

Escape From Plan A
Escape From Plan A Podcast by Plan A Magazine
Escape From Plan A Podcast
We also run an online magazine, Plan A. Visit us at the link below!
We also run an online magazine, Plan A. Visit us at the link below!
Episodes
Mentioned books

Sep 17, 2018 • 56min
Ep. 45: The A Is For Anger (Jess And Teen Get Pissed)
This is an episode we recorded a couple months back but didn't release. Jess and Teen were discussing the qipao prom photos -- something we're sure nobody wants to revisit. But instead of just the photos, we focused more on the huge media backlash against Asian Americans in the mainstream media, triggered by that most trivial of events: the viral tweet. Some lever must be turning these small things into big things. What can we meaningfully learn from this lever?
Intro Song: Intro to "Aggretsuko"
TWITTER
Teen (@mont_jiang)
Jess (@cogitato_tomato)

Sep 10, 2018 • 1h 13min
Ep. 44: The Curious Parallels in Black and Asian Media (ft. Trevor Beaulieu)
At last, the day has come! Long-time chum of Plan A, Trevor Beaulieu of the podcast Champagne Sharks, comes aboard as a guest to discuss the fascinating parallels in the black and Asian media/activist class, especially in how much they're governed by the laws of mainstream white liberalism. Trevor has also been a guest on leftist shows like Chapo Trap House and The Michael Brooks Show. He has also written for publications such as The Intercept. Jess, Teen, Mark, and Oxford join him on this episode.
Intro/Outro Song: "Here" by Ruby Ibarra
Intro Voice Track: Malcolm X on freedom, justice, and equality (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9i3v8MPzz-c)
TWITTER:
Trevor: @rickyrawls
Jess: @cogitatotomato
Teen: @mont_jiang
Mark: @snbatman
Oxford: @oxford_kondo
REFERENCED RESOURCES:
Trevor's article on The Intercept about Kaepernick: https://theintercept.com/2017/10/05/colin-kaepernick-national-anthem-protest-trump-nfl/
Trevor on Ep. 224 of Chapo Trap House: https://soundcloud.com/chapo-trap-house/episode-224-cortez-the-killer-feat-trevor-beaulieu-and-katherine-krueger-7218
Trevor on Ep. 52 of The Michael Brooks Show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9rpbVQCoqM
Champagne Sharks episode on Brookings Institute's study on black wealth: https://soundcloud.com/champagnesharks/cs-079-black-men-and-weath-study-feat-tommy-curry-drtjc-04012018
Champagne Sharks episode on Luvvie Ajayi: https://soundcloud.com/champagnesharks/cs-112-luvvie-ajayi-and-black-blackface-double-length-08262018
Slate's "The Waves" podcast on "To All The Boys I've Loved Before" (Plan A part at 17:00 mark): http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/doublex_gabfest/2018/08/the_waves_on_to_all_the_boys_i_ve_loved_before_slow_burn_and_peak_desirability.html
"Past, Present" podcast about alt-right's Asian fetish (Plan A part at 15:00 min mark): http://www.pastpresentpodcast.com/episodes/2018/1/15/episode-114-alt-right-asian-fetish-temporary-protected-status-and-raw-water
"American Born Chinese" by Gene Luen Yang: https://www.amazon.com/American-Born-Chinese-Gene-Luen/dp/0312384483
Oxford's article on "To All The Boys I've Loved Before": https://planamag.com/to-all-the-boys-i-ve-loved-before-has-creepy-racial-things-going-on-ad513e4dd470
"Dominate", a short story from The Root: https://www.theroot.com/dominate-1825451881
Jenny Han's NYT op-ed about Asian representation: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/17/opinion/sunday/crazy-rich-asians-movie-idol.html
Inkoo Kang's review on Slate of "To All The Boys I've Loved Before": https://slate.com/culture/2018/08/to-all-the-boys-ive-loved-before-movie-review-netflixs-new-rom-com-pales-next-to-crazy-rich-asians.html
Vox's review of "Sierra Burgess Is A Loser": https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/9/7/17830300/netflix-sierra-burgess-is-a-loser-review
The Toxic Drama on YA Twitter: http://www.vulture.com/2017/08/the-toxic-drama-of-ya-twitter.html
DeRay McKesson's essay on Storm: http://www.vulture.com/2018/09/i-was-raised-by-storm.html

Sep 4, 2018 • 58min
Ep. 43: 'Searching' For Representation of Neglected Asian Americans
In this grab bag of a Labor Day podcast, the trio of Oxford, Mark, and Sammi (a returning guest from Ep. 36: Difficulties in Asian Women-to-Women Dialogues About WMAF) go from lauding the new John Cho movie "Searching" to eventually getting fed up at how neglected poor Asian Americans are in our current social and political climate. Along the way, we diss the Racist OC Barbie Lawyer and #walkaway Youtube nano-celebrity, Zach Hing.
Intro/Outro Song: "Think (ft. Jay Park)" by Reddy
Intro Voice Track: John Cho on His Parents & New Movie "Searching" (Jimmy Kimmel Live!)
TWITTER:
Oxford (@oxford_kondo)
Mark (@snbatman)
REFERENCED RESOURCES:
Amy Yu abduction in Allentown, Pennsylvania: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2018/03/18/a-mom-suspected-her-teen-daughter-was-dating-a-45-year-old-police-found-them-together-in-mexico/?utm_term=.81cfa90fbac2
Abduction and murder of Yingying Zhang at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-met-chinese-scholar-ui-kidnapping-20180116-story.html
California Lawyer Makes Racially-Charged Comments Over ‘Crazy Rich Asians’: https://deadline.com/2018/09/crazy-rich-asians-searching-christina-ignatius-racist-orange-county-diversity-inclusion-asian-amerians-1202455928/
The Asian American Age (by Ross Douthat): https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/01/opinion/asian-american-harvard-lawsuit.html
The 9.9 Percent Is the New American Aristocracy: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/06/the-birth-of-a-new-american-aristocracy/559130/
Zach Hing's #walkaway story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTq-hkR-yAc
"Not My White Savior" by Julayne Lee: https://www.amazon.com/Not-My-White-Savior-Memoir/dp/1945572434
"The Hundred-Year Flood" by Matthew Salesses: https://www.amazon.com/Hundred-Year-Flood-Matthew-Salesses/dp/1477829547
"A Cruelty Special To Our Species: Poems" by Emily Yoon: https://www.amazon.com/Cruelty-Special-Our-Species-Poems/dp/0062843680
"My Year of Rest and Relaxation" by Ottessa Moshfegh: https://www.amazon.com/Year-Rest-Relaxation-Ottessa-Moshfegh/dp/0525522115

Aug 27, 2018 • 1h 1min
Ep. 42: Guys, How To Not Get Stuck In Anger?
Well this is timely! In the year that has come and gone since the start of Plan A, we’ve broached topics that have either been ignored or suppressed by the mainstream Asian American community. But it’s one thing to discuss them; it’s another to take positive actions to fix problems. So the question for discontent Asian American guys is: what steps are necessary to finally find a way out of the bog of anger that exists online and start improving our future? Oxford, Mark, Q, and Filip take a shot at answering this all-important question.
Intro Song: "Work (Instrumental)" by The Quiett
Intro Voice Track: Jeremy Lin's press conference, answering question by Kevin Kreider (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paSH0Ip9pcU)
TWITTER:
Oxford (@oxford_kondo)
Mark (@snbatman)
Q (@allyouneedis_q)
Filip (@filipgwriting)
REFERENCED RESOURCES:
Ivan Krastev on European Meritocracy: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/17/opinion/the-rise-and-fall-of-european-meritocracy.html
Hanh Nguyen's article on lack of Asian male characters in "To All The Boys I've Loved Before": https://www.indiewire.com/2018/08/to-all-the-boys-ive-loved-before-netflix-jenny-han-no-asian-male-love-interest-1201995975/
Vulture calls out "Master of None" for lack of non-white female love interests: http://www.vulture.com/2015/11/master-of-none-and-interracial-dating-on-tv.html
Why Are Brown Men So Infatuated With White Women Onscreen?: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/imransiddiquee/why-are-brown-men-so-infatuated-with-white-women-onscreen
Brown Men Have Reduced Brown Women To A Punchline: https://qz.com/india/1016554/aziz-ansari-hasan-minhaj-kumail-nanjiani-brown-actors-have-reduced-brown-women-to-a-punchline/
"Private Citizens" by Tony Tulathimutte: https://www.amazon.com/Private-Citizens-Novel-Tony-Tulathimutte/dp/0062399101
"The Dead Do Not Improve" by Jay Caspian Kang: https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Do-Not-Improve-Novel/dp/0307953890/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1535338166&sr=1-1&keywords=dead+do+not+improve
"The Hundred-Year Flood" by Matthew Salesses: https://www.amazon.com/Hundred-Year-Flood-Matthew-Salesses/dp/1477829547

Aug 20, 2018 • 1h 7min
Ep. 41: Can 'Crazy Rich Asians' Soften Plan A's Heart of Stone?
Almost all of Asian America has waited with bated breath for Crazy Rich Asians. Plan A has had its skepticism and doubt, but did the movie win them over and reveal that under the surface of every cynic is a romantic who yearns to believe again? Millicent (an NYC-based indie filmmaker) and Quyen (an LA-based activist and actress) join Oxford and Mark as special guests to discuss everything about Crazy Rich Asians, including expectations, emotional reactions, the portrayal of Asian men, the Awkwafina mini-controversy, and the issue of Henry Golding being cast as the male lead.
Intro/Outro Song: "Yellow" performed by Katherine Ho (originally by Coldplay)
TWITTER:
Millicent (@onemillicentcho)
Quyen (@_quyenngo)
Mark (@snbatman)
Oxford (@oxford_kondo)
REFERENCED RESOURCES:
Calling Bullshit on Henry Golding Casting Controversy: https://www.glamour.com/story/crazy-rich-asians-controversy
Dumbfoundead dunking on Hermit Hwarang: https://i.imgur.com/6HdcOcW.jpg
2019 HBO APA Visionaries Short Film Competition: https://www.hbovisionaries.com/
Quyen's Vietnam podcast: www.loa.fm

Aug 13, 2018 • 1h 5min
Ep. 40: Sarah Jeong Is A White Liberal Shield
Condemnation and defense of Sarah Jeong has fallen along the familiar fault lines of online culture. She has been portrayed as either a Pol Pot against white people or a Joan of Arc against racist and sexist trolls. But what if she is neither? Jess, Teen, and Oxford discuss how an old instance of performative wokeness (almost certainly intended in jest for a small media-class clique) has now been forcibly repackaged as a greater expression of minority, especially Asian American, anger. And who benefits the most from all this? The white liberal establishment, which not only gets to be seen promoting a woman of color, but also gets to extract a humble apology from her. Also, some football-bashing at the end.
Intro/Outro Song: "Over" by Epik High
Intro Voice Track: Malcolm X on white liberals (UC Berkeley 1963)
TWITTER:
Jess (@cogitatotomato)
Teen (@mont_jiang)
Oxford (@oxford_kondo)
REFERENCED RESOURCES:
Model Majority Podcast with Oxford Kondo: http://modelmajoritypodcast.com/oxford-kondo-plan-a-magazine-wmaf-aapi-gender/
NYT Fires Quinn Norton: https://www.wired.com/story/the-ny-times-fires-tech-writer-quinn-norton-and-its-complicated/
Teen's article on Sarah Jeong: https://planamag.com/the-problem-with-sarah-jeong-cd211de8838e
Mitch McConnell enlists wife Elaine Chao in 2014 re-election campaign on women's issues: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/14/us/politics/girding-for-a-fight-mcconnell-enlists-his-wife.html
Naomi Wu's account of incident with Vice and Sarah Jeong: https://medium.com/@therealsexycyborg/shenzhen-tech-girl-naomi-wu-my-experience-with-sarah-jeong-jason-koebler-and-vice-magazine-3f4a32fda9b5
Inkoo Kang defends Sarah Jeong: https://slate.com/culture/2018/08/the-ny-times-response-to-sarah-jeongs-controversial-tweets-blames-bigotry-on-many-sides.html
Inkoo Kang's podcast on Isle of Dogs: https://slate.com/culture/2018/03/wes-andersons-isle-of-dogs-reviewed-in-spoiler-filled-detail.html
Jessica Prois on Sarah Jeong and Asian American anger: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/sarah-jeong-new-york-times_us_5b64c745e4b0de86f4a16ae2
Zach Beauchamp defends Sarah Jeong: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/8/3/17648566/sarah-jeong-new-york-times-twitter-andrew-sullivan
Reihan Salam on the social perks of white-bashing: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/08/the-utility-of-white-bashing/566846/
Suey Park and #CancelColbert backlash: https://newrepublic.com/article/121861/suey-parkof-cancelcolbert-fame-has-stopped-fighting-twitter
College football coach says decline of football means decline of America: https://www.si.com/college-football/2018/07/18/north-carolina-head-coach-larry-fedora-says-game-under-attack

Aug 6, 2018 • 44min
Ep. 39: The Depression Of The Yappie
Jess, Mark, and Teen share their impressions of Wong Fu Production's new YouTube series "Yappie." The series explores the inner life of a well-to-do Asian American man in Southern California, and the cheery surface, there is an unmistakable undertone of the modern ennui and loneliness that pervades society. A somewhat more serious talk about depression and anxiety.
Intro Voice Track: Edward Norton's monologue on materialism from "Fight Club"
TWITTER:
Jess (@cogitatotomato)
Teen (@mont_jiang)
Mark (@snbatman)
REFERENCED RESOURCES:
Johann Hari's TED talk on the root causes of depression: https://www.ted.com/talks/johann_hari_everything_you_think_you_know_about_addiction_is_wrong

Jul 30, 2018 • 59min
Ep. 38: Fuck Hollywood, Watch Asian Cinema (ft. Cinema Escapist)
A vibrant film culture has existed in Asia for a long time, but only recently has it become so available to the rest of the world. For Asian Americans, Asian cinema offers an opportunity to learn about our ancestral homelands in a way that may have gotten lost in the immigration process. Joining Teen and Oxford are Anthony Kao and Richard Yu, the founders of Cinema Escapist. Theirs is a website dedicated to not only reviewing international cinema but placing it in the context of politics and culture. Together, they pick some of their favorite Asian movies and why people, especially Asian Americans, should watch them.
Intro/Outro Music: Theme from Tokyo Story
Intro Voice Track: Roger Ebert on Yasujiro Ozu's "Floating Weeds"
TWITTER:
Cinema Escapist (@cinemaescapist)
Teen (@mont_jiang)
Oxford (@oxford_kondo)
REFERENCED RESOURCES:
Richard's recs: Dying To Survive, Wolf Warrior 2, My Old Classmate
Anthony's recs: A Taxi Driver, American Dreams In China, Ode To My Father
Oxford's rec: Tokyo Story
Teen's rec: Black Coal Thin Ice
Other movies mentioned: Yiyi, May 18, Beijing Meets Seattle, Early Spring, Blind Shaft
BBC Interview with Richard Yu on "Dying To Survive": https://www.facebook.com/cinemaescapist/videos/2075601962656795
Teen's reviews on Cinema Escapist: https://www.cinemaescapist.com/author/teensheng/
FilmStruck: https://www.filmstruck.com/us/

Jul 23, 2018 • 1h 13min
Ep. 37: Do Asian Men Resent Asian Women's Success?
From Amy Tan to Michelle Kwan to Constance Wu, there are many Asian American women who have achieved great success and are upheld as leading figures of the community. But sometimes (and especially online), Asian male support is muted or reluctant. Is it resentment at seeing women in power at all? Or does it have anything to do with the feeling that only by closely allying with whiteness can Asian women succeed at the highest levels in America, thus leaving Asian men behind? Is that what’s behind some of the online harassment of Asian women by some Asian men? In this special-format podcast, Jess poses simple but direct questions for Teen, Oxford, and Jong to answer in hopes of further illuminating the Asian male perspective.
Intro/Outro Song: "Fighters ft. Matthew Santos" by Lupe Fiasco
Intro Voice Track: Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph's argument scene from "Bridesmaids"
TWITTER:
Jess (@cogitatotomato)
Teen (@mont_jiang)
Oxford (@oxford_kondo)
Jong (@coarsecourse)
REFERENCED RESOURCES:
Matthew De Starkey incident at UW-Whitewater: https://proasian888.wordpress.com/2018/07/13/matthew-de-starkey/
The Asian-American Gender Gap: http://benefsanem.blogspot.com/2010/11/asian-american-gender-gap.html
"Straight White Men" play on Broadway: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/18/magazine/young-jean-lees-unsafe-spaces.html
Chloe Kim and her Father are America’s Soft Power Nuke: https://planamag.com/chloe-kim-and-her-father-are-americas-soft-power-nuke-75df9fa2627a
William and Mary Univ. study on black women and Asian men's representation: https://www.wm.edu/news/stories/2015/study-finds-asian-men,-black-women-underrepresented-in-magazines123.php
Mark Tseng-Putterman's tweet attacking NPR's Yowei Shaw: https://i.imgur.com/lhOkrMP.jpg
The Slant newsletter criticizing Yowei Shaw: https://i.imgur.com/H7Hl0fW.jpg
Black woman's Instagram post re Michael B. Jordan and the race of his girlfriends: https://i.imgur.com/QX5vDi1.png
"Big Little Man" by Alex Tizon: https://www.amazon.com/Big-Little-Man-Search-Asian/dp/0547450486
"Everything I Never Told You" by Celeste Ng: https://www.amazon.com/Everything-I-Never-Told-You/dp/0143127551

Jul 16, 2018 • 1h 23min
Ep. 36: Difficulties In Asian Women-to-Women Dialogues About WMAF
From Natalie Tran's "White Male Asian Female" documentary to NYT's article "The Alt-Right's Asian Fetish" to the backlash against Chloe Bennet (born Chloe Wang) for dating Logan Paul, the topic of WMAF has been unavoidable as of late. It's often said that the issues of internalized racism involved in this topic are best addressed by and for Asian women. But what happens when Asian women run into brick walls when trying to talk to other Asian women about this, resulting in strained friendships or ostracization from activist circles? To shed more light on this are Jess, Christina, and special guest Sammi Lee, a student and Asian/LGBTQ activist in NYC (with Oxford in a producer role).
Intro/Outro Song: "Shut Up" by Stormzy
Intro Voice Track: Interview between Natalie Tran and Sar Satria from Natalie Tran's "White Male Asian Female" Youtube documentary
TWITTER:
Jess (@cogitatotomato)
REFERENCED RESOURCES:
"The Asian Mystique" by Sheridan Prasso: https://www.amazon.com/Asian-Mystique-Dragon-Ladies-Fantasies/dp/1586483943
"The Art of Cruelty" by Maggie Nelson: https://www.amazon.com/Art-Cruelty-Reckoning-Maggie-Nelson/dp/0393343146