JoySauce

I’m Jonathan Sposato, the creator of Joy Sauce, an innovative entertainment platform designed for American Asians. Our platform features original dramatic series, engaging reality shows, well-crafted articles, podcasts, and selected content from other creators. My background is half-Chinese and half-Korean, and yes, I have an Italian surname, which can be a bit puzzling (I'll explain that later). As I grew up in the U.S., I often noticed a lack of representation for people like me on television. When I did see Asian faces, they were typically cast as servants, villains, or the punchline of a joke. This inspired me to take action and be part of the change. Many other Asian Americans are also working towards this goal, and together we can make a bigger impact. I believe our community is filled with joy, and Joy Sauce aims to create a platform where we can celebrate our happiness and strength. I’m convinced that showcasing powerful AAPI imagery can help shift the narrative and challenge existing stereotypes.

National, Asian

English

Online/Digital

Outlet metrics

Domain Authority

Ranking

Global

#486487

United States

#336346

Arts and Entertainment/Arts and Entertainment

#2542

Traffic sources

Monthly visitors

Articles

How tourism is destroying Asian countries, and what they're doing about it

1 day ago | joysauce.com | Anjana Pawa

Every year, Earth Day arrives with a renewed sense of urgency for many. For those of us in the Asian diaspora, the climate crisis no longer feels like a future threat. It’s already creating real-world impacts in the places that we call home. In the past few years, there has been a sharp rise in climate-fueled disasters across Asia—many unfolding in or near major tourist regions and impacting more than a billion people.
Dustin Nguyen on Vietnamese culture in 'The Accidental Getaway Driver'

2 days ago | joysauce.com | Teresa Tran

What happens when you take a real-life jailbreak and turn it into a film? You get a career-defining performance and a spotlight on the community that inspired it. In The Accidental Getaway Driver, veteran actor Dustin Nguyen delivers one of the most layered performances of his decades-spanning career.
Margaret Cho is the queer elder the world needs

5 days ago | joysauce.com | Lisa Kwon

Margaret Cho is not afraid to die. She has persisted as a prolific comedian, actor, writer, and recording artist, despite fervent Reagan-era conservatism, homophobia, nominal visibility of queer Asian Americans, the tech-ification of her hometown, and of course, two Trump administrations. She attributes her sense of security and confidence, despite it all, to her creative practice. “Creativity...has to be worshiped in a way,” Cho says. “I do shows every day. I practice music every day.
How Ang Lee's 'The Wedding Banquet' changed my life in high school

5 days ago | joysauce.com | Andy Crump

I was attending high school at the Cambridge School of Weston in tony Weston, Massachusetts, back in the early 2000s, when I saw The Wedding Banquet, Ang Lee’s sophomore film, for the first time; I haven’t been the same person since.
Natalie Nakase makes history as the first Asian American coach in the WNBA

6 days ago | joysauce.com | Helen Li

Natalie Nakase didn’t intend to be the first Asian American WNBA coach. But when the Golden State Valkyries announced their inaugural coaching selection for their new expansion team in October last year, she made history. Being the first means “setting the standard,” she tells JoySauce.
Chunks' Tiffany Ju is creating wearable joy, 'proudly' made in China

1 week ago | joysauce.com | Aleenah Ansari

If you’re looking for something to give your outfit a pop of color, or wear something that’ll start a conversation, accessories are the way to go. Whether it’s a butterfly bun topper, cloud-shaped claw clip, or horse girl barrette, Chunks is known for its whimsically and thoughtfully designed hair accessories that are proudly and responsibly made in China.
Ji-Young Yoo is a fighter and a lover in 'Freaky Tales'

1 week ago | joysauce.com | Zachary Lee

When directors create films that serve as “love letters” to their hometowns, I don’t expect sword-wielding basketball players and punk rock warriors to factor in their stories, but that’s just one of the ways directors Anna Boden’s and Ryan Fleck’s Freaky Tales, which premiered at Sundance in 2024 and was released in theaters earlier this month, distinguishes itself from other cinematic tributes.
Happy TLC New Year from the JoySauce team!

1 week ago | joysauce.com | Vandana Pawa

It's festival season in Southeast Asia—and we're not talking about Coachella. Thai, Lao, and Cambodian New Year is here, and with it comes days-long celebrations marking the change of seasons. In Thailand, the festival is referred to as Maha Songkran (meaning "grand passage"), while it's called Pi Mai Lao (meaning "Lao new year") in Laos and Choul Chnam Thmey (meaning "entering the new year") in Cambodia.
Vicky Nguyen’s ‘Boat Baby’ chronicles her life from refugee to network correspondent

1 week ago | joysauce.com | Samantha Pak

To many members of the public, Vicky Nguyen is a consumer investigative journalist for NBC News who they’ve seen on shows such as The Today Show, Nightly News with Lester Holt, and NBC News Now. Viewers know that she will let them know whether trendy, viral products are worth buying, why it’s beneficial to shop for some things in real life, and more. What they might not know is that Nguyen will also bring a butter knife to a trampoline non-fight.
The enormous IMAX intimacy of 'One to One: John & Yoko'

1 week ago | joysauce.com | Siddhant Adlakha

Lennon was once quoted as saying TV “replaced the fireplace when (he) was a child,” a sentiment MacDonald deploys early on, and treats as his North Star. His structure is straightforward: interspersed with footage from Lennon and Ono’s “One to One” benefit concert at Madison Square Garden in August 1972, the movie traces the duo’s move from London to New York the year prior, as well as their activism, museum installations, and other public performances with political overtones.