Cultureful
American Writing Awards’ 2026 Podcast of the Year Award Winner
What was it like for a Colombian lawyer growing up in a small town and then immigrating to the U.S.? How did a Jewish New Yorker put her kids in Jewish school and why? What was it like to have three weddings as a Bengali American?
These are the kinds of personal interviews on Cultureful. Living, breathing, everyday you and me culture. It's a kind of traveling and getting past the surface. People from around the world sharing personal experiences in their own words.
Host Jess Lin (she, her), is a multilingual Taiwanese American who has spent many years abroad, off the beaten-path. On Cultureful, she interviews friends and other guests about major life events and stages like childhood, dating, weddings, parenting, and immigration journeys. She is also curious about the everyday- what people cook, what they do for fun, what friendship is like for them. Hope you enjoy meeting the people she connects with.
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Cultureful
Latest Episodes
90s LA Gentrification: Street Hockey, Live Chickens, & the Guatemalan-American Dream – Yeira (Pt 1)
"Use your voice."In part one of this two-part conversation, we meet Yeira, a 39-year-old Guatemalan-American therapist who grew up navigating the sharp contrasts of 1990s Los Angeles. Her story begins as a carefree kid hanging out on the...
2 Partners, 1 Family Gathering: Polyamory & Respect – Michelle (Pt 2)
How do you bring your whole self to a family function? In the second half of our conversation, Michelle reveals the radical honesty required to integrate her polyamorous and queer reality with her Colombian family roots. From navigating ...
Flipping the Latino Script: Colombian & Queer – Michelle (Pt 1)
“I do it for myself. Because I want to feel confident for me. I could care less about the male gaze. That’s a part of Latino culture that I have flipped.”Michelle identifies as Latina first. She is a 32-year-old creative, a...
BONUS: The Wind Down 3 with Willy – The American Blueprint and Costco as Disneyland
In this "Wind Down" bonus session, we step away from the historical timeline to debrief with Willy on the personal "blueprint" that shaped his childhood. From the tactical way his mother navigated American extracurriculars to his surprisingly s...
Willy, Pt. 2: Hagwons, Cultural Brokering, & Science Olympiad | Korean American 1.5 Gen
In the second half of our conversation with Willy, a 28-year-old biomedical researcher, we shift from the historical foundations of his family’s past to the lived reality of the 1.5 generation experience. This episode explores the high-stakes w...
