Politically Asian! Podcast

This week we talk with Kai (@tankiepilled), who is the co-founder of All Power Books (@allpowerbooks), a bookstore and community space for the people! Fun fact for this episode, Kai is actually a pseudonym for our guest because they’ve been arrested at protests, which we thought was cool because it shows they are extremely down for the cause. We talk with Kai about the logistics of starting a bookstore, what community members use All Power’s space, what kind of books the bookstore offers, and more. Tune in to hear what books Kai recommends reading if you wanna dip your toes into learning more about socialism, Karl Marx, etc.!

This week we talk to advertising creative and conceptual artist, Sai He (@replysai)! Sai's worked with many big-name clients like Old Spice, Netflix, Jet Blue, and the New Zealand Transport Agency. He's also the person behind the popular ad industry meme account @dongdraper. We talk to Sai about companies that suddenly became woke with their ads during the George Floyd protests, and whether any of those companies are keeping up with their promises for diversity and equity a year later. We also discuss how Sai got into advertising, whether brands and agencies should even have morals, and some notable ad drama related to social justice movements. Tune in to hear our theories on why Asian people go into advertising!

This week’s episode was so funny and therapeutic it literally had us in tears. We talk to Kalaya'an (Kala) Mendoza (he/him or they/them), a Queer, Filipino and Hard of Hearing human rights defender, street medic, and community safety & mutual protection trainer. Kala currently serves as the Director of US Programs at Nonviolent Peaceforce. Nonviolent Peaceforce protects civilians in violent conflicts using unarmed protection strategies. We talk to Kala about how to protest safely, protestor safety issues with Stop Asian Hate protests following Atlanta, and what to do in the worst case scenario where white supremacists show up to your protest. Tune in to hear one thing each of us are doing to take care of ourselves while living in the nightmare that is America. During the episode, Kala also referenced a few articles and protest safety resources, which we have linked below: 

Nonviolent Peaceforce Protest Safety Resources:

https://nonviolentpeaceforce.org/about-4/volunteerminnesota-2

Vice - A Guide to Practicing Anti-Racism as an Asian Ally

https://www.vice.com/en/article/bv8nm8/george-floyd-protest-anti-racism-asia

Teen Vogue - How To Support Protests 

https://www.teenvogue.com/story/how-to-support-protests-when-youre-not-affected-by-the-issue

Financial Times - Meet The Activists Perfecting The Craft of Anti-Surveillance

https://www.ft.com/content/a0f8d8c5-ee5c-4618-bfbd-6bfb383b803e

Amnesty Australia - How To Be A Genuine Ally To Indigenous Communities

https://www.amnesty.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/10-ways-to-be-a-genuine-ally-to-Indigenous-communities.pdf

The Uptake - Running Toward Chaos Street Medics Provide Frontline Care

https://theuptake.org/2021/04/29/running-toward-chaos-street-medics-provide-frontline-care/

The 2020 Census data is out, baby! This week we talked with Julie Kim (@julieaekim), who was the Queens Borough Lead for the NYC Census 2020 and is also the cofounder of the Asian American Feminist Collective (@aafcollective)! We break down how the Census is not just a fun tally of the US population, but a tool that determines how much money is allocated to different states. cities, and counties every decade. Fun (potentially depressing) fact: due to the pandemic, this was the first time the Census went digital. Julie also talks about how she got started with organizing and teaches us the term grass-top organizing! Tune in to hear how we’re going to celebrate white people no longer being the plurality in Queens! 

This week we’re talking with Esther Tseng (@estarla, LA Times, Eater, Bon Appétit, Time Out) , a food journalist who writes about food and culture and food justice. We talk with Esther about food access and income inequality, outrage against white chefs inventing “superior” Asian food (e.g. Lucky Lee’s, Congee Karen), and how to move from outrage to action when seeing these pieces designed to make us mad. Give us a listen to hear what we think the next food to be Columbused is and leave a review!