Debut AAPI Stories: M Lin's 'The Memory Museum'

In this episode of All of It, host Alison Stewart welcomes debut author Em Lin to discuss her short story collection, The Memory Museum, a powerful exploration of Chinese women's lives across different stages of emigration and impatriation. Set between the present and near future, the stories confront themes of memory, censorship, identity, and belonging, particularly through the lens of a Chinese woman navigating dual cultural worlds. Lin reflects on how the pandemic and rising anti-Asian sentiment in the U.S. prompted her to examine what it means to be Chinese today—especially in contrast to the often-reductive portrayals of China in Western media. The titular story imagines a future where history is replaced by memory, creating a museum dedicated to preserving personal and collective experiences that official narratives erase. Lin also reads from her story 'Lucy,' which captures the emotional complexity of a woman flying from New York to Shanghai, grappling with a brain tumor and the paradox of feeling both invisible and hyper-visible across borders. The conversation reveals how language, identity, and trauma shape personal and cultural memory. Lin emphasizes the emotional weight of language—how Mandarin carries familial and patriotic expectations, while English offers her intellectual and artistic freedom. She discusses the tension between self-censorship under political pressure and the desire to express truth. The episode concludes with Lin's reflection on the importance of imagining utopian futures amid dystopian realities, arguing that fiction can be a tool for building the world we want. The collection stands as a bold, lyrical debut that humanizes the Chinese experience beyond headlines, offering intimate, universal stories of longing, resilience, and the quiet acts of resistance found in memory.