Oct 20

Oct 20 Episode #174: Ask vs. Guess Culture

Grace and Alvina talk about ask vs guess culture, including which category they fall under, and which way they were raised, as well as the pros and cons to both.

Don’t forget! You can now order Grace’s limited edition autographed 12" x 18" double-sided poster featuring artwork by Grace Lin commemorating the Newbery Award Centennial for The Horn Book Magazine. You can purchase them at the Eric Carle Museum and help support Everylibrary.org! Order HERE!

As usual, the Book Friends catch up with each other’s lives…. “How have you been?”

Alvina has been feeling especially busy with work. A little insomnia has helped her get ahead start on some work in the early hours of the morning. Grace has also been nose to the grindstone with work but is trying to make sure she still exercises everyday. She signed up for a 5K in December to stay motivated!

Ask vs. Guess Culture

Years ago on a trip to Hong Kong, Grace had initially heard of asking vs guessing culture but never quite got it. Recently, after listening to an episode of NPR’s Hidden Brain podcast, she started to understand the concept. The only way to know what someone else is thinking is to ask them! Some cultures are askers (China) and some cultures are guessers (Japan). This article in the Atlantic explains it best.

Grace and Alvina talk about what type they grow up with in their own families. Some times an asker can come across as rude, but being a guesser can make life a little more stressful. There are pros and cons to both!

Fortune Cookie Segment!

For today’s topic, Grace and Alvina wanted to share a few fun blog posts from Jennifer Laughran’s Literaticat blog! Someone wrote in asking:

Thinking in terms of Picture Books, Let's say that Candlewick, Chronicle, Abrams, Holiday House, and Little Brown were all kids at school. How would you describe them?

You can read the hilarious answers here!

Gratefuls!

Alvina is grateful for leftovers! Also, that Reddit had some helpful info on being autistic as an adult she knows was recently diagnosed. Grace is grateful that Hazel is growing up and starting to become more independent. (Even thought it makes her kind of melancholy too.)

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If you’re a patron, don’t forget to check out this week’s Random Questions feed! Authors Jasmine Warga and Grace Lin answer the random question What’s do you think is the closest thing to real magic? Click here to listen! If you’re not a patron already, join today!

Thank you for tuning in! Thank you to Hachette Audio, Little Brown Books for Young Readers, and Alex at Pacyworks Studio for producing and editing this podcast. Be sure to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and tell a friend about us. (Use the hashtag #bookfriendsforever.)

You can find Alvina @Planetalvina on Twitter and TikTok and @Alvinaling on Instagram
You can find Grace @Pacylin on Twitter and Instagram and @gracelinauthor on TikTok and @authorgracelin on Facebook

Order the 2022 WTMMTM CALENDAR: https://shop.carlemuseum.org/category/books/autographed-books/grace-lin