Bay Area artist and activist Nancy Wang has recently written a captivating fictional historical account of the Chinese who built and worked out of the fishing villages in the Monterey Bay area during the 1850s in California. Entitled Red Altar, her book brings to life the experiences of these early pioneers from China, including her fiesty multilingual ancestor who was the first Chinese American female born in California, and who made a name for herself as "Spanish Mary." If you'd like to buy an autographed copy of Red Altar, just go to www.ethnotec.org.
Whether or not you identify as spiritual or some kind of Christian, I'm pretty sure most of us are quite familiar with the tendency--if not the temptation--to live as if the grass is always greener on the other side of the septic tank. Armed with this mindset, many of us move on, move away, or just keep on moving rather than stay put in hopes of finding what we're looking for where we are.
As you'll soon learn, Rev. Lydia Sohn was preprogrammed by her Korean American immigrant parents to be a nomad. That was her first and most basic instinct. But at some point she was made to consider the potentially greater value of staying, which has long been a spiritual practice of Benedictine monks. Energized by what a difference this made in her life and her work, Sohn eventually wrote Here: A Spirituality of Staying In a Culture of Leaving.
I have no doubt that much of what she shares in our conversation and in her new book will be life-giving, if not life-saving. You can learn more about her at www.revlydia.com.
In this latest installment of the Two Kens collaborative series between Ken Fong and Ken Kemp, they introduce a term that respected German sociologist Max Weber first introduced 100 years ago that they believe best describes what Donald Trump is working hard to accomplish in his second term, and how knowing this term also tells us how best to thwart Trump's efforts. They were inspired by Jonathan Rauch's article in The Atlantic that appeared on February 24, 2025, entitled One Word Describes Trump: A Century Ago, A German Sociologist Explained Precisely How the President Thinks About the World. Fong and Kemp then look at the different responses to Trump's recent State of the Union address, especially how Senate Majority Leader John Thune appears to be subjugating his evanglical convictions to appear steadfastly loyal to President Trump.
Dr. Grishma Shah's debut novel Anagram Destiny is a soul warming love story nestled in an inspiring tale of the American dream, manifesting an Indian immigrant success story shattered by the evils of globalization– paying homage to a generation of immigrants who held their heads low so one day, their children could lift theirs high.
To learn more about Dr. Shah and her novel go to www.shahgrishma.com.
If you're one of the fortunate people who know who Tyrus Wong was and what a pivotal role he played in getting the classic Disney film "Bambi" made, I think you'll still be blown away by what Dr. Karen Fang has revealed in her recent book, "Background Artist: The Life and Work of Tyrus Wong." I'll give you two hints: Christmas cards and custom kites.