Chinatown 2.0

*(references) 0:00 Intro 3:23 Growing up in a pig farm in Hong Kong: Parents immigration story, Starting to read outside textbooks at 10 years 8:24 Moving to Vancouver: Trying to fit in in school, self-consciousness, lacking in specific school skills 10:42 Curiosity as the defining Watershed time at 10 years old 11:32 Happy-go-lucky vs a hyper tracked childhood 13:57 Learning from the example of grounded yet free-spirited parents on kindness and hard work 15:05 What influenced his path, having no 'guiding light', to being a founder of a startup, getting his PhD 16:59 Useful vs destructive obsession with computers: how some people get in too deep and are unable to get into meaningful work 19:37 Leadership experience and challenges running TGI pre-pandemic and during the pandemic 21:25 The idea of 'forced' networking at TGI 24:00 The importance of authentic culture building and Stephen's strong attachment to the number ' the='' walkabout='' period='' of='' stephen:='' experiences='' wondering='' building='' a='' business='' with='' high='' expectations='' challenges='' finding='' compatible='' partner='' and='' low='' moments='' including='' physically='' benefits='' bootstrapping='' community='' to='' set='' up='' business:='' avoiding='' founders='' isolation='' loneliness='' inevitable='' comparing='' yourself='' others='' leveraging='' networks='' people='' same='' ideas='' for='' fundraising='' inspiration='' from='' china='' startup:='' speed='' shenzhen='' hunger='' passion='' different='' spirit='' thoughts='' on='' silicon='' valley='' lagging='' behind='' in='' terms='' dreamer='' mentality='' work='' ethic='' compared='' pros='' cons='' possibility='' doing='' th=''>

*(references) 0:00 Intro 3:23 Growing up in a pig farm in Hong Kong: Parents immigration story, Starting to read outside textbooks at 10 years 8:24 Moving to Vancouver: Trying to fit in in school, self-consciousness, lacking in specific school skills 10:42 Curiosity as the defining Watershed time at 10 years old 11:32 Happy-go-lucky vs a hyper tracked childhood 13:57 Learning from the example of grounded yet free-spirited parents on kindness and hard work 15:05 What influenced his path, having no 'guiding light', to being a founder of a startup, getting his PhD 16:59 Useful vs destructive obsession with computers: how some people get in too deep and are unable to get into meaningful work 19:37 Leadership experience and challenges running TGI pre-pandemic and during the pandemic 21:25 The idea of 'forced' networking at TGI 24:00 The importance of authentic culture building and Stephen's strong attachment to the number ' the='' walkabout='' period='' of='' stephen:='' experiences='' wondering='' building='' a='' business='' with='' high='' expectations='' challenges='' finding='' compatible='' partner='' and='' low='' moments='' including='' physically='' benefits='' bootstrapping='' community='' to='' set='' up='' business:='' avoiding='' founders='' isolation='' loneliness='' inevitable='' comparing='' yourself='' others='' leveraging='' networks='' people='' same='' ideas='' for='' fundraising='' inspiration='' from='' china='' startup:='' speed='' shenzhen='' hunger='' passion='' different='' spirit='' thoughts='' on='' silicon='' valley='' lagging='' behind='' in='' terms='' dreamer='' mentality='' work='' ethic='' compared='' pros='' cons='' possibility='' doing='' th=''>

John Stevenson is a Black American who grew up home-insecure, but later graduated valedictorian of his high school. He went to Dartmouth and later graduated from the Political Science program at the University of Chicago. He now owns a yoga studio, does contracts for various government agencies. And he has ambitions to run for governor of Maryland.

Today we talk about his experience as a homeless person growing up. So he would be adding his unique perspective from that particular angle as well. His views of China from his vantage point, having worked in Washington DC, the state of Black politics, including his views on Black Lives Matter, and his plans to run for office and the reason for choosing Maryland at his home base. This will become apparent as the conversation unfolds.

You will notice that in future conversations, including this one, we might deviate from China, Chinatown or Chinese diaspora topics. Enjoy!

0:00 Intro

5:05 Ambition for Political Career: reasons to go into politics

8:38 Questions on the relative competitiveness of the US in the world stage

18:53 America's vs China's foreign policy

21:02 Government Systems: Reflections on Democracy and Autocracy in the US, China, and other parts of the world

26:51 Decades of white nationalist rule in high black population density areas

30:15 Comments on Multiracial and cultural heritage

33:57 Inequality and Desegregation

39:16 Born in Louisiana, Family, Childhood, and grown-up stories

44:18 “No shared vision of the future” as one of the reasons of Most American Divorce

1:01:57 What does homelessness and food security mean to you?

1:08:22 Biased assumption toward people of homelessness at different levels

1:13:38 Critique on the tendency in which people take poverty as the proof that there is something wrong with them

1:26:15 Distrust toward public institutions

1:39:18 John’s plan in pursuit of his political vision

1:41:53 Politics in Graduate School: Black people did not graduate from UChicago, political science department, for 14 years because they all dropped out

1:50:47 Anti-fascist movements

1:53:51 Left wing vs Right wing activities: should we be alarmed

1:59:17 Black Lives Matter

2:03:57 There should be a pluralist vision on “Black Live Matter”

2:07:07 What do you think are the Reasons that black folks support Donald Trump?

On today's Chinatown 2.0, I speak with Ellen Lee Zhou, or 李爱晨, a two-time candidate for San Francisco mayor, in 2018 and 2019.

She ran as a conservative in a city where the mayor had been a Democrat for the last half a century. On top of her “non-mainstream” political ideologies, she had zero experience holding public office and raised very little money compared to her competition.

Despite all this, she won 4% of the votes in 2018, and 13% of the votes in 2019. And in 2019, she was second place in the race.

Ellen is a staunch supporter for Donald Trump, as will be quite obvious to those of you watching the video interview.

We discussed her experience running for the mayor of San Francisco. We also talked about issues in San Francisco such as homelessness, drugs, crimes, high property prices, deteriorating standards in public education, government corruption, voter fraud, and more. For most of these items, we also talked about solutions put forward by Ellen.

We also briefly touched upon Ellen’s day job as a behavioral health clinician, where she works with doctors and nurses to treat the mentally ill.

Lastly, Ellen talked about her circumstances when she first immigrated to the US as a teenager some thirty years ago.

As usual, don’t forget to like, subscribe and ring the bell on our Youtube channel. I hope you enjoy the interview.

Ellen’s 2019 campaign website: https://ellenformayor2019.com/
Ellen on Ballotpedia: https://ballotpedia.org/Ellen_Lee_Zhou

0:00 Teaser

0:21 Host monologue

3:33 Neighborhood coalition nominated her mayoral candidacy after acknowledging her outspokenness to fight opening of cannabis shops in Chinese areas

7:19 Her family dismissed her 2018 campaign given her lack of resources and experience

11:21 Supporters praised her courage to run and opponents mocked her efforts

12:23 Harassment by politicians and animosity from anti-Trump colleagues during her campaigns

14:50 Homelessness problem: drugs / out-of-city homeless people came for city's generous welfare / ineffective government spending to tackle homelessness

19:10 Walking through how a homeless person gets shelter and benefits from SF

20:39 Ellen's plan to tackle homelessness

24:20 Breakdown of different types of homeless people that ought to receive different kinds of help

29:21 Plan to run for mayor again if a special election takes place in 2021

30:14 Eight San Francisco city officials indicted in recent corruption probe

31:56 Sex trafficking and prostitution problems

34:22 How homeless people get money to buy drugs

37:22 Carjacking in SF

38:12 Lowell school's temporary replacement of meritocratic admissions with lottery & CA's Prop 16

43:06 Election fraud hurts mayoral candidates outside the right political circle

49:37 Discussion of her religion background as part of her candidacy

51:18 Problem of short housing supply has to do with City government sponsored free lawsuit service for tenants

53:44 Immigrating to SF from China as a teenager, knowing zero English and working as a seamstress

Lin Yang is a grassroot political organizer who also works in tech. Lin had a full-time job working for Howard Schultz, helping him explore a presidential run. For those unaware, Howard Schultz was the founder and previous CEO for Starbucks.

Lin also participated in campaigns for President Obama and Senator Ted Lieu from California. He also worked as a journalist in Asia for a while, writing articles for various newspapers like New York Times when was stationed in Taiwan, and the Strait Times in Singapore.

Lin is also the founder of a local newspaper for the town of Sammamish, where he currently lives. He started the paper after seeing that a lack of objective information led to a local election where the citizens were either uninformed or misinformed.

Lin is a Joe Biden supporter. Today we discussed his experience campaigning for elections, working as a journalist in Asia, how he started a local newspaper, why he wanted to vote Biden, and his view on the contentious California proposition of Prop 16 that wants to re-introduce racial preference in public employment and public education.

As usual, don’t forget to like, subscribe and ring the bell on our Youtube channel. Thank you.

YouTube: https://youtu.be/hc2f9BZ52hA

* Newspaper of Lin's hometown (Sammamish, Washington): https://sammamishindependent.com/

* Podcast associated with the Sammamish Independent newspaper: https://anchor.fm/indyonair

* Letter from Howard Schultz about his decision to not run for President: https://www.howardschultz.com/onwardwithgratitude/

Wei Luo quit his software engineering job to become a contractor in 2006. After 14 years, he had a business (based in San Francisco Bay Area) consisting of 50+ employees and multiple business lines, including home renovation, interior design, cabinetry and appliances.

Wei shared with us how he persuaded his parents to pursue a new career with seemingly low barrier to entry, challenges and turning points of his business, a severe problem of labor shortage in the contracting field, a squeeze on margins due to regulatory pressure from sino-US tensions, and more.

Don't forget to like, share, subscribe, and ring the bell (YouTube)!

HB Kitchen & Bath: https://www.hbkb.us/
Alice Cabinetry: https://www.alicecabinetry.com/

0:00 Teaser
0:35 Host monologue
2:31 Guest self-intro
4:33 Getting into contracting business after helping handyman roommate with limited English skills
8:34 Making the decision to get a license and "do things the right way"
10:12 Transition from computer engineering to contracting, and convincing parents to make the jump
15:16 Description and evolution of multiple business lines: renovation, design/retail, cabinetry and appliances
22:46 Recap of duration of running the business, team size, number of projects
24:02 Initial friction to earn respect from laborers that dismiss leaders that don't work in the field
27:04 Challenges in recruiting new blood given a plethora of options and aversion to blue collar work
28:47 Suggestion for running home renovation summer camp for teens
32:52 Contracting going O2O
34:30 Growing up as a natural leader among kids and unhappiness with Chinese schools parochially focused on academics
37:01 Business opportunity for better consumer protection, vendor selection and service review in contracting
40:44 Concerns about manufacturing leaving China thanks to anti-dumping regulations

Jie Zhang has been an instructor, administrator and leader of American education institutions for more than three decades. She began her career teaching math to prisoners on Rikers Island (New York). Her most well-known positions included principal of the Ivy League feeder Stuyvesant High School, and principal of the now Chinese company-owned New York Military Academy, which US President Trump attended. She recently returned to China to run two international high schools.

Besides recounting her eclectic career, she also shared stories of helping prisoners get high school degrees, challenges in teaching American high schoolers as a foreigner, her firsthand experience dealing with pressure to democratize enrollment at magnet public schools, making decision to return to China despite overwhelming opposition from family and friends, and cherishment of the exciting work environment and an energetic team of coworkers at the two Chinese schools she now manages.

* Jie Zhang: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jie-zhang-67a97620/
* Stuyvesant High School ("Stuy"): https://stuy.enschool.org/
* New York Military School: https://www.nyma.org/
* Hongwen School: http://www.hongwenschool.com.cn/

0:00 Teaser
1:01 Host monologue
4:32 Guest self-intro
11:20 Pressure of running international schools amid China-US tension
15:55 Coronavirus deepened financial woes of US private schools (pre-college) that preceded the pandemic
22:04 Journey to State University of New York at Stony Brook and family ties to Chinese Physicist CN Yang
27:50 First job teaching math at a prison in Rikers Island in New York City
35:54 Transition to teaching regular schools, and challenges of teaching Americans as a foreigner
42:53 Her son (Harvard, Carnegie Mellon, startup) and daughter (Berkeley, speech pathology studies)
45:18 Transition from purely instructive to administrative roles
51:56 Willingness to take risks plays big role in advancing her educational career from teaching at schools to leading schools to returning to China
1:01:03 Assignment to “clean up” Stuyvesant after test-cheating scandal as interim principal
1:06:15 Natural esconsement to permanent principal as the first China Mainland born principal at Stuyvesant
1:09:36 Her response to public pressure to remove academically focused entrance tests for magnet schools like Stuy in the name of equity and inclusiveness
1:21:44 Chinese parents’ general anxiety and formulaic approach on getting kids to Ivy League
1:32:33 Kids at the academic “bottom” 5% at Stuy still do well in life
1:40:49 Leaving Stuy partially due to significant red tape and a lack of autonomy
1:46:00 Move to lead recently out-of-bankruptcy New York Military Academy, increasing communication with China education institutions not previously available at public school
1:50:00 Growing interest and increasingly clear reasons for leading American-style secondary education in China
1:55:11 Making decision to return to China at late 50s against overwhelming opposition from family and friends
1:59:28 Contrast the more lively, positive and cooperative Chinese colleagues with American colleagues seeking stability and resisting change
2:03:47 Clash with the ways of Chinese education admin lifers from local public school system
2:10:28 Strong pride in being able to make unique and significant contribution, and fierce love for passionate and diligent colleagues
2:13:08 Managing and dealing with people at work is just as hard between America and China
2:17:32 Strong chemistry between energetic Chinese subordinates welcoming western management methods and expat leaders tired of managing uninspiring and inert public sector Americans
2:25:30 Emphasis on mutual respect regardless of status as her management style
2:32:32 Anecdote of helping a sincere and unassuming Chine

Morgan Jones is a Black American that previously spent six years in China as a radio host, movie production assistant and EMBA English teacher. He is a “Chinese son-in-law” (中国女婿), a self-described Tiger Dad (“虎爸”) and a fluent Mandarin speaker.

He got his EMBA from Cornell and bachelors from Middlebury College, or 明德大学 in Chinese.

This episode was recorded in Mandarin. We discussed Morgan’s adventures in China, takeaways from his marriage to a Chinese woman, his relationship with Chinese in-laws, growing up Black in the US, and other American race issues such as affirmative action and recent police involved incidents.

We discussed:

Professor Anne Chao is a Chinese modern historian that lectures at Rice University. She is also manager of the Houston Asian American Archive, an oral history archive that looks to document the challenges faced and contributions made by the Asian American community.

As the daughter of a Taiwanese diplomat, Anne moved between Congo, Australia, Washington DC, and Taiwan as a kid. Her Ph.D. dissertation was on the social networks of Chen Duxiu, co-founder of the Chinese Communist Party and publisher of the influential magazine Xin Qingnian, or New Youth.

In this interview, we covered her multi-continental childhood, views on Asian’s involvement in politics, a history of discrimination suffered by Asian Americans, inspiring stories from the Houston Asian American archive, and her work on Chen Duxiu.

Houston Asian American Archive (HAAA) oral histories: https://haaa.rice.edu/

* Intro
* Multi-continental childhood between Congo, Australia, Washington DC and Taiwan
* Nativism, liberalism, populism of major Western countries today
* Black Lives Matter awakens Asian Americans to more active political participation
* A brief history of discrimination of Chinese, Japanese and Indian Americans
* Asians’ general inactiveness in the American political process
* Age-old question of mainstream assimilation for Asian Americans
* Stories from Houston Asian American Archive
* China’s history around the rise of Chen Duxiu and his publication 新青年

Rui Ma is an investment banker (Morgan Stanley) turned VC (500 Startups) turned podcast host (Tech Buzz China). Her show covers current tech trends in China, with a focus on power players such as ByteDance and Alibaba. Her diaspora journey included a childhood in the China countryside, college and grad school education in the US, a career of finance/tech in Shanghai/Beijing, and podcast operations from Silicon Valley.

We discussed Bytedance ban, Niall Ferguson's "TikTok = China's digital imperium ambitions" quote, Chinese female diaspora experience, China's sexist society, the notorious 996, her podcast-turned-business and more!

Tech Buzz China podcast: https://pandaily.com/podcast/
Rui’s newsletter: https://www.getrevue.co/profile/techbuzzchina/
Rui's twitter: https://twitter.com/ruima

Rui shared with us:

* Childhood in China's countryside, California education, work in China, return to Silicon Valley