How to Belong When People Keep Questioning Your Identity with Alex Chester-Iwata

"Embrace your culture. You are not half — you are full. And even for my quarter babies: embrace your heritage. It's a beautiful thing." — Alex Chester-IwataIn this episode, Alex Chester-Iwata, founder and CEO of Mixed Asian Media and founder of Mixed Asian Day, joins John to unpack the word that's been everywhere the last few weeks: "Wasian." The term has been around since the early 2000s, but it exploded all over again after Laufey, the Icelandic-Chinese, Grammy-winning musician, released her "Madwoman" music video and stacked the cast with mixed Asian stars like Heated Rivalry's Hudson Williams, Olympic gold medalist Alysa Liu, and The Summer I Turned Pretty's Lola Tung. Suddenly everyone was talking about what it means to be mixed. Alex has been building the home for that conversation for nearly a decade.What we cover:Why "Wasian" went viral again after Laufey's "Madwoman" video and why Alex, who is Japanese American and Jewish American, doesn't identify with the word.The problem with the term: it centers proximity to whiteness, plays into the model minority myth, and erases Blasian, Mexican-Asian, South Asian, and Southeast Asian mixed narratives.Her one-billboard message to the world: "Don't play into white media stereotypes. We don't have to make white Hollywood happy. We can tell our own stories."Losing a contracted lead-adjacent role on Even Stevens after being called "too exotic" — and the Mattel modeling shoots where she was told to open her eyes wider.Her time in Dream: the China doll styling, the body image pressure on a 13-year-old, and the first meal in 48 hours being at Diddy's restaurant.Why her Japanese American family never talked about internment — and how therapy, community, and The Artist's Way led her to found Hapa Mag.Why she rebranded Hapa Mag to Mixed Asian Media: the indigenous Hawaiian history of "hapa haole" and making space for South Asian community members.The belonging trap: why so many mixed Asians don't feel safe at AAPI Heritage Month events, and why questioning someone's identity — "do you even speak the language?" — comes from the same box-checking instinct as white media.What's next for Mixed Asian Media: the June 13 Pride celebration at Sour Mouse on the Lower East Side, social clubs in NYC and DC, and Mixed Asian Day this September in San Diego.Alex Chester-Iwata & Mixed Asian Media: Website:https://mixedasianmedia.com Mixed Asian Media Instagram: @mixedasianmedia on Instagram Alex Chester-Iwata Instagram — @alexfchester on Instagram IN THE MIX: A Pride Celebration for the Mixed AANHPI LGBTQ+ Community — June 13, 8PM–12AM, Sour Mouse, Lower East Side, NYC (with Naarak, LIKHA Labs & Blasian March) — tickets: https://sickening.events/e/in-the-mix-a-pride-celebration-for-the-mixed-aanhpWhen we rise, we rise together.