New Books Network

About Nancy Yan

Nancy Yan received her PhD in folklore from The Ohio State University and taught First Year Writing, Comparative Studies, and Asian American studies for several years before returning to organizing work.

NBN Episodes hosted by Nancy:

Folklore August 20, 2021

Overthrowing the Queen

Telling Stories of Welfare in America

Tom Mould

Hosted by Nancy Yan
It is a familiar story: A recipient of public assistance funds is caught buying expensive steaks, seafood, or other luxury foods with food stamps at the grocery store. Or they …
Folklore July 6, 2021

Yo' Mama, Mary Mack, and Boudreaux and Thibodeaux

Louisiana Children's Folklore and Play

Jeanne Pitre Soileau

Hosted by Nancy Yan
Children’s folklore is simultaneously a conservator of tradition and a site for creativity and innovation. For over five decades, Dr. Jeanne Pitre Soileau documented and collected the jokes, chants, rhymes …
Folklore May 26, 2021

Balut

Fertilized Eggs and the Making of Culinary Capital in the Filipino Diaspora

Margaret Magat

Hosted by Nancy Yan
Balut is a fertilized chicken or duck egg that is boiled at the seventeenth day and sold as a common street snack in the Philippines. While it is widely eaten …
Folklore January 25, 2021

Pussy Hats, Politics, and Public Protest

Rachelle Hope Saltzman

Hosted by Nancy Yan
On January 21, 2017, the day after Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration, hundreds of cities in the U.S. and across the globe organized Women’s Marches in response to Trump’s misogynistic comments …
Folklore December 4, 2020

When They Blew the Levee

Race, Politics, and Community in Pinhook, Missouri

David Todd Lawrence and Elaine J. Lawless

Hosted by Nancy Yan
The town of Pinhook in Missouri was founded in the 1940s by southern Black farmers who were looking for land that they could purchase and own in the face of …
Folklore September 18, 2020

Quinceañera Style

Social Belonging and Latinx Consumer Identities

Rachel Valentina González

Hosted by Nancy Yan
A quinceañera is a traditional fifteenth birthday celebration for young women (though in contemporary times, it can also be for young men) in many Latinx communities. While the celebration has …