Huntr/x Joins Katseye for "Golden" Coachella Surprise

And Other Items of Note From Angry Asian America.

Coachella Gets 'KPop Demon Hunters' Surprise as Huntr/x Joins Katseye to Sing 'Golden'

Coachella attendees got a "Golden" treat when the singers behind Huntr/x -- Ejae (Rumi), Audrey Nuna (Mira), and Rei Ami (Zoey) -- made a surprise appearance, joining the ladies of Katseye (Daniela Avanzini, Lara Raj, Megan Skiendiel, Sophia Laforteza and Yoonchae Jeung) on stage to perform their Oscar-winning hit from Kpop Demon Hunters.

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Mariners unveil broken Ichiro statue outside of T-Mobile Park

Awkward. On Friday, the Seattle Mariners unveiled a statue outside T-Mobile Park to honor Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki. Unfortunately, the bronze sculpture, which features Suzuki in a signature pose, was damaged upon being revealed to the public. When the tarp was pulled from the statue -- with some difficulty -- the figure's bat was bent backward at the handle. Womp womp.

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How Sheng Wang finds 'Purple' comedy in a stuck drawer and a toothbrush choice

For comedian Sheng Wang purple is more than a color, it’s a way of being. From his style... to the way he floats through the world writing jokes based on the small, fleeting moments of life, Weng's aura is maintaining a sense of tranquility and creating impact with his art by not trying so damn hard. It's no shock that his second Netflix special Purple is the most revealing of who he is at a time when folks are finally paying attention.

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‘Front Desk’ children’s author pivots with ‘The Take,’ a sharp critique of America’s antiaging obsession

In Kelly Yang’s latest novel, The Take, two women swap blood as part of an experimental antiaging therapy that's suddenly fashionable in California's high-income districts. A vibrant skewering of our youth-obsessed culture, it's quite the detour for a children's book author known for boldly blazing new trails.

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Q & A with cartoonist Derek Kirk Kim of upcoming series ROYALS

Acclaimed cartoonist Derek Kirk Kim talks about this latest comic book Royals, a mind-bending crime caper about telepathic twin brothers set in the shadowy back alleys of Seoul, South Korea.

BTS vs The Wings of Death

And Other Things of Note From Angry Asian America.


BTS Breaks Another Record While Eating Spicy Wings

BTS has made a triumphant return as the biggest music act in the world. But how are the members of BTS -- j-hope, Jin, SUGA, RM, V, Jimin, and Jung Kook -- going to be with spicy food? BTS takes on the wings of death and discusses the process of making new music, what it’s like the morning after performances, the secret to the perfect tteokbokki, how to play “369,” and the best anime songs of all time.

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HASAN MINHAJ on Comedy, the immigrant experience, and why America’s in its “janky era"

IMO with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson welcomes comedian Hasan Minhaj, who talks about growing up Indian American Muslim in northern California and the immigrant experience as it stands today. He also opens up about fatherhood and asks Mrs. Obama and Craig for parenting advice. Plus, he explains why magicians are more impressive than comedians, and why clowns are the least respected of the bunch.

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Rapper Dumbfoundead unapologetically represents K-town in memoir 'SPIT'

Koreatown-raised entertainer Dumbfoundead, aka Jonathan Park, tells it straight: “I don’t think I’m just Korean or Korean American. I’m more Koreatown than both of those labels... This is the culture I grew up in, in the neighborhood, and that’s what made me who I am. If I didn’t grow up in a neighborhood that proudly had Korean letters on menus and signs and I could be unapologetically Korean, I would not be able to battle rap in confidence and be able to have thick skin to fight opponents verbally."

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The Curious Case of Afong Moy: Asian Womanhood and National Belonging In the U.S.

Historians believe that the first Chinese woman to appear publicly in the United States was a young woman called Afong Moy, who was imported as an exotic attraction in 1834. From spectacle to exclusion, her story reveals how Asian women have long been exoticized, surveilled and denied full belonging in the American imagination and the law.

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APPEAL Leadership Program

The APPEAL Leadership Program is a 2.5 day program focused on building a vibrant movement in commercial tobacco control, cancer prevention, and health advocacy in Asian American and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities. This unique leadership program will convene people from across the U.S. and USAPI jurisdictions to discuss and learn about critical health-related tobacco and cancer issues facing AAs & NH/PIs. Fellows will develop the knowledge, skills, and capacity needed to advocate and implement policy change. Apply here.

Min Jin Lee's Slow and Steady Path

And Other Items of Note From Angry Asian America.

Min Jin Lee Works Best in the Silences

Min Jin Lee's 2017 novel Pachinko was an international smash hit. But it wasn't an overnight success. Like much of her writing life, Pachinko took the slow and steady path, reaching bestseller status about a year after publication. Ahead of the highly anticipated release of her third novel, American Hagwon, this fall, she talks about why being a "slow processor" is the best way forward in these unprecedented times.

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A new program unites West Coast readers for stories of Japanese American incarceration

A new program dubbed "the largest book club on the West Coast" is uniting libraries to explore an often erased chapter of the region. For the first time ever, patrons of over 140 different library systems across Washington, Oregon, and California are joining in for the "One Book, One Coast" program. The club's first pick, George Takei's graphic memoir They Called Us Enemy, follows Takei's childhood years imprisoned in incarceration camps in Arkansas and California during World War II.

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These Filmmakers Set Out to Make an Honest Film About BTS—and Got More Than They’d Hoped For

After a nearly four-year hiatus, BTS has surged back into the spotlight. But the group's return to the pinnacle of pop wasn’t easy, as revealed in the new documentary BTS: The Return, which follows the group's seven members as they gather in a Los Angeles studio to work on their comeback album, Arirang. Director Bao Nguyen and producer Jane Cha Cutler talk about the making of the movie and the close collaboration with BTS and Hybe, the group’s parent company, that brought it to life.

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Isa Briones sings "Who's Sorry Now" from JUST IN TIME

Watch Isa Briones singing her ass off in this rendition of "Who's Sorry Now" from Just in Time. The jukebox musical tells the story of legendary singer Bobby Darin. Briones, who also stars as Dr. Santos on the medical drama The Pitt, recently joined the cast on Broaday as Connie Francis. Anything to avoid doing her charts.

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Forget Cruise and Schwarzenegger: Why Chow Yun-Fat is cinema's greatest action hero

"What makes an all-timer action star? Some stand out with their dexterous, daredevil stunts – think Tom Cruise in the Mission Impossible franchise. Others' chief selling point is their Herculean physique, as exemplified by the 1980s Hollywood trio of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and Jean-Claude Van Damme. But set against these invulnerable, seemingly immortal beings, there's one truly remarkable action performer who has been happy to show that he is all too human -- Chow Yun-Fat, the star of some of Hong Kong's most pivotal, internationally influential action films."

Vietnamese Immigrant Dies in ICE Custody

And Other Items of Note From Angry Asian America.

Death of Vietnamese immigrant in Indiana facility is latest ICE detainee fatality

A Vietnamese immigrant died in government custody last week, marking the latest detainee death -- the 46th person to die in federal custody -- during the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. 55-year-old Tuan Van Bui died at the Miami Correctional Center in Indiana. According to ICE, "onsite staff discovered Bui unresponsive." The cause of death is under investigation.

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US War Machine Is Built on Decades of Lies. The Assault on Iran Is No Exception.

"Calling truth a casualty of war may imply, however, that truth survives between wars. But the reality is that militarism and the warfare state are sustained by lies which stretch over decades. The ideology of American exceptionalism is driven by the myth that U.S. intervention plays a unique role in spreading freedom and democracy around the globe. Keeping the public uninformed and miseducated has been a key tactic to tamp down dissent."

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In Conversation: Mia Wenjen and Jolene Gutiérrez

Mia Wenjen and Jolene Gutiérrez both grapple with the cruelty of internment and family separation in their new picture books Barbed Wire Between Us and Unbreakable: A Japanese American Family in an American Incarceration Camp, respectively. The two authors spoke about depicting difficult subject matter for young readers, carrying on the legacy of late author and collaborator Minoru Tonai, and the importance of remembering painful pieces of history.

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'X-Men' Reboot Director Hires 'Beef' Creator, 'The Bear' Writer

Emmy-winning Beef creator Lee Sung Jin is part of the team taking the latest crack at the reboot of X-Men for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The project, which re-introduces the mutant superhero team into the MCU, reunites Lee with Jake Schreier and Joanna Calo, who worked on the screenplay for last year's Thunderbolts.

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The Grandmaster: Tony Leung
From Hard Boiled to Happy Together to Infernal Affairs to, of course, In the Mood for Love, Film at Lincoln Center presents The Grandmaster: Tony Leung, a career-spanning retrospective that gives audiences the chance to rediscover, on the big screen, why the world continues to fall for Tony Leung time and time again.

Congressional Candidate Gets Threats For Running Ad in Hindi

And Other Items of Note From Angry Asian America.

A N.J. congressional candidate ran an ad in Hindi. Then came the threats.

Jay Vaingankar, who is running for Congress in New Jersey’s 12th District, has become the target of death threats, racial slurs, and calls for him to be deported and stripped of his birthright citizenship -- all because he posted a campaign video reaching out to voters in Hindi. The vitriol comes courtesy of MAGA conspiracy theorist Lauren Loomer and her followers, who lost their shit over Vaingankar's multilingual outreach.

"New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District is one of the most diverse places in America," Vaingankar shot back in a press release. "One in every three residents is foreign-born, and two in five households speak a language other than English. While Loomer calls this 'un-American', in Central Jersey we know that this diversity represents the best of America."

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UMich investigating engineering researcher’s death after alleged questioning by U.S. government

At the University of Michigan, authorities are investigating the March 20 death of Danhao Wang, an assistant research scientist in the College of Engineering. Chinese officials claim that Wang took his own life after harassment and interrogation from U.S. officials about his work with the university.

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Everything changed when ICE showed up at our family's motels

"The federal government’s disorganized campaign to rid Minnesota of violent, undocumented immigrants has indiscriminately targeted anyone who looks Other, without due process or adherence to our Constitution. America is a young republic but is made of old souls drawn here from all over the world to actualize its promise. The vilification of Others as un-American is the undoing of our nation's enlightened principles."

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Asian Cohort for Alzheimer's Disease Study Recruiting Volunteers

The Asian Cohort for Alzheimer's Disease seeks participants for a research study to find out more about Alzheimer's disease, what causes it, and how to might prevent it for future generations. Asians are among the fastest growing populations in the United States and Canada, yet they are underrepresented in Alzheimer's Disease research. They're looking Asian Americans and Canadians of Chinese, Korean, or Vietnamese ancestry, 60 years and older, and able to speak English, Chinese (Mandarin or Cantonese), Korean, or Vietnamese. For more info, go here.

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AAPI Renaissance Rally 2026

Two-thirds of Asian representation in mainstream film and TV remain confined to narrow archetypes. For the second year, Seed & Spark's AAPI Renaissance Rally returns to keep rewriting the narrative. Building on last year's movement toward multidimensional and unexpected Asian and Pacific Islander leads, this year expands the canvas -- championing creators who are redefining the culture across every genre, form, and feeling. All projects are funding from March 30-April 29th and if they meet their goals and gather at least 350 followers they can qualify for up to $12,500 in funding, mentorship and more. Learn more about all the project and pitch in here.

Meet Artemis II's Moon Mascot, Designed by 8-Year-Old Lucas Ye

And Other Items of Note From Angry Asian America.

8-year-old watches his plush toy rocket to the moon with Artemis II mission

A second-grader's plush toy design has rocketed to space alongside astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen on board the Artemis II moon mission launch. 8-year-old Lucas Ye of Mountain View, California designed a plush named "Rise," which wears an Earth cap with a brim highlighting the galaxy and rockets. The moon mascot serves as the Artemis II astronauts' zero gravity indicator, letting the crew know that they have reached weightlessness when it floats upward during their journey.

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Brother, sister charged after explosive device found outside Florida Air Force base

What in the hell. Two siblings have been charged after an explosive device was left outside a gate at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa this month. 20-year-old Alen Zheng and 27-year-old Ann Mary Zheng were charged last week in separate federal indictments. The sister is in custody, while the brother has fled. Alen Zheng is charged with attempting to damage government property, unlawfully making a destructive device and possessing an unregistered destructive device, while Ann Mary Zheng is charged with witness tampering and being an accessory after the fact in Alan Zheng's case.

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Lisa Lee on Translating an Emotion

"In writing toward what I didn't know, I rediscovered something I had largely forgotten. This is one of the benefits of writing into uncertainty. Sometimes you find out that you know more than you thought. For me, I think this embrace of uncertainty might be the answer to the question of how to write about a word that has no direct English equivalent. I believe firmly that nothing is untranslatable. It's just that sometimes a word might take a whole book to translate."

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'BTS: The Return' Director Bao Nguyen on Capturing an Intimate Look at the Band

BTS: The Return follows the band from Los Angeles to Seoul as they reunite after serving mandatory military service. When director Bao Nguyen set out to film the documentary and tell the story of the biggest band in the world, he knew he wouldn't have acces to the band 24/7. So he gave all seven members their own camcorders. And that's how Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook all officially earned "additional cinematography by" credits in the documentary.

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2026 SDAFF Spring Showcase

Attention, San Diego film fans! Our friends at Pacific Arts Movement invite you to the 15th SDAFF Spring Showcase, a curated 3-day celebration of Asian and Asian American cinema, featuring bold, moving, and unforgettable stories from around the world. From Aotearoa New Zealand to Iran, Japan to the Philippines, this year's lineup spans continents and perspectives bringing together stories that connect us across borders and generations. It's happening April 24-26 at UltraStar Cinemas Mission Valley. View the full schedule here.

Nurul Amin Shah Alam's Death Has Been Ruled a Homicide

And Other Items of Note From Angry Asian America.

Nurul Amin Shah Alam's Death Was a Homicide

On Wednesday, the Erie County Medical Examiner’s Office announced that it ruled the death of Nurul Amin Shah Alam, a Blind Rohingya refugee who was left on the freezing streets of Buffalo by Border Patrol officers, a homicide. Neither Shah Alam’s family, who had waited to meet him outside the facility where he was being held, nor his lawyers, who had been attempting to contact him, were notified of his location. Shah Alam spoke very little English.

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In the Birthright Citizenship Hearing, a Story of Asians Fighting for Rights

"In the decades before and after the Wong lawsuit, immigrants from China, Japan and India fought an immigration system that tried to keep people like them from entering the United States and from becoming American citizens. Taken together, the cases reflect a body of case law, beyond that of Wong Kim Ark, that has shaped the American immigration system for more than a hundred years."

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Birthright citizenship made me American. We can't lose it.

"Make no mistake: The birthright citizenship case before the Supreme Court is not some isolated policy debate. It's part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to put an end to multiracial democracy as we know it, by making it harder for communities of color to live, work, study and build a life in the United States."

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BEEF: Season 2 | Official Trailer

Netflix has debuted the first full trailer for the second installment of the Emmy-winning series BEEF. Trading the parking lot for the country club, the new season begins when a young couple witnesses an alarming fight between their boss and his wife -- setting off a high-stakes game of favors and coercion within an elitist world ruled by a Korean billionaire. Created and produced by Lee Sung Jin, season two stars Carey Mulligan, Oscar Isaac, Charles Melton, Cailee Spaeny and guest starring Youn Yuh-jung and Song Kang-ho. Beef season two premieres April 16.

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2026 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival

Heads up! The 2026 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival has announced its official program lineup. If you're in Southern California, you have to check out this perennial celebration and showcase of film, culture and community. (Full disclosure: I am board member of the festival's presenting organization, Visual Communications.) From narratives to documentaries, shorts and special presentations, this is a chance to see exciting cinematic works from seasoned and up-and-coming AAPI filmmakers. LAAPFF runs April 29 to May 3 at venues around the Los Angeles area. See you there.