Welcome to 'The Republic of Wasia'
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Why are Wasians gaining attention in 2026?
These days, it feels like the news changes every hour. Well, NPR has a podcast that does that too. NPR News Now brings you a fresh five-minute episode every hour of the day with the latest, most important headlines in episodes that are clear, fact-based, and easy to digest. Listen to NPR News Now on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. I was interviewing current undergraduate students and I asked them about how they identified themselves racially.
And one student, they said, I am a citizen of Waysha. And I had never heard that. And I was like, tell me more, tell me more.
I don't know about you, but when Alyssa Liu was doing her thing on that Olympic ice to MacArthur Park by Donna Summer... I couldn't escape the videos. I didn't want to escape the videos. And I still see her performance to Stateside by Pink Pantheress and Zara Larsson go viral.
She is such a phenomenon. Or, as Chapel Roan puts it, a feminine-omenon.
You're absolutely right. Mika Ellison, welcome to It's Been a Minute. Hi, Brittany. So Mika is actually an It's Been a Minute and Life Kit intern. Mika, are you an Alyssa Liu stan too?
Oh my God, yes, absolutely. I feel like she's really ushering in this new, more joyful era in figure skating. And she's also just kind of the people's princess, you know? 100%. But one thing about her sudden establishment is this like household name that was really interesting to me was that after she won the gold medal, I kept seeing all this discourse about her that didn't really have anything to do with her skating.
I am so happy that Gen Z has such great Weijian representation with Alyssa Liu being the prime example from the Olympics.
What does the term 'Waysian' mean and who does it describe?
Everybody knows this is the year of abundance for Waysians. We're already seeing it with Alyssa Liu and Eileen Gu at the Olympics.
Like I kept seeing all these posts that are like, it's Waysian winter or it's the Waysian century. And that feels like a continuation of something I've been picking up on social media for a while. Like this Waysian wave or Waysian fixation.
Waysian fixation. Tell me about that.
Can you explain what it is for people who don't know? Okay, yes. So for those who haven't heard, Waysians are people who are mixed white and Asian. And not everyone loves or uses that term. Some people say mixed Asian or part Asian, but I identify as Waysian.
Okay, so what about the fixation part?
So, Alyssa Liu is not the first person I've seen to be part of this, like, narrative of Weijian excellence. I feel like I've seen these, like, TikTok videos that have this royal tree of Weijia. Like, it's a real place.
Okay, guys, there's a lot of misunderstanding about who the royal family of Weijia is, so let me break it down for you. So, first off, we have the king. The king is obviously Keanu Reeves. Like, he's legend, been here forever.
There's a whole hierarchy, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, it's kind of a meme. And I feel like I can say this. Waysians are kind of hot right now.
2026 is going to be the year of Weijians. I can just feel it. First of all, every time I go out in public, people are asking me if I'm Weijian. That never used to happen. Why do I feel like a celebrity now just because I'm Weijian?
Like, some of our biggest stars right now are Weijian. Alyssa Liu, of course, who skated to a song by Leve, who is Icelandic and Chinese. And obviously, Hudson Williams, star of Heated Rivalry. He's Korean and white. And that show, by the way, had over 10 million viewers, which is a lot. That's like nearing network TV numbers for a shoestring budget streaming show about gay hockey players.
That is so wild.
Or like in music, Olivia Rodrigo is our Filipino Oasian princess and has the most streamed album by a female artist on Spotify. It's because of me. Sorry. It's because of me. It's because of me. And beyond them, Oasians are kind of everywhere in pop culture. TV shows like The Summer I Turned Pretty, Industry, The Pit, musicians Mitski and Michelle Zahner, the lead singer of Japanese Breakfast, are both also Oasian. And it's like, it's not just that there are a lot of Waysians coming up in the culture right now, usually Waysian kids born in the 1990s and 2000s, they're kind of coming of age.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Why are Wasians gaining attention in 2026?
0:00–2:01
2
What does the term 'Waysian' mean and who does it describe?
2:01–4:35
3
How have social media and memes influenced the Waysian identity?
4:35–8:41
4
What historical factors contributed to the rise of mixed-race Asians in America?
8:41–14:08
5
How did the Loving v. Virginia case impact interracial relationships?
14:08–19:43
6
What role does representation play for Waysians in popular culture?
19:43–25:45
7
How does the term 'Waysian' compare to previous labels like 'Hapa'?
25:45–28:27
8
What are the implications of the current Waysian craze in media?
28:27–28:27