In a few weeks, Combo On The Run, a documentary chronicling the rise of the band Eraserheads, is set to hit movie screens across North America.  It’s not often that a film from the Philippines gets a release and a reception as high profile as this film has been getting, let alone a documentary about an OPM band as varied and enigmatic as the Eraserheads.  So since #TFALheartsOPM, we figured we’d dedicate some time to talk about Original Pilipino Music, including our favorite bands, songs, scenes, and subgenres, and of course about the Eraserheads.

But to do the topic justice, we figured we’d use this moment as an opportunity to try something… a little different!

Producer Mike is hosting, sans the rest of the TFAL crew; you know, the one host that never really seems to say much on most episodes? It just so happens that he moonlights as Waxstyles, an inveterate record collector that occasionally DJs as well. And who better to join him on this journey other than past TFAL guest and friend of the podcast Les the DJ? Les was featured waaaay back on Episode 145 when we were doing the “Social Distance Series”… remember that?!  She is a supreme archivist of all kinds of music, but especially OPM from all eras.

And as a result… this is the nerdiest episode about OPM and music in general that we have ever recorded… one that went so long that we’re spreading it across THREE (!) episodes!

So please join us on a little TFAL side quest that for now we’re calling “Original Pilipino Musings”!

Should we make this a regular thing?  Please comment on all our socials, rate us anywhere you find us (5 stars hopefully?), listen to or download the episode through the embedded player on ThisFilipinoAmericanLife.com, or subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever your favorite podcasts are found.

Here Lies Love, the play about the rise and fall of Imelda Marcos as the Philippine dictator’s wife during Martial Law is now playing in Los Angeles. The TFAL crew had the opportunity to watch Here Lies Love when it first opened at the Mark Taper Forum a couple of weeks ago. Love it or hate it, the controversial musical is a part of our community, and many folks are watching it. It reflects the talent, labor, limitations, privileges, complications, and discourses in and of the Filipino American community.

In this TFAL episode, the crew gives their honest takes on Here Lies Love. They also hear the insights of Professor Christine Balance, who has been following David Byrne’s work on Imelda Marcos for close to two decades. Given her research background on Filipino American music and performance, we thought she would be the perfect person to talk to about the musical. Listen as they share their various experiences watching the production, discuss its high points as well as shortcomings, reflect on the limitations of representation, and convey the musical’s broader implications and reflections of Philippine history and the Filipino American community in general.

Listen or download the episode through the embedded player on ThisFilipinoAmericanLife.com, or subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever your favorite podcasts are found.

Did you watch the play in Seattle, New York, or Los Angeles? What did you think? Let us know by emailing us at [email protected].

For more accurate and detailed info on the broader Martial Law period, please refer to these resources:

PC: Los Angeles Times

For 10 years, TFAL has been trying to amplify voices from our community, but particular voices from sectors of our community that have been historically overlooked. We are especially attuned to the voices without glitz and glamor, without state-sanctioned narratives, and without algorithmic egos. For our 250th episode, and on the heels of the 40th anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution, we wanted to focus on the memories of Martial Law, a period in Philippine and Filipino American history when Dictator Ferdinand Marcos ruled the country. Not the “golden years” that the current Philippine administration and its supporters want folks to believe, but Martial Law was a dark time where civil liberties were stripped away, which led to severe human rights violations, including thousands of arrests, torture, and killings

In this TFAL episode, we talk to CAROL OJEDA-KIMBROUGH, a life-long political activist who came of age during Martial Law. Listen as she discusses her activism in the Philippines, the losses she experienced under the hands of a dictator, and the imperative to tell and remember these historical truths without whitewashing narratives. We also get to discuss our opinions on the controversial musical, HERE LIVES LOVE, which is currently showing here in Los Angeles.

For many Filipino Americans, we are somewhat removed from Martial Law Philippines, but it’s imperative that these stories and memories live on through us, particularly during this dark era we find ourselves in the authoritative United States.

This episode is dedicated to the memory of ROLANDO FEDERIS, who fought and died for Philippine freedom, justice, and love.

You can read more about the life of Rolando Federis here.

Listen or download the episode through the embedded player on ThisFilipinoAmericanLife.com, or subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever your favorite podcasts are found.

What do you think of the episode? Let us know by emailing us at [email protected].

Have you ever dreamed about a TV show with an all-Filipino American cast? What kind of show it would be? Who would star in it? In this TFAL episode, Elaine, Joe, and Producer Mike dream up their ideal TV show by playing The Fil Am Celebrity Draft! Adapted from a game that Joe used to play with his friends (and Dave Chappelle’s Racial Draft, if we’re being honest), the crew takes turn “drafting” Filipino American celebrities to be cast in their hypothetical shows. Listen to see who drafts Marc Descascos, Olivia Rodrigo, Eugene Cordero, and everyone’s favorite, the man with the epic mustache, Mitch Narito! I’m sure you will root for your favorite celebrities (and shows) as you listen to the episode.

P.S. We, the Filipino American delegation, would like to trade Rob Schneider for a warm bottle of San Mig and a couple of kwek-kweks.

Listen or download the episode through the embedded player on ThisFilipinoAmericanLife.com, or subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever your favorite podcasts are found.

Which of the crew’s TV shows would you want to watch most? Let us know by emailing us at [email protected] or leave a voicemail on Ryan’s phone. =)

Below are mood boards Elaine created that give you hints of what the crew picked.

In this episode of the podcast, Kalaya’an Mendoza returns to talk with the crew about community care.  This episode is dedicated to the folks in Minnesota and beyond who are grieving, protesting, and resisting ICE kidnappings and intimidation. The crew reached out to Kalaya’an again to check in on how we can support each other in these times of unrest. Take a listen as the crew talks about how we are all coping and providing care for our communities in our own ways.

Listen or download the episode through the embedded player on ThisFilipinoAmericanLife.com, or subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever your favorite podcasts are found.

For more resources on how to support your community check out these ig accounts!

Over the last few months, the hottest night out can be had at a Filipino supermarket. If you’re lucky enough to live near a Seafood City, you might have seen or experienced the multi-generational viral dance party conceptualized by JP Breganza back in August 2025. What is this phenomenon all about? Why does it attract so many people (especially younger Millennials and Gen Zers)? How long will it last?

Photo Credit: Disarray Magazine

Dom Magwili is a prolific actor, writer, and educator who has graced his presence on stage and screen for years. Most importantly Dom has played a role in our lives when he guided Kat as  she was PCN coordinator at UCLA and gave Elaine a boost of confidence when she was an emcee for the Festival of Philippine Arts & Culture.

In this episode the TFAL crew gives Dom his (metaphorical) flowers. Dom shares his journey as an artist and gives us a lesson in how to create your own work when you do not see yourself in the media landscape presented to you. The crew discusses Dom’s career and how it led him to his latest project Scientific Dragons! Scientific Dragons : The Adventure of Ensun Castle is a steampunk adventure that follows an expatriate from the Philippines, an immortal female pirate, and a Japanese American spy as they battle to keep a small European kingdom from falling to a global shadow government and their airborne fortress. Watch the trailer for Scientific Dragons and then head to Amazon and pick up the book: Buy Scientific Dragons!

Listen or download the episode through the embedded player on ThisFilipinoAmericanLife.com, or subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever your favorite podcasts are found.

What is the Filipino American anthem? Is it Bebot by the Black Eyed Peas? P.T.I. by Carl Angelo? Lemonade by Jeremy Passion? Us by Ruby Ibarra? Do You Miss Me? by Jocelyn Enriquez? Todo Todo by Daniela Romo (you know who chose that one!)??

In this TFAL episode, we look at so-called Filipino American anthems over the years and discuss how much of an anthem they really were to our community. One criterion though: if Producer Mike hasn’t heard of it, it doesn’t count!

FYI, we recorded the episode before the launch of Carl Angelo’s #PTIchallenge so we missed the larger impact of that anthem. Pasensya na!

Listen or download the episode through the embedded player on ThisFilipinoAmericanLife.com, or subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever your favorite podcasts are found.

Did we leave a song out? Is there an anthem yet to be composed? Let us know! Leave us a voicemail at (805) 394-TFAL or email us at [email protected]. This is episode was Joe’s bright idea, so any hate mail can be addressed to him directly. =)

In this episode the TFAL crew has a conversation with Arthur Yu. Arthur Yu was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in 2023. Arthur did all the things you needed to do like rounds of chemo and looking for bone marrow matches. Arthur explored the National Marrow Donor Program (formerly Be The Match) for possible matches.  https://www.nmdp.org/ A match through NMDP wasn’t found, but a match through a distant relative in the Philippines was found. Instead of being joyful that a match had been found, a new battle came to a head when the relative in the Philippines was denied a visa to come to the States. This started the campaign for Arthur’s cousin to get their visa approved and how it came to the attention of TFAL. 

Listen or download the episode through the embedded player on ThisFilipinoAmericanLife.com, or subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever your favorite podcasts are found.

Want to share your experience with cancer? Are you registered with the National Marrow Donor Program? Leave us a voicemail at (805) 394-TFAL or email us at [email protected].

“You’re not Filipino if you don’t speak Tagalog.”

“You sound white.”

“The national language of the Philippines is Filipino, not Tagalog.”

“Filipino is already gender neutral.”

Much of our online discourse in the Filipino community is about or related to language. The debates are out there. We here at TFAL want to tackle some of these linguistic arguments head on. On this TFAL episode, we talk about the politics of language in the Filipino/Filipino American community with linguistic anthropologist, Jennifer Delfino, Associate Professor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Listen as we talk about the politics of “sounding white,” the struggles of Filipino Americans to learn their heritage language, the fallacy and limitations of a Philippine national language, and of course, the ongoing debate of FilipinX. Let the debate rage on!

Also, for fun, listen to Joe and Mike’s new made-up national identifiers towards the end of the episode.

Listen or download the episode through the embedded player on ThisFilipinoAmericanLife.com, or subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever your favorite podcasts are found.

What did you think of the episode? What other language questions do you have? Leave us a voicemail at (805) 394-TFAL or email us at [email protected].