Which episode is your favorite?
Favorites are so hard to pick! I am most proud of episode 1 because it marks the start of a journey I was, for so long, scared to start; episode 3 features my favorite celebration, a dumpling dinner to ring in the Lunar New Year; episode 4 is where I found myself getting more comfortable exploring music and sound design.
That said, episode 6 is my overall favorite episode because I allowed myself to detour from the narrative structure I’d been using for previous episodes. I had been following a “formula” (which makes production a lot easier and I highly recommend developing one for your show) to give episodes consistency and flow. For example, my foundational episode structure is as follows: 1) an introduction from me of what recipe and topic the episode would explore today, 2) where this recipe came from and the story attached to it, 3) a larger life lesson thematically tied to the recipe and story, and 4) closing thoughts followed by bloopers from the interview.
In episode 6, I allowed myself to open up and diverge from just the recipe and core story. I still used the basic structure—the episode is about a radish pancake recipe and how it opened up a conversation between me and mom and how her childhood was as well as how she was like as a child—but decided to hone in on this topic of what constructs our sense of self. I tied in other articles and videos I’d been watching on this topic and shared the thoughts that they’d been sparking in me. I was worried it’d be a little “out there” and concerned I was trying to explore too many topics in one show, but was pleasantly surprised to hear how much listeners enjoyed it!