Does 2026 belong to "Wasians?" Actor Hudson Williams (Heated Rivalry) and Olympic gold medalist Alysa Liu recently became household names very quickly. And people are talking about the rising stars beyond just their talents: they’re talking about Liu’s and Williams’ race. Both are half-Asian, half-white, also known as “Wasian” – and some have dubbed this past season “Wasian winter.” But why are Wasians a topic of conversation now, and what does this discussion say about how attitudes around some mixed race identities have changed? Brittany is joined by <a href="https://www.npr.org/people/g-s1-96792/mika-ellison"target="_blank" >Mika Ellison</a>, intern for It’s Been a Minute and Life Kit, to get into the geopolitical and cultural forces around the “Wasian fixation.” For more on Heated Rivalry, check out: <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/12/12/nx-s1-5637480/whats-so-hot-about-heated-rivalry"target="_blank" >What's so hot about Heated Rivalry?</a>For more on identity and the internet, check out: <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/04/25/1247139346/its-been-a-minute-adhd-social-media-tik-tok"target="_blank" >Think you have ADHD? Here's why so many of us are saying yes.</a> Support Public Media. <a href="https://plus.npr.org/"target="_blank" >Join NPR Plus.</a> Follow Brittany on Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bmluse/?hl=en"target="_blank" >@bmluse</a> For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at <a href="https://www.npr.org/podclub"target="_blank" >npr.org/podclub</a>. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below: See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. Learn more about sponsor message choices: <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a> <a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

Podurama

Home

Trending

Personal

Your Podcasts

New Episodes

My Files

Favourite Episodes

Tags (Folders)

Recently Played

Bookmarks

Followed Playlists

Welcome to 'The Republic of Wasia'

It's Been a Minute

AI Chapters

AI Insights

Reviews