A Conversation with Satsuki Ina, Trauma Therapist, Activist, Filmmaker, and the Author of The Poet and the Silk Girl
Release Date: 11/17/2025
A Conversation with Award-Winning Writer and Educator Patricia Park, the Author of Ambrosia Lee Drops the Mic
Asian American History 101
Welcome to Season 6, Episode 17! We love stand-up comedy as well as books with diverse representation. So we’re really excited that our guest today is , a professor of creative writing and an award-winning writer. Her latest book is , a YA novel about a Korean American former child actress who decides to branch out and stand out in order to pursue her newfound love — stand-up comedy. It’s a funny story that also has some very real moments as Ambrosia, whose acting career peaked at the age of eleven, confronts family dynamics, the challenges when you don’t fit the...
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A Conversation with A Conversation with Scott Kurashige, Educator, President of the James and Grace Lee Boggs Foundation, and Award-Winning Author of American Peril
Asian American History 101
Welcome to Season 6, Episode 16! Our guest this episode is , an award-winning Author, Educator, Activist, and Public Speaker, who has studied the problem of Anti-Asian Violence for 35+ years. He’s a nonprofit organizational leader and changemaker who addresses racial equity and social justice issues from an intersectional framework. He currently serves as President of the James and Grace Lee Boggs Foundation. His latest book is which released on April 7, 2026 and is published by . Although the topic of Anti-Asian racism gained a lot of attention during the COVID-19 pandemic with...
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A Conversation with Professor Theodore Chao and Jenessa Joffe, Two Co-Authors of Auntie Kristina's Guide to Asian American Activism
Asian American History 101
Welcome to Season 6, Episode 15! Today our guests are two of the co-authors of the very cool new book … and . Jenessa Joffe is a Los Angeles-based writer, director, producer, and mother who is passionate about creating social change through comedic, kid-focused content. Theodore Chao is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Elementary and Bilingual Education at California State University, Fullerton. His research centers on Digital Mathematics Storytelling to amplify counter-narratives that challenge harmful stereotypes in mathematics education. Auntie Kristina's Guide to Asian...
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A Conversation with Dennis V Tran, Strategist, Storyteller, and Inclusion Consultant
Asian American History 101
Welcome to Season 6, Episode 14! With Dennis V. Tran. Dennis is a Vietnamese American storyteller, disability advocate, and inclusion strategist whose work focuses on neurodiversity, mental health, and accessibility—particularly within Asian American communities. Dennis identifies as queer, partially blind, and neurodivergent, and he uses his lived experiences to advocate for more inclusive systems in media, workplaces, and public health. Something we think everyone should be supportive of. Among the interesting facts about Dennis is that he was a late-identified autistic...
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A Conversation with Professor Charlotte Brooks, Award-Winning Educator and Author of the Moys of New York and Shanghai
Asian American History 101
Welcome to Season 6, Episode 13! Our guest today is a Professor of History at Baruch College and the CUNY Graduate Center. She’s a scholar of race, immigration, and urban history, and has published widely on Asian American history, especially Chinese American and Chinese diaspora history. Her latest book is an epic biography called (published by University of California Press, 2026). It’s a sprawling book that follows the six Moy siblings and their spouses and children through a tumultuous half-century of world war, revolution, and social transformation in the United States and...
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A Conversation with Mirai, Actor, Director, Writer, and Acclaimed Audiobook Narrator
Asian American History 101
Welcome to Season 6, Episode 12! We’re really excited that our guest this episode is , the acclaimed audiobook narrator who’s also an actress, director and writer. She’s a proud 3-time Audie Award Finalist for her audiobook narrating. Not sure what that is? It’s like the Academy Award of narration. Other than audiobook narration and Voice acting, she’s been an actor on stage and screen with over 20 years experience, and she’s done some directing. Her latest creative endeavor is the short film which Mirai was awarded a grant to produce. As the writer and star of this...
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A Conversation with Shang Saavedra, the Founder and CEO of Save My Cents Founder and the Author of Wealth is a Mindset
Asian American History 101
Welcome to Season 6, Episode XX! Our guest today is , the founder and CEO of Save My Cents, the popular site, blog, and coaching resources on personal finance. Saavedra teaches readers the key habits and behaviors needed to become less fearful of money and live life with joy. Saavedra was named one of the “Twenty-five Most Influential New Voices of Money” by TIME/NextAdvisor in 2022 and is an Expert Reviewer and Contributor at CNET Money. Her mission is to change your financial life, one cent at a time, with a focus on mental health. She also does that through her book …...
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The History of Wong Tsu, The First Asian American Aeronautical Engineer
Asian American History 101
Welcome to Season 6, Episode 10! You’d be hard pressed to find people who have absolutely never heard of the aerospace company Boeing. But have you heard of their first impactful aeronautical engineer? That person was Wong Tsu, a Chinese born prodigy who was educated in both the UK and US. He helped develop many of the practices still used today. In today’s episode, we talk about his life, his career, the discrimination he faced, and his lasting impact in the world of aeronautics. Now, Boeing and the Smithsonian have acknowledged his impact, but he still isn’t a household...
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A Conversation with Award-winning Author Julie Leung and Award-winning Illustrator Angie Kang, Creators of Navigating Night
Asian American History 101
Welcome to Season 6, Episode 09! On a few rare occasions, we’ve invited more than one guest at a time, and we’re doing it for this episode! Today’s guests are and . Both are award-winning creators. Julie is an author with multiple titles to her name while Angie is both an author and illustrator. Their latest work, , is written by Julie and illustrated by Angie, and it will release on March 10. Navigating Night is the heart-warming story of a girl who helps guide her dad on his route delivering Chinese take-out food from their restaurant. She does this every night because her...
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The History of Jawaiian Music
Asian American History 101
Welcome to Season 6, Episode 8! What do you get when you mix Jamaican Reggae with Hawaiian music. This isn’t the set-up for a joke, it’s an episode on Jawaiian music, sometimes called Island Reggae. Today we talk about the origin of Jawaiian music, who some of the key musicians were, why it resonated with so many Hawaiians, and some of the small controversies around it. We go more in-depth on three key musicians who have made a HUGE impact in Jawaiian music: Brother Noland, Fiji, and J-Boog. To get an idea of the spirit of Jawaiian, then look up their work! In our...
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Welcome to Season 5, Episode 46! Many of our guests are multi-hyphenates when it comes to their impact in the world, and today’s guest can definitely be described that way. Satsuki Ina is a Trauma Therapist, Activist, Filmmaker, Educator, and the Author of the Memoir The Poet and the Silk Girl which was released on September 9, 2025.
Satsuki is a survivor of the Japanese incarceration during World War II. She was born in the camps and spent her first few years there, both experiencing the trauma in her early years as well as through her parents. In her memoir, The Poet and the Silk Girl, Satsuki tells the story of how her parents, brother, and she survived and resisted their incarceration in U.S. concentration camps. One of the things that makes this memoir even more personal is that she was able to draw from diary entries, emotional haiku, censored letters, government documents, and clandestine messages that her parents Shizuko and Itaru Ina shared with each other.
Satsuki further adds to the relevance and personalization by connecting her family’s experience to the race and immigration stories unfolding today as well—from rising anti-Asian hate crimes to the militarization of immigration enforcement. At 81, Satsuki continues to be at the forefront of Asian American activism. She's a co-founder of Tsuru for Solidarity, a nonviolent, direct-action project of Japanese American social justice advocates.
To learn more about Satsuki Ina, you can visit her website, follow her Instagram @satsukiina, support Tsuru for Solidarity, watch her recent addresses at the 56th Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage and the Snow Country Prison Japanese American Memorial, and you can of course get your own copy of The Poet and the Silk Girl.
If you like what we do, please share, follow, and like us in your podcast directory of choice or on Instagram @AAHistory101. For previous episodes and resources, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or our links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@aahistory101.com.
