The Mash-Up Americans

“Talking about sex won’t make you pregnant, talking about death won’t make you dead.” We are talking about death on this episode and it is a party! We are going to explore life, love, and family through the lens of death with our incredible guest Alua Arthur. Alua is a Ghanifornian Mash-Up and a death doula, which means that she works with individuals and families to help them through the process of death. We chat with Alua about everything from what to do with your loved one’s magazine subscription after they are gone to what an advanced care directive is and why we need one. She tells us about the cultural differences surrounding death and about her personal journey from being a child missionary to working as a lawyer to now working within the death industry.

Aline Brosh McKenna is a Hollywood triple threat; she’s a showrunner, director, and writer and she does them all really really well. She has worked in this business for more than two decades but her mission has remained the same: to center women’s stories around something other than a man. We talk about Cher, body hair, bacterial vaginosis, and so much more. Get ready! She’s the writer of your favorite rom coms, from 27 Dresses to The Devil Wears Prada to I Don’t Know How She Does It . Most recently she has been busy showrunning and writing Crazy Ex-Girlfriend which is now in its fourth and final season. Aline tells us what it was like growing up in the 70’s in very white suburban New Jersey with Jewish immigrant parents, and why she relates more to people with immigrant parents than other Jewish people. She tells us about the differences between being a boss in her 20’s and being a boss in her 40’s, and why she wants to write more roles for women over 50.

This episode is all about money. How we make it, spend it, save it, and value it. Wendy De La Rosa is our guest and she has a lot to say about all of this. Not how we are supposed to manage our money, but how we actually do it. Wendy is a Dominican-born and Bronx-raised Mash-Up who studies consumer behavior and is a founder of the Common Cents Lab, which aims to teach fintech companies how real people use money. Wendy talks to us about her life before becoming an academic, living as a brown person in Silicon Valley, and her relationship to her Afro-Latinx identity in the US versus the Dominican Republic. She also gives us some really good advice on how to save more money.* *Hint: It includes deleting that food ordering app from your phone*

New Season! We’re kicking off Mash Ups to Know with the President and CEO of Planned Parenthood, ! A long time leader and advocate in public health, Dr. Wen’s mission to depoliticize healthcare at the forefront of everything she does.  We talk with her about what it was like to immigrate here from Shanghai at such a young age, how becoming a mother changed the way that she approaches healthcare, and why her mother's bout with cancer led to her passion for patient advocacy. The Mash-Up Americans is produced by The Mash-Up Americans Creative Studio. Producer is Kara Hart and Executive Producers Amy S. Choi and Rebecca Lehrer

New season! We're making the culture, ya heard? On each episode, we’ll bring you a conversation with one incredible Mash-Up who is making waves at the cutting edge of their field. We're talking health, money, death, work, pop culture, and so much more.