Escape From Plan A

Are there benefits to having grown up in a protective Asian enclave? Or is it better to face racial difficulties from a young age to learn how to fight them? Is it better to be a 2nd-gen or 1.5-gen Asian American? With many of the Plan A team members having travelled recently to Asia or Asian-populated parts of America — Teen to China, Jong to Korea, and Oxford to Los Angeles — these 3, along with Jess, discuss the “battle of the generations” among young Asians. Also, they talk about how Thanksgiving might be improved. Intro/Outro Song: "Whispers Wonder (Ruw's Underground Mashup)" by Shingo Nakamura ft. KaNa vs. A.M.R. ft. Ai Takekawa Intro Voice Track: San Gabriel Valley - Chinese Ethnoburbs (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JanYx8JiJvc&t=175s) *Correction: Oxford credited Ben Franklin with a quote he should've attributed to John Adams. TWITTER: Jess (@cogitatotomato) Teen (@mont_jiang) Jong (@calicoarse) Oxford (@oxford_kondo) REFERENCED RESOURCES: Karin Temerius's NYT article about racist uncles at Thanksgiving: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/18/opinion/thanksgiving-family-argue-chat-bot.html Richard Schiffman's NYT article about difficult convos at Thanksgiving: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/20/well/family/thanksgiving-partisan-politics-conversations-families.html Amy McCarthy's Eater article about racist relatives at Thanksgiving: https://www.eater.com/2018/11/20/18099157/thanksgiving-family-politics-argument

A formative article early in Plan A's history, written by contributor George Qiao, sought to topple the colonialist and racist conceptions of Asian American mental health, and get to the true roots of how mental health touches the Asian American community. Mark welcomes two new guests, Jay (a healthcare professional) and Kerrie (a healthcare graduate student ), and returning guest Diana, to explore this topic. Intro/Outro Song: "Come As You Are" by Yuna (Original by Nirvana) TWITTER: Mark(@snbatman) Diana (@discoveryduck) Jay (@LithiumMano) Kerrie (@getkerriedaway) REFERENCED RESOURCES: Why Are Asian American Kids Killing Themselves? George Qiao: https://planamag.com/why-are-asian-american-kids-killing-themselves-477a3f6ea3f2 A very brief history on "cultural bound syndromes": http://broughttolife.sciencemuseum.org.uk/broughttolife/techniques/shenjingshuairuo Critical perspectives of “Cultural Competency”: https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.0030294 Racial Identity Development - Summary on all the different models: https://studentdevelopmenttheory.wordpress.com/racial-identity-development/ Unnatural Causes - A movie regarding health outcomes related to racism: https://www.pbs.org/unnaturalcauses/explore_learn.htm The public reception of putative epigenetic mechanisms in the transgenerational effects of trauma: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6051458/ MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES: 1-877-990-8585, 24hr Asian LifeNet Hotline, Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean, Fujianese available. https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres http://www.befrienders.org/ (has global resources and hotlines) http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/GetHelp/LifelineChat.aspx http://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help-you [UK] https://www.lifeline.org.au/Get-Help/ [AU] http://www.crisistextline.org https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Mental-Health-Conditions/Related-Conditions/Risk-of-Suicide https://www.thetrevorproject.org http://youthspace.ca https://www.veteranscrisisline.net/

The term “internalized racism” gets thrown around a lot in Asian American online discussions, but what does it really mean? While the phenomenon of internalized racism is undoubtedly real and has been historically apparent across all racial (usually non-white) groups, would online discussions be more productive if we were more articulate and specific in what we are saying when we use this term? Oxford and Jess welcome two first-time guests, Diana (a stand-up comedian) and Ken (an engineer), in talking through this topic. Intro/Outro Song: "Answer: Love Myself" by BTS Intro Voice Track: Highlights from "Take Me Out" (Australian dating show), "Why is China furious at RiceGum?", "The Hangover," and Esther Ku's standup TWITTER: Oxford (@oxford_kondo) Jess (@cogitatotomato) Diana (@discoveryduck) REFERENCED RESOURCES: "What Is Internalized Racial Oppression and Why Don't We Study It?" by Dr. Karen Pyke: http://www.irows.ucr.edu/cd/courses/232/pyke/intracopp.pdf "Far Away From Me" by Jenny Zhang: http://www.rookiemag.com/2015/04/far-away-from-me/ Tim Chiou on dating as an Asian guy: http://www.thickdumplingskin.com/post/4719422289/tims-response

Show business, and creative industries in general, are difficult to be successful in for all people. But for minorities, there is an added burden of limited opportunities and community pressures to either not do it at all or be perfect at it. Jess hosts this discussion with two Asian women—Millie (a writer/director) and Quyen (an actress)—and an African American man—David (an actor/writer and first-time guest of this podcast)—to get a sense at what some minorities in America have done in the process of working in show business. Intro/Outro Song: "Make'em Laugh" from Singin' In The Rain TWITTER: Jess (@cogitatotomato) Millie (@onemillicentcho) Quyen (@_quyenngo) David (@an_publisher) REFERENCED RESOURCES: Man of the Hour Magazine (David's magazine): http://www.manofthehourmag.com/ Priska (the artist Millie is making a music video for): http://www.priskamusik.com/about/ Loa podcast (Quyen's podcast): https://www.loa.fm/

To celebrate Halloween, we're taking a break from our usual neurotic dissections of Asian America and just telling spooky and/or goofy stories! So get your toasted pumpkin seeds and Tootsie Rolls and join Teen, Mark, and Sammi as they swap tales. Intro/Outro Music: Theme from "The Omen" Intro Voice Track: Creepy Little Girl Talking & Singing / Halloween (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrH4jWchep8) TWITTER: Teen (@mont_jiang) Mark (@snbatman)

Kevin Xu of The Model Majority Podcast (modelmajoritypodcast.com) joins Oxford, Jess, and Teen to discuss his views on identity politic's effect on Asian Americans, as well as the importance of the coming November midterms. We try to avoid the standard civics class lecture, and try a more realistic assessment of liberal identity politics, Asian pet issues, and giving half a shit. The Model Majority Podcast is available on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, and basically wherever you get your podcasts your from. Intro/Outro Music: Rage Against the Machine (Bulls On Parade, Testify) Intro Voice Track: The Manchurian Candidate (2004)

"The Hate U Give" is the new movie starring Amandla Stenberg that's based on the bestselling YA novel about a Ferguson-like incident where a policeman kills an unarmed young black man. The movie has been universally acclaimed, but it is not without its faults, especially with regards to how much responsibility it places on the black community for police violence. Teen, Oxford, and Millie talk about the pros and cons of the movie and wonder if it will age as badly as another once-heralded race-conscious movie like "Crash." Intro/Outro Song: "God Bless The Dead" by 2Pac Intro Voice Track: Thug Life Tupac Shakur Speech HQ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2v4rWyCEeE) TWITTER: Teen (@mont_jiang) Oxford (@oxford_kondo) Millie (@onemillicentcho) REFERENCED RESOURCES: The National Review's disturbingly positive review of "The Hate U Give": https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/09/black-lives-matter-movie-stealth-conservatism/ Wesley Morris's article in NYT about art vs. wokeness: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/03/magazine/morality-social-justice-art-entertainment.html Edward Crawford, iconic Ferguson protestor, found dead: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ferguson-protester-edward-crawford-subject-iconic-photo-found-dead-n755401 The ending of "La Haine": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IHO1LzLgIg

The Immigrant Time Warp is the phenomenon in which immigrants are locked into the social norms of their native countries at the time they left. Thus, they remain cultural time capsules, often unable to evolve with either their new cultures or their old ones. T.K., creator of the popular website Ask A Korean, has written about this issue on his blog and joins Oxford and returning guest Quyen to talk more about this topic, especially how it affects the children of these immigrants. Intro/Outro Song: Theme from "Back To The Future" Intro Voice Track: Abe Simpson from The Simpsons episode "Much Apu About Nothing" TWITTER: T.K. (@askakorean) Oxford (@oxford_kondo) Quyen (@_quyenngo) REFERENCED RESOURCES: T.K.'s article about the Immigrant Time Warp: http://askakorean.blogspot.com/2010/09/mysteries-of-buffets-and-koreans.html Quyen's Vietnam podcast: https://www.loa.fm/ T.K.'s article in NY Mag about BTS, Blackpink, and Kpop: http://www.vulture.com/2018/08/bts-black-pink-and-the-continued-success-of-k-pop.html E. Alex Jung's article about being gay in Korea: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ealexjung/korean-american-asian-american

Oriana, Jess and Teen talk about Dr. Christine Blasey Ford's historic testimony against Brett Kavanaugh, and the disturbing connection it has with Amy Chua. Intro/Outro music: "Don't You Forget About Me" by Simple Minds Intro Voice Track: Dr. Christine Blasey Ford TWITTER: Jess (@cogitatotomato) Teen (@mont_jiang) REFERENCED RESOURCES David Chen's NYT article about Yale Law's obsession with power: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/26/nyregion/yale-touted-kavanaugh-now-comes-a-moment-of-reckoning.html Jess's referenced article about female bosses: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/09/the-queen-bee-in-the-corner-office/534213/

Twitter may be a mad circus, but there are still real people and real emotions powering that spectacle, which means important things can still be learned from it. What's the meaning behind Joshua Luna's Nerds of Color brouhaha involving (yet again) WMAF? Or the Celeste Ng and Louis Leung mess involving fake male allies and sock puppet accounts? And what does Black Twitter's drama over Briahna Joy Gray vs. Tariq Nasheed, as well as the recent outburst against DeRay McKesson in Ferguson, have to do with Asian Americans? Oxford, Teen, Mark, and Sammi try to make sense of all this (and Sammi wonders if she should indeed get a Twitter account). Intro/Outro Song: "Heart and Soul" by Hoagy Carmichael Intro Voice Track: Tarleton Gillespie on Custodians of the Internet (CivilServant Community Research Summit at MIT 2018) TWITTER: Teen (@mont_jiang) Oxford (@oxford_kondo) Mark (@snbatman) REFERENCED RESOURCES: Joshua Luna's "Reconciliasian" comic: https://twitter.com/Joshua_Luna/status/983778232918036481 Luna's tweetstorms about Nerds of Color incident: https://twitter.com/Joshua_Luna/status/1040650527879688192 Twitter jihad against Yowei Shaw: https://i.imgur.com/lhOkrMP.jpg Academia silencing Dr. Karen Pyke: https://i.imgur.com/agHy6Br.jpg https://i.imgur.com/nwquIya.jpg Celeste Ng's tweets about not being attracted to Asian men: https://i.imgur.com/XESIDpv.jpg https://i.imgur.com/JJsxoqY.jpg Bitch Magazine on why "To All The Boys I've Loved Before" doesn't over-glorify white men: https://www.bitchmedia.org/article/double-standards-in-to-all-the-boys-ive-loved-before Bitch Magazine on why "Master of None" does over-glorify white women: https://www.bitchmedia.org/article/aziz-ansari-white-feminism-south-asian-women Briahna Joy Gray's tweet putting class above race: https://twitter.com/briebriejoy/status/1041864771702808577 Tariq Nasheed's tweet about Briahna Joy Gray and white and Asian zaddies: https://twitter.com/tariqnasheed/status/1042487646671405056 Briahna Joy Gray's tweet about attacks on her interracial relationship with an Asian man: https://twitter.com/briebriejoy/status/1042132437847957507 Lana Condor's interview where she compares WMAF with LGBTQ rights: https://www.thecut.com/2018/08/interview-lana-condor-on-to-all-the-boys-ive-loved-before.html Pride Magazine slamming Lana Condor for comparing WMAF with LGBTQ rights: https://www.pride.com/movies/2018/8/28/lana-condor-dont-compare-lgbt-discrimination-interracial-dating Activist protests DeRay McKesson at Ferguson book signing event: https://bossip.com/1668127/yikes-watch-angry-ferguson-activist-crash-deray-mckessons-book-tour-sit-yo-lyin-self-down-you-stole-money-video/ DeRay McKesson's ties to Teach For America: https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/why-deray-mckessons-plan-baltimores-schools-looks-it-comes-right-out-teach Vanity Fair's profile on DeRay McKesson: https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2018/09/deray-mckessons-vest-is-forever