Self Evident is a community-driven podcast where we decide what it really means to claim America today — by telling Asian America’s stories.

Whether we’re reporting on anti-Asian hate, revealing how Asian Americans tackle conversations about anti-Black racism, following a former refugee’s fight to protect their community from unjust deportations, or inviting listeners to share memories of their favorite fruits… we can help you have honest, challenging conversations about race, justice, heritage, and identity with your peers and colleagues.

These events are especially popular at:

• Employee Resource Groups

• Employee Affinity Groups

• University Student Groups

• Asian American Studies Classrooms

Why host a Self Evident Listening Party now? 

Before this pandemic, after-work happy hours and snack break conversations provided us some space to connect on a personal level with your friends, family, or coworkers.

Now, when many workplaces are operating at a distance, many of us have begun to feel burnout from keeping our distance, watching the screen, or only interacting with colleagues through email replies and action items and text exchanges.

A Self Evident Listening Party — where you and your colleagues gather to hear true stories and then discuss how your lives connect with those stories — can open up the conversations we’ve been missing. The Listening Party is a space for you to build deeper personal relationships within your Asian American and professional communities.

These events encourage folks to reconnect through real talk and story sharing. We’ve seen that story-centered conversations and the relationship-building that comes with them — and yes, your favorite Asian snacks — foster a more supportive workplace.

How does it work?

Host your own listening and discussion event:

Self Evident is here to support you with a guide and checklist to prepare. This includes tips on how to pick an episode, specific talking points that you can customize, and a shoutout from us to celebrate your community on social.

You know your community best, so we trust you to lead your own listening party. As host, you’ll choose an episode that best fits your colleagues, pick questions to kick off conversation, and organize the event for the group.

Hire Self Evident to facilitate your listening party:

If you’re nervous that this is your first time hosting such an event, or your group needs more hands-on guidance to open up conversations, Self Evident also offers a paid facilitation service. This option includes a tailored listening party kit and event structure, — with pre-event consultation, custom discussion questions, live facilitation by a Self Evident team member, and post-event debriefing. 

The compensation for these facilitated sessions compensate our team members for their experience and their work. Paid facilitation also helps to sustain our ongoing work at Self Evident, producing meaningful stories and bringing their impact directly to listeners. We’re happy to work with your budget to ensure that this event is accessible for you, your community, and your team members.

What Listening Party hosts have experienced

“People shared some deep thoughts and very intimate stories about themselves. This is something I like. Not something shallow, but something very deep.”

-Wanyu, NPR Headquarters, Washington, D.C.

“We fostered great conversation. This was not only a great opportunity for self-reflection with our own lived experiences, but also how it impacts our work at the health department."

-Amanda, NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene, New York, NY

“Attendees were glad to have a reason to have this kind of conversation at work. It was great to have that connection. It makes you feel like you're part of something. Being in the Midwest can be a different feeling because you have to make more of an effort. It was great to talk to other APIs and have conversations you wouldn't normally have at work.”

-Jenni, Grainger, Lake Forest, IL

“Everyone came very enthusiastic to talk to each other and share their stories and listen to each other's stories. Everyone was so heart warmed and eager to bond. So it was cool because people had so many varying ways of connecting with each other and the Asian American experience.”

-Adrian, Sticky Rice Supper Club, Sonoma County, CA

“Why you make me wear these?” - Clementine, Team Dog, Brooklyn, NY

If you have questions or needs that go beyond what’s in our listening party sign-up form, please get in touch with Rekha, our Audience Manager.

Talk soon 🎧