Category: 2021

These are some of the podcasts submitted by the 2021 cohort, with contributions from:

Richie Chan and Daniel Chen
Cynthia Chen and Claudia Fu
YoungJi Kim and Tommy Nguyen
Sameen Niazi

Posted on

It’s a lifestyle

It doesn’t really feel like taking medicine to me

Hosts:
Cynthia Chen 陳霈詠 (they/them)
Claudia Fu 符藴楓

Guest:
Andre Shih (Taiwanese heritage; TCM Herbalist, Accupuncturist)

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is widely practiced among people from East Asia; but using TCM is often seem as being in opposition to Western medicine. When does one use TCM, and when does that same person use Western medicine? The most difficult part of this question is the fact that TCM encompasses so many facets of one’s life – it’s not just about being sick, but more about being healthy in general. It also creates a lot of identity clashes, and for many Asian Canadians, it brings up issues of the Model Minority Myth and having to choose one culture to abide by. And how do these things get wrapped up in racism? And does it have to be a zero-sum choice? Listen to Chen and Fu as they unpack their own experiences. They also interview Andre Shih, a TCM Herbalist and Accupuncturist operating out of Vancouver, who answers questions about the challenges of being a TCM practitioner in Canada. Ultimately, knowing how important TCM is to vast numbers of diaspora in Canada, how can we re-envision the landscape of healthcare regarding TCM’s relationship with Western medicine?

Download here

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Con người có tổ có tông – Humans have origins

Như cây có cội như sông có nguồn – Like trees have roots, like rivers have headwater

Hosts:
YoungJi Kim 김영지
Tommy Nguyễn 阮武風

Guest:
Tiêu Kiến Vinh (Vietnamese heritage)

Surprise! Not all Asians are the same! (As if that even needed highlighting). As Kim and Nguyen discuss with their guest, it becomes abundantly clear that there is direso much heterogeneity among Asian commnities. North vs. South Korea, North vs. South Vietnam, heritage individuals vs. diasporic individuals, first generation settlers vs. multigenerational settlers, those who settled directly from the homeland to Canada vs. those who settled elsewhere first. All of these distinctions undoubtedly have an impact one’s identity formation and experiences of cultural adaptation. Take a listen as to how the different identities and experiences of the podcast’s discussants are brought to bear in this frank and interesting discussion. More importantly, the discussants challenged each other on disagreements, yielding an hour of conversation that covers so much ground. This certainly leads to a much broader question – with all this complexity inherent in cultural identities, how should we talk about and represent identities in a way that is inclusive, but not tokenizing?

Download here

Click on the following to reveal the artist’s statement (Note: PDF viewer not compatible with some mobile platforms; but it is available for download or to view via mobile PDF viewers)

Posted on

不能喝涼水 – Don’t drink cold water

Chatting With 陳 – Our Journey With TCM

Hosts:
Richie Chan 陳俊亨
Daniel Chen 陈丹宁 (he/him)

Guests:
Lisa Chai 齊麗霞 (Chinese heritage)
Wendy Chen 陈晓柔 (Chinese heritage)

One of the biggest areas of tension diasporic individuals experience in Canada is between adherence to traditional heritage medicine (e.g. Traditional Chinese Medicine [TCM], Ayurvedic medicine) versus Western medicine. Because of the holistic nature of traditional medicines, this tension not only impacts moments of illness, but pervades all aspects of life – from physical behaviours, to the temperature of food and drinks throughout one’s day. In this podcast, Chan and Chen (united by their shared family name 陳), explore their own respective journeys as they grew up grappling (and continue to grapple) with this medical tension. In particular, they discuss important questions such as how to reconcile when one’s own real experiences are so at odds with prevailing arguments and assumptions behind Western medicine? And how are TCM principles transmitted across generations?

Download here

Click on the following to reveal the podcast’s transcript (Note: PDF viewer not compatible with some mobile platforms; but it is available for download or to view via mobile PDF viewers)

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