Author: Time To Say Goodbye

Hello from a Chinese banquet! (If only…)

0:00 - “주먹만한 얼굴” (tiny face obsession)

2:48 – Reply All

We discuss the story buzzing throughout media: the hosts of the Reply All podcast, while reporting on the exploitative labor practices at Bon Appétit, had their own exploitative, anti-union activism exposed last week. What does this say about class versus race politics and the unionization movement in media? Plus, thoughts on the podcast-industry bubble.

(By the way, we are aware of the irony of talking, on a podcast, about another podcast that got canceled after talking about yet another podcast, so don't bother pointing that out!)

38:15 – “Minari”

Writer/director Isaac Chung’s “Minari,” starring Steven Yeun, has just been widely released. Is it a story about successful US assimilation or migrant ambivalence? Is it a universal or specific Asian-American tale? What is the state of Asian-diaspora storytelling in 2021, and when is the Forever 21 saga going to be made into a television movie?

1:01:00 – Three listener questions

* On ableism in our discussion of Covid-19 and “working women” (from Reena)

* Mixed feelings about the “decolonizing food” movement (from Jackie)

* On academics tweeting about political causes (from Jenny)

Thanks for listening!

* Email us your questions: timetosaygoodbyepod@gmail.com

* DM us here: https://twitter.com/ttsgpod

Become a patron! 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 a Chinese banquet! (If only…)

0:00 - “주먹만한 얼굴” (tiny face obsession)

2:48 – Reply All

We discuss the story buzzing throughout media: the hosts of the Reply All podcast, while reporting on the exploitative labor practices at Bon Appétit, had their own exploitative, anti-union activism exposed last week. What does this say about class versus race politics and the unionization movement in media? Plus, thoughts on the podcast-industry bubble.

(By the way, we are aware of the irony of talking, on a podcast, about another podcast that got canceled after talking about yet another podcast, so don't bother pointing that out!)

38:15 – “Minari”

Writer/director Isaac Chung’s “Minari,” starring Steven Yeun, has just been widely released. Is it a story about successful US assimilation or migrant ambivalence? Is it a universal or specific Asian-American tale? What is the state of Asian-diaspora storytelling in 2021, and when is the Forever 21 saga going to be made into a television movie?

1:01:00 – Three listener questions

* On ableism in our discussion of Covid-19 and “working women” (from Reena)

* Mixed feelings about the “decolonizing food” movement (from Jackie)

* On academics tweeting about political causes (from Jenny)

Thanks for listening!

* Email us your questions: timetosaygoodbyepod@gmail.com

* DM us here: https://twitter.com/ttsgpod

Become a patron! 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!

Special unlocked bonus Patreon episode today with entrepreneur, TikTok cook, and hip-hop head Jaeki Cho. He and Jay talk about Jaeki’s quick rise to TikTok fame via his Korean cooking videos, Asian-American hip-hop in the 90s and 00s, and the ways in which immigrants acquire, imitate and then incorporate language.

You can find Jaeki’s TikTok here.

And a Friday throwback video for all of you.

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!

Special unlocked bonus Patreon episode today with entrepreneur, TikTok cook, and hip-hop head Jaeki Cho. He and Jay talk about Jaeki’s quick rise to TikTok fame via his Korean cooking videos, Asian-American hip-hop in the 90s and 00s, and the ways in which immigrants acquire, imitate and then incorporate language.

You can find Jaeki’s TikTok here.

And a Friday throwback video for all of you.

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 the angry depths of our work-from-home souls!

This Valentine’s Day week:

0:00 – Big, hearty thanks for subscribing and supporting us through our Patreon. Don’t miss the raucous Discord chat or bonus episodes with Anakwa Dwamena and Jiayang Fan.

4:40 – Why are women shouldering the extra work of the pandemic? Why are they the first to lose their jobs and get stuck with multiplying jobs at home? We talk about the NYT’s “Primal Scream” package of stories, the neoliberalism/second-wave-feminism debate between scholars Nancy Fraser and Melinda Cooper, and the radical, unfinished challenge of the welfare rights and Wages for Housework movements.

44:50 – More discussion of recent street violence in the Bay Area, thanks to solid reporting through a partnership between The Oaklandside and Oakland Voices. (+ part two here). Is this a Black–Asian thing? What’s the economic/pandemic backdrop? How do we avoid carceral thinking? (link to Oakland Voices piece here.

1:11:11 – Thanks to Stephanie for her question about identity-obsessed East Coast Asians versus “gentle, confident” West Coast Asians (lol). We talk about ethnic enclaves like Cerritos, the making of Flushing, and Andy’s time in Plano, TX.

Thanks again for listening and sharing. Reach out anytime at @ttsgpod or timetosaygoodbyepod@gmail.com.

Plugs!

Read Oakland Voices!

On Wednesday (4.17) at 1230P ET:

And on Thursday (4.18) at 8P ET:

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!

This week, fabulous guest Darren Byler. Plus, three questions from our very smart listeners.

0:00 – Friend of the show Darren Byler returns (don’t miss his earlier episode, from July, where he discusses his research on Xinjiang with Tammy and Andy) to reflect on what he (and Andy) heard on Mandarin Clubhouse over the weekend. There was a brief burst of discussion among Mandarin speakers of various ethnicities around the world, including many in the PRC, about what’s happening to Uyghurs in Xinjiang. Clubhouse has since been banned in the PRC, but the rooms continue to operate. 

Those interested in Darren’s work should read this recent piece on surveillance capitalism in Xinjiang. Darren had also written about the types of stories told by Han Chinese residents of Xinjiang, which are similar to those that emerged on Clubhouse this weekend. 

39:40 – As promised, we answer listener questions about: 

– Anti-Asian violence in the Bay Area (Cathy) +

– Asians and the return-to-school debate (Matteo) + 

– How to push the Biden administration left? (Milos)

Stay in touch! timetosaygoodbyepod@gmail.com / TTSG on 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

Good snowy morning from Andy and Tammy, while Jay wears shorts!

This week, we talk about cultures of luck, public schools, tankieism, Myanmar, and Corky Lee.

2:15 – Andy explains the freaky, punny “Bling Empire.”

12:12 – Our inevitable takes on GameStop, Robinhood, and the global, neoliberal casino of our financial system. For more: stories by Noah Kulwin, Kate Aronoff, and Doug Henwood. Andy recommends this episode of Slate Money podcast.

46:58 – David Brooks gives us hives, but so does most of the coverage of school reopenings. Why this anti-union, anti-parent campaign—and in the name of “Black and brown kids”? For more: a sharp analysis by Rachel Cohen; NYT’s recompense for Brooks’s editorial.

1:07:10 – We respond to listeners who think we’re too dismissive of pro-China takes as tankieism.

1:16:11 – In Tammy’s sad news corner: What’s happening in Myanmar?

1:21:31 – Another preventable COVID-19 death hits close to home. Rest in peace and power, Corky Lee! For more: Hua Hsu’s tribute and the NYT obit.

** 1:24:43 – A way to help us keep going—and with better sound: We’re launching a TTSG Patreon! Please sign on as a supporter, and tell all your friends! **

Thanks for tuning in and supporting us.

timetosaygoodpod@gmail.com

@TTSGpod

Quick plug: Andy helped organize a series of talks this month by professional historians but intended for public audiences. The theme is “decolonizing decolonization”: extending discussions about decolonization from Euro-America to looking at experiences in the “rest” of the world.

Tomorrow (2/3) at lunchtime (ET) is Adom Getachew from U. Chicago, talking about Black internationalism from the 50s to 70s (apropos Black history month). Register and check it out!

Next week (2/10): Turkey and Latin America and China

Following week (2/17): China, India, Xinjiang, and Kashmir

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

Bonus ep!

This past week, the Asian Arts Initiative in Philly (AAI) hosted a short conversation about the question of representation in media and politics.

AAI’s exec. director Anne Ishii (@ill_iterate) MCed the event, which featured myself (Andy) and Bakirathi Mani, a fellow academic in the region (Swarthmore college, check out her new book Unseeing Empire, with the discount code E20EMPR).

We talk:

* Kamala and Andrew

* south and east Asian comparative diasporas

* Asian versus Asian American studies

* why the search for representation is always just a little bit “off”?

(there’s also a Youtube version of the in-person conversation here!)

Check out AAI on twitter: @asianartsphilly

As always, follow us @ttsgpod and email us at: timetosaygoodbyepod@gmail.com!

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 Obama’s third term!

This week, we welcome the wonderful, brainy Rozi Ali, a journo friend who writes about Islamophobia and the US “war on terror.” We also dish about basketball and a kimchi-based spat between South Korea and China.

1:10 – Why Rozi gave up on the Warriors.

3:35 – Korea and China are fighting again. Over kimchi.

Not sponsored content: the offending Li Ziqi video (kimchi at the 13:20 mark: judge for yourself!)

17:45 – Biden started his presidency by reversing Trump-era actions on immigration, including the Muslim ban. Rozi puts these moves in context of foreign policy and the forever wars. Shout-out to the Quincy Institute and anti-war activism; plus: Jay and Rozi still don’t know who Fran Lebowitz is.

54:30 – The South Asian diaspora in the US tends to vote very Democratic, but some of its members have big blind spots around class concerns as well as the government in India. We discuss all this in the context of Arun Venugopal’s recent piece in The Atlantic, “The Truth Behind Indian American Exceptionalism.”

>> If you’re free tonight, Tuesday, Jan. 26, join this US–Canada event on transnational “movement lawyering,” organized by TTSG friends. Tammy is in the mix: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/asian-american-asian-canadian-perspectives-on-movement-lawyering-tickets-135937527805

Thanks for tuning in and supporting us. Next time: lots of reader questions!

We’re on Twitter way too much, at @ttsgpod. And on email: timetosaygoodbye@gmail.com.

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