EP 536: Maxwell Lee, Part 1 On Recapturing His Dream To Be A Professional Musician
ASIAN AMERICA: THE KEN FONG PODCAST
Release Date: 06/01/2025
EP 542: Bryan Yamami On TAIKOPROJECT & July 19 Show Celebrating Their 25th Anniversary
ASIAN AMERICA: THE KEN FONG PODCAST
Guest Bryan Yamami is the co-founder and executive director of the acclaimed and award-winning drumming group TAIKOPROJECT (). You'll learn why he was a less than enthusiastic young taiko student, but why he returned to this ancient form of Japanese drumming with fervor while a college student. Notably, Bryan shares why and how he and co-founder Masato Baba felt led to start their own group with the emerging vision to create a uniquely Japanese American version of taiko ensemble performances. TAIKOPROJECT will be celebratinig its 25th anniversary with a culturally collaborative show...
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EP 541: Kanaka Mālia Luna Jennings & Diane Ujiiye On Redeeming Lives Through API-RISE
ASIAN AMERICA: THE KEN FONG PODCAST
Long-time friend and Christian colleague Diane Ujiiye, the co-director of nonprofit , introduced me to her Program Director Kanaka Mālia Luna Jennings, a proud Native Hawaiian and Filipina who, while a juvenile, had been incarcerated for 23 years. Her father died while she was inside, which served as a desperately needed wake up call to grow up, turn to God, and begin turning her life around. After she was released from prison, however, ICE swooped her up, and those seven months of detention were more dehumanizing and difficult than anything she'd experienced in prison. Hers is a remarkable...
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EP 540: Philip Kan Gotanda On "Yankee Dawg You Die" & How He Became One of Asian America's Preeminent Storytellers
ASIAN AMERICA: THE KEN FONG PODCAST
Third generation Japanese American Philip Kan Gotanda has gained renown as one of the most prolific Asian American playwrights, filmmakers, and musicians, but he came this close to becoming a lawyer. East West Players () is remounting his seminal play Yankee Dawg You Die in July 2025 after first staging it in 2001. Here's your chance to let him educate you about the (sadly) still-relevant message of this play, while he regales you with astonishing and hilarious stories of his journey to embrace his calling as a pioneering artist.
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EP 538: Author & Illustrator Regina Linke On Her First Children's Book "Big Enough"
ASIAN AMERICA: THE KEN FONG PODCAST
Regina Linke was born and raised in Texas, and she always enjoyed the creative arts, but she didn’t learn traditional Chinese painting until after moving with her young family to Taiwan in her mid-thirties. Holding management degrees from Washington University in St. Louis and Cornell University, she worked in marketing technology and information systems for the travel and tourism industry. Now, however, she creates and illustrates stories that celebrate East Asian folklore and philosophy in an accessible way. Her most notable creations are the characters from , a single-panel, webcomic that...
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EP 539: The Two Kens On Feuds Inside DNC, Between Newsom & Trump, and Between Trump & Musk
ASIAN AMERICA: THE KEN FONG PODCAST
After a much-too long break, podcasters Fong and Kemp are finally back, this time tackling the uprising within the DNC by young leaders like vice chair David Hogg, the messy public break up of Trump and Musk, and Trump's sending the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles as part of a false narrative to fuel his fascist desires. To find a "No Kings" peaceful protest rally on June 14, just go to and type in your Zip Code.
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EP 537: Leslie Ishii On Her Recently Winning Two Prestigious Theater Awards
ASIAN AMERICA: THE KEN FONG PODCAST
Alaska's Perseverance Theatre's Artistic Director Leslie Ishii has the distinction of recently being awarded to prestigious awards: The 2024 Stage Directors & Choreographers Foundation Zelda Fichandler Award and the 2025 Paul Robeson Award. To win either of these honors is remarkable; but to win them both, back-to-back, is nothing short of extraordinary. Here's your chance to get to know why and how this fourth generation Japanese American grew up doing acts of social justice, and when she realized the power that storytelling has to educate and motivate people to act on things that truly...
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EP 536: Maxwell Lee, Part 1 On Recapturing His Dream To Be A Professional Musician
ASIAN AMERICA: THE KEN FONG PODCAST
Maxwell Lee's Malaysian immigrant parents first put a violin in his hands when he was just three years old, but he soon demonstrated that he had precocious and exceptioinal musical abilities that he would later display as a classical pianist. As he focused on his music in college and graduate school, he seemed destined to make music his career path, either as a performer or an instructor. But after getting married, he dropped music altogether, becoming a successful real estate investor instead. A few years ago, however, he learned that the musician inside of him was slowly waking up. He and...
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EP 535: Taha Mandviwala On His Career-Defining Role in Stage Production Of "Life of Pi"
ASIAN AMERICA: THE KEN FONG PODCAST
Pakistani American actor Taha Mandviwala is now starring as "Pi" in the highly acclaimed theatrical adaptation of the bestselling novel and award-winning film of the same name. As part of the cast that is currently touring stages across America and elsewhere, Mandviwala reveals the depths of his character and what he has to do to come across as a believable teenaged boy. He also unpacks the artistry and athleticism that's required by the puppeteers who bring the zoo animals to life for the audience.
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EP 534: Dr. Anne Soon Choi On Writing The First True Crime Biography Of Dr. Thomas Noguchi
ASIAN AMERICA: THE KEN FONG PODCAST
Scholar Dr. Anne Soon Choi has just written L.A. Coroner:Thomas Noguchi and Death in Hollywood, the first-ever biography of Dr. Tsunetomi "Thomas" Noguchi, the Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner of the County of Los Angeles from 1967 to 1982. Throughout his illustrious career, Dr. Noguchi conducted autopsies on some of the most high profile and controversial figures in American history, including Marilyn Monroe, Robert F. Kennedy, Sharon Tate and other victims of the Manson Family, Janis Joplin, John Belushi, and Natalie Wood. His elaborate press conferences, which often generated more...
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EP 533: NJ Senator Andy Kim On Still Being A Life-long Public Servant
ASIAN AMERICA: THE KEN FONG PODCAST
Even though New Jersey freshman Senator Andy Kim has already served three terms in the House of Representatives, he still primarily sees himself as a life-long public servant rather than a politician. Prior to becoming a member of Congress, Kim served at USAID, the Pentagon, the State Department, the White House National Security Council, and in Afghanistan as an advisor to Generals Petraeus and Allen. The proud son of South Korean immigrants, Senator Kim also has the distinction of being the first Asian American that New Jersey has elected to the Senate, and the first American of Korean...
info_outlineMaxwell Lee's Malaysian immigrant parents first put a violin in his hands when he was just three years old, but he soon demonstrated that he had precocious and exceptioinal musical abilities that he would later display as a classical pianist. As he focused on his music in college and graduate school, he seemed destined to make music his career path, either as a performer or an instructor. But after getting married, he dropped music altogether, becoming a successful real estate investor instead. A few years ago, however, he learned that the musician inside of him was slowly waking up. He and his family moved to Taipei, Taiwan, and he secured a coveted 3-year visa for foreign professionals.
This is Part 1 of a special series where Maxwell has graciously agreed to let us tag along with him on his dream to become a professional, performing musician. For now, you can follow him on Facebook. In Part 2, I'll share one of his latest original songs!