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For the Season 3 premiere of Plants & Beats, Rob (@byrobbell) sits down with Jess Lin (@jess_xiaomei), creator and host of Cultureful (@thecultureful), a narrative podcast and social impact project rooted in the belief that everyday people are the experts of their own stories.

Jess is a second-generation Taiwanese American, daughter of immigrants and a community builder. Before podcasting, she spent years working in global health and living around the world, including Zambia, Honduras, and Bangladesh. But after chronic pain and disability forced her to step away from that career, she found herself having to imagine a different life.

That unexpected pivot eventually led to Cultureful.

Jess talks about teaching herself podcast production, why ordinary people deserve space to tell their stories, and how the best interviews can become something more human than a simple question-and-answer exchange.

The conversation also moves through chronic pain, family, Taiwan, travel, marriage, miscarriage, fertility treatments, and IVF, as Jess reflects on what it means to adapt when life takes you somewhere you never expected to go.

Plant of the Month: Bird of Paradise 🌿

Care Guide: READ NOW

Rob on Cultureful

This episode also continues a conversation that began on Jess’s show.

Rob joined Jess for the Season 4 premiere of Cultureful, a two-part conversation exploring family identity, personal history, Philadelphia, hip-hop, race, fatherhood, trauma, and the experiences that shaped the person he became.

In Part 1, Rob looks back at growing up in 1990s Philadelphia, from playing Tetris and Game Boy with his grandmother to the family traditions, neighborhood experiences and lessons about race and safety that defined his childhood.

🎧 Listen to Part 1: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cultureful-global-identity-intergenerational-stories/id1714884799?i=1000789750530

Watch video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/X8qda5EisrQ

In Part 2, the conversation moves deeper into Philadelphia hip-hop culture, basketball, family, and the life-changing moment when Rob’s brother was shot and paralyzed when Rob was 13. The episode also explores how those experiences later shaped his approach to fatherhood, storytelling, advocacy, and Plants & Beats.

Content warning: Part 2 includes discussion of gun violence, sudden trauma, and physical injury.

🎧 Listen to Part 2: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cultureful-global-identity-intergenerational-stories/id1714884799?i=1000791075522

Watch video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/5a3I_a37Gpg

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Plants & Beats is hosted by Rob Bell, produced in partnership with the Lunchador Podcast Network, and features original music produced and mixed by Aloefi.

Mentioned in this episode:

Joe Bean Roasters

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