They Call Us Bruce 197: They Call Us Girl Taking Over

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 welcome writer Sarah Kuhn and artist Arielle Jovellanos, whose new original DC young adult graphic novel Girl Taking Over: A Lois Lane Story re-imagines Lois Lane as an Asian American teen tackling a summer internship in the big city. They talk about finding your people, putting an Asian American twist on a beloved legacy character, the dreaded drawing of cars and crowds, and re-directing the scent of stinky lunchbox moments.

Shouty train passenger gets his anti-immigrant rage on

"It's America. Welcome to America. Deodorant! What do you think?"



If you haven't heard, Donald Trump getting elected president appears to have given his supporters carte blanche to say and do whatever the fuck racist shit they want. And there's not much more to that. A recent subway altercation, caught on camera, basically sums up the heightened post-election tension.

As nation seethes, a charged clash on a Metro subway train

On Friday, a man riding on the Metro Green Line in Maryland was caught on cellphone video harassing another man on the crowded train. The unidentified white man demands to know whether the passenger -- who is out of frame but described by other passengers as Southeast Asian in appearance -- about wearing deodorant.

"It's America. Welcome to America," the man yells. "Deodorant! What do you think?"

#IAmAsianAmerican: 4 Cities, 4 Concerts, October 16

A movement that brings together food and music to get out the vote.



Asian America, are you ready to stand and be counted? This upcoming election will be one of the most important in recent history, for many reasons, and it's imperative that we, as the fastest-growing racial demographic in the country, are not defined as a community that sat this one out.

#IAmAsianAmerican is a national campaign to engage Asian American millennials to become active participants in the electoral process. #IAAA aims to register at least 15,000 new voters with a first-ever national concert event taking place on October 16 in four cities with major Asian American populations: New York, Washington DC, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

The free events will combine food, live music and speakers and on-the-ground engagement in each city -- including a flagship red-carpet celebrity event at Los Angeles' historic Wiltern Theater, which will also be live-streamed to the three other participating cities and locations across the country.

"IAAA is about proudly owning our cross-cultural identities, says executive director Uyen Tieu. "By celebrating Asian American civic engagement and pop culture, we want to put a spotlight on the power of our community -- and get everyone to the polls this November."

Here's some more information about the flagship event happening in Los Angeles: