The Arts of Travel

This summer, I had the opportunity to speak with Author and Photographer Chris Arnade on his new book, "Dignity: Seeking Respect in Back Row America" .

The conversation spans Chris's background (he came from High-Finance), why he left the world of wall-street to see poverty in America first hand. And what he learned when he began treating those suffering from addiction, poverty and homelessness with the dignity, respect and love they deserve.

We also discuss current political movements (The Poor People's Campaign), how the left could do a better job discussing homelessness and religion, why the Right is also attracted to his work.

Chris is a one of a kind thinker. I hope you enjoy our conversation! For more on his work you can find his book here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/566661/dignity-by-chris-arnade/

And for more on his photography, please find it here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/arnade/

We spoke w. Journalist Kharishar Kahfi (Twitter: @kkahfi106) of the Jakarta Post on the recent events in West Papua and Jakarta. Kuka discusses the themes of democracy, corruption and colonialism which are driving protesters into the streets of Indonesia & West Papua

Below are a few links for those who want to learn more, and of course we recommend Asia Art Tours' podcasts on West Papua.

For Jakarta (and countering lazy Anglo media reporting on the protests being against a 'sex ban')

https://www.thejakartapost.com/community/2019/09/27/no-indonesian-students-not-taking-to-streets-only-to-fight-sex-ban.html

For recent events on the arrests of Musicians and popular youth cultural figures- https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2019/09/27/musician-ananda-badudu-questioned-by-police-for-crowdfunding-for-student-rallies.html

For West Papua, Kuka recommends this paper from researcher Sidney Jones on what's led to the violence in West Papua and errors made by Indonesia's government.

http://lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/violence-papua-could-get-worse

This was a lovely and informative chat I had w. Isabelle Niu (twitter: @Muge_Niu), a a co-founder of Chinese Storytellers and the Loud Murmurs Podcast. Both of which (the first English Language, the second 國語） I find to be absolutely critical resources for media coverage of China, and Media Coverage OF the media coverage of China.

We discuss a variety of issues in our conversation (ranging from politics, to China culture to Hip Hop!) But, several questions are connected to the title of this episode:

• Who are the women working in Chinese Language Media, what barriers (class, language, racism) have they had to overcome?

• Why are female reporters often targeted with sexist language (or doxxed) in a way that male journalists never have to deal with?

• And does Western Media tend to invisibilize the hard work of female journalists who support the reporting of their white, male colleagues?

We discuss all these questions and more with isabelle, who I found to be warm, insightful and more then up to the task of discussing these questions with me. I hope you enjoy our conversation, and please do check out Isabelle's work here. Loud Murmurs in particular is my favorite Chinese Languge podcast!

• Loud Murmurs Podcast - https://www.buzzsprout.com/258327

• Chinese Storytellers - https://chinesestorytellers.substack.com

And for more tours, media and interviews that try to provide a nuanced, complex and interesting perspectives on China please head to

• Asiaarttours.com

• And our Youtube Channel : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC37MGjfMHBkusWRESbxn5pA?view_as=subscriber

We had the great privilege of speaking with Australia and Thailand based artist Kawita Vatanajyankur after her show- The Repetitiveness of Work- in Taipei, Taiwan.

It's a interesting back and forth conversation, as we find out about Kawita's Background, the conflicts between activism and networking in the Art World and her thoughts on Feminism and Labor in Thailand.

For more of Kawita's incredible performance art please head to her Facebook Page

Or her personal Website: https://www.kawita-v.com

And to meet some of the incredible artists and activists of Thailand check out our Thailand Tours here! - https://asiaarttours.com/tours/

Recently, I had the great honor of speaking to Raki Ap, Spokesperson for Benny Wenda (@bennywenda)- A West Papuan independence Leader in Exile - on the current protests going on in West Papua. What once were isolated protests about racism on college campuses have evolved into a long-suppressed call for freedom for the West Papuan people.

Raki and I discuss two threads of the protest.The first is the raw violence, trauma and emotions at the heart of the West Papuan Movement. We discuss the sexual violence and mortal violence, and what Raki calls Genocide, inflicted on the West Papuan People. Raki's own father has been Murdered for activism in West Papua.

The second thread we discuss is how this movement is one that is larger than West Papua. Raki clearly and eloquently states how West Papua is a movement against colonialism, against climate change(with West Papua having the 2nd largest rainforest in the world), and with the racist discourse and violence unleashed by Indonesia, is a movement against Racism.

For more on Raki's work w. Benny Wenda, please head to their twitter or their website here: https://www.bennywenda.org

And for part 1 in our series on West Papua, w. Karina Tehusijarana, please head here: https://player.whooshkaa.com/episode?id=423320

This is a conversation I had recently w. Researcher, Academic and Journalist Kong Tsung Gan on a very under-reported aspect of the Hong Kong Protests- the issue of 'Lawfare' (law being twisted to punish the citizens it's supposed to protect) and the violence (both abstract and physical) of the legal system...

• What does "police brutality' mean? And why have the police become so brutal?

• What happens to a protester when they enter Hong Kong's Legal System? And how have laws been weaponized against the citizens they are supposed to serve?

• What do phrases like "If we burn you burn with us" mean?

• And how can we connect the Hong Kong Protests to other anti-colonial, anti-capitalist, or anti-establishment revolutions?

Pankaj Mishra in his book 'The Age of Anger', calls the coming collapse of neoliberal capitalism and politics as the harbinger of the 'civil war of all against all'... I often see Hong Kong in this light... Who wins this war- the protesters or incestuous billionaires allied with a brutal state- is a preview of what the future holds for the rest of the world. To quote another luminary, Philip K Dick once said the 'future is here it's just unevenly distributed', for me Hong Kong is that future.

For more on Kong please follow him on Twitter- @KongTsungGan

If you're interested in learning more about the Hong Kong Protests, please listen to our earlier episodes or email us- [email protected]

Vivek Prakash/AFP/Getty Images- from Inkstick Media

This is our first installment of an interview series on West Papua, the current protests and the regions complicated history with Indonesia.

This is a discussion that requires sensitivity and nuance. To help us as we explore this issue, we spoke with Karina Tehusijarana of the Jakarta Post. Her work recently has explored the protests in West Papua, The Indonesia's political and military response, and her thoughts on the local and global significance of the West Papua independence movement (a movement that has a longer history than just these recent protests).

For more on West Papua please follow:

Veronica Komon (Twitter: @VeronicaKoman)

Benny Wenda (Twitter :@BennyWenda)

• If you like what we're doing, follow us on Twitter: @Asiaarttours

• Check out our Youtube

• And come visit our website: Asiaarttours.com

A little while back, before Hong Kong demanded Radical Freedom, Hawaii & New Zealand demanded the Sacred and West Papua demanded their right to Independence, I had the great pleasure of speaking with Jon (Twitter: @TheLitCritGuy) and Ash (Twitter: @_ashhhh) of the Podcast - The Horror Vanguard (Twitter: @HorrorVanguard)

Our conversation centers along complex themes and complex pain in our era of suicidal and grotesque capitalism. Why isn't Ken Loach considered a 'horror' director? What does the horror of whiteness (and all the evil it's inflicted on the world) look like in films such as Candyman or Get Out? And though many of our heroes (Mark Fisher, David Foster Wallace) could not bear the pain of this world, are their ghosts still here, trying to teach us?

It's a painful and painfully honest conversation. Made even more complicated that our politics (particularly in the tension of Anarchism vs. Communism) don't always align. But I feel these are the conversations the Left should be having more of. When we leave the protective membranes of our ideologies, and walk together, naked and vulnerable to face the horrors of the world, only then will the Left be strong enough to demand change. Our armor makes us weak, vulnerability makes us strong, and when we walk together, the monsters are afraid of US. . . not the other way around.

I hope you enjoy our conversation, and if you are interested in supporting our project (of supporting the artists and academics of Asia) please visit Asiaarttours.com, or get in touch w. me at [email protected]

This is a short series of emails I received from a Mainland China Listener in response to our episode w. Darren Byler on Xinjiang and our episodes on the Hong Kong Protests.

It's heart-breaking but fuels me. I want desperately to build a world free from neoliberal capitalism, free from being ruled by a military industrial complex, free from white supremacy, free from nationalism, free from xenophobia, free from Chauvinism, Free from vanguardist heirarchy. A freedom for China, A freedom for Hong Kong, A freedom for the US, I want us all to be free.

If anyone has more ideas for guests, more responses to interviews, or more ideas how to build a more free world please let me know.