Amy S. Choi is co-founder and editorial director of The Mash-Up Americans. A Korean-American married to a Colombian-Mexican-American. She has worked for 20 years as a journalist and editor in New York and her work has appeared in Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Women’s Wear Daily, Inc., TED, Elle, and Teen Vogue, among other publications. She specializes in getting people to tell stories they never expected to share.
Rebecca Lehrer is the co-founder and CEO of The Mash-Up Americans. She has spent 18+ years doing strategy, marketing, and audience development in media, arts, and culture (Director of BD at New York Public Radio, The Flea Theater, Headlands Center for the Arts, Righteous Persons Foundation) and has over 12 years experience in audio and podcasting. Her work focuses on the shared cultural experiences that bring people together and re-centering stories on voices you don’t usually hear.
We love listening to people who will make us laugh and cry and think. We’re driven by big questions about the how and why of who we are, as women, immigrants, moms, and humans. We also love the art of the podcast: so we’re also always eager to learn from our peers experimenting with the form and breaking through with fresh ideas and formats. This list reflects just a few of our faves!
Love & Noraebang
Love & Noraebang is the world’s first telenovela k-drama romcom podcast series and it’s ours! We created this project with our partners at Sonoro and we couldn’t be more excited to share this epic modern love story — and the sights and sounds and tastes of L.A., Mexico City, and Seoul — with you. What’s your noraebang song??
Self-Evident
The Self Evident team puts together gorgeous, highly produced stories reflecting the vast and deep experiences of Asian America. Whether you’re learning about a mall in the San Gabriel Valley or how Taxi Drivers fought City Hall, the stories are rich and personal and moving.
Ídolo: The Ballad of Chalino Sánchez
Made by our friends at Sonoro in both English and in Spanish, Ídolo is a beautifully explored investigation of trying to understand the cultural forces that influence you. It’s also a bit of a true crime story! It’s got it all! Music, murder and mystery. Chalino Sanchez, the godfather of narco corridos, was murdered and this podcast tries to piece together what happened.
Yo, Is This Racist?
Loooong time fans of Andrew and we love Andrew and Tawny Newsome together on the pod. They never fail to make us laugh when sometimes we want to cry (lol/cry).
Death, Sex & Money
What can we say, we love big questions! Our friend Anna Sale is such a thoughtful and engaged interviewer and the breadth of topics never ceases to inspire us. Somehow there’s always a relevant episode to suit our current Big Life Question. Climate Anxiety? You got it. Anything related to Niecy Nash? That too!
Couples Therapy
Naomi Ekperigen and her JewBoo Andy Beckerman make us LOL and we love the premise of having couples (romantic, friends, etc.) answer questions as a team or do a comedy set as a team. It’s verrrry funny.
Radio Ambulante
The folks at Radio Ambulante tell deeply reported stories from across Latin America. As much as we love the stories (the fisherman in El Salvador!!!!) we also love listening to the different voices, vocabulary and accents of Latin America. Not a monolith!
Slow Burn
Slow Burn always features stellar reporting and deep, fresh perspectives from their hosts and producers. We especially loved Season 6 on The L.A. Riots, hosted by Joel Anderson.
Our Body Politic
Farai Chideya is a woman who knows what questions to ask on some of the hardest issues of the day. We’ll follow her anywhere.
Molly of Denali
We love to watch this PBS cartoon with our kids. Molly is a Native Alaskan girl who is adventurous, close with her family and really interested in knowing who she is and where she comes from. The podcast is a GREAT example of translating kids content to podcasts – and even driving on a warm day in LA, it can feel like we are in the middle of a dog-sled race in Alaska.
The Mash-Up Americans
Mash-Up Americans are at the cutting edge of culture, and in our show we have conversations about the topics that light us up (Names! Spanglish! Dying!) and with the Mash-Ups who are changing the world (Activists! Psychiatrists! Scientists! Actors!). You will always learn something new, laugh and feel seen. This fall, we have a special series about Grief that we cannot wait to share.
Pocket Casts Blog 