Escape From Plan A

Diana, Teen and friend-of-the-pod Phan (Pod of Most Resistance) tackle Andrew Yang's racial politics, a discussion prompted by his conciliatory reaction to Shane Gillis's blatant anti-Asian racism. Was Yang -- who was specifically targeted by Gillis -- right to offer an olive branch? Did Yang simply make an unpopular choice, or was his appeasement a necessary part of his political strategy? TWITTE...

Teen, Oxford and Mark take delivery on their audio equipment and record a podcast at home on a couch for the first time. They discuss Dave Chappelle's latest Netflix special "Sticks and Stones," and compare it to Aziz Ansari's special "Right Now." Both are part of a wave of Netflix comedy specials (now including Bill Burr's "Paper Tiger," released after this podcast was recorded) which push back o...

Teen and Oxford talk about the importance of Asian Americans expressing themselves through writing. They also describe their own writing processes and goals. Whether it's articles, novels, short stories, screenplays, or even internet posts, writing is the primary means by which Asian Americans will finally assert our subjective points-of-view. *This is a bonus episode for Patreon subscribers. To s...

With the revelation that Brock Turner's victim was Chanel Miller, a mixed-race Asian American woman, a new racial dimension to this crime needs to be examined. Guest Thuc (@biatchpack on Twitter), a Vietnamese American filmmaker, joins Diana and Jess to explore whether Miller's initial anonymity made her a more universally sympathetic victim, how the stereotypes of Asian women as disposable sex ob...

Jess, Jong, Filip and special guest Mike talk about the depressing mood around working in the tech industry and how Asian Americans feeling stuck in it might get out. They give advice on how Asian Americans looking to quit their jobs can start a startup. *This is a bonus episode for Patreon subscribers. To subscribe, please go to: www.patreon.com/planamag TWITTER: Jess (@cogitatotomato) Jong (@cal...

Ray travels to NYC and hangs out with Teen in Queens, NY. They got themselves a Zoom recorder and some proper microphones, and had a wide-ranging discussion about the role Asian Americans can play in a racist society. Do we petition our own grievances? Or is there a larger role to play? Speaking of roles to play, the discussion orbits Simu Liu's casting as the newest Marvel superhero, and whether...

Mark and Jong hop onto a call to discuss an amazing short film created by the Korean Australian, Transracial Adoptee, Actor and Writer Lee Shorten named "The Day We Met". In the second half, Mark interviews the Indian American musician Neil Sethi (Air Apparent). They discuss Neil's recently (August 20th) released EP "Color Dreams" and the single "Sorry" in particular. *This is a bonus episode for...

Diana, Mark and first time guest Bryant discuss the concept of Racial Trauma. They also discuss their own experiences with therapy and the unique challenges of finding the right therapist as an Asian American. Support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/planamag TWITTER: Diana (@discoveryduck) Mark (@snbatman) Bryant (@mfbt) REFERENCED RESOURCES: Racial Trauma Studies and Articles: https://drive.google...

Earlier this year, we recorded a special episode just for Northeastern University's Pan-Asian Council for their art project, Voices: The 7.9%. We've been looking for an opportunity to release the episode more widely and this week was the perfect occasion! Diana, Jong, Mark, Filip, and Oxford talk about what being "Asian American" means to us. *This is a bonus episode for Patreon subscribers. To su...

Diana, Jess, Millie, Teen and Adam discuss Lulu Wang's "The Farewell." Some of us think it was a milestone in Asian American art. Others are a bit less sanguine. One thing is for sure, is that Wang's film left us with a lot to talk about. Support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/planamag TWITTER: Diana (@discoveryduck) Jess (@cogitatotomato) Millie (@onemillicentcho) Teen (@mont_jiang) Mark (@snbatm...

Does anyone believe Jeffrey Epstein actually committed suicide? In addition to this entirely predictable piece of news, the crew of Diana, Oxford, and Mark talk about Quillette getting punked by a prankster and the whole "Chinese people think Simu Liu's ugly" mini-controversy surrounding the Shang Chi movie. *This is a bonus episode for Patreon subscribers. To subscribe, please go to: www.patreon....

Here's a really special episode for our listeners. We were going to split this up into a free and bonus part, but after the recording session we decided the entire conversation should be made free for all. New York State Assemblyman Ron T. Kim, representing New York's 40th District (incl. Flushing) joins us in an actual professional studio to talk about a spectrum of political issues which boil do...

Long time friend of the podcast and criminal defense attorney Kasie joins Diana, Jess and Teen to discuss the rape and murder of Chinese international student Zhang Yingying. Was Zhang targeted because she's an Asian woman? Does this fit a clear pattern? And what must be done to discourage more targeted violence against Asian people in America? Support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/planamag TWITT...

Adoption is a complex, multi-faceted issue. Mark and Jess explore the topic while discussing their reactions to the fantastic debut, "All You Can Ever Know: A Memoir", by adoptee author Nicole Chung. They also discuss how deadly green bean casserole is and how much David French sucks. *This is a bonus episode for Patreon subscribers. To subscribe, please go to: www.patreon.com/planamag TWITTER: Je...

Birthday parties... They come in all forms, from grade-school bowling days to dorm parties to fancy dinners to, god forbid, destination birthday weekends. Are any of these worth the time, effort, money, and the risk of your so-called friends not showing up? Diana, Jong, and Oxford discuss. *This is a bonus episode for Patreon subscribers. To subscribe, please go to: www.patreon.com/planamag TWITTE...

Our podcast has hit 100 episodes and we couldn't be prouder to have the esteemed Yasmin Nair (writer, activist, and academic) as our guest to commemorate the milestone! With Teen and Oxford, the crew discusses the corporatization of woke politics, from Disney's casting choices (e.g. "The Little Mermaid") to how the identities of political candidates like Pete Buttigieg and Kamala Harris are packag...

This is Pt. 2 of the "Modern [Yellow] Love" episode that had Mark, Teen, Oxford, and guest John Bai talking about Andrew Lee's NYT Modern Love article on the experience of dating, and then getting engaged to, an Asian American woman who had avoided dating Asian men before. *This is a bonus episode for Patreon subscribers. To subscribe, please go to: www.patreon.com/planamag TWITTER: John (@bohnjai...

Emergency brake! We had plans to release another episode this week, but on Friday, July 12 the Modern Love section of the NYT published an article by Andrew Lee ("When a Dating Dare Leads to Months of Soul Searching), in which he talks about getting engaged to an Asian American woman who had avoided dating Asian men before. Mark, Teen, Oxford, and guest John "Baiceps" Bai talk about the underlying...

Jess explains how the myth of the Disney Princess intentionally obfuscates the reality: a world where silver-haired billionaire princes are actually rapists of children. Teen agrees. A long discussion about power, corruption and lies. Told through the dark, despairing tale of Jeffrey Epstein. *This is a bonus episode for Patreon subscribers. To subscribe, please go to: www.patreon.com/planamag TWI...

W're all pretty familiar with the sexual fetishization that monoracial Asian women face, but what about the unique problems that mixed-race Asian women experience? Not only do they run into the same creepiness from non-Asians, but also from monoracial Asians who covet their mixed-race features. With Oxford, returning guest Sharon H. Chang (author, activist, and photographer) and first-timer Annabe...

Recently, Diana had a run-in with a couple of white women who banded against her in an argument about whether dogs were allowed in their neighborhood park. Diana, Oxford, Mark, and Jess veer off from the intended topic of neighborhood racism to talk about shitty white women and what Asian women think about them, especially when Asian men are in the mix as well. Can women of color trust men of colo...

A lot is said about China these days, but very little is actually known. Diana and Teen connect with Carl Zha while he eats, dances and all around enjoys the hell out of China. Carl is the Creator of the Silk and Steel Podcast (link below). Support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/planamag TWITTER: Carl (@CarlZha) Diana (@discoveryduck) Teen (@mont_jiang) REFERENCED RESOURCES: Silk And Steel Podcast...

Are people, Asian or otherwise, afraid of Yellow Love? Why does it seem that every other minority group is happy to celebrate same-race relationships except yellow Asians? Diana, Ray, Jong, and Oxford talk about celebrating and politicizing Yellow Love and share some of their own personal stories on the matter. *This is a bonus episode for Patreon subscribers. To subscribe, please go to: www.patre...

The Asian American leftist front can be found on Twitter. Creighton (@cwzaj) and Redmond (@diaspora_is_red)—comrades of vanguard tweet brigade—join the pod this week to discuss the concept of 'Boba Liberalism,' a critique of mainstream AsAm political identity as narrowly focused on assimilationism and privilege, while ignoring fundamental questions of social and economic justice. Support us on Pat...

Teen and Jess talk about Asian Dads for this past Father's Day. From there we talk about @kane's incredible Asian Ron Swanson tweet thread about his Chinese dad. We talk about how there's no such thing as "East vs. West," whether cyberpunk is still alive, and why NYC subway stations are so much dirtier than those in Asia. *This is a bonus episode for Patreon subscribers. To subscribe, please go to...