

Escape From Plan A
Escape From Plan A
Escape From Plan A is an ongoing discussion of life and politics in America from the perspective of Asian people living here.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jun 5, 2025 • 1h 20min
Ep. 606: Asia's Utopian Tech Futurism (ft. John Pang)
John Pang joins Teen to discuss the contrast between America's dark vision of tech leading us into a dystopain near-future, while Asia dreams of a tech utopia. And theories on why China is building data centers in space.
Part 1 of 2.
To get access to bonus episodes: patreon.com/planamag

May 18, 2025 • 1h 2min
Ep. 604: Taiwan's Rootless Cosmopolitans (ft. Angelica Oung)
Angelica Oung joins Teen from Taipei to talk about perfect bilingualism, wayward Taiwanese politics, and Noah Smith's weaboo fixations.
Pt. 1 of 2
Bonus episodes: patreon.com/planamag

May 11, 2025 • 1h 2min
Ep. 602: Father-Mothers (ft. Shan)
Shan and Teen talk about Evgenia Kovda's epic multi-day Twitter rant against stunted American adults who refuse to grow up, have children, and become 'tethered to life'. Do only parents experience the primal source of love? Can only parents be trusted to save the world? Why is the Pope an unmarried, childless bachelor?
A married couple tackles these question.
Pt. 1 of 2
For bonus episodes: patreon.com/planamag

May 6, 2025 • 1h 5min
Ep. 600: So How Did Moving To China Go? (ft Q Anthony Ali)
Q Anthony Ali joins Teen from Tianjin to talk about leaving Toronto, starting a new chapter in life in China, and the small things about adjusting to life in China.
Pt 1 of 2
To access bonus pods: patreon.com/planamag

Apr 25, 2025 • 1h 2min
Ep. 597: The Dog-Eat-Dog World (ft. CS Taniguchi)
CS Taniguchi joins Teen to talk about trying to live your best life in an objectively bad era.
Part 1 of 2
To get access to Part 2 and all bonus episodes: patreon.com/planamag

Apr 15, 2025 • 1h 8min
Ep. 595: The Asian American-ness of Jewish Movies (ft. Trevor Beaulieu)
Trevor joins Jess and Teen to follow up on the discussion of Jewish American culture and its under-appreciated impact on American culture overall (see ep. 586). This time with a focus on the films 'Annie Hall' and 'Quiz Show' and how the Asian American experience echoes these earlier works, but in ways that don't often get expressed in Asian American culture.
Pt 1 of 2
To get access to pt 2 and bonus episodes: patreon.com/planamag

Apr 8, 2025 • 35min
Ep. 593: L-Day Has Cometh (ft. Mike)
Mike joins Teen to break down last week's "Liberation Day" against the whole world, the stock market meltdown, and what kind of sense can be made of what seems to be economic seppuku by the United States. What does any of this shit mean?
Part 1 of 2
To access bonus pods: patreon.com/planamag

Mar 29, 2025 • 56min
Ep. 591: People Are Just Bugging Out (ft. Mike)
Mike joins Teen to talk about figuring out an alternative to the career-family path, people just cracking under the pressure, and The White Lotus.
Part 1 of 2.
For access to bonus episodes: patreon.com/planamag

Mar 18, 2025 • 1h 26min
Ep. 590: Is China Switching to Offense? (ft. John Pang)
John Pang joins Teen to talk about Trump's escalating trade war with China, and why we in America may have grown complacent with China only playing defense i.e. responding in kind and proportion to American aggression. Is it possible that era of Chinese conservatism is over, and that we could see China taking the tempo of the fight and switching to offense? What could China do to us?
See Teen's related article on Substack here: https://interarma.substack.com/p/scott-bessents-coming-war-against?r=6pahq
To support Plan A and get access to bonus episodes and the Discord community: patreon.com/planamag

Mar 10, 2025 • 1h 4min
Ep. 588: Privatization and the Collapse of Higher Education (ft. Chong and Prof Fred)
Prof Fred Lee and Chong join Teen to talk about the state of higher education, why universities are bloated with administrators but short on full time professors and instructors, and the way college and grad/professional programs have become finishing schools to sell oneself into the corporate market.
Part 1 of 2
To access Part 2 and all bonus episodes: patreon.com/planamag


