Author: Time To Say Goodbye

Hello from a South Korean ballot box! (Tammy wishes.)

This week, Andy and Tammy talk to the political scientist Neta C. Crawford* of Boston University (soon, Oxford University) about the human and ecological costs of the war in Ukraine, the China dimension, and what a global movement for peace should strive for.

Plus: Andy discusses his review essay on Chinese economic history and neoliberalism in The Nation; Tammy freaks out over the imminent South Korean presidential election and reflects on outgoing leader Moon Jae-in; and Andy reveals his secret recipe for Whole Foods salmon poke (YouTube).

Some links:

* Brown’s invaluable Costs of War project, co-directed by Neta

* Neta commenting on war crimes against civilians

* Neta’s forthcoming book, The Pentagon, Climate Change, and War

* Rohini Hensman on the long history of Russia–Ukraine

* Isaac Chotiner’s interview with John Mearsheimer

* Tammy’s profile of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

* Apols for mispronouncing “Neta” at the top of the show. It’s NEE-TA.

Also: stripe twins!

Thank you for listening. Please donate to the Red Cross to help people in Ukraine, and send us feedback via Substack or:

timetosaygoodbyepod@gmail.com

https://twitter.com/ttsgpod

https://www.patreon.com/ttsgpod

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello from our doomscroll…

Today we talk about—what else?—the events in Ukraine this past week :-(

We chat with Sophie Pinkham, an essayist, reporter, and expert on the region. In 2016, she published Black Square: Adventures in Post-Soviet Ukraine (read an excerpt in Dissent). She has written about politics after the Maidan protests (The New Yorker), the election of President Volodymyr Zelensky (The New York Review of Books), and, just yesterday, Zelensky and the war (New York).

We discuss our initial reactions to the news of invasion, why so many people didn’t expect it to happen, U.S. jingoism, the impact of social media and propaganda, criticisms of “the left,” speculations about the future, and the comparability of China–Taiwan. 

Some stuff we’ve been reading:

* “Ukraine: What Russia wants, what the West can do,” Anatol Lieven, Responsible Statecraft

* “A letter to the Western Left from Kyiv,” Taras Bilous, Open Democracy

* “News from Natoland,” Tariq Ali, New Left Review

* Background on history and political economy in Adam Tooze’s newsletter

* Friends of the show Michelle Kuo and Albert Wu on reactions to Ukraine from Taiwan.

Thank you for listening. Please donate to the Red Cross to help people in Ukraine, and send any questions or comments via Substack or:

timetosaygoodbyepod@gmail.com

https://twitter.com/ttsgpod

https://www.patreon.com/ttsgpod

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hi from the United States of empire!

The podsquad reunites in Amurica. This week, we talk about the murders of two women in New York City and the recall of school board members in San Francisco.

Christina Yuna Lee and Michelle Go died in nightmarish attacks. We process our feelings and explore how Asian Americans, policymakers, and members of the general public are interpreting/using the women’s deaths. Why do we always fall back on law-enforcement responses? How do stigmas against people who aren’t housed, or those who have mental illness, affect our analysis of “hate crimes”? How are Asian communities in New York and New Jersey responding? What does women’s safety mean? What’s the abolitionist horizon?

San Franciscans recently voted to remove three people from the school board—and Asian Americans were a big part of the action. Jay wrote about how this all boils down to anxiety over admissions to a selective high school. But the recall might also be seen as a tech-funded campaign against all things “woke.” What’s going on? How do immigrant politics graft onto the US’s left-right spectrum? Are Asian voters basically social Darwinians? What does this mean for criminal-legal policy, specifically the upcoming Chesa Boudin recall? For Asian-American organizing?

Thanks to the PNW listeners who came to our IRL lunch over the weekend. And thanks to all of you for supporting the pod. Stay in touch via Substack or:

timetosaygoodbyepod@gmail.com

https://twitter.com/ttsgpod

https://www.patreon.com/ttsgpod

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Today’s episode is a conversation with Eugene Lim, the author of the novel Search History. Eugene’s one of our favorite writers. We talk about experimental fiction, Asian writers, Eugene’s life as a school librarian, what constitutes good and bad writing, identity questions in fiction, and we even take questions from the audience who watched this talk on Discord.

If you’d like to be part of our next BOOK TIME, please sign up for our newsletter subscription at goodbye.substack.com for $5 a month and you can join our discord community.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hi from Seoul!

The podsquad returns for a wide-ranging chat on all things, sort of, broadly, sometimes diasporically China.

Awkwafina made the rounds on social media, with a screenshot semi-apology(?) regarding her use of Black speech. We offer a hermeneutic reading.

It’s the 10th anniversary of Linsanity. What did, and what does, Jeremy mean to Asian America? Jay and Andy revisit analyses from the time.

Chinese government bros have upped their game, offense and defense, on English-language Twitter. What’s the use of an official reply guy?

And finally, we’re watching the Olympics in Beijing! Yes, all Olympics are terrible (insert leftist critique), but so are the short track judges, says Tammy. Plus: Andy on the opening ceremonies and Jay on Eileen Gu.

We have an IRL picnic coming up in Seattle and an ongoing book club. Subscribe and join our Discord community to find out more.

Thanks for hanging with us! Please share, subscribe, and ping us via Patreon and Substack; email (timetosaygoodbyepod@gmail.com), Twitter, and Discord!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello from a crypto farm in rural China!

This week Andy talks with the director (Jessica Kingdon) and producer (Kira Simon-Kennedy) of the new film Ascension, a documentary about working life in contemporary China. Ascension has received critical acclaim and garnered major awards and nominations, including being shortlisted for the Academy Awards!

The film features scenes of quotidian working life in a period when the government has begun to promote the “Chinese Dream,” spanning textile and sex doll factories to etiquette school and social media influencers all the way to luxurious water parks and tropical vacation resorts. Together, these scenes raise provocative questions about China’s blindingly rapid development, the uneven pace of upward mobility, and whether China is an exotic outlier or a recognizably modern society, comparable with life in the US and other societies worldwide (all to music by Dan Deacon).

Jessica and Kira took the time to chat with us and many from our Discord community about the film’s initial conception, the origins of the title and Jessica’s own exploration of family history, the strangeness of the major award circuit, and the ethics of making a commercial documentary. They also break down many of the more memorable scenes, including a dinner party among the ultra-rich and a crypto farm in the middle of the countryside.

You can look for ways to watch it on the film’s website, the linktree, and its IG account.

But for most of us, the easiest way to watch it at home is to subscribe to and stream from Paramount+ (look for trial offers!).

The second half of this episode consists of questions from our Discord members. If you’re interested in joining the conversation with us and tons of other cool people, please think about subscribing! Check us out via Patreon and Substack, contact us via email (timetosaygoodbyepod@gmail.com), Twitter, and the Discord!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hi from a Korean hot-stone bed!

It’s Jay and Tammy this week, talking trash about Andy.

Plus:

* Pandemic alcoholism and human bonds: We read and discuss an essay in Jezebel, “I Got Sober in the Pandemic. It Saved My Life.” What has this tragic time clarified and obscured? What’s the off-ramp?

* Does a day-trader’s lunch budget say anything about inflation? People were mad about this New York Times story, but the Big Mac Index remains durable (Tammy gets the description about half-right). The tech stock market (read: Peloton, Netflix, Amazon) seems less durable.

* The Supreme Court will hear the Harvard / University of North Carolina case on affirmative action, with Asian American plaintiffs front and center. We assess the history of race and class in admissions and consider the wedge that is Asian America.

Thanks for hanging out! Please share, subscribe, and stay in touch via Patreon and Substack; email (timetosaygoodbyepod@gmail.com), Twitter, and Discord!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Greetings from the Philly planetarium!

This week, we discuss academic tenure, “disgusting” ideas, and left foreign policy.

0:00 – A troll-y tenured law prof at UPenn is back on her race-science kick—this time, arguing on Glenn Loury’s interview show that, “the United States is better off with fewer Asians and less Asian immigration.” What to do about Amy Wax and the Amy Waxes of the world? Should her tenure be repealed, as local politicians are demanding? Who and what is tenure for? Is it about free speech? Workers’ rights?

58:30 – Does this issue intersect with tech companies’ censorship via terms of service?

1:08:00 – If you’re on China/international relations/war/basketball/tech Twitter, you’ll have seen that Chamath went full-on tankie… which relates to the debate over a recent article in The Nation: “What Should the Left Do About China?” by David Klion. The piece explores the lefty political spectrum, and features input from Andy and several friends of the pod. We dig in on the question of how complicit we are as “Americans.” In a time of (cold-)warring hegemons, what kind of dissenters should we be?

Thanks for being in dialogue with us! Please share, subscribe, and stay in touch via Patreon and Substack; email (timetosaygoodbyepod@gmail.com), Twitter, and Discord!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello from pandemic year 3!

There seems to be a panic over school closures—and a backlash against teachers and their unions. But how many US public schools have had to “go remote” because of Covid? Are these physical closures reasonable? Why are people blaming educators for everything from “learning loss” to the downfall of the Democratic party? What “shock doctrine” tactics do we need to look out for?

Check out:

* Jay in The New York Times, on the value of public schools and a post-Hurricane Katrina cautionary tale

* A common, cynical take in The Atlantic

* Arguments for parent-teacher solidarity in The New Yorker and Jacobin

* An explainer on the teacher shortage and our stingy approach to public K–12 education, at Vox

We really appreciate your listening and spreading the word. Please subscribe and stay in touch via Patreon and Substack, email (timetosaygoodbyepod@gmail.com) and Twitter! See you in the Discord.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

New year, new pod!

“Same pod, though…”

0:00 – We discuss various New Year’s Day soups and East Asian black beans.

7:50 – Many influential writers died at the end of 2021. We explore the legacies of Joan Didion, bell hooks, and historian Jonathan Spence. 

44:40 – Why is the Netflix climate change film, “Don’t Look Up,” so polarizing? Written by Adam McKay and Bernie pal David Sirota, and starring basically all of Hollywood, it has inspired a lot of commentary. Is it a good leftist film? Is it funny? Effective? What about its portrayal of the media and academia? (Check out these think-pieces from “Money on the Left” and Current Affairs.)

Thanks for listening and spreading the word. Please subscribe and stay in touch via Patreon and Substack, email (timetosaygoodbyepod@gmail.com) and Twitter!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe