23

Should a Harvard education prepare you for failure?Should failure be normalized in the course of higher education?Or at the very least, would you want to learn how to take or talk about failure? Those are the sort of questions rarely asked if you’re a Harvard student who is used to acing your exams, winning accolades or top awards until one day – y…

1
Janet Hook: Always Asking Questions, From Politicians on Capitol Hill to Strangers on the Streets 33:22

2+ y ago33:22

33:22

How do I want to engage in the world?Do I want to be an academic teaching philosophy as a professor?Wouldn’t that be a very inward-looking, insular kind of life?Is that what I want? Those were some of the questions Janet Hook, (Harvard Class ’77) asked herself before deciding not to pursue a Phd in philosophy. For Janet, a Harvard graduate with a d…

1
Divya Narendra: Born to Connect, From HarvardConnection to SumZero 36:31

2+ y ago36:31

36:31

Many Harvard Asian American undergraduates I know with immigrant parents who are physicians receive a lot of pressure from their families to be a doctor. But not Divya Narendra, (Class of 2004) While at Harvard, Divya was given the space and the autonomy he needed to think critically and explore creatively what he wanted as a consumer that was miss…

1
Angela Duckworth: Gritty Since Her Harvard Days 39:00

2+ y ago39:00

39:00

Remember your college days dreaming big dreams, anxious about your grades, fearful about your future until one day, you find yourself in a different place, at a different stage of life doing very different things than you could ever imagine as a student? “Where Are They Now?” Is a special co-production between One in a Billion and WHRB (Harvard Rad…

1
Season 5 Episode #10: Reflections on 2020 28:28

3+ y ago28:28

28:28

With less than ten days before Thanksgiving, my podcast team and I find ourselves counting the innumerable ways that we have been challenged, and the unpredictable opportunities that have come our way in 2020. So in today’s Season 5 True Colors Episode #10 Reflections on 2020, we each will share our voices expressing our thoughts and feelings about…

1
Season 5 Episode #9: Hard Choices - For Better and For Worse 30:49

3+ y ago30:49

30:49

Today, tens of thousands of Americans head to the polls. Our choice of the next president - Donald Trump or Joe Biden - may be hard for some, but it will have immediate and long-term consequences for America in the years to come. Many of our listeners like you may not be able to choose your country’s leaders for a variety of reasons. But in your ow…

1
Season 5 Episode #8: The Bias Before the Virus 26:13

3+ y ago26:13

26:13

Three in ten Americans blame China or Chinese people for the Coronavirus pandemic, according to the Ipsos Poll. Anti-Asian harassment, assault and hate crimes have also been on the rise since the outbreak began. However, the racial bias against Asians in America has long existed in everyday life way before the virus. In Season 5 True Colors: Episod…

1
Season 5 Episode #7: Mission After Mission 19:43

3+ y ago19:43

19:43

When was the last time you felt your life was turned upside down? How did you find a way out? Last Spring when Covid-19 outbreak led to a series of campus closures, forcing tens of thousands of students to move out of their dorms in a matter of days, Kimberly Jung, a graduate student at MIT Engineering School, got the news on her mobile phone. Stun…

1
Season 5 Episode #6: Reflect and Reach Across 26:59

3+ y ago26:59

26:59

As the Black Lives Matter movement spread across America earlier this summer, many Asian Americans began to reflect on their personal history of struggling for racial equality. In particular, one civil rights group has pushed for attitude change among Asians to reach across the racial divide and join African Americans and other communities of color…

1
Season 5 Episode #5: We Owe Them 24:48

3+ y ago24:48

24:48

To whom do you feel indebted for your civil rights and citizenship status in America? Your parents or your parents’ parents? Or yourself? Frankly, I had never considered this question until I came across Eileen Huang’s critical letter urging the Chinese American community to confront their anti-Black racist statements and stereotypes. In her words,…

1
Season 5 Episode #4: Protecting Frontline Doctors & Nurses 27:47

3+ y ago27:47

27:47

Imagine this. You have Covid-19. You’re running out of breath. You’re inside a hospital emergency room getting a blood transfusion. Suddenly this happens. There’s a leak somewhere. Your bodily fluids spew and splash all over the bed sheets, some of the droplets land on the exposed skin of the emergency physicians and nurses risking their lives to s…

1
Season 5 Episode #3: Stand With Us 21:14

3+ y ago21:14

21:14

It’s been four months since the police shooting of Breonna Taylor, the 26-year-old emergency room technician of Louisville, Kentucky. Her tragic death in her own apartment has triggered ongoing protests demanding police accountability. As the sound of fury and cries of justice rage on across the country, there is one young African American woman wh…

1
Season 5 Episode #2: Finding Humanity in Emergency 28:08

4y ago28:08

28:08

Who can assure you when you can’t breathe? What do you need to hear from ER Doctors when you are in ICU? In the age of Covid-19, these questions are more pressing and personal than ever. In Part 2 of our Season 5 True Colors: “Finding Humanity in Emergency” Dr. Anita Chary and Dr. Paul Chen, both are ER doctors in Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospi…

1
Season 5 Episode #1: Being Black in America 22:15

4y ago22:15

22:15

We kick off Season 5 today (July 14th) with a 10-part series True Colors. True Colors is about the color of one’s character in times of crisis. How do you respond after you’ve seen the video of George Floyd dying under the knee of a white police officer in Minneapolis? What can you do to confront anti-black racism in America? Veteran ABC News corre…

1
Season 4 Episode #13: This Asian American Life- Cutting My Own Path in Hollywood 21:12

4+ y ago21:12

21:12

She never ceases to amaze me. Sanyee Yuan - a 20 something writer, actor, host, and Harvard graduate - is always chasing the next big opportunity by connecting with people who inspire her creative thought that would turn into a story or a script! I first interviewed Sanyee in 2012 when she spoke movingly about being raised by a single mom with two …

1
Season 4 Episode #12: This Asian American Life- Don’t Call Me Crazy 29:06

4+ y ago29:06

29:06

What drives you crazy? How about being called just that - crazy. If you are struggling with a mental disorder, you might lash out or turn inward. And when you do, that word “crazy” could feel like a weapon that cuts through your skin. In this episode “This Asian American Life: Don’t Call Me Crazy” - New York based writer/editor/illustrator Hannah B…

1
Season 4 Episode #11: This Chinese American Life- What’s an Education For? 21:03

4+ y ago21:03

21:03

What’s wrong with bribing your 3-year-old with a gold star? Or, if you’re in China, it’s a red star. Chinese American journalist Lenora Chu was a new mother when she first moved to Shanghai with her husband, she quickly discovered the authoritarian style of Chinese schooling clashed with her American upbringing in Texas. How? What did she do? Well,…

1
Season 4 Episode #10: This Chinese American Life- Tracing My Roots 18:54

4+ y ago18:54

18:54

Have you ever been tempted to trace your roots? What might pique your curiosity if your mother refused to talk about her parents? For Scott Tong, he decided to find his home village precisely because no one seemed to remember his grandparents. What happened to them? Why did they stay in China when his mother fled to America? Check out my conversati…

1
Season 4 Episode #9: This Asian American Life- Finding 12:52

4+ y ago12:52

12:52

What if your father called you after you two hadn’t talked for a year? What if you were looking for a better relationship with him, and you were finding you were running out of time? In Part 2 of my interview with Mimi Wong, a New York-based writer and multimedia producer, she shared her reflections on those last few conversations with her father, …

1
Season 4 Episode #8: This Asian American Life- Searching 23:14

4+ y ago23:14

23:14

When was the last time you had a talk, or a fight with your father? What might trigger your urge to call him, or to reflect on what’s been missing in your relationship? In Part 1 of my interview with Mimi Wong, a New York based writer and multimedia producer shared her story, first published in “How Watching Asian Father on Screen Helped me Face My…

1
Season 4 Episode #7: This Chinese Life- The Pursuit of Happiness 21:16

4+ y ago21:16

21:16

Why would you give up all that you’ve studied or worked so hard for once you hit a certain life stage and decided to pursue what really makes you happy? In Part 2 of my interview with Chinese American documentary filmmaker Hao Wu, he talked about giving up the traditional notion of success. Making money. Making parents proud. Instead, he chose to l…

1
Season 4 Episode #6: This Chinese Life- The People’s Republic of Desire 24:40

4+ y ago24:40

24:40

What will you find if you bank on the Internet to fulfill your desire? How much money will you spend to make your dream come true in this digital universe? In this 2-part interview with Chinese American documentary filmmaker Hao Wu, he talked about “The People’s Republic of Desire” - a film about live-streaming in China. It’s a story about the huma…

1
Season 4 Episode #5: Don’t Talk Over Me 22:40

4+ y ago22:40

22:40

If you’re a 20 something Asian woman trying to establish yourself as a writer in Tech, listen up. You can speak up, share your thoughts and yet, nobody hears you. You’re ignored. That’s Eda Yu’s story. In “Don’t Talk Over Me” Eda talks with Lauren Dai, another Asian woman working in Silicon Valley about tough challenges in a room full of white men.…

1
Season 4 Episode #4- Leaving a robotic life to create my own show 19:17

4+ y ago19:17

19:17

If you have spent a good chunk of your life studying and working like a robot, how would you know to wake up one day, and say “I am not a robot!” That’s Kou Aizhe’s story. A former librarian and TV journalist, he was inspired by "This American Life" podcast to create his own show “Gushi FM.” The idea is to give voice to real people with real-life e…

1
Season 4 Episode #3- How can this be...the rest of my life!? 16:11

5y ago16:11

16:11

Part 3 of a Special Summer Series from Shanghai: In Context with Anita Xu: “How can this be...the rest of my life!?” If you’d invested almost your entire adult life training to be a professional landscape designer, you’d landed at your dream job. But a few years later, you looked around your workplace and you discovered something that would forever…

1
Season 4 Episode #2- Why Work So Hard? 16:29

5y ago16:29

16:29

Part 2 of A Special Summer Series from Shanghai: In Context with Anita Xu. Can you imagine your life’s mission is to meet the expectations of your parents? Ever since she was a little girl, Carol pushed herself, moving to a big city from a small town, working her way up and up to satisfy her parents. Now, at age 33, Carol’s lost. Her parents have c…

1
Season 4 Episode #1: Why Risk It? 17:39

5y ago17:39

17:39

Season 4 kicks off with a Summer Special Series from Shanghai: In Context with Anita Xu- "Why Risk It?” It’s an intimate conversation between digital marketing professional Anita Xu and her college buddy Xu He. Xu He chose to become an entrepreneur after feeling unfulfilled in his first few jobs after graduating from a top journalism university in …

1
Season 3 Episode #5: “What Makes People in China Laugh?” 27:37

5+ y ago27:37

27:37

What makes people in China laugh? Why would they spend time and money to go to a stand-up act by an American comedian in Beijing? And, who is he? This is story about an American scholar turned comedian who dedicates his life to bringing Chinese and Americans together through humor and laughter. Music Used: Brad McCarthy's One in a Billion Theme Son…

1
Season 3 Episode #4 “This Chinese Life: Her Guilty Pleasure” 19:20

5+ y ago19:20

19:20

What is love about? Can you show gratitude without spending or giving money? Can you show care without sacrificing your passion? To truly show gratitude, must you also sacrifice? With these questions in mind, I interviewed Jinzhao (JZ) Wang, a 28 year old Chinese American a few months ago. JZ told me she can’t fully enjoy what gives her pleasure wi…

1
Season 3 Episode #3 “This Chinese Life: Whose Life is This Anyway?” 16:28

5+ y ago16:28

16:28

Are you the person you or your parents want to be? Is your personal dream inseparable from your parents? Can it be? Should it be? That is Angela’s agony. How does she navigate around a set of cultural expectations to create her own path? Check out my interview with Angela Tang, a rising senior at Williams College, in Episode #3 “This Chinese Life: …

1
Season 3 - Episode 2: This Chinese Life: What does it mean to be Chinese? 13:25

5+ y ago13:25

13:25

What does it mean to be Chinese? 415 million Chinese millennials in China wrestle with crushing pressure to live up to a cultural identity and societal ideal. What are they? How do they cope? What are their biggest fears? Check out Part 2 of my interview with author/public speaker Zak Dychtwald “This Chinese Life: What does it mean to be Chinese?” …

1
Season 3 - Episode 1: This Chinese Life: As a 28 year old white American in China 15:22

5+ y ago15:22

15:22

He grew up in a predominantly white suburban town in California. His parents would take him travelling around the world for work since he was a child. Then one day, he stumbled upon a movie - “Enter the Dragon” (starring Bruce Lee) that would strike his fancy about another world - China. That’s where Zak Dychtwald decided to go right after he gradu…

1
Season 2 Episode #7- Reflections on 2017: What’s Weighing on My Mind 18:12

6+ y ago18:12

18:12

An unexamined life is not worth living. What leads one to examine one’s life? A surprise setback? An unforgettable encounter? An ongoing desire? All of these experiences tend to re-emerge or surge in our memory as we look back on 2017. In this last episode of Season 2 “Reflections on 2017: What’s Weighing on My Mind,” we listen to three compelling …

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