What's the Asian American experience like in Vermont? Brave Little State finds out

By Mikaela Lefrak,

Published November 23, 2022 at 5:00 AM EST

A collage of portraits: A man poses next to a woman holding up "peace signs," a man poses in a uniform, a woman holds up a jar and looks at it, a husband and wife pose with their kids and dog, a woman takes a selfie on a mountain. — Vermont's Asian American community is quiet but booming. Clockwise, starting in the upper left: Chinese American Wei Wei Wang poses with her dad, Korean American Paul Yoon poses wearing a traditional Korean hanbok top, Japanese Vermonter Hiroka Nakahira examines a jar in an international market, Filipino American Cynthia Reyes takes a selfie on a hike near Lake Wolloughby, Korean American Paul Yoon poses with his family on a hike to Moss Glen Falls.

What is it like to be Asian American in Vermont? This hour, Vermont Edition airs a recent episode of Brave Little State all about the Asian American experience in the Green Mountain State.

Question-asker Anna Costello recently moved to New England from California, and when she passed through Vermont, she noticed two things: a lot of Chinese restaurants, and not a lot of Asian Americans. So, she asked Brave Little State: "How do Asian Americans experience Vermont?"

Reporter and producer Myra Flynn took on Anna’s question and spoke with Vermonters with roots all across Asia. She hears from one of the cofounders of the Vermont Professionals of Color Network. She visits an Asian market. And she tries her hand at making the Chinese delicacy known as bao.

Broadcast at noon on Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.

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