This Filipino American Life Podcast

In part 2 of our mini-series “Original Pilipino Musings” with Les the DJ, we dive into two seminal Eraserheads classics, “Toyang” from their 1993 debut album, Ultraelectromagneticpop!, as well as “Alapaap” from their 1994 follow-up, Circus. Listen as we talk about what the songs mean to us, and debate whether or not it matters if...

In a few weeks, Combo On The Run, a documentary chronicling the rise of the band Eraserheads, is set to hit movie screens across North America. It’s not often that a film from the Philippines gets a release and a reception as high profile as this film has been getting, let alone a documentary about...

Here Lies Love, the play about the rise and fall of Imelda Marcos as the Philippine dictator’s wife during Martial Law is now playing in Los Angeles. The TFAL crew had the opportunity to watch Here Lies Love when it first opened at the Mark Taper Forum a couple of weeks ago. Love it or...

For 10 years, TFAL has been trying to amplify voices from our community, but particular voices from sectors of our community that have been historically overlooked. We are especially attuned to the voices without glitz and glamor, without state-sanctioned narratives, and without algorithmic egos. For our 250th episode, and on the heels of the 40th...

Have you ever dreamed about a TV show with an all-Filipino American cast? What kind of show it would be? Who would star in it? In this TFAL episode, Elaine, Joe, and Producer Mike dream up their ideal TV show by playing The Fil Am Celebrity Draft! Adapted from a game that Joe used to...

In this episode of the podcast, Kalaya’an Mendoza returns to talk with the crew about community care. This episode is dedicated to the folks in Minnesota and beyond who are grieving, protesting, and resisting ICE kidnappings and intimidation. The crew reached out to Kalaya’an again to check in on how we can support each other...

Over the last few months, the hottest night out can be had at a Filipino supermarket. If you’re lucky enough to live near a Seafood City, you might have seen or experienced the multi-generational viral dance party conceptualized by JP Breganza back in August 2025. What is this phenomenon all about? Why does it attract...

Dom Magwili is a prolific actor, writer, and educator who has graced his presence on stage and screen for years. Most importantly Dom has played a role in our lives when he guided Kat as she was PCN coordinator at UCLA and gave Elaine a boost of confidence when she was an emcee for the...

What is the Filipino American anthem? Is it Bebot by the Black Eyed Peas? P.T.I. by Carl Angelo? Lemonade by Jeremy Passion? Us by Ruby Ibarra? Do You Miss Me? by Jocelyn Enriquez? Todo Todo by Daniela Romo (you know who chose that one!)?? In this TFAL episode, we look at so-called Filipino American anthems...

In this episode the TFAL crew has a conversation with Arthur Yu. Arthur Yu was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in 2023. Arthur did all the things you needed to do like rounds of chemo and looking for bone marrow matches. Arthur explored the National Marrow Donor Program (formerly Be The Match) for possible matches. ...

“You’re not Filipino if you don’t speak Tagalog.” “You sound white.” “The national language of the Philippines is Filipino, not Tagalog.” “Filipino is already gender neutral.” Much of our online discourse in the Filipino community is about or related to language. The debates are out there. We here at TFAL want to tackle some of...

Have you ever thought about doing a pilgrimage? Would you want to contemplate your life choices on a hiking journey through the mountainous regions of Europe? Do you just want to hear about someone else doing that and not deal with the physical and spiritual Olympics of it all? Then this episode is for you!...

In this episode we have tfal fan favorite Faith Santilla aka “Tita Faith” in her fourth appearance on the pod! Joining Faith is the amazing and inspiring Martha Gonzalez of Quetzal. On this episode Elaine, Kat, and Producer Mike talk story about the exciting and upcoming show at The Ford Los Angeles, Labor of Love....

  In this episode Elaine and Producer Mike have a conversation with singer-songwriter Stephen Ordonez also known as LABIT (@labitlabit). Stephen shares his experience growing up with Filipino American parents born in the States and how their love of music influenced his style. Fans of artists like Laufey and Jason LaPierre will vibe with Stephen’s...

In this episode of TFAL, Elaine and Producer Mike have a conversation with Los Angeles native (yes, they exist!) Chrissa Sparkles. You may have seen Chrissa Sparkles go viral with her Barbie inspired content on @chrissasparkles. In this conversation we go through Chrissa’s journey as a local kid with no connections figuring out how to maneuver...

Dear young people, How do we stay cool? Sincerely, Middle-aged TFALers There are many generations of Filipinos who live in the United States in this day and age. Immigrant generations, 2nd generations, 3rd generations, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, and now Gen Z. Many have different experiences as Filipino Americans, and in many ways, some...

Joe wrote a book! Well…kinda. After a few years of gathering photos and writing, Joe has published FILIPINOS IN THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY, a pictorial history that traces the historical and cultural shifts of this quintessential suburb through the lens of generations of Filipinos who made the San Fernando Valley their home. This book is...

  In this episode the TFAL crew has a conversation with author Randy Ribay. The crew has discussed Patron Saints of Nothing multiple times, so this conversation was long coming. In fact, we thought we had already spoken to Randy Ribay! So glad we got to have this conversation with Randy about his journey as...

In this episode Producer Mike and Elaine have a conversation with TFAL graphic designer Vincent Collyer and his brother Charles Collyer about Charles’ experience with a surprise diagnosis of lung cancer. Charles explains how a post Tough Mudder run lead to a rib injury which the X-rays lead to his lung cancer diagnosis. Post lung...

  In this episode the crew has a conversation with author and filmmaker, Jill Damatac, who shares her journey from the Philippines to the States to the UK all through the lens of an undocumented immigrant. Instead of a traditional cookbook, which predominantly focuses on recipes and then sprinkles in family stories, Jill does the...

Amidst the chaos, we still have hope. A couple of weeks ago, Ryan and Joe had a conversation about being relatively new dads. With Father’s Day approaching, the two TFAL dads discuss their experiences navigating fatherhood and all that it entails. Listen as they talk about how their identities changed as new responsibilities came, how...

TFALpodcast kicks off PRIDE month with a conversation with author and illustrator Mike Curato. In this episode Elaine and Producer Mike learn about Mike Curato’s journey with Gaysians, Curato’s first graphic novel for adult audiences. Curato is best known for Little Elliot, a picture book series, and Flamer, a young adult graphic novel which has...

On Election Day 2024, while most of the level-headed American public mourned the re-emergence of the far-right orange man, local folks in Los Angeles had a moment of electoral triumph with the victory of Ysabel Jurado to the Los Angeles City Council. Jurado is the first Filipino/a/x American to ever serve on the City Council...

In this episode TFAL’s Elaine and Producer Mike have a conversation with Lisa Angulo Reid, founder of Dear Flor @lovedearflor. Dear Flor’s mission is to bring Filipino culture to the world, one flavor at a time. Lisa shares her journey as an entrepreneur and how she transitioned from advertising to the quickly growing cannabis industry....

In this TFAL episode, Joe talks to Dr. Allan Lumba, writer, researcher, historian, and professor at Concordia University in Montreal, about potential of Filipinx Studies to inspire our community to fight for a better world. Listen how he developed into a brilliant scholar focused on Philippine Studies, the growing number of Filipino and Filipino American...

The TFAL crew is no stranger to the world of animation. In episode 28 (TFAL talks Voice Acting (and Secrets & Fears)), the crew had a conversation with voice actors Eric Bauza (@bauzilla) and Earl Baylon (@earlybgoode). While Producer Mike and Elaine were on their trip in the Philippines, they were able to connect with...

Is it truly “More Fun in the Philippines? Well technically not any more, because that marketing campaign ended in 2023. Now it’s “Love the Philippines”, but do we? They say there’s “no place like home” (which is especially fitting, since this is episode “227”… look it up, kids), but for Elaine and Producer Mike, who...

For generations, society has taught Filipinos and Filipino Americans what our specific gender roles should be. For men, masculinity is usually associated with ideas of strength, competition, emotion-less, family responsibilities, and protection. At times, these concepts can create narrow definitions of manhood and can pigeon-hole heterosexual men into certain prescribed racial, classed, and gender identities....

Did you know that men from the Philippines prior to colonization wore penis pins and rings in order to pleasure their sexual partner during intercourse? Yes, many of our ancestors had all kinds of sex toys and pleasure enhancers. In many ways, being open to sex and sexual pleasure can be seen as a form...

Episode 224 | Living with the Land – A Conversation with Dennis Arguelles This past fall, TFALpodcast’s Elaine took a California Naturalist Training Institute course with Community Nature Connection (CNC). CNC offers this course to anyone who aspires to be a steward of the land. CNC also offers customized trainings like: Backpacking 101 Camping CA...

If it’s a music episode, you know Producer Mike is behind it! In our 3rd and final episode in our Toronto series, we got to get a hangout with Michelle and Kat, two members of the “queer Filipinx kulintang gong punks” crew Pantayo whose incendiary yet soulful music defies even the sheer idea of a...

We continue our Toronto series with discussions on two very important issues that affect us – politics and golf. As with every visit to another city, we love to talk about the local political scene. Here to talk to us about Canadian politics is Member of Parliament and Minister of Small Business Rechie Valdez. She...

In honor of Filipino American History Month, the TFAL crew goes to Canada!!! A couple of weeks ago, we had the wonderful opportunity of visiting our neighbors FAR north, Toronto!!! It’s been a while since we’ve traveled to another city, so we made the most of it! During our short trip, we got to meet...

Last but most certainly not least in our series of Island Woman Rise episodes, we have returning guest Faith Santilla! This episode is a wee bit different in that we call it “Ask Tita Faith” where Faith answers questions from TFAL listeners. Will this be something we do in the future? ABSOLUTELY! Will we start...

Continuing our Island Woman Rise series with a lovely conversation with Filipino-Canadian Kimmortal! The TFAL crew shares how we tried to reach out to Kimmortal in 2019 when we traveled to Vancouver, BC. The interview did not pan out because the universe had other plans for us. They share their journey as an artist with...

What what? Another episode of TFALpodcast? Yup. This time the TFAL crew chops it up with Klassy, the youngest artist on the Island Woman Rise line up. Klassy shares her journey as a Historic Filipinotown kid with a talent for drawing and writing lyrics. Find out which TFAL crew member has tattoos done by the...

Surprise episode drop! Leading up to Island Woman Rise we’re dropping two episodes this week! In this episode the TFALpodcast crew has a conversation with Rocky Rivera who recently dropped LONG KISS GOODNIGHT. Rocky shares her journey as a Frisco city kid turned journalist turned full time artist. Bay area folks, check out Rocky’s album...

Continuing our series of Island Woman Rise episodes, the TFAL crew has a conversation with the uber talented multi-hyphenated artist who inspired the theme of the show, Ruby Ibarra. Ruby shares her journey joining the Beatrock Music family, her growth as an artist, and drops surprising news to us in the episode! If you haven’t...

  In this episode the TFAL crew talks story with Kat Carrido Bonds, our fam and frequent fill in for food appreciator Ryan. Kat shares her journey from music aficionado to college student turned pcn coordinator turned cultural affairs commissioner to Filipino American cultural events producer. Kat and her producing partners with AKB Media are...

“In the Year 2000…” If you know that line, you remember it was a bit that Conan O’ Brien did during his late night talk show where he and his co-host Andy Richter comically predicted what the world would be like in the year 2000. (Yes, we’re that old). In this TFAL episode, Ryan and...

Every four years (two years if you care for winter sports) athletes from around the world come together to compete in sporting events at the Olympic Games. It’s a time when we care about such sports as swimming, track and field, gymnastics, and dressage. (Seriously, how many of us really care about these sports between...

Ay SAUCE-MARYOSEP!. Have you ever thought of what kind of Filipino sauces and condiments are in your kitchen? Patis, toyo, suka, bagoong, banana ketchup, sinigang packets, etc. These are essential ingredients to all of our wonderful Filipino dishes. OK, so have you also thought of what kind of preservatives and colorings are in them? Sorbic...

Who taught you about SEX? Was it through school? Was it through watching porn? Whatever means you learned (or are learning) about the various aspects of sex, we could bet it wasn’t through your parents! With the Catholic Church shaping our Filipino way our being, sex education has been reduced to abstinence and “family life.”...

TFAL goes to Hawaii! Well, actually just Joe goes to Hawaii. While attending a conference in Honolulu, Joe took the opportunity to do an additional interview with local Filipino American leader, Chachie Abara. Chachie is an Ilocano language and mental health advocate, runs the podcast and media company KasamahanCo, and is author of a bilingual...

On August 8, 2023, Maui experienced the largest wildfire in the “United States” in more than 100 years, killing 101 people and displacing 6,500. National media portrayed the disaster as an unfortunate incident to Maui’s idyllic setting for tourism. However, hidden from this mainstream narrative is the larger context of how the wildfires and its...

“Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. I am a BAD Filipino!” What makes you a “bad” Filipino? It’s time to confess!! In this TFAL episode, the crew discusses what makes us “bad” Filipinos…or rather Filipinos who buck the proverbial trend. Which one of us doesn’t like Jollibee? Who doesn’t mano po? Who doesn’t ever...

In this episode the TFAL crew talk with Bayani Teodosio about Bayani Komixtape, the hip hop mixtape follow up to The Realest Bayani, Teodosio’s graphic novel. The crew shares their experience with comic books, pop culture, and learn about Bayani’s origin story that paved the way for the creation of The Realest Bayani. Looking for...