Ep 16 – Sour Heart and My Brother’s Husband

Sour Heart by Jenny Zhang is a collection of short stories about Chinese immigrant families in 1980’s and 1990’s New York City. The stories are told from the perspectives of the daughter in each family, showcasing the challenges of immigration on marriages, parenting, cultural identity, and belonging. The stories closely mirrored Lin’s own immigrant experience, which made the book touching and difficult to get through.

In Gengoroh Tagame’s manga My Brother’s Husband, single dad Yaichi receives an unexpected visit from his Canadian brother-in-law Mike. This occasions Yaichi’s revisioning of his relationship with his twin brother Ryoji, a backdrop for the book’s investigation of Japanese attitudes toward queerness and many descriptions of delicious meals.

Question of the Episode: There are a lot of representations of “traditional” families in popular culture. What stories have you come across that challenge that notion of a “traditional” family?

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