As a nod to this being Black History Month and also as a form of pushback against the current dismantling of meritocracy in the U.S. Military by the Trump administration, I invited Dr. Roger Newman to talk about his latest novel Boys, a work of historical fiction based on what he learned about his Black Uncle Alex growing up in the Jim Crow South and facing systemic racism while serving in Army during World War II and beyond.

In this latest episode in the Two Kens collaborative series on American politics and Christian nationalism, Fong and Kemp point out the jarring historical parallels with how Germany's Hitler and Hungary's Orban were able to dismantle their countries democracies so quickly. This episode is a call to action and resistance for every American who is now seeing the clear signs of decay in our democracy.

Transition and outro music credit to The Isley Brothers and their "Fight the Power" anthem from 1975.

Celebrated playwright, director and producer Chay Yew is once again directing Lauren Yee's Cambodian Rock Band, this time in its Los Angeles debut at East West Players David Henry Hwang Theater in Little Tokyo from February 13-March 9, 2025. 

A poignant new classic of the Asian American theater canon, Cambodian Rock Band explores the story of a Khmer Rouge survivor as he returns to his homeland after thirty long years. While his daughter prepares to prosecute one of the country's most notorious war criminals, the ghosts of their shared past begin to stir. This deeply moving story weaves back and forth through time as father and daughter confront history, turning to music as a path towards healing.

You can listen to my 2018 interview of Lauren Yee when her play was first being produced at the South Coast Repertory Theater: https://asianamericapodcast.com/2018/03/ep-141-cambodian-rock-band/

Please go to www.eastwestplayers.org to find a performance that fits your schedule.

Hawaii-based writer Chris McKinney has edited Honolulu Noir, the latest in the Akashic Noir series of location-based dark short stories. Comprised of stories about the people of the city, written by those who know this place best. The volume opens with a story featuring Chang Apana, the Native Hawaiian/Chinese real-life cop who was the inspiration for the controversial Charlie Chan. It ends with a supernatural journey from the Philippines to Hawaii. In between, readers will find multicultural tales of invasion (whether yakuza, ISIS recruiters, or vampires), madness, addiction, and murder—all the stuff that many people don’t know happens here. Unbeknownst to the rest of the country, Honolulu can be a very dangerous place. Here, even the alluring crystal-blue waters might kill you.

Doreen and Ken were high school sweethearts more than half a century ago. (You can hear more about their love story in EP 496.) But they parted ways in 1973, met and married their spouses, and had children. Doreen's marriage ended in divorce 27 years ago, and Ken's marriage ended in July 2023 when cancer took his wife Snoopy from him. Her dying wish was that he remarry and find happiness again.

Since they were living in different halves of California, Ken phoned Doreen and asked if she'd be open to getting "reaquainted" after all these years. She quickly said "yes," and on January 18th of this new year, they got married! 

In this special edition of the podcast, Doreen and Ken open up about what was extra special about their ceremony and how their relationship now feels even closer after getting married to each other.

My longtime friend and fellow podcaster Ken Kemp (The Beached White Male) lives on the far end of Orange County, so his house is far from the fires in SoCal. But many of his out-of-state friends don't know this, so they've been reaching out to he and his wife for reassurances of their safety. They've suffered several days-long power outages due to the high winds, though, so it's not like he's been spared. Knowing that our house is in one of the areas threatened by the Eaton Fire, he called first to hear how Janessa and I were doing. Once he heard that my family and my house were fine, he then suggested that we should do an episode about this current conflagration. Of course I agreed. We also compared notes on the legacy of Pres. Jimmy Carter, who'd recently died at the age of 100.

In editing this episode, I realized that Kemp and I had confused two previous California wildfires. He talks about the Paradise Fires in 2003, and I was referring to the fire in Butte County that destroyed the town of Paradise in 2018.

Dr. Noël S. Harmon is the President and Executive Director of Asian Pacific Islander American Scholars (APIA Scholars), which is America's largest nonprofit dedicated to supporting Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) students. Their newly revamped scholarship application process is aimed at reducing financial barriers to higher education for students most in need, while also ensuring greater flexibility and accessibility for a diverse range of scholars.

Now with this much more inviting application and process, APIA Scholars is once again setting a bold new standard in scholarship delivery by addressing the evolving nees of AANHPI students, many of whom face financial challeges, systemic inequities, and unique cultural pressures. Dr. Harmon says, "We are committed to empowering AANHPI students by ensuring that financila barriers do not stand in the way of their educational aspirations."

www.apiascholars.org

Author Ellie Yang Camp and I first crossed paths 24 years ago at a triennial Christian conference for college students. I was the main speaker that week and she was a student leader of her InterVarsity chapter @ Cal. We never met that week, but when her debut book Louder Than the Lies crossed my desk and I read her bio and then saw what she had to say about the insidious and pervasive problems of white supremacy and whiteness, and how they continue to oppress and brainwash many of us Asian Americans, I immediagtely knew I had to bring her on my show. And with Trump having been re-elected to the White House, Ellie's book should be required reading. You can find her on social media @eeewhysee and you can find her book anywhere great books are sold. #whiteness #whitesupremacy #aanhpi #defeatingracism

Globally acclaimed jazz koto player June Kuramoto received one of the ten National Fellowship Heritage Awards by the National Endowment for the Arts in 2024 in Washington, DC. You can watch Rep. Judy Chew glowing introduction of her and then June's acceptance speech here: https://www.youtube.com/live/tqSlIfYprPU?si=vnwIH5wpcpzVHWk_

David Bradley Lim grew up in a comfortable Nor Cal suburb. He excelled at most sports, but he knew that he'd never be able to be competitive beyond high school. So he majored in electrical engineering. But after earning his degree, he dove headfirst into the mortgage lending business. Even though he didn't know an escrow from an equity line, he put in the reps and became a top performer. But one day the savings and loan world collapsed all around him. Still not sure what he wanted to do to earn a living, he explored modeling, ultimately being signed by one of the top agencies. But David realized that, deep inside, he wanted to be an actor. So he threw himself into acting classes, again, putting in the reps and hoping for a lucky break. After being part of Season 2 of Quantico, in 2017 he auditioned to be part of the cast of S.W.A.T., an American police action drama television series, based on the popular 1975 television series and the film adaptation of the same name. He impressed the director and producers so much that they created a recurring member of the team who was Chinese American! The show is in its eighth season and the pilot and previous seasons are frequently watched on Netflix now. You can find him @davidbradleylim and the jewelry that he and his wife make @shopmayadavid.

Already being mentioned for the Academy's "Best Picture" and "Best Actor" awards, this screen adaptation of Robert Harris' international bestselling novel Conclave is now available to rent on streaming platforms like Amazon Prime, Apple TV, VuDu, and more! Having watched it together the week of Thanksgiving, Ken Kemp and I were chomping at the bit the next day to debrief the major messages, especially in the final scene. If you've already seen it, you may have completely overlooked the symbolism of the turtles, but we didn't! This episode contains major spoilers, so if you'd rather watch the film first, listen to how we unpack it after. Even if you choose not to see this film, I think you'll still gain a great deal listening in on our reactions.