Jeremy LIn's Got a New Gig with ESPN

And Other Items of Note From Angry Asian America.

Jeremy Lin shines in Luka Dončić breakdown on ESPN's 'NBA Today'

Yes, you love and remember him from the era affectionately known as Linsanity. But after retiring from pro basketball last year, Jeremy Lin has a new gig -- with ESPN. The former New York Knick debuted as a special guest commentator on the network this week. On Friday, in a segment on NBA Today, Lin walked studio hosts Malika Andrews and Tim MacMahon through what makes Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Dončić so dynamic. And did a pretty awesome job. This is a good look. It's great to see him on this next chapter of his career and I'm hoping we'll see more of him on this side of the coverage.

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How casinos in New England are exploiting Asian communities for profit

It's no secret that casinos deploy sophisticated strategies designed to entice people to wager beyond their means. And their favored target: people of Asian descent. A three-part Boston Globe series found that New England's largest casinos are relentlessly targeting people of Asian descent across the region, often with devastating results, driving people toward addiction and sapping wealth from Asian communities.

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Another Alysa Liu mural in Oakland — this one with Kristi Yamaguchi

Another mural for a champion. Two champions, actually. Artist Julie Engelmann has created a mural celebrating hometown hero Alysa Liu -- at the Oakland Ice Center, where Liu first learned to skate -- alongside 1992 Olympic figure skating gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi, who also hails from the area.

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THE AUNTIE SEWING SQUAD RESISTANCE PLAYBOOK: A New Documentary Film

The Auntie Sewing Squad Resistance Playbook is a feature-length documentary that follows the Auntie Sewing Squad founded by Kristina Wong, a collective of mostly BIPOC women volunteers who came together on social media with a mission: to protect vulnerable communities from COVID-19. This national network of hundreds of Aunties, Uncles, and non-binary volunteers turned their living rooms into "sweatshops," where they sewed and donated cloth facemasks to counter the US government's failure to provide protective gear for its people. They are currently in the homestretch to complete the film, and are asking for crowdfunding assistance. Your contribution would support editing, sound design, color correction, and other aspects of postproduction before they get the documentary out into the world. For more information, go here.

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No Other Choice Limited Edition Poster

"They didn't really send you the eel, did they?" I must have this incredible No Other Choice poster by acclaimed artist James Jean, celebrating legendary director Park Chan-wook's cinematic masterpiece. Limited edition print of 1000. Available from NEON.

They Call Us Bruce 208: They Call Us Love Boat Revisited

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 rewind and revisit our 2019 conversation with filmmaker Valerie Soe, director of the documentary Love Boat: Taiwan, and writer Abigail Hing Wen, author of the bestselling young adult novel Loveboat, Taipei -- now adapted for the screen as the feature film Love in Taipei, starring Ashley Liao and Ross Butler. They discuss the Taiwanese summer cultural program notoriously known as "Love Boat" and why it was the perfect, long overdue moment to tell these stories.

They Call Us Bruce - Episode 81: They Call Us Love Boat

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're talking about LOVE BOAT! We discuss the infamous Taiwanese culture and language study tour with filmmaker Valerie Soe, director of the documentary Love Boat: Taiwan, and writer Abigail Hing Wen, author of the forthcoming young adult novel Loveboat, Taipei.

May You Find Summer Romance Aboard 'Love Boat: Taiwan'

Valerie Soe is making a documentary about the legendary Taiwanese cultural program, aka "Love Boat."



Here's a film project that could use your help... It's the final fundraising stretch for Love Boat: Taiwan, a documentary that looks at the allure of the Taiwan Love Boat, one of the longest running summer programs in the world, where young Taiwanese Americans get closer to their history, their culture and each other.

In the late 1960s, Taiwan's government established the Study Tour to Taiwan as an outreach program to college-aged Taiwanese Americans and Chinese Americans, to increase their awareness and support for Taiwan. Since then, young people from all over the world have attended this program.

Although it was advertised as a cultural enrichment program -- Mandarin language, martial arts, brush painting, etc. -- the Study Tour's popularity came from another source: its (somewhat notorious) reputation as an excellent place to find romance. Thus earning its more widely known nickname: Taiwan Love Boat.

Director Valerie Soe, who attended the Taiwan Love Boat as a college student in the 1980s, has been working on a documentary chronicling this important part of our community's history.

Nobody Does It Better: Taiwan Shows the U.S. How

Guest Post by Valerie Soe



I've been living in Taiwan this summer working on my new documentary Love Boat: Taiwan, and being out of the United States for a few months has made me wonder: why can't things be like this in the U.S.? I'm not fetishizing Asia or throwing unnecessary shade at the US of A but there are definitely things we could learn from how it's done here in Taiwan. So here are a handful of examples of stuff that they do in Taiwan that I wish we could do in the United States.

Before Tinder, there was the Taiwan Love Boat

Valerie Soe is making a documentary about the legendary Taiwanese cultural program, aka "Love Boat."



They're making a film about the legendary Love Boat. And I'm not talking about the TV show.

In the late 1960s, the Taiwanese government established the Study tour to Taiwan as an outreach program to Chinese American and Taiwanese American youth. While it was touted as a cultural enrichment program, it became notorious among Chinese American and Taiwanese American college students as an excellent place to hook up and find romance. Hence, its more commonly referred nickname: "Love Boat."

Since its inception, the Love Boat has served three purposes: 1) As a political tool for the Taiwanese government. 2) As a way for Chinese and Taiwanese American parents to insure the preservation of their bloodlines. 3) And as a place for young Chinese and Taiwanese Americans to find romance.

No actual boat involved.

angry reader of the week: valerie soe

Hooray! Gather 'round, because it's time to meet another 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 Valerie Soe.