Nelson Wang: A Perfectly Imperfect Union: Reflecting on America 250

2026.07.23 38:46

Whole Again: Mindfulness and Resilience Through Kintsugi Wisdom

0:00 38:46

The Whole Again Podcast: Mindfulness and Resilience through Kinstugi Wisdom airs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday with Pause Breathe Reflect Microdose Meditations, Growth Mindset and Mindfulness Tips, to help us transform our scars into healing and resilience.

And between May and October, I'm sharing a new series I'm calling: A Perfectly Imperfect Union. It's about connecting with every day folks as they reflect on America at 250. Conversations will air every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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In the latest episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union, I sit down with Nelson Wang, a huge NY Knicks fan, at a Capital One Cafe in New York City.

Nelson believes America's real strength is the willingness to be stronger for our differences instead of weaker because of them, and he's watched that play out on the streets of New York every day.

The story that anchors it all is his father's, a man who fled Shanghai for Hong Kong ahead of the Cultural Revolution and eventually built a new life in America, a life Nelson was the first in his family to be born into here.

You can discover more about Nelson via this link.

And Nelson's question for you and our next guest, Jessica, is:

What subject do you wish documentarian Ken Burns would tackle next?

Share your thoughts in the comments and share this episode with someone you love.

Hey there, it's Michael. Welcome to Whole Again, the show that's here in support of you creating a meaningful life and the person you're becoming. And I'm excited to share a new series with you that will air this summer as America turns 250 years old, which is still pretty young relative to many other countries across this big blue marble that we all share.

The series is called A Perfectly Imperfect Union. In 2022, I rode my bike across America from Astoria, Oregon to the Lincoln Memorial. My wife drove our RV and she had two co-pilots, Jester and Hope, two Springer Spaniels And when we did it, America was coming out of the pandemic and we were hurting.

Hurting from things that had happened prior to the pandemic, of course, going through what we all went through. And at that time, and this is something I still believe today, is that we were entering an inflection point. An inflection point for us to hopefully pause, breathe, and reflect on who we wish to become as individuals, as communities, and as a country.

As I pedaled across America, I wanted to share America's beauty with others, her natural beauty and the beauty of her people. And I also wanted to share where we were hurting As America turns 250, I believe Kintsugi, which is something we use as a metaphor here at Whole Again, is a perfect metaphor for where we are as a country.

There's so much beauty to celebrate, and we can also acknowledge that parts of us feel broken or are broken. But we can find a way to come back together, just like Kintsugi teaches us. And when we do, we don't try to erase or cover up where we have scars or blemishes. We highlight them in gold, and we celebrate them as symbols of our strength and resilience.

Kintsugi is called the golden repair, and in essence, we can see beauty in something that's perfectly imperfect. During this series, I plan to speak to at least two people in each state and the District of Columbia, so 102 conversations with real folk, as I like to say. We're gonna let the celebrities and the big influencers have their day somewhere else.

But here, I wanna reach out and talk to real people and listen to their reflections as they think about America turning 250 years old. And my hope is, is that you'll tune in to at least one, if not all 102, 'cause my theory going into this is that you'll hear different perspectives. Some may be aligned with yours, others may not.

But my hope is that you hear the goodness in your fellow citizens and realize, as Maya Angelou shared with us, "We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike." We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike. I've had the privilege of traveling all over the world and all over this country, and this belief is something that I hold deep inside of me.

So yes, I do believe that we are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike. So if you're ready to get to know one of your perfectly imperfect neighbors, just like all of us, take a healthy breath in and a slow releasing breath out, and get to know Nelson Wang

Nelson, so good to see you, my friend. Thanks for joining me here on A Perfectly Imperfect Union. How are you feeling today? 

Yeah. Yeah, my name is Nelson Wong. I am a longtime business journalist. Um, I live in New York City. I grew up on Long Island. My parents immigrated from, uh, from Hong Kong. Um, and I was actually born in Westchester, New York, and then my parents moved to L- Long Island when I was quite young.

And let's see. Yeah, uh, like I said, I, I've, uh I went, uh, well, I didn't say this part, but I went to school in Boston, and right after I graduated, I came to live in Manhattan, um, and started looking for journalism jobs, and I have not moved or been anywhere since. So coming on 33, 34 years now in Manhattan, and, uh, I, I've fallen in and out of love, I think, a, a bit with New York City, but lately, uh, it's been much heavier on the love side, and, uh, I, I just love the energy and the humanity and the possibilities and the diversity of New York City.

So, um, and, and just sort of just quickly work-wise, uh, you know, I've worked for a bunch of different business publications and websites, but now, uh, in the last year and a half, I've been doing some freelance editing and writing work, and I'm trying to work on some personal book projects and, and develop those.

I 

love it. I love it. So I know you're a huge, uh, Knicks fan, so obviously the energy of New York and the Knicks has is, uh, sort of buoyed everyone's enthusiasm for the city. But for those that have never been to New York City- 

Yeah ... 

you know, New York's a big state. Not everyone's been to the, to the Empire State.

You know, I grew up in Rochester, which seems like, um, miles and away from, uh, New York City. Rochester has more of a Midwestern vibe to it than a big city like New York and Long I- uh, Long Island. So what's something, what's something really cool about Long Island, New York City, that part of the state that someone may not know about if they've never been there?

Yeah. That's a good question 'cause I do have a little bit of the New York arrogance, I think, in, in- ... terms of like, well, of course, you know, everyone's been here and- Yes ... lived without it and has been to the Empire State Building. Uh, and of course, that's not true. But yeah, I, I, I would say it's sort of everything that you would think just in terms of the energy and the, the, the density and the action and just sort of everything you could possibly ever want or conceive of, you know, in terms of neighborhoods and foods and activities and, and just every endeavor of human activity is here, uh, you know, just for the taking.

So, um, I, I, I love it, but it is interesting when I, I, I do know people who are overwhelmed by it and don't like it and, and that- Probably is more the norm than I think. Um, you know, it, it, it's a lot, you know, and it can get in your face, and it can get exhausting, and it can be really dirty and gritty, you know.

But, but for people who like that whole range of experience, it's like I can't imagine living anywhere else. Mm. I, I'll mention one quick thing. It, it's often quoted, but I always-- when people ask me about New York City and how New York- New Yorkers feel about it, I, I always quote the... It's a famous quote from John Updike, who was a writer at The New Yorker, and in his-- It, it turns out, I, I looked it up recently.

He didn't-- I, I thought he wrote it in an essay about New York, which you would expect, but it actually is from one of his novels. I think it's Run Rabbit or one of the Rabbit novels, and one of the characters is a, is a, a lifelong New Yorker and says, uh, something like, you know, uh, "The, the true New Yorker secretly believes that anyone living, not living in New York City has to, in some sense, be kidding."

And, uh- ... I, I, you know, like, that captures, you know, how wonderful we all think it is and also the arrogance of it. Um, and I would-- I sometimes will add that, like, I personally am in that camp, and I, and I even remove the secretly part. Like, I just openly believe that, you know. So. 

Yeah. Yeah. Um, it brings up the, I think it was a New Yorker cover of, you know, the, the viewpoint, the perspective of, uh, people who live in Manhattan, who's like, "It's the center of the universe," and, like, e-everything beyond the Hudson River west is like, um, uh, small potatoes or just i-is irrelevant or...

I, I, I've-- I, I can see the image of the, the cover, but maybe not the full essence of it, it comes to my memory. But, um- I, 

I know exactly the cover you're talking about. Yeah. It's, it's quite famous, and it, it, it's the same ethos. Yeah. It's, it's a look at- Yeah ... that Fifth Avenue, and then it's like a little thing for Chicago and a little thing for the, the Rocky Mountains, and then it's the West Coast and the Pacific Ocean, you know.

Yes. Yeah, yeah. So I, I've definitely experienced that living, uh, in these parts, you know. So, um, so w- if you gathered all your closest friends, maybe you're out in Central Park, which is a great oasis- Mm-hmm ... uh, within New York City. Maybe it's a big picnic, and people are gathered around, and they ask you, "Nelson, what America means to you?"

Uh, how do you respond? 

Yeah. Um, I, I do think a huge part of it is the, um of, of the sort of American experiment, you know, is, is, is the openness to, to immigration and, and the idea that, you know, this country could be-- a country could be a lot stronger for our differences and diversity, you know, a-as opposed to weaker, you know, which I think maybe is the more natural assumption, you know?

And, but of course, America, at least in, in some broad ways, has shown that to It has shown that this, this works, you know, and America obviously has become, you know, an incredibly powerful nation, uh, in large part, I think because of those differences in diversity and those different ideas and, and backgrounds of people, and the questioning of ideas that comes from, you know, living with groups of different people.

But, but I, I would point out, and I think has been pointed out in some of your podcasts too, that really when you-- uh, people are making this big deal about the 250th anniversary of the country, but that's such a short span of time. Yes. Yes. You know, when you think about European countries or ancient civilizations.

So it's a real just kind of a blip, you know. But to us, obviously seems hugely, uh, lengthy and monumental, and as though this experiment has been carried on for a long time, but, but it really hasn't. And obviously, we're seeing some cracks and fault lines in, in that belief and thinking now. But, but yeah, I'd, I'd...

I would say that America really, to me, is that, is the, the belief and, and power of people coming together from all around the world and, and joining here. And then that is partly my personal story as well, which, you know, we can probably get into later. 

Yeah, I wanted to ask you a, a little bit more. You mentioned up front that you, you know, your p- your parents immigrated from Hong Kong.

And the whole-- the, the... I do wanna capture this 'cause other people in the series have mentioned it. We are still so young as a country, even though we think we're so old, uh, especially relative to other countries around the planet. And when I think of New York in particular, much what you shared in your response there, I look at New York and it's like all these different people from all around the world getting shoved into this small little island known as Manhattan.

You know, they love different people. They pray to different gods if they pray. They might vote a little bit differently. They're, uh, you know, coming from different cultures. And somehow we find a way, although it's not perfect, it's messy, it's ragged at times, it's chaotic, like the folks in New York City live in a relatively r-relative peace.

You know, they, they find a way to make it work. And, um, so I, I do-- When I look at New York City in particular, I, I see our promise. You know, like, uh, we can do this. We can have all these different perspectives all together, and we can find a way to make it work Fairly well, albeit not perfectly. So, um, I loved what you just shared there.

But yeah, if you could, uh, is i- what more do you know about your, your parents' story of coming here and immigrating to the country? 

Yeah. Um, I, I do know the, the major outlines, and I, I was fortunate enough last year, I, I alluded to the fact that I had been trying to work on some personal book projects, and one of the ideas was sort of a personal history.

And I, I, I was fortunate enough to interview my father, um, uh, last year. I did a couple interviews with him throughout the course of the year and got to know more about his history. So it kinda cleared up some things. Um, but the basic outlines were that, um, so my, my dad was originally from Shanghai. He was born in 1930, and he was kinda coming of age when the communists took over the, uh, the, the mainland, you know, when they won their battle against the nationalists and the communists took over in 1949.

And like a lot of, uh, Shanghainese, he, you know, left the city to go to Taiwan or Hong Kong. My dad went to Hong Kong. And, um, he sort of made his way there for a couple years and then through some family connections, started working in finance and, you know, uh, as an accountant as well. Met my mother after a couple years, and after they got married, they, uh, they immigrated to, first to Toronto and then to the US.

Uh, and the, the main reason was that my father had seen, you know, the, the, the monumental changes that the communists had, had, uh, effected in China and, uh, you know, o- obviously really upended and, you know, often ruined a lot of people's lives. Um, and And so when he was living in Hong Kong in the '60s, in the mid '60s, the Cultural Revolution was gaining a lot of steam on the mainland and, and threatening, you know, even more changes and more extreme forms of government and, and rule.

And it was really threatening to spill over into Hong Kong, even though it was a, it was a, you know, a British colony and, and ruled separately. So my, my dad wanted no part of that, like, and, um, and, and, you know, really made plans to, to, to move elsewhere. Um, interestingly, the, the revolution, the communist revolu- the Cultural Revolution never took over Hong Kong.

It never... I, I'm not exactly sure why. Like, what kind of borders or safeguards in place or negotiations with the Chinese, with the English government happened, but, um, it, it, it never, you know, obviously it never took over Hong Kong and, and, um, Hong Kong ended up becoming an incredibly prosperous place, you know, as this sort of nexus between East and West and, you know.

A, a lot of my f- my parents', uh, friends and families who, who remained in Hong Kong ended up, you know, really prospering. Um, you know, and my, my dad did fine in the US as well, but it was interesting that, um, you know, what he was fearful of never, never sort of came to pass. Um, but, um, yeah, I was part of a, you know, I was the first generation to be born in the US.

Uh, my brother was born in Hong Kong, actually. 

Okay. I 

sometimes forget that. Just before they left. Um, so I'm technically the first generation of our family. You know, my, my brother isn't even, you know. But of course, he was, grew up in the US as well. Sure. And, and, um, so yeah, we, we settled. Went to Westchester.

We ended up-- My parents couldn't afford to buy a place in Westchester. They looked at Long Island, was a lot cheaper at the time and had good school districts. And, um, and so that's, that's where I grew up. And there were a lot of different waves of Chinese immigration, you know. And so we were part of probably a later wave and, and probably more professional, you know.

And, and there were lots of pockets of that, like a lot of academics- Yes ... coming over, et cetera. But w- we're probably part of one of those sort of middle waves of sort of middle class, uh, immigrants, you know, seeking, you know, having job opportunities, seeking, you know, even more opportunity and more freedom than they would've had, you know, in otherwise in, in China or Hong Kong or Taiwan.

Very interesting. That's so cool. Thanks, thanks for sharing that. That's, um, it's a good, um, great background, and what a great story of coming here and You know, with the promise of, uh, greater opportunities and, and the thing is, is like the, the cost of living in Westchester is still more expensive than it is out in Long Island.

Yeah. 

You got it. So still you need, uh, you need like about four different jobs to be able to afford, uh, to live in Westchester nowadays it feels like. So, um, so we mentioned up front a little bit about how, how young the country is, how messy or ragged, uh, democracy can be. And just as a country, we can have little fray-fraying around the edges, maybe even cracks or divisiveness.

So I think as you know, Nelson, I use the Japanese art form of, of Kintsugi as a metaphor for this series. So if you could just pick one thing that could help us feel more connected, it could maybe help us heal or, uh, grow, um, maybe not, again, not in a perfect way, but in a meaningful first step, what would it, what would it be?

This is not, you know, really groundbreaking, but, but I, I do feel that the biggest Issues that we have currently come from politicians, and it's also our political system that encourages this, but in particular, the particular politicians that, you know, that we have in power currently that are, are sort of exploiting and using our differences, you know, to achieve personal gain and, um, and, uh, maybe preserve their office and e-et cetera.

I, I just think it's, uh, it, it's very, uh, selfish and calculating to, to do that. And y-you know, it, it's, it's really sort of subverting the whole, you know, dynamic that we talked about earlier about the promise of America, you know, that, that we celebrate our differences. We, we benefit and str-- are, are stronger for our differences as opposed to sort of exploiting them, you know, or, or, uh, uh, manipulating them for, you know, various people's, you know, personal enrichment or gain.

And yeah, I, I think that's, that's really kind of poisoned, uh, a lot of the, the promise of the, the country. So I don't know. I, I mean, I, I hope that the sort of natural corrective of the electoral system, you know, works its way and, and replaces those people, you know, and, and, and, and fixes things. Um, I, I don't...

Other than that, I d- I don't, you know... There's probably a lot of people who are thinking about how to fix the system. I, I don't really know what the solutions are, but I, I think that's, that's a really big, uh, part of the problem, um, that, that needs to be addressed. 

Yeah. There-- In today's culture, there are so many.

Politicians definitely fall into this category, but even outside influencers or, uh, maybe call them celebrities or, uh, whomever, uh, seem to peddle in, um Peddling, uh, s- trying to divide us, um, uh, maybe, um, tap into our, um, our weak spots of our biology, you know, our fe- our fears, if you will, uh, all for their gain.

And, and we, we can see it happening in real time. So I'm, I'm with you. I'm, I'm hoping that we can, as a, an, a population, as a, a, a voting electric, uh, you know, a, a voting group can, um, hopefully get in leaders that can, uh, you know, find ways to bring us together and not, and not divide us for their own, their own wealth, right?

Yeah. And so, uh- 

Yeah ... 

yeah. 

I think I can note one, one possible corrective. I, I think a, a lot of this is not unconnected to the rise of social media, which encourages- Ah ... divisive, you know, like that's what gets attention. Um, you know- Yes ... the more outrageous you go and, and that produces a certain type of, you know, politician.

And, um, so that whole idea of the medium, you know, really affecting, you know, the po- you know, television ushered in the age of, you know, you had to be telegenic and really good on TV. Yes. Yes. And then, uh, I, I think there was something in the middle, maybe not as dramatic with the internet, you know, like...

But, but then social media obviously has, has really kinda branded its own type of, uh, avatars and, you know, uh, beneficiaries of that, you know. And, and I think that, um, I, I think that's a huge problem and, and maybe that's something that is easier to do something about. And I, I don't know exactly what the solutions are, but it seems like we are trying to curb some of the excesses of, of social media now.

Yeah. I, I think there's, uh, some voices out there trying to like bring... r- help us, uh, improve our overall awareness and sort of wake up to the fact that, as you mentioned, because of all these different vehicles, w- we've-- our attention has run to the edges, and it's like, uh, what can be edgier and edgier and edgier?

And we keep on going to that edge, going to that edge, and we lose sight of like actually what's in the middle. Uh, and what's in the middle makes, uh, communities and countries and societies run. And it might be really boring, and people might not want to grab onto it and watch a 15-second clip, but that's the stuff that, um, actually makes, makes things happen.

So, so our conversation today will get released after America officially turns 250, 'cause that comes up in two days as we sit here and record our conversation. So, but- We still have time to celebrate. So a lot of times in a celebration, or at least a birthday celebration in this country, we have cake. Um, although through this series I've learned that not everyone is into having birthday cake.

So this is a two-part question for you, Nelson. If you are serving cake for America's 250th, what kind of cake are you serving? And then the second part of the question is, what are you wishing for as you blow out the candles? 

Yeah. Uh, the first thing that comes to mind for cake, I was trying to think of something ethnic, like something Asian-inflected, but- Uh, but, but I, I-- the first thing that comes to mind is, like, whatever the cake equivalent of Neapolitan ice cream is.

Okay. Okay. So you get red and blue and colors. All right. So it could be red, white, and blue. But, uh, just a celebration of diversity, you know? I think it all comes together. You have these disparate parts that the whole is more delicious and greater, you know, than, than the sum of its parts. Um, so I think that would be apt.

Uh, what am I wishing for? Yeah, I, I mean it, it relates a-again to the idea of, of Uh, celebrating and being curious about our differences with each other and trying to find the, our commonality, um, which is not hard to do, I, I don't think. Um- 

Yeah ... 

it has become hard to do. But, uh, I, I think when we start to think and appreciate and be curious about what we have in common with others, our, our humanity, our desires, uh, you know, our basic desires to love and be loved and, and, you know, to live in, in some level of security and stability and to connect with others, you know, I, I, I think that, uh, is really needed right now and, um, you know, I, I think that's when we're at our happiest and most productive, you know, when we can connect with others and do things with others and, and collaborate with them.

So that would be my wish for the country. 

All right. I think it's a good wish. So out of curiosity, is there a, in the Chinese, uh, culture, is there a particular thing that one gets, one gets on their birthday? Like, uh, like is it a, is it a treat like cake or is it ... Do you know, is it something else? 

Yeah. I, I don't think there is one traditional thing, which is- 

Okay

interesting 'cause there are so many Chinese traditions and there, for every, there's very specific holidays where you have very specific observances. Sure. I don't think they actually make as big a deal of birthdays as they do in the West, and maybe that's sort of an individual versus collectivism, a more collectivist culture- Yes

myth. So- 

Yeah ... 

a lot of the holidays are about offering respect to ancestors, frankly. 

Well, inter- that's interesting, yeah. So, uh, I, I've, uh, you know, when I first started asking this question, I was ... I, I came at it from thinking everyone loves cake because, hey, I love cake, which is a little bit of the project is to open up our awareness- Yeah

that not everyone likes what you like, you know? Like is we all have different, different, uh, taste buds and preferences and all that good stuff like that. So, so we'll round out our chat here, uh, with, uh, this question. I recently chatted with Shannon from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and his question to you, Nelson, is this: "What is something you've read or heard that you hope that almost everyone else understood or knew about?"

Yeah. I, I recently, for a project that I'm working on, I, I recently reread parts of a Michael Lewis book called "The Undoing Project." Okay. And it's, it's a weird title that is not actually that appealing, but the, you know, I'm a huge fan of Michael Lewis as, as most people are. Yeah. Sure, 

yeah. 

And A lot of what he writes about in, you know, like Moneyball is the most famous.

You know, he, he writes about the inherent human biases that we have. You know, somebody doesn't look like the typical image of a, a baseball player or a basketball player, you know, like the, not the right race or not the right look or the body type or whatever, you know. And, um, "The Undoing Project" is sort of a continuation of that theme, you know.

Um, and it, it looks at these two behavioral economists. One of them is Daniel Kahneman and- 

Okay ... 

is Dan Ariely, I think is his collaborator. I, I, you'd have to double, double-check on it. But they both really looked at the, these, um, these inherent biases that humans are incredibly susceptible to. It, it's, it's useful to have these sort of rules of thumb and to have these, like, quick interpretations of things, but they often, you know, uh, they, they often are incorrect and, and, and can lead to, you know, real big errors, uh, of judgment that can be really, um, counterproductive, you know, and destructive in, in, in some cases.

So in, in "The Undoing Project" ref-refers to a couple thing, like, uh, their friendship that came undone for some weird reasons, but it also refers to their idea of like, I, I think, of, of their undoing this idea that humans are inherently rational and act in rational ways, right? Um, and, and so I, I think, I think it's really valuable for people to understand that, you know, i- both in the big picture that, like, humans are not rational, and w- in your dealings with other people, like your, even people that you're close to.

Like, we all have these inherent biases that are really hard to, uh, really hard to give up, you know, or be convinced of otherwise. And so n- some, in some cases, you have to accept that people are gonna have these biases and, and, and maybe if you can change it, like, you can only kinda chip away at it slowly over time.

Um, but, but to be aware in our own lives of the biases that we might, might have and, uh, you know, also maybe to show some grace for, like, the people, the biases that other people have and, and know that, you know, there, there's reasons why they might not be doing something that is logical, you know, and to kind of understand and appreciate that, so.

I love that. You know, I- we, we certainly do have Biases that w-w- that go into almost everything. When I rode a-- w-when I rode my bike across the country, you know, I went into states that I had never been to, and some massively huge states like Montana and Wyoming, which I've shared in the past here on this series, and there were really was, like, no one around.

And, you know, and this is coming from New Jersey, which is the most densely populated state, and like, obviously right next to New York City, the biggest city in, in America. So the... If, if, if your whole lived experience is this part of the world, New York, New Jersey, you're, you're gonna come out of it with, uh, different types of emotional experiences and lived experiences and biases.

I compare it to if you lived out in rural Montana, where you, you couldn't even see your neighbor. You know, you like, you live on a ranch, and you just... This is all you saw. And, um, you know, it's, um, you know, for me, going through that experience, kinda doing that trip really did underscore that, um, we, um, we all have our own lived experiences, and, uh, to appreciate th-that w-we do, and we all come in it, into any type of relationship or any type of moment with a bias.

Uh, and sometimes it's we're aware of it, and sometimes it's unconscious, and, um, and to give each other a bit of grace as we try to navigate this thing called life and figure it all out. So, uh, yeah. Well, I, I'm gonna check, I'm gonna check out this project, and I'll put a link to it w-well, so other people can also investigate it further.

So here, um, here's your opportunity though, Nelson, to ask a question of the next person I chat with. 

Yep. Yep. I thought about this a little bit beforehand, knowing that's something you do. Uh, and for me as a... I, I'm a huge consumer of media, you know, whether it's movies or books, magazines, podcasts. So... And I was trying to tie it into a little bit to something, you know, America related or themed.

So my question for the next, uh, interview subject is what subject do you wish that, uh, the documentarian Ken Burns would do as-- would, would cover as his next subject? 

Ah, okay. 

Yeah. All right. So he's obviously known for, like, baseball and jazz and the Civil War. I, I guess baseball and the Civil War are probably the most famous, but he's obviously been a huge chronicler of, you know, very specifically American pieces of history and institutions.

Um, and so I'd be curious what, you know, what people would most wanna know more about or, or feel like would be most interesting to really delve deep, um, you know, and then past maybe there's some of their common perceptions- Yeah ... of some bit of something American, very specifically American, uh, you know, that they haven't seen yet.

Very cool. Well, I'll definitely ask the next person I chat with in this series. You 

can, you can rephrase it 'cause like I don't think I- 

No problem. Uh, but, um, I, I'm, I'm intrigued about, um, yeah, the answers we're gonna get with this one. So I love it. I love the question. So Nelson, thanks for joining me on A Perfectly Imperfect Union and all the work that you're doing to help us become just that, a little perfectly imperfect.

And I appreciate the ripple effect you're putting into the world. So, um, again, thanks for being here. Thanks for joining me. 

Yeah. No, I, I really enjoy talking about this and thinking about these topics and, and, uh, and think you're doing really a wonderful project. 

Ah, thank you, sir. Be well. Stay cool. 

All right, you too.

Take care.

I had the opportunity to meet Nelson in person at a networking event. One of the things I'm trying to do this year is to get out with people more, again, in real life. And it was hosted by one of our fellow friends, Ramon Ray, who is a super energetic guy. And there was something about Nelson that made me want to talk to him more.

So I'm so thankful that he joined us here on our Perfectly Imperfect series. And I love his question at the end. So how would you answer it? What would you tell Ken Burns he should do his next documentary series on? Let me know in the comments. And I hope you'll check out the next episode of Whole Again.

And of course, continue listening in to the rest of our series here on A Perfectly Imperfect Union, Reflections as America Celebrates Year 250. But until then, let's remember to celebrate our scars as golden symbols of our strength and resilience. And don't forget to have fun storming the castle.

And if you wish to learn more about creating beautiful ripples and how to prevent a bad moment from turning into a bad day, please visit my website, MichaelOBrienShift.com and sign up for my newsletter called The Ripple Effect. And join us each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday here at Whole Again, and discover how you can heal, grow, and become more resilient, and celebrate our scars as golden symbols of strength and resilience.

Until then, remember, you can always come back to your breath. You've got this, and

Key Takeaways

Nelson Wang believes America's strength comes from being stronger for differences rather than weaker because of them, a perspective shaped by his daily observations in New York City.
Nelson's father fled Shanghai for Hong Kong ahead of the Cultural Revolution and eventually built a new life in America, where Nelson became the first family member to be born.
The Whole Again Podcast airs regular mindfulness content on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, with a special series called A Perfectly Imperfect Union running between May and October featuring reflections on America at 250.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Nelson Wang?

Nelson Wang is a New York Knicks fan interviewed in the latest episode of A Perfectly Imperfect Union series, speaking about America at 250.

What is Nelson's family background?

Nelson's father fled Shanghai for Hong Kong ahead of the Cultural Revolution and eventually built a new life in America, where Nelson was the first family member to be born.

When does A Perfectly Imperfect Union air?

The series airs every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday between May and October.

What question does Nelson pose to the next guest?

Nelson asks what subject the next guest wishes documentarian Ken Burns would tackle next.