Toro y Moi performs at NPR's Tiny Desk

Artist offers four stripped down tracks from 'Outer Peace.'



Chaz Bear, who performs as Toro y Moi, is the latest artist to drop by and perform for NPR's Tiny Desk Concert series, treating fans to four stripped down tracks from his acclaimed record Outer Peace. Peeling away the heavy auto-tune and electronic effects of the record, Toro y Moi offers acoustic versions of "Laws of the Universe,' "New House," "Freelance" and "Ordinary Pleasure."

Check it out:

Netflix teams with Jon M. Chu for Thai cave rescue project

Jon M. Chu and Nattawut "Baz" Poonpiriya will direct the story of the 2018 Thai soccer team cave rescue.



Netflix is teaming up with SK Global Entertainment and directors Jon M. Chu and Nattawut "Baz" Poonpiriya to tell the story of last year's dramatic rescue of a boys' soccer team trapped in a cave in Thailand.

Netflix & ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ Team Pact For Thai Cave Story

The project will tell the true story of how twelve boys and their soccer coach were rescued after being trapped for two weeks inside of the flooded Tham Luang caves near Chiang Mai, Thailand during the summer of 2018.

The project's format is unclear, but The Hollywood Reporter indicates that it's expected to be a miniseries.

Read These Blogs

Ali Wong, Comedy’s Reigning Queen Mom
The comedian burst onto the scene with two Netflix specials that mined pregnancy and motherhood for hilarity. As her new film, Always Be My Maybe, ups the ante, Ali Wong contends with her growing fame, touring with kids in tow, and more.

* * *
John Cho on Heritage, Hashtags and Hollywood's Surprises
John Cho talks about narrating the PBS documentary Korea: The Never-Ending War, his role on The Twilight Zone, how Cowboy Bebop casting broke the internet, and the possibility of another Harold and Kumar movie.

* * *
When Did Asian Food Become Dirty?
"Asian Americans are right to object to the weaponizing of the word "clean" as a way to suggest that Asian food is only safe when white people are in charge."

* * *
The Next Mayor of Boston?
Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu has emerged as one of the city's most effective politicians.

* * *
California's Lost (and Found) Punjabi-Mexican Cuisine
Rasul's El Ranchero restaurant in Yuba City, California created a roti quesadilla for a very specific community -- a half-century before Indian fusion food became trendy.

* * *
How chef Helene An brought Vietnamese cuisine to the U.S.
The Smithsonian recently announced it will honor chef Helene An and her family with a Pioneer Award in Culinary Arts, recognizing her as "the mother of fusion cuisine" and "the first to introduce Vietnamese cuisine to mainstream America, changing American palates forever."

* * *
Actress Leyna Bloom Is Gonna Make Trans, Black, And Asian History At The Cannes Film Festival
Model and actress Leyna Bloom is the first transgender woman of color to lead a film at Cannes.

* * *
The Story of Our Lives Do Not Have Faces: Sally Wen Mao Interviewed by Anne Anlin Cheng
The poet on her new collection and how a person lost to history can survive in the imaginary possibilities of art.

* * *
Ali Wong and Randall Park talk Always Be My Maybe, D'Angelo, and romance
Ali Wong and Randall Park, stars of the upcoming Always Be My Maybe, talk about their rom-com favorites and a scene in the film that features an assist from an R&B star.

* * *
Amy Tan looks back on The Joy Luck Club -- and ahead to a post-Crazy Rich Asians Hollywood
The bestselling book The Joy Luck Club celebrates its 30th anniversary with a special edition of the novel, which includes a new preface by author Amy Tan.

Read These Blogs

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma Plays Bach In Shadow Of Border Crossing
World-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma brought his Bach Project to the sister cities of Laredo, Texas, and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, on Saturday. The "Day of Action" featured performances in both cities to celebrate the relationship between the two communities.

* * *
Why That Video of Hasan Minhaj Teaching Ellen to Say His Name Went So Viral
Last week, Patriot Act host Hasan Minhaj talked to Ellen about the pronunciation of his name. This moment was important for many people of color who have non-Western or non-"American" names.

* * *
New NYC Chinese Restaurant Draws Swift Backlash to Racist Language
The newly opened white-owed Greenwich Village restaurant Lucky Lee's has gone viral for all the wrong reasons after claiming to serve "clean" Chinese dishes for "people who love to eat Chinese food and love the benefit that it will actually make them feel good."

* * *
How Lucky Lee’s Could Have Gotten an 'American Chinese' Restaurant Right
Lucky Lee's is cultural appropriation at its most obvious -- but it didn't have to be.

* * *
Fancy Chinese food is here to stay — and it's about time
Asian American chefs in California today are challenging long-standing ideas about how the foods they grew up eating should look and taste -- and how they should be valued.

* * *
Bok Choy Isn't 'Exotic'
A young generation of Asian American farmers is reclaiming Asian vegetables -- and their culinary heritage.

* * *
Sahra Nguyen Wants to Change the Trajectory of Vietnamese Coffee
Sahra Nguyen wanted to show people there was more to Vietnam that instant coffee, and so she launched Nguyen Coffee Supply, a company that sources beans directly from Vietnam.

* * *
Doctor dragged off United Airlines flight after watching viral video of himself: 'I just cried'
The Kentucky doctor seen in a viral video being forcibly removed off an United Airlines flight has spoken publicly for the first time since the 2017 incident. He says he doesn't regret standing his ground.

* * *
Kamala Harris Takes Her Shot
No other 2020 election matchup would be as riveting -- or as revealing -- as Kamala Harris versus Donald Trump. But first she has to get through the primaries.

* * *
How a mobile game is reopening a hidden chapter in Taiwan's history
The video game Unforgivable examines Taiwan's White Terror through a ludonarrative lens.

* * *
Susan Choi Complicates the Plot
How rage and the Access Hollywood tape inspired this spring’s most inventive and polarizing novel.

* * *
Daniel Dae Kim Wants to Stop Talking About Diversity—but Not Yet
From his years delivering the goods on shows like Lost and Hawaii Five-0 to a role in the new Hellboy, Daniel Dae Kim is one of Hollywood's most reliable players.

* * *
The significance of John Cho starring in Netflix's live-action adaptation of 'Cowboy Bebop'
Netflix recently announced that John Cho is taking on a lead role in the live-action adaptation of Cowboy Bebop -- an important step for Asian American representation in film.

They Call Us Bruce - Episode 64: They Call Us Warrior

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.

On this episode, we offer our impressions, praises and critiques of Cinemax's Warrior, the new western/eastern action drama inspired by the writings of Bruce Lee. (Spoiler alert: we really like it.)

He watched all 67 episodes of 'Game of Thrones' in one sitting

"I've never felt more accomplished and more worthless at the same time."



If you're a Game of Thrones fan, you're counting down the hours to this weekend's upcoming premiere of the hit fantasy drama's eighth and final season. If you're a relatively new fan, it's been nearly two years since the season seven finale, so you've had some time to get caught up.

Or you could just binge all 67 episodes of the show in one sitting.

Having never seen the show, Lawrence Dai, a writer for Late Night With James Corden, got locked in a room and sat down to watch the entire run of Game of Thrones so far -- 67 hours -- over the course one bleary-eyed weekend, and filmed it for the show. From Ned Stark's death, to the Red Wedding, to Jon Snow's death, to the mysterious appearance of Ed Sheeran, watch Lawrence suffer all the blows dealt to the Seven Kingdoms.

Coffee shop owner killed in massive explosion

Donate to support the family of Kong Lee.



Some tragic news out of North Carolina, with a family that could use your help... This week, a 61-year-old man was killed in a massive explosion caused by a gas leak in downtown Durham.

Emergency responders were evacuating people in Durham, N.C., when a gas explosion killed 1

Kong Lee, owner of the Kaffeinate coffee shop, was killed Wednesday morning when contractor boring under the sidewalk hit a 2-inch gas line, causing the explosion. Lee was inside the building when it collapsed.

Minutes prior to the explosion, Lee had called his children to let them know he was closing up the shop.

Read These Blogs

Stories of transracial adoptees must be heard – even uncomfortable ones
"My esteem for my white family, the strength of my connection to them, is what makes me feel safe, relatable, approachable to some. This, it turns out, is the price of admission, the prerequisite for whatever authority they are willing to grant me when it comes to talking about my own experience."

* * *
Chinese immigrants helped build California, but they've been written out of its history
Chinese workers were indispensable in California's development history, but they have been accorded no voice.

* * *
Thrilling Developments from the 2019 American Copy Editors Society Conference
It's official: you can drop the hyphen in "Asian-American."

* * *
Sarah Jeong Is Watching the Web From Portland. She Sees a Pile of Garbage.
An interview with journalist Sarah Jeong, who looks at how the internet got to the trashy, scammy place it is today (and how she herself has dealt with the garbage).

* * *
We Visited The Set Of 'Fresh Off The Boat' — The First Asian American Sitcom To Hit 100 Episodes
A visit to the set of Fresh Off The Boat, reflecting on the show's historic 100th episode.

* * *
'Fresh Off the Boat' Creator on Breaking Diversity Rules on Broadcast TV: "Everything Has Changed"
As her groundbreaking sitcom hits 100 episodes, producer Nahnatchka  Khan talks about TV's history of avoiding topical comedy and telling immigrant stories amid Trump's demand for a border wall.

* * *
Fresh Off the Boat has changed history. I couldn't be a prouder dad
With Fresh Off the Boat hitting 100 episodes, Jeff Yang thinks back on the journey he and his son Hudson, who plays Eddie, that got them to this point.

* * *
Shang-Chi: 8 Reasons Why It's So Important for Asian Representation in Cinema
Marvel's upcoming Shang-Chi is the opportunity to reverse Hollywood's terrible trend of whitewashing, as well as an opportunity to tap into and continue the success of Crazy Rich Asians.

* * *
How casting across racial lines exposes Hollywood's power imbalance
As Mary Queen of Scots and Hellboy have shown, colourblind casting and whitewashing are part of the same, complex argument.

* * *
Mira Jacob Still Believes America's Changing for the Better
Mira Jacob talks with Rebecca Carroll about her second book Good Talk and not having to feel "guilty for somebody else's tremendous shortcomings."

Angry Reader of the Week: Jason Tobin

"I told my parents that I wanted to be the Bruce Lee of acting."


Photo Credit: Faye Thomas
Hey, everybody! Here we are again. 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 Jason Tobin.

They Call Us Bruce - Episode 63: They Call Us Shannon Lee

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.

On this episode, we welcome Shannon Lee, CEO of Bruce Lee Family Companies and the daughter of our show's namesake, Bruce Lee. She talks about her father's incredible legacy and the original vision that became the basis for the new Cinemax action series Warrior.

Still 'Fresh' at 100

'Fresh Off The Boat' celebrates its landmark 100th episode.



My, how far we've come. Tonight marks the landmark 100th episode of ABC's Fresh Off The Boat, starring your favorite prime time network sitcom family. You never thought the Huangs would take it this far.

Now in its groundbreaking fifth season, Fresh Off The Boat follows the continuing misadventures of the Huangs -- Jessica and Louis, their sons Eddie, Emery and Evan, and Grandma -- as they pursue the American dream in 1990s suburban Orlando. The series, based on the memoir by Eddie Huang, stars Constance Wu, Randall Park, Hudson Yang, Forrest Wheeler, Ian Chen, Lucille Soong, Chelsey Crisp and Ray Wise.

Need to catch up? Here's a ridiculously fast recap of every single episode that got us here:

You could save this boy's life

7-year-old Ryan is in need of a bone marrow donor.



7-year-old Vietnamese American leukemia patient Ryan Jacoby is in desperate need of a bone marrow donor. He has beat leukemia before -- his brother was a match -- but unfortunately his cancer recently returned.

7-Year-Old Cancer Patient Seeks Compatible Bone Marrow Donor

You may know that it's often difficult to find bone marrow matches for patients of Asian descent, because Asian Americans are poorly represented in the bone marrow donor registry. Frankly, we're terrible at this.

What makes finding a match for Ryan particularly challenging is that he's of Vietnamese and Caucasian descent. Bone marrow matches on the registry are even lower for mixed race patients.

John Cho to star in live-action 'Cowboy Bebop' series

Cho leads a diverse cast in Netflix's remake of the iconic anime series.



John Cho will star in as Spike Spiegel in the live action adaptation of the classic Japanese animated space western Cowboy Bebop, arguably the coolest damn show ever made. And now actually #StarringJohnCho.

'Cowboy Bebop': John Cho, Mustafa Shakir, Daniella Pineda & Alex Hassell To Star In Netflix Series

Cowboy Bebop is "the jazz-inspired, genre-bending story of a rag-tag crew of bounty hunters on the run from their pasts as they hunt down the solar system's most dangerous criminals," aboard their spaceship, the Bebop.