Escape From Plan A

There has been a huge rise in attacks and murders of Asian Americans throughout America, and what is especially thorny is that in many of the most visible cases the attackers are Black. This has raised the specter of the Los Angeles Riots and the nadir of Black-Asian relations in America. Ayekay and Teen try to carve out space to talk about the pain and shock we feel as Asians, and also how to avoid the worst instincts of further racializing these assaults and entering another bitter winter of minority-on-minority hate. Please support us on Patreon if you enjoyed this episode: www.patreon.com/planamag TWITTER: Teen (@mont_jiang) Austin(@ayekay) SUBMISSIONS & COMMENTS: editor.planamag@gmail.com EFPA Opening Theme: "Fuck Out My Face" by Ayekay (open.spotify.com/artist/16zQKaDN5XgHAhfOJHTigJ)

Jess and Teen start out talking about the gathering storm clouds over the economy, the obsolete white collar corporate culture from the 90's we still cling to, and what it's going to take to move past these obsolete notions of success and obligation. Please support us on Patreon if you enjoyed this episode: www.patreon.com/planamag TWITTER: Teen (@mont_jiang) Jess (@cogitatotomato) SUBMISSIONS & COMMENTS: editor.planamag@gmail.com EFPA Opening Theme: "Fuck Out My Face" by Ayekay (open.spotify.com/artist/16zQKaDN5XgHAhfOJHTigJ)

Old farts Adam and Filip talk about why the mainstream culture seems to refuse to let video games and eSports into the modern zeitgeist despite it's mass commercial appeal. One theory is that it's "Too Asian", and that might be keeping Asian Americans from leveling up their nascent culture with what's becoming increasingly normalized among the kids these days. Support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/planamag TWITTER: Adam (@snbatman) Filip (@filipgwriting) REFERENCED RESOURCES: - Daigo vs Justin Evo 2004: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzS96auqau0 - Why Black Men Love Dragon Ball Z: https://kotaku.com/why-black-men-love-dragon-ball-z-1820481429 - VICE - Millionaire Gaming Prodigies - Welcome to eSPORTS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UksbnbWjbPs - Video game revenue tops $43 billion in 2018, an 18% jump from 2017: https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/22/video-game-revenue-tops-43-billion-in-2018-an-18-jump-from-2017/?guccounter=1 Cover Image from Force Gaming - No One Respects Esports: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jICzlLi_nJk SUBMISSIONS & COMMENTS: editor.planamag@gmail.com EFPA Opening Theme: "Fuck Out My Face" by Ayekay (open.spotify.com/artist/16zQKaDN5XgHAhfOJHTigJ)

Ben Sin (senior tech editor @ XDA-Developers) joins Teen all the way from Hong Kong to talk about the consumer tech market in China, the effects of the Huawei sanctions and trade war, as well as bias in the Western tech media. Is the West actually the tech backwater? Who is cutting off whom in this tech schism? TWITTER: Ben Sin (@bencsin) Teen (@mont_jiang) SUBMISSIONS & COMMENTS: editor.planamag@gmail.com EFPA Opening Theme: "Fuck Out My Face" by Ayekay (open.spotify.com/artist/16zQKaDN5XgHAhfOJHTigJ)

Jess and Teen talk about Melvin Capital vs r/wallstreetbets. We talk about what is driving the stock of Gamestop up "to the moon," what the social significance of this is, and then things turn a bit grimmer as we turn to the bleak prospects within the Scam Economy. Consider supporting our Patreon so that Plan A can publish the work of writers who are shut out of the mainstream media because of their political views: www.patreon.com/planamag. Join the Patreon today! TWITTER: Teen (@mont_jiang) Jess (@cogitatotomato) SUBMISSIONS & COMMENTS: editor.planamag@gmail.com EFPA Opening Theme: "Fuck Out My Face" by Ayekay (open.spotify.com/artist/16zQKaDN5XgHAhfOJHTigJ)

By patron request, we are releasing Part 2 of Episode 232 as a free episode. Teen and Jess discuss the events of 1/6 and take a stab at what might be in store for the rest of 2021. Tl; dr -- get that bag, it's gonna be a bumpy ride. All bonus episodes are available for Plan A patrons at www.patreon.com/planamag. Join the Patreon today! CORRECTIONS: Gross domestic product (GDP) measures the value-add created by production of goods and services in a country. For more information, refer to Citations Needed Ep. 108: How GDP Fetishism Drives Climate Crisis and Inequality (citationsneeded.libsyn.com/episode-108…-inequality) TWITTER: Teen (@mont_jiang) Jess (@cogitatotomato) SUBMISSIONS & COMMENTS: editor.planamag@gmail.com EFPA Opening Theme: "Fuck Out My Face" by Ayekay (open.spotify.com/artist/16zQKaDN5XgHAhfOJHTigJ)

Teen and Jess discuss the events of 1/6 and take a stab at what might be in store for the rest of 2021. Tl; dr -- get that bag, it's gonna be a bumpy ride. This is Part 1 of the episode. Part 2 is available for Plan A patrons at www.patreon.com/planamag. Join the Patreon today! CORRECTIONS: Gross domestic product (GDP) measures the value-add created by production of goods and services in a country. For more information, refer to Citations Needed Ep. 108: How GDP Fetishism Drives Climate Crisis and Inequality (https://citationsneeded.libsyn.com/episode-108-how-gdp-fetishism-drives-climate-crisis-and-inequality) TWITTER: Teen (@mont_jiang) Jess (@cogitatotomato) SUBMISSIONS & COMMENTS: editor.planamag@gmail.com EFPA Opening Theme: "Fuck Out My Face" by Ayekay (open.spotify.com/artist/16zQKaDN5XgHAhfOJHTigJ)

Filip gets together with Jess to talk about his decision to leave the startup he cofounded: How it compares to working in big tech, what’s wrong with venture-backed startups today, and how Asian Americans can capitalize on the leverage they have to do more meaningful work in the world. Oh, and they shoot the shit on that whole Cyberpunk fiasco, and the problems with video game and movie production. If you’re not interested in video games, skip ahead to 16:20. TWITTER: Filip (@filipgwriting) Jess (@cogitatotomato) REFERENCED ARTICLES: America Has Central Planners. We Just Call Them 'Venture Capitalists.' - https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/12/wework-venture-capital-central-planning.html Cover Image from Katie Tiedrich on Twitter https://twitter.com/katietiedrich/status/1338675155409776643 SUBMISSIONS & COMMENTS: editor.planamag@gmail.com EFPA Opening Theme: "Fuck Out My Face" by Ayekay (open.spotify.com/artist/16zQKaDN5XgHAhfOJHTigJ)

Q, Elaine, and Gavin discuss chapters 1-5 of Settlers, by J. Sakai. We break down the book’s analysis of America’s white mythos and how it is still directly applicable to current events, such as the MAGA riots at the Capitol last Wednesday. It’s increasingly clear that the settler attitude Sakai described has not changed in 400 years and that continues to prescribe how white America makes its decisions. What happened at the capitol wasn’t a coup or insurrection. It didn’t challenge the class interests of power, the petit bourgeoisie just want their slice of the pie. Focusing only on the racism of the white working class is a shallow argument because it’s not the racism that’s the problem, it’s the class alliance underlying the racism. 

Settlers explains the desperation, fears and aspirations of the settler-aspiring class, why radical organizing tends to drift toward liberalism and the neocolonial policy of installing a petit bourgeoise ruling class as representatives of POC groups inside and outside the US. This includes every form of representation politics from representAZNs to Syngman Rhee. To understand what is happening, and for us to organize effectively, we need to understand real US history, not just the white revisionist version, or ethnic studies offshoots. Support us on Patreon if you enjoyed this episode. We'll be back this week with Bonus episodes: www.patreon.com/planamag REFERENCES: West Bank Robbery Podcast (https://west-bank-robbery.captivate.fm/) Interview with J Sakai by Decolo (https://soundcloud.com/decolo/j-sakai) SUBMISSIONS & COMMENTS: editor.planamag@gmail.com EFPA Opening Theme: "Fuck Out My Face" by Ayekay (open.spotify.com/artist/16zQKaDN5XgHAhfOJHTigJ)

After an extended hiatus because he ran out of things to say, Teen joins Diana to talk about Asian RadLibs vs. Tankies. Seems like everyone has something to say about the 'Tankies' these days. And it's mostly RadLibs doing the talking, on their vastly bigger platforms. But Tankies have social media esp Twitter as an outlet, where the playing field is more even. Teen and Diana do a deep dive into the psychology of RadLibs, the point that Tankies are trying to make, and trying to answer the question: how can one find actual pride in being an Asian American? Support us on Patreon if you enjoyed this episode: https://www.patreon.com/planamag SUBMISSIONS & COMMENTS: editor.planamag@gmail.com EFPA Opening Theme: "Fuck Out My Face" by Ayekay (open.spotify.com/artist/16zQKaDN5XgHAhfOJHTigJ)