Escape From Plan A

There's a lot to be commended about the movie Hustlers, but as a source of information about the realities of the lives of sex workers, especially Asian sex workers, it has its blind spots and relies on old Hollywood tropes. Red Canary Song is a grassroots collective of Asian and migrant sex workers and allies, starting with the Chinese community of massage parlor workers in New York City. Its co-founder, Kate Zen, along with members Jia and Lillian, join Diana and Oxford to discuss important issues facing sex workers and their own experiences in the industry. Support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/planamag Red Canary Song's website: http://www.redcanarysong.org/ TWITTER: Kate: @katezenlove Diana: @discoveryduck Oxford: @JesuInToast INSTAGRAM: Red Canary Song: @redcanarysong Jia: @dominajia Lillian: @theparhelia REFERENCED RESOURCES: Kate's piece about 'Hustlers' on NBC News: https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/constance-wu-s-real-life-hustlers-inspiration-problem-model-minority-ncna1062741 Red Canary SCREAMS event on Nov. 2: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/red-canary-screams-tickets-73691847299 Instagram for Kinkout Events on Nov. 2: @kinkoutevents SUBMISSIONS & COMMENTS: editor.planamag@gmail.com EFPA Opening Theme: "Fuck Out My Face" by Ayekay (open.spotify.com/artist/16zQKaDN5XgHAhfOJHTigJ)

Mark and Oxford put on their soccer pundit hats to diagnose just what the hell is wrong with the US men's soccer team, as well as Tottenham Hotspur (their very recent demolition of Red Star Belgrade notwithstanding). Some ideas thrown around include national arrogance (USMNT) and the perils of overachieving in the Champions League last season (Tottenham). *This is a bonus episode for Patreon subscribers. To subscribe, please go to: www.patreon.com/planamag TWITTER: Oxford (@JesuInToast) Mark (@snbatman) REFERENCED RESOURCES: US Soccer Is Neglecting Latino Talent—And It Shows: https://www.thenation.com/article/us-soccer-latino-neglect/ SUBMISSIONS & COMMENTS: editor.planamag@gmail.com EFPA Opening Theme: "Fuck Out My Face" by Ayekay (open.spotify.com/artist/16zQKaDN5XgHAhfOJHTigJ)

It's been about 2 years since Oxford published his article, "What If Asian American Men Fall To The Alt-Right?" He, Jess, and Teen get together to talk about what has changed in these two years with respect to what the new forbidden topics in Asian America are, and why we're so tired of the usual Stinky Lunch and Yellow Fever thinkpieces. Also, they talk about Reddit's obsession with Hong Kong and why that site's reaction is really about American self-esteem. Support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/planamag TWITTER: Jess (@cogitatotomato) Oxford (@JesuInToast) Teen (@mont_jiang) REFERENCED RESOURCES: What If Asian American Fall To The Alt-Right? https://planamag.com/what-if-asian-american-men-fall-to-the-alt-right-3b392495786 Jenn Fang's negative reaction to Oxford's article about alt-right: https://imgur.com/a/qeaEwRk SUBMISSIONS & COMMENTS: editor.planamag@gmail.com EFPA Opening Theme: "Fuck Out My Face" by Ayekay (open.spotify.com/artist/16zQKaDN5XgHAhfOJHTigJ)

Plan A's own Diana is a prolific comedian these days, but it took her a while to get into the field, even though she's a natural. Oxford interviews Diana to get a bit of her life story and they discuss why young outspoken children turn quiet and uncertain, the racial challenges of young Asian American comics, and more. *This is a bonus episode for Patreon subscribers. To subscribe, please go to: www.patreon.com/planamag TWITTER: Diana (@discoveryduck) Oxford (@JesuInToast) SUBMISSIONS & COMMENTS: editor.planamag@gmail.com EFPA Opening Theme: "Fuck Out My Face" by Ayekay (open.spotify.com/artist/16zQKaDN5XgHAhfOJHTigJ)

Popular terms like "intersectionality" and other idealistic words are thrown around in political circles, but they're often covers for more specific personal grievances. Jess and Diana talk about how these grievances should be able to stand on their own and how the lack of honesty makes things worse. This applies in particular to the familiar gender fights within Asian America. Support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/planamag TWITTER: Diana (@discoveryduck) Jess (@cogitatotomato) SUBMISSIONS & COMMENTS: editor.planamag@gmail.com EFPA Opening Theme: "Fuck Out My Face" by Ayekay (open.spotify.com/artist/16zQKaDN5XgHAhfOJHTigJ)

In this lighter bonus episode, Oxford and Mark take turns revealing the bad movies they secretly and sinfully love. As a preview, here are some of their choices: Alien 3, Best of the Best, Waterworld, and Superman IV. Do you agree with their choices and will you be hurling pies at these fools? *This is a bonus episode for Patreon subscribers. To subscribe, please go to: www.patreon.com/planamag TWITTER: Oxford (@JesuInToast) Mark (@snbatman) SUBMISSIONS & COMMENTS: editor.planamag@gmail.com EFPA Opening Theme: "Fuck Out My Face" by Ayekay (open.spotify.com/artist/16zQKaDN5XgHAhfOJHTigJ)

Diana, returning guest Bryant, Teen and Mark have a long discussion about the model minority myth (MMM). Do concepts like racial melancholia and racial dissociation contribute to the confused understanding of what exactly the MMM is and did white people incept them into our minds? How does it act differently as an interracial force, Asian used against Blacks, and as an intraracial one, recent Black immigrants against ADOS. TWITTER: Diana (@discoveryduck) Bryant (@mfbt) Teen (@mont_jiang) Mark(@snbatman) REFERENCED RESOURCES: Racial Melancholia, Racial Dissociation On the Social and Psychic Lives of Asian Americans: https://www.dukeupress.edu/racial-melancholia-racial-dissociation SUBMISSIONS & COMMENTS: editor.planamag@gmail.com EFPA Opening Theme: "Fuck Out My Face" by Ayekay (open.spotify.com/artist/16zQKaDN5XgHAhfOJHTigJ)

Jess and Teen dig a little deeper into what we mean when we say 'assimilation' and 'whiteness.' What is a "white" person, really? Everyone's been kind of busy lately except for Teen, so that's why there have been so many episodes in a row with him on them. Teen apologizes profusely to fatigued listeners. *This is a bonus episode for Patreon subscribers. To subscribe, please go to: 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)

Hip hop artist 鍾翔宇 (Xiangyu) joins Teen to talk about his political awakening as an Asian American, and how that influenced his music. It's rare that Asian Americans produce art and political speech as confrontational as Xiangyu's, particularly in subverting American ideology and its official narrative regarding Asia. Escape From Plan A, of course, had to learn more about it. TWITTER: Teen (https://twitter.com/mont_jiang) Xiangyu (https://twitter.com/XiangyuRapper) REFERENCED RESOURCES: Bandcamp link: https://comradexiangyu.bandcamp.com/ YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/XYZrap "The Sorceress" (Guardian article on Soong Mei-Ling): https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/nov/05/china.jonathanfenby Xiangyu's book recommendations: William Blum - "Killing Hope" William Blum - "Rogue State" Mobo Gao - "Battle for China's Past" Dongping Han - "The Unknown Cultural Revolution" William Hinton - "Fanshen" Michael Parenti - "Against Empire" Michael Parenti - "Blackshirts and Reds" Michael Parenti - "Democracy for the Few" IF Stone - "Hidden History of the Korean War" SUBMISSIONS & COMMENTS: editor.planamag@gmail.com EFPA Opening Theme: Intro: "這不是請客吃飯" ("This isn't a Dinner Party") by 鍾翔宇 Outro: "夢" ("Dream") by 鍾翔宇

Diana, Teen and friend-of-the-pod Phan (Pod of Most Resistance) tackle Andrew Yang's racial politics, a discussion prompted by his conciliatory reaction to Shane Gillis's blatant anti-Asian racism. Was Yang -- who was specifically targeted by Gillis -- right to offer an olive branch? Did Yang simply make an unpopular choice, or was his appeasement a necessary part of his political strategy? TWITTER: Teen (@mont_jiang) Diana (@discoveryduck) Phan (@phannyfishcakes) REFERENCED RESOURCES: Phan's podcast on Andrew Yang's racial politics: https://www.podofmostresistance.com/episodes/andrew-yang-knows-a-lot-of-doctors Oxford Kondo's article "Andrew Yang's Chilling Message to Asian Americans": https://planamag.com/andrew-yangs-chilling-message-to-asian-americans-888bc4c9315c Andrew Yang discussing Gillis with CNN: https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2019/09/15/andrew-yang-intv-snl-racist-joke-comedians-sot-sotu-vpx.cnn Gillis's racist remarks: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/wjwxxw/heres-even-more-audio-of-shane-gillis-saturday-night-live-gleefully-saying-slurs SUBMISSIONS & COMMENTS: editor.planamag@gmail.com EFPA Opening Theme: "Fuck Out My Face" by Ayekay (open.spotify.com/artist/16zQKaDN5XgHAhfOJHTigJ)