Escape From Plan A

In this grab bag of a Labor Day podcast, the trio of Oxford, Mark, and Sammi (a returning guest from Ep. 36: Difficulties in Asian Women-to-Women Dialogues About WMAF) go from lauding the new John Cho movie "Searching" to eventually getting fed up at how neglected poor Asian Americans are in our current social and political climate. Along the way, we diss the Racist OC Barbie Lawyer and #walkaway Youtube nano-celebrity, Zach Hing.

Intro/Outro Song: "Think (ft. Jay Park)" by Reddy

Intro Voice Track: John Cho on His Parents & New Movie "Searching" (Jimmy Kimmel Live!)

TWITTER:

Oxford (@oxford_kondo)

Mark (@snbatman)

REFERENCED RESOURCES:

Amy Yu abduction in Allentown, Pennsylvania: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2018/03/18/a-mom-suspected-her-teen-daughter-was-dating-a-45-year-old-police-found-them-together-in-mexico/?utm_term=.81cfa90fbac2

Abduction and murder of Yingying Zhang at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-met-chinese-scholar-ui-kidnapping-20180116-story.html

California Lawyer Makes Racially-Charged Comments Over ‘Crazy Rich Asians’: https://deadline.com/2018/09/crazy-rich-asians-searching-christina-ignatius-racist-orange-county-diversity-inclusion-asian-amerians-1202455928/

The Asian American Age (by Ross Douthat): https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/01/opinion/asian-american-harvard-lawsuit.html

The 9.9 Percent Is the New American Aristocracy: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/06/the-birth-of-a-new-american-aristocracy/559130/

Zach Hing's #walkaway story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTq-hkR-yAc

"Not My White Savior" by Julayne Lee: https://www.amazon.com/Not-My-White-Savior-Memoir/dp/1945572434

"The Hundred-Year Flood" by Matthew Salesses: https://www.amazon.com/Hundred-Year-Flood-Matthew-Salesses/dp/1477829547

"A Cruelty Special To Our Species: Poems" by Emily Yoon: https://www.amazon.com/Cruelty-Special-Our-Species-Poems/dp/0062843680

"My Year of Rest and Relaxation" by Ottessa Moshfegh: https://www.amazon.com/Year-Rest-Relaxation-Ottessa-Moshfegh/dp/0525522115

Well this is timely! In the year that has come and gone since the start of Plan A, we’ve broached topics that have either been ignored or suppressed by the mainstream Asian American community. But it’s one thing to discuss them; it’s another to take positive actions to fix problems. So the question for discontent Asian American guys is: what steps are necessary to finally find a way out of the bog of anger that exists online and start improving our future? Oxford, Mark, Q, and Filip take a shot at answering this all-important question.

Intro Song: "Work (Instrumental)" by The Quiett

Intro Voice Track: Jeremy Lin's press conference, answering question by Kevin Kreider (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paSH0Ip9pcU)

TWITTER:

Oxford (@oxford_kondo)

Mark (@snbatman)

Q (@allyouneedis_q)

Filip (@filipgwriting)

REFERENCED RESOURCES:

Ivan Krastev on European Meritocracy: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/17/opinion/the-rise-and-fall-of-european-meritocracy.html

Hanh Nguyen's article on lack of Asian male characters in "To All The Boys I've Loved Before": https://www.indiewire.com/2018/08/to-all-the-boys-ive-loved-before-netflix-jenny-han-no-asian-male-love-interest-1201995975/

Vulture calls out "Master of None" for lack of non-white female love interests: http://www.vulture.com/2015/11/master-of-none-and-interracial-dating-on-tv.html

Why Are Brown Men So Infatuated With White Women Onscreen?: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/imransiddiquee/why-are-brown-men-so-infatuated-with-white-women-onscreen

Brown Men Have Reduced Brown Women To A Punchline: https://qz.com/india/1016554/aziz-ansari-hasan-minhaj-kumail-nanjiani-brown-actors-have-reduced-brown-women-to-a-punchline/

"Private Citizens" by Tony Tulathimutte: https://www.amazon.com/Private-Citizens-Novel-Tony-Tulathimutte/dp/0062399101

"The Dead Do Not Improve" by Jay Caspian Kang: https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Do-Not-Improve-Novel/dp/0307953890/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1535338166&sr=1-1&keywords=dead+do+not+improve

"The Hundred-Year Flood" by Matthew Salesses: https://www.amazon.com/Hundred-Year-Flood-Matthew-Salesses/dp/1477829547

Almost all of Asian America has waited with bated breath for Crazy Rich Asians. Plan A has had its skepticism and doubt, but did the movie win them over and reveal that under the surface of every cynic is a romantic who yearns to believe again? Millicent (an NYC-based indie filmmaker) and Quyen (an LA-based activist and actress) join Oxford and Mark as special guests to discuss everything about Crazy Rich Asians, including expectations, emotional reactions, the portrayal of Asian men, the Awkwafina mini-controversy, and the issue of Henry Golding being cast as the male lead.

Intro/Outro Song: "Yellow" performed by Katherine Ho (originally by Coldplay)

TWITTER:

Millicent (@onemillicentcho)

Quyen (@_quyenngo)

Mark (@snbatman)

Oxford (@oxford_kondo)

REFERENCED RESOURCES:

Calling Bullshit on Henry Golding Casting Controversy: https://www.glamour.com/story/crazy-rich-asians-controversy

Dumbfoundead dunking on Hermit Hwarang: https://i.imgur.com/6HdcOcW.jpg

2019 HBO APA Visionaries Short Film Competition: https://www.hbovisionaries.com/

Quyen's Vietnam podcast: www.loa.fm

Condemnation and defense of Sarah Jeong has fallen along the familiar fault lines of online culture. She has been portrayed as either a Pol Pot against white people or a Joan of Arc against racist and sexist trolls. But what if she is neither? Jess, Teen, and Oxford discuss how an old instance of performative wokeness (almost certainly intended in jest for a small media-class clique) has now been forcibly repackaged as a greater expression of minority, especially Asian American, anger. And who benefits the most from all this? The white liberal establishment, which not only gets to be seen promoting a woman of color, but also gets to extract a humble apology from her. Also, some football-bashing at the end.

Intro/Outro Song: "Over" by Epik High

Intro Voice Track: Malcolm X on white liberals (UC Berkeley 1963)

TWITTER:

Jess (@cogitatotomato)

Teen (@mont_jiang)

Oxford (@oxford_kondo)

REFERENCED RESOURCES:

Model Majority Podcast with Oxford Kondo: http://modelmajoritypodcast.com/oxford-kondo-plan-a-magazine-wmaf-aapi-gender/

NYT Fires Quinn Norton: https://www.wired.com/story/the-ny-times-fires-tech-writer-quinn-norton-and-its-complicated/

Teen's article on Sarah Jeong: https://planamag.com/the-problem-with-sarah-jeong-cd211de8838e

Mitch McConnell enlists wife Elaine Chao in 2014 re-election campaign on women's issues: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/14/us/politics/girding-for-a-fight-mcconnell-enlists-his-wife.html

Naomi Wu's account of incident with Vice and Sarah Jeong: https://medium.com/@therealsexycyborg/shenzhen-tech-girl-naomi-wu-my-experience-with-sarah-jeong-jason-koebler-and-vice-magazine-3f4a32fda9b5

Inkoo Kang defends Sarah Jeong: https://slate.com/culture/2018/08/the-ny-times-response-to-sarah-jeongs-controversial-tweets-blames-bigotry-on-many-sides.html

Inkoo Kang's podcast on Isle of Dogs: https://slate.com/culture/2018/03/wes-andersons-isle-of-dogs-reviewed-in-spoiler-filled-detail.html

Jessica Prois on Sarah Jeong and Asian American anger: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/sarah-jeong-new-york-times_us_5b64c745e4b0de86f4a16ae2

Zach Beauchamp defends Sarah Jeong: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/8/3/17648566/sarah-jeong-new-york-times-twitter-andrew-sullivan

Reihan Salam on the social perks of white-bashing: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/08/the-utility-of-white-bashing/566846/

Suey Park and #CancelColbert backlash: https://newrepublic.com/article/121861/suey-parkof-cancelcolbert-fame-has-stopped-fighting-twitter

College football coach says decline of football means decline of America: https://www.si.com/college-football/2018/07/18/north-carolina-head-coach-larry-fedora-says-game-under-attack

Jess, Mark, and Teen share their impressions of Wong Fu Production's new YouTube series "Yappie." The series explores the inner life of a well-to-do Asian American man in Southern California, and the cheery surface, there is an unmistakable undertone of the modern ennui and loneliness that pervades society. A somewhat more serious talk about depression and anxiety.

Intro Voice Track: Edward Norton's monologue on materialism from "Fight Club"

TWITTER:

Jess (@cogitatotomato)

Teen (@mont_jiang)

Mark (@snbatman)

REFERENCED RESOURCES:

Johann Hari's TED talk on the root causes of depression: https://www.ted.com/talks/johann_hari_everything_you_think_you_know_about_addiction_is_wrong

A vibrant film culture has existed in Asia for a long time, but only recently has it become so available to the rest of the world. For Asian Americans, Asian cinema offers an opportunity to learn about our ancestral homelands in a way that may have gotten lost in the immigration process. Joining Teen and Oxford are Anthony Kao and Richard Yu, the founders of Cinema Escapist. Theirs is a website dedicated to not only reviewing international cinema but placing it in the context of politics and culture. Together, they pick some of their favorite Asian movies and why people, especially Asian Americans, should watch them.

Intro/Outro Music: Theme from Tokyo Story

Intro Voice Track: Roger Ebert on Yasujiro Ozu's "Floating Weeds"

TWITTER:

Cinema Escapist (@cinemaescapist)

Teen (@mont_jiang)

Oxford (@oxford_kondo)

REFERENCED RESOURCES:

Richard's recs: Dying To Survive, Wolf Warrior 2, My Old Classmate

Anthony's recs: A Taxi Driver, American Dreams In China, Ode To My Father

Oxford's rec: Tokyo Story

Teen's rec: Black Coal Thin Ice

Other movies mentioned: Yiyi, May 18, Beijing Meets Seattle, Early Spring, Blind Shaft

BBC Interview with Richard Yu on "Dying To Survive": https://www.facebook.com/cinemaescapist/videos/2075601962656795

Teen's reviews on Cinema Escapist: https://www.cinemaescapist.com/author/teensheng/

FilmStruck: https://www.filmstruck.com/us/

From Amy Tan to Michelle Kwan to Constance Wu, there are many Asian American women who have achieved great success and are upheld as leading figures of the community. But sometimes (and especially online), Asian male support is muted or reluctant. Is it resentment at seeing women in power at all? Or does it have anything to do with the feeling that only by closely allying with whiteness can Asian women succeed at the highest levels in America, thus leaving Asian men behind? Is that what’s behind some of the online harassment of Asian women by some Asian men? In this special-format podcast, Jess poses simple but direct questions for Teen, Oxford, and Jong to answer in hopes of further illuminating the Asian male perspective.

Intro/Outro Song: "Fighters ft. Matthew Santos" by Lupe Fiasco

Intro Voice Track: Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph's argument scene from "Bridesmaids"

TWITTER:

Jess (@cogitatotomato)

Teen (@mont_jiang)

Oxford (@oxford_kondo)

Jong (@coarsecourse)

REFERENCED RESOURCES:

Matthew De Starkey incident at UW-Whitewater: https://proasian888.wordpress.com/2018/07/13/matthew-de-starkey/

The Asian-American Gender Gap: http://benefsanem.blogspot.com/2010/11/asian-american-gender-gap.html

"Straight White Men" play on Broadway: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/18/magazine/young-jean-lees-unsafe-spaces.html

Chloe Kim and her Father are America’s Soft Power Nuke: https://planamag.com/chloe-kim-and-her-father-are-americas-soft-power-nuke-75df9fa2627a

William and Mary Univ. study on black women and Asian men's representation: https://www.wm.edu/news/stories/2015/study-finds-asian-men,-black-women-underrepresented-in-magazines123.php

Mark Tseng-Putterman's tweet attacking NPR's Yowei Shaw: https://i.imgur.com/lhOkrMP.jpg

The Slant newsletter criticizing Yowei Shaw: https://i.imgur.com/H7Hl0fW.jpg

Black woman's Instagram post re Michael B. Jordan and the race of his girlfriends: https://i.imgur.com/QX5vDi1.png

"Big Little Man" by Alex Tizon: https://www.amazon.com/Big-Little-Man-Search-Asian/dp/0547450486

"Everything I Never Told You" by Celeste Ng: https://www.amazon.com/Everything-I-Never-Told-You/dp/0143127551

From Natalie Tran's "White Male Asian Female" documentary to NYT's article "The Alt-Right's Asian Fetish" to the backlash against Chloe Bennet (born Chloe Wang) for dating Logan Paul, the topic of WMAF has been unavoidable as of late. It's often said that the issues of internalized racism involved in this topic are best addressed by and for Asian women. But what happens when Asian women run into brick walls when trying to talk to other Asian women about this, resulting in strained friendships or ostracization from activist circles? To shed more light on this are Jess, Christina, and special guest Sammi Lee, a student and Asian/LGBTQ activist in NYC (with Oxford in a producer role).

Intro/Outro Song: "Shut Up" by Stormzy

Intro Voice Track: Interview between Natalie Tran and Sar Satria from Natalie Tran's "White Male Asian Female" Youtube documentary

TWITTER:

Jess (@cogitatotomato)

REFERENCED RESOURCES:

"The Asian Mystique" by Sheridan Prasso: https://www.amazon.com/Asian-Mystique-Dragon-Ladies-Fantasies/dp/1586483943

"The Art of Cruelty" by Maggie Nelson: https://www.amazon.com/Art-Cruelty-Reckoning-Maggie-Nelson/dp/0393343146

The trailer for the Netflix adaptation of Jenny Han's YA novel, "To All The Boys I've Loved Before," has fans excited, especially because an Asian woman is in a lead rom-com role. But within Asian American spaces, there has been a lot of discussion over how progressive this movie actually is when it's yet another story about an Asian girl obsessing over mainly white boys. Is media rep for POC always to be unquestioningly celebrated? Can we freely talk about the problems of idealizing white love interests? Joining Jess and Oxford, male model Kevin Kreider offers his insider knowledge of the racist hierarchy in the modeling/entertainment world to highlight why this is an important issue that is much more than about movies and TV.

Intro: "To All The Boys I've Loved Before" Trailer

Outro Song: "I Like Me Better" (Instrumental) by Lauv

TWITTER:

Jess (@cogitatotomato)

Oxford (@oxford_kondo)

Kevin Kreider (@kevkreider)

KEVIN KREIDER LINKS:

"The Ugly Model" documentary: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/uglymodeldoc/the-ugly-model-a-documentary

Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAJJBY9sSThM02XLsfb3U3A

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevin.kreider/?hl=en

The Disappointing Reality of Dating as an Asian-American Man: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/youre-really-good-looking-for-an-asian-guy_us_5b33ccdee4b03b6966b99426

REFERENCED RESOURCES:

Some People Are Upset There’s No Asian Male in Netflix’s New Film With Lana Condor: https://nextshark.com/people-upset-theres-no-asian-male-netflixs-new-film-lana-condor/

Hapa actor Charles Melton cast as full-Korean male lead in "The Sun Is Also A Star": https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sun-is-a-star-riverdale-star-charles-melton-joins-yara-shahidi-1116216

Jesse Wiliams and Light-Skinned Privilege: http://blackyouthproject.com/why-we-need-to-talk-about-light-skinned-privelege/

Amandla Stenberg turned down "Black Panther" role because she felt she was too light-skinned: https://rollingout.com/2018/03/01/amandla-stenberg-rejected-black-panther-role-light-skin/

Alicia Vikander and Riley Keogh to star with Naoki Kobayashi in Netflix's "The Earthquake Bird": https://www.empireonline.com/people/alicia-vikander/alicia-vikander-riley-keough-starring-earthquake-bird/

Justin Chon and Ellie Bamber to star in "Taipei": https://variety.com/2016/film/news/justin-chon-ellie-bamber-romance-movie-taipei-1201931718/

The pursuit of white women: Brown actors like Aziz Ansari have reduced brown women to a punchline: https://qz.com/1016554/aziz-ansari-hasan-minhaj-kumail-nanjiani-brown-actors-have-reduced-brown-women-to-a-punchline/

I’m Tired of Watching Brown Men Fall in Love With White Women Onscreen: https://themuse.jezebel.com/i-m-tired-of-watching-brown-men-fall-in-love-with-white-1796522590

The Problem With How Some Brown Male Comics Portray Brown Women In Films And TV: https://mic.com/videos/7577/pr-0037-brownwomeninmedia#.EtZwAvyr9

Does Anyone Have The Right To Sex by Amia Srinivasan: https://www.lrb.co.uk/v40/n06/amia-srinivasan/does-anyone-have-the-right-to-sex

You Need 20,000 Followers to Even Look at This Instagrammable Mural in L.A.: https://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-news/instagram-famous-art-mural-los-angeles

"To All The Boys I've Loved Before" Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTLc_RzqaJc&t=2s

The trailer for the Netflix adaptation of Jenny Han's YA novel, "To All The Boys I've Loved Before," has fans excited, especially because an Asian woman is in a lead rom-com role. But within Asian American spaces, there has been a lot of discussion over how progressive this movie actually is when it's yet another story about an Asian girl obsessing over mainly white boys. Is media rep for POC always to be unquestioningly celebrated? Can we freely talk about the problems of idealizing white love interests? Joining Jess and Oxford, male model Kevin Kreider offers his insider knowledge of the racist hierarchy in the modeling/entertainment world to highlight why this is an important issue that is much more than about movies and TV.

Intro: "To All The Boys I've Loved Before" Trailer

Outro Song: "I Like Me Better" (Instrumental) by Lauv

TWITTER:

Jess (@cogitatotomato)

Oxford (@oxford_kondo)

Kevin Kreider (@kevkreider)

KEVIN KREIDER LINKS:

"The Ugly Model" documentary: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/uglymodeldoc/the-ugly-model-a-documentary

Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAJJBY9sSThM02XLsfb3U3A

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevin.kreider/?hl=en

The Disappointing Reality of Dating as an Asian-American Man: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/youre-really-good-looking-for-an-asian-guy_us_5b33ccdee4b03b6966b99426

REFERENCED RESOURCES:

Some People Are Upset There’s No Asian Male in Netflix’s New Film With Lana Condor: https://nextshark.com/people-upset-theres-no-asian-male-netflixs-new-film-lana-condor/

Hapa actor Charles Melton cast as full-Korean male lead in "The Sun Is Also A Star": https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sun-is-a-star-riverdale-star-charles-melton-joins-yara-shahidi-1116216

Jesse Wiliams and Light-Skinned Privilege: http://blackyouthproject.com/why-we-need-to-talk-about-light-skinned-privelege/

Amandla Stenberg turned down "Black Panther" role because she felt she was too light-skinned: https://rollingout.com/2018/03/01/amandla-stenberg-rejected-black-panther-role-light-skin/

Alicia Vikander and Riley Keogh to star with Naoki Kobayashi in Netflix's "The Earthquake Bird": https://www.empireonline.com/people/alicia-vikander/alicia-vikander-riley-keough-starring-earthquake-bird/

Justin Chon and Ellie Bamber to star in "Taipei": https://variety.com/2016/film/news/justin-chon-ellie-bamber-romance-movie-taipei-1201931718/

The pursuit of white women: Brown actors like Aziz Ansari have reduced brown women to a punchline: https://qz.com/1016554/aziz-ansari-hasan-minhaj-kumail-nanjiani-brown-actors-have-reduced-brown-women-to-a-punchline/

I’m Tired of Watching Brown Men Fall in Love With White Women Onscreen: https://themuse.jezebel.com/i-m-tired-of-watching-brown-men-fall-in-love-with-white-1796522590

The Problem With How Some Brown Male Comics Portray Brown Women In Films And TV: https://mic.com/videos/7577/pr-0037-brownwomeninmedia#.EtZwAvyr9

Does Anyone Have The Right To Sex by Amia Srinivasan: https://www.lrb.co.uk/v40/n06/amia-srinivasan/does-anyone-have-the-right-to-sex

You Need 20,000 Followers to Even Look at This Instagrammable Mural in L.A.: https://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-news/instagram-famous-art-mural-los-angeles

"To All The Boys I've Loved Before" Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTLc_RzqaJc&t=2s