Conversations with My Immigrant Parents

Immigrant whānau across Aotearoa have frank conversations covering love, ancestry, home, food, expectation, and acceptance.

Produced by Saraid de Silva and Julie Zhu

A podcast cover for "Conversations With My Immigrant Parents". Illustration featuring two young women on an orange background.

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All episodes:

A Dress and a Cardigan for Mele

Season 1 / Episode 1
In Tūranganui-a-Kiwa, Tongan grandmother Liliani and her daughter Kesaia find that even though they talk every day on the phone (and have for 17 years), they have more in common than they thought.
Liliani Waigth outside her garden, named Kolokakala.

Really Nice Potato Sacks

Season 1 / Episode 2
Joseph and Grace Trinidad talk about making their "own little Philippines" in the Hawke's Bay, why Filipinos love competition, and what it means to be both queer and Catholic in 2019.
Explores themes around mental health
(L-R) Grace Trinidad and her son Joseph in their backyard in Waipawa, Hawke's Bay.

Argumentative Is an English Concept

Season 1 / Episode 3
Francisco and Vibeke are parents to teenagers who regularly switch between Argentinian and Dutch cultures. They talk about why coming from different countries means navigating more than just language.
(L-R) Nina, Francisco Blaha, Felix Blaha, Kika Blaha, Vibeke Brethouwer in their home on Waiheke Island.

It Was Clearly a Joke

Season 1 / Episode 4
Aliyaan (13) and his mum Masooma are Pakistani Muslims living in East Tāmaki. They discuss being a migrant kid, the March 15 terrorist attack, and how their lives have and haven't changed.
(L-R) Aliyaan Abbas and mother Masooma Mehdi in their local desi food store.

Actually, I’m Korean

Season 1 / Episode 5
Sue left Korea with one life in mind, but ended up with something very different. Mum and daughter Bokyong talk divorce, starting over, and why rural towns can be kinder to immigrants than the city.
Sue Kim near Tunnel Beach, Ōtepoti.

The Best Street in Birkdale

Season 1 / Episode 6
The Solomons thought leaving South Africa meant leaving entrenched white supremacy. They discuss how much of this they still found in NZ, and what they are learning about gender and queerness.
Explores themes around mental health.
Derrick Solomon outside in West Auckland.

Sucking on Chicken Feet

Season 1 / Episode 7
Ty Meng's parents escaped the Cambodian genocide and went on to raise five children in Lower Hutt. Three generations of the Meng family consider how their family's history lingers in the present.
Discusses graphic war and violence
(L-R) Mom Meng glances up at her granddaughter Emrie Meng in her food truck in Lower Hutt, Wellington.

Nothing other than Beauty and Hope

Season 1 / Episode 8
The Muzondiwa family left Zimbabwe at a time when it was difficult to buy even bread. They talk colonisation in Africa and Aotearoa, and whether finding a "true" cultural identity is possible.
(L-R) Amos Muzondiwa and his son Ben walk to church in Ōwairaka, Auckland.

We Can’t Speak the Same Language

Bonus episode
In this "bonus" episode of the podcast no one asked for, co-producers and hosts Saraid and Julie talk to their own mums, who hail from Sri Lanka and China, respectively.
(L-R) Karenza de Silva and her daughter Saraid in Birkenhead, Auckland.

Season 1 | Trailer

Trailer
Immigrant whānau across Aotearoa have frank conversations covering love, ancestry, home, food, expectation, and acceptance.
Conversations with my Immigrant Parents