As we worked on our third episode, the news broke about the shooting in Atlanta that left eight people dead, including six women of Asian descent. This tragic event comes after more than a year of rising violence against members of Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander communities. In this special episode, we talk to Josephine Park, Professor and Undergraduate Chair of English and Director of the Asian American Studies Program, about the shooting, the history of anti-Asian racism in U.S. politics and culture, and the formation of the Asian American identity as an explicitly political act.

***

Produced by Lauren Rebecca Thacker

Narrated by Alex Schein

Edited by Alex Schein 

Interview by Lauren Rebecca Thacker

Theme music by Nicholas Escobar, C'18

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions 

Illustration by Adriana Bellet

Logo by Drew Nealis

In These Times is a production of Penn Arts & Sciences. Visit our series website to learn more and listen to the first season of In These Times. 

Visit our editorial magazine, Omnia, for more content from Penn Arts & Sciences faculty, students, and alumni. 

Follow Penn Arts & Sciences on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.