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Season 4, Episode 17: Hapa Actress Keiko Elizabeth and Playwright Phinneas Kiyomura

April 25, 2017 by admin Leave a Comment

LIVE 5/1/17 5PM EASTERN: I am very excited to talk to these talented artists about this new play, Supper, that is getting great reviews at the Theatre of Note.  Don’t miss this talk! -Heidi Durrow

Supper written by Phinneas Kiyomura and starring Keiko Elizabeth follows four super-rich and estranged brothers as they reunite in Japan on the eve of their eldest brother’s wedding. What follows is a strange and savage feast of lies, recriminations, and bitter truths served with a side of jet-black humor.  Supper is a brute farce custom built for this day and age.  It is now playing through May 20, 2017 at the Theatre of Note.  You can find more information and get tickets here.

I can’t wait to talk with @iamkeiko about a new play Supper @theatreofNote

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Keiko Elizabeth is an LA-based actress working in television, film & theatre. Originally from Northern California, Keiko has a degree in Biology from Stanford University and an MFA in Acting from Cal State Fullerton.

Keiko’s came to acting later than most. She went from being pre-med at Stanford with dreams of working with Doctors without Borders, to teaching science to middle schoolers transitioning out of juvenile hall, to helping to found a K-8 school in Oakland. In these arts-rich educational environments, Keiko saw first-hand the power of storytelling to heal and connect communities and individuals.

It was this perspective that prompted her to take to stage for the first time in a community production of The Wizard of Oz, an experience that sparked a curiosity and passion for the craft and process of an actor. Shortly afterward, Keiko was accepted into the MFA program at Cal State Fullerton.

Since graduation, she has worked on numerous TV and film projects, from comedies like Hot in Cleveland and Angie Tribeca, to fan favorites such as Hawaii Five-O and Days of Our Lives. She is still an avid fan of the theatre, and is a company member at Los Angeles’s Theatre of NOTE, where she currently plays Naomi in the world-premiere production of Supper, by Phinneas Kiyomura.


 

Phinneas Kiyomura is a playwright, television writer, actor, former skate punk, and dad living in Los Angeles, CA.

His plays have been produced at Theatre of NOTE, Padua Playwrights and Sacred Fools, among others. He is a FIND Screenwriters Lab Fellow, an ABC Disney Writers Lab Fellow, winner of the Klasky Csupo writing competition, and was a writer on Twisted (Freeform). He has developed projects for New Regency, Mark Gordon Co., John Glenn, and ABC Studios.

He is currently developing several projects, including: Internment, a passion project inspired by his father’s experiences in the Japanese American Internment Camps, and Ring of Fire, an exploration of faith and madness.

He appears as an actor in upcoming features Kill Me, Deadly and After We Leave. His graphic novel, 442, is now available on the Stēla app for iPhone and Android. His play Supper, a brute farce that slices into the 1%, is currently running in rep at Theatre of NOTE.

Filed Under: Episodes Tagged With: growing up biracial, hapa, multiracial, multiracial artists

Season 4, Episode 14: Mixed Race Writer Maria Olsen on the New Normal Family

January 11, 2017 by admin Leave a Comment

LIVE 2/13/17 5pm Eastern: I am excited to talk with Maria Olsen who is a children’s book author and now has a new non-fiction book: Not the Cleaver Family–The New Normal in Modern American Families (Tate Publishing, 2016).Don’t miss my talk with her.-Heidi Durrow

I interview Maria Olsen 2/13 5pm EASTERN. Tune in!

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Maria Leonard Olsen is a biracial woman whose parents were forbidden by law to marry in their home state of Maryland in the early 1960s. She is the mother of two children, a lawyer, journalist, radio talk show host (WPFW fm 89.3 in Washington, D.C.) and author of the children’s book, “Mommy, Why’s Your Skin So Brown?” Maria graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law, served in the Clinton Administration’s Justice Department, fostered newborn babies awaiting adoption, and has been on the boards of Children’s National Medical Center BOV, the Catholic Coalition for Special Education, GirlsUp and the Alzheimer’s Association of Greater Washington. She has written for The Washington Post,Washingtonian, Bethesda Magazine, Parenting, BabyTalk and Washington For Women. She lives in Fairhaven, Maryland.

 

Filed Under: Books, Episodes Tagged With: biracial, biracial artists, biracial family, biracial identity, growing up biracial, hapa, mixed experience, mixed festival, mixed race artists, multiracial

Season 4, Episode 9: Shine Text Founders & Mixed Chicks Marah Lidey and Naomi Hirabayashi

September 13, 2016 by admin Leave a Comment

shine-logoRECORDED 10/19/16: You don’t want to miss this conversation with two of the most dynamic young, mixed-chick entrepreneurs around.  Marah Lidey and Naomi Hirabayashi are the co-founders of Shine Text. Shine is a daily text experience to help you be your best self at work and life. Every morning, Shine sends you actionable tips and content around confidence, daily happiness, mental health, or productivity. It’s available via Facebook Messenger as well.  Learn how these millenials went from good idea to product and now an ever-growing tech business.  You can listen to the episode here or download it from itunes.-Heidi Durrow
multiracial, heidi durrow, the girl who fell from the sky, mixed race, biracial, growing up biracial, biracial identity, multiracial identity, multiculturalism, biracial family, blasian, hapa, mixed race adoption
Don’t miss my talk w/ @shinetext founders & mixed-chick-preneurs! #multiracial #mixedrace

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Marah Lidey
multiracial, mixed race, biracial, growing up biracial, biracial identity, multiracial identity, multiculturalism, biracial family, blasian, hapa, mixed race adoptionMarah Lidey is the co-founder of Shine Text, helping people live more intentionally through the power of daily messaging. Her expertise lies at the intersection of millennials and messaging; Marah previously directed mobile for brands like DoSomething.org, American Express and Viacom. Marah secured her B.A. in Journalism at the University of Georgia and currently reside in Brooklyn, NY. A World Economic Forum Global Shaper, and one of the Top 35 People to Watch in NYC Tech by Built in NYC, Marah also actively advocates for increasing racial and socioeconomic diversity in technology and entrepreneurship.
 
Naomi Hirabayashi 
Multiracial, mixed race, biracial, growing up biracial, biracial identity, multiracial identity, multiculturalism, biracial family, blasian, hapa, mixed race adoptionNaomi Hirabayashi is the co-founder of Shine: the daily messaging experience to help you be your best self. Prior to Shine, Naomi was the Chief Marketing Officer at DoSomething.org, the largest organization for young people and social action in the world. Naomi, named one of the Top 35 People to Watch in NYC Tech by Built in NYC, lives in Brooklyn with her fiancé, is passionate about diversifying entrepreneurship, women & confidence, and believes Brené Brown is a QUEEN.

Filed Under: Episodes Tagged With: biracial, biracial family, biracial identity, blasian, growing up biracial, hapa, heidi durrow, mixed race, mixed race adoption, multiculturalism, multiracial, multiracial identity, the girl who fell from the sky

Season 4, Episode : Henok Negash, Mixed-Race Magician Making it Happen!

September 12, 2016 by admin Leave a Comment

RECORDED 10/10/16: I was so excited to talk with Henok Negash, a biracial magician who is really making it happen with his magic these days.  He recently appeared on Penn & Teller’s TV show and had Penn & Teller as well as the audience capativated.  Don’t miss my talk with him.  You can listen here or download it on itunes.-Heidi Durrow
Don’t miss my conversation with #mixedrace #multiracial magician Henok Negash.

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Multiracial, mixed race, biracial, growing up biracial, biracial identity, multiracial identity, multiculturalism, biracial family, blasian, hapa, mixed race adoption
Henok Negash has been a magician since the age of 12 (currently 36 years old). Henok Negash has henok negash, mixed race magicianperforming seriously for 8 years. He has a bachelor’s and masters degree in Social Work from San Diego State University. He had about a 12-year career in social services. He is a former Peace Corps Volunteer serving in Rural Thailand for 3 years. He has also published research on strategies to address type 2 diabetes care in rural settings. However, his focus now is on magic. He is focusing on performing in a way that is authentic, has meaning but also entertaining with a touch of humor. He’s doing my best to keep things modern and relevant.

Filed Under: Episodes Tagged With: biracial, biracial family, biracial identity, blasian, growing up biracial, hapa, mixed race, mixed race adoption, multiculturalism, multiracial, multiracial identity

Season 4, Episode 7: Award-Winning Author Mat Johnson, Loving Day in paperback

September 9, 2016 by admin Leave a Comment

RECORDED 10/4/16: You really don’t want to miss this!  I interview the talented and best-selling author Mat Johnson about his latest novel, Loving Day, now out in paperback. Listen to the show here or download the episode from itunes.-Heidi Durrow

Tune in to my interview of @mat_johnson. Be warned we say the M-Word! #multiracial #mixedrace

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multiracial, mixed race, biracial, growing up biracial, biracial identity, multiracial identity, multiculturalism, biracial family, blasian, hapa, mixed race adoption

This is what people are saying about Mat Johnson and his book Loving Day:

Mat Johnson, Heidi DurrowA NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK | NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY MIAMI HERALD AND ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY San Francisco Chronicle • NPR • Men’s Journal • The Denver Post • Slate • The Kansas City Star • Time Out New York | From the author of the critically beloved Pym (“Imagine Kurt Vonnegut having a beer with Ralph Ellison and Jules Verne.”—Vanity Fair) comes a ruthlessly comic and moving tale of a man discovering a lost daughter, confronting an elusive ghost, and stumbling onto the possibility of utopia.

“Exceptional . . . To say that Loving Day is a book about race is like saying Moby-Dick is a book about whales. . . . [Mat Johnson’s] unrelenting examination of blackness, whiteness and everything in between is handled with ruthless candor and riotous humor. . . . Even when the novel’s family strife and racial politics are at peak intensity, Johnson’s comic timing is impeccable.”—Los Angeles Times

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: biracial, biracial family, biracial identity, blasian, growing up biracial, hapa, mixed race, mixed race adoption, multiculturalism, multiracial, multiracial identity

Season 4, Episode 3: Robert L. Reece, scholar & writer

August 27, 2016 by admin Leave a Comment

RECORDED 9/13/16: I had a great talk with Robert Reece about his recently released study, “What Are You Mixed With?: An Analysis of Perceived Attractiveness, Skin Tone, and Mixed Raciality.” We have a wide-ranging discussion and touch on ideas about agency and racial strategy, facing the “What are you?” question without taking race into account, mixed race babies, and give a nod to Hey Arnold.  Don’t miss this interview.  You can listen to it here or download it on itunes.-Heidi Durrow

Listen to my conversation with @phuzzieslippers about beauty & claims to #multiracial identity

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Robert-ReeceRobert Reece is a PhD candidate in sociology at Duke University where He takes an intersectional critical race approach to research on the American South, colorism, gender/sex/sexuality, and digital technology. Robert is a co-founder of Still Furious and Brave, a blogging collective of scholar-activists that focuses on issues that rest at the intersections of race, region, and feminism, and founder of Magnolia Fresh, a fashion blog that seeks to cater to black men in the South.  He is also a member of the editorial board for Scalawag magazine, a quarterly magazine that focuses on southern politics and culture.
Robert is originally from Leland, MS, a small town in the heart of the Mississippi Delta, and obtained BA and MA degrees in sociology from The University of Mississippi. He has organized or co-organized forums about masculinity and sexual assault, blackness in the 21st century, Mississippi’s Personhood Act, and the contemporary social movements with co-founder Bobby Seale. Robert collects black art, Black Panther Party memorabilia, black superhero comics Legos, and consider herself to be a connoisseur of southern rap.

Filed Under: Episodes Tagged With: biracial, biracial family, biracial identity, blasian, growing up biracial, hapa, heidi durrow, mixed race, mixed race adoption, multiculturalism, multiracial, multiracial identity, the girl who fell from the sky

Season 4, Episode 2: Award-Winning Writer Hasanthika Sirisena, The Other One

August 27, 2016 by admin Leave a Comment

Hasie book cover TheOtherOneRECORDED 9/12/16: Don’t miss my conversation with Hasanthika Sirisena, author of The Other One, an award-winning short story collection.  Hasie is one of my favorite writers and one of my most favorite people and we had a wonderful conversation about her writing and work, and how to keep yourself going when pursuing the writing life.  Tune in here or download the episode from itunes.-Heidi Durrow

My conversation with @thinkhasie about her wonderful book The Other One. #multiracial

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Hasanthika Sirisena’s essays and stories have appeared in The Globe and Mail, WSQ, Narrative,The Kenyon Review, Glimmer Train, Epoch,StoryQuarterly, Narrative and other magazines. Her work has been anthologized in Best New American Voices, and named a distinguished story by Best American Short Stories in 2011 and 2012. She is a recipient of fellowships from the MacDowell Colony and Yaddo. In 2008 she received a Rona Jaffe Writers’ Award. She is currently an associate fiction editor at West Branch magazine and is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Susquehanna University.

She is the winner of the 2015 Juniper Prize for Fiction. Her short story collection, THE OTHER ONE, was released earlier this year.

 

Filed Under: Books, Episodes Tagged With: biracial, biracial family, biracial identity, blasian, growing up biracial, hapa, mixed race, mixed race adoption, multiculturalism, multiracial, multiracial identity

Season 2, Summer Short 6: Actress/Writer Katie Malia of web series “Almost Asian”

August 7, 2015 by admin Leave a Comment

Katie MaliaRECORDED 8/24/15: I loved talking with Katie Malia, creator of the web series Almost Asian.  She’s talented and funny and just simply great.  You can listen to the show here or download it on itunes.-Heidi Durrow

This is what Katie says about the impetus for creating the webseries: “Growing up half-Asian was very confusing. From filling out ethnicity sections in college applications to introducing lunch trades with pre-trending Japanese food on the grade school playground, before the United Colors of Benetton effect took hold, being the bi-product of an interracial couple was new. Nobody was talking about it, especially in suburban America. Before Obama and yes, Keanu came along, there was no half-anything to admire as a role model, particularly a female one. It’s really no surprise that my best friend growing up was also half-Japanese due to our relatable childhood experiences. And by expanding on these shared experiences, my intention with “Almost Asian” is to celebrate the nuanced mixed-ethnic identity while challenging our social conventions regarding race, nationality, and culture through a comedic lens.”

Listen to my interview with @iamalmostasian creator @kathrynmalia on hapa identity & Hollywood.

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Katie Malia is an “ethnically-ambiguous” working actress and writer in Los Angeles. Having appeared in over 100+ national commercials and print campaigns and featured on HBO’s Hello Ladies, How I Met Your Mother, The Mindy Project, Sleepy Hollow and Ground Floor, Katie studied at Columbia University in New York and continues to write and create her own content playing numerous original characters, one of which was featured on Funny or Die’s homepage. She also performs stand up around Los Angeles, was a contributing writer for Daily Candy and Time Out LA, and also produced the short film “VARMiNT,” which won the Grand Jury Prize at Dances with Films Festival in Hollywood, the Audience Award at New Orleans Film Festival in 2013, and was a Vimeo “Staff Pick” in 2014. Katie lives in Silver Lake. Oh yeah, and she hates the term “ethnically-ambiguous.”  You can also find her on Facebook and Twitter.

Filed Under: Episodes Tagged With: biracial, biracial artists, growing up biracial, hapa, mixed, mixed experience, mixed festival, mixed race, mixed roots, multiracial

Host Heidi Durrow

Host Heidi Durrow

Heidi Durrow is the New York Times best-selling writer of The Girl Who Fell From the Sky and the founder of the original mixed roots film and book festival and now the founder of Mixed Remixed Festival , an annual film, book and performance festival, which will be held next on June 10-11, 2016 at … [Read More]

Recent Posts

  • Season 5, Episode 3: Award-Winning Writer Amina Gautier November 14, 2017
  • Season 5, Episode 2: New York Times Bestselling Writer Julie Lythcott-Haims October 12, 2017
  • Season 4, Episode 19: Writer/Literary Critic Janet Savage July 3, 2017
  • Mixed Experience History Month 2017: Paula Gunn Allen, writer and scholar May 17, 2017
  • Mixed Experience History Month 2017: Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, Educator & Activist May 16, 2017

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