“I think people connected with me better… because I was honest.”
In this episode, Saymoukda Vongsay aka Mooks talks about being a refugee, nicknames, transitioning from being a poet to a playwright and why she's totally fine with always being labeled a Lao artist.
Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay is an award-winning Lao American poet, playwright, and cultural producer. She was born in a refugee camp in Nongkhai, Thailand and currently lives in Minnesota. She created the REFUGENIUS brand and identity in 1993 when she decided to pursue ART as a career. REFUGENIUS is a portmanteau of REFUGEE and GENIUS.
Vongsay's work has been highlighted by The New York Times, American Theatre Magazine, City Pages, Vita.MN, Pioneer Press, Star Tribune, WCCO, Minnesota Public Radio, KFAI, Candy Fresh, TPT's TV Takeover and Giving Thanks programs, the U of Minnesota's Immigration History Research Center's Immigrant Stories project, and more.
“I’m really writing about my experience of watching the thing.”
David Roth is a writer and editor living in New York City. He has written for many different things for many different outlets, from sports trading cards to print advertising material to magazine features. David has written and edited for a host of different online and print venues, including SBnation.com, Slate, the New Republic and Vice Sports. David co-created The Classical, a sports website funded through Kickstarter and which he started with some other writer/editors in late 2011.
In this conversation, David talks about why he loves watching and covering sports, what the Olympics mean to him, what’s profound about the show American Ninja Warrior and what it’s like to be a journalist who didn’t go to journalism school. He also talks about setting goals and finding fulfillment while trying to keep the lights on.
“The thing that scares me, that’s actually the direction that I need to pursue.”
Paul Riedner was a deep-sea diver in the U.S. Army who served in the Middle East. He's currently the Executive Director of Veteran Resilience Project, a nonprofit dedicated to helping Minnesota veterans get free access to Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. Paul also makes the Resilience Project podcast that helps veterans share their stories.
On the podcast, Paul talks about growing up in Red Wing Minnesota and then going to teach in China. He talks about his constant search for knowledge and discovery and the role that played in his deciding to enroll in the U.S. Army during the Iraq war.
Paul talks about what he's learned as a deep-sea diver, what serving in Iraq taught him about the financial and emotional costs of war and about why there is a such a disconnect in the United States between veterans and a public that has largely not served. And Paul talks openly about the work of moving a veteran from PTSD down a path towards healing trauma and getting back to being of service.
Here is the Hector Matascastillo episode of the Resilience podcast Paul mentioned - http://www.resiliencemn.org/hector-matascastillo-on-the-crucible-courage-and-community/