In Skull Water, Heinz Insu Fenkl has crafted a uniquely autobiographical novel based on his experiences growing up as a German/Korean child in postwar Korea. Incorporating his vast knowledge of Korean folktales, Buddhist karma, daoism, and the ancient Chinese I Ching Book of Changes, Fenkl has created an engaging, unpredictable storyline, and our conversation gave him a chance to reveal how Skull Water came to life.
In this latest edition of the collaborative Two Kens Podcast, Kemp and I focused on what we are thinking about the unprecedented indictment and arraignment of former POTUS Donald Trump. I also use this episode's Intro to share a few brief thoughts about the GOP's expulsion of members Justin Jones and Justin Pearson.
In his latest book "Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism and What Comes Next," Dr. Brad Onishi, who teaches at the University of San Francisco and co-hosts the hugely popular podcast "Straight White American Jesus," offers us a "...clear-eyed, compelling study of the road to Jan. 6 and the possible future of the politics-versus-religion battle in the U.S." (Kirkus Reviews). In this interview I asked him to focus on the powerful and increasingly pervasive myth that motivates White Christian Nationalists, as well as the sizable migration of WCNs from Blue States to heavily Red States.
Licensed clinical therapist Nat Vikitsreth is back so that we can finish talking through her lessons on how best to communicate with children, both when they're quite young all the way to when they're on their own. If you'd like to find the links that she's so graciously provided, please check out the shownotes from Part I. Here's the link to her extremely thoughtful and helpful podcast: www.comebacktocare.com/podcast INTRO: The End Is Near
Nat Vikitsreth is a recognized expert on how to teach young children to navigate their and your feelings. And when you learn how she came to fully embrace herself as a trans woman, you'll understand how she arrived at her core convictions about children. She has graciously and generously provided the following links that you might find quite helpful:
Intro: Heed the Experts in the Room
Just glancing at Rachelle Pastor Arizmendi's resume will immediately tell you that she is a gifted and capable leader who isn't afraid of getting involved to make a difference. In addition to all the works she does with non-profits and commissions, Rachelle was the first woman of color elected to the Sierra Madre City Council, and was chosen by her peers twice to serve as mayor. Introduction: More Than Just Bones
Attorney and author Shirley Ann Higuchi was puzzled when her dying mother asked that the koden money from her pending funeral be donated to a place called Heart Mountain Relocation Center in Wyoming. After her mom died, Shirley was even more mystified when a committee claiming to represent HMRC asked a representative of her family to attend a ceremony at there as they dedicated a trail to the late Setsuko. Her reluctant decision to travel to this remote site that had unjustly imprisoned nearly 11,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry after the attack on Pearl Harbor, HI, not only started her on an in-depth journey into this dark chapter of America's racist past, but it slowly opened her eyes to the long-term, lingering effects that this traumatic experience had on her parents and on her and her sibling. Her book "Setsuko's Secret: Heart Mountain and the Legacy of the Japanese American Incarceration," not only chronicles the injustices and the in-fighting, but is also illustrated with little-known stories of the suffering that some of the Japanese Americans had to endure.
With his intersecting disciplines of Asian American studies, the medical humanities, and Christian theology, UC Irvine's Rev. Dr. James Kyung-Jin Lee is uniquely positioned to offer in-depth insights on the human problems of sickness, suffering, disability, and death, especially when seen through the filter of the Christian faith.
Nell Yukiye Murphy has been enthusiasticallyinvolved with the Girl Scouts since she was just five years old. She'd earned their Bronze and Silver Awards, but she waited until her senior year in high school to propose her Gold Award project to the committee. While she'd grown up making untold family pilgrimmages to Manzanar, where her late grandfather had been held unjustly, she decided that few people would be willing to make the four-hour-drive from LA to visit this remote and barren site. So she created "Journey to Manzanar," a virtual introduction to the camp, the prejudice that imprisoned over 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry there and in the other camps, and the hardships that her predecessors had been made to endure. Nell persevered in the face of obstacles like shocking ignorance and policies that prohibit launching drones above national parks. You can experience her remarkable achievement "Journey to Manzanar" by visiting www.sierraforever.org/journey-to-manzanar.
If you don't live in Southern California, it's quite possible that you have no idea of how central the San Gabrielf Valley (of the now-famous 626 Area Code) has become to a diverse array of AAPIs, and why Monterey Park has become such a symbol. In the immediate aftermath of the horrifc mass shooting there, I read a fascinating LA Times Op Ed by USF's Dr. James Zarsadiaz, who grew up in the SGV and has become one of the leading experts on this region of SoCal. In our conversation, you'll not only learn the history of Monterey Park and the rest of the 626, but also why the fact that this shooting happened there is so traumatizing to many AAPIs, even though the shooter was an Asian American.
Whenever I bring American comedic actor Kristina Wong on my show, there's never a dull moment, and never any uncomfortable silent gaps. She came on this time to promote her award-winning solo show, "Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord," a co-production of the Center Theater Group and East West Players at the Kirk Douglas Theater in Culver City, CA, from February 12-March 12. You're going to love hearing her recount how she initially responded to a severe shortage of face masks at the start of the pandemic to her organizing and directing an army of 'aunties' who made and gave away well over 300,000 face masks to those needing them most.
In this first collaborative conversation between Ken Kemp (The Beached White Male podcast) and Ken Fong (AA:TKFP), after a fun and informative segment on Fong's recent Snowy Owl Prowl in Canada, the Two Kens share their perspectives on the recent appalling mass shooting in Monterey Park and the brutal death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of five Black police officers.
In retrospect, Eric Chen and his friend literally dodged a bullet when they decided to decline the invitation to attend the Lunar New Year's Eve dance party in Monterey Park. As a familiar, trusted, and trilingual member of the studio's private online community, Eric has been hearing from the victims, providing updates about resources, and working hard to coordinate and centralize the myriad lines of communication. I believe that our conversation will give concerned listeners a real-life look at the immediate aftermath of this horrific mass shooting.
University of Colorado's (Boulder) Dr. Jennifer Ho is able to connect America's culture of gun violence, toxic masculinity, and history of White supremacy to the fact that last week, two older Asian American men became mass murderers. What can all of us do to reduce the occurrence of these senseless tragedies?
Actor and writer J. Elijah Cho is performing his award-winning solo show "Mr. Yunioshi" from January 27-Feb 5 as part of the Solo Shows Festival of 2023 at the charming Sierra Madre Playhouse (Sierra Madre, CA). Cho portrays the late actor Mickey Rooney after he is cast to play a Japanese photographer in yellow face in the classic film "Breakfast at Tiffany's" in 1961. It is both hilarious and thought-provoking to have an Asian American actor playing the White Rooney as he works out exactly how to portray this Japanese character.
Recently rapper and filmmaker Kyle Jae Shin aka Son of Paper uncovered a painful experience of anti-Asian violence that he'd buried for years, unconsciously allowing this trauma to color his day to day outlook and attitude. One of the tracks on his just-released album "From a Rooftop in Chinatown" ties together how he's learned to process that attack with the epidemic of anti-Asian hatred and violence today. You'll have the opportunity to hear that track ("Overcame") in its entirety, as well as snippets of two other ones. You'll also come to appreciate why this young Asian American artist and his new music are so grounded in San Francisco's Chinatown.
California's 26th District Assemblymember Evan Low describes what it will take to see more AAPI politicians both in his state and across the nation. He also explains why the API Legislative Caucus (he is the new chair) prohibits Republican API members from joining. He also believes that a day is coming sooner than later when the majority of Americans will elect an openly LGBTQ+ POTUS.
After many years of asking, award-winning Alaska-based journalist Lisa Phu was finally able to coax her Cambodian Chinese mother Lan Phu to open up about her life "Before Me (Lisa)." Growing up in Cambodia, fleeing the onslaught of the Khmer Rouge with three daughters and pregnant, then making a new life in America. This new 5-part podcast series (www.beforemepodcast.com) is masterfully produced and wonderfully written and narrated by Lisa.
In this final episode of 2022, podcaster-friends Ken Fong and Ken Kemp recommend the new "The Charismatic Revival Fury" series by their mutual friend Dr. Brad Onishi over at the "Straight White American Jesus" podcat. What government officials and most mainstream media outlets apparently have overlooked is the part that many charismatic and Pentecostal Evangelicals played in not only the attempt to prevent the peaceful transfer of POTUS power on 1/6/20, but in creating a global network that continues to seek power and authority by almost any means necessary.
Anita had built a successful therapy practice over 20 years, but she'd also grown up with a deep appreciation for architecture and interior design. Realizing that she naturally understood how those intersect, she launched a blog in 2016 about the importance of creating living spaces that foster mental health. That led to her becoming a social media influencer, receiving accolades and assignments from the industry, and today, Anita has published her first book "Home Therapy," and she and her husband now work side-by-side in this unique approach to health and home.
Ranger Yenyen Chan has been on the permanent staff of this incredible national park for the past 20 years. Not only is she an expert on its history, geology, and biology, but she's also the one to consult to learn of the vital contributions of many Chinese Americans to this iconic park.
Bernice Chao continues to be recognized by her industry as an outstanding and creative leader. Even so, what impresses me about her is that she has partnered with Jessalin Lam to enable and empower untold numbers of other AAPIs to break through 'bamboo ceilings' by learning how to make themselves not only more visible to the powers-that-be, but also to themselves. Together they co-founded the now-global "Asians in Advertising" non-profit, host a biweekly podcast, and in November 2022 co-authored "The Visibility Mindset: How Asian American Leaders Create Opportunities and Push Past Barriers."
What started as a film project to chronicle the campaign of California State Treasurer John Chiang as he ran for governor later expanded into a rivetting documentary about the reality of hate-speech and violence aimed at innocent AAPIs, both in the past history of America and in the present-day scapegoating of AAPIs due to the politicization of the COVID pandemic. Public affairs consultant and long-time civil rights advocate Ronald W. Wong, along with his Asian Pacific American Leadership Foundation, have produced "The Race Epidemic: Resurgence of the Yellow Peril," as a clarion call for more AAPIs to speak out and push back against racism and xenophobia aimed at our communities.
First appearing on this pod on 22 October 2019 (#219), actor and now also writer Anu Bhatt recently returned to spotlight "Autocorrect," her debut short film that she conceived and created during the pandemic. Anu's character gradually finds the courage and determination to insist that her director (a white female) pronounce her South Asian name correctly. As you will soon learn, this was truly a case of art imitating life. On the surface, this is simply about asking people to stop mispronouncing non-Western names. But Anu reveals that this act of insistence is actually one example of when people decide that it's time to reclaim 'agency' over their lives for the sake of their own congruency and mental health.
The recent midterm elections officially ended on November 8th and we already know that there wasn't a resounding Red Wave of change as many had predicted. But we also may still not know the final outcomes of Senate races in Arizona and Nevada. The two Kens got back together the day after the midterms to understand why things didn't heavily tilt to the extreme right, as well as to puzzle over what this might mean going forward for Trumpism and the shape of the 2024 presidential contest.