Asian Bitches Down Under

This week, we chat about one of our favourite 90s films, Sister Act (1992); white women doing inspiration (and face-palmy) things in Australia, our opposing views on Marvel films and February 14th - is it no longer appropriate to celebrate romantic love? Is Galentines Day more fun? (Yes, we think so!) 

We also look back on the rom-coms of the 2000s and how they made us fantasise about romantic love that is just not useful. 

(01:24) Reminiscing the films of the 90s, Sisters Act

(16:46) On Sanmao’s Stories of Sahara

(18:58) Helen’s family went to the movie 2 weeks too early

(22:40) Wakanda Forever

(26:00) Cunk

(29:30) Helen Garner on Happiness

(37:29) Jane Caro on Ageism

(47:55) Valentines'/Galentines’ day, the idea of romance

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Happy February! The final month of the southern hemisphere's summer and we have heaps to chat about this week! 

(00:00) Intro: kids' music, back-to-school anxiety, modern parenting, different characteristics between boys and girls, friendships

(15:50) Lunar New Year Comedy at Chatswood

(18:45) Theatre: A broadcast coup

(20:00) Book recommendation: All this could be different, Sarah Thank Mathews

(22:44) Netflix: Oni

(25:22) Disney+: The Menu – discussion of wealth and toxicity of the fine-dining environment

(33:10) Racial politic discussion: Who gets to review artworks and what has the right to say what is a good review? – On E.Flux’s Op-Ed: Should White Critics Allowed To Review This Play? Its Producers don't think so 

(52:27) Marie Kondo and the messy business of social expectations

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The final week of January 2023, how was it for you? In this episode, we revisit "Fleishman is in trouble' as Helen finally got the time to watch the first episode, and felt disappointed about the adaptation, a great book recommendation, and another silly Tik Tok trend.

(00:10）RomCom: What’s Love Got To Do With It

(07:07) Kazuo Ishiguro’s Living

(09:40 ) Fleishman is in trouble

(14:16) Stories of the Sahara

(18:30) Questions about rituals for ‘Foundation Master’/’Guardian of the house’ and the implication with First Nation’s culture

(22:18) Monterey Park Shooting

(28:34) Lucky Girl Syndrom

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Lunar New Year comes early this year, as usual, we talk briefly about our observation of the modern LNY celebrations, the debates online between Chinese New Year and Lunar New Year, the capitalisation of Lunar New Year by the chocolate brands, and fond memories of our childhood LNY sweets.

(01:30) Intro, visiting Cabramatta, the gratitude of the Vietnamese community

(05:10) Darjeeling Limited, discussion on Wes Anderson’s works, Owen Wilson

(13:51)  Babylon

(21:25) Midnight Diner

(25:26) Asian Australian 2022 List, James Wan, M3GAN

(31:18) Lunar New Year 2023, horoscopes and more capitalisation, Lunar New Year sweet

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We are back for 2023! In this episode, we talked about what we've done during the break, our interesting cultural consumptions, a bit about the insidious cloth-sizings and some viral tik tok video. We end our conversation by congratulating the actor/actress of our favourite movie Everything Everywhere All At Once. 

(01:30) HOLIDAY WRAP UP

(09:03) PRINCE HARRY AND HIS ENTITLEMENT OF TELLING THE WORLD ABOUT HIS FAMILY AFFAIRS

(19:13) Book: TRUST, Hernan Diaz

(24:25) Book: THE MEN, SANDRA NEWMAN

(29:39) Movie: GLASS ONION

(32:00) Movie: THE FABLEMANS

(33:06) Movie: BANSHEES OF INISHERIN

(42:10) Movie: BLUEBACK

(45:00) CLOTHING SIZE; ASIAN VS THE WEST

(48:47) Fitzroy Garage Sesh Viral tik tok  

(51:53) Golden Globes 2022

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The final episode of 2022! Hope you have enjoyed our program as we approach the end of this year. In This episode, Helen and Jessie talk about the surprising interesting documentary Harry and Meghan, followed by Nepo Baby. We conclude this episode with our list of fav film and TVs of 2022.

(02:30) Helen’s rant about Uniqlo Tshirts

(05:30) Afgan women banned from tertiary education

(08:40) Cultural consumption: Babel

(13:50) Cultural consumption: Harry and Meghan

(30:34) Cultural consumption: Lookism

(34:26) Nepo Baby

(47:50) ABDU’s Best TVs and Films 2022

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In this episode, Helen have had the opportunity speaking with Kevin Chen, the author of numerous Taiwanese novels and the recently translated work "Ghost Town". Kevin talks about his family, hometown, and life in Taipei and Berlin. The conversation explored the culture of ghosts and death in Taiwan, and what made "Ghost Town" one of the must-reads of Taiwanese literature.

**BESTSELLING WINNER OF THE TAIWAN LITERATURE AWARD**🥇 

New York Times Book Review: Ghost Town 

For Australian readers: Get a copy of Kevin Chen's Ghost Town here: The Darlinghurst Bookshop

You can find Kevin Chen's book in most major bookstores across Europe and the US. 

Kevin's recommendations:

The Stolen Bicycle (Wu Ming-yi) 

The man with the compound eyes (Wu Ming-yi) 

The Mermaid's Tale (Lee Wei-Jing) 

The Sniper (Chang Kuo-Li)

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In this episode, Jess and Helen talked about different childhood experiences on mufti day, reviews of two theatre plays, and the New York Times review of the KPOP Broadway show. 

(01:48) Mufti Day 

(04:37) Anxiety of mufti day and how our mother impacted our sense of body insecurity and dress sense. 

(12:35) The Jungle and The Sea  

Helen's chat with Nathiya, from The Jungle and The Sea

(15:37) Boxing Day BBQ

Helen's chat with Aileen, from Boxing Day BBQ

(27:36) The power of live performance 

(30:39) Latecomers

(35:27) New York Times Theatre Critic Jesse Green Draws Criticism for KPOP Review

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In this episode, I chat with Cedric and Cathy from Australia and New Zealand Tongzhi Rainbow Alliance. We talked about the spectrum of sexuality, the challenges that Asian queer members have with their parents, how to navigate the conversation with family, and the importance of the visibility of queer Asians in Australia (and western countries).  

Sydney World Pride 2023: Coming Out, Coming Home

Mindspace Consulting - Melbourne English & Mandarin speaking psychologists and counsellors provide high-quality psychological counselling services for individuals, couples and families.

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This week we look back at what we've read this year and decided on our own favourite books, the conversation extends to the definition of friendship and love.

(01:40) Intro

(05:40) What have we been doing this week? Jess: Emily

(09:08) Helen’s recommendation:  Gugu naGogo, Namaste Yoga, Viv’s Silly Mango, Yaz Queens.

(13:53) Best book 2022 from ABDU. Jessie: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and Tomorrow.  

(24:46) Our thoughts on LOVE

(29:04) Discussions on friendships

(33:55) Best books 2022 from ABDU. Helen: Joan, Disorientation, Dele Weds Destiny, Shoko’s Smile, Life Ceremony

(37:23) Brief mention of Kevin Chen’s books

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Email: [email protected]