Award winning public radio program answers a universal question

“Can you ever seem at home in a place where you don’t seem to fit?”

This question, asked by journalist Helen Zia, opens the pilot episode of As I Am, the new Asian American public radio program being co-produced by the Institute for Asian American Studies (IAAS) and WUMB, UMass Boston’s public radio station. The hour-long program features journalism, commentary, and art, all from an Asian American perspective.

In a segment of the program, “Leaving Los Angeles,” American Public Media’s Angela Kim shares her story about finding the one thing that helped her cope with her homesickness and reminds us that no matter where we may move we are often searching for something, anything, to remind us of where we came from.

As I Am won the 2008 Outstanding Special Program award from the American Women in Radio and Television for the segment “Leaving Los Angeles.” The prestigious Gracie Award recognizes the realistic and faceted portrayal of women in entertainment, commercials, news, features and other programs. Each year, these awards attract the best and brightest in radio, television, cable, and new media. The winners were honored at the Gracies Gala on May 28, 2008 in New York City.

As I Am was born in a conversation between Watanabe, the director of IAAS and Pat Monteith, the general manager of WUMB, when Monteith discovered that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) was hoping to increase the diversity of programming on the nation’s public airways. “The opportunity showed itself right in front of me,” Monteith says. “Knowing that there was no other show aimed at this [Asian American] population besides Pacific Time, I asked Paul if he was interested.” He was, as was the UMass administration, which has funded the production of the pilot with a UMass Boston Proposal Development Grant. The completed pilot will be offered to public radio stations around the country this spring.

As I Am models itself partially on NPR’s All Things Considered, and Chicago Public Radio’s popular This American Life, as well as on the now defunct syndicated Asian radio show Pacific Time, which broadcast out of San Francisco from 2000 to 2007. While the staff and contributors of As I Am are Asian American and will address issues that affect Asian Americans, they plan to touch on themes, like the concept of “home,” which transcend race, ethnicity, and nationality. “We’ll be pulling in all these different voices,” says Nathan Bae Kupel, one of the producers of the show.

Paul Niwa, a professor at Emerson College who contributed a documentary report on rising rents that are forcing working-class residents out of Boston’sChinatown to the pilot, describes As I Am as “a collage of experience, poetry, commentary, music lyrics, and more.”

As for future shows, say Bae Kupel and Watanabe, the possibilities are endless. “There are thousands of stories that need to be covered, which will be exciting for many different kinds of audiences,” Watanabe says, smiling. “I have a million ideas.”

The entire hour-long program is on the Public Radio Exchange. Stations in North Carolina, Illinois, and California will air As I Am this month in recognition and in celebration of-Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.