Growing up, Henry Lam struggled in school, but it wasn't until he was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in 2018 and received treatment that he was finally able to focus and succeed. Given what he went through, he has become a professional ADHD Coach, combining an understanding of neuroscience, psychology, and business s…

NPR's Emily Kwong launched the Inheriting podcast this past May, where she facilitated an in-depth conversation among members from different generations of AANHPI families. Could they identify a few critical decisions or changes in history that continue to impact and shape their families? We also discuss whether it's possible for any reporter to be…

The 2024 DNC ended Thursday night, so the next morning podcasters Fong and Kemp were excited to compare notes about what they heard, saw and felt during throughout this 4-night gathering of Democratic delegates to make VP Harris and Gov. Walz their 1-2 punch to keep the White House and also to prevent Trump, MAGA, and Project 2025 from gaining powe…

Asian American author Eve J. Chung spent the first years of her life in Taiwan with her grandmother. In their shared space, Eve remembers a woman who loved her fiercely; hoarded food and fed her family fat-rich chicken skins; and used a heat lamp on her knees every night while watching Chinese period dramas. As Eve got older, she recognized these h…

In Director/Writer Tom Huang's 2022 film Dealing with Dad, Margaret Chang reluctantly returns to her hometown along with her hapless brothers to deal with the sudden depression of their complete-jerk father, whom everyone happens to hate. In fact, he's actually more pleasant being depressed, so the siblings wonder if it's worth struggling to get hi…

Lisa M. Gomez is the Assistant Secretary of the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) in the U.S. Department of Labor (www.dol.gov/agencies/ebsa). She brought with her a particular concern about the mental health of American men, especially minority men. Although I wasn't taken aback to hear that AANHPI men are the least likely to seek p…

Even before the majority of delegates to the upcoming DNC had lined up behind Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Trump and the MAGA crowd began to use ad hominem attacks against her. Long-time friends and fellow podcasters Fong and Kemp kick things off by talking about their renewed optimism that Trump will be defeated again, then downs…

In this compelling collection of fifteen personal essays, Dr. Mako Yoshikawa takes us along on her journey to gain a clearer understanding of who her late father was. Secrets of the Sun "...is particularly brilliant at capturing the grief, guilt and fear that adults who experienced childhood abuse face when deciding how or whether to maintain a rel…

In her no-holds-barred essay “Conditional, But Essential, Contingency,” Dr. Kelly N. Fong confronts the racism she’s faced as an Asian American woman with a PhD in historical archaeology and examines the ways she’s rejected what she terms “muted invisibility” in favor of demanding change from the predominantly white academy. https://utpress.utexas.…

Ever since starting puberty, females must deal with hormonal challenges that males never face, e.g. menstruation (and everything that goes with that montly occurrence), then menopause, and finally life after menopause. In 2016 Dr. Sophia Yen launched PandiaHealth.com, the only women-founded and women-led online hormone health clinic and doctor-led …

A covert military task force tracks a mysterious energy disturbance at a secret base in New Mexico that is suspected of experimenting on alien technology. Once there, the team encounters an unknown being of extraordinary strength and speed, and the ability to control an army of mindless warriors. The trio must fight through the unstoppable hordes t…

Playwright Philip W. Chung's Unbroken Blossoms is a historical reimagining of the making of a boundary-breaking 1919 Hollywood classic that shines a light on the collateral damage in the search for "authentic" representation, and asks what price we pay for our art. Making its world premiere in East West Players David Henry Hwang Theater, Chung's im…

In this episode podcasters Fong and Kemp gamely try to stay out of panic mode in light of President Biden's abysmal performance at the first presidential debate against former President Donald Trump. Did Biden just show 50 million viewers that he was past his prime? Or does a person's performance on a debate stage really tell us how he or she will …

Whistleblower Aid CEO Libby Liu has long been a tireless champion for giving as many people as possible access to what's really going on, pushing back against Goliaths like totalitarian governments or powerful corporations. We talk about how the non-profit she leads equips whistleblowers to step forward with courage and to survive the harrowing leg…

With the conviction of former POTUS Trump on all 34 counts last week, you might think that that would catalyze many of even his most ardent supporters to call for him to drop out of the current race for the White House. Think again. Fong and Kemp try to discern why the majority of GOP "the party of law and order" politicians are crying foul, valida…

Clinical psychologist Dr. Kenneth Wang has spent the last 20 years researching the area of perfectionism, especially how it manifests itself in Asian Americans. This should come as no surprise, but most corporate executives are perfectionists. This trait is often one of the main reasons that they've risen to the top of their organizations, but it c…

In her debut novel Illusive, writer, blogger, and author Virginia Duan takes readers behind the scenes in the world of K-pop to explore the paralyzing aftereffects of relational trauma and what can be done to overcome them.By Ken Fong

In this latest episode of the collaborative series between longtime friends, former pastors, and fellow podcasters Ken Fong and Ken Kemp, they talk about whether the recent decision by the United Methodist denomination to remove all barriers that had prevented LGBTQ+ persons from experiencing full inclusion is a lens through which to view and under…

In writing My Father, The Panda Killer Vietnamese American Jamie Jo Hoang humanizes the costs and consequences of the Vietnam War through the experiences of three generations of a traumatized fictional family from South Vietnam.By Ken Fong

Author and business journalist Thomas Lee has given us a refreshingly new and relevant way to appreciate the life and legacy of the late pop icon Bruce Lee. In writing The Bruce Lee Code: How the Dragon Mastered Business, Confidence, and Success, and in serving as the lead curator and editorial director of the We Are Bruce Lee exhibit in the Chines…

Alexandra Chan had excelled in life as a left-brain, logical and educated person. But the recent loss of her amazing father Robert Earl Chan showed her the inherent limitations of just using reason to deal with life's greatest challenges. In her new book, In the Garden Behind the Moon: A Memoir of Loss, Myth, and Magic she takes us all on this jour…

Newton Cheng is the Director of Health + Performance at Google. He's a husband, a dad, and a champion powerlifter. From all appearances, he was doing great. Even better than great! But he was privately struggling with depression and burnout. It took his decision one day to take off his mask and openly talk about his struggles to set him on a course…

In this latest episode of The Two Ken's podcast series, Ken Kemp's regular guest Betsey Newenhuyse from Chicago joins us to talk about the ongoing need for regular groups of reliable, religious people, despite the burgeoning exodus from all forms of religion in America. Although unprecedented numbers of us no longer belong to a religious group or h…

Wing Ho is the founder of Xcela Coaching, where he offers Leadership Coaching and Team Culture Coaching. His relational-driven approach is something that leaders today in all kinds of settings need to understand and incorporate.By Ken Fong

Writer and director Lisa Sanaye Dring's new play Kairos opens East West Players new season on April 4th. Because her play explores what can happen to a couple when there's a possibility of them living forever, we delve headlong into a captivating discussion of the significance of time, special moments, mortality, immortality, and even success and f…

Back when Joseph Tseng graduated from college, he focused on making a living as a singer/songwriter/storyteller. But he soon discovered that that dream wasn't ready to become a reality. He put his music behind him and worked conventionally for years. But questions began to float to the surface of his awareness. About his identity as an Asian Americ…

Danna Okuyama left her career in high finance to become the founder and CEO of Urban Sandbox, a new modern-day pen pal app and safe space for students to connect, share, and grow with other like-minded peers from around the world, while learning from qualified educators. Students have a place to engage like other platforms, without the concerns of …

In this latest installment of The Two Kens series, podcasters Fong and Kemp see the decision by Alabama's Supreme Court to outlaw invitro fertizilation (IVF) as the latest and most blatant example of Christian Nationalists and members of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) to colonize America. They adhere to the historical falsehood that God create…

This is probably stating the obvious, but there is more than one type of personality. Eric Gee has spent countless hours and many years perfecting a system of personality typing that is less rigid than the Meyers-Briggs system (MBTI) and also much easier to remember and grasp. Defining sixteen different 'animal' types and arranging them into four l…

Ever since she learned to drink alcohol in college, Brynn Evans had been embarassed by how red her face would turn, "a consequence of being half Chinese," she'd lament. Taking an antacid when she drank seemed to do the trick, but that eventually made her really sick. Thus began her decade-long journey to come up with a safe and healthy dietary supp…

In this latest installment of The Two Kens series, friends and podcasters Ken Fong and Ken Kemp roll up their sleeves to have difficult conversations about three issues that involve borders or boundaries, i.e., immigration at the U.S. southern border, the war in the Gaza Strip that to a growing number of people--especially Millennials--is looking l…

With more than 10,000 Americans turning 65 every day, 45% of Americans reporting no savings at all, and of the 55% who have retirement saving, over half report that they have less than $250,000. Given the a person making $40K/year will need to have saved $1M to have a dignified and comfortable retirement, it's clear that America is heading for a re…

Music Will runs the largest nonprofit music program in the U.S. public school system. For more than 20 years they have provided teacher training, curriculum, resources, musical instruments, and equipment to restore and expand music education to more than 1.6 million students (K-12) and in over 6,000 public schools. Janice Polizzotto is Music Will's…

Headwriter Eric Vue and Director Shinshin Yuder Tsai co-founded the Orange County (CA)-based Asian American sketch comedy troupe No MSG Added. In this hilarious episode, Ken prods them to explain the differences between improv and sketch comedy, and the challenges of recruiting a representative group of AANHPI comedians and writers to entertain and…

Growing up in a family of matchmakers, you could say that Cassindy Chao was destined to become one, too! She eventually left the sterile confines of finance to pursue her passion: helping Asian Americans find that perfect match and true love! You'll be enthralled with the energetic back-and-forth between Cassindy and Ken as they compare notes glean…

Psychologist Dr. Gordon Nagayama Hall retired from academia a few years ago, but he's continuing to work to increase the percentage of AANHPIs who will seek help from mental health professionals. To this end, he is part of a team that has developed the Mind Boba problem-solving intervention app that is culturally adapted and created for Asian Ameri…

In this year's last installment of the collaborative The Two Kens podcast series, Fong first updates Kemp on how his relationship is going with Doreen, his high school girlfriend from half a century ago, then coaxes Kemp to read his latest Substack essay entitled The Baby and the Bathwater: What Is the Baby?. The focus of Kemp's mental exercise is …

In 2022 Korean American Christian actor, writer, producer, and director Kenneth Chang teamed up with David Chan Lee to create the short horror film Refuse, in which a down and out Korean American Christian young man is fighting the demon of meth addiction, while his mother's KA church views him as a demon. You'll learn about how great horror films …

My guest this episode is a proven leader who's a great example of the power of unconventional thinking. Jim Fong was an executive vice president and chief commercial officer for CTI Biopharma. This summer a Swedish pharmaceutical giant plunked down nearly $2 billion US dollars to acquire this startup, but as you're about to learn, almost no one in …

UC Santa Barbara English Professor Dr. Yunte Huang recently published the final book in his "Rendezvous With American History" trilogy. Following the ones about the real and fictional detective Charlie Chan and the unbelievable one about the Siamese twins Chang and Eng Bunker, Huang has now researched and written a thoroughgoing book about Hollywoo…

In 2018 entrepreneurial chef Jing Gao harnessed everything she'd learned from master chefs in China, and also the deep insights she'd arrived at in her journey to understand her identity to create a unique line of seasonings that's already in 5,000 stores in America. Carrying her label "Fly By Jing," each carefully crafted jar uses quality ingredie…

In generating the script for the 2022 indy film My Apocalyptic Thanksgiving, Filipino American writer Richard Soriano took his experiences as the director of a group home for adults with special needs and provided a compelling vehicle that helps audiences begin to see these folks as fellow human beings. While our conversation revolved around why an…

Melissa Dyo always knew that she and her sister were adopted and loved her adoptive family. But a few years back, she realized that if she ever wanted to find her birth mom, that window was starting to close. President Clinton declared that November was National Adoption Month, and you're going to be absolutely enthralled when you hear her share ho…

Veteran American actor Tamlyn Tomita is my guest this week to make sure that as many people as possible know about East West Players' last production of their 57th season Spring Awakening. This revolutionary musical won the "Best Musical" Tony Award on Broadway, and I can promise you that Director Tim Dang's version at the David Henry Hwang Theater…

Award-winning director Jessica Yu spoke with me recently about her latest film Quiz Lady that will debut on November 3, 2023, on Hulu in the U.S. and on DisneyPlus everywhere else. Starring Sandra Oh and Awkwafina, it's about two estranged sisters who are thrown together when their gambling-addicted mother leaves the country because she owes her lo…

Cambodian Chinese American entrepreneur Danny Taing has always loved a challenge. Like many young immigrants from Asia, Danny struggled with being a minority in predominantly white settings. He became fascinated with how the Japanese had been able to carve out a comfortable and admirable cultural niche, so he began to study their culture and learn …

Steve Tsuruda is the founder of GeminiDT ™ (www.geminidt.com) whose technological breakthroughs enable the medical industry to harness the power of data science and volumertic data. From historical scan data to raw data sets from CT, MRI, PET and Sonography doctors, radiologists and researchers can now develop preventitive therapies, see cause and …

In this latest episode of the collaborative Two Kens series, Fong and Kemp tackle the phenomenon of megachurches. When did they first begin to proliferate and why? What are some of their inherent problems? Do most of them defy what it really means to be genuine Body of Christ?By Ken Fong

Joy Ngiaw is a young Malaysian-born Chinese American who has already made a name for herself in Hollywood as an award-winning composer for films and television. One of the best examples of her empathic expertise is Apple TV+ and Skydance's animated short film Blush. Because the film has no dialogue, Joy's musical score has to convey the shifting em…

Multi-talented Joy Regullano is a hard-working writer, actor, and comedian. She recently released the concept album for her comedy musical Supportive White Parents, a more than semi-autobiographical story of a young adult Filipina American budding artist with demanding parents. One night, out of desperation, "Joy" wishes that she could have support…