Escape From Plan A

The Philippines is under attack as an unprecedented crackdown on freedom of speech and freedom of the press is underway through the imminent passage of the so-called Anti-Terror Bill set to become law on July 9, 2020. Special guests Robert Cheng (Katilunggan), Malaya Arevalo and Julie Jamora (Malaya Movement) join us to discuss the bill in more depth and it’s impact on the Philippines and abroad i...

Mike Nguyen, who wrote “PAST THE TIME FOR ALLYSHIP: WE NEED POLITICAL EDUCATION, ORGANIZATION AND SOLIDARITY” joins Q and Diana to discuss the political ideologies that are near and dear to our hearts. How did three Asian Americans from apolitical families and right wing communities find our way to anti-imperialism, leftism, and coalitional, organized resistance? There is so much we can learn from...

The rapper and general friend of the pod Ayekay aka Austin Koh -- who by the way created this podcast's intro and outro beat -- joins Teen to talk about the anti-racist protests and why it's a great time for us Asian American people to get lit up about the injustice that defines America. Support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/planamag TWITTER: Austin (@ayekay) Teen (@mont_jiang) LINKS: Austin's Li...

NY activists Kevin Wei and Kate Zen join Diana and Chris to discuss the upcoming primary election for State Assembly in District 40. Incumbent assemblyman Ron Kim is being challenged by Steve Lee, a police officer backed by luxury real estate. Kevin and Kate uncover various allegations against Lee and the ways in which policing, gentrification, and media can be manipulated by special interests to...

This one is a long deep dive with Adam Hudson (Real Sankara Hours pod) and Andray Domise (Macleans) where we dig deeper into the ways that class operate within racial groups, and that broad similarities exist between Asian and Black experiences. Being Asian or Black is not just about our relative distance to the default standard of White. Support us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/planamag TWI...

NY Assemblyman Ron T. Kim joins us Jess, Diana and Teen to describe being a public servant during a time of multiple crisis. Ron represents NY's 40th District, which includes the Asian American enclave of Flushing. We have heard many Asian Americans express a desire to enter public service and perhaps run for local office. We talk to Ron about the realities of public service, and how he approaches...

Danny Haiphong (contributor to the Black Agenda Report) joins Diana and Teen to talk about his work in radical politics and foreign policy, especially as it relates to China. Plan A has focused on the rise in hostilities between the US and China, and Danny shares his insights about the dangers of the US propaganda efforts to stoke fears of a Yellow Peril/Red Scare menace. Support us on Patreon! ww...

Charlene Sayo of Vancouver and Cherisse Nadal of AF3IRM's LA chapter join Diana to introduce KANLUNGAN, a digital memorial for the Filipino healthcare workers who have passed in the COVID-19 pandemic. We go into the weeds of the history of transnational migration, the situation for Filipino diaspora in the US and Canada, and take a huge shit on NBC's The Good Place. Support us on Patreon! www.patr...

Eric was one of the 70-odd protesters who found refuge in Rahul Dubey's home on Swann St. in DC after the police trapped them and began to arrest for "violating" curfew. He joins Chris to recount what happened during the day, night, and following morning of that extraordinary event that not only showed the lengths to which the police are going to stamp out these protests, but also how united the p...

Tou Thao is one of the four cops involved in the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The Asian American Twitterati (aka 'Bluechecks', a reference to the check mark indicating their special verified status on Twitter) quickly offered their tweets instructing Asian Americans to "recognize the anti-Blackness in the Asian community." Are such admonitions -- usually by the privileged -- real calls...

Adam is joined by Korean-American adoptees Jodi Gill and Derek Fisher, founders of the newly formed Gide Foundation, a non-profit focused on adoptee education and mental health. Also on the podcast is Korean-American adoptee Moses Farrow, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and head of the mental health team at the Gide Foundation. They discuss the genesis of the Gide Foundation, their...

Tou Thao is one of the four cops involved in the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The Asian American Twitterati (aka 'Bluechecks', a reference to the check mark indicating their special verified status on Twitter) quickly offered their tweets instructing Asian Americans to "recognize the anti-Blackness in the Asian community." Are such admonitions -- usually by the privileged -- real calls...

With the issue of human trafficking from the Philippines hitting social media consciousness due to the Jia Tolentino incident, Chris is joined by Liza (repping Malaya Movement) and Robert Cheng (repping Katarungan and also Anakbayan) to further discuss the issues of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), the J-1 visa program, the Filipino government's Labor Export Policy, and more. Anakbayan USA: https...

Ray joins Plan A to weigh in on our attitudes about money. Why do we work so hard just to spend it? What would we do if we spent less and had more time as a result? This is the goal of FIRE: Financial Independence, Retire Early. Beyond the actual formulas and theories behind FIRE -- all easily accessible online -- we talk about how class attitudes form our spending habits, and how Asian American c...

Two of Plan A’s Việt Kiều (Vietnamese diaspora) hang out with Leftist YouTube star Luna, and chat about Vietnam’s remarkable response to the Coronavirus pandemic in and outside of its borders. How are people in Vietnam and the US responding to the death toll of zero? What can the US and other countries learn from Vietnam? And what can we actually expect them to learn, given the constant suspicion...

Seibo Shen joins Teen on this crossover episode with the Happy Asian Males (http://www.happyasianmales.com/) podcast. 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 tells Seibo about his first and only experience with the psychedelic, whether it was a worthwhile, and whether or not people sh...

Nearly 40 years after Vincent Chin was bludgeoned to death in a brutal hate crime, violence against Asians in America is on the rise again. Writer Paula Yoo talks to Diana about the details of Chin's murder, and the legal battles and civil rights activism that ensued. What was Vincent Chin's legacy? Has anything really changed? Support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/planamag TWITTER: Paula Yoo (@p...

In the last month, there has been a slate of new Asian American media offerings from Tigertail, The Half of It, and Never Have I Ever. Filip and Chris are joined by Eliza and new guest Arnav to talk some real shit about these movies and shows. Support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/planamag TWITTER: Eliza (@aesthdistance1) Filip (@filipgwriting) Chris (@JesuInToast) SUBMISSIONS & COMMENTS: editor....

The escalating cold war with China did not start with the coronavirus pandemic, and it will likely continue long afterwards. Independent journalist Ajit Singh talks to Teen about the geopolitical context of this simmering conflict between the United States and China, and how serious a matter it really is. Support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/planamag TWITTER: Ajit Singh (@ajitxsingh) Teen (@mont...

Jess and Teen assess just how bad things have gotten in America, not just for Asian Americans but on the whole. The American ideal of optimism and progress seems to have been destroyed once and for all. But this seemed to have been a dream that only the top tenth of Americans could achieve at any one point in time. What does it mean to be in that top tenth? How do they control where we go from her...

And we thought the Global Financial Crisis was bad. Chris, C.S., and Christina (a Plan A co-founder making a long-awaited return after some time away!) discuss the generational ramifications that COVID-19 will have on Millennials and Gen Z in terms of our values and dreams. Is the Millennial ideal of "do what you love" truly dead? Will Gen Z be the first generation to know nothing but American dec...

Mark, Filip, and Chris get together to talk about all the shameless gaming they've been doing during the lockdown and focus in particular on Sleeping Dogs, the excellent open world driving game about a 2nd-generation Asian American undercover cop who goes to Hong Kong to infiltrate the Triads. In addition to discussing the game, they talk about how they related to the Asian American male protagoni...

Diana and Teen talk about living in an age of pessimism. We are told constantly to look on the bright side, even as we are inundated with horribly depressing news. The total failure of our government, the rise of fascist anti-Chinese racism, the collapse of the progressive movement, all topped off by an economic depression. But look at these people sing on their balconies! And how these cops rode...

Liza is back! And with Filip and Chris, the three of them discuss four important Asian American YA books that span three decades: Marie G. Lee's "Finding My Voice" and "If It Hadn't Been For Yoon Jun," Gene Luen Yang's "American Born Chinese," and Randy Ribay's "Patron Saints of Nothing." Issues discussed include how to read older works in the context of their time and whether POC writers are auto...

Doug Kim and Andray Domise join Teen to kill some time during the ongoing lockdown to talk about economics, UBI, and what went wrong with Andrew Yang's entire campaign. Also, is there such a thing as a true Biden supporter? Support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/planamag TWITTER: Andray Domise (@andraydomise) Doug Kim (@sweetjustice) Teen (@mont_jiang) SUBMISSIONS & COMMENTS: editor.planamag@gmail...