Thank You/Enjoy

Want to hear Ethan's *killer* impression of Washington Ho?  Guest Cindy Chou returns and sits down with Ethan and Alison to discuss the HBO Max show House of Ho, a reality show about the tumultuous family drama and life of The Ho Family, a wealthy Vietnamese-American family based in Houston, Texas.  Join in as Alison, Cindy, and Ethan discuss the show's unique portrayal of generational conflict and Asian-American culture through the peculiar medium of American reality TV, as well as reflect on the recent trend of reality TV shows focused on ridiculously rich Asian families.  

Works mentioned:

House of Ho

Bling Empire

Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives

Produced by Casey Lee

Audio edited/mixed by Ethan Lee

Graphic/logo design by Chris Kim (@chuffimation)

Music by Ethan Lee (G-Kahn)

Ethan and Alison return to the (Zoom) booth and are joined by Ethan's brother, Evan, to discuss the Marvel Studios film and first Asian-led superhero film, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings! Join in the conversation as they discuss their thoughts on the Marvel film and explore its cultural references to Hong Kong and Chinese action cinema, as well as fawn over Tony Leung, reflect on their childhood dreams of an Asian superhero, and ponder Shang-Chi's oriental nature.  What will Shang-Chi's entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe mean for Asian-American cinema?

Works mentioned:

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Short Term 12

Eternals

American-Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

Shang-Chi Vol.1 by Gene Luen Yang

Credits:

Produced by Casey Lee

Audio mixed/edited by Ethan Lee

Graphic and logo design by Chris Kim (@chuffimation)

Music by Ethan Lee (G-Kahn)

In this unique audio essay and serial-style episode of Thank You / Enjoy, Ethan compiles, analyzes, and reflects on 3 interviews he conducted with 3 friends of the show on the latest Disney animated film, Raya and the Last Dragon.  

Listen in on Cindy Chou, Rae Jillian Rivera, and Anna Nguyen as they share their unique critique on Raya and the Last Dragon's details, creative choices, cultural implications, and overall representation of the Southeast Asian American community, and join Ethan as he narrates and sequences the interviews, threading together and commenting on the common themes and sentiments shared among his three friends!  

Produced by Casey Lee and Alison Chi

Written and recorded by Ethan Lee

Edited by Ethan Lee

Music by Ethan Lee (G-Kahn)

Graphic/logo design by Chris Kim (Instagram @chuffimation)

Ethan, Casey, and Alison return to the Zoom booth and catch up after a post-Season 1 break to ring in the Year of the Ox in this Lunar New Year special!  Join the Thank You / Enjoy team as they discuss their favorite Lunar New Year memories and explore how their relationships with the holiday have changed over the years, and what they enjoy doing now to preserve their culture and traditions!

Join the TYE community on Discord: https://discord.gg/H2GncxVEQv

Works/people mentioned/inspired:

Corky Lee (photographer)

Kamala Harris

The Queen's Gambit (2020)

Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

After Dark by Haruki Murakami

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

Crash Landing On You (2019)

San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade

Produced by Casey Lee

Edited/mixed by Ethan Lee

Graphic Logo Design by Chris Kim (@chuffimation)

Music by Ethan Lee (G-Kahn)

In Thank You/Enjoy's season finale, Ethan, Alison, and Casey jump in the Zoom and wrap up the entire season with the topic that started it all: boba liberalism.  Join in as they share their own personal experiences with understanding the term and encountering communities that perpetuate this particularly controversial sense of being Asian American in the political and economic space!  From high school club anecdotes and "Jeremy" from high school to theater try-outs and Mandarin classes at UCLA, you'll hear it all wrapped nicely together to conclude the very first season of Thank You/Enjoy! Thank you to all the listeners and guests who joined us this Season 1!  We'll see you very soon and can't wait to talk with y'all again.

Ethan and Alison discuss the Asian YouTubers they grew up watching, high school Asian American clubs, and Asian YouTuber festivals.  Join Ethan and Alison as they reminisce on Asian YouTube's renaissance circa 2009-2011 and attempt to break down what made these videos so "Asian" (apart from the cast).

Works Mentioned/Inspired: 

WongFu Productions

NigaHiga

KevJumba

The Community Channel

Happy Slip

Freddie Wong

YourChonny

Mike Song

Produced by Casey Lee

Audio Edited/Mixed by Ethan Lee

Graphic/Logo Design by Chris Kim (Instagram @chuffimation)

Music by Ethan Lee (G-Kahn)

Ethan and Alison are joined by special guest and friend of the show Jennifer Liaw for Thank You/Enjoy's Thanksgiving special episode!  Join them as they discuss dim sum, share their experiences in various "upscale" Taiwanese/Chinese restaurants in Los Angeles and New York City, and explore the politics of food authenticity!

Restaurants mentioned/inspired from this episode: 

Atlantic Dim Sum (San Gabriel Valley, Los Angeles, CA)

Feast (UCLA, Los Angeles, CA)

Dragon Beaux (San Francisco, CA)

Joy (Pasadena, Los Angeles, CA)

Win Son (New York, NY)

886 (New York, NY)

Yang's Kitchen (Los Angeles, CA)

Woon (Los Angeles, CA)

Produced by Casey Lee

Audio Mixed/Edited by Ethan Lee

Graphic/Logo Design by Chris Kim (Instagram @chuffimation)

Intro/Outro Music by Ethan Lee (soundcloud.com/leegato)

With Parasite, BTS, and Crash Landing On You being among South Korea's hottest imports to the West this year, it's impossible for Ethan and Alison to ignore the increased popularity of Korean media in the United States.  Join Ethan and Alison on this hilarious and fun discussion on the phenomenon they like to refer to as, "The Koreawave."   

From Super Junior to BTS, and Boys Over Flowers to It's Okay To Not Be Okay, Alison and Ethan  compare the Korean music and shows they watched 10 years ago to the Korean music and shows of today, and how their increased popularity in the West correlates with the changes in their quality and Western sensibilities.  What makes Korean media so much more appealing in America, and why are we seeing it become popular now?  Why is it that Japanese and Korean culture seem so close in proximity to the West, despite the fact that Chinese and Filipino Americans are the two largest Asian populations in the United States?  Alison and Ethan pose these questions and many more to each other as they joke and discuss!

Works Referenced/Inspired From:

Boys Over Flowers (2009)

Crash Landing On You (2019-2020)

It's Okay To Not Be Okay (2020)

BTS - "Ma City" "Dynamite"

Super Junior

Girls Generation

BIGBANG

Produced by Casey Lee

Audio Mixed and Edited by Ethan Lee

Graphic and Logo Design by Chris. Kim (Instagram @chuffimation)

Intro/Outro Music by Ethan Lee (soundcloud.com/leegato)

Casey, Ethan, and Alison catch up after a two-week break, talking about their personal experiences during the 2020 US election and discussing the Asian American film of the decade, Crazy Rich Asians.  Join in as they discuss the plethora of both positive and negative thoughts they have on the blockbuster!

Alison's Taiwan Mix: https://www.mixcloud.com/alisonchi/taiwan-then-and-now-1968-2020/

Works/Articles Mentioned and Inspired By: 

Crazy Rich Asians is a win for Asian Americans.  But it gets Singapore wrong. (Vox) (https://www.vox.com/first-person/2018/8/17/17715124/crazy-rich-asians-movie-singapore)

One Way That Crazy Rich Asians is a Step Backward (The Atlantic) (https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/08/asian-americas-great-gatsby-moment/568213/)

Crazy Rich Identities (The Atlantic) (https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/08/singapore/568567/)

Produced by Casey Lee

Audio Mixed/Edited by Ethan Lee

Graphic/Logo Design by Chris Kim (@chuffimation)

Intro/Outro Music by Ethan Chong (https://soundcloud.com/ampersand97)

For this bonus episode, Casey sits down with fellow former campaign staffers Tony Choi (Twitter: @tonykchoi) and Hunter Blas to discuss their respective journeys to working in politics as AAPIs, as well as their thoughts on how campaigns can engage meaningfully with AAPIs ahead of the 2020 U.S. Election. Follow us on Instagram @thankyouenjoypod and Twitter @tyenjoypod.