Escape From Plan A

"I'm just dating casually," "I'm not sure what I want," "I'm looking for my needs to be met." Teen and his wife Shan record a podcast about relationships, marriage, and moving past the perpetual adolescence of 'modernity.' Seeking to give love, not to receive. Fear as a sign of unreadiness. And the joys of recording while in bed. Get access to bonus pods and Discord chat by joining our patreon: patreon.com/planamag THEME MUSIC: EFPA Theme:
 "Escape From Plan A" by Ciel (@aerialist)

Part 1 of 2 John Pang returns to talk to Jess and Teen (on the eve of his 45th bday) to talk about how so many people based their lives around what amounts to a religion-like faith in financial markets, interpreting price signals as if they were the commands of a Higher Being. What happens when we discover this and lose faith in the Market God? What replaces it? Get access to bonus pods and Discord chat by joining our patreon: patreon.com/planamag THEME MUSIC: EFPA Theme:
 "Escape From Plan A" by Ciel (@aerialist)

Part 1 of 2 Mike, Steve and Teen chat on a Saturday evening about the state of AmeriCanada, and how national prosperity could be limited to the third generation out from the one that built it. There is the generation that built everything, the one that inherited it, and then the one that squanders it. They also talk about hyper-financialization and how the white collar clueless believe in market price signals while the men with power making decisions believe in vibes. Get access to bonus pods and Discord chat by joining our patreon: patreon.com/planamag THEME MUSIC: EFPA Theme:
 "Escape From Plan A" by Ciel (@aerialist)

Part 1 of 2 John Pang returns to talk with Jess and Teen about the buzzy term "liminal space" and the popular diaspora narrative of being "caught between cultures", "neither Asian enough or American enough", and the deep internal fallacies of this thinking about culture and identity. Get access to bonus pods and Discord chat by joining our patreon: patreon.com/planamag THEME MUSIC: EFPA Theme:
 "Escape From Plan A" by Ciel (@aerialist)

Jess and Teen originally intend to talk about bilculturalism but their shared worry over the state of affairs in America takes up the episode instead. From the inside of a country that is turning by the day more insular, self-righteous, divorced from reality, and violent both inside and out, Jess and Teen lay out a reasonable argument that worst-case scenarios need to be considered as realistic if not likely, and that worrying needs to give way to planning. Get access to bonus pods and Discord chat by joining our patreon: patreon.com/planamag THEME MUSIC: EFPA Theme:
 "Escape From Plan A" by Ciel (@aerialist)

Part 1 of 2 Mike, Steve and Teen reconvene to continue their discussion about the economic outlook, the bigger big picture, deep policy, and the whether Malaysia is a magical sweet spot for Chinese American expats. Get access to bonus pods and Discord chat by joining our patreon: patreon.com/planamag THEME MUSIC: EFPA Theme:
 "Escape From Plan A" by Ciel (@aerialist)

Mike, Steve, and Teen record a more laid-back pod that's all economics talk. We talk about rising mortgage rates, slumping home sales, stubbornly high prices, and predictions on next year. Get access to bonus pods and Discord chat by joining our patreon: https://patreon.com/planamag THEME MUSIC: EFPA Theme:
 "Escape From Plan A" by Ciel (@aerialist)

Chong and Teen spend a Thursday evening discussing a disturbing phenomenon both have run into online: self-described leftists who gleefully advocate for violence against Asian small business owners, on account of them being "petit bourgeois" and thus deserving to be wiped out in the fantasy revolution of these Basement Lenins. What a fucking joke, but the more they talk about it, the more they uncover disturbing patterns that parallel the worst sorts of racism we've seen in history. THEME MUSIC: EFPA Theme:
 "Escape From Plan A" by Ciel (@aerialist)

Teen joins Chong, Katrina and Hen to give our final answers on self-flagellating Asian people who blame Asians for anything and everything - a phenomenon the four of us have spent way too much of life pondering - just so that you the listener don't have to waste a minute more of your life wondering if these political fartguns are loaded with any actual ammunition. The answer, dear friends, is no. (Sorry for the delay in episodes, it's late summer and we're catching up on fun and recreation after a very busy July) THEME MUSIC: EFPA Theme:
 "Escape From Plan A" by Ciel (@aerialist)

On the night before the premiere of their short documentary I'm Not An Activist, which follows Dragon Combat Club—a grassroots self-defense organization in NYC, director Dan Chen and producer/editor Ien Chi joined Teen and Chris for an in-person podcast to discuss their reasons for making the documentary and what they hope to accomplish with it. THEME MUSIC: EFPA Theme:
 "Escape From Plan A" by Ciel (@aerialist)