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.