Time To Say Goodbye

Hello from I-5!Today: another round in our long-simmering, passive-aggressive professional feud (journalists vs. historians), occasioned by two new pieces on how we talk about and apply the lessons of U.S. history. First, UCLA historian Robin D.G. Kelley in conversation with George Yancy in Truthout. They talk about the recent surge of interest in the 1921 Tulsa Massacre and what’s lost in our narrow focus on “Black Wall Street.” What does the Hollywoodification of race politics mean for working-class stories?Second, Princeton historian Matt Karp’s “History as End” in Harper’s. Karp argues that U.S. history, typically the domain of the patriotic right, has been taken up increasingly by left-liberal journalists and historians, and in a noticeably pessimistic register.Is public history too obsessed with “origins” and analogies? What are its dominant politics? Do stories of upward mobility play out differently for different groups? Do history and journalism inhibit forward thinking? Or should journalists and historians spend even more time talking about history?!Finally, we weigh in on a new decision by the Supreme Court. In a unanimous ruling, the justices found in favor of college athletes in their case against the NCAA, paving the way for better compensation of student workers. Jay fantasizes about bribing players to join the Tarheels, Tammy comments on labor and antitrust politics, and Andy draws a—surprise!—historical analogy. This Saturday, join Jay, Andy, and Tammy (and other friends of the pod) for the Asian American Writers’ Workshop’s Page Turner conference! Register here, and use discount code: FRIENDOFAAWW!Thanks for listening and reading! Help keep our mikes hot (and join our Discord!) at Patreon or Substack, and send questions and comments to [email protected] or @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

Note: The following is an unlocked episode originally released on May 7 for our Patreon and Substack subscribers. Enjoy!Hi everyone,Today, a more scholarly episode: Andy speaks with Prof. Iyko Day of Mount Holyoke College’s English program, discussing her book Alien Capital: Asian Racialization and the Logic of Settler Colonial Capitalism (Duke, 2016).In the book, she analyzes different moments in the history of Asian migration to North America and their attendant racialization. In particular, we discuss the association of Asian immigrants with "excessive economic efficiency." That is, the basis of anti-Asian racial sentiment has been the idea that Asians represent a hyper-efficient economic threat. Anti-Asian racism, then, is a sort of misplaced, reactionary revolt against capitalism itself.Examples span from the 19C. "yellow peril" of Chinese miners and railroad workers, culminating in Chinese Exclusion; fears of Japanese property ownership, buttressing WWII internment; and even now, the "model minority" stereotype of post-1965 Asian immigrants ("high-tech coolies" in white-collar jobs, engineering, tech), who are both revered for their efficiency but also scapegoated for the abstract and destructive ills of globalization. I see Day's work as contributing to literature on the history of racial ideas specific to the history of capitalism. Most famously, we have books and essays on how slavery and segregation turned the social categories of "White" and "Black" into biological ones by the nineteenth century. But of course, her intervention is to theorize the specificity of Asian racialization. Thus, Anti-Asian racism is not simply analogous to anti-Black racism, for instance, which centers on ideas of biology and inferiority, but rather represents something abstract and threatening, personifying and embodying the destructiveness of capitalist value. In this sense, it is closer to modern anti-Semitism. Ultimately, Day returns to the bigger question of how Asian racialization fits alongside other racial forms in North America, such as indigenous, Black, Latinx, etc.Other topics include: the politics of being a PMC Asian, fears of "alien capital" around the world, locating the role of literature and art, the relationship between borders and prisons, and joining reading groups for Marx’s Capital. Also, a quick note: this episode’s format is a bit different. Alien Capital was actually chosen for the inaugural session of the TTSG Discord’s new monthly (?) book club back in April/May. We discussed the book one week before this episode, and later, Andy spoke with Prof. Day online, with listeners in attendance. The first half is our interview; the second half (49:30) features questions from the Discord community themselves (one calling in from a van full of listeners) either spoken directly or read out loud by Andy.Finally, a few works referenced in the conversation:Colleen Lye, America's Asia: Racial Form and American LiteratureMoishe Postone, "Anti-semitism and National Socialism"Moishe Postone, Time, Labor, and Social DominationJohn Kuo Wei Tchen and Dylan Yeats, Yellow Peril!: An Archive of Anti-Asian Fear Barbara Fields, "Slavery, Race and Ideology in the USA"Sylvia Federici, Caliban and the WitchRuth Wilson Gilmore, Golden GulagPlease share, contact us, and subscribe!* Email: [email protected]* Twitter + DM: https://twitter.com/ttsgpod* Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ttsgpod* Substack: https://goodbye.substack.com/p/support-the-show-through-substack 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 fantasy vacation house! It’s just the three of us today, with two important topics. First, the renewed media and political interest in the Wuhan “lab leak theory,” which had previously been treated as a conspiracy. This essay, published last month by science journalist Nicholas Wade, made a stink by arguing that a lab leak was a reasonable possibility. China’s renowned virologist Shi Zhengli (aka, “bat woman”) responded just this week, in an interview with the NYT, and Biden has promised to lead an international effort to reinvestigate Covid’s origins in China.We review the “wild” vs. “lab leak” theories, fears of anti-Asian backlash in the US, anti-China geopolitics, the need for greater transparency among all nations for the sake of global public health and science (read this, by friend of the pod Yangyang Cheng), and the political backlash that may await experts and scientists who dismissed the lab theory (read Thomas Frank and Matt Yglesias on technocratic libs and social-media bubble-ology). Second, we revisit the classic documentary, Who Killed Vincent Chin? (1987, dirs. Christine Choy and Renee Tajima-Peña). We talk about the murder case, the film, and how these real-world and on-screen histories resonate today. We also discuss the recent controversy around, and cancellation of, a star-studded Vincent Chin podcast and new representations of Asian stories (including rumors of green-lit film and TV projects). Why do Hollywood Asian Americans keep forgetting (or willfully neglecting) to do their homework?Reminder: If you’re into storytelling across media, join Jay, Andy, and Tammy (and other friends of the pod) on Saturday, June 26, for the Asian American Writers’ Workshop’s Page Turner conference! Register here, and use discount code: FRIENDOFAAWW!Thanks for listening and reading! Please help keep our mikes hot (and join our absurdly lively Discord!) at Patreon or Substack, and send questions and comments to [email protected] or @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 all:Today’s episode is a conversation with Andy’s friend and classmate Chelsea Szendi Schieder, historian of Japan at Aoyama Gakuin University (Tokyo). Chelsea was involved in compiling the empirical case against Comfort Women denialism, which we covered in an episode back in February. She’s now also written a reflection piece on the experience for The Nation.We talk more about Comfort Women denialism, the Japanese online right (netto uyoku ネット右翼), and the history and present state of Japanese studies and east Asia geopolitics. How did the U.S. encumber a reckoning with the Japanese empire? How are Comfort Women and the war in China (1937-1945) taught in Japan today? How do these issues reflect shifting power struggles between Japan, Korea, China, and the rest of Asia? We then talk about Chelsea’s recently released book Coed Revolution, focusing on the role of women students in Japan’s “new left” but also asking questions about the legacy of the “new left” and its place in the pivotal 1970s/80s transformation of politics and society, in Japan and around the world. Also: Japan’s COVID and vaccine situation and “why the f-ck” are we still holding the Tokyo Olympics this year?Please share, contact us, and subscribe!* Email: [email protected]* Twitter + DM: https://twitter.com/ttsgpod* Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ttsgpod* Substack: https://goodbye.substack.com/p/support-the-show-through-substack 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!It’s just us three this week, talking recent news (and some hot goss). First, we discuss the suppressed vigil for the 32nd anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre (6.4.1989) in Hong Kong. When thousands of police officers cordoned off the usual gathering place, Victoria Park, Hong Kong residents came up with creative ways to demonstrate, using cell phone flashlights and much else. (Remember: “Be water.”) We talk about contemporary meanings of Tiananmen in Asia and the rest of the world, the chilling effect of HK’s National Security Law, and the 1989 protesters’ demands not only for democracy but also a better life for Beijing’s working class (h/t Zhang Yueran). Bonus content: “A Day to Remember,” a short film on the suppression of public discussion about Tiananmen in China. Second, we unpack the right-wing bogeyman of critical race theory, legislative attacks on free speech in schools, and awful stories out of Kansas, Montana, and Pennsylvania. What’s the right’s bigger strategy here? Has the U.S. left failed by ceding “free speech” to conservatives? How dangerous are these currents, and what is to be done? Plus: white tears in Tammy’s middle-school social studies class.+++Tammy and Jay’s former comrades at The New Yorker are getting close to a strike. Please learn more, reach out to management, and sign up for news alerts!+++Friend of the pod, Jay, with Justice is Global, invites you to a free screening and discussion of “Call Her Ganda,” a documentary about Jennifer Laude, a Filipina trans woman who was murdered by a U.S. Marine—and the crew of activists who fight back. The Zoom discussion will take place on June 10, with filmmaker PJ Raval, Filipino trans rights advocate Naomi Fontanos, and representatives of Malaya Movement and GABRIELA. (The film will be made available 24 hours beforehand.)+++If you’re into storytelling across media, join Jay, Andy, and Tammy (and other friends of the pod) on June 26 for the Page Turner conference at the incredible Asian American Writers’ Workshop. Register here, and use discount code: FRIENDOFAAWW!Thanks for listening and reading! Please support us (and join our absurdly lively Discord!) at Patreon or Substack, and send questions and comments to [email protected] or @TTSGPod. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello! Special guest this week. Ocean Vuong, a poet, novelist, essayist, and the author of On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous. Ocean has won the Whiting Award, the T.S. Eliot Prize, and was recently a MacArthur Genius Grant recipient. Jay and Ocean talked about Mixed Martial Arts, Ocean’s novel, and whether one can be a writer and a Buddhist at the same time. The conversation went to completely unexpected places — lots of discussion about Wang Wei, Ezra Pound, Gary Snyder, and Anderson Silva. Ocean’s novel is out in paperback this week, so pick it up! 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

Andy talks with Vinson Cunningham (New Yorker) and Jane Hu (UC-Berkeley English and Film) about the HBO show Mare of Easttown -- a.k.a. “Murder Durdur” -- which concludes its run this Sunday. We’re hooked, and we can’t figure out why!*Warning: this episode includes spoilers!* * Why are we all obsessed with this show about “specific whites” in the downwardly-mobile Pennsylvania suburbs? * Why the appeal of regional accents? * (Philly accent Youtube recs: Tina Fey, James McAvoy, Kate Winslett)* Does the show have clear politics? Does it redeem the police?* How successfully does it blend multiple genres (cop show, family sitcom, YA romance) into one? * Does the show say something interesting about race and gender?* Comparisons to The Wire, Twin Peaks, Law & Order, The Undoing &c.* Finally, we reveal who actually killed Erin McMenamin??Please share, contact us, and subscribe!* Email: [email protected]* Twitter + DM: https://twitter.com/ttsgpod* Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ttsgpod* Substack: https://goodbye.substack.com/p/support-the-show-through-substack 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

Hey, sports fans! A break from the news cycle with our friend, Vinson Cunningham, a theatre critic at The New Yorker, playwright, novelist, and all-around lovely guy. We talk about the NYC mayoral race (race/authenticity politics), basketball (the architecture of MSG; the LeBron effect; Jokic, Luka, and European style), and how the theatre world has survived the pandemic (read Vinson on virtual theatre and his recent review of a piece in Tammy’s neighborhood).Speaking of incredible performances:Thanks for listening and supporting the pod! Please stay in touch, and see you in the Discord! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello!We’re back in a new arrangement (Andy and Tammy this time) for our second of two episodes on what’s happening in Palestine. Our special guest is Esmat Elhalaby, a post-doc at UC Davis who will soon join the faculty of the University of Toronto. Esmat tells us about his family ties to Palestine, especially Gaza, the scope of recent bombings by Israel, and what is excluded and silenced by the US media’s framing. He also places US actions—and Americans’ evolving views—in the context of broader global support for the Palestinian people and explains why we should revisit and revive histories of internationalism.Finally, we discuss the poet Rashid Hussein, the late Edward Said’s seminal book Orientalism, the metaphor of Palestine for “the east,” and the historical possibilities and limits for pan-Asian + Asian-American + anti-colonial solidarity — all covered in + inspired by Esmat’s recent essay about the new biography of Edward Said. Some recommendations from Esmat for more reading:* “This time it’s different” by Ahmed Abu Artema Electronic Intifada* “Protests by Palestinian citizens in Israel signal growing sense of a common struggle,” Maha Nassar The Conversation* Teach-in “Palestine in Resistance: Voices of Anticolonial Mobilization”: https://www.facebook.com/ArabStudiesUH/videos/753092018711925* An account from Haifa, by Muhannad Abu Ghosh: https://ctjournal.org/2021/05/20/haifa-war/* Coverage of Gaza from the Middle East Research and Information Project: https://merip.org/2021/05/revisiting-merip-coverage-of-gaza-jerusalem-and-the-israeli-palestinian-conflict/* @JehadAbusalim on Twitter Thanks for listening. You can support us (and join our thriving Discord!) at Patreon or Substack, and send questions and comments to [email protected] or @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!This week we talked with Joshua Leifer, an editor at Jewish Currents, about the ongoing military violence against Palestinian communities in Gaza this past month (for those keeping track, Josh helped organize that Jewish Current-TTSG webinar from two weeks ago!)(Tammy unfortunately had to sit out today’s episode with a last-second conflict 😔 )We talk to Josh about his recently co-authored explainer on the clashes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem, resistance from Palestinian groups and the Israeli Left, and the role of Biden and US (and international) solidarity. We also discuss his colleague Peter Beinart’s essay “Teshuvah: A Jewish Case for Palestinian Refugee Return.”Also: does 2021 represent a turning point in debates over Israel/Palestine in the US? Comparisons and connections to BLM and other protests against settler colonialism worldwide? And Josh’s personal experiences navigating Jewish-American debates, Zionism and anti-Zionism, and diasporic internationalist organizing.Other links from the conversation + recommendations for further reading:* +972 Magazine: https://www.972mag.com/* Nathan Thrall NYT on the Boycott-Divest-Sanctions (BDS) movement and the Democrats * The late Palestinian writer Edward Said’s prescient (1999) essay on “The One-State Solution” * Human Rights Watch’s Apartheid Report on Palestine (2021)* Peter Beinart on Biden's Israel record* Tareq Baconi's writing at the New York Review of BooksPlease share, contact us, and subscribe!* Email: [email protected]* Twitter + DM: https://twitter.com/ttsgpod* Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ttsgpod* Substack: https://goodbye.substack.com/p/support-the-show-through-substack 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

credit: @penpencildrawHello!Andy here with a Friday episode in discussion with historian Meghna Chaudhuri (NYU, Boston College) on the COVID disaster currently unfolding in India: the officially reported death count is 240,000 but may actually be more than one million.Meghna and I talk about what everyday life has been like for her, quarantining with family in Kolkata during this second wave, which broke out last month -- from the free-for-all search for treatments and hospital supplies to navigating misinformation around vaccines and medicines. We also assess the past year of governance by the ruling party BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi; why this wave is not just a natural but also political disaster; the BJP’s longstanding “anti-science” stance and the appeal of the BJP’s perverted anti-imperialism in an economically stagnant India; misinformation in both corporate and social media (“Whatsapp Uncles”); and why we should probably not expect an international panacea to save India in the short-term (e.g., the TRIPS waiver) and instead focus on some very basic questions about competent local governance.Some further reading:* “India’s COVID-19 Emergency” in The Lancet* “A Report Card on the End Times Brought Upon Us by Hindutva” by Meena Kandasamy in The Wire (India)* “Parking Lot Crematoria Burn Through the Night as Covid-19 Overwhelms Delhi” by Fahad Shah in The NationAnd for those looking to contribute from abroad, Meghna suggested some avenues for (more) direct assistance could be found at Mutual Aid India*Had a few audio issues with this one — sorry! I tried my best to edit out the weird feedback noises but not all could be fixed. Please share, contact us, and subscribe!* Email: [email protected]* Twitter + DM: https://twitter.com/ttsgpod* Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ttsgpod* Substack: https://goodbye.substack.com/p/support-the-show-through-substack 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! A long but focused discussion this week—on two new essays that attempt to write recent history.First, Tobi Haslett’s “Magic Actions” (n+1), recovering the explosive potential of last year’s George Floyd uprising, institutional attempts to domesticate it, and ongoing struggles for abolition and Black liberation. Second, Brendan O’Connor’s “When the Party’s Over” (The Baffler), a look at social-democratic politics after the thrill and demise of the Bernie campaign, the drudgery of party work, politician fandom, and finding a (new) base for socialism in 2021. ICYMI: Our conversation with the good folks at Jewish Currents, archived on YouTube:Thanks to everyone who came to our picnic in Brooklyn on May 2! And thanks also to our listeners who gathered for a hike, book chat, and carbs in Los Angeles this past weekend!Support our pod (and join the Discord!) at Patreon or Substack, and be in touch with questions and comments via [email protected] or @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! This is Jay. This week, we have my conversation with sociologist, writer, and data artist Tamara K. Nopper. She’s been an invaluable resource for me for years now — if I ever actually sound like I know what I’m talking about, it’s likely because of something Tamara sent me to read over the years. Today, we talk about this moment that I’ve been fascinated with for years — what happened after ‘92, not just in terms of what happened on the ground in Black and Korean communities, but also within the academy, where a seemingly new type of scholarship emerged to make sense of it all. We talk about that, Korean banks, “the secret history” of Third Worldism, and a whole lot more. There’s a lot we agree about but also a lot we disagree about on these topics. Tamara recently did a great talk with our friends at the Asian American Writer’s Workshop. Watch it! Tamara also edited ‘We Do This ‘Til We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transforming Justice,’ a book of Mariame Kaba’s writings and interviews (Haymarket Books), and researched and wrote several data stories for Colin Kaepernick’s Abolition for the People series.——Thanks to everyone who made it out to the inaugural TTSG picnic this past weekend! We had a huge turnout. And thanks again to everyone who joined in our first book club, where we discussed Alien Capital. The building of the community both on the discord and on social media has been really overwhelming. If you’d like to join, please either subscribe to the newsletter on Substack or on patreon at patreon.com/ttsgpod.thanks!Jay 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 AAPI Oscars! This week, we begin with a guessing game from George Mason University’s “Speech Accent Archive” (thanks, listener Jai Kang!). Join us and guess along as we make horribly essentialist assumptions about Asian accents (h/t danyo and sansmouton!). In our main segment, we dig into the murderous policy of global vaccine apartheid. We first discussed this topic back in November, and things have only gotten worse, with India being the most visible site of a world-historical crisis.To guide our conversation, we rely primarily on a recent piece by Alexander Zaitchik at The New Republic that explains how Bill Gates, the Gates Foundation, Big Pharma, and global intellectual-property rules have brought us to this point. How should we understand this moment in the context of the last 30 years? Can ordinary people defeat supra-state oligarchs? Links:* Contrary to what Gates has said, there are, in fact, many capable vaccine factories around the world waiting to be mobilized (thanks, listener Stephen Buranyi).* The WTO is debating a temporary waiver to the IP regime known as TRIPS. Will the Biden administration listen to the will of the people?SAVE THE DATE! On Monday, May 3, at 7pm ET, we’ll be doing a free event with our friends at Jewish Currents magazine (we subscribe!). Please register here and join us in exploring the possibility of diasporic internationalism against the backdrop of US imperial decline! And, as always, support our pod (and join the Discord!) at Patreon or Substack. You can send questions and comments to [email protected] or @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! We spoke with special guest Michelle Zauner aka Japanese Breakfast about her memoir, Crying in H Mart; her forthcoming album, Jubilee; her life as an artist; and how to cook with Maangchi.Enjoy! 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, A special episode this week with filmmaker Ursula Liang about her new film Down a Dark Stairwell. It’s out now on PBS and we hope everyone who listens to the show watches this nuanced, thoughtful and brave film. I (Jay) first saw Ursula’s work in 9-Man, a film about sports in Chinatown. Since then, I’ve followed her career carefully because what she does — deep community reporting, thoughtful portrayals of the concerns of all types of people, and the care with which she makes her films — exemplifies everything good about journalism and documentary filmmaking. This is a film about many things, but at it’s core, it’s about how two communities deal with a police killing. And through verite footage and intimate interviews, it shows how people both come together and split apart while trying to navigate problems that fall well outside the easy consensus. On the show, we talk a lot about the need to go beyond rigid identity categories and simple, doctrinaire explanations. If you want to watch what that looks like, watch this film. The film is available in both Chinese and English — both versions available to stream here. —As always, thanks for supporting the show. If you’re new to us, you can sign up at goodbye.substack.com, where there’s an option to subscribe for bonus episodes and access into our chat community. Or you can do the same at patreon.com/ttsgpod. Thanks! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Greetings from Substack hell!It’s just the three of us this week, talking about the union defeat in Bessemer, Alabama, labor history, and the future of organizing in an Amazon economy. We discuss labor expert Jane McAlevey’s tactical post-mortem on the RWDSU campaign (rebuttals here and here), Tammy’s critique of McAlevey from last year, and Andy and Jay’s critiques of Tammy! Plus, the divergent strategies of Amazonians United and Athena; media influence (or interference?); and how the PRO Act, some decent regulation, and a huge investment in organizing could transform the labor movement. And finally, the economics of unionization in US history, the racial and geographic specificity of Bessemer, and the paradox of our current moment: a broad sympathy for labor paired with an almost unprecedented concentration of power by tech monopolies like Amazon.Recommended: Lauren Kaori Gurley on Vice News Reports podcast, with an in-depth look at the union drive and the history of Bessemer. Comments and questions!Email [email protected] @ttsgpodJoin our Patreon (and discord) community! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello! Today’s subscriber episode is a wide-ranging conversation Asad Haider, one of the founding editors of Viewpoint Magazine and the author of Mistaken Identity: Race and Class in the Age of Trump. Jay talked to Asad about his concept of “depoliticization,” his book on identity politics, and political exhaustion. *- note from Jay: When we started the podcast, Asad was at the top of the list of guests I wanted to invite onto the show. I was really excited to talk to him at length. Mistaken Identity was a very eye-opening book for me to read and everyone should read it, although with these recent pieces. On Depoliticization, in Viewpoint. Emancipation and Exhaustion, in SaaganthologyDismissal, in The Point. And a little housekeeping: we tried something different with the audio levels for this one, so please let us know if it sounds better. 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 backyard Easter egg hunt!It’s just Andy and Tammy this week, with special guest Naomi Murakawa, a professor of African American Studies at Princeton and the author of The First Civil Right: How Liberals Built Prison America.Naomi talks with us about her J-A roots in Oakland, how her dad’s career in the criminal-legal system got her thinking about carceral politics, why police reform has long been a trap, and the history of hate crimes legislation in the US. She shares her observations on Black Lives Matter, the emergence of abolitionist thinking, and the discourse around “anti-Asian violence.” What can crime statistics tell us about the world? How do we stop ourselves from thinking like cops? Which groups are pushing Asian America in a more punitive direction? And how should “Asian American history 101” inform our analyses of recent violence? “The we-ness is something we make through struggle.”Naomi shouts out:– Mariame Kaba’s new book, We Do This ’Til We Free Us (foreword by Naomi; and check out the rest of the abolitionist series Naomi curates for Haymarket)– Victoria Law’s new book, “Prisons Make Us Safer” and 20 Other Myths about Mass Incarceration– Christina B. Hanhardt’s Safe Space: Gay Neighborhood History and the Politics of Violence– Chandan Reddy’s Freedom With Violence: Race, Sexuality, and the US State– Stuart Hall’s Policing the Crisis: Mugging, the State, and Law and Order– The work of Dylan Rodriguez and Ruth Wilson Gilmore– The abolitionist organizing of Incite!, AAAJ-Atlanta, and Red Canary Song and alliesThanks for listening, supporting, and spreading the word. Stay in touch via email ([email protected]), Twitter, and/or Patreon—and see you in our Discord! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello!This week, your intrepid hosts had the pleasure to speak with journalist Daniel Denvir and his podcast “The Dig,” with Jacobin Radio. Daniel engaged us on a number of topics we’ve touched upon recently, including: the Atlanta shootings and the question of anti-Asian violence; the connection between anti-China foreign policy and domestic anti-Asian racism; the potential for an Asian backlash against liberalism and the Democratic party; affirmative-action fights and the enduring mythology of “model minorities”; and the coherence and usefulness of “Asian” identity. If you’re curious, please check out The Dig’s other podcast episodes, found here:https://www.thedigradio.com/As always, please reach out to us with comments and questions:[email protected]@ttsgpod on twitterand you can support us through:https://www.patreon.com/ttsgpodhttps://goodbye.substack.com/p/support-the-show-through-substackAddenda: some sources referenced by Andy.1) Alien Capital by Iyko Day, named on the show.2) On the link between Japanese and US “comfort stations” in Asia, see Sara Kang’s work in this article last week (Harper’s Bazaar).3) On the role of Asian American ‘model minority’ fantasies in the infamous 1965 Moynihan Report on “the Negro family,” see Ellen Wu’s The Color of Success. 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 at the end of a sleepless week. In this episode, we analyze the many responses to the murders in Atlanta — in a spirit, of course, of solidarity.Should the murders be viewed as a white-supremacist hate crime? An occasion for more policing? Or less? Are we guilty of assimilating the Atlanta shootings to general headlines about anti-Asian racism? Do we risk losing the specificity of class, gender, and the massage industry in particular?Were the killings rooted in misogyny and fetishization? In histories of empire? Are there too many historians on twitter? (yes)And are geopolitical and economic tensions between U.S. and China in the mix? Is this a moment for solidarity between Chinese, Korea, and other Asian diasporas, or a moment of splinter? Plus: Tammy reflects on a rally in Brooklyn (thanks to the Patreon Discord chatroom).Thanks for listening, supporting, and spreading the word. Stay in touch via email ([email protected]), Twitter, and/or Patreon. Quick plug: This Friday morning NY time, join Tammy and a stellar group of labor leaders for a mini conference on the present and future of workers’ rights. Register for free 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

In light of the harrowing news out of Atlanta this week, we spoke with Yves Tong Nguyen, an organizer with Red Canary Song 红莺歌 (@RedCanarySong), a grassroots collective of Asian sex workers & allies who push for for migrant justice, labor rights, and full decriminalization. Extended show notes after the break. First, here are some groups to learn about and support:* Red Canary Song, New York City* Butterfly: Asian and Migrant Sex Workers Network, Toronto* SWAN, Vancouver* Massage Parlor Outreach Project, API Chaya, Seattle* Make the Road, greater New York* Sex Workers Project, Urban Justice Center, New York City0:00 – Yves tells us about herself and Red Canary Song, and why they push for decriminalization rather than legalization. Plus: the material conditions, transnational history, and political rights of massage workers, sex workers, and other low-wage workers; and Red Canary Song’s connection to Song Yang, a Chinese migrant sex worker killed during a police raid in Flushing in 2017.18:15 – Yves’s criticism of anti-trafficking NGOs, most of which partner with the police; why arguing over the labels “sex worker,” “massage worker,” etc. distracts from a broader assessment of criminalization policies; the respectability politics of separating and ranking workers; and why massage workers have common cause with other low-wage migrant Asian workers in food, nail salons, and service and manufacturing. “Whether or not they are sex workers, they were harmed by the criminalization of sex work”29:30 – Long before Atlanta, workers in the massage industry experienced violence from neighbors, ICE, police, savior-complex NGOs, and clients. Yves responds to the argument that we need police to “protect” Asian communities.“The system itself protects itself. It is white supremacy itself, and it is made to protect white supremacists.” 38:30 – What does “justice” look like in Atlanta? Is calling murder a “hate crime” or “terrorism” helpful? Plus: how migrant workers and sex workers have reacted to the news this week.“I know that people really want to be like, ‘Oh, yeah, if we put them in prison, it’ll be justice. But then are we also owning that every member of our community put into prison is also justice?’”43:30 – Yves’s surprise at the media attention this week—and frustration about the status quo of ignoring this industry. And how we should all do better.50:50 – Does this week connect anti-Asian stigmatization during the pandemic? Plus: why blaming Trump and racist rhetoric is mostly unhelpful. “People want to say that that is the problem, that that is the root. But really it is a symptom. Trump’s rhetoric and people saying this and doing this is a symptom of things that have existed for such a long time. But people want to say that Trump is the problem, because then they can be like, if we can get rid of Trump then it’s good.“Which is partially what I fear. I think that people might stop caring and think that we’ve solved it until the next awful thing happens.“When you asked me about what I would tell people to take away from it, I want us to stop building and organizing in reaction to when people die. I want us to organize to keep people alive.”Thanks for supporting Time to Say Goodbye. Please stay in touch:[email protected]://twitter.com/ttsgpodhttps://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

Happy belated Pi Day (3.14)!**Also Stephen Curry’s birthday and the anniversary of Marx’s death! (Guess who’s drafting today’s notes?)0:00 – Seth Berkman’s NYT article on Subway product placements in K-dramas (don’t forget: Subway is evil!), Fatima Bhutto’s book on non-Western entertainment gone global, and whether Taylor Swift listens to BTS.16:00 – The $1.9 trillion “American Recovery Plan,” or ARP, was signed last week. Is it a new era of Keynesian governance (Zach Carter in NYT) and/or a reversal of a half-century of austerity (Eric Levitz in NY Mag)? We talk: $1,400 checks, childcare credits, and, boo, the failure of the $15 federal minimum wage, and what all this could mean in the long run. (Also, is the new paradigm shift partly a nationalist response to the threat of China?)44:00 – Covid reflections. What were we doing one year ago when Rudy Gobert’s positive Covid test shut down the NBA (and Tammy’s neighborhood library closed)? Plus: Covid Asian nationalism, loopholes in the vaccine rollout, and retrospectives on last summer’s protests. Thanks for listening! Please write in with questions and comments, and join our growing community: [email protected], @ttsgpod (Twitter), https://www.patreon.com/ttsgpod. ==P.S. – If you’re free Thursday night U.S. time, come to Tammy’s presentation on Camp Humphreys, the U.S.’s largest foreign military base, with poet and translator Eunsong Kim, sponsored by the Heung Coalition, UC Berkeley, and U Mich. 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 imperial U.S.A.! Our special guest this week is the CHamoru activist attorney and writer Julian Aguon. Julian calls in from Guam to talk about his new book, The Properties of Perpetual Light, which comes out at the end of the month. (Pre-order it for you and a friend!) Julian reads from the book and talks about: * Developing his voice as a writer and mixing genres: from poetry to political commentary to personal essay; * Guam/CHamoru identity and attempts to build solidarity with other colonized and indigenous peoples across the world;* His work as a lawyer with Blue Ocean Law; * Guam as a hotspot of climate change and militarization;* How Guam, as a U.S. colony, is often stuck in the old and ongoing U.S.-China conflict.For more, check out:* Julian’s 2017 piece (In These Times) on Guam in the crosshairs of U.S.-North Korean saber rattling;* Julian’s recent book talk at American University;* Reporting by Chris Gelardi and Sophia Perez (The Nation) on how people in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands are fighting U.S. militarism.Thanks for listening! Please write in with questions and comments, and join our growing community: [email protected], @ttsgpod (Twitter), 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

We discuss the unfolding row over an academic article by Harvard law professor Mark Ramseyer, who argues, without evidence, that “comfort women” across Asia were not coercively indentured by the Japanese imperial army in World War II, but had legally consented to sex work. (For background on this debate, check out Tammy’s paper from 2006!)Though typically irrelevant to the rest of society (lol), Ramseyer’s is the rare academic paper to invite public attention and, subsequently, outrage. His bizarrely unsourced work has triggered questions about Japan’s wartime responsibilities, unfree labor, sexual slavery, and ongoing geopolitical tensions in East Asia. And also, as Jeannie Suk Gersen, Ramseyer’s colleague, wrote last week in The New Yorker, the struggle at Harvard? Thousands of scholars have spoken out against the article, including five historians of Japan (and friend of the show Chelsea Szendi Schieder) who compiled an extensive list of Ramseyer’s errors and mistakes—far longer than the original paper! (N.b., economists have denounced the piece, as have groups at Harvard.)* History of the ‘comfort women’ question 101, starting in the 1990s, thanks to the public testimony of survivor Kim Hak-sun and the support of historian Yoshimi Yoshiaki* What does this story mean, especially, to those in Korea and the Korean diaspora? * What does it tell us about legal academia, the prestige of Harvard, and how TF it could get published in the first place?* What is going on with the far-right in Japan? (cf. friend of show Adam Bronson’s piece on Abe Shinzō in Dissent)* Why should people in the US, or around the world, care about a story seemingly confined to South Korea and Japan?Good materials on the comfort women: * Embodied Reckonings by Elizabeth Son* Lolas’ House by M. Evelina Galang* Grass by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim* A Cruelty to Our Species by Emily Jungmin Yoon* Silence Broken by Dai Sil Kim-Gibson* Comfort Women by Yoshimi Yoshiaki* The Comfort Women by George Hicks* Comfort Woman by Nora Ojka KellerSome prints inspired by stories of the comfort women, by Tammy:Thanks for tuning in. To further join the TTSG community, check out our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ttsgpod. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello from a Chinese banquet! (If only…)0:00 - “주먹만한 얼굴” (tiny face obsession)2:48 – Reply AllWe discuss the story buzzing throughout media: the hosts of the Reply All podcast, while reporting on the exploitative labor practices at Bon Appétit, had their own exploitative, anti-union activism exposed last week. What does this say about class versus race politics and the unionization movement in media? Plus, thoughts on the podcast-industry bubble.(By the way, we are aware of the irony of talking, on a podcast, about another podcast that got canceled after talking about yet another podcast, so don't bother pointing that out!)38:15 – “Minari”Writer/director Isaac Chung’s “Minari,” starring Steven Yeun, has just been widely released. Is it a story about successful US assimilation or migrant ambivalence? Is it a universal or specific Asian-American tale? What is the state of Asian-diaspora storytelling in 2021, and when is the Forever 21 saga going to be made into a television movie?1:01:00 – Three listener questions* On ableism in our discussion of Covid-19 and “working women” (from Reena)* Mixed feelings about the “decolonizing food” movement (from Jackie)* On academics tweeting about political causes (from Jenny)Thanks for listening! * Email us your questions: [email protected]* DM us here: https://twitter.com/ttsgpodBecome a patron! https://www.patreon.com/ttsgpod This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello! Special unlocked bonus Patreon episode today with entrepreneur, TikTok cook, and hip-hop head Jaeki Cho. He and Jay talk about Jaeki’s quick rise to TikTok fame via his Korean cooking videos, Asian-American hip-hop in the 90s and 00s, and the ways in which immigrants acquire, imitate and then incorporate language. You can find Jaeki’s TikTok here.And a Friday throwback video for all of you. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello from the angry depths of our work-from-home souls! This Valentine’s Day week:0:00 – Big, hearty thanks for subscribing and supporting us through our Patreon. Don’t miss the raucous Discord chat or bonus episodes with Anakwa Dwamena and Jiayang Fan. 4:40 – Why are women shouldering the extra work of the pandemic? Why are they the first to lose their jobs and get stuck with multiplying jobs at home? We talk about the NYT’s “Primal Scream” package of stories, the neoliberalism/second-wave-feminism debate between scholars Nancy Fraser and Melinda Cooper, and the radical, unfinished challenge of the welfare rights and Wages for Housework movements. 44:50 – More discussion of recent street violence in the Bay Area, thanks to solid reporting through a partnership between The Oaklandside and Oakland Voices. (+ part two here). Is this a Black–Asian thing? What’s the economic/pandemic backdrop? How do we avoid carceral thinking? (link to Oakland Voices piece here.1:11:11 – Thanks to Stephanie for her question about identity-obsessed East Coast Asians versus “gentle, confident” West Coast Asians (lol). We talk about ethnic enclaves like Cerritos, the making of Flushing, and Andy’s time in Plano, TX. Thanks again for listening and sharing. Reach out anytime at @ttsgpod or [email protected]. Plugs!Read Oakland Voices! On Wednesday (4.17) at 1230P ET: And on Thursday (4.18) at 8P ET: This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Hello!This week, fabulous guest Darren Byler. Plus, three questions from our very smart listeners.0:00 – Friend of the show Darren Byler returns (don’t miss his earlier episode, from July, where he discusses his research on Xinjiang with Tammy and Andy) to reflect on what he (and Andy) heard on Mandarin Clubhouse over the weekend. There was a brief burst of discussion among Mandarin speakers of various ethnicities around the world, including many in the PRC, about what’s happening to Uyghurs in Xinjiang. Clubhouse has since been banned in the PRC, but the rooms continue to operate. Those interested in Darren’s work should read this recent piece on surveillance capitalism in Xinjiang. Darren had also written about the types of stories told by Han Chinese residents of Xinjiang, which are similar to those that emerged on Clubhouse this weekend. 39:40 – As promised, we answer listener questions about: – Anti-Asian violence in the Bay Area (Cathy) +– Asians and the return-to-school debate (Matteo) + – How to push the Biden administration left? (Milos)Stay in touch! [email protected] / TTSG on Twitter This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Good snowy morning from Andy and Tammy, while Jay wears shorts!This week, we talk about cultures of luck, public schools, tankieism, Myanmar, and Corky Lee. 2:15 – Andy explains the freaky, punny “Bling Empire.”12:12 – Our inevitable takes on GameStop, Robinhood, and the global, neoliberal casino of our financial system. For more: stories by Noah Kulwin, Kate Aronoff, and Doug Henwood. Andy recommends this episode of Slate Money podcast. 46:58 – David Brooks gives us hives, but so does most of the coverage of school reopenings. Why this anti-union, anti-parent campaign—and in the name of “Black and brown kids”? For more: a sharp analysis by Rachel Cohen; NYT’s recompense for Brooks’s editorial.1:07:10 – We respond to listeners who think we’re too dismissive of pro-China takes as tankieism. 1:16:11 – In Tammy’s sad news corner: What’s happening in Myanmar? 1:21:31 – Another preventable COVID-19 death hits close to home. Rest in peace and power, Corky Lee! For more: Hua Hsu’s tribute and the NYT obit.** 1:24:43 – A way to help us keep going—and with better sound: We’re launching a TTSG Patreon! Please sign on as a supporter, and tell all your friends! **Thanks for tuning in and supporting us. [email protected]@TTSGpodQuick plug: Andy helped organize a series of talks this month by professional historians but intended for public audiences. The theme is “decolonizing decolonization”: extending discussions about decolonization from Euro-America to looking at experiences in the “rest” of the world. Tomorrow (2/3) at lunchtime (ET) is Adom Getachew from U. Chicago, talking about Black internationalism from the 50s to 70s (apropos Black history month). Register and check it out!Next week (2/10): Turkey and Latin America and ChinaFollowing week (2/17): China, India, Xinjiang, and Kashmir This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Bonus ep!This past week, the Asian Arts Initiative in Philly (AAI) hosted a short conversation about the question of representation in media and politics. AAI’s exec. director Anne Ishii (@ill_iterate) MCed the event, which featured myself (Andy) and Bakirathi Mani, a fellow academic in the region (Swarthmore college, check out her new book Unseeing Empire, with the discount code E20EMPR). We talk: * Kamala and Andrew* south and east Asian comparative diasporas* Asian versus Asian American studies* why the search for representation is always just a little bit “off”? (there’s also a Youtube version of the in-person conversation here!)Check out AAI on twitter: @asianartsphillyAs always, follow us @ttsgpod 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

Hi from Obama’s third term!This week, we welcome the wonderful, brainy Rozi Ali, a journo friend who writes about Islamophobia and the US “war on terror.” We also dish about basketball and a kimchi-based spat between South Korea and China.1:10 – Why Rozi gave up on the Warriors.3:35 – Korea and China are fighting again. Over kimchi. Not sponsored content: the offending Li Ziqi video (kimchi at the 13:20 mark: judge for yourself!)17:45 – Biden started his presidency by reversing Trump-era actions on immigration, including the Muslim ban. Rozi puts these moves in context of foreign policy and the forever wars. Shout-out to the Quincy Institute and anti-war activism; plus: Jay and Rozi still don’t know who Fran Lebowitz is. 54:30 – The South Asian diaspora in the US tends to vote very Democratic, but some of its members have big blind spots around class concerns as well as the government in India. We discuss all this in the context of Arun Venugopal’s recent piece in The Atlantic, “The Truth Behind Indian American Exceptionalism.”>> If you’re free tonight, Tuesday, Jan. 26, join this US–Canada event on transnational “movement lawyering,” organized by TTSG friends. Tammy is in the mix: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/asian-american-asian-canadian-perspectives-on-movement-lawyering-tickets-135937527805 Thanks for tuning in and supporting us. Next time: lots of reader questions!We’re on Twitter way too much, at @ttsgpod. And on email: [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

Greetings from the deep state in our heads! This week, we talk some oldish politics (January is moving so fast…) and welcome back our first repeat guest, Hua Hsu, to dig into classic Asian-American cinema.0:00 – Andrew Yang is running for mayor of New York City. Last we saw him, he was buying Ito En green tea at a bodega and calling the worker “bro.”8:20 – The better Asian Andrew, our Andy, wrote about the 1.6.2021 Capitol attack in our newsletter last week. We talk fascisms and how to combat right-wing extremism without further expanding our military-police industrial complex. Plus: this short Samuel Moyn essay in The Nation.41:00 – In part two of our film club, scholar and critic Hua Hsu joins us to discuss director Wayne Wang’s classic, Chan is Missing (1982). (Check out Hua’s essay from way back when.) Wang is better known for The Joy Luck Club and Maid in Manhattan (J.Lo, anyone?), and more recently made a documentary on Cecilia Chiang, the godmother of stateside Chinese haute cuisine, as well as an adaptation of an essay by Chang-rae Lee. But Chan is Missing is totally weird and singular—and changed Jay’s life, he explains. Bonus: check out “Juke and Opal,” a sketch by Richard Pryor and Lily Tomlin that Tammy sees as a precursor of a key scene in Chan is Missing. (Hilton Als has written beautifully about it.) And here’s A.K.A. Don Bonus, a Spencer Nakasako documentary Hua loves.Thanks for supporting and tuning in. Send us your questions and comments, as audio or text, to [email protected] or @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

This week’s theme, courtesy of Tony Soprano: “Is the U.S. over?”Both Tammy and Jay have new pieces out on our failure to curb the spread of Covid-19 in nursing homes. The country has seemed unable to tackle complex problems. Have we learned anything? What now? 0:00 – We talk about the vaccine rollout in the U.S. and our ominously poor start to distribution. Tammy hates on federalism and the States counterplan (debate joke). Plus: should health care workers have the right to refuse the vaccine?23:45 – At the end of 2020, Beijing-based economic analyst Dan Wang offered this year-in-review newsletter full of global, historical observations of the U.S., spurring much chatter on China Twitter. Is Chinese society experiencing the equivalent of the U.S.’s “golden age of capitalism”? How do most Americans imagine the life of an “average” person in China—you know, like Pangzai? And is the U.S. in a “declining empire” / “rentier” stage of its history?1:09:30 – A listener question from Swoo: What were some of your favorite reads in 2020? * Tammy: James Baldwin, “Stranger in the Village” (essay)* Andy: Nancy Fraser, “Feminism, Capitalism, and the Cunning of History” (paper)* Jay: Greg Kot, I’ll Take You There; Mark Kram, Jr., Ghosts of ManilaThanks for tuning in. Please subscribe and spread the word! Keep in touch via @TTSGPOD and [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

HNY from the heart of Times Square!0:00 – This week, we welcome JoAnn Lum, the director of NMASS (the National Mobilization Against Sweatshops), a “multi-trade, multi-ethnic workers center” located on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.Though COVID-19 has recently shone a light on horrifying working conditions in healthcare, nursing homes, restaurants, and delivery, JoAnn describes how “essential workers” have faced steadily worsening prospects for decades, and relays her members’ disappointment in the government response. She also talks about how immigration law has been used to divide workers, and explains NMASS’s “Ain’t I a Woman” campaign, which is challenging the 24-hour workday for home care attendants. (Tammy wrote about this around-the-clock work for Businessweek two years ago [a sobering read!].) Unsurprisingly, the pandemic has only exacerbated the urgency of NMASS’s organizing. Learn more and contribute here!34:30 – In the second half, we discuss a bundle of listener questions about “diversity:” employment initiatives, diversity statements, even children’s books! How do we navigate between “good” and “bad” versions of diversity? What are the right categories to describe them? Thanks to Adriana, Amy, and Helen for the excellent questions! Keep your queries and comments coming! We’d love more recorded audio bits, too, which you can send by email: [email protected]. On Twitter, we’re doomscrolling at @TTSGpod.Finally, pass the podcast onto your friends! 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

0:00 — We welcome friend of the show Tommy Craggs, enterprise editor at Mother Jones magazine. We first get Tommy’s thoughts on last summer’s inadvertent strike in the NBA and assess the future of our favorite beleaguered sports league.25:10 — We discuss Tommy’s new piece, “What’s the Matter with Cultural Politics?,” in which he interrogates the “culture contra” stalemate: the idea that what the Democrats need to do is drop the “culture” and “identity” stuff and get back to (white) meat and potatoes. Should we defend “woke” culture? How to distinguish between “good” (materialist) versus “bad” (coopted) identity politics? Can we even tell the difference?Send us your comments and [email protected] Twitter @TTSGPOD This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Today, Doctors Liu, Kang, and Kim are joined by Doctor Sarah Leonard, publisher of the soon-to-launch Lux magazine (named after socialist extraordinaire Rosa Luxemburg).0:00 – We respond to accusations of COVID-19 denialism by comparing the US’s lockdown + welfare policies to those of the rest of the (Euro-American) world: Tammy on Canada’s robust wage subsidy and deficit spending; Andy on Sweden’s controversial decision to do voluntary lockdowns (even leftists are fighting over it); and Jay on the German advantage of strong infrastructure.39:45 – Sarah talks about why she created Lux magazine, a socialist, feminist glossy! (Think: Marxist Vogue.) We discuss girl-boss corporate feminism, why there should be more than one socialist outlet, the virtues of social reproduction theory, and who deserves pleasure. Preview issue one here! Subscribe here! Subscribe to TTSG here: https://goodbye.substack.com/aboutSend audio questions and regular-old comments to [email protected] and @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 Neera Tanden’s shoe closet!0:00 – The gang’s back together, with geographic and pandemic updates. 10:00 – Data recently compiled by National Nurses United tell us that nearly a quarter of registered nurses in the US who’ve died from the coronavirus are Filipino. Why this outsized fraction? Can histories of colonization and migration, as well as labor economics, help us make sense of the numbers? 49:07 – In the first of what we hope will become a recurring a segment, we talk about a classic Asian American film: Justin Lin’s “Better Luck Tomorrow.” Does it hold up? Why did Roger Ebert once defend it so vigorously? And how does it compare to Lin’s more famous franchise (“Fast and Furious”)? To “corny” immigrant literature? Our next movie talk, a few weeks from now, will be on “Chan is Missing.” Watch along with us! Thanks, as always, for listening and spreading the word. Please send feedback and audio questions to [email protected] or @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! This week we have another part of what can now be called a series on the AAPI voter with our guest Taeku Lee, a professor of law and political science at UC Berkeley and the author of several books, including Asian American Political Participation, which he co-authored with Janelle Wong, S. Karthick Ramakrishnan, and Jane Junn. There’s few people more qualified to talk about the enigma of the Asian voter — Taeku has been researching and studying trends in voting since 1988 and was one of the first people to really study and then also generate polling information within AAPI communities. He has also been involved in the Asian American Voter Survey, which you probably saw on social media through this slide. We talk about everything from the history of the Asian vote, the Reagan years in the 80s, the swing towards the Democratic party, the impact that geography has on voting patterns (for example, people who immigrate to Orange County, California or Florida will certainly trend more Republican than people who immigrate to New York City or the Bay Area because their neighbors are more GOP friendly), and how an immigrant, who generally arrives in the United States with a limited understanding of the country’s politics, develops into a voter. Please give a listen! 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

Happy birthday, Jay’s sister!Tammy checks in from a motel in Kennewick, Jay remembers his lost novel, and we talk turkey. 8:30 – On the global vaccine race. The “good” science (from Sarah Zhang), the “bad” vaccine apartheid (Jayati Ghosh, economist at JNU), Macbook vs. Chromebook, and the politics of glorifying private drug companies (as in the NYT).Also, check out this cool new vaccine data center from Duke Global Health Innovation Center: https://launchandscalefaster.org/COVID-1941:00 – A listener question from Kurt: Are tankies real or just an online phenomenon?49:55 – Our first audio listener question! Listener Cody Wilson asks about Jay’s recent NYT op-ed / TTSG manifesto on the value of disaggregating “POC” communities, and offers an explanation for why the Rio Grande Valley went crazy for Trump in 2020 (cf. The Texas Tribune). Thanks for hanging with us. Have a safe, socially-distanced Thanksgiving, and send us your questions and comments! @TTSGPod / [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 White House transition headquarters! This week: literal housekeeping, “students of color” and “students of poverty,” coronavirus nightmares, how not to expect too much from Biden, and a Southeast Asian trade deal. 4:30 – Dads Jay and Andy review right-wing children’s books.9:30 – Asians get lumped in as white again—this time, in the Thurston County, WA public schools. Why does this keep happening, and why do we care? Should the left abandon race-based sorting and affirmative action? 30:20 – The coronavirus is spiking all over the country. Why aren’t we talking about it more? Will Biden do better than Trump did?38:45 – Student debt, the climate catastrophe, foreign policy, immigration, labor rights… What can we expect from Biden? 55:30 – Tammy’s “What you should know” corner: the ASEAN+5 Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). Is it a big deal or not? How does it compare to the TPP and the CPTPP? And when will we Americans have the energy to start caring about stuff like this again? Plus: Jay promises to manage Tammy’s Fox News career. Thank you for listening! Please spread the word, and stay in touch: @ttsgpod (Twitter) / [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,Today we have something a bit different for you. TTSG goes a bit Melvyn Bragg with a history episode about Bay Area Filipino DJ culture. Our guest today is Oliver Wang, professor of sociology at Cal State Long Beach, one of the co-hosts of the Heat Rocks podcast, and the author of Legions of Boom, a fascinating book which tracks the history of Filipino immigrants into the Bay Area after the 1965 Hart-Celler Act — first into San Francisco and then out into suburbs like Daly City, Fremont, and Vallejo. If you’ve ever wondered why so many of the top DJs in the word are Filipino and want to know the creation story behind legends like DJ QBert and the Invizibl Scratch Piklz, this is well worth your time. We discuss the mobile DJ scene in the 90s, the class dynamics of post-1965 Filipino immigrants versus the manongs who came over in the early 20th century and settled in San Francisco, and how music and a party scene can create a sense of cohesion and true identity. Here’s some of the music these DJ crews created so you can play it as you listen along. Enjoy! Spintronix Imagine #8 X-Men vs the Invizibl Skratch Piklz set in 1996Generations: a 25 minute documentary about Spintronix and the mobile DJ scene. 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 USPS mailbag!This week, before getting into your letters, we reminisce about Saturday’s election news a.k.a the international dopamine-flood event. We “wow just wow” at the Democratic establishment’s (ridiculous and ridiculously premature) punch left, and swoon over AOC’s punch back in an interview with the New York Times. We also dissect a viral video of Tucker Carlson explaining why Butler, PA, and so many other places in the US (will) remain loyal to Trump.Listener Questions@irl_neil asks how “small business owners” fit into a broader progressive agenda. How should we confront the bootstraps values so popular with immigrant communities?@hasui_SEA asks what the Biden administration might mean for the US–China Cold War-style tensions we often discuss on TTSG?Listeners Henry and Cathy H. ask about the utility of the “Asian American” (or Asian Canadian) category from the perspective of South Asian and Southeast Asian immigrants.M. asks about the racial landmines, circa 2020, that await her young hapa (mixed-race Asian) child.Finally, Adriana and Ellen ask about the black–white binary in academia—within both the “diversity” bureaucracy complex and the ethnic-studies classroom. 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, Berkeley, and Missoula! In this #2020 special, we share our jaundiced views of the U! S! A! and the election as of Wednesday night, 24 hours after polls closed. Discussed: * Tuesday night’s emotional roller-coaster * Post-vote explanations based on racial and ethnic checkboxes* “Jay Kang, (G.O.P.) political consultant”* Propositions 22 and 16 in California* Tammy’s feel-good corner a.k.a local measures to give us hope going forwardLinks to stuff we mention:* Exit polls (with the usual caveats) showing Trump’s gains with POC voters* Jennifer Medina, of The New York Times, on the macho appeal of Donald Trump* Aída Chávez, of The Intercept, with a pre-election look at Latino/a progressive organizing in Arizona, as well as her write-up on election night, with Ryan Grim* Congratulations to TTSG friend Nikil Saval! He’s a progressive Democrat success story, the first Asian American member of the Pennsylvania State Senate, and we couldn’t be more proud! (ICYMI: our interview with Nikil)How was Election Day/Night/Week for everyone else??? Terrible? Sleepless? Blasé? Send your comments, questions, and reactions to [email protected] or via DM @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 Tammy’s snowbank! This week, we welcome TTSG friend Hua Hsu, a professor at Vassar and a staff writer at The New Yorker, who just wrote an excellent pre-election story: “Are Asian Americans the Last Undecided Voters?” The piece digs into stuff we’ve been obsessing about, on and off the air, including the fuzziness of the Asian American label, the rise of East Asian Republicans, organizing on ethnicity-specific chat apps, the OC, and Asian-Latino “immigrant” identities. Our discussion also complements Andy’s bonus episode with Bernie folks, Brooke Adams and Tobita Chow, from last week. Then, a quick look at the global crisis playing out in Vietnam.A long episode, but a good one. Big props to listeners who make it all the way through!0:00 – Why does Hua eat “adult pouches”? Can he bring Jay and Andy over to his side?13:00 – California Governor Gavin Newsom “tiniest dog-whistled” Asians in the early days of the American pandemic, by blaming transmission on nail salons. Who’s Janet Nguyen, and how did she fight back?41:00 – “Education and opportunity” are Asian values, right? But are they a sufficient basis for organizing? And are they liberal or conservative, right- or left-wing? 1:05:00 – Do Asian American voters care about foreign policy? 1:26:55 – Maybe Asian American politics can just be, well, politics. How do we make a universalist political program our own? 1:37:55 – You still with us? Tammy gets the guys to talk about the historic, deadly floods in Vietnam, and what they tell us about climate change. What are the overlaps with the Vietnamese economy and the coronavirus? Could the climate catastrophe replicate Asian refugee routes once caused by war? Get woke:* Tomorrow! “Anti-China politics in the US election” (Register here.)* Tomorrow! “Uprising in Thailand” (Register here.)* Thursday! “The Gwangju Uprising and Its 40-Year Global History” (Register here.)* Jay, on musical labor and 30 years of repetition, on This American Life* Andy, on the “China Virus,” in Feral Atlas* Tammy, at a Montana gun range, in The New YorkerThank you, thank you for supporting TTSG (https://goodbye.substack.com). Please stay in touch via Twitter (@ttsgpod) and email ([email protected]), and tell all your comrades and frenemies to subscribe. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit goodbye.substack.com/subscribe

Bonus pre-election episode!Two weeks ahead of the last judgment, Andy talks with two organizers about the “existential battle” over the soul of the Democratic Party. Brooke Adams, a second-generation Taiwanese Seattleite, worked for the Bernie Sanders 2020 campaign in Iowa, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania before joining People’s Action this summer. Tobita Chow, a Chinese-Japanese-Canadian-American (not making this up, we swear) Chicagoan, is director of “Justice is Global,” part of the People’s Action network.0:00 -- Brooke and Toby discuss their respective experiences organizing while Covid hit the US in March, then we speculate why Sanders was so successful among Asian and Latino groups. Andy has dark fantasies of seeing Trump win again and discrediting the Democratic leadership, while Brooke and Toby think more productively about how progressives might shape a (potential!) Biden-Harris presidency. A WWII analogy.37:20 -- Toby expounds on moving politics in a more internationalist direction, i.e., don’t do a trade war with China. Also, how Toby and others pushed back on Biden’s bad China ad this spring.59:20 -- We look ahead to the election. If (!) Biden-Harris win, how will progressives and centrists square off over the future of the party? Over climate? Covid relief? Electoral strategy?More links and plugs* Brooke and Toby talked “deep canvassing” strategies. Learn more here and here* More from Brooke: People’s Action will hold a deep canvassing event on October 27, featuring appearances from AOC, Bernie, IL state senator Robert Peters, and artist/activist Vic Mensa. If interested, click here!* Justice is Global’s deep canvassing experiment talking to voters about China* Toby and friend-of-show Jake Werner’s nerdy memo on the US-China trade war* Hear Toby and Jake and other great speakers at this Critical China Studies event on October 28, 7-8:30 ET: “Anti-China politics in the US election” (direct link to registration here)* Tammy has a new feature out on the crucial Montana senate race (and she tells us that anti-China politics are alive and well there). Will labor unions and Native Americans make the difference for the state and, by extension, the body politic? Check it out in The New Yorker.* Andy has a new academic/public piece riffing off the “China virus” stuff in the springtime and tracing Covid’s spread from China to the rest of the world. Some talk about “just-in-time” / “lean production” models, from 1960s Japan to China to the US, from the auto industry (think that “American Factory” documentary) to grocery stores and hospitals. Here on Feral Atlas, a new digital humanities project on human-nature-infrastructure relationships. Anthropocene. Synergy. 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

Welcome to the Terrordome!This week, we have a brilliant guest, TTSG pal and Korean literature scholar Jenny Wang Medina, who grew up in her family’s beauty-supply store, to guide us through a mini-PhD on Korean hair, the Black hair market, and Cold War commodity history. Then, a brief look at the ongoing democratic uprising in Thailand. 0:00 – HAIR! * The New York Times’s coverage of the Na family and their Black hair shops in Chicago, one of which was destroyed in the recent Black Lives Matter uprising, launches us into an exploration of harvested hair, nation building, migration, and race relations, from Hong Kong and South Korea to India and Sacramento, CA, where Jenny’s brother now runs her parents’ 40-year-old wig-turned-beauty-supply stores. To enrich our discussion, we draw on a very sharp “commodity history” of Korean hair, by Jenny and Andy’s friend, Jason Petrulis.How did Jenny’s family, and so many other Korean immigrants, come to dominate hair and beauty-supply markets for Black American women? And how does the intimate nature of hair and beauty products shape race relations? What role have hair exports played in the developmental economics of Hong Kong, South Korea, and, more recently, India and Indonesia? How did US Cold War policy shape these markets? 1:14:30 – THAILAND! * In a new segment called “Something you should know,” a.k.a. “What Tammy forced Jay and Andy to talk about,” we bring you an update from Thailand, where a democracy movement that began in 2014, after a military coup, has recently exploded on the streets. We discuss the aims and culture of these Thai protests, the nature of Thailand’s (ostensibly) constitutional monarchy, the economic effect of the pandemic on the nation’s tourist economy, how the current prime minister and monarch are different from those who ruled a decade ago, and the Milk Tea Alliance—the pro-democracy bonds among Thai, Hong Kong, and Taiwanese youth online. (Thanks to TTSG friends Reena and Nick for their insights.)Big thanks for supporting TTSG (https://goodbye.substack.com). Please stay in touch via Twitter (@ttsgpod) and email ([email protected]), and tell all your comrades and frenemies to subscribe. 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

A bonus deep-dive episode into the culture and politics of Big Tech and Silicon Valley! Today Andy chats with the writer Wendy Liu (no relation) about her recent book, Abolish Silicon Valley.A programmer, former Google intern, and startup founder, Wendy has written on a host of political-economic questions swirling around Silicon Valley today: how to organize contract workers in Silicon Valley; Andrew Yang and UBI; and why we should socialize Amazon.Above all, she is interested in spoiling the myths that Silicon Valley tells itself and sells to the public. This episode focuses on her individual reckoning with the reality of Big Tech and capitalism: her distaste for corporate identity politics, how her social position (second-generation Chinese-Canadian woman) shaped her growth, the contrast between STEM and political education, and the mythology of meritocracy.0:00 – Wendy’s own trajectory from youthful adherent of the cult of Silicon Valley (Elon Musk, Elizabeth Holmes) to disillusionment and critique.19:30 – Wendy’s thoughts on entering the tech world as a woman and an Asian-(North) American—from minimizing her feelings of difference in order to fit in to gaining a structural understanding of gender and race. Some choice words for White Fragility-style corporate diversity measures. And a brief discussion of the mind-blowing history of Chinese labor migration to the West Coast. 41:30 – Our thoughts on a previous listener question: why so many Asian-Americans opt for STEM education and career paths. Parental pressure? Culture? 48:00 – We discuss friend-of-the-show Immanuel Wallerstein’s classic, Historical Capitalism (Verso, 1983), and his criticism of the concept of meritocracy. Why is Silicon Valley’s cult of meritocracy a “sham”? How should the rest of us try to process and make sense of this critique? 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 National Speech & Debate Tournament!This week, we unpack the idea of court packing, look for common cause with working-class whites, and ask what’s up with the Taiwanese military. 0:00 – Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation proceedings began Monday. Will the questioning be more Acoustic Lindsey Graham or Lindsey Graham Unplugged? Inspired by a recent episode of the Dig podcast (Hi, Dan and Amna!), we wonder: Why does the US democracy—or, why do ACLU-cheering liberals—depend on an institution as ridiculously undemocratic as the Supreme Court? Should leftists support court packing or other legal reforms? Plus: Jay’s double-SCOTUS-clerking high school nemesis.36:48 – At the height of the opioid epidemic, and right after Trump’s election, we seemed to talk incessantly about the “white working class.” Not so much anymore. Who are these people, and how can we build a program of social change that benefits everyone? We read Helen Epstein’s analysis of despair and death among “non-BA whites” and a piece by Adam Rothman and Barbara Fields, arguing that “a successful national political movement must appeal to the self-interest of white Americans.” Can we replace our oppression olympics and racial whataboutism with Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow Coalition or William Barber and Liz Theoharis’s Poor People’s Campaign? 1:04:18 – So many anxieties, real and imagined, in the Taiwan Strait. How imminent is the threat of military action by China, and will Taiwan continue to spend billions on its armed forces? Why do younger generations of Taiwanese men resent their mandatory military service? We talk about Taiwan and South Korea’s grudging reliance on the US military and the persistence of neocolonial camptown relationships. Bonus: Andy introduces us to 高粱酒 / 고량주.1:17:05 – Outtro recap: Do we care if people have “racism in their hearts”? And why must Asian Americans borrow other people’s “whatabouts”? Mike Davis continues to school us.Very cool digital conference alert! Join our friends at New Bloom, New Naratif, and Lausan for “Transnationally Asian,” Oct. 19 through 22, which takes its title from an article Tammy wrote over the summer. The sessions will consider postcolonial solidarity, local and global labor movements, and the role of the media in political activism. Tammy will moderate the opening panel, so please tune in. You can register for free here.Many, many thanks for supporting TTSG (https://goodbye.substack.com). Please stay in touch via Twitter (@ttsgpod) and email ([email protected]), and tell all your comrades and frenemies to subscribe. 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

Happy belated Mid-Autumn Festival! We pried Andy away from doomscrolling 45 to bring you this late-night episode of semi-coherent thoughts on the American regime, post-wet market theories of Covid-19, and listener queries on class.0:00 – What is, even, anything? The big, maskless T has Covid, as does everyone around him. We talk conspiracies and sad, middling fantasies of functioning government. Is it time to give up on electoral politics? Will there ever be another Bernie?28:30 – Twitter warrior and coronavirus prophet Zeynep Tufekci is out with a provocative new piece at The Atlantic. We reminisce about the bad old days at the start of this podcast, which we nearly christened “Pangolin Power Hour.” What does it mean for Covid-19 to be an “overdispersed pathogen”? Who is Pareto, and why does nationalized health care matter? 55:40 – We address a composite (brilliant! erudite!) listener question about class and class cosplay. Why do upper-class wokesters downplay their families’ money? Do upper- vs. upper-middle-class distinctions even matter in elite spaces? Should our class backgrounds influence our career choices or social politics? And why do we tell and retell Asian American immigrant tales of overcoming? Thanks to Janis Jin, @Soledad_Kyrie, and Lisa. And thanks to all of you for supporting TTSG (https://goodbye.substack.com). Please stay in touch via Twitter (@ttsgpod) and email ([email protected]), and tell all your friends and enemies to subscribe. 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