Episode Details

Mia is the founder and host of Viet Boss Babe — a media and community platform for Vietnamese women, everywhere. From the diaspora to the homeland, Viet Boss Babe exists for the women who are rewriting what it means to be Vietnamese, on their own terms.

Bold, Vietlish, and unapologetic — this is the space for the stories that don't always make it to the main stage. The careers being built, the culture being carried, the conversations happening at the dinner table that never make it online.

Viet Boss Babe is where Vietnamese women come to be seen, heard, and celebrated.

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Welcome to a special collaborative series between The Vietnamese Podcast and Viet Boss Babe. In this premiere episode of "Đàn ông phải thế" (Men Must Be This Way), host Mia and Kenneth Nguyen pull back the curtain on the silent struggle of the modern Vietnamese man.

We explore the "Gia trưởng" (patriarchal) script that has governed Vietnamese households for centuries—the idea that a man is a provider, a protector, and above all, someone who never cries. But what happens when that script is torn up? In a world where women are dominating medical schools and out-earning their partners, where do men fit in?

In this episode, we tackle:

"Con trai không được khóc": The long-term psychological damage of suppressing male emotions and the fear that vulnerability will "rock the foundation" of the family.

The Norwegian Warning: A startling look at how men are being left behind in education, with 99% of medical students in some countries now being women.

The "Invisibility" of Women: Kenneth’s honest admission about being raised in a culture where women were socially invisible and the work required to break that conditioning.

The 4 Pillars of Radical Self-Love: Mia and Kenneth discuss why meditation, journaling, the gym, and affirmations are no longer "optional" for the modern man.

Learning from Gen Z: Why Kenneth believes 50-year-old men need to seek guidance from 30-year-olds to navigate modern relationship dynamics.