One In A Billion

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 experiences and struggles. It’s now one of the most popular podcasts in China since it was launched in 2017, reaching 600,000 listeners and counting. “Leaving a robotic life to create my own show” is about his thinking at various turning points and crossroads. This interview will be in Mandarin Chinese. View Chinese (中文) and English Transcript Click here: Music credits (sourced from freemusicarchive.org): Tech Toys by Lee Rosevere What’s Behind the Door by Lee Rosevere Sad Marimba Planet by Lee Rosevere Wilsons Snipe by Chad Crouch You’re Enough by Lee Rosevere Wonder Under by Glad Rags We want to include you in this conversation. To send us your comments or stories

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 change your idea of what is a good life or what is a good career. What would you do? That’s what happened to Lu Xiaoya (卢小雅) 3 years ago, when she was 27 years old. In this Episode 3 “How can this be... the rest of my life !?” Anita talks with Lu about that life-changing moment, and what she did next. Lu will tell her story in Mandarin Chinese. View Chinese (中文) and English Transcript Click here. Music credits (sourced from freemusicarchive.org): Whats Behind the Door by Lee Rosevere Curiousity by Lee Rosevere Sad Marimba Planet by Lee Rosevere As I Was Saying by Lee Rosevere I Was Waiting for Him by Lee Rosevere Curiousity by Lee Rosevere Wonder Under by Glad Rag

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 changed their minds. They ask her to slow down, but it’s too late! Why? Take a listen. In this Episode 2 “Why Work So Hard?,” our contributing podcaster Anita Xu talks with a close friend Carol Luo about her dilemma. This interview will be in Mandarin Chinese. View Chinese (中文) and English Transcript Click here. Music credits (sourced from freemusicarchive.org & purple-planet.com): Snipe by Chad Crouch’s Wilson Fearless by Purple Planet Music Yorgan by Circus Marcus Easy Life by Lee Rosevere Quizitive by Lee Rosevere Wonder Under by Glad Rags We want to include you in this conversation. To send us your comments or stories, just go to our Facebook page or our we

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 Shanghai. Anita, our contributing podcaster, is puzzled. She saw him as a rising star in the journalism world, and she wonders -why risk it? This interview will be in Mandarin Chinese. You can read an English transcript or check out our website at www.oneinabillionvoices.org.   Music used: One in a Billion Theme Song by Brad McCarthy Quizitive by Lee Rosevere Tech Toys by Lee Rosevere Whats Behind the Door by Lee Rosevere Theme from Penguins on Parade by Lee Rosevere And So Then by Lee Rosevere  Wonder Under by Glad Rags

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 Song

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 without also feeling guilty. Why? What is her guilty pleasure?  What makes it wrong?   Music Used: One in a Billion Theme Song by Brad McCarthy  Mountain Monk C By Lobo Loco Space (Full) by Andy G. Cohen  You Um, I'll Ah by Doctor Turtle I'll Be Seeing You by Sammy Fain (Sung by JZ Wang)    

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: Whose Life is This Anyway.” 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 Music used: Brad McCarthy's One in a Billion Theme Song  Andy G. Cohen's A Perceptible Shift Jesse Spillane's Number 0 Josh Woodward's Under the Stairs Instrumental Jahzzar's No-End Ave  

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?” Music used: Brad McCarthy's "One in a Billion Theme" Jason Shaw's "Acoustic Meditation" Doctor Turtle's "Wherever I Lay My Hat, That's My Wife" Andy G. Cohen's "Space (Full)"

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 graduated from Columbia University six years ago. Without a word of Chinese or a drop of Chinese blood, he went in search of himself. Why China? Check out my interview with Zak in a 2-part series “This Chinese Life: As a 28 year old white American in China” (Part 2 will be released 9/18). Currently, Zak Dychtwald is author of “Young China - how the restless generation will change their country and the world.” He is CEO/Founder of “Young China Group” - a think tank offering educational and cultural insight about millennials in China and America. He splits his time between New York and Chengdu. Music and Audio Credits: Brad McCarthy's "One in a Billion Theme" Andy G. Cohen

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 stories from Maggie Shi, Joel Tsui and Justine Yan. Each embodies a personal awakening during one’s reckoning with the past, present and future. I hope you’ll find them helpful to your own thinking about this year as we count down to 2018. Listen to our latest podcast episode “Reflections on 2017.” 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 Music used: Dave O'Brien's Bu

She carries the good genes of music and science from the family. Her grandmothers are physics professors in China, one of them plays the piano as a child. Her father is a computer scientist, her mother is a medical scholar. Yet, she struggled to learn the piano as a child. Her head was bored from slavishly following the sheet music. And her heart was burdened with a bitter childhood memory. But all that changed when she discovered her fascination with computer programming as the pathway to animate her approach to understanding music. How did Xiao Xiao eventually reach a breakthrough? How did she combine her head and her heart to break the barrier between the technical and the emotional, the physical and the digital? How did she confront gender bias and societal pressure as a woman in STEM? Listen to Episode 6: “She Has Overcome: Cracking the Code of Learning Music” - my interview with Xiao Xiao - an artist, an autodidact, and a technologist with a Phd in Media Arts and Sciences from MIT Media Lab. Music Used:

Kira Omans was just four months when she was abandoned in a public walkway near a bridge in Zhongshan, China. Not only was she discovered and adopted to begin a new life in America, she would go on to become Miss Pacific Asian American (2015), a model, dancer, and an actress with her first lead in a new feature film “Shoes.”  How did she get back up when kids kick her down? Who discovered her talent as a actor and a dancer? Why did she enter a beauty pageant she once thought was filled with “airheads?” Listen to my interview with Kira Omans in Episode #5 “She Has Overcome: Re-imagining an Unforgettable Past.” 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 Music used: David O'Brien's Busy Bees Jay Man's Playful Fun Da

What would you do when someone tries to break you down, yelling at you saying “You’re the worst!?” What would you do when no one believes in your startup idea, saying “it’s too idealistic. It’s never going to work!?” What would you do when you face humiliating questions and intense scrutiny in front of millions of TV viewers? Listen to Part 2 of my interview with Kimberly Jung in Episode #4 “Keep Climbing.” An entrepreneur after overcoming class, cultural and gender barriers to forge a path that puts her at the heart of a bigger mission. Music Used: David O'Brien's Busy Bees Jesse Spillane's Untitled Komiku's Boss 1: The first challenge Kai Engel's Chance

What would you do when you hit a storm in the middle of climbing to the mountain top? Would you stop? Would you keep going? She would keep climbing. What would you do when your parents want you to marry a doctor or a lawyer, go to Harvard or Stanford? She would rebel. She would choose a different path, become an army officer and an entrepreneur. How? Who is she? She is Kimberly Jung - CEO/Founder of Rumi Spice. Kimberly shares the story of her becoming brave, transcending barriers and making tough choices at different crossroads in her life. Listen to Part 1 of my interview with Kimberly Jung in Episode #3 “Breaking Barriers.” Music Used: David O'Brien's Busy Bees Andy G. Cohen's A Perceptible Shift Lee Rosevere's Love Wins Jahzzar's No-End Ave

In America, the freedom of speech a First Amendment right enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. The right to speak our mind is not only valued in the American culture but expected in our liberal democratic society where voices are votes. The American electoral process expects it, and American citizens demands it. But what happens when the culture and society in which you grew up devalues or demeans free speech? In this Episode #2 “Free to Speak?” we interview Chinese and Americans who have reflected on their cultural identity and their right to speak, after watching a controversial speech by Chinese student Shuping Yang at University of Maryland. As Chinese in America, how freely can you speak? Who try to silence you? Leanne Fan and Karen Su joined me for a studio conversation. Listen to “Free to Speak?” Music Used: Busy Bees by David O'Brien Travel Light by Jason Shaw Heroin by Mitch Hanley

It sounds like a simple question, “Are you Chinese?” But why would someone ask it?  And what makes it difficult for someone to answer it? Eric Liao, our blogger/podcast intern at One in a Billion, started writing a blog about this question a month ago. When I first read it, it overwhelmed me with provocative ideas and perplexing analogies, and many of the underlying sentiments turn out to resonate with many young Asians in America. So we decided to turn that unfinished blog into a full-fledged podcast. “Are you Chinese?” is not a simple question, as we've discovered after interviewing Eric and listening to dozens of Chinese and non-Chinese in America. It challenges their sense of belonging and individuality.  Now, they’re speaking up. Their experiences tell a story of our common struggle when we’re in our 20s - our struggle to establish our identity and individuality, and our search for belonging. Listen to Eric’s story in “Are You Chinese?”   Music Used: Busy Bees by David O'Brien Xi by Andy G. Cohen The War

How often do you hear these questions - “How high have you scored? How many hours do you work? How much have you done?” Quantity is, of course important. It is a metric of output or outcome. We live in a results-driven economy that relies on quantifiable data to measure growth and success. But that alone can’t be enough to define the meaning and purpose of your work, can it? Earlier this year, I wrote a blog about “Productivity & Purpose” after hearing a warmly personal and illuminating interview with Maria Popova, founder of “Brain Pickings” on “On Being with Krista Tippett.” In this season for reflection, our listeners have asked me to share my blog again through narration. I hope you’ll find it helpful to your thinking about this year before embracing the new one!  Listen to our latest podcast episode “Reflecting on 2016.”    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 ChinaPersonified.com under “Pitch a Story.”   Shar

This year, I’ve promised my husband to be in Boston for Christmas and New Year. For the first time, it hit me how important it is to him that we celebrate Christmas, not in New York, or in Hong Kong (my hometown), but Cambridge our new home. I realize that his heart is forming roots to this place we’ve settled down for more than two years now. And in this season of longing, this is where he feels belonged. For me? It seems that I always feel belonged where I am most needed. Last month, I was able to spend more than two weeks with my father in Hong Kong, sitting with him mostly in silence while watching him watch TV, eat lunch or nap in the daybed as he coped with numerous issues including Alzheimer and Parkinson. A conversation was nearly impossible due to his cognitive decline and hearing difficulties. My gift for him was nothing more than my presence, punctured with periodic storytelling. Our quiet time together - my sitting by, being close, rendering care and reminiscing the way my father once was, the way

What Makes You Different?  How often do you feel different from your peers in America? Under what circumstances do you find your values at odds with your immediate cultural environment? How do you assert your sense of uniqueness? Listen to our latest podcast episode “What Makes You Different?” Twin sisters Chellie and Sara Zou narrate their blog about how they see race as multi-racial kids in Indiana.   http://chinapersonified.com/how-i-see-race-as-a-multiracial-kid/ Zara Zhang will read her story about “Warm Water.”  http://chinapersonified.com/warm-water/ 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 ChinaPersonified.com 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 Music Used: David O'Brien's Busy Bees, 1648/5 (Album) Audio Network Josh Woodward's Once Tomorrow, Creative Comm

The first time I wanted to deny that I was Chinese, I was 17 years old facing another 17 year-old. She was tall, blonde and huge from Chicago.    “Where are you from?” She taunted me as I was sitting quietly in the corner, watching with wide-eyed wonder every teenage girl dancing up a storm on a chair or on a table.  It was our Friday night “break out and dance” party inside a private high school outside of Detroit. “Hong Kong.” I muttered softly because she looked intimidating. She was three times my size, a full head taller, and scowled while staring me down. I had just arrived in America several weeks ago. I was the only Asian girl in the room, and this was my first encounter with a mean white girl. “What? HANG? KANG? Where’s that? What are you? Japanese?” Her rapid-fire, mid-western accented English coming out of her big mouth was bitingly cruel. I first stuttered a little, then gave it a go. “I am Chinese... from Hong Kong.” “Chinese!? No, you’re not. You are Japanese!!!”  She started cracking up so