Escape From Plan A

Jess and Teen start out talking about the gathering storm clouds over the economy, the obsolete white collar corporate culture from the 90's we still cling to, and what it's going to take to move past these obsolete notions of success and obligation. Please support us on Patreon if you enjoyed this episode: www.patreon.com/planamag TWITTER: Teen (@mont_jiang) Jess (@cogitatotomato) SUBMISSIONS & C...

Old farts Adam and Filip talk about why the mainstream culture seems to refuse to let video games and eSports into the modern zeitgeist despite it's mass commercial appeal. One theory is that it's "Too Asian", and that might be keeping Asian Americans from leveling up their nascent culture with what's becoming increasingly normalized among the kids these days. Support us on Patreon! www.patreon.co...

Ben Sin (senior tech editor @ XDA-Developers) joins Teen all the way from Hong Kong to talk about the consumer tech market in China, the effects of the Huawei sanctions and trade war, as well as bias in the Western tech media. Is the West actually the tech backwater? Who is cutting off whom in this tech schism? TWITTER: Ben Sin (@bencsin) Teen (@mont_jiang) SUBMISSIONS & COMMENTS: editor.planamag@...

Jess and Teen talk about Melvin Capital vs r/wallstreetbets. We talk about what is driving the stock of Gamestop up "to the moon," what the social significance of this is, and then things turn a bit grimmer as we turn to the bleak prospects within the Scam Economy. Consider supporting our Patreon so that Plan A can publish the work of writers who are shut out of the mainstream media because of the...

By patron request, we are releasing Part 2 of Episode 232 as a free episode. Teen and Jess discuss the events of 1/6 and take a stab at what might be in store for the rest of 2021. Tl; dr -- get that bag, it's gonna be a bumpy ride. All bonus episodes are available for Plan A patrons at www.patreon.com/planamag. Join the Patreon today! CORRECTIONS: Gross domestic product (GDP) measures the value-a...

Teen and Jess discuss the events of 1/6 and take a stab at what might be in store for the rest of 2021. Tl; dr -- get that bag, it's gonna be a bumpy ride. This is Part 1 of the episode. Part 2 is available for Plan A patrons at www.patreon.com/planamag. Join the Patreon today! CORRECTIONS: Gross domestic product (GDP) measures the value-add created by production of goods and services in a country...

Filip gets together with Jess to talk about his decision to leave the startup he cofounded: How it compares to working in big tech, what’s wrong with venture-backed startups today, and how Asian Americans can capitalize on the leverage they have to do more meaningful work in the world. Oh, and they shoot the shit on that whole Cyberpunk fiasco, and the problems with video game and movie production...

Q, Elaine, and Gavin discuss chapters 1-5 of Settlers, by J. Sakai. We break down the book’s analysis of America’s white mythos and how it is still directly applicable to current events, such as the MAGA riots at the Capitol last Wednesday. It’s increasingly clear that the settler attitude Sakai described has not changed in 400 years and that continues to prescribe how white America makes its deci...

After an extended hiatus because he ran out of things to say, Teen joins Diana to talk about Asian RadLibs vs. Tankies. Seems like everyone has something to say about the 'Tankies' these days. And it's mostly RadLibs doing the talking, on their vastly bigger platforms. But Tankies have social media esp Twitter as an outlet, where the playing field is more even. Teen and Diana do a deep dive into t...

Adam is joined by guests Joy Alessi, Raana and Sungkwan Jang in the second installment of our series on the issue of Adoptees Without Citizenship. In this part, we review the progress that was made in advocacy for an adoptee citizenship bill this year and also the challenges that were faced. We also discuss the expectations for 2021 and give our end of year thanks to all the volunteers and organiz...

John, Michelle, Arnav and Diana daydrink and talk about Asian cooking, restaurants, and food racism beyond crying about our stinky lunches. American attitudes about Asian cuisines reveal more about deep-seated ideological and infrastructural issues in the US than about Asian countries or people. This is Part 1 of the 4-hour holiday episode. In Part 2, available on the Plan A Magazine Patreon, we t...

Banner art: "Masks" by Wai Lin Writer and media critic Josh C of Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR.org) talks to Diana about his work all year uncovering the lies and racist bias in western media coverage on China's COVID response. Josh also shares tips on how to critically review media for yourself, and how he stays motivated to do this important work. This is Part 1 of the episode. In Par...

Director and producer Jenny Shi joins Dave, Kin, and Diana to talk about her feature-length documentary Finding Yingying. Finding Yingying is about the life and death of Zhang Yingying, a Chinese visiting student at University of Illinois-Urbana Champagne, who was kidnapped and murdered June 9, 2017. The film poignantly focuses on Yingying and her family, challenging traditional crime narratives,...

Jules, Michelle, Peter and Diana take a deep dive into the latest on COVID vaccine development (as of November 19). Why are the vaccines closest to approval from US companies mRNA-based? Why isn’t the US supporting COVAX, the international vaccine accelerator? We discuss the long, continuing legacy of white nations using POC as lab rats to advance medicine, what we’re suspicious of and optimistic...

Nia and Tee have an expansive conversation about Transgender Day of Remembrance from an Asian diaspora perspective. Let us remember the trans and gender-diverse people who have been victims of white supremacist police violence and violent policing within communities of color. Let us fight the colonialism at the heart of violence against trans femmes, and question hegemony in all its manifold manif...

Seibo Shen joins Teen to talk about psilocybin and the experience of shrooms. Seibo is the founder and CEO of the cannabis company Hanu Labs (https://hanulabs.com/) and has deep experience with psilocybin (aka magic mushrooms). Teen tries to describe to Seibo his first experience with the psychedelic, what it was really like, whether it was a worthwhile, and whether or not people should be encoura...

Katya Kazbek joins Teen to discuss the recent film Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. This isn't a film review, but a critical discussion of Borat as a form of xenophobia and racism that is endemic to liberal politics. In particular, the way liberalism is built on a foundation of superiority, which requires internalizing the idea of the foreign Other as inferior (though not necessarily unliked). This was...

Carl Zha and Xiangyu join Teen to talk about their decision to pack their bags and leave America for Asia. Carl was supposed to go to China to see the water festival in Yunnan in 2019, but just never came back. He currently lives in Bali. Xiangyu packed his bags a few years ago to get closer to his roots in Taiwan. He's back -- temporarily -- but has his mind set on going to mainland China. Is thi...

Adam Hudson of the podcast Real Sankara Hours joins Teen to talk about the probable Biden victory and what the the new era of woke white liberalism will be like. This is Part 1 of 2 -- Part 2 will be Patreon-only episode for the overflow discussion, where we talk about Pan-Africanism and whether there is an analogous political identity among Asian Americans. Join the Patreon at https://www.patreon...

Asian Americans experience a COVID fatality rate at least 3 times the national average in cities where we make up more than 5% of the population. Xiaoyun and Sarah, who both work in healthcare, join You Peng and Diana to discuss the often unreported healthcare disparities of COVID impact on Asian American communities. We share how we've personally experienced the multifaceted ways in which racism...

Hailing Chen is running for New York City Council representing the mostly Asian and Latinx immigrant community of Flushing, NY. Jess, Diana and Teen talk to Hailing -- an Uber driver -- talk about the ways COVID threatens to break the back of the immigrant working class, and how it is now do-or-die to stand up politically. We hear a lot from the elite class on what's best for immigrant communities...

We're serving up lighter fare for this bonus. You Peng and Diana deliver on the promise of an episode where EFPA reviews snacks. Here's what we've been eating and cooking during the last half year quarantine, with a bit of political discussion sprinkled like furikake on rice. Support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/planamag SUBMISSIONS & COMMENTS: editor.planamag@gmail.com EFPA Opening Theme: "Fuck...

With Prop. 16 on the ballot for Nov. 3 -- which will decide whether California will reinstate affirmative action -- the eternal issue of whether Asian Americans are "for or against affirmative action" is again causing a rift among activists. It seems to be a deadlock where one is either "selling out" other AsAms if they support affirmative action, or "being complicit with white supremacy" if they...

Mike joins Q this week to discuss two short readings: Hồ Chí Minh’s Letter to Old People regarding the role of elder people in revolutionary movements, and the second, Huey P. Newton's "In Defense of Self Defense," concerning the role of violence in liberation. These two seemingly disparate works provide important advice for those of trying to agitate and organize during these tumultuous times. Va...

Kajah and Jeoffrey of Black Zebra Productions joins Nia and Diana for a rare interview. The husband-and-wife team shares stories of documenting the protests in Sacramento, Portland, Kenosha, and Paris. As Asian American artists, they also share their experiences with breaking out of the scarcity mentality, personal decolonization, and finding connection and community within the greater struggle ag...