Lu Duong: The Western Wing
It is probably no secret to you all that we (Harmony & Russell) enjoy watching television together (shhh…!).
After finishing over 21 seasons of Hell’s Kitchen, we moved on to prestige dramas like The Handmaid’s Tale and Mrs. America, and our current obsession, Succession… and often you’ll find references to these narratives percolate in conversations with our guests. We’re in the Golden Age of Television, but the real prototype of our time is the “Walk and Talk” by Aaron Sorkin, The West Wing, which is absolutely beloved. For many of our generation it was the show that precipitated an interest in sincere and earnest political activism.
Our guest today, Lu Q. Duong, is both a result of that movement and quite coincidentally an example.
Lu’s father, a French Vietnamese chef, was founder of a restaurant in DC that became the center for Republican Beltway work lunch.
It was not uncommon, for example, to see former GOP VP Dick Cheney eating there on any given day. Lu’s father remains a dynamic example of the immigrant experience: An indefatigable worker and idealist for the American way of life.
Lu is now Principal Director for the Tech and STEM Initiatives unit for The United Negro College Fund and a former communications lead at the very influential education initiative the Aspen Institute. He took his degree in Political Science at Virginia Commonwealth University and applied his expertise in growth and marketing to his interest in Ashtanga Yoga (in his spare time!).
He created Ashtanga: Parampara, an online magazine, which sought to build on and develop the stories told in Guy Donahaye’s book “Guruji” with long form interviews from other teachers within our global Ashtanga yoga community.
We think it’s fair to say, Lu is kind of a big deal (not to mention a incredibly talented, thoughtful, empathetic and all-round fabulous human being).
In today’s episode we asked Lu his professional opinion to the question... “What would you do with the Ashtanga Yoga brand?”
Listen along as he reluctantly explains his opinion from the perspective of a political marketing expert.
The Finding Harmony Podcast is hosted, edited and produced by Harmony Slater and co-hosted by Russell Case.
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Opening and closing music compliments of my dear friend teaching Ashtanga yoga in Eindhoven, Nick Evans, with his band “dawnSong” from the album “for Morgan.”
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