Politically Asian! Podcast

In this final episode of the podcast, we look back at the past 2.5ish years and talk about our feelings, the evolution of Asian America in that time, and producing the pod. Thank you for listening and supporting!

This week in Asian American Politics: - Boba Guys becomes the first boba store to unionize. Look out for their next flavor, Union Ube! - Sony researchers find that existing models for skin hue detection have trouble with yellow skin tones. Asians: 1. Terminator: 0. - Portland white and South Asian couple become the main characters of the internet after creating a "non-GMO, healthy" boba...

This week in Asian American news: We cover a NYTimes article that profiling some young Asian Americans in Chinatown. Aaron, an organizer in that same Chinatown, has some thoughts. One of the country’s oldest unions, United Auto Workers, goes on strike! They get the big 3 manufacturers play whack-a-mole with the plants and boy do GM, Ford, and Stellantis miss every mole. A new Pew study finds that...

This week in Asian American news: We cover Scale AI, an Asian American-founded tech company that outsources the AI training to workers in Asia (particularly Nepal, India, and the Philippines). Filipino workers speak out about these “digital sweatshops.”  In Georgia, RICO indictments seek to paint the Stop Cop City movement as a massive criminal enterprise. Police are citing use of words like “mutu...

This week in Asian American Politics! Japan plans to release treated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster. Japanese officials say the radioactivity is “negligible,” which is like your waiter saying they got “most” of the bugs out of your salad. Our favorite circus was in town last week: the Republican primary debate! We discuss the performance of some of the candidates and who DEFINITEL...

This week in Asian American news: We dive into the world of people who think they can change their race, specifically to Asian. And they believe listening to certain Youtube videos can help. Has Lo-fi Hip Hop Anime Chill Beats to Study and Relax To gone too far?  Two Indian Americans, Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy, are running for President. We discuss how they handle the whole “running as a bro...

This week in Asian American politics,  Many Americans don’t know that the Korean War is still ongoing. On the 70th anniversary of the war, advocates push for a formal end, which seems like a fantastic birthday present.  With the death of Affirmative Action, many now turn their attention to legacy admissions. The Education Department has opened a civil rights inquiry into Harvard’s, positing the qu...

ANNOUNCEMENT: We’ll be moving to a bi-weekly cadence in regards to episodes because life has gotten very busy and we want to make sure that we keep this sustainable for us. THANKS! This week in Asian American news: An Asian guy sues his company for discrimination after they fire him despite his 22 years working there and developing a $1 billion product. He claims they banned speaking Mandarin and...

This week in Asian American news, The Supreme Court has had a busy summer making multiple rulings! We discuss the case from Colorado where a website designer who didn’t want to make a website for a gay couple that doesn’t really exist.  Fun fact, Affirmative Action is still alive! But only if you’re willing to die for the country overseas. Also, a civil rights group feels inspired to challenge the...

This week in Asian American news, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits the United States, hosted by President Joe Biden. (Possibly) on the discussion agenda: the human rights violations! Business Insider interviewed multiple millennials in Japan about the state of their lives, from finances to outlooks on marriage. We compare to our own and reflect. Of course, we have to talk about the guill...

This week in Asian American news, Men in India are getting married, using their dowries to get citizenship in Western countries, and leaving their new wives behind. Some of the stories get worse, with one woman being stuck with her bedridden in-laws for 24 years.  As the fight over Affirmative Action heats up even further with the Supreme Court set to announce its decision, a new survey reveals th...

This week in Asian American politics: Wildfires in Canada turn skies in NYC orange and send a thick smoke cloud to travel across the United States. We discuss the implication of this first draft at a day of dystopia and what a throwback to 2020 it is.  We gossip about the spiciest event in the climbing community involving a Malaysian man nearly freezing to death on Everest, being rescused by a She...

New Tuesday, new episode!  This week in Asian American politics… Republican Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy announces that he wants to raise the voting age to 25 or have 18 year olds take a civics test to opt out. Even his own staff reportedly hated the idea and begged him to wait on announcing it until they had more research.  Layoffs at the companies society has grown dependent on impact...

This week in Asian American politics: Uber’s Asian American head of diversity hosts a panel called “Don’t Call Me Karen.” Wh*te supremacy? In my APAHM? It’s more likely than you think.  Taiwan’s last comfort woman dies at 92. We discuss the history of comfort women and why a lot of Asian countries hate Japan. Apparently, Asian Americans think a lot about dying, more so with COVID and racism, but d...

This week in Asian American politics! Ron DeSantis mandates AAPI history be taught in schools but also bans the teaching of systemic racism in schools. Asian food is growing in popularity on social media, but what are the consequences of this? Are we about to see $15 Ube, $20 pork buns? South Korean adoptee Adam Crasper wins his case against the agency that mishandled his adoption and ruined his l...

This week in Asian American politics: King Charles is coronated. “Coronated” is such a foreign word to us that even typing it felt funny. Anyway, we discuss the implications of the surviving UK monarchy and the response from South Asian diaspora in context of Partition. Is the monarchy even relevant anymore? Or is it simply a relic of crusty crackerness?  Pew Research conducts a massive survey inv...

This week in Asian American politics:  The United States wants to add more military bases in the Philippines as the relationship with China deteriorates. It’d be like if you got your friends to follow your current partner on social media because you’re about to break up with them and you’d like to block. Except instead of social media, it’s military bases. Also your friends are the offspring of a...

This week in Asian American politics: Biden announced he is running for re-election despite an NBCNews study that says 7 in 10 Americans don’t want him to do that. Biden cites the Big Bad Orange as good enough reason to run again as the oldest president America has ever had, begging the question, when will the evil be defeated? We discuss an article from a conservative publication about Asian Amer...

New Tuesday, new episode! We’re continuing our guest streak with podcast pal @decolonialbulaklak aka Ienna Fernandez! Ienna is an organizer for @anakbayanqueens, a youth organization that fights for national democracy and other related issues in the Philippines with a socialist perspective. this week, we chat about her journey, leftist politics, and community organizing. We love a good podcast lis...

This week in Asian American politics! We discuss the history of Asian Americans and Affirmative Action, which dates back to the 1950s, before conservatives stole the narrative and molded it into one about victimhood. Apparently, Harvard admitted more Asian Americans for the class of ‘27 than ever before—related fact: they still have Affirmative Action so… Republicans score gold in legal loopholes...

This Week in Asian American Politics! There's been a huge increase (2x) in the number of undocumented immigrants at the Mexican border, but a lot of these immigrants are... Chinese? Send this to your politically conservative Asian network and watch them break down. A North Carolina Democrat switches to the GOP and gives the GOP supermajority control of state legislature. When are Dems also gon...

New Tuesday, new episode! We're back with guests after lots of requests, and we're aiming for 2 a month. This week, we talk with LA City Controller Kenneth Mejia and his Chief of Staff Jane Nguyen! Kenneth is the first Filipino and Asian American elected official to the city of LA, and the first person of color to hold the position of City Controller in over a century. Jane is the co-found...

New Tuesday, new episode! This week in Asian American politics: Tik Tok CEO explains how WiFi works to Congress Has anything changed in the 2 years since the Atlanta Spa Shooting The 2nd largest school district in the US goes on strike California has a bill banning caste discrimination in the Senate right now, soon after Seattle Trump has another lawsuit specifically around using hush money for St...

New Tuesday, new episode! This week in Asian American politics: Investors start gossiping about Silicon Valley Bank collapse. This is the level of gossip that would make Asian aunties proud  Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan win big at the Oscars, but unfortunately still believe in the American Dream Biden once again proves he is only marginally better than Trump because he approved Trump’s oil drilli...

New episode out now! This week in Asian American politics South Asians in Queens, NY have been gerrymandered by the new NYC City Council district lines, losing a lot of political power, and they are suing the Commissioner. One of the few times where you can unironically say representation matters. An interview with one of the restaurant owners who was pushed out by initial fencing from the Chinato...