Jeff Yang and Phil Yu present an unfiltered conversation about what's happening in Asian America.
What's up, podcast listeners? We've got another episode of our podcast They Call Us Bruce. (Almost) each week, my good friend, writer/columnist Jeff Yang and I host an unfiltered conversation about what's happening in Asian America, with a strong focus on media, entertainment and popular culture.
In this episode, we ring in the Lunar New Year and welcome journalist Kimmy Yam to talk about trial runs, fresh starts, and the Year of the Horse. We discuss the unfortunate and untimely shutdown of NBC Asian America -- and the loss of representation, trust, and cultural power; the incredible depth of reporting and coverage of the Asian American community that Kimmy was able accomplish during her tenure at NBC; and what the future looks like now for authentic and sustained news coverage of marginalized communities. Also: The Good, The Bad, and The WTF of the new year. This episode is sponsored by Chinese Republicans, a new play from Roundabout Theatre Company.
Damn, I almost forgot. Happy Valentine's Day, to all who tolerate it. By coincidence, today also happens to be the anniversary of this blog. And it's not just any old Angryversary. On this day 25 years ago, I flipped the switch and launched the very first iteration of Angry Asian Man. I did not know what I was doing. There was no plan, and could not have known where this website would take me. But here we are, 25 years later.
Yeah, still here. It's true, I'm nowhere near as prolific as I was in my youth. (Man, you try doing this for 25 years.) Time, gravity, capitalism, metabolism have all taken their toll. Plus, you know, everything. I'm pretty damn tired. The blog fell into a slow slide into inactivity over the years (honestly, the pandemic really knocked me out), and I've shifted my energy to things like podcasting and other writing. But I've recently started posting on this blog again with small, regular updates, sharing links and items of note from Angry Asian America. I just missed being helpful in this way. So I'm going to try to keep that going. Hell, I might even start, yup, a newsletter.
So let me just thank everyone who's stuck with me. All of the folks who have supported my work on and off the blog. I've always said the best, most unexpected part about running this thing has been all of the incredible friends and collaborators it has put in my path, and continues to do so. Also, big thank you to everyone who has maintained their financial support of my endeavors over the years. Thank you to my family for being my foundation through all of it. And no thank you to the haters. Still not here for it.
Twenty-five years. We've done the math correctly, but it doesn't feel real. Well, anyway, Stay Angry.
Did you see the video of Texas House Democrate Gene Wu declaring an all-out race war against the whites? Me neither. But over the weekend, conservatives lost their shit over a 2024 clip of Wu from Jose Antonio Vargas' Define American podcast calling for political unity among minority groups.
The full quote: "The day the Latino, African American, Asian and other communities realize that they share the same oppressor is the day we start winning, because we are the majority in this country now, we have the ability to take over this country and to do what is needed for everyone and to make things fairer."
Somehow, for Texas Republicans, this was a flat-out racist declaration. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton called Wu "a radical racist who hates millions of Texans just because they're white." When you refer to an "oppressor," it's funny to see who takes offense.
A federal judge sentenced a Southern California man to four years in prison after he pleaded guilty to working as an illegal agent of the Chinese government. At the direction of Chinese government officials, 65-year-old Mike Sun covertly worked to promote Chinese interests in the Los Angeles area. His work included running a news site disseminating Chinese government messaging to the
local Chinese community, monitoring the movements of Taiwan's president during her visit to the region and helping a politician he considered friendly to Chinese interests win a seat on a city council.
Over 1,000 scholars across the country sent a letter to Northwestern University, calling for the school to apologize for its treatment of a late Feinberg School of Medicine professor following a federal investigation. Prof. Jane Wu took her life in July 2024, after NU restricted her research following a National Institutes of Health investigation into alleged ties between Wu and China. The letter called it one of many cases of “unjust scrutiny of Asian American researchers" based on their ethnicity.
Isabella Wei, whose recent TV roles include Bridgerton and Black Doves, has been set to star with Ming-Na Wen and Tzi Ma in the indie feature Whatcha Want, from writer-director Mina Shum. The film, described as Crazy Rich Asians meets Flashdance, follows "a recent immigrant and trophy wife from Hong Kong who rediscovers her love of dance after her wealthy husband's betrayal."
A frowning red horse has become the surprise hit toy of the Lunar New Year holiday. Embroidered with a Chinese phrase wishing swift wealth, the stuffed toy was supposed to kick off the Year of the Horse with a gallop and a smile. But a worker’s stitching mistake turned that expression upside down, and turned the toy into an internet sensation.
One of Kal Penn's breakout roles was playing the character Taj Mahal Badalandabad in the 2002 comedy hit National Lampoon’s Van Wilder. On a recent episode of the podcast Hasan Minhaj Doesn't Know, the actor revealed that at the end of the audition process, he was up against a "white dude in brownface." And it motivated him to work harder.
Among the Library of Congress' recent additions to the National Film Registry, the library's collection of films deemed worth preserving, are the likes of Inception, The Karate Kid and The Incredibles. But tucked away in that list is a little-known silent film that carries with it a major legacy. Produced in 1914, The Oath of the Sword is the oldest Asian American film on record. Its mere existence reveals a significant gap in cinematic history: The films made by Asian Americans in the silent film era are largely lost to time. And it would have remained hidden if not for Asian American film scholar Denise Khor.
If you drink hot water, wear slippers indoors or shop at Asian supermarkets, you may be Chinese, according to the internet. On TikTok and Instagram, there's a growing trend of people claiming to be in a "very Chinese time" in their lives because they're adopting mundane East Asian lifestyle habits. Anyone can apparently be Chinese if they wish. What in the hell is all this?
Internationally acclaimed actress Michelle Yeoh will be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I mean, what took them so long? The Oscar-winning star of Everything Everywhere All at Once will be honored with the legendary boulevard's 2,836th star at a ceremony on February 18. Joining emcees Ang Lee and Jon M. Chu will be entertainment journalist Jenelle Riley. The event will be streamed live at walkofffame.com.
Squid Game fans! How about a Player 456 action figure? This highly detailed Seong Gi-hun Sixth Scale Figure from Sideshow and Hot Toys bears an incredible resemblance to actor Lee Jung-jae and comes complete with a faithfully tailored Squid Game tracksuit and a series of accessories, including a USB-powered voting machine, a Piggybank, a mask accessory with square symbol, a six-legged pentathlon game set consisting of a pair of ankle cuffs, a pair of Ddakji, a pair of Biseokchigi, a set of Gonggi stones, a shuttlecock, a spinning top, and a special figure base designed to replicate the staircase setting. Awesome. But not cheap -- it'll cost you $280.
They've apparently been handing out busted medals at the Olympics! Milano Cortina officials launched an investigation into reports of defective Olympic medals thanks in part to figure skater Alysa Liu. The Olympian posted a video on TikTok which shows off her medal, earned as part of Team USA's mixed-team short program, snapped off from its ribbon. "I just got this olympic gold medal, already broke it," Liu's caption reads. Several other athletes have reported similar medal snapping. All it apparently takes is some celebratory jumping while wearing the medal.
Consider me intrigued. Michelle Yeoh stars in a new short film, Sandiwara, described as an exploration of Malaysian culture through the lens of food, music and womanhood. Directed by Sean Baker and made in collaboration with London-based fashion brand Self-Portrait, the film's title comes from the Malay word sandiwara, which means drama or theatrical performance. In the 11-minute short, Yeoh plays five different roles, each representing a different side of life in Malaysia. The film premieres this week at the Berlin International Film Festival and will be available everywhere on February 20.
Check out the trailer for Girls Like Girls. Based on writer/director Hayley Kiyoko's hit single and best-selling novel of the same name and featuring all-new music from Kiyoko, the film is described as a heartfelt coming-of-age story set over the course of one sun-drenched summer, where new-girl-in-town Coley falls in love for the first time while learning to accept herself along the way. Girls Like Girls hits theaters on June 19.
Animator Matt Braly says that Sony Pictures Animation scrapped his Thai-inspired animated movie after two years of development because the studio deemed it "not commercial enough to produce." It had been previously announced that Braly, a writer on Cartoon Network's Steven Universe and storyboard artist on The Mitchells vs the Machines was working on a feature with writer Rebecca Sugar.
Braly described the film as an adventure about a "a teen boy traveling to the world of Thai spirits in order to cure himself just before undergoing a very scary & life altering operation necessary to live." He added that this was "not a story about finding a cure so much as it was about learning to accept one’s unchangeable circumstances with grace, and realizing that a different life than expected can still be a wonderful one."
This is a bummer, not least because this project looked cool as hell, but also because it feels like this is a opportune moment for Sony Animation to take some narrative risks on new voices for a big payoff.
The critically acclaimed indie drama Rosemead, starring Lucy Liu, is now available to watch on digital. Inspired by a harrowing true story, Liu transforms in a riveting, career-redefining performance as an ailing woman who takes drastic measures to protect her troubled teenage son (Lawrence Shou). As his dark obsessions grow and time runs out, she is forced to make impossible choices: how far will she go and what is she willing to sacrifice? Set against the simmering tensions of a Chinese American community, Rosemead is a gripping portrait of a family pushed to the edge. Rent or buy Rosemead on Apple TV, Fandango at Home, and Prime Video.
A day after President Donald Trump called the Olympian Hunter Hess "a real loser" over the freestyle skier's comments about representing the United States, two of the biggest stars at these Winter Olympics, snowboarder Chloe Kim and freestyle skier Eileen Gu, have spoken out in a Games that is becoming ever more politically charged. As a general rule, whenever Trump goes out of his way to call someone a "loser," they are usually, in fact, quite the opposite.
Nithya Raman has entered the Los Angeles mayoral race in an eleventh-hour bid, challenging former ally Karen Bass in the June primary. The progressive councilmember announced mayoral run on Saturday, just three hours before the filing deadline for the June election and less than two weeks after endorsing Bass' reelection.
Nou served nearly seven years in prison for killing her husband in self-defense, after suffering years of abuse. She pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter, her green card was taken away, and she has to regularly check in with ICE. Now 50 and disabled, she lives in fear that she'll be deported under the current surge in immigration enforcement in Minnesota.
Yerin Ha never thought she’d get top billing when she sent her audition tape. "When my agent told me it was for Bridgerton, I thought it was a supporting role. Then I realized, oh no, this is for the lead. They’re going to cast an East Asian woman for the lead."
Hitting theaters this week: The Rose: Come Back to Me. Directed by Eugene Yi, the award-winning documentary feature follows the inspiring journey of The Rose -- the Korean alt-pop indie band who have quickly risen as one of Korea's most in-demand groups, captivating audiences worldwide with their soul-stirring, genre-blending sound.
In 1985, Star Trek's George Takei joined a group of dedicated fans to make a student film deep in the California forest -- only for the footage to mysteriously vanish. Nearly 40 years later, the documentary Beam Me Up, Sulu, directed by Timour Gregory and Sasha Schneider, unearths this lost film, revealing not just a piece of fan history but a broader story of representation, resilience, and the ongoing fight for inclusion in media and society.
Just how the heck did this guy, Stan Woo, get George Takei to be in his goofy Star Trek fan film? The documentary is a fun and moving exploration of fandom, dedication and diversity. I had the pleasure of being interviewed for the film, and as a Star Trek fan, I'm delighted to be part of this project.
