"Embrace your culture. You are not half — you are full. And even for my quarter babies: embrace your heritage. It's a beautiful thing." — Alex Chester-Iwata
In this episode, Alex Chester-Iwata, founder and CEO of Mixed Asian Media and founder of Mixed Asian Day, joins John to unpack the word that's been everywhere the last few weeks: "Wasian." The term has been around since the early 2000s, but it exploded all over again after Laufey, the Icelandic-Chinese, Grammy-winning musician, released her "Madwoman" music video and stacked the cast with mixed Asian stars like Heated Rivalry's Hudson Williams, Olympic gold medalist Alysa Liu, and The Summer I Turned Pretty's Lola Tung. Suddenly everyone was talking about what it means to be mixed. Alex has been building the home for that conversation for nearly a decade.
What we cover:
Why "Wasian" went viral again after Laufey's "Madwoman" video and why Alex, who is Japanese American and Jewish American, doesn't identify with the word.
The problem with the term: it centers proximity to whiteness, plays into the model minority myth, and erases Blasian, Mexican-Asian, South Asian, and Southeast Asian mixed narratives.
Her one-billboard message to the world: "Don't play into white media stereotypes. We don't have to make white Hollywood happy. We can tell our own stories."
Losing a contracted lead-adjacent role on Even Stevens after being called "too exotic" — and the Mattel modeling shoots where she was told to open her eyes wider.
Her time in Dream: the China doll styling, the body image pressure on a 13-year-old, and the first meal in 48 hours being at Diddy's restaurant.
Why her Japanese American family never talked about internment — and how therapy, community, and The Artist's Way led her to found Hapa Mag.
Why she rebranded Hapa Mag to Mixed Asian Media: the indigenous Hawaiian history of "hapa haole" and making space for South Asian community members.
The belonging trap: why so many mixed Asians don't feel safe at AAPI Heritage Month events, and why questioning someone's identity — "do you even speak the language?" — comes from the same box-checking instinct as white media.
What's next for Mixed Asian Media: the June 13 Pride celebration at Sour Mouse on the Lower East Side, social clubs in NYC and DC, and Mixed Asian Day this September in San Diego.
Podden och tillhörande omslagsbild på den här sidan tillhör
John Wang. Innehållet i podden är skapat av John Wang och inte av,
eller tillsammans med, Poddtoppen.
