This Filipino American Life

https://thisfilipinoamericanlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/tfal-episode246.mp3 Dom Magwili is a prolific actor, writer, and educator who has graced his presence on stage and screen for years. Most importantly Dom has played a role in our lives when he guided Kat as  she was PCN coordinator at UCLA and gave Elaine a boost of confidence when she was an emcee for the Festival of Philippine Arts & Culture. In this episode the TFAL crew gives Dom his (metaphorical) flowers. Dom shares his journey as an artist and gives us a lesson in how to create your own work when you do not see yourself in the media landscape presented to you. The crew discusses Dom’s career and how it led him to his latest project Scientific Dragons! Scientific Dragons : The Adventure of Ensun Castle is a steampunk adventure that follows an expatriate from the Philippines, an immortal female pirate, and a Japanese American spy as they battle to keep a small European kingdom from falling to a global shadow government and their airborne fortress. Watch the trailer for Scientific Dragons and then head to Amazon and pick up the book: Buy Scientific Dragons!     Listen or download the episode through the embedded player on ThisFilipinoAmericanLife.com, or subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever your favorite podcasts are found.

What is the Filipino American anthem? Is it Bebot by the Black Eyed Peas? P.T.I. by Carl Angelo? Lemonade by Jeremy Passion? Us by Ruby Ibarra? Do You Miss Me? by Jocelyn Enriquez? Todo Todo by Daniela Romo (you know who chose that one!)?? In this TFAL episode, we look at so-called Filipino American anthems over the years and discuss how much of an anthem they really were to our community. One criterion though: if Producer Mike hasn’t heard of it, it doesn’t count! FYI, we recorded the episode before the launch of Carl Angelo’s #PTIchallenge so we missed the larger impact of that anthem. Pasensya na! Listen or download the episode through the embedded player on ThisFilipinoAmericanLife.com, or subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever your favorite podcasts are found. Did we leave a song out? Is there an anthem yet to be composed? Let us know! Leave us a voicemail at (805) 394-TFAL or email us at thisfilipinoamericanlife@gmail.com. This is episode was Joe’s bright idea, so any hate mail can be addressed to him directly. =)

https://thisfilipinoamericanlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/tfal-episode244.mp3 In this episode the TFAL crew has a conversation with Arthur Yu. Arthur Yu was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in 2023. Arthur did all the things you needed to do like rounds of chemo and looking for bone marrow matches. Arthur explored the National Marrow Donor Program (formerly Be The Match) for possible matches.  https://www.nmdp.org/ A match through NMDP wasn’t found, but a match through a distant relative in the Philippines was found. Instead of being joyful that a match had been found, a new battle came to a head when the relative in the Philippines was denied a visa to come to the States. This started the campaign for Arthur’s cousin to get their visa approved and how it came to the attention of TFAL.  Listen or download the episode through the embedded player on ThisFilipinoAmericanLife.com, or subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever your favorite podcasts are found.   Want to share your experience with cancer? Are you registered with the National Marrow Donor Program? Leave us a voicemail at (805) 394-TFAL or email us at thisfilipinoamericanlife@gmail.com.      

“You’re not Filipino if you don’t speak Tagalog.” “You sound white.” “The national language of the Philippines is Filipino, not Tagalog.” “Filipino is already gender neutral.” Much of our online discourse in the Filipino community is about or related to language. The debates are out there. We here at TFAL want to tackle some of these linguistic arguments head on. On this TFAL episode, we talk about the politics of language in the Filipino/Filipino American community with linguistic anthropologist, Jennifer Delfino, Associate Professor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Listen as we talk about the politics of “sounding white,” the struggles of Filipino Americans to learn their heritage language, the fallacy and limitations of a Philippine national language, and of course, the ongoing debate of FilipinX. Let the debate rage on! Also, for fun, listen to Joe and Mike’s new made-up national identifiers towards the end of the episode. Listen or download the episode through the embedded player on ThisFilipinoAmericanLife.com, or subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever your favorite podcasts are found. What did you think of the episode? What other language questions do you have? Leave us a voicemail at (805) 394-TFAL or email us at thisfilipinoamericanlife@gmail.com.

Have you ever thought about doing a pilgrimage? Would you want to contemplate your life choices on a hiking journey through the mountainous regions of Europe? Do you just want to hear about someone else doing that and not deal with the physical and spiritual Olympics of it all? Then this episode is for you! The TFAL crew has an enlightening conversation with Kristine Jan Espinoza about their experience walking the Camino de Santiago. Listen or download the episode through the embedded player on ThisFilipinoAmericanLife.com, or subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever your favorite podcasts are found. Have you done a Camino? Would you ever? Leave us a voicemail at (805) 394-TFAL or email us at thisfilipinoamericanlife@gmail.com. This episode is brought to you by In Loving Memory | Undas | All Souls Edition. Join Oblivious Nerd Girl Services at Kubo Long Beach this Sunday, November 2nd at 3pm. Commemorate your loved ones and all the things you’ve lost since 2020. RSVP today: In Loving Memory | Undas | All Souls Edition. #tfalpodcast #tfal #filipino #filipinoamerican

In this episode we have tfal fan favorite Faith Santilla aka  “Tita Faith” in her fourth appearance on the pod! Joining Faith is the amazing and inspiring Martha Gonzalez of Quetzal. On this episode Elaine, Kat, and Producer Mike talk story about the exciting and upcoming show at The Ford Los Angeles, Labor of Love. Join us in Commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the Delano Grape Strike in this evening concert, which features the legendary Joe Bataan, the “King of Latin Soul,” alongside the Grammy-winning ensemble Quetzal, whose music uplifts stories of community and resilience. Hosted by poet and activist Faith Santilla, the event honors the historic solidarity between Filipino and Mexican farmworkers during the 1960s movement. Get tickets here: bit.ly/laborofloveford This episode is brought to you by  Oblivious Nerd Girl Services | RSVP today: In Loving Memory | UNDAS | All  Souls Day edition

https://thisfilipinoamericanlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/tfal-episode240.mp3   In this episode Elaine and Producer Mike have a conversation with singer-songwriter Stephen Ordonez also known as LABIT (@labitlabit). Stephen shares his experience growing up with Filipino American parents born in the States and how their love of music influenced his style. Fans of artists like Laufey and Jason LaPierre will vibe with Stephen’s style. Want to check him out live? Join Stephen on Saturday, October 18th at The Peppermint Club. Tickets available here: Labit – SOL Album Release Show. Listen to PARALLEL from the upcoming album SOL on Spotify! This episode is brought to you by Labor of Love is a soulful and empowering music experience featuring legendary Latin soul pioneer Joe Bataan and the Grammy Award-winning Chicano rock band Quetzal. Poet and community activist Faith Santilla leads a celebration of music and culture inspired by the solidarity formed between Filipino and Mexican workers during the California labor movement of the 1960s. Get tickets here: bit.ly/laborofloveford And Oblivious Nerd Girl Services | RSVP today: In Loving Memory | All The Things We Lost

In this episode of TFAL, Elaine and Producer Mike have a conversation with Los Angeles native (yes, they exist!) Chrissa Sparkles.  You may have seen Chrissa Sparkles go viral with her Barbie inspired content on @chrissasparkles. In this conversation we go through Chrissa’s journey as a local kid with no connections figuring out how to maneuver through auditions and the industry. The current state of the world inspired Chrissa to create the dance banger “F*ck ICE.” Play it at your next rally! National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) is calling for community members to hold rally’s in front of your local courthouses to send a clear message that we must protect our communities and hold the line where the courts have failed on September 18th. And while you are at it, if you are in Seattle, head to Chrissa Sparkles live show DELULU at Here-After (2505 1st Ave Seattle, WA 98121)!   Listen to “F*ck ICE” and “Don’t F*ck a Fascist”  on Spotify or wherever you get music! Buy tickets for the September 18th show in Seattle here: Chrissa Sparkles: DELULU  Listen or download the episode through the embedded player on ThisFilipinoAmericanLife.com, or subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever your favorite podcasts are found. What would your resistance pop song be called? Leave us a voicemail at (805) 394-TFAL or email us at thisfilipinoamericanlife@gmail.com. This episode is brought to you by Labor of Love is a soulful and empowering music experience featuring legendary Latin soul pioneer Joe Bataan and the Grammy Award-winning Chicano rock band Quetzal. Poet and community activist Faith Santilla leads a celebration of music and culture inspired by the solidarity formed between Filipino and Mexican workers during the California labor movement of the 1960s. Get tickets here: bit.ly/laborofloveford And Oblivious Nerd Girl Services | RSVP today: In Loving Memory | All The Things We Lost

Dear young people, How do we stay cool? Sincerely, Middle-aged TFALers There are many generations of Filipinos who live in the United States in this day and age. Immigrant generations, 2nd generations, 3rd generations, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, and now Gen Z. Many have different experiences as Filipino Americans, and in many ways, some of those experiences are the same. In this TFAL episode, we discuss some of these intergenerational differences and similarities with two self-proclaimed Gen Zers. We speak to Skyler Gallarzan and Basilio Juachon about their experiences as 3rd generation Gen Z Filipino Americans. Listen as Elaine, Kat, and Joe feel very old hearing about their perceptions of Generation X / Xennial Filipino Americans. They also discuss how 3rd generation Filipinos try to retain their culture, the real anxieties of Gen Zers, and lasting impact of the “Swagapino.” We didn’t get through all of what we wanted to discuss, but perhaps this is the first of many ongoing conversations with Skyler and Basilio. Listen or download the episode through the embedded player on ThisFilipinoAmericanLife.com, or subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever your favorite podcasts are found. Got a question or topic that we didn’t cover in the episode? Leave us a voicemail at (805) 394-TFAL or email us at thisfilipinoamericanlife@gmail.com.

Joe wrote a book! Well…kinda. After a few years of gathering photos and writing, Joe has published FILIPINOS IN THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY, a pictorial history that traces the historical and cultural shifts of this quintessential suburb through the lens of generations of Filipinos who made the San Fernando Valley their home. This book is the newest edition of “Filipinos in…” books from Arcadia Publishing. In this TFAL episode, Joe talks with the TFAL crew about his book and the process of writing it. Listened as he discusses why he wrote it, his approach to the book (which may differ from previous Filipino Arcadia books), and why the San Fernando Valley is instructive to understand Filipino American history and culture. Also, listen to our bastos, yet hilarious conversation about the Valley’s once booming porn industry. This episode is especially dedicated to the people of the 818, Elaine and Joe’s home. ABOUT THE BOOK The majority of Filipino Americans reside in suburban communities, yet this history has been largely absent from both academic and popular narratives. FILIPINOS IN THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY offers a visual and narrative glimpse into the lives of Filipino Americans in the place some have dubbed “America’s Suburb,” from early immigrants to the post-1965 wave that helped redefine the suburban experience in Southern California. Many of the photographs and anecdotes spotlight how this community navigated the transformation of the Valley during the economic and demographic shifts of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. This book documents how suburbia shaped Filipinos, and how Filipinos, in turn, shaped suburbia in their own unique way, contradictions and all. Look out for more posts on how to get a copy of FILIPINOS IN THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY and other book events.