Time To Say Goodbye

Hello from clear-skied Brooklyn! Thank you to everyone who attended our (first) third-anniversary TTSG summer picnic! And thanks to all who subscribe, listen, spread the word, and otherwise support the show. It’s just Tammy and Jay this week, unpacking some complex cultural shifts in Asian American food and education. (5:15) First, Tammy guesses which Asian cuisines dominate Asian restaurants in the U.S. (according to a recent Pew Research Center study). We also discuss what it means for food to be “elevated,” Americanized, kept “authentic,” or *gasp* made into some kind of “fusion.” (24:40) Next, we go cynical on the likely end of affirmative action and debate the merits of other methods of increasing diversity at universities and beyond. In this episode, we ask: Why has Thai food proliferated in the U.S. while other Asian cuisines trend and fade? What’s behind the idea that “authentic” Asian food should be cheap? What does the lack of energy around affirmative action tell us about racial solidarities and class recognition? For more, see: * A dispatch from last week’s apocalyptic smoke in NYC* The full Pew study about Asian restaurants in the U.S. * Zak Cheney-Rice on affirmative action's past and present, plus Jeannie Suk Gersen on The Secret Joke at the Heart of the Harvard Affirmative-Action Case * An older piece from Jay about the long, slow death of affirmative action * Tammy on the recent Supreme Court ruling that could dampen workers' right to strike And, if you find yourself in Portland, visit some of Tammy’s favorite authentic(?) Thai spots: Eem and Hat Yai! Support TTSG on Patreon or Substack to attend future subscriber events like last weekend’s picnic! Keep in touch via Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter, and email us at [email protected]. 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 Montréal! 🥳 Reminder: Join us THIS SATURDAY, June 10th, in Brooklyn, for our subscriber picnic! Subscribe on Patreon or Substack for more details. This week, we welcome back our friend Max Read—dad, Twitter lurker, hat seller, and creator of the incredible Read Max newsletter—for an anniversary chat. (12:30) We speculate about the next phase of A.I. ascendancy and (28:25) large language model pioneers, and (44:00) unpack the labor dimensions of these technological shifts. Speaking of labor, (45:30) we get Max’s inside perspective on the WGA strike (in which, again, A.I. …) and express solidarity with the Insider journalists who just went on strike for a fair contract! In this episode, we ask: Will the next generation be expected to know how to write? Who will ChatGPT threaten to (awkwardly, inadequately, terrifyingly) replace? Is A.I. doing to writing what earlier technologies did to the music industry? Are we getting schooled in notions of collective authorship? For more, see: * Max’s newsletters on the WGA strike and A.I.: * Why I'm on strike* I cannot believe the s**t that morons are getting up to with ChatGPT* Yet more of what I'm reading about A.I., a great mixed-reality TV show, and a great new music newsletter* His previous TTSG appearances! * Crypto fraudsters with Max Read* TTSG disinformation campaign with Max Read * John Herrman’s New York piece about Google’s in-search generative A.I. experiment* Our last episode about A.I., in which Ben Recht gets skeptical: What can’t A.I. replaceThanks for listening! Keep in touch via Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter, and email us at [email protected]. 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 Jay’s dried-out basement (finally)! This week, writer Hua Hsu joins us for a record fourth appearance on the pod as part of our neverending anniversary celebration. In a wide-ranging chat, we touch on (7:08) how podcasting has influenced our interview styles, (16:55) the "Succession" series finale [SPOILER ALERT], and (27:30) Tammy’s accidental encounter with edibles. (38:22) We also look back at a previous conversation with Hua, from January 19, 2021, and reflect on major changes in Asian American media representation.In this episode, we ask: Which “Succession” character deserved to win?!Whom has the Internet erased from Asian American art? Who is Jay's (extremely specific) target audience?For more, see: * The full episode we excerpted, from January 2021: "That identity s**t, that’s old news, man": belated Capitol takes + "Chan is Missing" with Hua Hsu* Our longer convo (and Jay’s full rant) about drugs, from July 2022: More Dem failings + a shifting drug culture * Hua’s piece on Frank Chin and “Aiiieeeee!”, plus his profile of Maxine Hong Kingston* Jay’s profile of Zappos executive Tony Hsieh* A 1993 performance by Lynbrook’s local ska band, Janitors Against Apartheid * The 1990s Godzilla collective Join us on June 10th, in Brooklyn, for our subscriber picnic! Subscribe on Patreon or Substack for more details. Keep in touch via Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter, and email us at [email protected]. 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 Mai’s COVID den! It’s just Jay and Tammy this week. (3:25) First, we chat about a mini-generation of Asian women named after Connie Chung and the news anchor’s professional legacy. (22:18) Then, we discuss the public killings of Banko Brown in SF and Jordan Neely in NYC—and the disturbing turn against poor (particularly Black) people in our cities. We ask: Has America so devalued the lives of homeless people that any offense now seems to warrant vigilante murder?How do these conversations play out on the West versus the East Coast? Does urban topography affect these dynamics? For more, read: * Reporting from the S.F. Chronicle: Banko Brown: Video shows what led to S.F. Walgreens shooting; D.A. won’t file charges * Jay’s recent New Yorker piece on Jordan Neely’s death and an older article that discusses California’s housing-first approach to homelessness * Friend-of-pod Darrell Owens’s take on homelessness and vigilante violence on public transitSome TTSG housekeeping: First, we’re having a subscriber picnic on June 10th in NYC! Subscribe on Patreon or Substack for more details. Second, get a TTSG tote for yourself and all your pals! You can either get it shipped to you directly or select "Ship to TTSG" and pick it up at the June 10th picnic. If you’re shipping internationally, use this link instead. Order by this Friday and rep the pod wherever you go!Thanks as always for listening! Keep in touch via Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter, and email us at [email protected]. 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 vault! In the first of a series of episodes commemorating TTSG’s third anniversary, OG Andy Liu returns. 🎉We look back at the first episode we ever released, on April 13, 2020, and ask: (9:30) Was Andy right to attribute both the spread of the coronavirus and the backlash against Asian Americans to China’s growing power? (34:30) Has COVID diminished the concept of U.S. exceptionalism—if not within the U.S., at least in the rest of the world? (56:30) Is it possible for leftists to embrace national industrial policy without replicating the same kinds of neoliberalism that led us here? For more, see: * That fateful first episode, Pangolin Panic and Why the West Said "No" to Masks * Our episode analyzing Dan Wang’s U.S.–China 2020 newsletter, plus his 2022 assessment * Commentary on recent China-related legislation and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s speech, outlining a new Washington consensusA couple big TTSG announcements! First, we’ll be having a subscriber picnic on June 10th in NYC to celebrate our anniversary and Jay’s “American Son” premiere (movie tix here!). Subscribe on Patreon or Substack for more details. Next, we’re finally releasing TTSG MERCH, starting with a PMC staple: a TTSG tote! When you place your order, you can either get it shipped to you directly or "Ship to TTSG." Please only select the latter option if you plan to attend the NYC picnic on June 10th! (Apologies to all non-locals.) Buy one (or two or three) to rep the pod, and share the link with friends & family! As always, keep in touch via Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter, and email us at [email protected]. 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 start of AANHPIXYZ Heritage Month! It’s just Jay and Tammy this week, going long on two of our favorite topics: U.S.-Korea relations and progressive media. [3:15] First, we address the carefully crafted viral moment from Korean President Yoon’s debut at the White House, and the sanitizing of human rights realities in Asia. [17:30] Next, we discuss the controversy over an article about Tucker Carlson published by the American Prospect—and mea culpa’d by the top editor following online criticism. We touch on [28:10] virtue-signaling disclaimers and [38:55] the tiptoeing endemic to our fractured news industry. In this episode, we ask: Why did a misogynistic, anti-labor president get such a glowing White House welcome? Do we agree with the central argument of the Prospect article: that there is some value to Tucker Carlson types’ espousing of “populist” views on Fox News? Is Jay less cancellable because he’s not white? For more, read: * “South Korean president sings ‘American Pie’” * About Korea’s legislative and symbolic agenda on this U.S. trip* Background on President Yoon when he first entered office, by Tammy* The American Prospect article: “The Smuggest Man On Air”* David Dayen’s editor’s note and the response by two other Prospect writers: “The Real Tucker Carlson”Thanks for listening! Subscribe on Patreon or Substack, and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. Email us at [email protected]. Join us at the premiere of Jay’s movie, “American Son,” at the Tribeca Film Festival, in NYC, in June! Purchase tix here! 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 cruise ship! This week, we welcome book critic and Philly basketball devotee Jennifer Wilson back to the show. We discuss [1:00] the epidemic of belligerent airline passengers; [6:25] the surprising (and not so surprising) firings of Tucker Carlson from Fox News and Don Lemon from CNN; [15:10] Jen’s favorite 76er, James Harden, and his ejection for nut-punching; and [27:40] journalist Lauren Oyler’s recent piece on Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop cruise and the sexist genre of wellness writing. In this episode, we ask: Why do so many basketball players punch and kick one another in the crotch? Are the Tucker Carlsons and Don Lemons of the world easily replaceable?What (besides capitalism, duh) makes us so obsessed with wellness? How is vulnerability (especially in women) used to sell products, activate people online, and smooth out social relations? For more, see: * This week’s viral airplane video (baby screams; man yells) * A breakdown of James Harden's and Joel Embiid's fouls * Lauren Oyler’s dispatch from the Goop Cruise* The David Foster Wallace cruise piece that the Goop story references * Oyler’s 2021 essay on writer W. G. Sebald * How Goop’s Haters Made Gwyneth Paltrow’s Company Worth $250 Million, by Taffy Brodesser-Akner * The TikTok influencer video that led to the intense doxxing of two young women * A rumination on the rise of astrology among millennials by Christine SmallwoodThanks for listening! Subscribe on Patreon or Substack, and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. Email us at [email protected]. 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 90-degree day in New York!This week, we’re joined by Alex Han, executive director of In These Times and a longtime organizer based in Chicago. Alex previously worked for Bernie’s 2020 campaign and SEIU Healthcare Illinois and Indiana. We get into the context behind the surprise mayoral win by former teacher and organizer Brandon Johnson, over “corporate reformer” Paul Vallas. We discuss [15:45] the values (neoliberal versus progressive) at stake in this race, [25:08] which strategies can, and can’t, be reproduced by other candidates, and [1:01:30] the role of left-labor publications like In These Times in counteracting corporate media.In this episode, we ask: What made the Chicago Teachers Union become such a central player in city politics? How has “defund the police” evolved, rhetorically, on the left? How do you build a coalition that’s led by progressives but populated by centrists? What should left media do to engage young people and other big yet hard-to-reach groups? For more, read: * Alex’s post-election editorial for In These Times* This reflection on bargaining for the common good and the influence of the CTU * More on the deep, grassroots organizing behind Johnson’s victory: 'It Was 100-Percent People Power' (Block Club Chicago) and Chicago’s Rich Organizing Tradition Paid Off (The Nation) * An interview with Alex on the past and present of In These Times: What Do Movements Need from Progressive Media?* The book Jay mentions, After Black Lives Matter: Policing and Anti-Capitalist Struggle, by Cedric G. Johnson* Horrifying news of the shooting of 16-year-old Ralph Yarl in Kansas CityThanks for listening! Subscribe on Patreon or Substack, and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. Email us at [email protected]. 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 Jay’s COVID den!Mai would like you to know that she begged Jay to skip recording and rest after he tested positive for COVID, and did the same with Tammy a few weeks ago. They did not listen. Please don’t follow their bad example!This week, Tammy and Jay chat with repeat guest Silky Shah, executive director of Detention Watch Network and longtime organizer for immigrant rights. [1:45] We start, though, with a discussion of “Veep,” which Jay has been rewatching—a show that continues to be relevant and prescient ten-plus years on. [14:40] Then we talk about Biden’s disappointing policies on immigration, including the continuation of Title 42 and other policies designed to exclude asylum seekers, [50:00] and reflect on some small wins that follow years of organizing by groups like the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON). In this episode, we ask: How do anti-immigration policies actually worsen the same border conditions that some claim to be fighting through deterrence? What makes immigration intersectional? How might the immigrant-rights movement adopt a broader framework of immigrant justice? For more, see: * More on the Biden administration’s anti-immigrant moves, including a potential reinstatement of family detention * Hannah Dreier’s NYT report about migrant child labor in the U.S.* The fire at a Juárez migrant detention center that killed dozens* A glimmer of good news: DHS expands protections for whistleblowers * The Tennessee GOP’s attack on two Black legislatorsPlus, listen to Silky’s August 2022 TTSG appearance, ​​Immigration’s “catalyst moments,” and a September episode where we discuss Ron DeSantis’s migrant-busing stunt: GOP cruelty gone wild. Thanks for listening! Subscribe on Patreon or Substack, and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. Email us at [email protected]. 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 Bay Area! This week, it’s just Jay speaking with Malcolm Harris, the author of the recently published Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World. We talk about [5:40] why Malcolm wrote a 600-plus-page epic instead of a shorter, more personal book; [27:25] Palo Alto’s origin story, including Leland Stanford and immigrant labor on the railroads; and [43:20] what mainstream histories get wrong about the New Left and Silicon Valley’s development. (Heads-up: There is a brief discussion of suicide between 11:30 and 14:10.)In this episode, we ask: Why does Palo Alto give off such a weird vibe, and how does Stanford University's approach to real estate contribute? What did Jay and his daughter learn about the exploitation of Chinese rail workers at the California State Railroad Museum? Is Malcolm worried that AI could take his job? For more, read: * Malcolm’s colossal Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World* An archetypal business book: Barbarians at the Gate, by Bryan Burrough & John Helyar* Mae Ngai’s book on Chinese migration and the gold rush, The Chinese Question—and listen to Andy’s episode with Mae! 'History is not a straight line': on the Chinese Question with Prof. Mae Ngai Thanks for listening! Subscribe on Patreon or Substack and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. And email us at [email protected]. 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 Jay’s flooded basement! (Apologies for our less-than-ideal audio.) This week, our guest is Bryce Covert, a writer who covers the culture and work of child care (and its increasingly dire state) in the U.S. Bryce tells Jay and Tammy [14:50] what she’s been hearing from providers as pandemic-stimulus funding dwindles; [27:55] why care workers haven’t been able to win better pay, even in a strong labor market; and [52:25] how private-sector incentives might help—but don’t go nearly far enough. (A lot of our references are to hetero nuclear families, but the pain is universal!)In this episode, we ask: Why do Jay and Bryce have to apply to 94 summer camps to make sure their kids aren’t marooned?What would an ideal child care system look like? At what age would public care and schooling begin? What can we learn from previous U.S. policy and experiments elsewhere?Why does an adequate child care system feel politically impossible? For more, see Bryce’s writing… In The Nation: The Childcare Crisis Is Getting WorseChild Care Providers Are Organizing, Demanding More, and Winning In Early Learning Nation: "I Can't Compete": Child Care Providers are Losing Staff to McDonald's and TargetIn Lux: Child Care: The Radical is PopularAlso read:* James Butler on the social care crisis in the U.K. * Dana Goldstein on child care and private equity * The ‘Fleishman Is in Trouble’ Effect (i.e. wealthy parents’ version of this crisis) * More on the childcare provision in the CHIPS ActThanks for listening! Subscribe on Patreon or Substack and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. And email us at [email protected]. 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 Tammy’s COVID bunker! This week, after a short tribute to Montana’s “dean of journalism,” Chuck Johnson, R.I.P., Tammy speaks with Kshama Sawant, the three-term socialist Seattle City Councilmember who recently announced that she will not seek reelection after this year. Instead, she has launched Workers Strike Back, “an independent, rank-and-file campaign” to support organizing nationwide. We discuss [9:42] the Amazonification of Seattle, [31:05] a historic municipal bill banning caste discrimination, and [38:28] critiques of Sawant’s approach to politics and organizing. Plus: Tammy and Kshama debate union strategy.In this episode, we ask: Does socialism provide answers to today’s woes? What did the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 reveal about identity politics? How might the Dobbs ruling and other failures of Democratic leadership help us envision a new political party? What does DSA get right and wrong? For more, read: * Tammy’s 2019 mini-profile of Kshama * Kshama’s labor history fave: Teamster Rebellion by Farrell Dobbs * A Kentucky worker on “How We’re Fighting for a Union at Amazon’s Biggest Air Hub”* Kshama’s recent bill, making Seattle “the first U.S. city to ban caste discrimination"And some extras from the TTSG team: * Tammy and Mai recommend the French-German-Belgian film, “Return to Seoul,” currently playing in some U.S. theaters.* Tammy semi-recommends the return of the LA-catering comedy “Party Down” (though the first two seasons remain vastly superior) and really recommends these sly, tingly novellas, translated from the Japanese, by Yoko Ogawa. * A happy follow-up to the housing episode with Ritti Singh and Navneet Grewal, reported by TTSG guest Wilfred Chan: “‘It’s legal, there’s just no precedent’: the first US town to demand a rent decrease”* More news in racial impostors, via Andy: “Raquel Evita Saraswati pretended to be a woman of color. Her deception traumatized the communities she claimed to help.”* Some devastating TikToks by college applicants, courtesy of Jay Thanks for listening! As always, follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter, and get in touch via email at [email protected]. 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 Jay’s tradlife mancave! It’s just us this week, dissecting all the ways our culture has gone too far. We begin with [0:20] a debrief of the most Asian (American?) Oscars ever. Then, updates [20:40] on feminism in South Korea and [40:38] the Stepford wives of TikTok. In this episode, we ask: Are Asians now overrepresented in Hollywood?! What happens when electoral politics revolves around gender relations? Why doesn’t anyone want to give birth in South Korea, despite myriad family supports? How much of the “tradwife” lifestyle movement is about aesthetics, as opposed to a particular politics? For more, see: * Anna Louie Sussman’s article about the 4B movement in Korea* An interview with Hawon Jung, author of Flowers of Fire: The Inside Story of South Korea’s Feminist Movement and What It Means for Women’s Rights Worldwide* Zoe Hu on the tradlife movement and its “central hero,” the tradwifeAnd revisit these TTSG episodes: * "Everything Everywhere All At Once" deep dive * “Tár,” a film for the chattering class, with Vinson Cunningham* On Korean feminism—* Fantasies of progress on K-TV, with Jenny Wang Medina * A feminist(?) K-drama about abortion * Harper's, Boba Bros, Korean Feminism, and the NBA bubble If you’re in NYC this Sunday, come to BAM for a screening of Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite,” with Q&A by Tammy! Info and tix here: https://www.bam.org/film/2023/parasiteThanks for listening. As always, you can subscribe on Patreon or Substack, follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter, and get in touch via email at [email protected]. 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 D.C. hotel! This week, our guest is Ken Chen, writer, professor, and former director of the Asian American Writers' Workshop (AAWW). We discuss [6:45] Ken’s recent piece for n+1, about photojournalist and activist Corky Lee and the deep histories of class, race, and violence woven into his work, centered in Manhattan’s Chinatown. [1:03:20] We also chat about writing, publishing, and Asian American literature as a social-realist project. In this episode, we ask: When does a photo achieve representation?What if we thought of Corky not as a photojournalist, but as a durational artist? Can an identity be created through accumulation and aspiration, even through economic shifts?Why are there so many books by Asian Americans coming out now, compared to a few decades ago? For more, see: * Ken on Theresa Hak Kyung Cha’s Dictée* Repeat guest Hua Hsu on Maxine Hong Kingston, author of the classic novel, The Woman Warrior* Ryan Lee Wong on Corky Lee’s photos of protests against police brutality And revisit these TTSG episodes: * Our book club with Lisa Hsiao Chen, wherein we discuss the work of performance artist Tehching Hsieh * Working-class unity, with organizer JoAnn Lum, the director of NMASS (the National Mobilization Against Sweatshops)* "I want you to care when people are still alive," with Yves Tong Nguyen of Red Canary SongOur first-ever TTSG Movie Club is happening THIS FRIDAY, March 10th, at 8pm ET / 5pm PST! We’ll be watching "Better Luck Tomorrow," and you can join our TTSG Discord to attend the viewing by subscribing on Patreon or Substack. Thanks for listening! As always, follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter, and get in touch via email at [email protected]. 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 normal, boring lives! Tammy returns from her reporting trip out West, and Jay is back at work after taking half his parental leave. It’s just us this week, talking through [3:20] the political disaster that has unfolded around the derailment and chemical release in East Palestine, Ohio. Plus, [28:25] a new Intercept interview with D.E.I. consultant Tema Okun, about her viral paper “White Supremacy Culture.”In this episode, we ask: Have we learned anything since the 2016 election about the risk of ignoring working-class communities? How should the Democrats have responded to the derailment? Why are people so obsessed with the term “white supremacy”? What anxieties does it mask? Are diversity trainings really necessary? For more, see: * Our recent episode with train conductor Nick Wurst* Field trips to East Palestine, Ohio, by Senator J.D. Vance and Trump* Tema Okun’s interview with Ryan Grimm of The Intercept* Okun’s original paper, plus the updated websiteFor our first-ever TTSG Movie Club, happening March 10th at 8pm ET / 5pm PST, we’ll be watching "Better Luck Tomorrow"! Join the TTSG Discord to attend the viewing. You can subscribe on Patreon or Substack. Thanks for listening! As always, follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter, and get in touch via email at [email protected]. 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 sci-fi future!Tammy’s on a reporting trip this week, so it’s just Jay talking to our guest Ben Recht, a professor of computer science and electrical engineering at UC Berkeley. We talk about the history of artificial intelligence, the new bots from Open AI (ChatGPT) and Microsoft (Bing A.I.), and share some of the reasons why they are both skeptical but also kinda impressed. In this episode, we ask:Well, what really is A.I., and how does it differ from machine learning?Is this Silicon Valley hype cycle any more believable than those we were sold on crypto, Web3, and the metaverse?What is the actual technology behind ChatGPT? What’s so special about it?Where do we get our doomsday fantasies from, and how worried should we really be?Is the remedy for bad AI takes just better science fiction? How is A.I. Doomerism like Scientology? To read more, see: * Ted Chiang on super intelligence and capitalism * Maciej Ceglowski with a funny and comprehensive breakdown of why people talk about A.I. in the way they do. As well as the case for better science fiction. * A compelling history of A.I. by Stephanie Dick * James Vincent on the idea of A.I. as a mirrorThanks for listening! Subscribe on Patreon or Substack and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. As always, feel free to email us at [email protected]. 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 an ongoing ecological disaster! Our guest this week is Nick Wurst, a freight-rail conductor and a member of the SMART-TD union, who joined Tammy and Jay after an overnight shift. Nick is also a socialist and a member-organizer with Railroad Workers United, a cross-union solidarity organization. He was featured in Tammy’s recent New Yorker piece about the state of union power in the U.S. On Friday, February 3, a train carrying volatile chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, releasing dangerous fumes and forcing the town to evacuate. State and federal authorities encouraged residents to return to their homes after a “successful” controlled release of the substances, but many are skeptical that the air is safe to breathe, given reports of animals dying en masse, highly acidic rain, and the post-industrial area’s baseline pollution levels. Nick explains how corporate avarice—encapsulated in the ideology of “precision scheduled railroading”—and government complicity led to this dangerous derailment. He tells Jay and Tammy how railroad companies successfully lobbied against common-sense safety regulations, and what feels different about this disaster, despite rising rates of train derailment. Nick connects the accident in Ohio to last year’s threatened rail strike, a fight which was widely mischaracterized and eventually squashed by Biden and a Democratic Congress. How drastically has precision scheduled railroading changed conditions on the railroads? What can be done to rein in this greedy industry and the existential dangers it poses to us all? Thanks for listening. Subscribe on Substack or Patreon to join our Discord and participate in an upcoming movie night with Jay, Tammy, and fellow listeners, and to vote on the movie pick! As always, you can follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter, and stay in touch via email at [email protected]. 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 Juilliard! This week, our friend Vinson Cunningham, award-winning critic at The New Yorker, joins Tammy and Jay to discuss 2022’s wokest(?) film, “Tár.” (Spoiler alert!) [1:00] Before we get into it, we address Kyrie Irving’s request for a trade from the Brooklyn Nets… and what makes him so annoying. (We recorded before Irving’s move to the Dallas Mavericks was announced.) Plus: What does his situation say about workers’ rights, in the context of highly-compensated NBA players? [12:50] In our main segment: “Tár,” the dark portrait of a high-powered orchestra conductor’s fall from grace, starring Cate Blanchett. How does the film see the dangers of artistic personas (with a #MeToo plotline reminiscent of James Levine’s abuses), “cancel culture” (per Richard Brody’s review), and labor relations? And how do the movie’s heavy-handed academic scenes compare to Vinson’s experience as a college teacher? [33:40] The film also critiques a specific type of (aging? resentful? arrogant?) second-wave feminist, as Zadie Smith argues in her illuminating piece in the New York Review of Books. We also discuss Becca Rothfeld’s analysis of “Tár” and the obsession with reputation management. Plus: the orientalist narrative of a Western (anti-)hero finding herself in the East. Thanks for listening! Subscribe on Patreon or Substack to join our Discord and participate in an upcoming movie night with Jay, Tammy, and fellow listeners. As always, you can follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter, and stay in touch via email at [email protected]. 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 culture of violence! This week, Tammy and Jay talk through some painful questions following the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols by Memphis police officers. For more on the cases and reports mentioned in this episode, see: * San Francisco’s attempt to expand police surveillance: Breed and New DA Jenkins Pushing Hard to Expand Police Access to Private Security Cameras All Over Town* Accusations of racism in the prosecution of NYPD officer Peter Liang* More people killed by police in 2022 than in any other year in the past decade, according to Mapping Police Violence* Oakland’s Anti Police-Terror Project* Cultures of violence in police departments and special units: * Rise Of The Warrior Cop by Radley Balko* The Riders Come Out at Night by Ali Winston and Darwin BondGraham* We Own This City by Justin Fenton* The killing of Amadou Diallo, which led to the disbanding of NYPD’s Street Crimes Unit* The L.A. County Sheriff’s Deputy-Gang Crisis* Similar dynamics within the military (correction: from NYT, not ProPublica): Death in Navy SEAL Training Exposes a Culture of Brutality, Cheating and Drugs * The Oakland Police Department’s extended recruitment video* A worker shortage across government: It’s Not Just a Police Problem, Americans Are Opting Out of Government Jobs* Jeet Heer’s take in The Nation: The Killing of Tyre Nichols Is an Indictment of the Entire Political System And revisit these TTSG essays and episodes: * Racial dynamics in recent mass shootings: Monterey Park, Half Moon Bay, and who owns a tragedy* Police killings across race, a provocation by Barbara Fields and Adam Rothman in Dissent, and discussed in “SCOTUS trouble, working-class white people, and Taiwan's military”* Abolition as practice: * How not to think like a cop, with Naomi Murakawa* "I want you to care when people are still alive," with Yves Tong Nguyen of Red Canary Song* "A world where prisons serve no purpose," with Kony Kim of the Bay Area Freedom CollectiveAs always, please subscribe via Substack or Patreon to support the podcast and access our listener Discord. You can also follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter, and email us at [email protected]. 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 Tammy’s dark apartment! This week, Jay and Tammy are joined by Beatrice Adler-Bolton, co-host of the podcast Death Panel, with Artie Vierkant, and co-author, also with Artie, of the new book Health Communism, a manifesto that reimagines our systems of care. [2:00] But first, we try to process the horrific mass shooting at a dance studio in Monterey Park, California, in which eleven people were killed on Lunar New Year. We discuss Asian America’s reactive hyperfocus on racial identification and hate-crime designations and ponder alternatives. (We recorded on Monday evening, just before news broke of yet another mass shooting—this time, in Half Moon Bay, killing seven people. Jay expanded on these ideas in this essay for TTSG.) How should the left respond to violence that doesn’t fit into a predetermined, racialized narrative? [18:00] In our main segment, Beatrice takes us through the theory of Health Communism and its promise to save us from our financialized care nightmare. We discuss the transformation of “health” into an aesthetic commodity and the dogma of personal responsibility that keeps us from making population-level change. Though the book does not discuss COVID-19, Beatrice explains how our pandemic response has highlighted the left’s blind spots with respect to disability. She endorses a "margin to center" / “edge case” method, drawing on Black feminism, and a global approach to social determinants of health. Plus: how mainstream talk of Medicare for All falls short, a Supreme Court case about nursing homes, and the meaning of “extractive abandonment.”Speaking of communism: On Tuesday, January 31, at 5pm EST, Tammy joins sci-fi novelist and activist China Miéville for a conversation about “contemporary capitalism’s rapidly multiplying crises and the Communist Manifesto’s enduring relevance,” in celebration of his new book, A Spectre, Haunting. Register here! Thanks for listening! Subscribe on Patreon or Substack and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. As always, feel free to email us at [email protected]. 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 rental hell! This week, Tammy is joined by two friends of the pod who work in housing: Ritti Singh, a tenant organizer in Rochester for Housing Justice for All (and a TTSG Discord leader), and Navneet Grewal, a longtime attorney currently working for Disability Rights California. [5:30] Ritti breaks down the role of a housing organizer, particularly in a majority-tenant city, and Navneet explains her role as a lawyer supporting on-the-ground groups. We discuss the momentum against the commodification of shelter over the past decade, plus organizing successes at the state and local levels regarding rent stabilization, funding for affordable housing, and tenant protections. [34:02] Both guests emphasize the need to diversify the types of housing that exist outside of the private market. We also discuss the various strategies needed to to get out of this crisis—from robust tenant protections to social housing, coops, community land trusts, and tenant purchases of property. What are the connections between housing activism and the environmental justice movement? What if everyone who lives in a place, not just homeowners, could decide what happens to their homes?[41:10] Ritti and Navneet also say what they make of NIMBY-vs.-YIMBY activist fights and the horrific policies being implemented against our homeless neighbors (CARE Court in California and Eric Adams’s increased use of forced institutionalization in NYC). How should we address this aspect of the housing crisis? (Hint: Definitely not like that!) Get involved in the fight in New York! If you want to hear more, we’ve previously talked housing with Darrell Owens, on the fight to end single-family zoning; Paul Williams, on social housing; and Jia Tolentino, on the nightmarish rental market in NYC. We also asked Mike Davis about housing back in 2020, inspired by input from Navneet (who wrote about Mike just before he died).Thanks for listening! Subscribe on Patreon or Substack to join our Discord and participate in our ongoing chats about housing, organizing, and more. As always, you can follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter, and stay in touch via email at [email protected]. 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 Berkeley basement! This week, Jay takes a break from being his daughter’s personal helper to catch up with Tammy. [5:25] We start by discussing right-wing obsession with gender and sexuality. What do recent attacks on librarians tell us about older moral panics and Republican strategy? (Check out this Vice News video of a librarian in Michigan, a ProPublica piece from June about the targeting of an educator in Georgia, and a New York Times piece on a Hamline University adjunct’s firing.) We also touch on [21:32] the circus surrounding the votes for House speaker and [23:30] Jay’s short-lived boycott of Twitter following Elon Musk’s suspension of journalists. [34:25] Next, we talk about Biden’s recent move to expand Title 42, the Trump-era policy that limits immigration under the guise of COVID prevention. Tammy relays what she’s heard from people in the immigrant-rights space, who have been continually disappointed by Biden’s policy choices, and speculates on the intractability of U.S. politics around immigration and labor. [43:25] Jay offers some free advice to the Dems about the mendacious Republican representative-elect George Santos. Thanks for listening! Please subscribe on Patreon or Substack, stay in touch via email ([email protected]), and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, 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

Hello from what feels like the distant past! This week, erstwhile co-host Andy Liu joins Jay and Tammy to look back on 2022. (A note from Mai, our producer: Paid subscribers can get the full version of this ep, with some bonus banter about gambling, parental virtue signaling, etc.! Also, we recorded a week ago, so please forgive dated references to Morocco in the World Cup, Elon, and Jay’s not-yet-born second child.)Twenty twenty-two was big for TTSG’s resident parents. Andy and his wife Reiko had their second kid in May, and Jay and his wife Casey just welcomed their second child this week! Speaking of kids, [14:10] Andy gets the podsquad to analyze Fear of Falling, Barbara Ehrenreich’s 1989 study of U.S. middle-class identity and the “professional managerial class.” We dissect Ehrenreich’s theories about educational capital, anxiety over class decline, and how this feeling of precarity animates many Americans’ concepts of the family. Plus: Malcolm Harris’s contribution to the discourse; and [31:30] Andy’s take on labor unrest in academia and a less exploitative vision for higher education. [41:10] Next, Tammy talks geopolitics and the bellicose, paranoid shift spurred by the war in Ukraine. Have we moved past the era of “stateless” threats (i.e., the War on Terror) and returned to a global order that pits the U.S. against China and Russia? What of the super-statist international cooperation we imagined in our youth, and what does the Ukraine war mean for small countries? We also talk about the ever-increasing (and rarely disputed) defense spending in the U.S. as well as Korea's rising profile as an arms dealer to the world. [52:50] Last, Jay observes that race and identity have recently come to feel less central to our national discourse. Why the lackluster defense of affirmative action? Why is there so little public anger over police killings? We try to unpack the many possible causes—anxiety about the midterms, inflation, media skew—and ask whether the shift is ultimately good or bad. Subscribe via Patreon or Substack for access to the full conversation and to join our Discord. You can also follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter, or email us at [email protected]. Thanks for a great year! 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 somewhere other than Jay’s basement! This week, we’re excited to release the episode we recorded in New York with Hua Hsu, as part of Tammy’s residency at the A/P/A Institute at NYU. Hua is a TTSG regular and the author of a new memoir, Stay True. The book focuses on Hua’s friendship with Ken, a classmate at Berkeley who was killed the summer before their senior year. We probe the book’s depiction of Asian male friendship, or, as Hua experienced it, “two Asian American people working through stuff.” We discuss questions of craft, how to assemble two decades of documentation, and the intense highs and lows of young adulthood. Plus: Hua on pre-Internet zine-making and private worlds, emulating Maxine Hong Kingston (who’d emulated Walt Whitman), and the joy of putting his parents and Ken in textual proximity to Aristotle, Jacques Derrida, and Charles Taylor. You can also watch a video of our conversation, professionally produced by A/P/A, here: Big thanks to Amita Manghnani, Crystal Parikh, and Laura Chen-Schultz! And thanks for your support. We were psyched to see TTSG on Slate’s list of best chat podcasts of 2022! Please share the pod with anyone who might enjoy “a solid balance between the troubling and the absurd.” ☺️You can follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok, and subscribe via Patreon or Substack to join our Discord, where you can be a part of our conversation about TTSG merch! As always, feel free to email us at [email protected]. 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 South Korea’s sad World Cup cheering section! This week, we talk about the unrest in China with Dr. Ting Guo, a scholar at the University of Toronto who studies religion, politics, and gender in transnational Asia. Ting is also great on Twitter and co-hosts a Mandarin podcast called "in-betweenness" (@shichapodcast).[7:50] The protests in mainland China—and, in solidarity, throughout the world—began late last month, after an apartment fire killed ten people in the city of Urumqi and workers at a Foxconn factory in Zhengzhou scaled the factory fence. Protestors have expressed anger and grief about the country's Zero-COVID policy and much else besides. Ting situates this movement(?) within a long history of resistance—from Tiananmen to the Toilet Revolution to Bridge Man—while explaining why it also feels so unprecedented. We talk about the leadership of feminists and queer activists in recent mobilizations, the emblematic struggle of migrant laborers in China’s surveillance system, solidarity with Uyghurs, and the long-held anguish that imbues every white-paper gesture. (Check out Eli Friedman’s terrific Boston Review essay for more context.) How has transnational and intersectional support helped to widen the protestors’ aims? If you’d like to follow the protests, Ting recommends: 公民日报 Citizens Daily CNChinese queers will not be censored.和姐妹们颠覆父权暴政 We Are All Chained Women 北方广场 Northern Square 女权中国 Feminist ChinaAs Jay mentions at the end of the episode, he and his wife are expecting a second kid any day now (yay!), so we may be off the air over the holidays. We’ll make sure to keep you posted here, in Discord, and on social media. Thanks for your support. Please subscribe on Patreon or Substack, stay in touch via email ([email protected]), and follow us on Twitter—and now Instagram and TikTok! 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 picket lines! This week, Jay and Tammy report on labor actions on the streets of Berkeley and Seoul. [4:30] First, Jay tells us what he’s heard from striking student workers at the University of California. More than forty-five thousand UAW union members are drawing attention to their financial precarity and austerity in academia. We parse the possible fault lines among this remarkably large group of workers: the relative resources and prestige of different UC campuses, disciplinary biases, and disparate access to jobs after graduation. Why should we believe universities’ pleas of poverty, when their money so clearly goes to bloated administrative positions, campus police, and extravagant sports facilities? [38:58] We also discuss strikes at Starbucks, The New School, and HarperCollins, and the revived possibility of a rail strike next month. Something’s clearly in the air—will US labor law and the NLRB limit or bolster worker power? [45:27] Next, Tammy fills us in on the annual labor rally in Seoul, which, this year, targeted President Yoon Suk Yeol’s malfeasance and the mass deaths in Itaewon. As the new administration promises to concentrate wealth even further and avoids interacting with the public, how should the Korean working class respond? What kind of government is the Yoon administration, and what is the government for, anyway? [53:02] Lastly, we remember Staughton Lynd, a key leftist intellectual and organizer who passed away last week. Lynd and his wife, Alice, were key figures in movements for civil rights and labor and against incarceration and war. RIP. Next week, we’ll be taking a break from recording. Our next episode will be a live recording with Hua Hsu, so be sure to pick up his book—and please join us in person next week, if you’re in NYC! 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 Matt Levine fan club! This week, the writer and editor Max Read returns to discuss the disintegration of the tech world. 2:45 – First, Max and Jay explain what happened to cryptocurrency exchange FTX, founded by Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), and how its calamitous end has eroded people’s faith in crypto. We marvel at FTX’s narrative arc (“Star Wars” and a Bahamian polycule!), the social network that enabled SBF’s messianic rise, and the material conditions in tech-business journalism. Plus: Did SBF’s obsession with effective altruism (or, as Tammy puts it, the Davos-ification of philosophy) inoculate him against criticism? 38:50 – Speaking of Silicon Valley founder fetish… we then turn our attention to the train wreck of Twitter under Elon Musk. Could this disastrous moment in tech workers’ rights shift the industry’s (and especially Twitter’s) stance on unions? Or will downsizing keep workers in their place? Which of the Max’s predicted paths will Twitter take, and what would its death mean for the left and for journalism? Support TTSG by subscribing via Patreon or Substack, following us on Twitter (lol), and sharing the show with friends. You can always reach us by email at [email protected]. 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 decline of the West! This week’s episode features a wonderful conversation with Minh-Ha T. Pham, a professor at Pratt who researches fashion labor under global capitalism and digital capitalism—and whose new book, Why We Can’t Have Nice Things, is out now. 3:45 – We begin by reminiscing about the era of the fashion blogger (including Minh-Ha herself) and the role that young, transnational Asians played as cultural intermediaries for historically exclusive, white brands. Is there a link between them and Asian garment workers? How did those unpaid “creatives” pave the way for the continued casualization of fashion labor on social media? 31:50 – We also discuss the problem of fast fashion and the racialized way it’s often discussed. The Chinese company Shein is widely portrayed as the worst offender, as was the Korean-American-owned Forever 21 in its heyday. Minh-Ha questions that framing: In a global fashion economy that requires low wages to boost profits and encourages insatiable consumption at great environmental cost, does it make sense to zero in on these budget (Asian) brands? And do these narratives assume that some countries can only “develop” if their workers are underpaid to produce our clothes? Plus, an answer to the question you didn’t know you had about Prada and sequins. Subscribe (via Patreon or Substack) to join the TTSG Discord and to attend Tammy’s upcoming meet-up with listeners in Cambridge, Mass.! And don’t forget to RSVP for our December 1 event in NYC with Hua Hsu. As always, you can reach us on Twitter or by email at [email protected]. Thanks for listening! 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 Jay’s trick-or-treating route! This week, Jay listened to hours of affirmative-action arguments from the Supreme Court so that you (and we) didn’t have to. He recounts Ketanji Brown Jackson’s sharp line of questioning and lays out the progressives’ Catch-22. Does a third path reveal itself if we deny Harvard and its peers their institutional, “meritocratic” power? Is it true that Asian Americans are actually given a leg up in some academic environments? Next, we hear from Tammy, in Korea, following the horrific crowd crush that killed more than 150 people in Seoul’s Itaewon neighborhood over Halloween weekend. We discuss the role of government negligence and the rage and grief reminiscent of the Sewol ferry disaster. Tammy explains what makes Itaewon such a special neighborhood, especially for young people and minorities in Seoul. What will it represent going forward? Finally, we honor the great people’s historian Mike Davis, who died on October 25. We revisit his classic, “Fortress L.A.,” which appears as Chapter 4 in City of Quartz (currently available as a free Ebook from Verso or, if you prefer to listen, as an audiobook through your local library on Libby.) We also discuss his more recent pieces on foreign policy and organizing, and the huge gap that he and the late Barbara Ehrenreich leave behind. We’ll continue to learn from Mike and follow his advice to take to the streets. If you missed our early episode with Mike, you can listen here or read the transcript.Join us on December 1, in NYC, for our TTSG + Hua Hsu live recording at NYU! It’s free and in a large theatre, so bring your friends and fam. RSVP here! If you want to support our show, you can subscribe via Patreon or Substack and follow us on Twitter. You can also reach us by email at [email protected]. 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

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit goodbye.substack.comHello from Tammy’s mysterious trip to Korea! In this bonus ep, we answer questions from our beloved subscribers. Thank you for getting us to ponder: * The political dimensions of K-12 school lotteries* A post-affirmative action world* Midterm election hotspots (plus: the effects of labor power and anti-Asian sentiment) * What Tammy and Jay have learned from ea…

Hi from the science desk! Jay and Tammy chat this week with a very special guest, eco-apocalypse reporter Kendra Pierre-Louis. Her work has appeared on the How to Save a Planet podcast (RIP) and in The Atlantic and The New York Times, among other places. Kendra tells us about her non-traditional path to journalism, the trouble with climate journalism in many newsrooms, and the burden and opportunities of being a Black reporter on the “gloom beat.” How do we make environmental collapse feel real and personal to ordinary people? What is the shape and utility of climate protests, from the “eco-terrorism” of the ‘80s and ‘90s to the high-profile actions of the past few weeks? Plus: Pitbull’s eco-anthems, the climate B plot on “Partner Track,” and why Kendra continues to abhor mayonnaise. A sad note: the incredible Mike Davis has passed on. We were lucky to know him a bit and have him on the show. What a life. + RSVPs open this afternoon for the TTSG + Hua Hsu live recording at NYU, December 1! It’s free and in a large theatre, so bring your friends and fam. Whoo!+ A bonus ask-us-anything ep is out later this week! Mai makes her debut appearance, and Jay and Tammy reveal all their secrets. Subscribe via Substack or Patreon to get it in your feed. 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 Tammy’s surfing hagwon! This week, we’re celebrating 1 MILLION DOWNLOADS! Sounds fake, we know, but Substack doesn’t lie. Thanks for tuning in to our ramblings for the past two and a half years—long live TTSG!At the top of the show, we listen to a posthumous podcast with New Yorker editor John Bennett and several of his writers. We reflect on “Bennettisms” about the editor-writer relationship and how writers can help their readers. Next, Tammy reports on the heightened military tensions in Korea and across Asia. What makes this moment feel different in a region accustomed to confrontation and nuclear threats? How has the mainstream response to these threats shifted? And what does the war in Ukraine mean for state sovereignty and Cold War alignments? Plus: Korea’s most economically valuable young men (BTS) report for mandatory military service. Last, we go long on the L.A. City Council mess. As we discussed briefly last week, three council members and a union leader were caught making racist remarks in a closed-door discussion last year about redistricting. We dig into the deeper political arrangement in L.A. and the good and bad of ethnic solidarity. Could this incident, which has confirmed some cynical suspicions about local politics, be an earthquake moment that leads to stronger coalitions along race and class lines? Will this turn Jay and Tammy into Republicans? Next week, we’ll be recording a 🎉BONUS EP 🎉 for paid subscribers where we answer listener questions. Subscribe via Patreon or Substack to submit your questions and hear the episode! Also: Tomorrow, 10/20, at 6:30pm ET, Jay will join historian Erika Lee, New Yorker editor Michael Luo, and NYU’s Rachel Swarns to discuss anti-Asian violence and the complexity of America’s racial divide. Register here!As always, you can follow us on Twitter and email us at [email protected]. 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 U.S. neocolony! It’s just Tammy and Jay this week, trying not to obsess over surfing and wallpaper. We talk about the new Netflix show, “Mo,” which, despite its marketing, avoids many pitfalls of the mainstream immigrant tale. The show succeeds on account of its main character: the very flawed yet charismatic Mo, a Palestinian-American man with a pending asylum case, played by comedian and show creator Mo Amer. We also dig into what makes the city of Houston such a compelling and complex co-star. (Jay wrote about “Mo” for The New Yorker.) Next, Tammy reveals her steadfast love of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and mini-reviews the band’s new album (tl;dr: Karen O’s return as an occasion to talk Asian American rockers, from the Smashing Pumpkins, Linkin Park, and DJ Honda to Mitski, Japanese Breakfast, Thao Nguyen, and the Linda Lindas. For our main segment, we discuss today’s grievance-driven identity politics, as analyzed in two recent pieces: Arielle Angel’s “Beyond Grievance” in Jewish Currents, and Brian Morton’s “Against the Privilege Walk” in Dissent. Are we stuck in an Oppression Olympics that undermines coalitional politics? How do these anxieties manifest online and in mainstream political reporting (versus IRL)? Can we combat such narcissism while taking grief seriously? We also touch on the racist remarks from L.A. City Council members and a union leader that leaked this week. Tune in this Thursday, 10/13, to hear Tammy talk about the U.S. military presence in Asia, along with journalist and unionist Jonathan de Santos in the Philippines, and author Akemi Johnson (on Okinawa) in California. Register here! If you want to support our show, you can subscribe via Patreon or Substack and follow us on Twitter. You can also reach us by email at [email protected]. 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 Mexico City! This week, we talk about the Iranian uprising with Kiana Karimi, a scholar, writer, and friend of the pod who has been active in the fight for women’s rights in Iran and its diaspora. But first, in other feminist news, Jay catches Tammy up on the latest high-stakes poker controversy, with its wonderful 🤢🤑 mix of money and misogyny. Kiana begins by reading from an essay in progress about the current unrest in Iran. Thousands of people across the country have been protesting since mid-September, after the morality police allegedly killed Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish woman taken into custody for improperly wearing her hijab. Kiana explains the political history of such rules, the government's idea of a modern Islamic utopia (which has led to fairly frequent periods of rebellion), and the complicated position of Muslim feminists in regards to the wearing of hijab. Also, what else are the protests about? And what does it mean that so many conservative Muslim men have joined fearless young people in the streets? Thanks as always for your support! Please subscribe on Patreon or Substack, stay in touch via email ([email protected]), and follow us 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

Hello from a Korean sublet! This week, our friend Jennifer Wilson joins us to discuss the art of cultural criticism and test out some takes on James Harden, Gramsci, and Russia. First, we discuss Boston Celtics coach Ime Udoka’s suspension and the ongoing fallout. What can fans’ reactions teach us about today’s top sports commentators and the proliferation of meme culture? Then, we glide seamlessly into a discussion of Italian communist Antonio Gramsci. Jen talks about furthering his mission to decode capitalist values in mass culture, and argues for the return of the true pan. We also explore the restraints of representation, the joy of grappling with stuff in messy ways, and what it means when POC content is a hit with privileged white audiences (the “Get Out” effect). Jen also discusses her Indian husband’s lack of interest in “Indian Matchmaking” and her interview with ​​”Luster” author Raven Leilani. Finally, Jen, a Ph.D.-holding Russianist, briefly discusses what she’s hearing about this stage of the war. We have a few fun events coming up for TTSG listeners and subscribers: This Saturday, October 1st: TTSG subscriber picnic in Seoul! Subscribe via Patreon or Substack to join our Discord and get the details. Thursday, October 13 (see below): A virtual talk on the U.S. military presence in Asia with Tammy in Korea, journalist and unionist Jonathan de Santos in the Philippines, and author Akemi Johnson (on Okinawa) in California. Register here! Thursday, December 1: TTSG LIVE with Hua Hsu, in NYC! The free RSVP will drop soon, but in the meantime, save the date. Also: Pre-order the paperback of Jay’s book, “The Loneliest Americans.” And as always, feel free to email us ([email protected]) and follow us 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

Hello from a beach in Busan! It’s just us this week, talking through the good, bad, and ugly of this week’s news cycle. Just before we recorded, the news dropped that Adnan Syed, the subject of the first season of the hit podcast “Serial,” was released from prison with a vacated conviction after 23 years. We grapple with the opportunity and ethical risks of narrative podcasts, especially when it comes to true crime. We also discuss the railway-union strike that was temporarily averted, thanks in part to the Biden administration, and the brutal conditions imposed by a consolidated freight system and billionaire bosses. Union members will vote soon on what to accept. (Looks like train workers in the UK could go on strike very soon, too.)In our main segment, we discuss Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s latest stunt: coercing asylum-seekers in Texas to board a plane headed to Martha’s Vineyard, a vacation spot for monied liberals that has no infrastructure to help migrants. How does such an obviously cruel maneuver fit into the right’s Twitter-focused political strategy, centered on “owning the Libs” and diverting attention away from substantive issues and toward a “culture war” (as Tammy witnessed in the Ohio Senate race)? How should the left respond to this type of political theater? Plus: Jay lends some pointers from his quarter-life crisis (spent surfing unrideable waves in NorCal) to Tammy as she navigates a crisis of her own (sublimated through surfing lessons in Korea); and math professor Michael Thaddeus proves the glories of tenure as he knocks Columbia University down a few pegs. Thanks for your support. Please subscribe on Patreon or Substack, stay in touch via email ([email protected]), and follow us 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

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit goodbye.substack.comHello from Tammy’s apartment! (Please forgive the less-than-stellar audio quality on this one.) For our latest TTSG book club meeting, Tammy is joined by the wonderful Lisa Hsiao Chen to discuss her debut novel “Activities of Daily Living.” The book follows Alice, a Taiwanese American living in Brooklyn in her late thirties, as she simultaneously obsess…

Hello from Seoul (both real and fictional)!This week, we welcome our friend and K-drama expert Jenny Wang Medina back to the pod to discuss the new Netflix hit “Extraordinary Attorney Woo.” The legal-procedural K-drama follows an autistic attorney, Woo Young-woo, who joins the ranks of a high-powered law firm and quickly proves herself invaluable. It’s wholesome, marginally sea-themed, and set in a fantasy playground of the professional sphere. We discuss the hot-button issues in Korea that form the backdrop of the show, like children’s rights, Buddhism versus Christianity, North Korean defectors, and eminent domain, just to name a few. We reflect on the rise of multiculturalism and minority rights in Korean society, TV, and film, which has led to the increased visibility of people with disabilities. Woo has also sparked a specific discourse around the portrayal of its autistic protagonist. Will the show also inspire a generation of women lawyers to move to Korea, expecting a feminist haven, or convince Korean parents to ease up on their kids’ time at hagwons? Only time will tell. If you plan to watch the series, we should warn you that Jay drops a couple of pretty extreme spoilers towards the end of the ep!Later this week, we’ll be releasing a bonus recording of our book club with Lisa Hsiao Chen, author of “Activities of Daily Living,” for paid subscribers. We’ve also been using our TTSG Discord to plan subscriber meet-ups with Tammy in Seoul. If you’d like to join in, subscribe via Patreon or Substack. And you can always email us at [email protected] and follow us 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

Hello from three time zones! This week, Tammy is joined by Debt Collective organizers Ann Larson and Eleni Schirmer to reflect on the movement that won historic relief from student debt. But first, we remember the great Barbara Ehrenreich, who passed last week. Ehrenreich was an author and activist best known for her bestselling book Nickel and Dimed, a hard-hitting yet beautifully written dive into the low-wage economy. She also made incredible contributions to leftist movements, from DSA to domestic workers, the Economic Hardship Reporting Project and In These Times, as well as her often-misunderstood warning about the “professional–managerial class.” And Ann reminds us that Ehrenreich wrote about more than just labor! In our main segment, we celebrate and dissect a rare victory on the left. Ann and Eleni talk about their personal journeys toward calling b******t on all kinds of debt—and trace Biden’s recent debt-cancellation announcement to its Occupy Wall Street origins and a decade of painstaking organizing. We reflect on the path forged by the Corinthian debt strikers, the public sector’s broader reliance on debt, the “proof of concept” in Biden’s nowhere-near-enough cancellation policy, and the way that framing debt as a shared economic condition opens up new organizing opportunities. (A real-life case study in solidarity on the basis of class!) Plus: how all of us can get involved to make the debt announcement a reality.Thanks for listening. Please subscribe and stay in touch via Patreon and Substack, email us at [email protected], and follow us 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

Hello from Washington state! This week, we’re joined by Silky Shah, executive director of Detention Watch Network and repeat pod guest, to chat about immigration (and, briefly, Nathan Fielder’s bizarre new show, “The Rehearsal”). We start by diving into Caitlin Dickerson’s exhaustive report, in The Atlantic, on the Trump administration's family-separation policy. We reflect on the unique horrors of that period, while locating them in a longer history of cruelty toward immigrants, up to the present. Silky also outlines the current immigration landscape, including Biden’s continuation of Trump’s Title 42 policy (which blocks migration ostensibly on public-health grounds). She explains how the misguided theory of deterrence has governed immigration policy under both Democratic and Republican administrations, aided by skewed media narratives, and suggests what the immigrant-rights movement should do to prepare for the next mass-organizing moment. As always, please subscribe via Patreon and Substack to support the show and gain access to our Discord. Our global, 24/7 community of listeners is currently discussing Leo’s 21-year-old girlfriends, basketball, Seoul fashion, “The Rehearsal,” immigration policy, food in the PNW, and so much more. You can also follow us on Twitter and email us at [email protected]. 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 Philly! We’re lucky to be joined this week by former podsquad member Andy Liu, for an in-depth chat about his three favorite things: sports, history, and Taiwan. First, we review the new Netflix documentary about Manti Te'o, the college-football star who fell from grace after being catfished a decade ago. We discuss the many failures that led to Te'o’s ostracization, as well as the role his race may have played in the way the media treated him. Next, Andy catches us up on the latest Twitterstorian goss: the fight over a blog post on “presentism” and identity politics by American Historical Association president James H. Sweet. We interrogate Sweet’s arguments and the coded language that got him in trouble. Lastly, Andy answers our questions about Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan. Did the House Speaker’s trip escalate tensions between Taiwan and China, or was it all bluster? Is the Democrats’ “tough on China” posturing an effort to wear populist politics? Why are people outside Asia so invested in a story about confronting China? Stick it out til the end to hear Jay and Andy bicker about Kevin Durant. If you’re a paid subscriber, come to our book club this Thursday, 8/26, at 8pm EST, with Lisa Hsiao Chen, author of “Activities of Daily Living” (Zoom info in our Discord). As always, you can subscribe via Patreon or Substack, follow us on Twitter, and email us at [email protected]. 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 Mai's high-speed European train! This week, Tammy and Jay watch “Free Chol Soo Lee” and speak with Julie Ha, who co-directed the film with Eugene Yi. The new documentary follows Chol Soo Lee, a Korean man in San Francisco who was wrongfully convicted of murder in the 1970s, highlighting the pan-Asian movement for his release and his troubled readjustment to life outside. Julie discusses her admiration for the pathbreaking investigative journalist K.W. Lee, who brought public scrutiny to the case; the importance of non-canonical archives; and how stories like Chol Soo Lee’s complicate prevailing immigrant identities. The hosts also dig into the Asian American Disinformation Table’s new report on the proliferation of disinformation(?) in immigrant communities. But what's the difference between unsavory conclusions and lies? Is the report yet another elite dismissal of impolitic concerns? As always, please subscribe via Patreon and Substack, follow us on Twitter, and email us at [email protected]. When you become a paid TTSG subscriber, you get access to our lively Discord, where you'll find information about next week’s book club with Lisa Hsiao Chen, author of “Activities of Daily Living” (Thursday 8/26 at 8pm EST). 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 miserable gap between episodes of “Extraordinary Attorney Woo”!This week, Jay and Tammy are joined by the great Jia Tolentino, a writer at The New Yorker and the author of Trick Mirror.We start by talking about Jia’s recent piece on housing (= the rent is too damn high) on the worker-owned site “Hellgate”—and her dreams of organizing her building (not Tammy’s “white projects”) in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, New York. Then, we discuss two provocative essays Jia wrote on abortion after the Dobbs decision: first, on surveillance statism; and second, on the moral (especially Judeo-Christian) sacrifices inherent to pregnancy and human existence, not just to abortion. Plus: Jay and Tammy review Las Vegas's Sino-Korean noodles. As always, thanks to our wonderful producer Mai and all of our subscribers (Jia included!) for keeping the show alive. On Thursday, August 25th, we’ll have our next book club meeting with Lisa Hsiao Chen, the author of the novel Activities of Daily Living. Subscribe via Patreon or Substack to join. 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 Tammy’s undisclosed location! The hosts start with a brief discussion of Leanna Louie, a law-and-order Democrat running for District 4 Supervisor in SF. What might she represent for the future of Asian-American politics? Then Jay and Tammy are joined by investigative journalist Ali Fowle to discuss Myanmar. The country’s military regime recently killed four prisoners, including well known pro-democracy activists Phyo Zeya Thaw and Ko Jimmy. These judicial executions, the first since the 1980s, shocked even those inside Myanmar, where extrajudicial murders and widespread arrests have been commonplace since the February 2021 military coup. Ali describes her experience reporting from Myanmar in the decade leading up to the coup, the culture of fear and violence used to suppress last year’s popular uprising, and what the resistance movement looks like today. We ask why the coup in Myanmar has not broken through internationally in the way Russia’s assault on Ukraine has, and what message the recent executions are meant to send. Be sure to watch the short documentary Ali produced last year with Al Jazeera (warning: graphic content), and give a listen to Phyo Zeya Thaw’s music. Please subscribe and stay in touch via Patreon and Substack, follow us on Twitter, and feel free to email us at [email protected]. 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 walk-up apartment! This week, Tammy and Jay invite food-and-culture writer Wei Tchou to discuss trends in plant-based meat and beverages. Wei has written beautifully about fermenting tempeh, making her own soy sauce, and learning to love baijiu. In our first investigative segment (lol), we send Jay out on the streets of Norcal. The U.S. chain Peet’s Coffee has proclaimed this the “Summer of Jelly,” dropping a new “boba-like” drink addition that’s been deemed cultural appropriation by some, harmless bobafication by others. Jay ventures to the original Peet’s in Berkeley to find out: Is the jelly any good? Then, Wei shills for Big Fake Pig! Could Impossible Pork be the answer to her tireless search for a veg alternative in cooking Chinese? How do new vegan meat products fit into food landscapes that have long used plant-based substitutes? Could vegan pork be an ecological and ethical cure in regions where meat consumption is still on the rise? Plus: David Chan’s unique brand of service journalism and Wei’s problematic cookbook fave. Check out our subscriber Discord for bonus items from Jay’s Peet’s odyssey and Wei’s kitchen. And, on August 25, we’ll be having a subscribers-only book club with the great novelist Lisa Hsiao Chen, author of Activities of Daily Living. Come on through! Thanks as always for your support! Please subscribe and stay in touch via Patreon and Substack, follow us on Twitter, and email us at [email protected]. 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 mild SF and summerpocalypse NYC! This week, Jay and Tammy discuss what’s been on their minds this week: the state of the Democratic party and the shifting culture around drug use in the United States. Plus: Jill Biden on tacos and bogadas! We read New York mag columnist Jonathan Chait’s critique of Biden and ask why the administration has such a failed legislative strategy. What, if anything, is keeping Democrats from taxing the rich? What does a recent poll tell us about the party as the midterms approach? Then, inspired by “How to Change Your Mind,” a new show (and book) from Michael Pollan that explores the history of psychedelics, we consider society’s reassessment of so-called “hard” and “soft” drugs. Have we fully disavowed the War on Drugs? What should we make of this increased acceptance of drug use in a time of huge numbers of opioid and fentanyl overdoses?Thanks as always for your support! Please subscribe and stay in touch via Patreon and Substack, follow us on Twitter, and email us at [email protected]. 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, Tammy and Jay remember John Bennet, a former New Yorker editor and Columbia journalism professor who passed away this week: They are then joined by policy analyst Paul Williams to discuss the concept of social housing and its potential in the United States. How did we arrive at a political consensus so averse to public housing of any kind? Can other countries’ programs help us reclaim housing as a social good rather than a market commodity? What can we learn from current social-housing proposals across the U.S.? For more, read Paul on “Public Housing for All” and the California bill that made it further than expected, as well as the initiatives being floated in Rhode Island and Seattle and the project underway in Maryland. Thanks for your support. Please subscribe and stay in touch via Patreon and Substack, email ([email protected]) and follow us 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

Resending because of a tech glitch. Thanks for your patience.Hello from Cleveland! This week, we speak with friend of the pod Danny Bessner, an historian of U.S. foreign relations and co-host of the podcast American Prestige. Danny discusses his new Harper’s essay, which argues for a departure from American exceptionalism, once and for all. He lays out the two main camps in U.S. foreign policy: liberal internationalists, who advocate for the maintenance of U.S. global hegemony, and restrainers, who argue that the country’s influence should be reduced. We also explore how war and politics have changed since the 1950s, the decimation of academic history and other disciplines in the humanities, how the U.S. regulatory apparatus insulates elite decision-makers from public opinion, and what’s needed to fight back. Thanks for listening, and stay in touch via Substack, [email protected], https://twitter.com/ttsgpod, and/or 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 Jeju-do! This (harrowing news) week, the podsquad welcomes repeat guest Jenny Wang Medina—Emory professor, TV addict, literary translator, and hallyu expert—for a discussion of Jay’s favorite recent K-drama, Our Blues. We talk about abortion, matriarchal haenyeo, regionalism, debt, and goose fathers. What makes Jeju-do such a compelling site for fiction? How are dreams deferred in the East Asian Tigers and other sites of rapid capitalist development? Plus: Jenny’s analysis of the Korean linked-novel form (연작 소설), Chevy product placement, and Tammy’s crush on Kim Woo-bin:If you’re in NYC, come to OG TTSG Discord member (and ceramicist) Stephanie Shih’s art opening on the LES tomorrow night: Thanks for listening! Please subscribe and get in touch via Substack, [email protected], https://twitter.com/ttsgpod, and/or 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 Chicago! This week, Jay and Tammy talk about a rising tide of worker organizing, rising gas prices (ugh), and a new, very timely TV show. Tammy reports back from her trip to Labor Notes (along with pod listener Matt), starring Amazon Labor Union, Starbucks Workers United, and Tío Bernie. What kind of union moment are we in? Then, what’s the relationship between inflation and the labor market, and what does it mean for electoral politics in the US (and around the world)? How can the left, or even liberals, frame inflation in terms of corporate theft instead of punching down the working class?And we’re starting to watch David Simon’s new show on HBO, based on Justin Fenton’s book of the same title, “We Own This City.” What are cops for?Finally, a quick update on the future of the pod. (Sorry about Tammy’s sound this week; she didn’t have her usual equipment with her on the road.)A couple other things we’re watching:* The WTO met recently and quashed any hope of getting generic Covid vaccines, tests, and medicine distributed around the world. * Very cool about the new Colombian president and vice president! IRL fun: We’re gonna have a send-off for Andy this Sunday in New York. If you’re a subscriber, log into the Discord to get the details and RSVP!Thanks for listening! Please subscribe and reach out to us via Substack, [email protected], https://twitter.com/ttsgpod, and/or 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