Hmonglish

This episode is a recording of our September 19th live show, which was filmed at the Union Hmong Kitchen on Lake Street in partnership with SPAM.

We are so grateful to everyone at SPAM and Hormel who supported this event.  Everyone in attendance was treated to goodie bags and delicious appetizers, which came in the form of SPAM fried rice and SPAM musubi. both of which were made with their new maple flavor.

Our host, Chef Yia Vang, spoke with Los Angeles-based writer Phillipe Thao about his experiences growing up as a Hmong kid and how queerness plays a role in Hmong culture. Phillipe works at Netflix and is very much immersed in the world of media. But how does he retain his Hmongness? How does he value his heritage? Trust me, you’ll want to hear the whole thing. It’s a fascinating conversation.

Thanks as always for listening. Be sure to follow the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or whenever you get your shows. If you like what you hear, give us a five-star review! Also, be sure to find us on YouTube, and follow us on Instagram and Facebook @hmonglishpod

Hey, folks! We're back to bring you a very special episode.

On May 23rd, we held our first live show at Yia Vang’s Hilltribe popup space in uptown Minneapolis. It was a resounding success and we are so excited to share it with you here.

Before we get into that, please know that we are working hard on creating future seasons and events for Hmonglish. Please sit tight, but in the meantime, keep up with us on Instagram and Facebook @hmonglishpod. There is also a video version of today’s show going on YouTube. Please consider subscribing to that channel!

Ok, here it is, Hmonglish LIVE!

-

All music courtesy of a paid creative license with Artlist

Hey, folks!

You’re about to listen to the last episode of season 3. Don’t worry, we are already working on the foundation of season 4 and we’re even planning a live show in late spring. We’re going to be taking a break from regular episodes for a while, but we will drop bonus content in the meantime. And be sure to follow us on social media for updates. 

Today’s episode is one of our personal favorites. We’ve got Xee Reiter with us. She’s an artist based in Minnesota whose life trajectory started on a very traditional route. A traditional marriage. A traditional Hmong wife. But she refused to accept this as her destiny. She took her life into her own hands and threw herself into the art world.

Since then, she has produced an incredibly prolific body of work across art murals and exhibits – she’s even done some work with Yia. We think you’ll find her story inspiring and, hopefully, you’ll find plenty of opportunities to laugh because these two are hilarious when they get together. 

Hey, folks!

Today we have Judge Sophia Vuelo as our guest. This incredible woman was the first Hmong American judge in Minnesota and the second to be appointed in the country.

She arrived here over 40 years ago when her family fled Laos due to the Vietnam War. Her father died before she was born and her mother, with 7 children in tow, came to Eau Claire, Wisconsin to start a new life.

Her story is beautiful and awe-inspiring, but I’ll let you hear it from her.

-

If you like the show, leave us a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, and be sure to subscribe. The same goes for our YouTube channel: if you like what you’re seeing, give us a like, a comment, and subscribe to the channel.

If you haven’t done so already, follow us on social media on Facebook and Instagram: @hmonglishpod.

-

Support for Hmonglish comes from SolarPod, an Immigrant-founded and owned company that makes and installs the Z-Rack, no-roof-hole racking system.

Proudly manufactured in Shakopee, Minnesota, this product is designed to eliminate the use of fossil fuel compounds that are often used in solar installations. Not only that, but the z-rack preserves the integrity of your roof in the process.

The SolarPod Z-Rack: revolutionary solar innovation made radically simple.

Get a quote for your home or business at mysolarpod.com

-

All music courtesy of a paid creative license with Artlist

Hi, folks. Welcome to episode 4 of season 3. Today we have Tou Lo with us, who is an incredible individual. Listen to this: the guy is both a former marine and a former firefighter. You don’t meet many of those!

Today, he is the owner of Yelo Autosports, which is an auto detailing service based in Little Canada, Minnesota.

He is a wonderful human being and he shared a lot with us during this episode, including his recent trip to Laos, in which he reconnected with his Hmong roots in order to really see and feel the place his parents came from.

-

If you like the show, leave us a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, and be sure to subscribe. The same goes for our YouTube channel: if you like what you’re seeing, give us a like, a comment, and subscribe to the channel.

If you haven’t done so already, follow us on social media on Facebook and Instagram: @hmonglishpod.

-

Support for Hmonglish comes from SolarPod, an Immigrant-founded and owned company that makes and installs the Z-Rack, no-roof-hole racking system.

Proudly manufactured in Shakopee, Minnesota, this product is designed to eliminate the use of fossil fuel compounds that are often used in solar installations. Not only that, but the z-rack preserves the integrity of your roof in the process.

The SolarPod Z-Rack: revolutionary solar innovation made radically simple.

Get a quote for your home or business at mysolarpod.com

-

All music courtesy of a paid creative license with Artlist

Hey folks, welcome back to Hmonglish.

This is episode 3, which means we are halfway through the season because we typically record the show in batches of 6 episodes.

As you know, we release the show on Wednesdays, so that means the next two episodes will be released on March 8th and March 15th.

Today’s episode is with Sheng Elizabeth Lor. It is just about impossible to describe this woman because she is so many wonderful things all at once, so what we'll say is this: she’s a good friend of Yia’s, she is based in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and she runs a company called the Social X Change project, which can be described as a digital creation platform that focuses on uplifting marginalized communities in arts and activism.

She is also an editor for the Hmong American Experience, which is the largest Hmong media organization in the world. This woman is so incredible and so inspiring, and we can’t wait for you to hear from her!

-

If you like the show, leave us a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, and be sure to subscribe. The same goes for our YouTube channel: if you like what you’re seeing, give us a like, a comment, and subscribe to the channel.

If you haven’t done so already, follow us on social media on Facebook and Instagram: @hmonglishpod.

-

Support for Hmonglish comes from SolarPod, an Immigrant-founded and owned company that makes and installs the Z-Rack, no-roof-hole racking system.

Proudly manufactured in Shakopee, Minnesota, this product is designed to eliminate the use of fossil fuel compounds that are often used in solar installations. Not only that, but the z-rack preserves the integrity of your roof in the process.

The SolarPod Z-Rack: revolutionary solar innovation made radically simple.

Get a quote for your home or business at mysolarpod.com

-

All music courtesy of a paid creative license with Artlist

Hey, everyone! We’re hoping that you enjoyed last week’s episode and we’re super excited to bring you another one.

Today, we’re featuring Brian and Pahoua Yang Hoffman. Brian is an entrepreneur who currently owns Yeah Yeah Taco in Minneapolis. Pahoua is the Senior Vice President of Government & Community Relations for HealthPartners, which is a massive nonprofit healthcare provider based in Minnesota

Pahoua was with us last season and we really enjoyed our time with her. But this time, we wanted bring her husband along so that we could talk about relationships from a multicultural perspective.

Because, here’s the thing: Brian is white – he’s Jewish – and Pahoua is Hmong. When she was with us last season, she specifically spoke about how it was expected of her to marry a hmong man and so we wanted both her and her husband to dive into the nuances of this situation and many others.

Brian and Pahoua are brilliant individuals and they bring a lot of wisdom to the relationship conversation – which you’d expect from two people who've been married for almost 20 years.

-

If you like the show, leave us a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, and be sure to subscribe. The same goes for our YouTube channel: if you like what you’re seeing, give us a like, a comment, and subscribe to the channel.

If you haven’t done so already, be sure to follow us on social media on Facebook and Instagram: @hmonglishpod.

-

Support for Hmonglish comes from SolarPod, an Immigrant-founded and owned company that makes and installs the Z-Rack, no-roof-hole racking system.

Proudly manufactured in Shakopee, Minnesota, this product is designed to eliminate the use of fossil fuel compounds that are often used in solar installations. Not only that, but the z-rack preserves the integrity of your roof in the process.

The SolarPod Z-Rack: revolutionary solar innovation made radically simple.

Get a quote for your home or business at mysolarpod.com

-

All music courtesy of a paid creative license with Artlist

Thank you for stopping by to listen today! We are thrilled to be doing a third season of this show. We have been fortunate enough to step things up on the production side and we now film and record at an actual studio, called Muze, which is in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The studio is run by two Hmong women, Milly and Elmo, and they have been a major help in making this season look better than ever.

Speaking of looking better, we put a lot of work into the video content for this season, so please, if you are more of a visual person, hop on over to our YouTube channel to check that out.

-

As for today’s episode, we have Tsai Thao, who became the first Hmong model to be featured on a billboard in Times Square in New York City. Not only that, but she has walked in New York Fashion Week and many other shows across the country.

She is with Yia today to talk about what it took to become a successful, nationally recognized model, and it might not be what you think.

-

If you like the show, leave us a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, and be sure to subscribe. The same goes for our YouTube channel: if you like what you’re seeing, give us a like, a comment, and subscribe to the channel.

If you haven’t done so already, be sure to follow us on social media on Facebook and Instagram: @hmonglishpod.

We'd also like to offer a word from our sponsor, SolarPod, makers and installers of the revolutionary Z-Rack solar panel, proudly manufactured in Shakopee, Minnesota.

The Z-rack is designed to eliminate the use of fossil fuel compounds that are often used in solar installations and preserve the integrity of your roof in the process.

The SolarPod Z-Rack is solar made simple. Get a quote for your home or business at mysolarpod.com

-

All music courtesy of a paid creative license with Artlist

Hey, folks. We're excited to bring you another segment of Hmonglish Shorts as we continue to work on season 3.

For those of you who don’t know, Hmonglish Shorts is a segment we created to give you some extra content in between full episodes. These were all recorded over the summer with our previous co-host, Gia Vang, and they are meant to capture the thoughts and opinions of Hmong people, out and about, as they live their lives.

All these interviews were recorded at Hmongtown Marketplace in St. Paul, MN, which is a hotspot for Hmong culture in the Midwest.

Today’s episode features three Hmong teenagers who have a lot of wonderful things to share about their culture, and we’re excited to give them a chance to speak.

As always, please be aware that this was recorded during a busy time at the market, so there is a bit of background noise.

Also, when speaking to these three teenagers, we gave each of them a mic. We did not have a fourth mic for Gia, so she is the background asking the questions. You can’t really hear her that well, so our producer Matt will be stepping in with voiceovers as her replacement.

-

 If you enjoy the show, let us know by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Be sure to check out the show on Instagram and Facebook.

-

Produced by Gleam Tower Media

All music courtesy of Artlist

Hey folks! Welcome back to Hmonglish.

We are currently hard at work on season 3, so in the meantime, we wanted to release another segment of our Hmonglish shorts segment, which is an interview series conducted by our previous co-host, Gia Vang.

We spoke with a Hmong immigrant from Thailand, currently raising her family in Minnesota. She is also joined by her adorable daughter, who you can hear in the background.

As per usual, I want to let you know that these segments are recorded during peak business hours at the Hmongtown Marketplace in St. Paul, Minnesota, so there is a bit of background noise, but we felt it was an appropriate place to meet and connect with different Hmong folks in our local area.

-

 If you enjoy the show, let us know by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Be sure to check out the show on Instagram and Facebook.

-

Produced by Gleam Tower Media

All music courtesy of Artlist

Hey, folks!

First of all, thank you for your patience in waiting for this one. You’re about to hear the sixth episode of season 2, which marks the end of this season. We’ll be taking a short break after this but, don’t worry, we plan on being back for a third.

The second thing you should know is that today’s episode features one of the finest Hmong chefs in the Twin Cities: Thony Yang. He is the chef de cuisine at Mara, which is a restaurant in the luxurious Four Seasons Hotel in Minneapolis. It was really fun listening to him and Yia connect on food, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy it as much as we did.

-

If you enjoy the show, let us know by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Be sure to check out the show on Instagram and Facebook.

-

Produced by Gleam Tower Media

All music courtesy of Artlist

Hey folks! Welcome back to another Wednesday.

Right off the bat, we have some great news. We finally scheduled a shoot date for season 2 episode 6 of the podcast, and we’re expecting to release it a week from today. This will be the final episode of season 2 and we're very excited to put it out because it’s gonna be a good one.

So in the meantime, we have another segment of Hmonglish shorts.

If you didn’t catch the full explanation last week, we will be periodically releasing short interviews with Hmong people that we recorded earlier this year at HmongTown Marketplace in St. Paul. These interviews were facilitated by our previous cohost, Gia Vang, and represent a snapshot of how Hmong people are thinking about their culture today.

-

 If you enjoy the show, let us know by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Be sure to check out the show on Instagram and Facebook.

Oh, and our YouTube channel is finally here!

-

Produced by Gleam Tower Media

All music courtesy of Artlist

Introducing our new series: Hmonglish Shorts!

At this very moment, Yia is overseas working on a few projects, so we aren’t able to release any new episodes right now.

But, lucky for you, we have some stuff in the vault that you haven’t heard yet.

Back when we still had our co-host, Gia Vang, she and the producer would periodically interview Hmong people at HmongTown Marketplace in St. Paul to get their thoughts on what their identity and their heritage mean to them.

We figured it would be cool to release some of these recordings and call them "Hmonglish Shorts." I don’t like to leave you folks hanging when we don’t have an episode, so I figured this would be a fun way to stay in touch with you all.

And so I am thrilled to debut the first one today, which is one of my favorites.

Her name is Kalia Diana Yang, and she is an adorable 9-year-old who was willing to sit down with us and chat.

Please keep in mind that there is a bit of background noise since we were at the market during peak hours.

-

 If you enjoy the show, let us know by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Be sure to check out the show on Instagram and Facebook.

Oh, and our YouTube channel is finally here!

-

Produced by Gleam Tower Media

All music courtesy of Artlist

Hi all! Welcome back to Hmonglish

There are two quick things I want to mention before we start.

The first thing is that we are VERY excited about this guest. Her name is Pahoua Yang Hoffman and she is the Senior Vice President of Government & Community Relations for HealthPartners, which is a massive nonprofit healthcare provider based in Minnesota. She is a good friend of Yia’s and she came to the table today with a lot of fascinating insights into Hmong culture. She’s brilliant and thoughtful – with a fascinating career history, and I can’t wait for you to learn more about her.

Second, I want to apologize for not bringing you an episode last week Wednesday.

For season 2 thus far, we’ve been doing a weekly cadence every Wednesday. A season of Hmonglish is six episodes. I’m sure many of you expected episode 5 to come out last week and not today.

Our production schedule has been a bit behind due to scheduling issues with guests and trying to work around Yia’s super busy itinerary. As many of you know, Yia's career is blowing up right now, and he’s being pulled in a lot of different directions, so we’re doing our best to work with that. He will be heading out of the country this week and we’re expecting him back within the next two weeks. With that being said, I can’t promise that we’ll have episode 6 out next week Wednesday.

Thank you so much for your patience and understanding. We are incredibly thankful to have such a passionate, kind, and engaged fanbase, and we want to make sure we’re being open and honest with our communication on all matters relating to the show.

-

 If you enjoy the show, let us know by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Be sure to check out the show on Instagram and Facebook.

Oh, and our YouTube channel is finally here!

-

Produced by Gleam Tower Media

All music courtesy of Artlist

Today we have one of the greatest, contemporary Hmong authors with us: Kao Kalia Yang.

Kalia was born in December 1980 in Thailand’s Ban Vinai refugee camp, which is the same camp where Yia was born. Her family came to Minnesota in 1987.

In 2003, she graduated from Carleton College and then received her Master's in Creative Nonfiction from Colombia University soon after that.

Kalia has published numerous nonfiction works and children’s books since 2008, and it was in that year that she released one of her greatest works: The Latehomecomer, which is a memoir that tells of her family’s harrowing escape from the war in Laos. She’s also known for The Song Poet, which follows the life of her father, through his most tragic and most joyous moments.

Before we get started today, there’s one quick note I want to share about today’s episode.

Somehow or another, Kalia really got Yia to open up his emotions and much of this podcast is him in a very vulnerable state: speaking about his hopes, his fears, and of course, his family.

As a result, Yia speaks much more than Kalia and near the end, it begins to feel like she’s the host, interviewing him.

There is so much that we didn’t cover with Kalia and we hope to have her on again soon. Until then, please appreciate this vulnerable moment of two people opening up to each other.

-

If you enjoy the show, let us know by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Be sure to check out the show on Instagram and Facebook.

Oh, and our YouTube channel is finally here!

-

Produced by Gleam Tower Media

All music courtesy of Artlist

Hey everyone, welcome back to Hmonglish.

We brought on a phenomenal guest today, her name is Kashia Moua, and she is the Founder of Hmong Women’s Circle and the Chief Sustainability Officer at FM Global.

Before that, she worked as the Director of Sustainability for Allstate and has an extensive background in civic engagement and public defense.

Kashia has always been attracted to policy, politics, and advocacy, but she is also passionate about her Hmong identity, which is what brings her here today.

She started Hmong Women’s Circle after receiving a grant from the echoing green fellowship in 1999. The objective of her newfound organization was to close the achievement gap for Hmong American women through an affirmation of strengths, skills, and ambitions. The program was also started in response to violence against Hmong Women in the late 90s.

But… we do have one quick note about the violence: a little bit after the 40-minute mark, Kashia begins to describe some of the tragic headlines that were associated with Hmong Women at the time. There was one story we had to cut out at her request because it was personal, so if that portion of the show sounds disjointed at all, please bear with us, we did our very best.

-

Be sure to check out the show on Instagram and Facebook.

Oh, and our YouTube channel is finally here!

-

Produced by Gleam Tower Media

All music courtesy of Artlist

If you like the show, remember to give us a 5-star review and tell us why! Also, make sure you subscribe and tell a friend!

-

Hey, folks. Welcome back to Hmonglish. Today’s episode is with a repeat guest: professor Lee Pao Xiong from Concordia University in St. Paul. Lee Pao was the very first guest on the show back when we started season 1 and we are thrilled to have him back.

Lee Pao runs the Center for Hmong Studies at Concordia and is a professor of American Government, Political Science, and Hmong Culture.

I recommend you listen to our first episode with Lee Pao if you haven’t already, however, it isn’t necessary. I will say that this conversation and our previous one with him provide a broad – but not complete – view of Hmong history, so hearing both episodes is important.

Ok, here we go. Are you ready? Let’s dive deep into Hmong history.

-

Be sure to check out the show on Instagram and Facebook.

Oh, and our YouTube channel is finally here!

-

Produced by Gleam Tower Media

All music courtesy of Artlist

Welcome back to Hmonglish!

This is our second season and things will be a bit different this time around, especially the structure of the show. You’ll notice that these episodes will be much more casual. We provide Yia and the guest a very, very rough outline of what to talk about and they usually don’t even look at the outline anyways.

We know a lot of you will miss our old format with Gia, but we’re excited nonetheless to bring you this new iteration.

Be sure to check out the show on Instagram and Facebook. We are also working on a YouTube channel, which you will find here in the description once it’s ready. If you like the show, subscribe and leave a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Oh, and if you know someone who would appreciate Hmonglish, please share it with them!

Before we begin, I want to set the context for today’s episode. Ironically, we began season 2 with a guest who is not Hmong, but still Asian American (specifically, Taiwanese American). His name is Ming-Jinn Tong and he has known Yia for almost a decade. They met at a church they used to attend and have been best buds ever since. 

The reason we brought on Ming-Jinn is that he’s an incredibly thoughtful speaker. He’s an expert on addressing cultural issues and we felt he would be the perfect person to bring on as Yia continues to reflect on his Hmong heritage.

Sit back, relax, and enjoy.

You’re with friends now.

Welcome to season 2.


—

Produced by Gleam Tower Media

All music courtesy of Artlist

Welcome to the season 1 finale of Hmonglish! In this episode, we're talking all about the future of Hmong culture, language preservation efforts, and the education of our youth.  To discuss these things, we brought in a Hmong language educator, Pang Yang, who just received a grant from the Bush Foundation to deepen her studies.

So, about the show. Yes, we are bummed to see Gia leave us, but we are determined to keep these conversations going. We are incredibly passionate about giving a platform to our brilliant, Hmong community, and we hope to keep this going in season 2. We are in the process of figuring out what that looks like, so in the meantime, we have one request: sit tight!

To keep up-to-date on the podcast, follow us on social media!

Hmonglish Instagram

Hmonglish Facebook

And be sure to follow our amazing co-hosts!

Yia Vang

Gia Vang

—

Produced by Gleam Tower Media

All music courtesy of Artlist

Today's episode is all about Hmong food. Our co-host, Chef Yia Vang, is an expert in this area. However, we brought on another professional, and her name is Mee Vang. She runs the "Mee Living" YouTube channel, where she prepares traditional Hmong dishes and educates her audience on their significance.

Mee represents the traditional perspective of Hmong food and Chef Yia Vang represents the contemporary perspective. We're covering all the bases with this one so you know it's going to be a good one! Let's learn about Hmong food!

By the way, make sure you check out Mee's YouTube channel!

Mee Living

To keep up-to-date on the podcast, follow us on social media!

Hmonglish Instagram

Hmonglish Facebook

And be sure to follow our amazing co-hosts!

Yia Vang

Gia Vang

—

Produced by Gleam Tower Media

All music courtesy of Artlist