Podcast
Reppin
Hosted by Evelien Kong · EN
the world knows what they're known for. this show finds out who they are.
reppin is a documentary-style conversation podcast that goes beyond the bio, beyond the headline, beyond the role. real conversations with athletes, artists, executives, journalists, and creatives — about identity, race, mental health, success, self-worth, grit, courage and more. it's about owning your story. no apologies.
no filtered narrative. real stories. just the person behind the title, telling it straight, in their own words.
hosted by evelien — a tv producer and director with 25+ years pulling the real story out of extraordinary people, now doing it one conversation at a time.
new episodes twice a month, wherever you listen.
here, we're human first.
find us on:
website: www.reppin.tv
youtube :https://www.youtube.com/@Reppinpodcast
instagram @reppin_podcast
substack: https://reppinafterhours.substack.com/
23episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
yvonne chapman: show up. stay true.
1w ago00:50:34Tap to summarizethree major roles are landing for yvonne chapman at once. that's not what this conversation is really about. she's kyoshi in netflix's avatar: the last airbender, madeline in hulu's the season, and soon on screen with michael douglas, willem dafoe and ellen barkin in oliver stone's white lies. that's a big year. but the roles aren't the point. the point is how she's going about it. she's been on reppin a few times now, across different chapters. go back, listen, you'll hear the trajectory. this is the latest one. might be the most honest yet. betting on yourself with a measured risk, not a blind leap. growing up between hong kong and canada, belonging fully to both. discernment — protecting your energy without losing your warmth. those are power moves. what makes yvonne good to talk to: she doesn't reach for the easy answer just because it sounds good. she did the work to actually know herself. that's rare. it's why people root for her. you don't need three major projects to need this conversation. you just need to have proven you belonged somewhere, given too much to someone who didn't give it back, or waited on a big moment to finally let yourself change. what she's learned is yours to take too. listen now. get to know this talented actress a little better. and walk away with a little more permission to trust your own pace, protect your energy, and bet on yourself. watch and listen on spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1tq2vuZiWLvhmTMaaWX2w8 follow yvonne on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ypchapman/?hl=en reppin's gram: https://www.instagram.com/reppin_podcast/?hl=en opening music: dj ace the cut lieutenant Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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crazy rich asians. the season. one of the faces breaking hollywood's mold.
2w ago00:44:12Tap to summarizechris pang. one of the faces proving hollywood wrong about asian actors. chris pang — charlie's angels, joyride, crazy rich asians, and now hulu's the season, set against the stunning backdrop of hong kong high society, where mystery and drama follow every relationship in the room. chris plays andrew fong, a man who's tough to like at first. but take a second longer look and you see how fully human he is — flawed, insecure, and wanting nothing more than to be loved. but the real conversation starts long before any of these roles. chris grew up not seeing anyone who looked like him on screen — no hero, no proof it was even possible. so he went looking somewhere else. what he found changed the entire trajectory of his life, long before any casting director ever did. that search is what eventually put him in rooms most people never get close to — playing parts that didn't exist for guys like him a decade ago. he gets honest about what it actually cost to get there, and what's still stacked against him. and then there's the one project that did something he never expected — changed how an entire room watched a screen, strangers and family alike, all at once. this is a conversation about being underestimated, about building the thing nobody hands you, and about what happens the moment you stop waiting for permission. LISTEN and WATCH REPPIN on SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/1tq2vuZiWLvhmTMaaWX2w8 Reppin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reppin_podcast/?hl=en Reppin's Substack: https://reppinafterhours.substack.com/ Follow Chris Pang: https://www.instagram.com/pangeerz/?hl=en Opening music: DJ Ace the cut Lieutenant Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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blondie in china: the outsider with the inside track
3w ago00:49:56Tap to summarizeshe's blonde. she's australian. and she's been living in china for over a decade. turns out being the outsider has given her the inside track. amy lyons built Blondie in China from the outside in — nearly 600,000 subscribers who show up every week because she takes them somewhere real. street food. local neighborhoods. conversations with strangers. the China you don't see on the news. but here's what nobody tells you about being the one who gets stared at. ten years of walking into rooms where everyone turns to look. of being the curiosity. the outsider. the one who doesn't fit — and never will. most people would shrink. amy got more curious. and what that did to her is the whole conversation. being the one who doesn't fit forced her to figure out who she actually is. standing out when you just want to blend in builds something in you that comfort never could. and the view from the outside — the one nobody chooses — turns out to be the sharpest one in the room. 🎙️ listen to reppin Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/1tq2vuZiWLvhmTMaaWX2w8?si=0fb38eeff9b249ce Apple Podcasts → podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reppin/id1480913421 reppin.tv 📲 follow reppin Instagram → @reppin_podcast YouTube → youtube.com/@reppinpodcast Substack → reppinafterhours.substack.com 🎙️ follow amy YouTube → youtube.com/@BlondieinChina Instagram → @blondieinchina Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Permission to Speak: Allison Gill’s Courage Under Fire
Jun 1500:57:12Tap to summarizelistener discretion advised. this episode contains discussion of sexual assault. — allison gill was one of the first four enlisted women in the navy's nuclear program. she was sexually assaulted. she reported it. it was mishandled. she got PTSD. and then she went on camera for an oscar-nominated documentary and said it out loud anyway — because someone had to. that was before the podcast. she started mueller, she wrote which became one of the most listened-to independent political shows in the country by doing one thing really well: making the mueller report make sense to regular people, every single day, while allison was still inside the federal government, with no safety net, threading legal parameters she could not afford to get wrong. the show blew up. she got fired. she kept going. she has stood up — in very different rooms, against very different odds — more times than most people ever have to. and every time, the cost was real. and every single time, allison never backed down. so we got into it. what it actually feels like to keep going when the institution fails you. how she learned to manage tough challenges when you feel overwhelmed. and she learned what changes the moment you stop feeling alone in something. and where the courage to do it again comes from when you already know what it costs. i wanted to know where that comes from. turns out, the answer is not what i expected — and i don't think it'll be what you expect either. so, let's go. — listen on apple podcasts · spotify · everywhere you listen follow @reppin_podcast allison's show: the daily beans · dailybeanspod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Golf Champion… and Privilege
Jun 100:52:21Tap to summarizeWhat happens when you reach the top of your field — and still feel completely alone? I sit down with world-class golfer and long-drive champion Alexis Belton for a conversation about what success doesn’t always show you — being visible, accomplished, even celebrated… and still feeling invisible in the spaces you move through. And maybe more people understand that than we say out loud. In a world where we’re more connected than ever, so many people are still navigating loneliness, disconnection, and that quiet question of where they actually belong. Alexis shares her experience of this as a Black woman in the traditionally exclusive world of golf — and how isolation became the catalyst for something bigger: building community, creating opportunity, and turning personal experience into collective connection. We also talk about privilege, access, and the unwritten rules that shape who gets to feel comfortable in a room and who doesn’t. And how privilege, at its core, is access — access to information, opportunity, networks, confidence, and the unspoken permission to belong. Whether we notice it or not, that shapes every space we move through. Alexis opens up about using golf as a connector, why she joined ONE Campaign — a global organization working to fight extreme poverty and preventable disease while expanding access to health and economic opportunity, especially in Africa — and what she’s learned about vulnerability, advocacy, and building a legacy that’s rooted in impact, not image. This conversation isn’t really about golf. It’s about what it does to a person when they succeed at the highest level and still don’t feel seen. And what changes when you stop normalizing that feeling — and start building something that makes space for other people instead. If you’ve ever felt alone in success, out of place in a room you were “supposed” to belong in, or like you’ve had to figure it all out without a map — I really want you to listen to this one. ONE Campaign: https://www.one.org/us/ Alexis Belton's webpage: https://www.alexisbelton.com/ Alexis' foundation: https://beltondrive.com/ Reppin's page: https://www.reppin.tv/ Reppin's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reppin_podcast/ Reppin's Music: DJ ACE https://www.djace78.com/about Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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How Hip Hop & Bruce Lee can inspire your own power
May 2500:51:48Tap to summarizeWhat do Bruce Lee, hip hop, and you have in common? More than you think. Acclaimed author and cultural critic Jeff Chang joins us for a conversation that goes way beyond Bruce Lee—and straight into identity, race, representation, belonging, and the pressure to become someone else just to fit in. Based on his acclaimed book Water Mirror Echo: Bruce Lee and the Making of Asian America, Jeff unpacks how Bruce Lee became a symbol of visibility, confidence, and self-definition for generations of people who felt underestimated, stereotyped, or erased. But this episode expands far beyond one icon. We get into Hollywood, racism, stereotypes, imposter syndrome, belonging—and the unexpected link between Asian American identity and hip hop culture. Jeff Chang brings a deeply human perspective shaped by growing up navigating race and identity, facing racism at Berkeley, and slowly turning those experiences into voice through music, activism, and storytelling. That lived experience is what grounds how he understands—and writes about—culture, identity, and belonging. At its core, this episode is about identity and belonging—and the power of culture to help people finally feel seen. If you’ve ever felt caught between worlds, underestimated, or like you had to fight to belong—this conversation meets you there… and reminds you: the story has always been yours to own. Listen to Reppin on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reppin/id1480913421 Clips on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ReppinPodcast Follow Reppin on Instagram: @reppin_podcast Visit the Reppin website: https://reppin.tv Learn more about Jeff Chang: https://jeffchang.net/ Open Music By: DJ ACE https://www.instagram.com/djace78/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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What No One Tells You About Infertility, Marriage & Finding Hope I Candace Wohl
May 1800:37:24Tap to summarizeMy next guest has proven you should never underestimate the power of determination and hope. Meet Candace Wohl, she is a writer, public speaker and women’s health advocate. Her evolution towards becoming that advocate began when she and her husband Chris, who were in their late 20s then, were thrown onto the private and painful roller coaster of infertility.After 6 years of enduring an assault of medical procedures and investing their entire life savings, they were still unable to conceive. As they went through devastating lows, they also began documenting their struggles and created a blog called Our Misconception. They worked to break down the stigma of infertility and provided the unique perspective of a man and a woman. They shared information and mistakes to help others navigate and approached this shrouded issue with a lighter touch.Since then, Candace’s blog garnered national attention and has been named Best IVF blog in 2019 and they’ve been profiled in Glamour and Cosmopolitan Magazine and were featured on MTV’s Award Wining documentary series True Life.Find out how Candace and Chris transformed their pain into power, how they harnessed their strength using humor and light and how they persisted through grief. See how she’s paying it forward and find out if she and Chris were able to have the family they desperately wanted.Candace’s Blog Our Misconception: https://ourmisconception.com/Candace’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/rmisconceptionCandace’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourmisconception/Be sure to check out our instagram https://www.instagram.com/reppin_podcast/ to get an update on Candace. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Why So Many of Us Don’t Feel Like We Belong | HBO’s Eugene Yi
May 1800:46:37Tap to summarizeWhat does it actually mean to be seen—and to belong—without having to earn it, explain it, or change yourself just to be understood? That’s the question at the center of this conversation with Eugene Yi, an Emmy-winning director known for powerful documentary work including Free Chol Soo Lee, The Rose: Come Back to Me, and his latest HBO film The A-List: 15 Stories from Asian and Pacific Diasporas. On the surface, The A-List brings together 15 voices across the Asian American and Pacific Islander community—Connie Chung, Sandra Oh, Bowen Yang, Kumail Nanjiani, alongside people you may not know yet, but should. But this is not a celebrity documentary. It’s intimate by design: no performance—just people speaking honestly. A story rooted in AAPI identity, diaspora, and lived experience. And what stands out is that even these leaders and public figures have felt like they didn’t belong in the rooms they were in. This is a universal challenge. People trying to find their place.People trying to be understood. And what you see in this film is a community of people who have felt unseen—realizing those shared experiences don’t just connect us, they strengthen what community actually is. If you’ve ever felt unseen, you’re not understood or need to change everything you are to belong. This conversation on REPPIN will help you feel less alone in that experience, and see it differently. Full Conversation here: https://open.spotify.com/show/1tq2vuZiWLvhmTMaaWX2w8 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Angie Thomas: The Power Of Story
May 400:43:35Tap to summarizeStories don’t just reflect the world—we use them to understand it. And few writers do that more powerfully than Angie Thomas. Angie is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Hate U Give, the global bestseller that sparked worldwide conversation and became a major film. She’s also the author of On the Come Up and the fantasy series Nic Blake and the Manifestors. Her work consistently centers people and communities that are often overlooked—bringing their voices, experiences, and humanity into focus in a way that feels honest and grounded. She was the very first guest I ever had on Reppin… and helped launch this show. So having her back is a very special full-circle moment. In this episode, we talk about The Hate U Give, Nic Blake, why history still belongs in fantasy, and how stories travel across cultures—shaping how young readers see the world and themselves. We also get into the larger conversation happening right now around books like hers—and why it matters more than most people realize. If you care about the stories that shape how we see the world—and each other—you’ll come away with a deeper understanding of how they shape how you’re seen too. Full video on Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/1tq2vuZ... YouTube: @ReppinPodcast Instagram: @reppin_podcast Angie's instagram: https://www.instagram.com/angiethomas/ 🎧 Listen, follow the show, and if this episode resonates, share it with someone who needs to hear it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Adam Kinzinger's Breaking Point
Apr 2000:56:35Tap to summarizeBreaking Point: Adam Kinzinger on January 6 and the Courage to Stand for Your Values What happens when standing by your values could cost you everything — your career, your friendships, even your sense of belonging? In this episode of Reppin, I sit down with former U.S. Congressman, U.S. Air Force veteran, and January 6 Committee member Adam Kinzinger to talk about the moment that became his breaking point: the January 6 United States Capitol attack. After 12 years representing Illinois in Congress, Adam Kinzinger made a decision that would define his career — speaking out after January 6 and choosing principle over party. The fallout was immediate: backlash, threats, lost friendships, and a life that would never look the same again. But this conversation goes beyond politics. On Reppin, Adam Kinzinger opens up about the fear and chaos inside the Capitol that day, the emotional toll that followed, and the faith that helped him navigate one of the hardest chapters of his life. He also shares why he founded Country First, a movement working to rebuild trust in American democracy and create space for Americans across political divides to disagree without losing their humanity. At its core, this episode is about courage, integrity, and the resilience it takes to stand by your values — even when the cost is high. 🎧 If you care about leadership, democracy, and principled conversations that challenge the status quo, this episode is for you. • Adam Kinzinger’s experience inside the Capitol on January 6 • The moment he chose principle over party • The personal cost of speaking out • Relationships that didn’t survive the fallout • How faith helped guide him through backlash and isolation • Why he founded Country First • What he hopes his son learns about courage and integrity What you’ll hear in this episode • Adam Kinzinger’s experience inside the Capitol on January 6 • The moment he chose principle over party • The personal cost of speaking out • Relationships that didn’t survive the fallout • How faith helped guide him through backlash and isolation • Why he founded Country First • What he hopes his son learns about courage and integrity Learn more about Adam's organization: COUNTRY FIRST https://www.country1st.com/ Follow Adam on his instgram: https://www.instagram.com/adam_kinzinger/?hl=en WATCH this conversation on Spotify! https://open.spotify.com/show/1tq2vuZiWLvhmTMaaWX2w8 Listen to Reppin: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reppin/id1480913421 Follow me on the gram: https://www.instagram.com/reppin_podcast/?hl=en Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Reppinpodcast Music by: DJ ACE the Cut Lieutenant Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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