They Call Us Bruce 195: They Call Us Shib Sibs

Jeff Yang and Phil Yu present an unfiltered conversation about what's happening in Asian America.



What's up, podcast listeners? We've got another episode of our podcast They Call Us Bruce. (Almost) each week, my good friend, writer/columnist Jeff Yang and I host an unfiltered conversation about what's happening in Asian America, with a strong focus on media, entertainment and popular culture.

In this episode, we welcome the awesome sibling duo Alex and Maia Shibutani, two-time Olympic medalist ice dancers and authors of the children's picture book Amazing: Asian American and Pacific Islanders Who Inspire Us All. They discuss their unique journey growing up as brother/sister teammates on the ice, their evolution as role models and community advocates, and The Good, The Bad, and The WTF of working with your sibling.

Maia and Alex Shibutani win first U.S. ice dancing title

"Shib Sibs" take gold at the 2016 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.



On Saturday at the 2016 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in St. Paul, Minnesota, siblings Maia and Alex Shibutani won their first U.S. ice dance title, besting defending champs Madison Chock and Evan Bates.

Shibutani siblings capture ice dancing gold medal at U.S. Championships at Xcel

Performing their free skate to Coldplay's "Fix You," the five-time medalists finally broke through and nabbed gold with a final score of 190.14. Chock and Bates finished second with 186.93.

Here's video of their rousing, gold-winning performance:

The Shib Sibs are Sochi-bound

Brother-and-sister ice dance pair Alex and Maia Shibutani earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic team



Snubs aside, a big congratulations to the folks earned themselves a spot on the U.S Olympic figure skating team, including two of my favorites, brother-and-sister ice dance pair Alex and Maia Shibutani, aka the "Shib Sibs." The pair brought down the house and took the bronze medal with their Michael Jackson-themed free skate on Saturday at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

Here's video of the performance that sent them Sochi-bound: