Kat Chow
Kat Chow is a reporter with NPR and a founding member of the Code Switch team. She is currently on sabbatical, working on her first book (forthcoming from Grand Central Publishing/Hachette). It's a memoir that digs into the questions about grief, race and identity that her mother's sudden death triggered when Kat was young.
For NPR, she's reported on what defines Native American identity, gentrification in New York City's Chinatown, and the aftermath of a violent hate crime. Her cultural criticism has led her on explorations of racial representation in TV, film, and theater; the post-election crisis that diversity trainers face; race and beauty standards; and gaslighting. She's an occasional fourth chair on Pop Culture Happy Hour, as well as a guest host on Slate's podcast The Waves. Her work has garnered her a national award from the Asian American Journalists Association, and she was an inaugural recipient of the Yi Dae Up fellowship at the Jack Jones Literary Arts Retreat. She has led master classes and spoken about her reporting in Amsterdam, Minneapolis, Valparaiso, Louisville, Boston and Seattle.
She's drawn to stories about race, gender and generational differences
-
When you're hosting this symbol-rich holiday for the first time, how do you assume ownership of rituals you don't cherish?
-
The Asian-American band's case, inextricably linked to the battle over a certain NFL team, leaves some activists torn. While inclined to stand with a fellow advocate, they wonder: At what cost?
-
The Slants want to register its name, arguing they are reappropriating a slur against Asians. But some Asian Americans are conflicted about whether it is worth opening trademark law to disparagement.
-
Through the decades, "politically correct" has been regarded as shield and club, as cowardly and courageous. But it has meant one thing above all: confusion.
-
The U.S. Census Bureau may add a new category to its 2020 form for people of Middle Eastern or North African descent. The category — called "MENA" for short — encompasses a broad range of identities.
-
Playwright Qui Nguyen's latest work tells the story of how his parents met in an Arkansas refugee camp in 1975.
-
Shereen Marisol Meraji and Kat Chow talk to young people who crowd-sourced an open letter to their loved ones, asking them to care about police violence against black Americans.
-
Anthony Mendez's role as Jane's unseen narrator has garnered him critical acclaim. But before Mendez was able to turn his voice into a career, he was selling tombstones for the family business.
-
Our most recent #NPRObamaEffect chat explored how — or whether — the Obama years have shaped how Latino communities and people across the country think about identity today.
-
Amrik Singh Bal was beaten in Fresno, Calif., as he waited for a ride to work. Bal, who is Sikh, is part of a long history of attacks on Sikhs in America.