Top Five

Happy New Year, friends! Holiday stress was top of mind when we recorded this episode, which led us to some critical questions:  Who do you buy holiday presents for?  Now that we have all these new holiday gift obligations, we get into the weeds:  What do you give the ten different teachers who care for your preschooler?  If you're a New York City resident like Chris, how much do you tip your doorman and the seven other people who work in your building?  What's the minimum you can put on a gift card without looking cheap?  We end by revisiting our favorite top five: celebrity crushes.  New season, new list of beautiful people.  We hope your 2022 is off to a good start and we're honored to be a part of it!

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Art by Colin Turnbull (colinpturnbull.com)

Music by Origami Pigeon

Chris finally gets a taste of pandemic parenting, while Liz has unexpectedly gotten sucked into Succession.  Then we dig into the last two items in our pop culture grab bag: The viral New York Times piece "Who Is The Bad Art Friend?" (where we arrive at different conclusions) and our experiences of taking our dads to see the new Bond movie (where our experiences are strikingly similar -- is Bond an immigrant dad thing?).  Plus, our top five greatest joys from smallest pleasures.  Turns out there's joy to be found everywhere, from In-N-Out burgers to perfectly-sized Tupperwares!  We hope your holidays are full of it.

"Who is the Bad Art Friend?" The New York Times, October 5, 2021

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Art by Colin Turnbull (colinpturnbull.com)

Music by Origami Pigeon

Surprise -- we're back and excited to chat! We're kicking off season three with thoughts about Ted Lasso (Liz) and the sudden ubiquity of Korean pop culture (Chris). Then we go through all the culture we've been dying to talk about for the last six months, from the Olympics to Harry and Meghan on Oprah to Chris's connection to a high-profile trial.  We wrap with our top five self-care practices that actually work, because in spite of our rosy optimism at the end of Season One (remember that?), this pandemic is not going anywhere.  We're thrilled to be back with you, friends!

To prepare for the next episode, please read "Who is the Bad Art Friend?" if you're one of the seven people who hasn't read it yet.

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Art by Colin Turnbull (colinpturnbull.com)

Music by Origami Pigeon

Liz is confused about why queer-affirming people continue to speak at events that are not (content warning for discussion of queer-unaffirming theology; please skip 2:10 through 9:45 if you’d like to avoid it). Meanwhile, Chris celebrates the return of March Madness, and one of us has to pay up on a wager we made when our teams went head-to-head.  Then, inspired by a recent event (!!!), we talk about engagement culture: the traditions that have been locked in — even as wedding traditions get disrupted left and right — and what happens when you decide to do things differently.  We wrap with our final top five of the season: subcultures we want to explore.  Thanks for joining us for Season Two — we’ve loved sharing it with you!  We’ll see you when we return for round three. 🤟

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Art by Colin Turnbull (colinpturnbull.com)

Music by Origami Pigeon

CW: anti-Asian violence, murder

We would love to be talking about something else, but here we are. We check in and talk about the shooting through our lenses as Asian Americans and former evangelicals who were raised in purity culture, and in Liz’s case, as an Asian American woman and parent.  We also dig into all of the other stuff the tragedy has kicked up — like how have your non-Asian friends shown up (or not)?  How has your workplace handled this, and how much of the labor did they put on you?  How are you taking care of yourself right now?  In the midst of everything that’s happening, we hope you’re being extra-kind and gracious with yourself.  We’re thinking of you and sending you love.

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Art by Colin Turnbull (colinpturnbull.com)

Music by Origami Pigeon

In true pandemic fashion, Netflix is giving us life: Liz finally discovered Schitt’s Creek, and Chris loved The 40-Year-Old Version. Then we get into the ethical questions that have been weighing on us in the current COVID landscape:  Is it okay to wait in line for a leftover vaccine before we’re eligible?  Is it reasonable to ask a teacher to return to the classroom without a vaccine?  What is our individual responsibility in a messed-up system?  Plus, the top five fads/trends (we’re not clear on the difference) that we don’t understand.  The dawn of middle age is upon us, y’all, and we’re leaning all the way in.

Note: We recorded this episode before the shootings in Atlanta; we'll discuss that in our next episode. We’re thinking of you, friends — please stay safe.

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Art by Colin Turnbull (colinpturnbull.com)

Music by Origami Pigeon

Chris is astounded by the Smartmatic lawsuit, and Liz recalls a fifth chapter of sex ed that she forgot to mention in the last episode. Then we get into a topic that’s resurfaced again on Asian American social media: MRAzns, or Asian men who harass Asian women on the internet. We talk about our experiences with them, what we think motivates their behavior, and if there’s any hope for change. Plus, our top five things we need to apologize for. To our parents, former youth ministry students, and more — we're sorry.

For more on MRAzns:

“When Asian Women Are Harassed for Marrying Non-Asian Men,” Celeste Ng, The Cut, October 12, 2018

“Eating Our Own: Deconstructing the Misogynistic Myths of Asian American Antifeminism,” Ju-Hyun Park, Reappropriate, August 22, 2017

For more on the recent anti-Asian violence, we recommend @beyonkz and @eeewhysee on Twitter and Instagram.

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Art by Colin Turnbull (colinpturnbull.com)

Music by Origami Pigeon

Chris atones for the transgression of calling Michelle Branch a one-hit wonder, and Liz still isn't over how amazing Michelle Obama looked at the inauguration. Then, inspired by our discussion of Big Mouth in the last episode, we talk about the fraught terrain of puberty — what the show gets right, our own awkward and traumatic experiences, and what we learned about sex and our bodies from school and church. (God knows we did not learn anything from our parents.)  Plus, our top five same-sex crushes — a fitting end to an episode about hormones.

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Art by Colin Turnbull (colinpturnbull.com)

Music by Origami Pigeon

[Content warning: body image issues]

Chris pays tribute to his late uncle; Liz is blasting through Big Mouth on Netflix. Then we dig into all the messages we got from our parents about our bodies -- what they told us about our weight (and height, and skin, and...), how those messages impacted us and what was really behind them, and how we navigate these conversations as adults.  We wrap with our top five one-hit wonders.  Is it just us, or was the ‘90s full of fantastic one-hit wonders? 😉

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Art by Colin Turnbull (colinpturnbull.com)

Music by Origami Pigeon

Liz is obsessed with Future Nostalgia, Dua Lipa’s incredible new(ish) album, and Chris is digging into The Color of Law, Richard Rothstein’s landmark book about housing segregation. Then we talk about that age-old adult problem: how to navigate old friendships where you no longer see eye to eye. We talk about the place that our old friendships have in our lives, how we’ve handled significant differences that have appeared over the years, and the complicated question of who we feel most at home with now. Plus, the top five personas we’ve taken on. Turns out: trying on new identities isn’t just for teens.

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Instagram: @topfivepod

Twitter: @thetopfivepod

Art by Colin Turnbull (colinpturnbull.com)

Music by Origami Pigeon