Read These Blogs

Whole Foods is slammed over Yellow Fever restaurant. The owner says it’s not racist.
It was recently announced that a restaurant called Yellow Fever has opened a third location at a Whole Foods 365 store in Long Beach, California. The internet was not pleased.

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As the Supreme Court considers Trump's travel ban, some want justices to remember a case they decided 74 years ago
In 1944, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Korematsu v. United States that Japanese Americans could lawfully be sent to concentration camps -- a decision that has never been officially overturned.

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Scenes from a Chinese Restaurant
A photo essay exploring what it's like to be raised in a family business.

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'Fresh Off The Boat' Expanded What Family Looks Like. Don't Cancel It.
The case for keeping Fresh Off The Boat on the air: "Positive, humanizing snapshots of immigrant families are essential to countering the current anti-immigrant climate. Research shows that, without these images, the public will rely on negative stereotypes to determine opinions about the impact of immigration."

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Hari Kondabolu on The Simpsons' Apu Episode: "I Wasn't Trying to Troll, but if I Was, I Won"
The team behind The Simpsons finally responded to Hari Kondabolu's documentary The Problem With Apu, basically saying that they didn't really care about the conversation about the racist depiction of South Asians in the show. On this episode of Slate's Represent, Kondabolu discusses his reaction this response.

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A Reckoning for Apu, ‘The Simpsons’ and Brownface
"But for many of us, it is not so easy to dismiss Apu and his accent as a mere joke. It is too often clear that the joke is on us — and even more so on our older relatives. Apu was the only major South Asian character on prime-time TV for many years, helping to define how millions of Americans think Indians, Pakistanis and other people from the subcontinent talk and live."

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How Your Filipino Science Fiction Novel Will Be Adapted for Film
"Get rid of all the 'social justice warrior diatribe'; keep the one-liners. The treatise on war, the confusing tie-in with race relations and postcolonial commentary push down an agenda that doesn't flow with the rest of the narrative. Keep the plot simple. You're writing science fiction, not War and Peace."

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A Little Bit Like Worship: An Interview with Elaine Castillo
Elaine Castillo, author of America is Not the Heart talks commemorating the mundane in fiction, writing about working class queer women, and re-claiming the Bay Area in her novel.

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Silicon Valley's Jimmy O. Yang on How Crazy Rich Asians Changed His Life
Comedian Jimmy O. Yang discusses schisms within Asian America, his role as Jian Yang on HBO's Silicon Valley, and how being in Crazy Rich Asians changed his life.

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With 'Ocean's 8' and 'Crazy Rich Asians,' Awkwafina is the summer's comedy secret weapon
You may know Nora Lum as Awkwafina. These days, the Queens native is not only a rapper, but adds comedian and actor to the mix in her upcoming roles in Ocean's 8 and Crazy Rich Asians.

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CRISPR Wizard Feng Zhang: The Making Of A Sunny Science Superstar
By any measure -- papers, prizes, impact -- Feng Zhang is a science superstar, one of the most inventive life scientists in the world. And he's only 35.

They Call Us Bruce - Episode 38: They Call Us Pulitzer

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. 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.

On this episode, we welcome journalism student Mariel Padilla, who, at 23 years old, just won a Pulitzer Prize for her role in The Cincinnati Enquirer's coverage documenting Cincinnati's heroin epidemic.

The Crazy Rich Asians trailer is here. And you are not ready.

"The only thing crazier than love is family."



Here we go. Who said there are no Asian American movie stars? After teasing us with a juicy sliver of footage last week, the full official trailer for Crazy Rich Asians has finally dropped. And it is hot damn glorious.

If you haven't heard about this movie, you will. Based on the bestselling novel by Kevin Kwan, and directed by Jon M. Chu, the contemporary fish-out-of-water romantic comedy is the first major Hollywood studio movie featuring an all-Asian cast in over 25 years. And judging from the trailer, it's going to be a blast.

Fresh Off The Boat's Constance Wu stars as Rachel Chu, a Chinese American economics professor who accompanies her longtime boyfriend, Nick Young (newcomer Henry Golding), to his best friend's wedding in Singapore. But she soon learns that Nick has neglected to mention a few key details about his life. Not only is his family impossibly wealthy, he's perhaps the most eligible bachelor in Asia, and every single woman in his ultra-rarefied social class is incredibly jealous of Rachel and wants to bring her down.

Check it out:

Read These Blogs

Meet the journalism student who found out she won a Pulitzer in class
23-year-old Mariel Padilla, a grad student at Columbia Journalism School, won a Pulitzer for her reporting on the opioid epidemic for The Cincinatti Enquirer. In addition to helping to write "Seven Days of Heroin," Padilla created a much-needed database for better coverage of the crisis.

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1965 to Today: Moving Towards a Majority-Minority America
With the Trump Administration's eye on xenophobic immigration policies, America's family-based, legal immigration system -- the one that shaped Alton Wang's family -- is under attack.

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'No job, no money': Life in Vietnam for immigrants deported by U.S.
Despite a bilateral agreement that Vietnamese immigrants who arrived in the U.S. prior to 1995, many of this population have been deported. Many deportees say adjusting to life in Vietnam has been difficult, especially since they are viewed with suspicion by Vietnamese officials and have trouble finding work.

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Why Your Mother Can't Drive
"Your mother can't drive because when all her high school friends were getting permits, she was an undocumented teen with a MetroCard but no I.D." Cinelle Barnes on intergenerational trauma and growing up undocumented.

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Here's Why You've Never Heard Of The Titanic's Chinese Survivors
Wait, what?! A century ago, a racist press either muddied or completely ignored the names of Chinese survivors of the fatal Titanic voyage -- part of the reason why you've probably never heard about these people.

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From Internment Camps to Souped-Up Chevys: The Rise of Nikkei Car Clubs
Oliver Wang looks at Nikkei car clubs of '50s and '60s L.A. -- comprised of Japanese American teens who either had families who had been incarcerated during World War II, or had been incarcerated themselves.

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BuzzFeed's Eugene Lee Yang Mixes Humor With Social Commentary
Filmmaker Eugene Lee Yang is a breakout internet star from the popular video series "The Try Guys."

Angry Reader of the Week: Lori Kido Lopez

"Most importantly, I am always hungry."



Greetings, internet friends. As we do every week, it is time to meet the Angry Reader of the Week, spotlighting you, the very special readers of this website. Over the years, I've been able to connect with a lot of cool folks, and this is a way of showing some appreciation and attention to the people who help make this blog what it is. This week's Angry Reader is Lori Kido Lopez.

First Look at the Crazy Rich Asians Movie

New footage teases the upcoming full trailer for hotly anticipated romantic comedy.



At long last, here it is! Your first glimpse at the Crazy Rich Asians movie. The official full trailer drops on Monday, but Warner Bros. is first giving us a little tease of the hotly anticipated summer romantic comedy.

Based on the bestselling novel by Kevin Kwan, Crazy Rich Asians follows Rachel Chu, an American-born Chinese economics professor, who travels to her boyfriend Nick's hometown of Singapore for his best friend's wedding. Before long, she learns his secret: Nick's family is rich. Crazy Rich. Not only is his family impossibly wealthy, he's perhaps the most eligible bachelor in Asia, and every single woman in his ultra-rarefied social class is incredibly jealous of Rachel and wants to bring her down.

Crazy Rich Asians is directed by Jon M. Chu, written by Adele Lim and Peter Chiarelli, and stars Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeoh, Gemma Chan, Awkwafina, Ken Jeong, Jimmy O. Yang, Chris Pang, Sonoya Mizuno and more.

Take a look:

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Why We Need To Remember Stockton, California's Filipino American Legacy
When the Little Manila Center in Stockton, California, was vandalized with what its community considered hate speech, it was a vivid reminder Filipinos are not exempt from the same hate that plagued the city a century ago.

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'Roseanne': When a Punch Line Feels Like a Gut Punch
"This isn't just about a couple lines on a TV show. This isn't just about Twitter or outrage or political correctness or even race, per se. To me, this is about attention. This is about the basic human need to have someone say: "I see you. You matter."

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Asian-Americans rejected by Harvard need to resist the anti-affirmative action narrative
Our community is being fed a story by a white man trying to preserve spaces at colleges for mediocre white students, not stellar Asian American ones.

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How to Disobey Your Tiger Parents, in 14 Easy Steps
"I know a lot about disobeying immigrant tiger parents. I didn’t take the conventional route of becoming a doctor or going into tech, as many Asian parents want. Instead, I nurtured lofty ideas about living radically: My heroes were Malcolm X, James Baldwin and Dorothy Day."

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The Artists Who Brought Asian-Americans Into the Annals of Contemporary Art
How artists Martin Wong and Tseng Kwong Chi subverted the outsider status imposed on them in early 1980s New York City.

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South Asian Actors Are Fighting Hollywood's Racism
South Asian characters used to be written as the underdogs and sidekicks. Now, the stereotyped are speaking out and creating their own content -- and America is listening.

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Why the new wave of East Asian authors is targeting YA
Seeking new pathways for telling the fiction they want, authors like Emily X. R. Pan, Maurene Goo, and Mary H.K. Choi are writing stories targeting young adults.

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M.I.A. almost gets arrested, meets Riz Ahmed for lunch
Swet Shop Boys MC and actor Riz Ahmed interviews Mathangi Arulpragasm, aka M.I.A

Angry Reader of the Week: Leena Pendharkar

"I tell stories, I ask questions, a lot of questions."



Hey, everybody! It's time to meet the Angry Reader of the Week, spotlighting you, the very special readers of this website. Over the years, I've been able to connect with a lot of cool folks, and this is a way of showing some appreciation and attention to the people who help make this blog what it is. This week's Angry Reader is Leena Pendharkar.

Read These Blogs

The U.S. Just Quietly Deported The Largest Group Of Cambodians Ever
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sent more than 40 Cambodians, many of whom were refugees, back to Cambodia this week -- the largest group ever to be deported from the U.S. to Cambodia.

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The Rules of the Asian Body in America
During a fraught time for healthcare and immigration, author Matthew Salesses's wife has been battling cancer.

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Orientalism Is Alive And Well In American Cinema
The rage directed at critics of Wes Anderson's Isle of Dogs is a reminder of how many people don't want to believe that an homage can also slight the culture it's putting onscreen.

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Former 'Fresh Off the Boat' Writer Explains Why That 'Roseanne' Joke Is So Problematic
In the re-boot of Roseanne, Dan and Roseanne take a swipe at shows like Black-ish and Fresh Off the Boat. Kourtney Kang, a former writer on Fresh Off The Boat, talks about why jokes like that aren't funny.

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'Roseanne': Is the Show Really 'Just Like Us'?
It's hard to tell if the characters in the Roseanne revival are mocking diversity or being ironic, but some of us aren't interested in sticking around to find out.

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This Comedian Shares the Most Relatable (and Hilarious) Posts About Motherhood
Since giving birth to her second child, comedian Ali Wong has shared on Instagram some real gems on how hard being a mom can be, with the semi-ironic hashtag #TheJoyOfMotherhood.

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The Pregnancy Film That Every Republican Needs to See
Writer/directorr Leena Pendharkar writes about how her own pregnancy troubles inspired her new feature film 20 Weeks, which opens in theaters and digitally on April 13.

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Counter Revolution
Melissa Hung's grandparents from China risked everything to start a humble grocery story in an unlikely place -- El Paso, Texas -- and changed their family forever.

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Hamburgers or Dumplings?
Sometimes the fairy tale version of our family history is the one we want to believe.

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For these superfans, the Instant Pot is not just about easier cooking
The 7-in-1 multicooker that has thousands of devotees in online community groups has also been a tool for some home cooks to connect with the cuisines of their heritage.

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A Chef Told Gordon Ramsay He Couldn’t Cook Pad Thai And It's So Satisfying
"This is not pad thai at all."

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Sandra Oh's Been Waiting 30 Years for a Show Like Killing Eve
The actress opens up about the thrilling new BBC America series Killing Eve, her post-Grey's Anatomy career, and her thoughts on Ellen Pompeo's heroic salary negotiations.

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Mary H.K. Choi Wanted to Write a Book in Which 'High-Key Nothing Happens'
Mary H.K. Choi says that "nothing happens" in her new book, Emergency Contact, but a lot does -- including conversations about sexual assault, communication, and what it means to be someone's emergency contact.

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The Longest Walk
Arla Shephard Bull on her trip to visit her mother's side of the family in the Philippines.

Angry Reader of the Week: Emily P. Lawsin

"When I get angry, I write. I write for two reasons: love and revenge."


Photo: Sahra Vang Nguyen
Greetings, good people of the internet! It's time to meet the Angry Reader of the Week, spotlighting you, the very special readers of this website. Over the years, I've been able to connect with a lot of cool folks, and this is a way of showing some appreciation and attention to the people who help make this blog what it is. This week's Angry Reader is Emily P. Lawsin.

Randall Park begs ABC to renew 'Fresh Off The Boat'

"The cast is top notch. The guy who plays the father is very handsome."



Let's get real, fellow Fresh Off The Boat fans: the show is at risk of being canceled.

Creatively, Fresh Off The Boat is still one of the joys of prime time television. But after wrapping its unprecedented fourth season last month to middle-of-the-road ratings, the ABC comedy is firmly on "the bubble." Its future is uncertain, and renewal is not guaranteed. So if you want to see another season of your favorite Asian American family comedy, this is the time to raise your voice and let the network know what's up.

Who better to lead the charge than the show's star? In this video for USA Today's "Save Our Shows 2018" feature, Randall Park, who plays patriarch Louis Huang, makes an impassioned plea, literally getting on his knees and begging ABC to renew his show. He also offers some solid reasons to bring the show back.

"The cast is top notch," Park explains. "The guy who plays the father is very handsome. It also happens to be, in my opinion, the best show on network television. Or at least the best show about an Asian American family on network television. Out of all those shows -- there's so many of them -- and ours is definitely the best."

I mean, of course, if you put it that way.

They Call Us Bruce - Episode 37: They Call Us Cambodian Rock Band

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. 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.

On this episode, we welcome playwright Lauren Yee and performer Jane Lui, fresh off the world premiere run of their groundbreaking play Cambodian Rock Band, which joins the story of family secrets, Cambodia's darkest hour, and the incredible sounds of Cambodian psychedelic surf rock.

I Can't Wait To Be An Old Asian American Woman

"I will do nothing else but sit in my favorite chair and let all my migrant muscles rest."



From the icy wilds and tiny desks of Alaska... I don't know about you, but Christy NaMee Eriksen can't wait to be an old Asian American woman. The Juneau-based poet and activist gives us a gorgeous gift: her wonderful, unique last-minute submission to NPR's 2018 Tiny Desk Contest.

Recorded on frozen Auke Lake and accompanied on guitar by Avery Stewart, she lists off all the awesome things she's legitimately looking forward to being and doing when she is an old Asian American woman. It's a thank you to Asian America and a thank you to ajummas everywhere.

Dammit, can you stop using the word "Chinaman"?

West Virginia, please tell your people.


West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice
It's 2018. Can we all agree that some phrases are racist and just need to be retired? In West Virginia, both the governor and a state school board official have recently been on record using the term "chinaman."

Yes, people, the word is a slur.

WV governor, state school board VP have used what's considered an anti-Asian slur

Back in February, at a live streamed town hall meeting, Governor Jim Justice was discussing issues that later led into a statewide public school workers strike. He was trying to dissuade teachers from backing a proposed tax increase to fund more substantial pay raises, saying the bill had no chance of passage in the legislature.

"There's not a Chinaman's chance in the whole wide world that will happen," Justice said. "It's not getting out of committee."

May this be your semi-regular reminder that "chinaman" is a racial slur.

Aside from the fact that Justice clearly doesn't know -- or doesn't care -- that he's using a slur, this was just plain unnecessary. How was the governor's point enhanced by slapping the phrase "Chinaman's chance" on top of this statement? Like, "in the whole wide world" wasn't enough hyperbole? Had to throw in that racial slur for good measure, because hey, it sounds funny. Or "silly," as the governor would later claim, two days later.

"I use a lot of silly phrases and stuff like that," Justice said. "If that offended somebody, then I'm sorry."

Read These Blogs

Asians are being used to make the case against affirmative action. Again.
We are cast as victims in a pernicious story about race.

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Asian Americans think an elite college degree will shelter them from discrimination. It won't
Many Asian Americans believe a degree from an elite college or university -- and preferably an Ivy League one -- is a necessary step to a successful career, and a safeguard against discrimination in the labor market. But there is also growing evidence that this faith in elite credentials may be misplaced.

* * *
The bitter lie behind the census’s citizenship question
Adding a citizenship question to the 2020 U.S. Census would be disastrous for everyone, with communities that are already at greater risk of being undercounted -- including people of color, young children, and low-income rural and urban residents -- suffering the most.

* * *
A Snapshot Of How Asian-Americans Are Changing The South
According to census data, the Asian American population in the South has grown by 69 percent in ten years, and now has the power to influence elections, schools and culture.

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As Airbnb Moves In, Boston's Chinatown Sees Its Culture -- and Demographics—Change
Short-term rentals are spreading through Boston's Chinatown, displacing long-time residents and changing the culture and identity of the neighborhood in the process. Chinatown is fighting for its existence.

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The Former Khmer Rouge Slave Who Blew the Whistle on Wells Fargo
Duke Tran has waged a nearly four-year legal fight against his former employer Wells Fargo, arguing that he was fired for blowing the whistle on deceptive practices.

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I Thought Going To Korea Would Help Me Find Home
"When I moved to Seoul after growing up in America, I was a foreigner who looked native. I ended up staying for three years -- but eventually I had to go home."

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The Sunken Place and the Model Minority Myth
"I sometimes wish I could go back in time and be my own guardian angel. I would reach down into that dark place of the Model Minority Myth and pull the younger me out. I would tell myself, "Baby, you got this. The best thing you can do is to ignore these goras.'"

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From Superhero Shows to Soaps, South Asian Actors Are Taking Over TV
This pilot season, from legal dramas to family sitcoms to The Greatest American Hero reboot, there's a major boom in South Asian representation -- and we're not just seeing the same old stories anymore.

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Off the coast of San Pedro, a Japanese community erased
Isolated from the mainland of Los Angeles, Fish Harbor was a 'dreamland' for Japanese Americans until 1942.

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What It's Like to Watch Isle of Dogs As a Japanese Speaker
"When the first trailer arrived for Isle of Dogs last fall, I had three immediate, consecutive reactions: One: Oh, no. Two: Wait, I take that back. I'm going to be a good critic and reserve judgement until the week of March 23. Three: This is exhausting."

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How to Fall in Love Over Text
To write her young-adult novel Emergency Contact, Mary H.K. Choi had to figure out how to render texts between a pair of teens without sounding like "an out-of-touch old person."

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Jimmy O. Yang Of 'Silicon Valley': Asians Who Aren't Hunks Need Screen Time, Too!
Silicon Valley star Jimmy O. Yang chats about his new book How to American: An Immigrant's Guide to Disappointing Your Parents, his own immigrant experience, Asian masculinity, and the untold impact that one movie, Ninja Assassin, had for Asian men.

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Fresh off Olympic glory, Chloe Kim says she hopes to use her platform to fight bullying
Snowboarder Chloe Kim, who became a household name last month when she took home gold for Team USA at the Winter Olympics, said her favorite part about her overnight rise to fame has been the free food. But she also hopes to use her platform to fight bullying, something she faced growing up.