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Honor Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Heritage Month with PBS Wisconsin
May 13, 2025 Leave a Comment
May is Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) Heritage Month, a time to elevate the achievements and cultures of people from those populations in the United States.
You may be familiar with other labels for U.S. descendants from this region of the world, such as Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (AANHPI). Neither APIDA, AANHPI nor any other abbreviation is universally used by individuals of these backgrounds. However, as communities evolve, there are always interesting and beautiful stories to be shared.
Celebrate APIDA stories, this May and throughout the year, from PBS and PBS Wisconsin!
Ahan | Wisconsin Foodie
Host Luke Zahm visits Ahan in Madison, where chef Jamie Brown-Soukaseume blends her Laotian heritage and Chinese restaurant upbringing into a unique culinary experience. Using fresh, local ingredients, Brown-Soukaseume creates vibrant dishes like papaya salad and lemongrass chicken that showcase her passion for authentic Southeast Asian flavors.
Embracing Queer Asian Joy at a Dim Sum Drag Brunch | Brave Spaces
Devin-Norelle visits Sky Dragon restaurant, where the Queens of Dim Sum host a monthly drag brunch. This episode, directed by Lulu Wei, a Toronto-based filmmaker and co-founder of New Ho Queen, celebrates Queer Asian joy. In the face of assimilation and gentrification, these groups strive to preserve Queer culture and Asian heritage and provide a chosen family for those in search of belonging.
Home Court | Independent Lens
Home Court is the coming-of-age story of Ashley Chea, a Cambodian American basketball prodigy in Southern California whose life intensifies as recruitment heats up. As she overcomes injury as well as racial and class differences between her home and private school worlds, in peer groups, and against rival schools, Ashley strives to become her own person and leave a legacy behind.
How Korea Was Divided and Why It Matters | University Place
David Fields, associate director of the Center for East Asian Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, focuses on the 1882 Korea-American Treaty, the growth of Christianity in Korea and Korean activists’ use of these two factors, to explain why Korea was divided into North Korea and South Korea.
Pilot Abdul: Grandmother’s Food | Wisconsin Life
For many, we think fondly of the food we ate as children. Certain aromas transport us home and recall memories of the people who nurtured us. Pilot Abdul calls this “grandmother’s food.” He and his family emigrated from Myanmar, formerly Burma, in 2015 to Milwaukee. Pilot works with the global food collaboration program Tables Cross Borders, who share his food inside local restaurants.
Taigu | Wisconsin Life
A restaurant owner’s nostalgia for Shanxi noodles turns out to be a way for her to offer Middleton a taste of her hometown.
The Legendary Foundations of Ancient Vietnam | University Place
Nam C. Kim, professor of anthropology at UW-Madison, presents new and ongoing archaeological research on the early history of Vietnam, including the ancient Au Lac Kingdom and its capital city, Co Loa.
Wisconsin Foodie University Place Wisconsin Life Made in Wisconsin
