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
BONUS: Extra Gems with Jin - Elite Training in China & Finding Flow
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Taking a little extra time this week to get our next full episode ready, so today I’m sharing our first-ever "Extra Gems" bonus segment!
In this episode, we’re diving back into my conversation with Jin to share a few stories that were too good to keep in the vault. Jin takes us back to her childhood training at elite youth ping pong centers in Beijing and reflects on the beautiful consistency of her mentor, Uncle George. We also talk about the "flow state" of returning to the sport postpartum and the magic of finding your agility again through practice.
We’ll be back next Tuesday with a new guest and story!
In this bonus segment, we discuss:
- Traveling to China as a middle schooler for elite athletic training.
- The life lessons learned from long-term mentorship.
- The feeling of "flow" and getting your body back into the rhythm of the game.
Read the Blog Post: Here
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Watch on YouTube: Goes live at 10am EST Mar 10, 2026: https://youtu.be/bUi-Q3kxDVQ
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Episode Credits
Host, Producer, Research & Sound Design: Jess Lin
Advising and Production Support: Ruben Gnanaruban
Connect with us on Instagram: @thecultureful
Website: https://linktr.ee/cultureful
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