Asian Bitches Down Under

This week we tackle a conversation that is difficult to come to a conclusion; Maid's Cafe. Originated from Japan, a culture that could be perceived by westerners as misogynistic and backward, but could it be harmless entertainment, and should people separate the illusion of performance and reality? We also share our views on self-confidence, the value of time through cultural consumption, and the...

This week we discuss the love-hate relationship with 90s music and how we never feel connected to the community of music festivals. We also discuss the reasons for the decline of sports genre films, the prediction of Oscars 2023, and picking up the same book but for different reasons.   (01:30) BBS Concert, Jess’ dislike of music festivals (09:20) The shift in pop culture, algorithms determined wh...

This week, we share our TOP 5 WISHLIST for this year’s International Women’s Day. If we had the power to create laws and affect policy, what would we enforce to make society a better place for women? Jessie’s No. 2 wish is mandatory domestic duties for 30 mins per day (MON-FRIDAY) for all men in heterosexual relationships.  PLUS: We talk about our cultural consumption for the week, including 90s c...

This week, we chat about the re-writing of Roald Dahl’s books, and what it really means for English books. We also analyse a pair of Op-Eds from Hazel Edwards and Özge Sevindik Alkan - one of them was not telling the truth (wanna guess who?!?)  We talk about the movies we watched this week (Paris Can Wait, 2017: White Noise 2022) and the books we read: Inconceivable by Alexandra Collier and Build...

This week we look at several recent articles that address the declining rates of marriage in China and fertility in South Korea. It’s a choice more women in those countries are making. And the reasons are simple: patriarchy. Women are coming to terms with the tragic vileness of what it means to be a woman in a patriarchal society. Meanwhile, we talk about cultural consumption including A League of...

This week, we chat about one of our favourite 90s films, Sister Act (1992); white women doing inspiration (and face-palmy) things in Australia, our opposing views on Marvel films and February 14th - is it no longer appropriate to celebrate romantic love? Is Galentines Day more fun? (Yes, we think so!)  We also look back on the rom-coms of the 2000s and how they made us fantasise about romantic lov...

Happy February! The final month of the southern hemisphere's summer and we have heaps to chat about this week!  (00:00) Intro: kids' music, back-to-school anxiety, modern parenting, different characteristics between boys and girls, friendships (15:50) Lunar New Year Comedy at Chatswood (18:45) Theatre: A broadcast coup (20:00) Book recommendation: All this could be different, Sarah Thank Mathews (...

The final week of January 2023, how was it for you? In this episode, we revisit "Fleishman is in trouble' as Helen finally got the time to watch the first episode, and felt disappointed about the adaptation, a great book recommendation, and another silly Tik Tok trend.   (00:10） RomCom: What’s Love Got To Do With It (07:07) Kazuo Ishiguro’s Living (09:40 ) Fleishman is in trouble (14:16) Stories...

Lunar New Year comes early this year, as usual, we talk briefly about our observation of the modern LNY celebrations, the debates online between Chinese New Year and Lunar New Year, the capitalisation of Lunar New Year by the chocolate brands, and fond memories of our childhood LNY sweets. (01:30) Intro, visiting Cabramatta, the gratitude of the Vietnamese community (05:10) Darjeeling Limited , di...

We are back for 2023! In this episode, we talked about what we've done during the break, our interesting cultural consumptions, a bit about the insidious cloth-sizings and some viral tik tok video. We end our conversation by congratulating the actor/actress of our favourite movie Everything Everywhere All At Once.  (01:30) HOLIDAY WRAP UP (09:03) PRINCE HARRY AND HIS ENTITLEMENT OF TELLING THE WOR...

The final episode of 2022! Hope you have enjoyed our program as we approach the end of this year. In This episode, Helen and Jessie talk about the surprising interesting documentary Harry and Meghan, followed by Nepo Baby. We conclude this episode with our list of fav film and TVs of 2022. (02:30) Helen’s rant about Uniqlo Tshirts (05:30) Afgan women banned from tertiary education (08:40) Cultural...

In this episode, Helen have had the opportunity speaking with Kevin Chen, the author of numerous Taiwanese novels and the recently translated work "Ghost Town". Kevin talks about his family, hometown, and life in Taipei and Berlin. The conversation explored the culture of ghosts and death in Taiwan, and what made "Ghost Town" one of the must-reads of Taiwanese literature. **BESTSELLING WINNER OF T...

In this episode, Jess and Helen talked about different childhood experiences on mufti day, reviews of two theatre plays, and the New York Times review of the KPOP Broadway show.  (01:48) Mufti Day  (04:37) Anxiety of mufti day and how our mother impacted our sense of body insecurity and dress sense.  (12:35) The Jungle and The Sea   Helen's chat with Nathiya, from The Jungle and The Sea (15:37) Bo...

In this episode, I chat with Cedric and Cathy from Australia and New Zealand Tongzhi Rainbow Alliance . We talked about the spectrum of sexuality, the challenges that Asian queer members have with their parents, how to navigate the conversation with family, and the importance of the visibility of queer Asians in Australia (and western countries).   Sydney World Pride 2023: Coming Out, Coming Home...

This week we look back at what we've read this year and decided on our own favourite books, the conversation extends to the definition of friendship and love. (01:40) Intro (05:40) What have we been doing this week? Jess: Emily (09:08) Helen’s recommendation:   Gugu naGogo, Namaste Yoga, Viv’s Silly Mango, Yaz Queens. (13:53) Best book 2022 from ABDU. Jessie: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and Tomorrow.  ...

Helen had a great conversation with Aileen Huynh on this episode, make sure you check out her latest work Boxing Day BBQ, Ensemble Theatre . (04:10) Family, childhood and the Vietnamese community in Wollongong (07:25) Parents’ support in pursuing drama, first exposure to drama at high school (10:01) Determination to study at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) (11:45) Higher...

Hello bitches, a quick short episode this week as we head towards the holiday season! (01:08) Festival season, anticipating ‘The Best of 2022” (03:12) Protests in China (06:50) Falling for Christmas , Lindsay Lohan & George Young, the joy of watching trashy film (10:30) Venom , Tom Hardy (12:03) First Love , Japanese drama on Netflix, Hikaru Utada is a music genius, Helen’s obsession with Japa...

Another week we talked about films, books and our thoughts on 'weaponised incompetence'. Do you suffer from this incompetence or do you know someone who constantly uses this incompetency to deflect their responsibilities? (03:00) Helen’s daughter’s observation on the gender divide through a class assignment (5:20) Jess on Disney Plus’ “Fleishman is in trouble” (09:03) Helen on “Drive My Car” , SBS...

Short episode this week as Jess recovers from COVID. Hope you'll still enjoy our discussion!  (01:15) Jess and COVID (04:55) Trans Awareness Week Hungry Ghost's Suzy Wrong Talks About Trans Representation And 'Transphobia In Many Asian Cultures' (08:31) Jessie’s appreciation of her body and recovery journey (10:10) Jessie’s book recommendation: The Slap, We Had to Remove This Post The Slap (novel)...

Nithya Nagarajan is a contemporary performance maker and curator who works across Australia and the Asia pacific. And she holds a PhD in performance studies. With 12 years of experience in programming, creative producing, international engagement, and transformative justice in the arts industry. Her artistic practice adopts movement as a system of inquiry into the sacred, the sensual and the decol...

Hello bitaches, this massive episode was fun to record, we discussed so much and humoured ourselves with many issues, from clitoris to dowry then parenting. Hope you'll enjoy this episode!  (00:00): Clitoris and Bladder: Half the World Has a Clitoris. Why Don’t Doctors Study It? (06:54):RANT: Jessica Rowe on Adam’ Liaw’s Cook-Off (18:29) Joy of shopping (19:50):Jessie’s Recommendation: Natalia Gin...

We begin this episode talking about language, seeing worlds through a different lens, and the privilege of that multiple language advantage. Our conversation continues on parenting through the perspectives of men, and the cultural differences in the language of love. Finally, we conclude our episode with two news items; Itaewon tragedy  and Netball Australia Sponsorship Facebook | Asian Bitches Do...

In this episode, Jess shares her experience of attending the show Clementine Ford & Libby O'Donavon Love Sermon  and Helen talks about what got her thinking with the geisha culture with Beasts of a Little Land, Juhea Kim Jess also shared two amazing books Translating Myself and Other, Jhmupa Lahiri  and Babal, RF Kuang   In the second part, Helen and Jess delve into a conversation about Austra...

In this episode, Helen chats with J'Ma, a Taiwanese-Australian actress who started her acting career after years of working in the finance industry. J'Ma talked about her journey as a student arriving in Australia when she was 13, her previous work in finance and her determination to persuade life in film and television.  J'Ma on Instagram J'Ma - Actress (website) J'Ma on Vime Facebook | Asian Bit...

In this episode, Jessie and Helen catch up after a week's break with discussions on The Cut's The Watcher , Sarah Malik's Desi Girl  and Wesley Morris' American Culture is Trash Culture We also talked about some news items; Anna May Wong is the first Asian American to appear on the US currency , Liz Truss' resignation , Lidia Thorpe and her previous relationship with an ex-bikie member Don't forge...