Top Five

We didn't plan to take a year-long hiatus, but wow, what a year it's been: Chris became a dad, and Liz has a middle schooler. Then we get into the pop culture so seismic that it brought us back on the mics: Nikole Hannah-Jones's piece "In Fighting for Every Black Child, Did I Betray My Own?" in the New York Times Magazine. We unpack our reactions, our position as Asian Americans in this conversation, and how the piece changed (or didn't) how we think about our choices around our kids' educations. To commemorate Chris's massive life change, we close with our top five surprises about parenting (at this stage), where Chris gets refreshingly honest about entering new parenthood. It was a joy to be back and have an uninterrupted conversation!

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Art by Colin Turnbull (colinpturnbull.com)

Music by Origami Pigeon

We didn't mean to take the summer off, but after the shooting in Utah, we had get back on the mics to process all the responses we saw in our social media feeds. We unpack the bewilderment of seeing so many tributes on Facebook (from conservatives and progressives alike!), not realizing we had so many secret conservatives in our past, and Liz's existential spiral into why we're even on social media at all anymore. To take the edge off, we wrap with our top five baseball walk-up songs. Bonus: Chris explains why Shohei is the greatest baseball player (or even... greatest athlete??) of all time. The playoffs are here and in these wild times, we hope you seize all the joy you can!

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Art by Colin Turnbull (colinpturnbull.com)

Music by Origami Pigeon

The opinions shared here do not necessarily reflect those of our employers!

Could it be? Good news in 2025? We're thrilled about Zohran Mamdani's win in the New York City Democractic mayoral primary, and we talk about the exciting and disheartening parts of this outcome, the data, and the ranked choice of it all. Then we get into a topic we've been thinking but not talking more about in our middle age: Death. We dig into the big questions - how we feel about it these days, if we're afraid of it, what we think happens next - and also alllllll the logistical questions that come with it: Have you done any estate planning? What do you want to happen with your body? Who would you want to speak at your funeral? Finally, we take a hard pivot into an evergreen topic: Most embarrassing Asians. There are embarrassing people everywhere and Asians are no exception, and these are the folks who make us cringe the hardest. This episode has a little bit of everything, and we're glad we get to talk about the most serious and most silly things with each other and with you!

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Art by Colin Turnbull (colinpturnbull.com)

Music by Origami Pigeon

The opinions shared here do not necessarily reflect those of our employers!

Chris is thinking about the people our government is abducting, like Kilmar Abrego Garcia, while Liz is medicating with the new Lady Gaga album and the Court of Gold docuseries on Netflix. Then, inspired by our last top five, we dig into health in our 40s: the perimenopause and probiotics of it all, the radical shifts in how we think about taking care of ourselves and the amount of time it takes, and the tricks we've picked up to help us feel our best. Finally, our top five Super Bowl halftime shows. The best thing about being middle-aged is that halftime shows are now aimed squarely at our demographic, and we'll take it!

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Art by Colin Turnbull (colinpturnbull.com)

Music by Origami Pigeon

The opinions shared here do not necessarily reflect those of our employers!

The world is on fire, and either because of that or in spite of that, we found ourselves consumed with the details of the Murdoch family d-r-a-m-a that were unsealed in court documents last month. We dig into all the things that shocked us (Rupert Murdoch has Asian daughters?), the bizarreness of Succession impacting the family that inspired it, and the potential ramifications of this family feud on our rapidly disintegrating democracy. Whether it's an escape from the more serious calamities happening around the world or schadenfreude from seeing these toxic forces thwarted, we hope this conversation gives you a little juice today. Plus, our top five signs that we're middle-aged. We're in our eating-probiotics, buying-clothes-from-Costco, recording-an-entire-episode-about-the-Murdoch-family-drama era, and we're leaning all the way in. ✌️

If you'd like to get caught up to speed, here are our primary texts:

• "'You've Blown a Hole in the Family': Inside the Murdochs' Succession Drama" by Jonathan Mahler and Jim Rutenberg, The New York Times, February 13, 2025
• "Growing Up Murdoch" by McKay Coppins, The Atlantic, February 14, 2025

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Art by Colin Turnbull (colinpturnbull.com)

Music by Origami Pigeon

The opinions shared here do not necessarily reflect those of our employers!

At the end of last year, Chris's mind was blown by life in Scandinavia, and Liz was mourning the loss of a dear friend. Then we shared our Big Life Updates and favorite pop culture nuggets of 2024, culminating in the inaugural Manti Te'o Award for Craziest Story of the Year. Plus, our top five karaoke songs, which Chris took to the next level.

This was recorded before the wildfires, before the new administration -- what already feels like a simpler time. We're sending love to all of you, especially our family and friends in LA. We hope this gives you a bit of an escape on this Lunar New Year Eve, and we wish you all a safe and rich new year. 🫰

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Art by Colin Turnbull (colinpturnbull.com)

Music by Origami Pigeon

The opinions shared here do not necessarily reflect those of our employers!

Welp... here we are. After absorbing the news on Wednesday, we got on the mics to process how we're feeling, what went wrong, and where we go from here. We don't have any answers, but if you're trying to make sense of what happened, you're not alone. We hope you're taking care of yourselves and each other, friends. ❤️

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Twitter: @thetopfivepod

Art by Colin Turnbull (colinpturnbull.com)

Music by Origami Pigeon

The opinions shared here do not necessarily reflect those of our employers!

Oh hi we’re back! After a 15-month hiatus, we fired up the ol' microphones, and we were so excited that we basically recorded two episodes. We were *especially* stoked to talk about the Olympics and we wanted to share our top five moments from Paris (and many other Olympic takes) before they got stale, so please enjoy this apéritif to our fourth season. It's good to be back, friends!

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Art by Colin Turnbull (colinpturnbull.com)

Music by Origami Pigeon

The opinions shared here do not necessarily reflect those of our employers!

Chris and Liz are still buzzing from their recent trips -- Chris's to Mexico City and Oaxaca, Liz's to DC for her first sightseeing trip with kids. Then we get into a much more serious topic that's been on our minds lately: aging parents. We talk about why end-of-life plans are especially hard to discuss with our immigrant parents, the conversations we have and haven't had with them (and our siblings, and our in-laws), and the looming pressures of caring for kids and parents at the same time. To take the edge off, we wrap with a comfort-food top five: Trader Joe's items. Whether you're a TJ tourist like Chris or a TJ cult member like Liz, we've got recs! (This podcast is not sponsored by Trader Joe's; we are just this enthusiastic)

And that's a wrap on Season 3! We've loved spending this time with you and we look forward to getting back in the saddle after a break. Thank you for listening and for being part of these conversations!

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Art by Colin Turnbull (colinpturnbull.com)

Music by Origami Pigeon

Chris is ambivalent about celebrity conductor Gustavo Dudamel's surprise move from LA to New York, and Liz is still awed by the amazing food she ate during a trip to LA.  Then, we talk about work: Once upon a time, it felt like our generation was all about finding a job we love so we'd never have to work a day in our lives, but judging from the conversations we've been having lately, it sounds like that's changed.  Why was "do what you love" such a thing for millennials?  Was it a generational thing or a developmental thing?  How do we think about work now?  What do you do if you don't want to sell your soul to work, but not advancing means the risk of getting fired?  This is real adult shit.  Finally, inspired by the Off Menu podcast (Liz's current favorite), we share our top five starters/appetizers.  Turns out we both agree that appetizers are low-key better than entrees, so this was a mouth-watering joy to put together!

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Instagram: @topfivepod

Twitter: @thetopfivepod

Art by Colin Turnbull (colinpturnbull.com)

Music by Origami Pigeon