Loida Nicolas Lewis, business leader, part 2

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This week on Pinoy Pod, Part 2 of our two-part interview with Filipino American business executive Loida Nicolas Lewis, chairwoman and chief executive officer of TLC Beatrice LLC and TLC Beatrice China and Philippines. A native of Sorsogon, Philippines, Lewis recently became the first Filipino and the first woman to be inducted into the Asian Hall of Fame in Seattle.
Lewis took over TLC Beatrice in 1994. That was a year after the untimely death of her husband, Reginald F. Lewis, who had built the company into the largest African American-owned corporation in America.
In this podcast with The Chronicle's Michelle Louie, Lewis talks about women in politics, particularly how she has joined Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign effort.
Also, she speaks about her love for Reginald Lewis, the fate of "Harry Potter" and how she successfully sued the Immigration and Naturalization Service for discrimination.

Loida Nicolas, business leader, part 1

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This week on Pinoy Pod, Part 1 of a two-part interview with Filipino American business executive Loida Nicolas Lewis, chairwoman and chief executive officer of TLC Beatrice LLC and TLC Beatrice China and Philippines. A native of Sorsogon, Philippines, Lewis was the first Asian woman to pass the New York State Bar without having studied in the United States.
Lewis took over TLC Beatrice in 1994. That was a year after the untimely death of her husband, Reginald F. Lewis, who had built the company into the largest African American-owned corporation in America.
In this podcast with The Chronicle's Michelle Louie, Lewis talks about how she overcame her grief, balanced the needs of her children and kept faith in herself despite skeptics who doubted her ability to run the company.
She also gives pointers on how to do business in China, offers words of advice to those who want to follow in her footsteps and talks about her recent honor of being the first Filipino as well as the first woman to be inducted into the Asian Hall of Fame in Seattle.

Pilipino Cultural Night: A rite of passage for FilAm students

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For thousands of Filipino American college students throughout the country, it's PCN season. PCN stands for Pilipino Cultural Night, a yearly ritual featuring Filipino ethnic dances and culture, and skits exploring such issues as family, identity and history.
For tens of thousands of Filipino American youths, being part of a PCN, either as performers or as members of the production staff, has been a rite of passage for about three decades.
In this episode of Pinoy Pod, Professor Theo Gonzalves of the University of Hawaii talks with The Chronicle's Benjamin Pimentel about the origins of the PCNs and why it has endured as a Filipino American genre.

Socially conscious capitalist Yobie Benjamin

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Published May 1, 2007

As a highly successful businessman, Yobie Benjamin followed a unusual path.
He grew up in the Manila suburb of Malabon where his family struggled to make ends meet. He went to the University of the Philippines, where he became an activist against the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. He was arrested and tortured by the regime.
After he was released, he immersed himself in the world of computers and later moved to the United States where he has worked with many of Silicon Valley's pioneers.
Benjamin eventually made a name for himself as a businessman and technologist, one known for his emphasis on socially conscious entrepreneurship.
He is now CEO of GoodStorm.com, an e-commerce company he co-founded as a response to the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. The San Francisco firm's slogan is, "Capitalism Done Right.''
In a recent interview with Pinoy Pod's Benjamin Pimentel, Yobie Benjamin talked about his life journey and what inspired him to create GoodStorm.

Kuwento Kuwento Is Back

This blog is back. Check it out HERE.

Pinoy Pod 48

"Heart in Two Places'' chronicles an immigrant's struggles, triumphs in America

This week, Pinoy Pod features an interview with veteran Filipino American journalist Gemma Nemenzo, the managing editor of Filipinas magazine. She talks to The Chronicle's Benjamin Pimentel about her new book, "Heart in Two Places: An Immigrant's Journey."

The critically-acclaimed book is, in many ways, a chronicle of the Filipino American experience told from different viewpoints - that of an expatriate, a single mother and an activist-journalist deeply concerned about the future of her homeland.

The collection of essays is about her life experiences since moving to America in 1988 when her marriage ended and she sought a fresh start.

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Pinoy Pod 47

Fil-Am novelist Peter Bacho captures experiences of war vets, immigrants

This week, reporter Benjamin Pimentel chats with novelist Peter Bacho, who has explored the Filipino American experience through books such as ''Cebu,'' about a young Filipino American priest, and "Dark Blue Suit and Other Stories,'' about the struggles of Filipino immigrants in the 1920s and 1930s.

His most recently published book "Entrys,'' is about the struggles of a young Filipino-Native American veteran who struggles to rebuild his life after surviving the horrors of the Vietnam War.

It's a sad tale that Bacho says resonates during these times when the country is wrestling with the social and psychological effects of another war. Bacho talks about how he started the book before the beginning of the war in Iraq.

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Pinoy Pod 46

New cookbook celebrates Philippine cuisine, history and culture

What started out as a dare turned into a cookbook that no only celebrates authentic Philippine cuisine, but also commemorates Filipino history and culture.

This week on Pinoy Pod, the authors of "Memories of Philippine Kitchens,'' restaurateurs Romy Dorotan and Amy Besa, tell The Chronicle's Michelle Louie about how the book started when a friend lamented about a dearth of good Filipino cookbooks.

The husband and wife team included their own memories of Filipino cuisine, and did extensive research, both in academia and in everyday households.

They talk about how Filipinos have adapted and borrowed recipes from other countries and down through time made them their own. They also talk about how Filipinos are "obsessed'' with food.

Besa and Dorotan are no strangers to the food business -- their upscale Filipino restaurant Cendrillon in New York's SoHo district celebrates its 12th anniversary in August.

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