Mia (she/her) is an independent audio producer and former Fulbright fellow. She’s currently the executive producer of A Better Life?, a podcast from Feet in 2 Worlds exploring immigrant stories during COVID-19. Mia’s also the co-creator and executive producer of Feeling My Flo, a podcast for tweens all about menstruation.
My list features podcasts made by folks who are immigrants or kids of immigrants because identity informs the work. It’s exciting and validating to hear stories and voices that you don’t often hear on traditional public radio.
Self Evident
Episode Recommendation: The Talk We Were Supposed to Have
Gabriel Mara takes us on a complex and intimate journey of discovering more about his Filipino American identity and heritage. I love Gabe’s vulnerability in this episode and how his story intersects with family, food, and healthcare.
Death, Sex & Money
Episode Recommendation: Between Friends: Your Stories About Race and Friendship
My friend Afi Yellow-Duke, daughter of a Nigerian dad and Haitian mom, co-produced this episode. Although the show came out before COVID-19 really hit the U.S., I find myself coming back to it. Interracial friendships in particular have been historically difficult to navigate — and it’s refreshing to hear people speak openly about the challenges.
How to Talk to [Mamí & Papí] about Anything
Episode Recommendation: When Mamí Grieves Different Than You
We’re all dealing with grief in some way or another right now — and it was illuminating to hear about how we grieve differently than our family members, especially in an immigrant context. Juleyka Lantigua-Williams talks with an expert on how to navigate and interpret grief, and how to best provide support to our loved ones who are going through it.
Timestorm
Episode Recommendation: La Maestra
When I first heard Timestorm was a fiction podcast about time-traveling twins exploring their Puerto Rican heritage, I was hooked. The sound design, voice acting and writing in this series is amazing. This episode — about a teacher fighting to acquire school supplies for her schoolgirls — is all about justice and equality and feels perfect for this moment.
Adult ISH
Episode Recommendation: Period ISH (ft. Menstruation Myths & Nyge’s first MANstruation!?)
Nyge and Merk are SO fun to listen to and their episode about menstruation is pure gold (and a lot of laughs). Loved every minute of this.
Moonface
Moonface follows Paul, a Korean American first-gen immigrant and gay man who’s figuring things out in the greater L.A. area. The bilingual conversations — sometimes painfully stilted — between Paul and his mom break my heart. This is simply a beautiful story.
Nancy
Episode Recommendation: Sex Educated
RIP Nancy! <3<3<3 I loved this episode about Elizabeth Laffley, a high school student and young transwoman in Colorado Springs who testified for the need for comprehensive sex education.
Feet in 2 Worlds: A Better Life?
Episode Recommendation: Staying at Home with the Barraus
Every other week on A Better Life?, we check in with a different immigrant elder to hear how they’re coping during the pandemic. In this episode, producer Florence Barrau-Adams interviews her parents, Monique and Eric Barrau. The conversation — connecting Florence in New Jersey to her parents in Florida — is full of joy, delight, and laughter.
Feeling My Flo
Episode Recommendation: Attack of the Tampons!
Feeling My Flo is a podcast I produce for tweens all about menstruation. This episode follows friends Andy and Sophie, who invented a video game where you shoot tampons at your enemies. Need I say more?
Mic Drop from CBC Podcasts
The Mic Drop team is doing something special that I haven’t really encountered in other podcasts: they feature the stories of teens who have something to say, whether it’s talking about makeup and skin color, difficult friendships, or absent parents. It feels like such a privilege to listen in on these intimate conversations.
Pocket Casts Blog 