Tonight, we talk with renown author and playwright, Jessica Hagedorn, who is mounting a world premiere of “The Gangster of Love”. This interview is done by superfan and local artist, Cece Carpio.

We also talk with members of 100 Days Action. Following the 2016 presidential election, this Bay Area artist collective organized cultural responses that stand against bigotry, xenophobia, racism, and more. We’ll hear about their latest project.

And our friends at Eastwind Books, have launched a book club! We’ll talk with Eastwind staffer Erika Pallasigue and book club moderator Lawrence Wang about this program and the first book discussed, The Three-Body Problem by Chinese science fiction author Liu Cixin.

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While Jessica Hagedorn is a New York resident, her creative juices blossomed here in San Francisco, thanks to Filipino poets she met and the long-standing arts organization, Kearny Street Workshop. San Francisco hosts Jessica’s latest work, the world premiere of The Gangster of Love. The play opens on April 18 and runs until May 6 at the Magic Theater at Fort Mason. I’ve known that visual artist and Pinay immigrant Cece Carpio has been heavily influenced by Jessica’s work so I thought she would be the perfect person to conduct the interview.

100 Days Action is a Bay Area artist collective that uses art, activism, and social engagement to build community. They collaborate with local and national artists on exhibitions, performances, protests, and group actions that stand against bigotry, xenophobia, racism, sexism, and the destruction of our environment. In studio, we have conceptual Ken Lo and new media artist, composer and a performer Surabhi Saraf. Also joining us is one of their social media artists in residency, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto is an artist, curator and performer of drag by the name Faluda Islam.

Open since 1982, Eastwind Books is the go-to place for Asian American publications and literary community. But running a brick and mortar store is not easy in the days of Amazon and rising Bay Area rents. To fill us in on Eastwind’s strategy to meet the needs of the Asian American literary community, we have in studio with us Erika Pallasigue, bookstore manager, performer, and chef. And to talk about a new book club at Eastwind, we have book club moderator, Lawrence Wang, an avid reader and member of THREE book clubs.

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