S1 E01: The Necessity and Difficulty of Being You

SoftSpoken: A Podcast by Marpheen Chann

I went back and forth trying to figure out what topic to talk about in the first episode of SoftSpoken: A Podcast. But I landed on the topic of "Being You." As an openly gay, Cambodian American who was adopted by a white, evangelical family when I was 14 (you can read more in my memoir Moon in Full: A Modern-Day Coming-of-Age Story), identity and being as been a very important topic to wrestle and grapple with. And so this episode encapsulates a little of what I've learned throughout my life about belonging, being human, being you, identity, and the balancing that we have to do as we live and engage with the world around us. Hope you enjoy!

Intro and Outro Music: Marpheen Chann (me!)

About Moon in Full: A Modern-Day Coming-of-Age Story:

Moon in Full, a contemporary coming-of-age story, shines light on one young man’s search for truth and compassion in a complicated era as it unwinds the deep-seated challenges we all face finding our authentic voice and true identities. Author Marpheen Chann’s heart-warming journey weaves through housing projects and foster homes; into houses of worship and across college campuses; and playing out in working-class Maine where he struggles to find his place. Adopted into in a majority white community, Chann must reconcile his fears and secret longings as a young gay man with the devoutly religious beliefs of his new family. Chann, a second-generation Asian American, recounts what he has learned, what he has lost, and what he has found during his evolution from a hungry refugee’s son to religious youth to advocate for acceptance and equality.