Exit Spring Mountain

For the Season 2 Finale of Exit Spring Mountain, we’re talking about the care packages we send and receive to offer help and hope to our families and friends abroad. Balikbayan boxes are also a topic of conversation, as they have helped float the Phillippine country for decades. Many Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders also send remittances - funds transferred from migrants or recent immigrants to their home countries. What does the money pay for? Why do AAPI communities continue this practice? And how can this be a lifeline for families and governments in other countries?

Professor Constancio Arnaldo, an assistant professor in the Department of Interdisciplinary Gender and Ethnic studies and Asian and Asian American Studies at UNLV discusses the historical context of why remittances and balikbayan boxes are important for Filipino and Filipino American communities. Bernardo Blanco, who has been participating in sending remittances to family in the Phillippines for decades, explains why he feels it is his duty to continue to help his family abroad for as long as he lives. JD Reyes, a first-generation UNLV student and Chamorro from Saipan, explains why he loves staying connected with his family back home  through the care packages he receives and sends. 

Exit Spring Mountain is a podcast from Nevada Public Radio. Our team includes senior producer Nessa Concepcion, academic research consultant Mark Padoongpatt and assistant producer, researcher and social media manager, Isabelle Chen Rice. Joe Schoenemann oversees podcasts as news director at Nevada Public Radio, and our sound editing, mixing, and mastering is by Christopher Alverez.

In this episode, we’re talking about the complexities of being mixed, sometimes known as Hapa, Blasian, Wasian, or multiracial. Who decides who’s Asian enough… or not? How does categorizing people by race impact mixed race Asian identity and community? 

Elle Jules, the professional model from Hawai'i, talks about her experience as a mixed-race Asian and how she navigates representation in the modeling world.  Sandra Douglass Morgan, the President of the Las Vegas Raiders, reflects on how far she has come to get to the leadership role she holds today as the first Black NFL President.  Dr. Myra Washington talks about her book “Blasian Invasion: Racial Mixing in the Celebrity Industrial Complex." Dr. Jess Bensen talks to us about the current research out there on multiracial people and the need for more intersectionality in psychology research out there on mixed-race Asians. 

Exit Spring Mountain is a podcast from Nevada Public Radio. Our team includes senior producer Nessa Concepcion, academic research consultant Mark Padoongpatt and assistant producer, researcher and social media manager, Isabelle Chen Rice. Joe Schoenemann oversees podcasts as news director at Nevada Public Radio, and our sound editing, mixing, and mastering is by Christopher Alverez.

In this episode, we’re talking with chefs - the ones who feed us - fulfilling our basic needs - and ALSO passing down our cultural legacies. From a Las Vegas Filipina start-up to the old school icons - How do these professional chefs and restaurateurs feel about food culture authenticity? Where’s the line between food appreciation and food appropriation? What are the unique challenges AAPI chefs and restaurants face? And why should we embrace our unique identities as we look to the tasty future of our communities? 

Professor Mark Padoongpatt discusses Andrew Simmons' term gastronomic bigotry and the history of food policies and laws. Lorraine Blanco Moss, our very own host, discusses her journey navigating the culinary spaces as a Mixed AAPI chef. Chef Maneet Chauhan expresses the importance of cooking what you like to cook unapologetically. Chef Mary Dee Moralita of O.G. Lola's expresses why she is passionate about making sustainable vegan Filipino Food for everyone. Chef Martin Yan of Yan Can Cook tells us about his new restaurant M.Y. Asian coming to the Las Vegas Strip! 

Exit Spring Mountain is a podcast from Nevada Public Radio. Our team includes senior producer Nessa Concepcion, academic research consultant Mark Padoongpatt and assistant producer, researcher and social media manager, Isabelle Chen Rice. Joe Schoenemann oversees podcasts as news director at Nevada Public Radio, and our sound editing, mixing, and mastering is by Christopher Alverez.

How do these stereotypes harm Asian American and Asian women? Can they lead to violence? Simultaneously - in what ways are some AAPI women taking control of their own sexual narratives? And how can we support the vulnerable, change the conversation, and move forward?

A content warning for listeners: In this episode, we’re talking about sex trafficking, domestic violence, and sex.

We talk with Professor Tessa Winkelmann, assistant professor of history at UNLV who specializes  in Asian American history and U.S. foreign relations— she gives us insight into moments in history where the hypersexuality of AAPI women became so firmly rooted. We also get to sit down with Angela Little, a writer and Las Vegas sex educator, who shares her experience in the BDSM community and beyond! She discusses the importance of sexual education and consent as well as her journey of educating others. Amy Marie-Merrell the Executive Director of The Cupcake Girls, a Las Vegas nonprofit "that provides confidential support to those involved in the sex industry, as well as trauma-informed outreach, advocacy, holistic resources, and referral services to provide prevention and aftercare to those affected by sex trafficking." Amy Marie-Merrell discusses some important information on statistics surrounding sex trafficking in Las Vegas and how we can have effective and respectful conversations when discussing these real life experiences of women. 

Exit Spring Mountain is a podcast from Nevada Public Radio. Our team includes senior producer Nessa Concepcion, academic research consultant Mark Padoongpatt and assistant producer, researcher and social media manager, Isabelle Chen Rice. Joe Schoenemann oversees podcasts as news director at Nevada Public Radio, and our sound editing, mixing, and mastering is by Christopher Alverez.

For more information on non-profit organizations in Las Vegas that help those affected by sex trafficking, please visit:

The Cupcake Girls Website:  "Providing support + resources to individuals working in the adult industry & aftercare to those affected by sex trafficking."

Bamboo Bridges Website: "Serving victims of domestic violence & sexual assault, with culturally-competent services for the APAI community in Southern Nevada."

In this episode, we’re discussing “Traditional Chinese Medicine,” sometimes called “Oriental Medicine” - also known as Eastern Medicine or Alternative Medicine. But what does it really mean - how did these terms come about? What makes Eastern Medicine any different from Western Medicine - if any?  

Also - stick around to hear about  Nevada’s first healthcare facility catering specifically to AAPI communities- the Healthy Asians and Pacific Islander (HAPI) Center!

The ESM team visits a local TCM shop that's been in Vegas for over 20 years, T & T Ginseng. We talk with Tamara Venit-Shelton, a social historian and professor of history at Claremont McKenna College to discuss the history of Traditional Chinese Medicine and her book Herbs and Roots. Dr. Vince Link, a local O.M.D., discusses the array of TCM practices he offers at his clinic. We also get to sit down with Dr. Michelle Lin—the clinical director of the brand NEW Healthy Asians and Pacific Islanders Medical Center.

Exit Spring Mountain is a podcast from Nevada Public Radio. Our team includes senior producer Nessa Concepcion, with support from production consultant Sonja Cho Swanson, academic research consultant Mark Padoongpatt and assistant producer, researcher and social media manager, Isabelle Chen Rice. Joe Schoenemann oversees podcasts as news director at Nevada Public Radio, and our sound editing, mixing, and mastering is by Christopher Alverez.

For more information on the HAPI Center, visit:  https://www.hapimedical.org/

We've all heard the term AAPI Voting Bloc — but how is the Asian American and Pacific Islander community actually tapping into this growing political power? 

A long-time public servant, Karl Catarata tells us his journey on how he ran for Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents District Six.  Community organizer, Amanda Khan gives us insight into how the AAPI Democratic Caucus of Nevada host different events to educate the community on their rights as voters.  Social and political commentator, Mitch Lozada discusses his new role as the founder of "Project Arkada," a weekly event held at the new Republican National Committee's Asian and Pacific Islander Center.  The professor of Asian American Studies, Government, and Politics at the University of Maryland, College Park—Janelle Wong teaches us that there are some key issues that tie AAPI voters across political party lines. 

Exit Spring Mountain is a podcast from Nevada Public Radio. Our team includes senior producer Nessa Concepcion, with support from production consultant Sonja Cho Swanson, academic research consultant Mark Padoongpatt and assistant producer and researcher Isabelle Chen Rice. Joe Schoenemann oversees podcasts as news director at Nevada Public Radio, and our sound editing, mixing, and mastering is by Christopher Alverez.

Episode 10 marks the end of season 1, so we decided to mark the event with a special episode: The Exit Spring Mountain team gathered (virtually) for a potluck of food and conversation. We each brought a dish to showcase stories and flavors that are meaningful to us, opening the door for deeper conversations: How do we talk about authenticity in food and cooking, and when is that a useful—and not so useful—concept? And what about the thorny topic of appropriation: When is cooking the food of others problematic? When do we need better language for these exchanges?

And last but not least, we give listeners a tiny peek behind the scenes into our roles on the show, what we loved, and what we hope listeners will take away. Thank you all for listening, and joining us on this journey. We appreciate you.

Exit Spring Mountain is a podcast from Nevada Public Radio. Our team includes executive producer Sonja Cho Swanson, host Lorraine Blanco Moss, assistant producer Nessa Concepcion, academic research consultant Mark Padoongpatt, research assistant Karley Call, and news director Joe Schoenmann. Sound editing, mixing and mastering is by Regina Revazova of Open Conversation.

Navigating the experience of being both AAPI and LGBTQ+ can be a fraught experience—but when you've found your community, it can be a joyful one, too. Miss Nevada 2021, Kataluna Enriquez, was the first openly trans winner of the Miss Nevada pageant, tells her story about discovering herself and stepping into her stunning ball gowns—and into her power. UNLV psychology Professor Gloria Wong-Padoongpatt gives us the context for understanding how mental health in AAPI communities in discussed, and how the field of psychology is moving away from talking about cultures as problems. Local writer and creative Vera Blossom discusses the layers of issues in accessing healthcare for trans and AAPI individuals, and how finding your community can help. Ernie Yuen, a long-time LGBTQ+ advocate in the Las Vegas community, talks about how coming out can be easier in some Pacific Islander communities—but also how devastating it can be for youths who don't have family to turn to. And finally, Monica Lapa, a board member of the United Territories of Pacific Islanders Alliance LV (UTOPIA) describes how their event, tea time, is a place to connect LGBTQ+ individuals with resources but also find belonging.

Exit Spring Mountain is a podcast from Nevada Public Radio. This episode was written and produced by assistant producer Nessa Concepcion, with support from executive producer Sonja Cho Swanson. Our team also includes host Lorraine Blanco Moss, academic research consultant Mark Padoongpatt, research assistant Karley Call, and news director Joe Schoenmann. Sound editing, mixing and mastering is by Regina Revazova and the team at Open Conversation.

Las Vegas's Chinatown is a bustling three-mile stretch along Spring Mountain Road that's become a destination for foodies and travelers in-the-know. A long-time favorite of hospitality industry workers getting off their shifts, it's home to bakeries, bars, karaoke, and restaurants from around the world. But how did Chinatowns get their start in America, and what prejudices drove their creation? How is the Las Vegas Chinatown—and other suburban Chinatowns anchored in strip mall architecture—different?

In this episode, you'll hear from Sharon Hwang, co-owner of Chinatown Plaza and daughter of Henry Hwang, one of Las Vegas Chinatown's founders. UNLV Professor and Director of Asian and Asian American studies Mark Padoongpatt tells us about the history of Chinatowns in America—and the racism that made them spaces of contention long into the present day. A young entrepreneur, Antonio Cheon, shares the opportunities and hopes he sees in the growing neighborhood where barriers to entry are lower than traditional tourist neighborhoods. What, ultimately, do spaces like Chinatowns mean to Asian Americans and the cities they're in?

Exit Spring Mountain is a podcast from Nevada Public Radio. Our team includes executive producer Sonja Cho Swanson, host Lorraine Blanco Moss, assistant producer Nessa Concepcion, academic research consultant Mark Padoongpatt, research assistant Karley Call, and news director Joe Schoenmann. Sound editing, mixing and mastering is by Regina Revazova of Open Conversation. Special thanks to siblings Fung and Paiyo for speaking to us outside of 99 Ranch Market.

The U.S. Constitution mandates a Census every 10 years—it's how we allocate seats in the House of Representatives (Nevada gained a fourth seat in 2010 after the Census showed our relative population increase) and how we determine federal funding for housing, education, and health. For each Nevadan who isn't counted, whether a citizen or not, our state loses out on $10–12,000 in funding over the course of a decade. So how did local organizations reach out to AAPI communities to ensure an accurate count? How did the Census influence redistricting in 2021, and how did that impact AAPI communities in Southern Nevada?

Despite its impact, the Census is perhaps an imperfect tool—people don't usually fit into neat little boxes. So why is the race question fraught for so many people, how can data about "AAPI" groups obscure the experiences of Pacific Islanders, and how does the Census reflect America's shifting views about race? 

In this episode, we speak with artist and UNLV Professor Tiffany Lin whose census-based community art project can be viewed at https://24views.org/ ; Eric Jeng, Director of Outreach at the Asian Community Development Council; Thalia Melville, a student at UNLV; and Kristine Espinoza, a UNLV PhD candidate studying race-conscious higher education law and policies.

Exit Spring Mountain is a podcast from Nevada Public Radio. Our team includes executive producer Sonja Cho Swanson, host Lorraine Blanco Moss, assistant producer Nessa Concepcion, academic research consultant Mark Padoongpatt, research assistant Karley Call, and news director Joe Schoenmann. Sound editing, mixing and mastering is by Regina Revazova of Open Conversation.

This is the third in a three-part series about the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Southern Nevada's AAPI communities. In this episode, we look at how Asian Americans in Southern Nevada are responding to the surge of anti-Asian violence in the wake of the pandemic. We visit a self-defense class organized by the Asian Community Development Council, and talk to Desert Fallout gun store owner Lyon Gong, who says he's seen a rise in Asian Americans buying guns since 2020.

UNLV Professor Mark Padoongpatt gives us context for the rise in anti-Asian violence, why we've seen it before, and how political rhetoric filters into our everyday experiences. And Rhode Island College Professor Tamara Nopper invites us to tackle some tough questions: How could the experience of Asian Americans in this moment spur us to confront anti-Blackness, structural inequality, and bigger-picture solutions? There are no easy answers, but we invite you to sit with the questions, together with us.

Exit Spring Mountain is a podcast from Nevada Public Radio. Our team includes executive producer Sonja Cho Swanson, host Lorraine Blanco Moss, assistant producer Nessa Concepcion, academic research consultant Mark Padoongpatt, research assistant Karley Call, and news director Joe Schoenmann. Sound editing, mixing and mastering is by Regina Revazova of Open Conversation.

This bonus episode accompanies episode 5: A year and counting of COVID in Las Vegas: The overworked. In that episode, Dr. Andrew Reyes, a professor of nursing at UNLV, tells us about the mindfulness exercises he is creating for healthcare workers—we developed one of the exercises he sent us into a scripted meditation, with a bilingual English-Tagalog track. We hope this meditation is helpful for you, whichever languages you speak, whether you work in healthcare or somewhere else.

This mindfulness meditation was narrated by voiceover artist Theo Buna with the help of Kristina DeCastro.

We’re dedicating this episode to all of the healthcare workers in Southern Nevada who have kept us safe and healthy throughout the pandemic. We see you, and we thank you. If you’re a frontline worker looking for mental health resources, visit covidmentalhealthsupport.org for a list of organizations. You can also visit therapyaid.org for free or low-fee therapy.

This episode is the second in a three-part series about the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Southern Nevada's AAPI communities. Earlier this year, a startling statistic came to light: While Filipino nurses make up just 4% of nurses nationwide, they accounted for 33% of nurse deaths during the early months of the pandemic. Why was there such an outsized toll on Filipino nurses in particular? What effects does this have in a city like Las Vegas, where the Filipino population is our largest Asian ethnic group—three times the size of the next largest group, Chinese Americans? How do we start to address the mental health issues arising from this crisis, and where do we go from here?

We speak to Constancio Arnaldo, an Assistant Professor at UNLV, about the historical forces driving immigration from the Philippines to the U.S., and why so many of the Filipinos immigrating are care workers. Marianne Torio, a charge nurse at a large hospital in Las Vegas, and Grace Vergara-Mactal, Executive Director of SEIU 1107 (which represents healthcare workers), join us to discuss the toll that working on the front lines of COVID takes on healthcare workers' mental health. And Andrew Reyes, an Assistant Professor at the UNLV School of Nursing, tells us about the interventions he is developing to help healthcare workers overcome trauma—and how Filipino nurses develop resilience with the help of their communities.

Exit Spring Mountain is a podcast from Nevada Public Radio. Our team includes executive producer Sonja Cho Swanson, host Lorraine Blanco Moss, assistant producer Nessa Concepcion, academic research consultant Mark Padoongpatt, research assistant Karley Call, and news director Joe Schoenmann. Sound editing, mixing and mastering is by Regina Revazova of Open Conversation.

We’re dedicating this episode to all of the healthcare workers in Southern Nevada who have kept us safe and healthy throughout the pandemic. We see you, and we thank you. If you’re a frontline worker looking for mental health resources, visit covidmentalhealthsupport.org for a list of organizations. You can also visit therapyaid.org for free or low-fee therapy.

This episode is the first in a three-part series about the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Southern Nevada's AAPI communities. Nevada was hit harder by the pandemic shutdowns than any other state—and the numbers continue to bear that out. As of this fall, Nevada still has the highest unemployment rate in the country. In particular, Asian immigrant women, who are overrepresented in service industry work, have the highest rates of long-term pandemic unemployment. So how is Las Vegas fighting back, for all of its workers?

We talk with Bethany Khan, Spokeswoman for Culinary 226, the largest union (and the largest AAPI workers' organization) in Nevada, about the rally to bring everyone back to work. We also speak with union member Stella Kalaoram, a housekeeper at a popular Strip hotel, about what it takes to clean a room with the new pandemic requirements—and how "unskilled work" is an unfair description of the jobs that service workers do.

Professor Preeti Sharma, who studies labor in the immigrant service sector, helps us understand why service work is devalued, and how that made service workers particularly vulnerable when the pandemic hit. She also explains why Asian immigrant women are so heavily represented in the service sector—and how that led to Asian immigrant women facing the highest rates of long-term pandemic unemployment.

Las Vegans aren't taking this sitting down. Penny Chua, co-owner of the world-famous Thai restaurant Lotus of Siam, tells us how businesses can take care of their employees when disaster strikes—but also how challenging that can be.

Mutual aid organizations like the Ninth Island Aunties, started by Cathi Minami, have helped locals like Kanoe Kalua find their footing when COVID impacted her family—in most of the states that record this data, Pacific Islanders have the highest rates of COVID death and hospitalization, so Kanoe's family was doubly impacted. Another aid organization, the Asian Community Development Council, started an Asian food pantry to provide culturally-appropriate food aid to families who prefer Asian ingredients like cabbage, soy sauce, and rice noodles.

Exit Spring Mountain is a podcast from Nevada Public Radio. Our team includes executive producer Sonja Cho Swanson, host Lorraine Blanco Moss, research assistant Nessa Concepcion, academic research consultant Mark Padoongpatt, and news director Joe Schoenmann. Sound editing, mixing and mastering is by Regina Revazova of Open Conversation.

"Go home." "Go back to your country." "You don't belong here." These are phrases that many Nevadans of Asian descent have heard—it's rooted in a view of Asians as perpetual foreigners in this country, no matter how long they've lived here. As UNLV Professor Emeritus Sue Fawn Chung tells us, this modern-day sentiment is hardly new. It has roots in the treatment of some of the earliest Asian migrants to the U.S.: Chinese laborers who came to work in mining and railroads, in kitchens and laundry shops. That treatment, at times, boiled over into violence.

It also culminated in the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the only federal law to this day to restrict immigration on the basis of race. As UNLV Law Professor Michael Kagan, author of The Battle to Stay in America, explains, the Chinese Exclusion Act and subsequent Supreme Court cases have had lasting impacts on immigration law to this day.

Chinese Exclusion came to an end when it proved politically expedient to ally with China against a different threat in World War II: Japan. Former Clark County Principal and longtime community leader Wayne Tanaka tells the story of the so-called internment camps where 120,000 Japanese Americans (including his father) were detained—and why local Las Vegans stepped up to protect their Japanese American neighbors.

Wayne also tells us why it's important to remember this history—and how it can teach us to do better.

Exit Spring Mountain is a podcast from Nevada Public Radio. Our team includes executive producer Sonja Cho Swanson, host Lorraine Blanco Moss, research assistant Nessa Concepcion, academic research consultant Mark Padoongpatt, and news director Joe Schoenmann. Sound editing, mixing and mastering is by Regina Revazova of Open Conversation.

According to the most recent Census data, the population of Pacific Islanders in the U.S. has risen nearly 30% in the last decade—in Nevada, it's risen by 60%.  Las Vegas, famously, has the largest population of Hawaiians outside of Hawai'i, earning our city the nickname "the Ninth Island." But some Native Hawaiians take issue with the term, pointing out that Hawai'i is a sovereign nation, and that describing Las Vegas as an extension of an American state is misguided.

These issues of land and sovereignty in Hawai'i and other Pacific Islands are at the heart of why so many Pacific Islanders have moved here, to Southern Nevada. In this episode, we learn about the history of American involvement in the Pacific, and its connection to Pacific Islander migration today.

We talk with Doreen Hall, President of the Las Vegas Hawaiian Civic Club (LVHCC), about what it means to be Native Hawaiian in Las Vegas, and why teaching Hawaiian culture here, too, is so important. We hear from a local small business owner from Guam, Tiffany Biscoe, whose family has a deep connection to the ocean. JD Reyes, Co-President of the Asian American Pacific Islander Student Association at UNLV, speaks to us about why he plans on returning home to Saipan, despite the challenges of doing so. At the 29th Pacific Islander Festival & Ho'olaule'a, we meet Vincent Souza, a hula instructor and advisor to the LVHCC, Faletolu Tapili Spencer, a volunteer at the event from Samoa, and Tere George, a traditional dancer from the Cook Islands.

Exit Spring Mountain is a podcast from Nevada Public Radio. Our team includes executive producer Sonja Cho Swanson, host Lorraine Blanco Moss, research assistant Nessa Concepcion, academic research consultant Mark Padoongpatt, and news director Joe Schoenmann. Sound editing, mixing and mastering is by Regina Revazova of Open Conversation.

In Nevada's most recent legislative session, Assembly Bill 359 was passed with little fanfare: It requires businesses to provide translated documents for certain consumer financial services transactions, including credit card issuance and auto title loans. For some individuals in AAPI communities here in Las Vegas, this bill, which took effect on October 1st, is an important step.

Language barriers affect non-fluent English speakers in schools, hospitals, and business settings—according to U.S. Census data, those who identify as AAPI have the highest rates of Limited English Proficiency of any ethnic group. In this episode, we speak with Assemblywoman Venicia Considine, primary sponsor of AB359, about why translation is an important component of consumer protection law. We also talk with Vida Lin, President of the Asian Community Development Council, a non-profit here in Southern Nevada, about their advocacy for language access and work to help members of Asian American and Pacific Islander communities  register to vote and sign up for health insurance.

But language is also a striking example of how diverse this umbrella term AAPI is—not only are hundreds of languages and dialects spoken across "AAPI," English proficiency rates are also diverse across these many groups. UNLV Professor Mark Padoongpatt, academic research consultant at Exit Spring Mountain, joins us for this conversation. How and when does "AAPI" make sense? What do our many languages teach us about where we come from, and where we might be headed? When do languages make us a target—and when are they our superpower?

Exit Spring Mountain is a podcast from Nevada Public Radio. Our team includes executive producer Sonja Cho Swanson, host Lorraine Blanco Moss, research assistant Nessa Concepcion, academic research consultant Mark Padoongpatt, and news director Joe Schoenmann. Sound editing, mixing and mastering is by Regina Revazova of Open Conversation.

Join us every other week as we look at the impact of history, politics, and the economy of members of AAPI communities.  Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) are the fastest-growing ethnic or racial group in Clark County—but despite the Census data grouping, it's not one homogenous group. You'll learn about the hundreds of languages and dialects spoken across AAPI, hear from Pacific Islanders keeping their cultures alive in Southern Nevada, and take deep dives with us into the logging and mining days of old Nevada. Celebrate with us, learn with us, and subscribe for the latest episodes.