For ... 30 years now, Chuck and His #1 have been figure skating fans, favoring those of Asian descent for obvious reasons. From Kristi Yamaguchi to Midori Ito, Michelle Kwan to Nathan Chen, we have a lot to say about these random young upstarts who usurp their spots on the podium. This also becomes a deeper exploration of race, ethnicity, and nationality in a sport involving skates, ice, bedazzled outfits, and physics-defying spins and leaps into the air - not to mention an earnest discussion around the current doping scandal of 2022.

Listen on!

Coincidentally, Chuck and His #1 Phan are playing Hollow Knight. We try to explore the "Metroidvania" genre of gaming, exploring rich worlds with very little exposition and no guarantees for safety. Over time, however, the episode turns into a tangential soapbox about the banning of naked mice in Tennessee. We're just as confused as you are.

Come for Hollow Knight. Stay for the ... unexpected twists and turns we make.

Chuck and His #1 Phan are big practitioners of Tết (a.k.a. Lunar New Year, commonly known as Chinese New Year if you're Sinocentric). However, they often wonder if they're doing it right. Should they clean their grandparents' neighbors' gravesites as well? Is it okay to gamble your entire lì xì fortune on a deer? Will our great-grandfather know what to do with the Lamborghini that we set on fire in the material world as a sacrifice? Should banh tết be squared or rounded? (There's a right answer here.)

Like all things "xe lữa ," this podcast goes off the rails. Chúc mừng năm mới, friends! Làm ăn phát tài!

Growing up, Chuck would play Resident Evil on his Playstation. His #1 Phan often came over and ... would just watch Chuck play despite his general aversion to anything affiliated with horror. What was our fascination with this series and our respective ways of engaging with it? We reflect on these strange times, long before the "Let's Play" and Twitch streaming eras and wonder ... what were we trying to feel in these moments?

We bring back our special guest Kelvin to go down memory lane once again. this time recalling films that we loved watching in our youth but ... do they still hold up today? Set your ultra-high frequency listening devices to the proper voltage before they short circuit, because boy, Tommy, you'll want to keep up with this one. 

To start 2022 off properly, Chuck and His #1 Phan welcome back our brother Kelvin to talk about the one NES game they'd like to be buried with after they die. Naturally, these 8-bit enthusiasts can't contain their excitement and end up going way over time, jumping deep into the rabbit hole of games that brought them so much joy in their youth.

CW: A bit of profanity. Again, hard to contain excitement.

Chuck and His #1 Phan recall their experiences as kids who were forced into being part of the sparse immigrant Vietnamese communities of suburban Oregon, attending language school, participating in culture shows, and staying late into the night at other people's houses as their parents ate, drank, and sang karaoke. These experiences were not recalled with unequivocal nostalgia, but ... there's a silver lining to all of this, we think.

CW: physical abuse, bullying, social anxiety, alienation, strong language. (Sorry, but it had to be said.)

When Chuck and His #1 Phan aren't podcasting, they're most likely playing Rocket League, the most elegant merger of the sport of soccer and the technology of ... super-tricked out cars. What should have been a fun discussion about gaming turns into a candid half-time locker room discussion about the holes in their game and ways they can improve. 

PS: After this session, they went on to win 6 games on the hardest difficulty setting. #Believe

Just a few days prior to this episode, Cowboy Bebop was cancelled on Netflix. Chuck & His #1 Phan spoke at length over our thoughts on the live-action adaptation, and now we have more. What happened? What should have happened? What is Daniella Pineda's situation? All will be discussed in as courteous of a manner we can muster.

See ya, space cowboy. Guess you not gonna carry that weight for a while...

Fun fact: Chuck and His #1 Phan are both divorced, as well as middle-aged Chinese-Vietnamese Oregonian nerds. Their journeys have been challenging on their own, but add the cultural stigmatization, learning how to date in the digital age,  and the meddling of their parents, and they've clearly a lot to discuss in this very special episode of the podcast. 

This episode will not be followed by the Diet Mug Root Beer Dana Carvey Show.

CW: divorce, mental health, intergenerational struggle, social acceptance, anxiety