Podcast
In speaking with my most inspirational friends, it’s become clear that they often share this one powerful common denominator. And I too have found it to be my truest north star:
Exploring our individual ancestral roots, better informs the creation of our richest, juiciest fruit.
In nurturing our curiosity for who we are and where we come from, we train the very muscle that prompts us to be curious about one another and the natural world of which we are a part.
I hope you enjoy these extremely personal conversations with some of my highest vibing friends near and far, who are more empowered, more at peace, more prosperous, in great thanks to lending an ear to the stories of their heritage.
EPISODES
Season 2
coming soon
EPISODES
Season 1
020: Michelle Zamora
Bio Michelle is a LatinX puppeteer, puppet creator, and CEO of Viva La Puppet, LLC. She traveled around the world bringing Waffles to life alongside Michelle Obama (Waffles and Mochi), lead the team that created The Tiger and The Buffalo (Meta), and collaborated on puppets for A Black Lady Sketch Show, Katy Perry, Snoop Dogg, and Jason Mraz. She is a Mama to Ellie and Milo and finds inspiration in their wonderment and joy for our world.
Roots Texas, Los Angeles
Fruit By way of her grandmother’s enthusiasm for grito, and her mother’s enchanting butcher paper worlds, Michelle breathes voice and magic into puppets who help us to discover new perspective.
Info https://vivalapuppet.com https://www.instagram.com/vivalapuppet/ https://www.instagram.com/michellezamoraofficial/
019: Seung Hee Lee
Bio Author of Everyday Korean and founder of KoreanFusion, Seung Hee Lee is a writer and teacher with a PhD in Human Nutrition. Born and raised in Korea, she has studied traditional Korean Royal Court cuisine. She teaches cooking classes in Atlanta, Georgia and serves pop-up dinners all around the world from Copenhagen to Seoul.
Roots South Korea
Fruit In part a product of her grandmother’s kitchen, her father’s teachings of vested experience, and her mother’s food memories, it is Seung Hee’s passionate mission to share the delicious techniques and stories of Korean cuisine with the world.
Info https://www.thekoreanfusion.com https://www.instagram.com/koreanfusion/ https://www.thekoreanfusion.com/book
018: Nikki Tsukamoto Kininmonth
Bio Nikki was born in Tokyo, Japan and spent her formative years in the North Island of New Zealand. She studied sociology and media studies at the University of Auckland while developing a passion in fair trade and human rights advocacy. With over 12 years of experience as a translator and interpreter, she currently hosts a Japanese radio show that brings attention to various social, cultural and political affairs.
Roots Japan, New Zealand, England, Scotland
Fruit Nikki leverages her bilingual and bicultural background to navigate conversation and exploration of the female voice in Japan.
Info https://www.instagram.com/kittenmouth/ https://twitter.com/tsukaniki85
017: Nour Najem
Bio Nour Najem is a serial social entrepreneur. She believes design’s true purpose is to draw change and out of the box solutions. Through her eponymous label, she has consulted and partnered up with Caritas, L’Artisan du Liban, Phenomenal Women, as well as other vulnerable communities. In 2013, she founded Kenzah in parallel to her brand, to preserve, develop and transmit traditional craftsmanship, and more recently Lebanon Needs, to provide vulnerable populations with essential survival requirements. She believes design plays an integral part in activating social-led change for the country.
Roots Lebanon, Brazil
Fruit Nour’s entrepreneurial spirit is one that co-exist with the riches of cultural creativity and healthy social structure. She is on a mission to uncover Lebanon’s powerful collective story.
Info https://www.lebanonneeds.org https://www.instagram.com/lebanonneeds/ http://www.nournajem.com https://www.instagram.com/nournajemdesigns/
016: Jeffery O'Harrow
Bio Born and raised in Tokyo, to a Japanese mother from rural Hokkaido and American father from rural Oregon. Attended international school in Japan, then moved to the US for university. Upon graduation, worked in finance in Los Angeles before returning to Tokyo in 2015.
Jeffery lives with his two young boys, and his wife with whom he runs Tokyo Juice, the only American-style juice bar in Japan.
Roots US, Japan
Fruit A Tokyo native experiences physical and emotional burnout as a Japanese salaryman, and takes hints from his father’s deep respect of nature and his mother’s childhood farm, to inform his own recovery and very fruitful business.
Info https://tokyojuice.co.jp/ https://www.instagram.com/tokyojuice/
015: Andrea Balboni
Bio Andrea Balboni is a Sex, Love and Relationships Coach who knows an important truth that she wants everyone to know – the secret to having the relationship, sex and intimacy you want – lies deep within you.
And she knows how to get that secret out, because she’s done it herself.
After more than a decade single, she finally cracked the code and created an incredible relationship full of depth, connection, love and blissful erotic pleasure.
It is now her mission to help others do the same.
Roots Italy, US
Fruit In recognizing social paradigm and cultivated self-judgement, Andrea explores her relationship with bread, art, and the church, to find empowerment in her own body and soul.
Info https://www.lushcoaching.com/calendar https://www.instagram.com/andreabalboni_lush/ https://www.facebook.com/andrea.balboni.54 https://www.facebook.com/groups/findmodernlove https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreabalboni/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ_ZyLXMaHAjao0foSI353A https://www.lushcoaching.com/ https://www.lushcoaching.com/vlog
014: Ray Masaki
Bio Ray Masaki is a Japanese-American graphic designer from New York, living and working in Tokyo since 2017. He studied illustration at Parsons School of Design, type design at The Cooper Union, and is currently pursuing an MFA in graphic design at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. In 2021, Ray wrote and published Why is the salaryman carrying a surfboard?, a bilingual book about the history of institutional white supremacy and Westernization in the Japanese design industry.
Roots Japan
Fruit Ray pokes at the oddities, ironies, and the sometimes outrageous that exist in our increasingly cross-cultural society, through a highly personal and uniquely anthropological design lens, to spark conversation about and between us.
Info https://www.bathboys.tokyo/product/why-is-the-salaryman-book
013: Arlette Gómez Ortiz
Bio Designer, gastronome, honey enthusiast & founder of A de abeja, a small scale honey project based in Mexico promoting bees and beekeepers' own ability to thrive by creatively increasing local consumption of honey. She studied design and visual communication at UNAM –Mexico– and a master in Creativity, Ecology & Education at UNISG –Italy–.
Roots Mexico
Fruit Arlette fights for fair production, wages, and trade, by reviving the taste memory for floral, aromatic, real honey through thoughtful design. Keeping in mind that the solution should always be placed close to the source.
Info https://www.arlettego.com/ https://www.adeabeja.com/ https://www.instagram.com/arlettego/ https://www.instagram.com/miel.adeabeja/
012: Alice Grandoit
Bio Alice is a researcher, cultural organizer, publisher, and host working across food, culture, and design.
She is the co-founder and editorial director of Deem Journal a bi-annual print publication exploring design as social practice.
Her food expressions are Earthseed Provisions where she is working on an archive of Haitian cuisine and Tombo where she reflects on the transformative power of unconditional hospitality.
Roots Haiti, New York
Fruit Alice traces the sensorial memories of her grandparents and takes those hints toward further discussion and discovery, and designs her latest sense of home in Copenhagen.
Info https://www.deemjournal.com/ https://www.instagram.com/deemjournal/ https://www.instagram.com/earthseedprovisions/ https://www.instagram.com/tombo.cph/
011: Elli Sawada
Bio Elli is a natural dyer, weaver, and textile researcher currently based in Los Angeles. After studying Anthropology at Brown University, she moved to Kyoto to learn the process of making kimonos. She nurtures her roots by weaving across the Pacific discovering lost threads, gathering colors, and finding her own sense of home.
Roots Japan
Fruit Elli weaves together her expertise in anthropological discovery, her experience apprenticing under Master natural dyer and kimono weaver, and her ancestral heritage in farming, to color her own curation of self and home.
Info https://eys.myportfolio.com/ https://www.instagram.com/eys_textiles/
010: Sita Kuratomi Bhaumik
Bio Sita Kuratomi Bhaumik is an artist whose work has been called a “joyous political critique.” She sparks connection and tells the stories of migration and belonging through collaborative projects such as building a border wall out of piñatas. South Asian and Japanese Latin American, Sita was born and raised in Los Angeles, Tongva Land, and based in Oakland, Ohlone Land. She holds degrees from Scripps College and California College of the Arts where she has taught in Critical Ethnic Studies. Sita is also a co-founder of People’s Kitchen Collective, an organization working at the intersection of art, food, and justice. She has been the Scholar in Residence at the Center for Art and Public Life at California College of the Arts, an artist in residence at the Lucas Artist Program at Montalvo and Denniston Hill. She has been an Art Matters Fellow, a Fleishhacker Eureka program fellow, and the recipient of a 2021 Creative Capital Award. She has contributed to many publications including Multiple Elementary and Self Representation in an Expanded Field. We Make Constellations of the Stars is her first book forthcoming from Kaya Press.
Roots Colombia, India, Japan
Fruit Sita writes to her 15 year old self, healing trauma by revisiting her youth in LA, celebrating the constellations of all of the people in her life, and examining her parent's stories and photos that make up their personal and ancestral past.
Info http://peopleskitchencollective.com/ http://www.sitabhaumik.com/
Photo credit: Sana Javeri Kadri
009: Carlos Carneiro
Bio Born in Porto, Portugal, Carlos Carneiro is a Portuguese director based in Brooklyn, NY. Graduated in Film Production at UCA, UK in 2005. Focused early documentary work on food and culture through the project On Plate Still Hungry. Produced and directed several short-documentaries such as Norwegian Nostalgia, The Last Supper and The Forge. In 2017, after 20 years in London, Carlos moves to NY joining Vacationland where the focus on development and creation of feature documentaries and episodic series. A Wonderful Kingdom is his feature documentary.
Roots Portugal
Fruit Through A Wonderful Kingdom, Carlos’s scrumptious love letter home, we are invited to take a meditative journey into the daily lives of workers during harvest season in the Douro Valley. The film is best paired with a glass of Port, of course.
Info https://www.instagram.com/iam.carlosfilipe/ https://www.instagram.com/awonderfulkingdom/ https://awonderfulkingdom.com
008: Adrian Chang
Bio Adrian is a cook, food writer and proud 3rd-generation Southern Chinese-American. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Adrian left an international career in fashion to pursue the thing that makes him happiest: cooking and sharing the recipes of his heritage, family and community via MORIHOUSE. He also teaches Asian heritage cooking classes and develops recipes for small Asian-owned businesses.
MORIHOUSE is a multidisciplinary and regenerative lifestyle concept created by Adrian and his husband Chris. Based in the redwoods of Northern California, they have dedicated their lives to reclaiming their roots, honoring the Earth, and celebrating the folk traditions of their heritages and communities.
Roots Southern China, Guangdong & Szechuan Provinces
Fruit At MORIHOUSE, his sort of living laboratory, Adrian tests cooking techniques from his ancestral lineage with hyper-local flora from his backyard, and shares what he calls "humble everyday home folk cooking" as a conduit for conversation and community-building.
Info https://www.mori.house https://www.instagram.com/mori.house/ https://www.instagram.com/mykitsunecafe/
007: Chitra Agrawal
Bio Chitra is the co-founder of Brooklyn Delhi, an Indian-American food brand inspired by her heritage. She is the author of Vibrant India: Fresh Vegetarian Recipes from Bangalore to Brooklyn. Chitra's work has been featured in the New York Times, Saveur, Food & Wine and Bon Appetit.
Roots India
Fruit Chitra invites us to into her kitchen to share in how the taste memories of her childhood have birthed prose, product, and community.
Info https://www.instagram.com/chitra/ https://brooklyndelhi.com/ https://www.instagram.com/brooklyndelhi/
006: Akiko Kurematsu
Bio Akiko is a culture writer, journalist, and author contributing in-depth features, essays, and profiles that showcase how she observes the world and human moments around her. Through her work, she highlights and uplifts women, BIPOC, and underrepresented creative communities around the world. Leveraging her multicultural and multilingual upbringing between Japan, Philippines, U.S., Canada, and her career in New York, Tokyo, and London; she appears on television, radio, podcasts, and online content to share global stories and to comment on cultural discussions. Mother Tongue, Akiko's first book, is inspired by her mother's cookbook of her grandmother's recipes. This self-publishing project includes nostalgic stories from her childhood, as well as 50 Japanese homecooking recipes. Akiko lives in Auckland, New Zealand with her husband and son.
Roots Japan
Fruit Akiko explores her place in history, community, and global culture by cooking through her mother’s recipes and revisiting deeply personal childhood memories.
Info https://akikokurematsu.com/ https://www.instagram.com/mothertonguebook/
Photo credit: Harry Were
005: Shoda Kanai Shonin
Bio Shoda Kanai Shonin has been a Japanese Buddhist priest from the Nichiren Shu Order for over 25 years. He is the only American to complete the rigorous “100 Days Aragyo Ascetic Training” twice. This training consists of chanting for many hours, performing water purification seven times a day, eating two daily meals of only okayu and miso soup, and sleeping for two hours. From this arduous practice, he can conduct a special blessing ceremony. His goal is to spread the Teaching of the Buddha to many new people.
Roots Japan
Fruit Shoda’s ancestral role in Japanese Buddhist teachings, fosters inner balance that serves as the ultimate foundation for greater peace in the United States and beyond.
Info https://www.kannon-temple-nevada.org https://www.facebook.com/kannontemplenv https://www.nichiren.or.jp/english/ https://www.instagram.com/kannontemplenv/
004: Clarissa Wei
Bio Clarissa is a freelance journalist currently based in Taipei. She's currently writing her first cookbook.
Roots Taiwan
Fruit By way of Made in Taiwan, Clarissa dives into Taiwanese recipes by examining the intersection of food, politics, and terroir.
Info https://www.clarissawei.com/ https://www.instagram.com/dearclarissa/ https://twitter.com/dearclarissa
003: Stephanie Tsai Karlik
Bio Stephanie is a Taiwanese, Iberian, and Irish author and anthropologist. Her first book Shanghai Seduction explores the return migration of Chinese Westerners to Shanghai, China. She is currently writing a book on the pandemic and the microcosmic nature of her personal journey with the virus, disability, and near death. Stephanie is also a feng shui healer and lay leader of the Nichiren Buddhist Kannon Temple of Nevada.
Roots Taiwan
Fruit Stephanie’s mastery of nestling in closely with her community wherever she is in the world, is now cultivating her approach to rooted wellness.
Info https://stephanietsaikarlik.com https://www.instagram.com/stephanietsaikarlik/
002: Lindsay Arakawa
Bio Lindsay Arakawa is a creative currently living in Tokyo, Japan. Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, she later moved to the Bay Area to attend college and then moved to Brookyln, NY where she worked as a social media strategist for Refinery29. Wanting to learn more about her family’s culture and background, she moved to Tokyo in 2018.
Roots Japan
Fruit Through photography and illustration, Lindsay documents the questions and discoveries that surface from her everyday life in Japan.
Info https://www.lindsayarakawa.com https://www.instagram.com/blindsaay/ https://twitter.com/blindsaay https://www.lindsayarakawa.com/shop
001: Ranmalee Araliya Perera
Bio Ranmalee is a Sri Lankan Tamil and Sinhala author, mother, educator in transformational justice and equity minded pedagogy, and medicine maker. She currently lives with her beloved and 3 children on the occupied traditional land of the Tongva people aka Long Beach, CA.
Roots Sri Lanka
Fruit As author of Roots and Rivers, Ranmalee explores her personal history, lineage, cultural identity, and the land from which she comes.
Info https://www.rootsnrivers.com/ https://www.instagram.com/vedaspices/ https://www.instagram.com/rootsnrivers/
Photo credit: Roz Kumari
000: Momoko Nakamura
Bio Cultural conservationist exploration stories and practices that define the Japanese art of regenerative living.
Roots Japan
Fruit Storytelling Japanese food culture, beyond cooking and eating. Sharing the tale of socio-political, historical, and cultural idiosyncrasies and wisdom that is unique to Japanese cookery, agriculture, and the larger food system.