TODOS Podcast · TODOS Mathematics for ALL

S4E9: Unfolding the Beauty of Math with David Masunaga

·1 hr 15 min·4 clips

Complex analysis from Alexandra Bello was the course that made David stay in mathematics.

TOTUS opens with a seasonal note that ties February to Black History Month, Valentine’s Day, and the show’s election season. The hosts explain that the month’s episodes are centered on visibility and hypervisibility in Asian American math education identity. They introduce David Masanaga as a math teacher in Hawaii and set up a conversation that feels personal right away. The episode moves through the educational relationships that shaped his sense of mathematics. A teacher with exceptional clarity helped him see what was happening at a deeper level. That experience kept him in complex analysis instead of pushing him away from the subject. He reflects on how much a teacher can alter a student’s trajectory. The conversation then turns to another formative geometry class and to Richard Lesch, whose teaching left a strong mark on him. One earlier geometry experience had gone badly when Lesch was away on sabbatical. When Masanaga retook the course with Lesch, the difference was immediate and hard to miss. The episode treats that shift not as a dramatic twist, but as a plain example of what strong teaching can do. Dick Lesch’s name comes up again through a chain of professional connection that surprises the hosts. The small-world feeling deepens when Diane Breyers enters the story. Masanaga describes her as another important influence in his career. The conversation uses these links to show how math education is often built through networks of people rather than isolated achievement. The hosts keep returning to the idea that teachers and students learn together. That idea becomes a quiet thread running through the whole episode. The show also brings in personal and cultural resonance near the end. Sherry shares that her grandmother was a picture bride, which opens a reflective connection between Japanese American history and David’s background. The ending lands with warmth and recognition rather than a tidy wrap-up. It leaves the sense that teaching, identity, and family history are braided together in the work of mathematics.

As heard by us

A grounded teacher story about identity, mentorship, and the value of clarity in math.

TOTUS uses election-season framing to open onto Asian American math education identity, then settles into David Masanaga's story of teaching, mentorship, and professional formation.

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Why you'd press play

Press play if you want a math story that feels personal, specific, and quietly revealing.

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