They Call Us Bruce 116: They Call Us Asian in New Zealand

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 hos an unfiltered conversation about what's happening in Asian America, with a strong focus on media, entertainment and popular culture.

In this episode, we welcome New Zealand writer/activist Tze Ming Mok. She talks about her country's complicated racial politics, what it's like to live under a functional government that has actually had a handle on COVID-19, and what her view of America looks like right now. (It's not good.)

All The Asians On Star Trek - 10: Away Mission with Andrew Phung

The Podcast In Which We Interview All The Asians On Star Trek.



All The Asians On Star Trek is the podcast in which we interview all the Asians on Star Trek. In Episode 10, we embark on another Away Mission, in which we invite fellow Asian American fans of Star Trek to do a deep dive into an episode of their choosing. For this edition of the Away Mission, we look to our neighbors to the north and welcome actor/comedian Andrew Phung (Kim's Convenience) to discuss "Relics" from season six of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Yes, the one with Scotty. Here's to you, lads.

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Patsy Takemoto Mink blazed the trail for Kamala Harris – not famous white woman Susan B. Anthony
Congress had very few women members back in 1960, and just one woman of color: Patsy Mink of Hawaii.

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Baseball told Kim Ng no (and no, and no) before it finally said yes
By any measure, the hiring of Kim Ng as general manager of the Marlins, after a thirty-year career in the major league -- making her first female GM in professional sports -- was long overdue.

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I Thought I'd Get to See My Mother Again. Then the Pandemic Hit
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A Case for a More Regional Understanding of Food
American food media's focus on national cuisines turns cultures into monoliths as it ignores regional differences in cooking and eating.

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The oldest Chinese restaurant in America
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Exploring Vietnam's Coffee Culture With The Founder Of Nguyen Coffee Supply
Nguyen Coffee Supply's Sahra Nguyen, the first-ever Vietnamese American importer, roaster, and supplier of beans from Vietnam, takes us on a caffeinated journey through the remarkable coffee scene of Vietnam.

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Toward a New Afro-Asian Solidarity: Revisiting Cold War Politics in DA 5 BLOODS, WATCHMEN, and LOVECRAFT COUNTRY
Scholars analyze Da 5 Bloods, Watchmen, and Lovecraft Country to see how Cold War Afro-Asian relations are re-membered and re-imagined today.

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How Tyrus Wong's Christmas Cards Captivated the American Public
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'I feel joy': how Bisha K Ali went from struggling standup to Marvel maestro
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'There wasn't much interest in seeing East Asian actresses on screen'
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Charles Yu Wins National Book Award for 'Interior Chinatown'

Charles Yu Wins National Book Award for 'Interior Chinatown'
Congratulations to Charles Yu, who won the National Book Award for fiction on Wednesday for his mind-bending satire, Interior Chinatown, a sendup of Hollywood and Asian-American stereotypes. The novel, written in the form of a screenplay, features an aspiring actor named Willis Wu who confronts casual racism and the cruel hierarchies of the entertainment world in his quest to graduate from bit roles as the "Delivery Guy" or "Silent Henchman." The judges praised the novel as "wonderfully inventive" and "by turns hilarious and flat out heartbreaking." Watch the announcement here (skip to 1:50:17).

Hate Crimes Have Risen to Highest Level in More Than a Decade

Hate Crimes in U.S. Rose to Highest Level in More Than a Decade in 2019
Today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation released its annual hate crime statistics report for 2019. According to the report, hate crimes in the United States rose to their highest level in more than a decade last year, while more murders motivated by hate were recorded than ever before. The FBI collected data on 7,314 criminal incidents motivated by bias toward race or ethnicity or gender identity in 2019. It was the third straight year the metric surpassed 7,100 incidents and it was the highest number since the FBI reported 7,783 incidents in 2008. Experts say the FBI data likely undercounts the number of hate crimes in America, both because many victims fail to report incidents and local agencies are not required to report hate crime data to the FBI.

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Padma Lakshmi: Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris Moved Me to Tears
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Nikil Saval went from magazine editor to 1st Asian American in Penn. State Senate
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Chinatowns Everywhere Are Suffering. In Oakland, a New Generation Has Answers
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70% of Asian Americans support affirmative action. Here's why misconceptions persist.
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Getting to know new Miami Marlins general manager Kim Ng, MLB's first female GM
Kim Ng became the first female general manager in Major League Baseball history on Friday, when she was hired by the Miami Marlins.

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Henry Golding Wants More Than Hollywood's ‘Tiresome' Casting Questions About Race and Sexuality
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Comedian Atsuko Okatsuka on Husbands, Asian Grandmas, and AR-15s
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Early Oscar Favorite Chloé Zhao on Nomadland and a Career on the Rise
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Snowboarder Chloe Kim on Hot Cheetos, Roxy, and Going for Gold (Again) at the 2022 Winter Olympics
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Kim Ng Hired as General Manager of Miami Marlins

And Other Things to Know From Angry Asian America.



The Miami Marlins Make History with Hiring of Kim Ng as General Manager
The Miami Marlins announced they hired Kim Ng to oversee baseball operations. She is now the highest-ranking woman in baseball operations among the Major League's 30 teams and is believed to be the first woman hired to a general manager position by any professional men;s sports team in North America's major leagues. I've been following Ng's career for years. This has been a loooong time coming. Kim Ng has to be the most overqualified person ever to enter this position as a first-time general manager.

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'Chinese virus' sign at doctor's office draws rebuke
A sign at a New Jersey chiropractor's office referring to the coronavirus as the "Chinese virus" is being slammed online as racist. Annesia Paraison took a photo of the sign Tuesday at the Jersey City office of Kevin Julian and uploaded it to Facebook. The sign, posted on the front desk widow, reads, "Dear Patients: During this time period of the Chinese Virus, please observe the six (6) foot rule of social distancing. Only two (2) people should be waiting in the reception room." Online reaction to the sign was... not positive. When reached by phone at his office Thursday morning, Julian declined to comment about the sign.

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Jon M. Chu to Direct ‘Lilo & Stitch’ Live-Action Movie
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Hasan Minhaj Joins Season 2 of 'The Morning Show'
Hasan Minhaj has been tapped for a major recurring role in the upcoming season of Apple TV+'s The Morning Show. He will play Eric, a charismatic, rising star who joins The Morning Show team.

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Kim's Convenience Star is Now an (Unofficial) Action Figure
If you're a fan of both Star Wars and the hit Canadian sitcom Kim's Convenience, you were probably pretty excited to see actor Paul Sun-Hyung Lee's recent appearance in The Mandalorian as X-wing pilot Captain Carson Teva. One fan, Jason Loo, was so excited, he made a custom action figure of Captain Teva. Now if someone would actually produce an official one...