One In A Billion

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 Radio Broadcasting). It is a 6-part series featuring one-on-one interviews with Harvard graduates who draw lessons from their campus experience and personal insight from their current career to give you a taste of their trailblazing journey. In episode #1 - We interview Dr. Angela Duckworth - Harvard Class of 1992, Founder/CEO of the nonprofit Character Lab, author of the New York Times Bestseller “Grit,” and the Rosa Lee and Egbert Chang Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. Prof. Duckworth talks about goal-setting, risk-taking, and a "rebellious" detour from her father’s expectations. I am happy to be co-hosting this Special Series with Harvard s

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 some of these life-changing experiences. But we will kick off with Kira Oman’s story. Before the pandemic, Kira moved to Hollywood to build her acting and modeling career. But as the coronavirus spread and some of her family members were infected, how did she think differently about her move away from home? How did 2020 impact her career and life priorities? What surprises her about herself that the pandemic has uncovered for her, for the better? Here’s our conversation.  Music Used: One in a Billion Theme Song by Brad McCarthy The Dance of the Sky by MMFFF Flux by The Ghost in Your Piano Bumbling by Pictures of the Floating World Convergence by Pictures of the Fl

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 own lives, you often make hard choices about where to live and work, or where to raise your children. These choices could be far more consequential with unpredictable and immediate effects on your quality of life and your future than a vote for a president. And that is the story of Chinese American David Wang and his Shenzhen-born wife Candy Yang.   In 2019, they got married in Boston and had a baby girl. Shortly after, they moved to Shanghai to build their entrepreneurial careers.  Just as they thought they would move back to Boston earlier this Spring, they couldn’t. The pandemic paralyzed their move. They decided to pivot. In Season 5 True Colors Episode 9: Hard Ch

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: Episode 8: The Bias Before the Virus, Janet Wu, a former  Boston-based television journalist at WHDH-TV and media personality, talks about a racially-hostile incident on the subway five years ago that made her confront her identity as a Chinese American.  That subway encounter took Janet on a soul-searching inner journey reflecting on the roots of her culture - China - and her upbringing in her birthplace - America. Listen to our conversation here.  Janet Wu is currently a reporter for Bloomberg Business News. Music used: One in a Billion Theme Song by Brad McCarthy Trees in the Wind by Daniel Birch Tumult by Kai Engel Perennial by Pictures of the Floating World Inside

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.  Stunned, she kicked into crisis-ready mode.  As a U.S. army veteran with three years of combat experience in Afghanistan and emergency response training dealing with natural disasters relief, Kimberly quickly followed orders to move out, and found a critical mission to help save lives. Ventilators were badly needed in hospitals emergency rooms filled with Covid patients.  Kimberly decided to join the MIT E-Vent Team as the chief executive to help guide the engineers to design an FDA approved low-cost ventilator prototype that would soon be picked up by manufacturers not only in America, but around the world.  In Season 5 True Colors: Episode 7 Mission After Mission, K

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 in the fight for social justice. In Season 5 True Colors: Episode 6, Jenny Chiang and Dr. Mabel Lam of the Asian American Commission (AAC) in the state of Massachusetts share their personal story of growing up with and without Black friends, and their own reckoning with the urgent need to come together for the greater good. Listen to our conversation here. Music used: One in a Billion Theme Song by Brad McCarthy The Way I Feel by Derek Clegg Break Through by Pictures of the Floating World Rain by Unheard Music Concepts Chill Out Theme by Komiku Above the Clouds by Bio Unit The Army’s March by MMFFF Silver on the Outside by Heather Christie and Vir McCoy That’s Exc

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, “We owe them (referring to Africans Americans) everything.” In Season 5 True Colors: Episode 5 “We Owe Them”, Eileen makes a case for Asians to acknowledge what she perceives as our racist attitude against Black people in America, and to begin difficult conversations with our parents' generation. Eileen Huang is a creative writer, and a junior at Yale University. Music used: One in a Billion Theme Song by Brad McCarthy Break Through by Pictures of the Floating World Inside the Moon by Stephan Seibart The Place I Called Home by Julie Maxwell As the Crow Flies by Axeltree Dreaming Days by Ketsa True Colors - a Season 5 Special Series - is about the color of one’

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 save you.  Is this an impossible scenario? No. The lack of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) for healthcare workers dominated headline news earlier this year, and continues to be a challenge for some hospitals around America. In Part 4 of Season 5 True Colors: “Protecting Frontline Doctors & Nurses”, I talked with Dr. Alicia Lu about the risks she faced as an Emergency physician in New York hospitals. Not only did she feel helpless and frustrated, so did her partner Dan Wu.  Together, they came up with an idea. It’s called the “1000 frontline suits” campaign.  Dr. Alicia Lu is a New York City based Emergency Physician. Dan Wu is a Privacy Counsel & Legal

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 who wants to voice her sorrow in a poem, dedicated to Breonna Taylor. Why a poem?  “I don’t know Breonna, but she could have been me.” Serina Gousby told me in our podcast interview. 26-year-old Serina Gousby is a Boston-based poet, blogger of her website “The Rina Collective”, and a Development Associate/Boston Writers of Color Group Coordinator at Grub Street. When I saw her reading her poem “In Honor of Breonna Taylor’s Birthday” on Facebook, I was instantly captivated.  In Part 3 of Season 5 True Colors: "Stand With Us”, Serina reads portions of her moving poem and shares her thoughts about racial inequity, her faith, and her fight for social justice.  True Colo

 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 Hospital.  They vividly describe their experience trying to save lives and to assure Covid patients in those life or death moments. Who can make it? Who can’t? It’s never obvious and often defies logic and reason. Through it all, how are ER doctors themselves changed, when their job is over? True Colors - a Season 5 Special Series - is about the color of one’s character in time of crisis. Episode #2 - “Finding Humanity in Emergency.” Music used: One in a Billion Theme Song by Brad McCarthy Horses by Pictures of the Floating World Driving Through Tunnels by Daniel Birch We want to include you in this conversation. To send us your comments or stories, email us @ info@onei

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 correspondent/anchor Ron Claiborne and I (Host, Mable Chan) had worked for years at ABC News Good Morning America. For the first time, we discuss the issue of race, racial profiling, white supremacy, and police violence as he’s seen and experienced in Episode #1 - “Being Black in America.” Music used: One in a Billion Theme Song by Brad McCarthy The Fifth Journey by Ars Sonor and M. Nomized Undercover Vampire Policeman by Chris Zabriskie Snow Day by Pictures of the Floating World New Day by Alan Spiljak Gemini By Josh Woodward We want to include you in this conversation. To send us your comments or stories, email us @ info@oneinabillionvoices.org Or go to our Facebook p

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 jobs, two kids - her and her older sister. Both girls love television and movies. Since moving to L.A., Sanyee has written numerous blogs about her adventure in Hollywood by focusing on how she overcomes fear and setbacks. In this episode - the last of Season 4 - Sanyee let us in her latest projects and what keeps her thriving. Check this out - “This Asian American Life: Cutting My Own Path in Hollywood.” Music Used: One in a Billion Theme Song by Brad McCarthy Golden Sunrise by Josh Woodward Landras Dream by Jason Shaw We want to include you in this conversation. To send us your comments or stories, just go to our Facebook page or our website at OneinABillionVoi

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 Bae reads a chapter she’s contributed to a new book “Don’t Call Me Crazy”  that depicts her personal struggle dealing with her mother.  Her experience is one of thirty three dynamic and intimate voices in this fascinating book about mental health and a guide with helpful resources.  Music used: One in a Billion Theme Song by Brad McCarthy Bathed in Fine Dust by Andy G. Cohen Highride by Blue Dot Sessions The Gloaming by Josh Woodward Which That is This by Doctor Turtle Undercover Vampire Policeman by Chris Zabriskie We want to include you in this conversation. To send us your comments or stories, just go to our Facebook page or our website at OneinABillionVoices.o

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, she wrote a book called “Little Soldiers” describing how children are educated and what the education system is designed to accomplish. Check out my interview with Lenora Chu in this episode - “This Chinese American Life- What’s an education for?” Music used: One in a Billion Theme Song by Brad McCarthy Interplanetary Forest by Meydn The Place I Called Home by Julie Maxwell You're Right But I'm Me by Doctor Turtle Meeting the Demon by MMFFF Little Idea by Scott Holmes Stage 1 Level 24 by Monplaisir Estampe Galactus Barbere Epaul Giraffe Ennui by Monplaisir We want to include you in this conversation. To send us your comments or stories, just go to our Facebook pag

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 conversation with American Public Media’s “Marketplace” correspondent - Scott Tong - in this episode “This Chinese American Life: Tracing My Roots”  Music used: One in a Billion Theme Song by Brad McCarthy Upbeat Party by Scott Holmes Storybook by Scott Holmes Banish by Slinte Trophy Endorphins by Andy G. Cohen Vienna Beat by Blue Dot SessionsRecall by Blue Dot Sessions Love Wins by Lee Rosevere We want to include you in this conversation. To send us your comments or stories, just go to our Facebook page or our website at OneinABillionVoices.org under “Pitch a Story.” Share your thoughts? Pitch me a story? “One in a Billion” is listening to #China, one person at a time.

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,  and her inner journey of reconciliation. Music used:One in a Billion Theme Song by Brad McCarthyWhen I Dream by Joseph Blanchard Redwood Majesty by Joseph BlanchardEternal Embrace by Joseph Blanchard We want to include you in this conversation. To send us your comments or stories, just go to our Facebook page or our website at OneinABillionVoices.org under “Pitch a Story.” Share your thoughts? Pitch me a story? “One in a Billion” is listening to #China, one person at a time.Subscribe to “One in a Billion” below: PRx | iTunes | SoundCloud

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 Own.”  The movie “Searching.” prompted her to dive into deep personal thoughts about her father, Asian fatherhood and media portrayal of Asian masculinity.  Music used: One in a Billion Theme Song by Brad McCarthy Hlice by Monplasir Inspirational Outlook by Scott Holmes Little Tomcat by Josh Woodward We want to include you in this conversation. To send us your comments or stories, just go to our Facebook page or our website at OneinABillionVoices.org under “Pitch a Story.” Share your thoughts? Pitch me a story? “One in a Billion” is listening to #China, one person at a time.Subscribe to “One in a Billion” below: PRx | iTunes | SoundCloud    

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 listen to his heart.  This is a story about pursuing what’s deeply fulfilling for you.  Music used: One in a Billion Theme Song by Brad McCarthy Which That Is This by Doctor Turtle Xi by Andy G. Cohen Descent of the Goober Monster by Jesse Spillane We want to include you in this conversation. To send us your comments or stories, just go to our Facebook page or our website at OneinABillionVoices.org under “Pitch a Story.” Share your thoughts? Pitch me a story? “One in a Billion” is listening to #China, one person at a time. Subscribe to “One in a Billion” below: PRx | iTunes | SoundCloud

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 human longing for fame and fortune, as well as love and connection. Music Used: One in a Billion Theme Song by Brad McCarthy I Will Not Let You Let Me Down by Josh Woodward You Um Ill Ah by Doctor Turtle Space Full by Andy G Cohen We want to include you in this conversation. To send us your comments or stories, just go to our Facebook page or our website at OneinABillionVoices.org under “Pitch a Story.” Share your thoughts? Pitch me a story? “One in a Billion” is listening to #China, one person at a time. Subscribe to “One in a Billion” below: PRx | iTunes | SoundCloud

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. Who helped her? How did she get over barriers? Also, how did she first discover her passion for writing? Who persuaded her to pursue it through college? And what is holding Lauren back from writing? What are her fears? Music Used: One in a Billion Theme Song by Brad McCarthy The Wrong Way by Jahzzar Tumbling Dishes Like Old Man's Wishes by Jahzzar Crazy Glue by Josh Woodward Gemini by Josh Woodward Sands of Windhoek by Mid-Air Machine Need by Les Hayden Death by a Thousand Questions by Springtide So Far So Close by Jahzzar We want to include you in this conversation. To send us your comments or stories, just go to our Facebook page or our website at OneinABillionVo