Time To Say Goodbye

Hello from Seoul (both real and fictional)!This week, we welcome our friend and K-drama expert Jenny Wang Medina back to the pod to discuss the new Netflix hit “Extraordinary Attorney Woo.” The legal-procedural K-drama follows an autistic attorney, Woo Young-woo, who joins the ranks of a high-powered law firm and quickly proves herself invaluable. It’s wholesome, marginally sea-themed, and set in a fantasy playground of the professional sphere. We discuss the hot-button issues in Korea that form the backdrop of the show, like children’s rights, Buddhism versus Christianity, North Korean defectors, and eminent domain, just to name a few. We reflect on the rise of multiculturalism and minority rights in Korean society, TV, and film, which has led to the increased visibility of people with disabilities. Woo has also sparked a specific discourse around the portrayal of its autistic protagonist. Will the show also inspire a generation of women lawyers to move to Korea, expecting a feminist haven, or convince Korean parents to ease up on their kids’ time at hagwons? Only time will tell. If you plan to watch the series, we should warn you that Jay drops a couple of pretty extreme spoilers towards the end of the ep!Later this week, we’ll be releasing a bonus recording of our book club with Lisa Hsiao Chen, author of “Activities of Daily Living,” for paid subscribers. We’ve also been using our TTSG Discord to plan subscriber meet-ups with Tammy in Seoul. If you’d like to join in, subscribe via Patreon or Substack. And you can always email us at timetosaygoodbyepod@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello from three time zones! This week, Tammy is joined by Debt Collective organizers Ann Larson and Eleni Schirmer to reflect on the movement that won historic relief from student debt. But first, we remember the great Barbara Ehrenreich, who passed last week. Ehrenreich was an author and activist best known for her bestselling book Nickel and Dimed, a hard-hitting yet beautifully written dive into the low-wage economy. She also made incredible contributions to leftist movements, from DSA to domestic workers, the Economic Hardship Reporting Project and In These Times, as well as her often-misunderstood warning about the “professional–managerial class.” And Ann reminds us that Ehrenreich wrote about more than just labor! In our main segment, we celebrate and dissect a rare victory on the left. Ann and Eleni talk about their personal journeys toward calling b******t on all kinds of debt—and trace Biden’s recent debt-cancellation announcement to its Occupy Wall Street origins and a decade of painstaking organizing. We reflect on the path forged by the Corinthian debt strikers, the public sector’s broader reliance on debt, the “proof of concept” in Biden’s nowhere-near-enough cancellation policy, and the way that framing debt as a shared economic condition opens up new organizing opportunities. (A real-life case study in solidarity on the basis of class!) Plus: how all of us can get involved to make the debt announcement a reality.Thanks for listening. Please subscribe and stay in touch via Patreon and Substack, email us at timetosaygoodbyepod@gmail.com, and follow us on Twitter! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello from Washington state! This week, we’re joined by Silky Shah, executive director of Detention Watch Network and repeat pod guest, to chat about immigration (and, briefly, Nathan Fielder’s bizarre new show, “The Rehearsal”). We start by diving into Caitlin Dickerson’s exhaustive report, in The Atlantic, on the Trump administration's family-separation policy. We reflect on the unique horrors of that period, while locating them in a longer history of cruelty toward immigrants, up to the present. Silky also outlines the current immigration landscape, including Biden’s continuation of Trump’s Title 42 policy (which blocks migration ostensibly on public-health grounds). She explains how the misguided theory of deterrence has governed immigration policy under both Democratic and Republican administrations, aided by skewed media narratives, and suggests what the immigrant-rights movement should do to prepare for the next mass-organizing moment. As always, please subscribe via Patreon and Substack to support the show and gain access to our Discord. Our global, 24/7 community of listeners is currently discussing Leo’s 21-year-old girlfriends, basketball, Seoul fashion, “The Rehearsal,” immigration policy, food in the PNW, and so much more. You can also follow us on Twitter and email us at timetosaygoodbyepod@gmail.com.  This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello from Philly! We’re lucky to be joined this week by former podsquad member Andy Liu, for an in-depth chat about his three favorite things: sports, history, and Taiwan. First, we review the new Netflix documentary about Manti Te'o, the college-football star who fell from grace after being catfished a decade ago. We discuss the many failures that led to Te'o’s ostracization, as well as the role his race may have played in the way the media treated him. Next, Andy catches us up on the latest Twitterstorian goss: the fight over a blog post on “presentism” and identity politics by American Historical Association president James H. Sweet. We interrogate Sweet’s arguments and the coded language that got him in trouble. Lastly, Andy answers our questions about Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan. Did the House Speaker’s trip escalate tensions between Taiwan and China, or was it all bluster? Is the Democrats’ “tough on China” posturing an effort to wear populist politics? Why are people outside Asia so invested in a story about confronting China? Stick it out til the end to hear Jay and Andy bicker about Kevin Durant. If you’re a paid subscriber, come to our book club this Thursday, 8/26, at 8pm EST, with Lisa Hsiao Chen, author of “Activities of Daily Living” (Zoom info in our Discord). As always, you can subscribe via Patreon or Substack, follow us on Twitter, and email us at timetosaygoodbyepod@gmail.com.  This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello from Mai's high-speed European train! This week, Tammy and Jay watch “Free Chol Soo Lee” and speak with Julie Ha, who co-directed the film with Eugene Yi. The new documentary follows Chol Soo Lee, a Korean man in San Francisco who was wrongfully convicted of murder in the 1970s, highlighting the pan-Asian movement for his release and his troubled readjustment to life outside. Julie discusses her admiration for the pathbreaking investigative journalist K.W. Lee, who brought public scrutiny to the case; the importance of non-canonical archives; and how stories like Chol Soo Lee’s complicate prevailing immigrant identities. The hosts also dig into the Asian American Disinformation Table’s new report on the proliferation of disinformation(?) in immigrant communities. But what's the difference between unsavory conclusions and lies? Is the report yet another elite dismissal of impolitic concerns? As always, please subscribe via Patreon and Substack, follow us on Twitter, and email us at timetosaygoodbyepod@gmail.com. When you become a paid TTSG subscriber, you get access to our lively Discord, where you'll find information about next week’s book club with Lisa Hsiao Chen, author of “Activities of Daily Living” (Thursday 8/26 at 8pm EST).  This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello from the miserable gap between episodes of “Extraordinary Attorney Woo”!This week, Jay and Tammy are joined by the great Jia Tolentino, a writer at The New Yorker and the author of Trick Mirror.We start by talking about Jia’s recent piece on housing (= the rent is too damn high) on the worker-owned site “Hellgate”—and her dreams of organizing her building (not Tammy’s “white projects”) in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, New York. Then, we discuss two provocative essays Jia wrote on abortion after the Dobbs decision: first, on surveillance statism; and second, on the moral (especially Judeo-Christian) sacrifices inherent to pregnancy and human existence, not just to abortion. Plus: Jay and Tammy review Las Vegas's Sino-Korean noodles. As always, thanks to our wonderful producer Mai and all of our subscribers (Jia included!) for keeping the show alive. On Thursday, August 25th, we’ll have our next book club meeting with Lisa Hsiao Chen, the author of the novel Activities of Daily Living. Subscribe via Patreon or Substack to join.  This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello from Tammy’s undisclosed location! The hosts start with a brief discussion of Leanna Louie, a law-and-order Democrat running for District 4 Supervisor in SF. What might she represent for the future of Asian-American politics? Then Jay and Tammy are joined by investigative journalist Ali Fowle to discuss Myanmar. The country’s military regime recently killed four prisoners, including well known pro-democracy activists Phyo Zeya Thaw and Ko Jimmy. These judicial executions, the first since the 1980s, shocked even those inside Myanmar, where extrajudicial murders and widespread arrests have been commonplace since the February 2021 military coup. Ali describes her experience reporting from Myanmar in the decade leading up to the coup, the culture of fear and violence used to suppress last year’s popular uprising, and what the resistance movement looks like today. We ask why the coup in Myanmar has not broken through internationally in the way Russia’s assault on Ukraine has, and what message the recent executions are meant to send. Be sure to watch the short documentary Ali produced last year with Al Jazeera (warning: graphic content), and give a listen to Phyo Zeya Thaw’s music. Please subscribe and stay in touch via Patreon and Substack, follow us on Twitter, and feel free to email us at timetosaygoodbyepod@gmail.com.  This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello from a walk-up apartment! This week, Tammy and Jay invite food-and-culture writer Wei Tchou to discuss trends in plant-based meat and beverages. Wei has written beautifully about fermenting tempeh, making her own soy sauce, and learning to love baijiu. In our first investigative segment (lol), we send Jay out on the streets of Norcal. The U.S. chain Peet’s Coffee has proclaimed this the “Summer of Jelly,” dropping a new “boba-like” drink addition that’s been deemed cultural appropriation by some, harmless bobafication by others. Jay ventures to the original Peet’s in Berkeley to find out: Is the jelly any good? Then, Wei shills for Big Fake Pig! Could Impossible Pork be the answer to her tireless search for a veg alternative in cooking Chinese? How do new vegan meat products fit into food landscapes that have long used plant-based substitutes? Could vegan pork be an ecological and ethical cure in regions where meat consumption is still on the rise? Plus: David Chan’s unique brand of service journalism and Wei’s problematic cookbook fave. Check out our subscriber Discord for bonus items from Jay’s Peet’s odyssey and Wei’s kitchen. And, on August 25, we’ll be having a subscribers-only book club with the great novelist Lisa Hsiao Chen, author of Activities of Daily Living. Come on through! Thanks as always for your support! Please subscribe and stay in touch via Patreon and Substack, follow us on Twitter, and email us at timetosaygoodbyepod@gmail.com.  This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello from mild SF and summerpocalypse NYC! This week, Jay and Tammy discuss what’s been on their minds this week: the state of the Democratic party and the shifting culture around drug use in the United States. Plus: Jill Biden on tacos and bogadas! We read New York mag columnist Jonathan Chait’s critique of Biden and ask why the administration has such a failed legislative strategy. What, if anything, is keeping Democrats from taxing the rich? What does a recent poll tell us about the party as the midterms approach? Then, inspired by “How to Change Your Mind,” a new show (and book) from Michael Pollan that explores the history of psychedelics, we consider society’s reassessment of so-called “hard” and “soft” drugs. Have we fully disavowed the War on Drugs? What should we make of this increased acceptance of drug use in a time of huge numbers of opioid and fentanyl overdoses?Thanks as always for your support! Please subscribe and stay in touch via Patreon and Substack, follow us on Twitter, and email us at timetosaygoodbyepod@gmail.com.  This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello! This week, Tammy and Jay remember John Bennet, a former New Yorker editor and Columbia journalism professor who passed away this week: They are then joined by policy analyst Paul Williams to discuss the concept of social housing and its potential in the United States. How did we arrive at a political consensus so averse to public housing of any kind? Can other countries’ programs help us reclaim housing as a social good rather than a market commodity? What can we learn from current social-housing proposals across the U.S.? For more, read Paul on “Public Housing for All” and the California bill that made it further than expected, as well as the initiatives being floated in Rhode Island and Seattle and the project underway in Maryland. Thanks for your support. Please subscribe and stay in touch via Patreon and Substack, email (timetosaygoodbyepod@gmail.com) and follow us on Twitter! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe