In this first episode of the 2023 Firelight Chats season, Cameron Bairstow swung up to the Spacelab from down under to join Kane & Mocha by the fireside. Cam shared his stories about playing for a top-25 American college basketball team, being drafted into the NBA by the Chicago Bulls, representing his home country of Australia in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics, and his new ventures into the sports agency world. Cam also shares some of his preliminary thoughts and takeaways of the Asian basketball scene in general, and Taiwan's positioning and prospects more specifically.
As Kane & Cam chatted, friend of the Firelight Family, Alex Olin, sat at PodMic 3, working away on his laptop and chiming in whenever necessary. Towards the end of the episode, Cameron plays a quick Fire Lightning Round of randomly blistering questions.
Cameron Bairstow is a former professional basketball player, Olympian, University of New Mexico graduate, and is now heading a professional basketball agency called Rise Sports Management.

In this episode of Firelight Chats, Emily Haver directed her way to the Spacelab to chat theatre and more with Kane & Mocha by the fireside. In their third attempt to record a podcast, they aim to make every happy moment count, covering everything from her childhood memories in the States, high school life in China, discovering Wong Kar-Wai, college life in Seattle & studying abroad in Chengdu, returning after graduation to study at a prestigious theatre academy in Shanghai, and comparing life in the mainland with her current life in Taiwan.
As two star-crossed lovers of words, culture, language, and the arts, Kane digs deep and asks Emily about her favorite books, the topic of her graduate thesis, her writing process, her favorite playwrights, her experience producing and directing her own works, her inspirations, her favorite and not-so-favorite foods, her foreign language skills, and the things that otherwise drive her. At the end of the episode, she gives dates & times for her upcoming shows in Taipei and gives some words of comfort & advice to any young, aspiring playwrights facing an increasingly uncertain world.
Emily Haver is a Taipei, Seattle, and Shanghai-based actor, playwright, and director. She has her B.A. in Theatre and a minor in Chinese from Seattle University, and an M.A. in Intercultural Communication Studies at Shanghai Theatre Academy. She grew up in the Washington cities of Seattle and Renton and spent her teenage years living in southern China.

In this episode of Firelight Chats, Ruby Wu drafted her way to the Spacelab to chat architecture and more with Kane & Mocha by the fireside. In this wide ranging chat, Ruby shares stories of her educational journey, from attending Fu-Hsin Trade and Arts School, studying abroad for a year in South Carolina during high school, experiencing a Chinese-themed American prom, soccer & bloody accidents, playfully cheating every once in while, nap time and culture shocks, getting accepted to her 2nd choice college, stalking Frank Gehry, interning under slave labor conditions for an up-and-coming Japanese architect, falling head first into an escalator, working in Beverly Hills for her first job, and blocking out everything else that no longer matters.
Kane and Ruby also talk about their confusion about Taiwanese units of measurement (坪) & Taiwanese laws governing responsibility in architecture, her battle with the architecture licensing exam, her worries about and dreams for the future, and their mutual love for MMA.
Ruby Wu is a 4th generation family member of a leading, family-run conglomerate in Taiwan. She is a graduate of the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), lives back in Taoyuan with her family, and is currently working for a small architecture firm in Taipei.

In this late-night episode of Firelight Chats, Hanif Wang enters a secret portal to the Spacelab to laugh a lot out loud with Kane & Mocha by the fireside. In this wide-ranging chat, Hanif shares stories about being an alien, attending a Harry Potter-ish boarding school in Darjeeling, constantly trying to make his mom proud, being the son of a mysterious king who may or may not have had ties to a Muslim warlord, working as a DJ in Kathmandu, playing an important role in two well-known films in Nepal (Kagbeni & Sano Sansar), earning 2 apples for his first paycheck in Taiwan, graduating from a prestigious MBA program, and working as a marketing manager for a tech/computer components company.
Kane & Hanif also engage in exploratory reconnoissance about the topics of religion, education, language, culture, travel, love, mountains versus beaches, and how to satisfy a deep hunger that drools throughout the night.
Hanif Wang is an ethnic Tibetan, Taiwanese citizen who was born in Nepal, went to high school in North India, and completed his undergraduate studies in Canada. Hanif also earned an IMBA from NCCU in Taiwan, where he has been living and working for the last 14 years.

In this episode of Firelight Chats, J Triangular rode the high speed rail directly to the Spacelab to chat art, music, film, love, family, education, activism, life, and death with Kane & Mocha by the fireside. Among many other things, Kane and J quickly connect on their mutual overlapping experiences in places (Colombia, Chile, Peru, Spain, Los Angeles, New York City, Taiwan, Korea, and more) and transcendent spaces (coffee and medicinal plants in Peru and Colombia).
J also shares stories about her educational journey around the world, finding her identity, her work with HIV/AIDS activism, organizing musical concerts around Latin America, doing an art residency & finding love in NYC, being a boundary pushing chameleon, making her home in Taiwan, her upcoming show on Oct 23rd with the Women Make Waves International Film Festival, and her upcoming feature film.
J Triangular is a Latinx artist, spiritual activist, independent curator, queer poet, photographer, DIY video artist, and experimental filmmaker. Originally from Colombia, J is a 2-time Taiwan Gold Card Holder and currently lives in Taoyuan with her partner An-An.

In this episode of Firelight Chats, Yi-Ping Lu danced her way to the Spacelab to chat cubanos and more with Kane & Mocha by the fireside. Yi-ping shares her stories about studying abroad in Missouri, Sweden, Washington state, and Virginia; her love of family, dancing, country music, and Latin culture; her Optional Practical Training (OPT) and food research time in Florida; her journey of running a F&B business in Taiwan; and her hopes and dreams for the future.
A few days after recording the podcast, Kane, Mocha, and Firelight Chats regular, Alex Olin, stopped by Yi-Ping’s shop to indulge in cubanos, tomato soup, and happy vigorous debate about fate and fortune telling. A small snippet is revealed at the very end of the podcast.
Yi-Ping is the founder of Chinita’s Cubano, a small Cuban sandwich shop in Taipei. Born and raised in a farm area of Taoyuan, Taiwan, Yi-Ping has studied abroad since the age of 15 and is a graduate of James Madison University.

In this episode of Firelight Chats, Michael McCreesh swung by the Spacelab to chat about travel, tourism, nature, and adventure with Kane & Mocha by the fireside. In this wide-ranging chat, Michael shares his stories about working for an eco-lodge in remote northwestern Australia, his favorite Parkbus destinations, the challenges and opportunities of living and working in Taiwan, his love of cycling and mountain biking, environmental policy, climate change, sustainable economic development, working on an AI startup project for the tourism industry, and the difficulty of juggling family life and completing a PhD at National Taiwan University.
At the end of episode, Kane challenges Michael to a fire-lightning round of questions, which leads to some pensive pauses, transformative insights, sweet reflections, and a few slightly uncontrollable laughs.
Michael McCreesh is an instructor at Ming Chuan University and the co-founder of Parkbus Taiwan, a transportation-only solution that connects city dwellers with some of the best natural areas in Taiwan. Originally from Toronto, Canada, Michael is now living in a suburb of Taipei with his Taiwanese wife, two kids, and a shiba inu.

In this episode of Firelight Chats, Alan Fai surfed into the Spacelab with mutual friend Alex Olin to chat with Kane & Mocha by the fireside. Besides delving deep and wide into the crypto, blockchain, NFT, DeFi, and Web3 ocean, they also paddle through a range of topics including their favorite projects, "x to earn" games, scarcity and utility, Pokemon regrets, Ponzi schemes, biggest losses, highest highs, mitigating risk, the beauty of youth, blockchain startups, venture capital, and the upcoming Ethereum Merge.
On the personal side, Alan also shares stories about working for Apple in China, coming from a political family in Taiwan, the family's wartime escape from the mainland via boat, his burgeoning interest in ESG, and his plans otherwise for the future. To bookend the episode, Kane suggests a name for Alan's first child and also reveals the ultimate truth about Satoshi Nakamoto.
Alan Fai is a crypto king of Taiwan, a graduate of Rutgers University, and a soon-to-be father. Alan currently works in a new role at Red Building Capital, a blockchain venture capital fund based in Taiwan. Alex Olin is originally from Colorado, lived and worked in China for 5 years as a professional basketball agent, and currently works out of Taiwan for the East Asia Super League (EASL).

In this episode of Firelight Chats, Curtis Bergh stopped by the Spacelab to chat about startups and much more with Kane and Mocha by the fireside. In addition to their deep grind into the startup ecosystems of Singapore and Taiwan, Curtis also shares his thoughts on everything from financing & fundraising, interesting founders and companies, the role of government, standouts in the ASEAN region, crypto and blockchain, key emerging industries, leadership, the importance of mindset, and getting back to the fundamentals.Besides business and entrepreneurism, this episode also includes an impromptu remembrance of 9/11, Northeastern University's famed Co-op program, and a story about a historic Model UN event. To cap off the episode, Curtis tells a true ghost story in the most polite and auspicious way possible.Curtis Bergh is the Director of the Singapore chapter of Startup Grind. Curtis was born in Frankfurt, Germany, grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, and has spent a total of 17 or so years in Asia. Curtis is a Taiwan Gold Card holder and hopes to continue his work in Taiwan helping businesses and founders grow, scale, and maximize their operations.

In this episode of Firelight Chats, Marcin Jerzewski swung by the Spacelab to visit Kane & Mocha on the day after Nancy Pelosi’s departure from Taiwan. With time ticking before Marcin’s next appointment, they dive deep into the contours of the most recent cross-straight tensions vis-à-vis the larger geopolitical landscape.
In this wide-ranging chat, Marcin also shares his thoughts about Taiwan’s democratic and military resilience, the current LGBTQIA+ situation, the importance of education, the need for diversification, and the folly of succumbing to overly alarmist and sensationalist narratives. Kane and Marcin wrap up the episode with a toast of ice cold boba and a promise to chat again.
Marcin Jerzewski is originally from Łódź, Poland. Among other important roles, Marcin heads the Taipei branch of the European Values Center for Security Policy, the first European think tank with legal and permanent presence in Taiwan.