Minor Feelings

In this episode, I talk to Beijing American writer, illustrator and strategist Frankie Huang on the myth of the model minority in the wake of anti-Asian violence, the weaponization of gratitude, racial microaggressions, and what it's like to be asked whether you'd prefer your home country or the country you chose to live in, over and over. Music by Ketsa. Read Huang's Daily Beast piece here: https://www.thedailybeast.com/white-fragility-is-a-disease-and-it-just-killed-six-asian-women

In this episode, I talk to Yves Tong Nguyen, a Vietnamese American cultural worker at Red Canary Song. Red Canary Song is a grassroots collective that works to help Asian and migrant sex workers and massage workers in Flushing, New York. In the wake of anti-Asian violence in Atlanta, talked about the massage work industry in the US, the policing of work, and if there’s a space to talk about mental health. We also talk about how hypersexualization and fetishization of Asian women play into myths around sex and massage work. The link to resources and where to donate is here: https://minorfeelings.substack.com/p/a-quick-post-on-how-you-can-stand. Music by Ketsa. Original image: Chang W Lee, The New York Times.

The past few weeks have seen an outrage in India over the rape and murder of Manisha, a 19-year-old Dalit woman in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh. Divya Karthikeyan talks to Christina Dhanaraj, a writer and advisor for Smashboard, a non-profit based in Paris and New Delhi. She was formerly a consultant for #dalitwomenfight and co-founder of Dalit History Month. On this episode, we discuss what it means to “pass the mic”, the inherent problems with the term, why it’s important to be anti-caste and how to be a good ally.

In this episode, I talk to Professor Jonghyun Lee about niceness and harmony in the context of Korea and Korean Americans, and how too much of it it can lead to some unsavoury physical symptoms - a syndrome called Hwa-byung, or 'fire illness.' You can read the full newsletter with this episode at Minor Feelings dot substack dot com. Music by Ketsa and Cambo.

In the second episode of Minor Feelings, we spoke to New York Democrat politician Lindsey Boylan. Boylan ran for Congress in the NY Democratic primary in June 2020 from the 10th district. She’s been particularly frank about her tumultuous and difficult childhood, her ability and foresight to seek therapy early on, and dealing with postpartum depression after the birth of her first child. She was previously Deputy Secretary of Economic Development to Governor Andrew Cuomo, and we talk about the discourse around mental illness in political spheres, and what it does to your mental health to project everlasting perfection as a politician.

In the first episode of Minor Feelings, we explore trauma in a world of advisories, orders, and guidelines in the time of COVID-19. Investigative reporter Rachel Dissell joins the podcast to talk about how people cope, move forward and make sense of the new world unraveling around them.

This episode was produced by Divya Karthikeyan, responses edited for clarity by Febin Mathew, and music by Blue Dot Sessions.