Time To Say Goodbye

Hello from both sides of the Pacific! This week, a reunited, international podsquad talks K-quarantine, Enes Kanter’s Sinopportunism, and how the left should think about the “supply chain crisis.”* Tammy’s first few days in South Korean quarantine:* What’s going on with the Celtics center’s anti-China rants (and shoes)? * How can leftists think beyond shopping in our relationship to global supply chains? Tammy wrote about this recently for The New York Times, with a focus on port truckers. (Photos below by Sean Rayford.)* More on the transport workforce here—by longshore activist Peter Olney, friend of the pod Charmaine Chua, and logistics scholars Jake Alimohamed-Wilson and Ellen Reese.While recording this episode, the Korean media reported the death of the murderous dictator Chun Doo-hwan. Here’s cartoonist Kim Wan’s take: “karma” on the left; “Gwangju massacre” on the right. Thanks for your support. Please subscribe and stay in touch via Patreon and Substack, email (timetosaygoodbyepod@gmail.com) and 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!Guest episode this week with Andy talking to Brian Hioe and Wen Liu, writers and academics based in Taipei, with the online magazine New Bloom. We talk about the scary headlines warning of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, why the global left seems to dismiss Taiwan in favor of romanticizing the PRC, and what is the relationship between Asian and Asian American politics (if there is any)?0:00 - Banter7:00 - Recent headlines over the US’s commitment to defend China + Chinese fighter planes in Taiwanese air space + what is life like for regular Taiwanese people as a chip between two global superpowers + why New Bloom is skeptical about the probability of Chinese invasion.22:00 - Why the western left reflexively dismisses Taiwanese concerns. We explore a few: PRC romanticism, anti-Republican Party liberalism, anti-US imperialism (esp. among Asian Americans), all kinds of weird racial assumptions, horseshoe anti-war politics, etc. And what Brian and Wen say in response to these. 58:30 - Some takeaways: what distinguishes a “leftist” position on Taiwan? what is the ideal relation between Taiwan and China? what can people in the rest of the world “do”? what is the role of Asian American and Asian diasporic politics for Asia, and vice versa?Stuff mentioned/reference materials:* Brian’s recent piece on Taiwan for Spectre journal* John Oliver’s recent 20-minute history + summary of Taiwanese politics * The Intercept’s recent weird piece on Taiwan* Brian interviews Wen about activism and the 2014 Sunflower Movement* Last June, we first talked with Brian about the “tankie” phenomenonThanks for your support! Be sure to sign up via substack or Patreon. Find us on twitter (@ttsgpod) or email 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 our election hangover!This week, we talk about last week’s mid-mid-mid-midterm results. * Did the very rich Republican win Virginia’s gubernatorial race on account of critical race theory—or not?* Are the Democrats continuing to lose the Asian/Latinx/POC vote? * Should we take hope in local progressive wins? (Yay, Boston, Missoula, Dearborn, Hamtramck, Cleveland…)* Whatever happened to bread and butter economic concerns like housing and healthcare? Plus: podsquad digressions and a Taiwan preview.See you at the subscriber-only Ishiguro book club tomorrow! Thanks for your support. Please subscribe and stay in touch via Patreon and Substack, email (timetosaygoodbyepod@gmail.com) and 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 HISTORY!This week, Tammy interviews Professor Kori A. Graves, a historian of adoption and the family at the University at Albany, SUNY. Kori’s 2020 book, A War Born Family: African American Adoption in the Wake of the Korean War, explores how Black Americans came to adopt Black Korean children. Tammy and Kori talk about the history of transnational, transracial adoption — and the special place of Korea and the Korean diaspora in adoptee activism and the contemporary architecture of family. For more on this subject, Kori recommends:* Global Families: A History of Asian International Adoption in America by Catherine Ceniza Choy* Adopted Territory: Transnational Korean Adoptees and the Politics of Belonging by Eleana J. Kim* Disrupting Kinship: Transnational Politics of Korean Adoption in the United States by Kimberly D. McKee* “Side x Side” (documentary film project) by Glenn Morey and Julie Morey* To Save the Children of Korea by Arissa H. Oh* Framed by War: Korean Children and Women at the Crossroads of US Empire by Susie WooTammy adds:* All You Can Ever Know: A Memoir by Nicole Chung* Interrogation Room (poetry) by Jennifer Kwon Dobbs* Dust of the Streets: The Journey of a Biracial Orphan of the Korean War by Thomas Park Clement* “Made in Korea: A One Way Ticket Seoul-Amsterdam?” (film) by In-Soo Radstake* Palimpsest: Documents from a Korean Adoption (graphic novel) by Lisa Wool-Rim Sjöblom* The Language of Blood: A Memoir by Jane Jeong Trenka* Older Sister. Not Necessarily Related.: A Memoir by Jenny Heijun WillsOn November 16, Also-Known-As will host an event with deported adoptees. Register for free:Tomorrow, November 3, catch Andy at NYU’s Skirball Center (via Zoom; register for free), in conversation with Prof. Charmaine Chua of UC-Santa Barbara. He’ll revisit some themes in his “‘Chinese Virus,’ World Market” essay from March 2020 in n+1 — twenty months later, twenty months into the pandemic!We appreciate your support! Please subscribe and stay in touch via Patreon and Substack, email (timetosaygoodbyepod@gmail.com) and 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

Note: Apologies for resending + reposting; some technical errors earlier.Hi from TMZ studio!Like all of Asian American Twitter, we’ve been talking about The Loneliest Americans quite a bit. But this week, Andy and Tammy get a full-on, personal Jay AMA.Thanks to all our new listeners and everyone who joined our Discord subscriber book club last week.Event announcement:Next week, on November 3rd, Andy will be giving a talk at NYU’s Skirball Center (via Zoom), in conversation with Prof. Charmaine Chua of UC-Santa Barbara, Global Studies. He’ll revisit some themes in his “‘Chinese Virus,’ World Market” essay from March 2020 in n+1 — twenty months later, twenty months into the pandemic!We appreciate your support! Please subscribe and stay in touch via Patreon and Substack, email (timetosaygoodbyepod@gmail.com) and 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 the John Deere picket line!This week is, um, eclectic and slightly technologically challenged. Thanks for bearing with us. 4:15 – Jay’s book is out! Thursday evening, Oct. 21, Jay will be doing a Discord AMA about The Loneliest Americans. It’s for subscribers only, so if you want to ask Jay any burning questions about the book, sign up now via Patreon or Substack!7:13 – MSG—we all love it, even though it’s bad for us. Or is it? We discuss a recent piece (short and fun) about the history of the seasoning, the veracity of “Chinese restaurant syndrome,” and MSG’s rebranding as umami. 27:49 – TTSG labor reporter Tammy Kim updates us on “Striketober.” From John Deere to Hollywood to healthcare, we are seeing record unemployment (quitting! switching sectors!) and labor militancy. Tammy is here to break it all down for us. 56:40 – Joe Manchin is holding up the Biden infrastructure bill and gutting our hopes for a livable climate. WTF?!?!Thanks for listening and supporting the pod. Please stay in touch via Patreon and Substack, email (timetosaygoodbyepod@gmail.com) and 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 a spicy group chat!This week, we begin by celebrating the release of Jay’s book, The Loneliest Americans, which was just excerpted in NYT Mag. Congrats, Kang! Order it now for yourself and family and friends! Then, we talk the Kidneygate controversy (from the same issue of NYT Mag) aka Bad Art Friend, the long story based on a short story that launched a million Discord chats. Who’s really “kind”? Is the art any good? Finally, a dip into the cancellation(?) of Bright Sheng, the composer and music professor at the University of Michigan who got in trouble for showing a film featuring blackface in class.Reminder to catch Tammy in conversation with Noam Chomsky tomorrow, Wednesday, October 13:Thanks for supporting the pod. Please stay in touch via Patreon and Substack, email (timetosaygoodbyepod@gmail.com) and Twitter!Kindly,The TTSG Podsquad 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 Capitalist Playground of Death!This week, we talk 100% “Squid Game.” Warning: Don’t listen until you’ve watched it all.Does the show constitute anti-capitalist critique? Why does the ending suck? Did Park Chan-wook make the West permanently love K-horror? Will Asian art soon displace Asian American art? What’s with the weird ‘noble savage’ thing going on in the show?Plus: the dialogue genius in “The Wire”’s writers’ room, fantasy basketball, Gary Shteyngart (i.e., three Asian Americans trashing neoliberalism), and solidarity with subtitle translators. Thanks for supporting the pod. Please stay in touch via Patreon and Substack, email (timetosaygoodbyepod@gmail.com) and 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 Stuart’s Coffee in Bellingham!This week, we welcome a special guest to talk about the immigrant rights movement and immigration policy. Plus, Andy and Tammy channel Jay Energy and answer listener questions.(0:00): Andy and Tammy discuss Japanese food and our favorite chaebols. (6:50): Listener Questions! What’s up with the “PI” in “AAPI?” listener SansMouton asks. We discuss the awkward origins of AAPI and why Pacific Islanders and Native Hawaiians shouldn’t be lumped into Asian America (cf. this random feature on Asian feelings in the NYT this weekend). But is there anything redeeming about a “Pacific” frame? And what would be the Pacific version of Paul Gilroy’s Black Atlantic? * Thanks to friend of the pod Amita Manghnani for talking through the local politics of “A/P/A” and recommending “Asian American Studies and the ‘Pacific Question,’” by Wesleyan anthropologist Kehaulani Kauanui.(25:00): How should academics balance institutional responsibilities (and annoying prestige stuff) with teaching? listener Robi asks. Andy tries to punt the question to Tammy before laying out his own materialist approach. (31:44): Silky Shah, friend of the pod and executive director of Detention Watch Network, explains all things immigration:* Her Truthout article on the dramatic increase in immigrant detention under Biden* How her corner of the immigrant rights movement become abolitionist* Why borders are b******t* The We Are Home coalition* Links between immigration and foreign policy* The Dems’ obsession with “deterrence”* Myths about immigration* Why “Abolish ICE” isn’t nearly enough* Recommended reads by Harsha Walia and Todd Miller.For more on immigration policy, tune into this book event on Tuesday, Sept. 28, at noon EST, moderated by Tammy: Thanks for listening and supporting the pod! Please keep in touch via Patreon and Substack, email (timetosaygoodbyepod@gmail.com) and 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 Zuccotti Park!Lots of leftist nostalgia and reminiscence about Occupy Wall Street this week — and the podsquad joins in! Then we talk Vietnamese American Republicans in Orange County and rising COVID numbers in Vietnam.(0:00): Marshmallow test(10:50): Does Occupy Wall Street have an anarchist or socialist legacy? Why, even though it was “annoying” at times, does it still matter? Lots of personal anecdotes and reflection, plus a tangent about the suburbs.(1:02:20): Why did Vietnamese American Californians, who vote heavily Republican (even for Trump), vote against Gavin Newsom’s recall? (1:16:00): Vietnam recently went from having almost no coronavirus cases to an out-of-control epidemic. What happened, and what does it say about China and vaccine supply chains? Thanks for listening and supporting the pod! Please keep in touch through Patreon and Substack, email (timetosaygoodbyepod@gmail.com) and 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