Expats, repats, immigrants, TCKs, and other alien lifeforms tell their stories. Sharing feelings of foreignness and belonging, we delve deep into what it’s like always checking the ’other’ box.
https://www.instagram.com/foreign_or/
Check out our convo with Tien Chi Fu, Taiwanese-American producer, writer, and director. Episode description below, stylized as a screenplay.
Enter TIEN, (30s), a fast talker who’s into unhinged behaviors and sub-subcultures.
We begin in 90’s Taiwan, musing on how growing up in the ‘middle-of-nowhere’ came with its own unique cultural self-esteem.
FADE IN
周杰倫 Jay Chou | 夜曲 Nocturne
CUT TO:
SMALL TOWN PENNSYLVANIA - circa 2009:
Tien has dropped out of college to work the cigarette counter at a Walmart.
TIEN
I want to live in a place where
nobody cares where you’re from.
INT. APARTMENT IN DEEP BROOKLYN
Three roommates from different countries discuss what home is, the power dynamics within religion, and the bittersweet joys of filmmaking.
FADE IN
Beastie Boys - No Sleep Till Brooklyn
INT. FOREIGN, OR PODCAST - PRESENT DAY:
TIEN
I think the biggest mindset shift
was when my daughter was born.
I just needed to give filmmaking a shot.
I don't know what this process is going to be like.
But, this is like a dream. Like, who's...?
We all know people who are
doctors, lawyers, accountants.
Great.
How many successful filmmakers do we know?
Barely anyone! It's a dream, but...
I just need to give it a shot.
FADE TO BLACK
How's that for a cliffhanger? Enjoy the show, ForeignOrs!
LINKS
Check Tien's Instagram
Peep Tien's Website
More on Tien's short film The Sheep
17 Oct 2025
Lee | Volunteering in Ukraine, For Fun and Nonprofit
Allow me to introduce you to Lee, American-born ForeignOr, at your service.
From military training in Philadelphia to co-op living with the hippies in Santa Barbara, Lee brings a balanced voice in a world of extremes. After more than twelve years in Shanghai riding fixies and running corporate charity initiatives he left to find his new purpose.
Today he's volunteering full time on the border of Ukraine, helping evacuees and supporting NGO relief efforts. Learn how health setbacks, broken-hearted boxing, and dehydrated borscht play a role in Lee’s evolving mission to serve.
LINKS
Hope Shelter Ukraine
MUSIC
Drill Sergeant DePalo X The Kiffness - I Left My Home
Round Eye - City Livin'
Ukrainian Folk Song 🇺🇦 ARMY REMIX | Andriy Khlyvnyuk x The Kiffness
5 Apr 2024
Olivier | A Gypsy Workaholic in Bangkok
You just can’t keep up with a Hero.
Olivier Dressen (https://www.olivierdressen.com/), aka Hero (https://www.olivierdressen.com/), is a multidisciplinary artist that just can’t stop working. “To be an artist is to be cursed,” he muses, and it’s clear that the curse of creativity will not let this Belgium-born Bangkok resident rest.
From gypsy roots to indie film fame, Olivier has creative-directed multinational teams from Paris to Shanghai to LA and beyond. We talk financing your freedom to create what you want, directing actors solely based on raw emotion, and developing creative community wherever you go.
There’s not enough time to cover all this man’s artistic accolades so PLEASE, peep these:
LINKS
https://www.herodirector.tv/ (https://www.herodirector.tv/)
https://designhero.tv/ (https://designhero.tv/)
https://www.olivierdressen.com/ (https://www.olivierdressen.com/)
https://www.studiosupremefilms.com/ (https://www.studiosupremefilms.com/)
designhero.shop (https://designhero.shop/?variant=46794661265741)
https://www.instagram.com/herodirector/ (https://www.instagram.com/herodirector/)
MUSIC
Les Yeux Noirs (Dark Eyes) | Django Reinhardt | Pomplamoose ft. The Vignes Rooftop Revival (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfiqW1WaGbw)
Summer in Portofino (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egtnMCQ2pPY)
SPRITE x GUYGEEGEE - ทน (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNO6kMJB63I)
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
1 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
1 ratings
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