Race & Ethnicity

Journalist Ada Tseng visits Costco twice a week — for gas, deals, and hidden Asian treasures.

from Good Food

The Afro-Cuban musician Daymé Arocena has been a staple in Latin Jazz for nearly a decade. She’s now breaking barriers with a new pop album “Alkemi.”

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand

With restaurants dedicated to global rice dishes, JJ Johnson explores 28 varieties in his latest cookbook.

JJ Johnson uses rice to pay tribute to global grains

With restaurants dedicated to global rice dishes, JJ Johnson explores 28 varieties in his latest cookbook.

from Good Food

Chef Eric Adjepong explores assimilation, culture and home in a new children's book.

The children's book 'Sankofa' uses food to share history and culture

Chef Eric Adjepong explores assimilation, culture and home in a new children's book.

from Good Food

The Claremont Institute, a conservative Southern California think tank, helped spearhead a national campaign to ban DEI on public college campuses.

SoCal think tank is fueling anti-DEI efforts in red states

The Claremont Institute, a conservative Southern California think tank, helped spearhead a national campaign to ban DEI on public college campuses.

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand

Lisa Hamilton looks at one Hmong woman's struggle to survive war, loss and displacement while holding onto her identity.

How a Hmong woman escaped Laos and ended up growing rice in Fresno

Lisa Hamilton looks at one Hmong woman's struggle to survive war, loss and displacement while holding onto her identity.

from Good Food

Sheng Yang and Sami Scripter collaborate on a new edition of the first Hmong American cookbook.

A teacher and a student take a fresh look at Hmong American recipes

Sheng Yang and Sami Scripter collaborate on a new edition of the first Hmong American cookbook.

from Good Food

Zarghuna Adel learns classic recipes from older Afghans living abroad and reintroduces them to a younger generation living in the country.

Returning to Afghanistan after 25 years, Zarghuna Adel resurrects recipes

Zarghuna Adel learns classic recipes from older Afghans living abroad and reintroduces them to a younger generation living in the country.

from Good Food

A row of tall trees separating a golf course from a historically Black neighborhood in Palm Springs is the subject of a new PBS documentary called “Racist Trees.”

In Palm Springs, were trees planted with racist intent?

A row of tall trees separating a golf course from a historically Black neighborhood in Palm Springs is the subject of a new PBS documentary called “Racist Trees.”

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand

Local leaders are encouraging survivors of the 2023 Monterey Park mass shooting to seek mental health care, but getting elderly Asians on board can be difficult.

Year after mass shooting, Monterey Park community continues to heal

Local leaders are encouraging survivors of the 2023 Monterey Park mass shooting to seek mental health care, but getting elderly Asians on board can be difficult.

from KCRW Features

The Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Fat Ham” is a modern retelling of the Shakespearean story and pulls from playwright James Ijames’ experiences growing up in the U.S. South.

‘Fat Ham’ brings Black, queer perspective to ‘Hamlet’

The Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Fat Ham” is a modern retelling of the Shakespearean story and pulls from playwright James Ijames’ experiences growing up in the U.S. South.

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand

A convenience store in Skid Row is changing hands from the community-oriented Korean American family that runs it — to a Black-led nonprofit.

Skid Row grocery store sale offers Black-Korean healing

A convenience store in Skid Row is changing hands from the community-oriented Korean American family that runs it — to a Black-led nonprofit.

from Greater LA

Jones discusses the Black female writers room on The Other Black Girl and wanting the series to show that Black women are not a monolith.

Rashida Jones on producing ‘The Other Black Girl’ and loving awkward characters

Jones discusses the Black female writers room on The Other Black Girl and wanting the series to show that Black women are not a monolith.

from The Treatment

Last year, many Spanish songs made the Billboard Hot 100 and Top 10 charts. Reasons: Gen Z’s inclusive listening habits, social media, meteoric rise of Regional Mexican music.

Spanish songs flooded Billboad charts in 2023. Thank Gen Z, TikTok

Last year, many Spanish songs made the Billboard Hot 100 and Top 10 charts. Reasons: Gen Z’s inclusive listening habits, social media, meteoric rise of Regional Mexican music.

from KCRW Features

Learning playground clapping games is a rite of passage for many girls. An ESPN documentary traces this tradition through the centuries, even into modern hip-hop.

Black culture created school hand games, which now influence US arts

Learning playground clapping games is a rite of passage for many girls. An ESPN documentary traces this tradition through the centuries, even into modern hip-hop.

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand

Shannon Lee talks about “Warrior,” which follows a martial artist who immigrated to San Francisco in the 1800s. It’s based on a TV pitch penned by her father.

Replay: Shannon Lee on dad’s legacy, 50 years after ‘Enter the Dragon’

Shannon Lee talks about “Warrior,” which follows a martial artist who immigrated to San Francisco in the 1800s. It’s based on a TV pitch penned by her father.

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand

Corinne Bailey Rae talks about Black Rainbows, her most recent album that took seven years to make and was inspired by Chicago artist Theaster Gates.

Replay: Corinne Bailey Rae’s ‘Black Rainbows’ delights in diaspora

Corinne Bailey Rae talks about Black Rainbows, her most recent album that took seven years to make and was inspired by Chicago artist Theaster Gates.

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand

Celine Song’s film “Past Lives” is about what happens when a girl from Korea emigrates and leaves behind her childhood sweetheart, and they reconnect decades later.

Replay: In ‘Past Lives,’ Korean childhood sweethearts reunite in US

Celine Song’s film “Past Lives” is about what happens when a girl from Korea emigrates and leaves behind her childhood sweetheart, and they reconnect decades later.

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand

With a banjo and an arpa llanera, Larry Bellorín and Joe Troop are fusing traditional Venezuelan and Appalachian folk music.

Replay: How Larry met Joe: Folk duo bridges cultures to make 'Latingrass'

With a banjo and an arpa llanera, Larry Bellorín and Joe Troop are fusing traditional Venezuelan and Appalachian folk music.

from Press Play with Madeleine Brand

At Christmas, Filipinos traditionally display a star-shaped lantern called a parol in their window or outside their home. But that can be pricey, so some locals get creative.

For Christmas, this Filipino tradition needs shells – or creativity

At Christmas, Filipinos traditionally display a star-shaped lantern called a parol in their window or outside their home. But that can be pricey, so some locals get creative.

from KCRW Features