Stories from everyday Asians about the complex, messy, and empowering journeys towards self-discovery.
How it all started
Far too often in the West, Asian people and cultures are reduced to stereotypes that erase our individuality. The name for the podcast came about while I was working in a startup when I first moved to Berlin and during the usual lunch discussions on where/what to eat, my German colleagues would say things like "I had Vietnamese last night, I can't eat Asian today" and I wondered why I never heard anyone say: "I had pizza last night so I can't eat European today". My usual response was usually something offhand like "Oh yes, the country Asia". But the more it happened, the more it annoyed me that Asian countries and cultures are so frequently painted with a broad stroke.
This podcast is a reminder that Asia is not a country, it is not a monolith– even within one ethnic group, the experiences and micro-cultures are so varied and we want to spotlight those intricacies on the show. Each and every one of us has a unique story that makes us who we are, and if we’re lucky, sometimes we find people whose lives and experiences intersect with ours. Asia Is Not A Country examines these personal stories and is an ode to the multitude and diversity of Asian cultures, identities, and folks.
Team
Natalina Pereira
Host, Story Editor, and Producer
Natalina is a half-Chinese, half-Indian Singaporean, based in Berlin. Her background is in theatre, curation, and arts management. She speaks English, German, and is embarrassed at the state of her Mandarin. A proud homebody, she can be found nestled in books and thinking up reasons to cancel social plans to spend more time with said books. For the last decade, she's been trying to uncover her paternal family history, albeit with little success. Will travel for bubble tea.
Jasmin Bauomy
Producer
Jasmin Bauomy is an award-winning multimedia journalist with about a decade of experience in editorial professions. She helped launch Al Jazeera English’s (AJE) first news and current affairs podcast, The Debrief, as a host and producer.
She then went on to be a senior podcast producer at Jetty – AJE’s podcasting wing. Up until September 2022, Jasmin spent most of her time as Head of Creative Audio at the edutainment app Blinkist. She also consults and produces podcasts for clients, such as Spotify Germany and a German public broadcaster. Currently, she's a senior producer at the German podcast studio TRZ Media, where she develops new podcasts and coordinates teams and productions.
She's also active in building an international community of audio storytellers, called THE ECCO.
