Want to hear Ethan's *killer* impression of Washington Ho? Guest Cindy Chou returns and sits down with Ethan and Alison to discuss the HBO Max show House of Ho, a reality show about the tumultuous family drama and life of The Ho Family, a wealthy Vietnamese-American family based in Houston, Texas. Join in as Alison, Cindy, and Ethan discuss the show's unique portrayal of generational conflict and Asian-American culture through the peculiar medium of American reality TV, as well as reflect on the recent trend of reality TV shows focused on ridiculously rich Asian families.
Works mentioned:
House of Ho
Bling Empire
Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives
Produced by Casey Lee
Audio edited/mixed by Ethan Lee
Graphic/logo design by Chris Kim (@chuffimation)
Music by Ethan Lee (G-Kahn)
Ethan and Alison return to the (Zoom) booth and are joined by Ethan's brother, Evan, to discuss the Marvel Studios film and first Asian-led superhero film, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings! Join in the conversation as they discuss their thoughts on the Marvel film and explore its cultural references to Hong Kong and Chinese action cinema, as well as fawn over Tony Leung, reflect on their childhood dreams of an Asian superhero, and ponder Shang-Chi's oriental nature. What will Shang-Chi's entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe mean for Asian-American cinema?
Works mentioned:
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Short Term 12
Eternals
American-Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
Shang-Chi Vol.1 by Gene Luen Yang
Credits:
Produced by Casey Lee
Audio mixed/edited by Ethan Lee
Graphic and logo design by Chris Kim (@chuffimation)
Music by Ethan Lee (G-Kahn)
In this unique audio essay and serial-style episode of Thank You / Enjoy, Ethan compiles, analyzes, and reflects on 3 interviews he conducted with 3 friends of the show on the latest Disney animated film, Raya and the Last Dragon.
Listen in on Cindy Chou, Rae Jillian Rivera, and Anna Nguyen as they share their unique critique on Raya and the Last Dragon's details, creative choices, cultural implications, and overall representation of the Southeast Asian American community, and join Ethan as he narrates and sequences the interviews, threading together and commenting on the common themes and sentiments shared among his three friends!
Produced by Casey Lee and Alison Chi
Written and recorded by Ethan Lee
Edited by Ethan Lee
Music by Ethan Lee (G-Kahn)
Graphic/logo design by Chris Kim (Instagram @chuffimation)
Ethan, Casey, and Alison return to the Zoom booth and catch up after a post-Season 1 break to ring in the Year of the Ox in this Lunar New Year special! Join the Thank You / Enjoy team as they discuss their favorite Lunar New Year memories and explore how their relationships with the holiday have changed over the years, and what they enjoy doing now to preserve their culture and traditions!
Join the TYE community on Discord: https://discord.gg/H2GncxVEQv
Works/people mentioned/inspired:
Corky Lee (photographer)
Kamala Harris
The Queen's Gambit (2020)
Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu
The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
After Dark by Haruki Murakami
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
Crash Landing On You (2019)
San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade
Produced by Casey Lee
Edited/mixed by Ethan Lee
Graphic Logo Design by Chris Kim (@chuffimation)
Music by Ethan Lee (G-Kahn)
In Thank You/Enjoy's season finale, Ethan, Alison, and Casey jump in the Zoom and wrap up the entire season with the topic that started it all: boba liberalism. Join in as they share their own personal experiences with understanding the term and encountering communities that perpetuate this particularly controversial sense of being Asian American in the political and economic space! From high school club anecdotes and "Jeremy" from high school to theater try-outs and Mandarin classes at UCLA, you'll hear it all wrapped nicely together to conclude the very first season of Thank You/Enjoy! Thank you to all the listeners and guests who joined us this Season 1! We'll see you very soon and can't wait to talk with y'all again.
Show notes:
- Boba liberalism tweet by @diaspora_is_red
- "The Rise (and Stall) of the Boba Generation" by Jenny G. Zhang
- "COVID-19 and the End of Boba Liberalism Media" by Karen Shibuya
- “The Bourgeois Cinema of Biba Liberalism” by Prof. Melissa Phruksachart
Produced by Casey Lee
Audio Edited/Mixed by Ethan Lee
Graphic/Logo Design by Chris Kim (@chuffimation)
Music by Ethan Lee (G-Kahn)
Ethan and Alison discuss the Asian YouTubers they grew up watching, high school Asian American clubs, and Asian YouTuber festivals. Join Ethan and Alison as they reminisce on Asian YouTube's renaissance circa 2009-2011 and attempt to break down what made these videos so "Asian" (apart from the cast).
Works Mentioned/Inspired:
WongFu Productions
NigaHiga
KevJumba
The Community Channel
Happy Slip
Freddie Wong
YourChonny
Mike Song
Produced by Casey Lee
Audio Edited/Mixed by Ethan Lee
Graphic/Logo Design by Chris Kim (Instagram @chuffimation)
Music by Ethan Lee (G-Kahn)
Ethan and Alison are joined by special guest and friend of the show Jennifer Liaw for Thank You/Enjoy's Thanksgiving special episode! Join them as they discuss dim sum, share their experiences in various "upscale" Taiwanese/Chinese restaurants in Los Angeles and New York City, and explore the politics of food authenticity!
Restaurants mentioned/inspired from this episode:
Atlantic Dim Sum (San Gabriel Valley, Los Angeles, CA)
Feast (UCLA, Los Angeles, CA)
Dragon Beaux (San Francisco, CA)
Joy (Pasadena, Los Angeles, CA)
Win Son (New York, NY)
886 (New York, NY)
Yang's Kitchen (Los Angeles, CA)
Woon (Los Angeles, CA)
Produced by Casey Lee
Audio Mixed/Edited by Ethan Lee
Graphic/Logo Design by Chris Kim (Instagram @chuffimation)
Intro/Outro Music by Ethan Lee (soundcloud.com/leegato)
With Parasite, BTS, and Crash Landing On You being among South Korea's hottest imports to the West this year, it's impossible for Ethan and Alison to ignore the increased popularity of Korean media in the United States. Join Ethan and Alison on this hilarious and fun discussion on the phenomenon they like to refer to as, "The Koreawave."
From Super Junior to BTS, and Boys Over Flowers to It's Okay To Not Be Okay, Alison and Ethan compare the Korean music and shows they watched 10 years ago to the Korean music and shows of today, and how their increased popularity in the West correlates with the changes in their quality and Western sensibilities. What makes Korean media so much more appealing in America, and why are we seeing it become popular now? Why is it that Japanese and Korean culture seem so close in proximity to the West, despite the fact that Chinese and Filipino Americans are the two largest Asian populations in the United States? Alison and Ethan pose these questions and many more to each other as they joke and discuss!
Works Referenced/Inspired From:
Boys Over Flowers (2009)
Crash Landing On You (2019-2020)
It's Okay To Not Be Okay (2020)
BTS - "Ma City" "Dynamite"
Super Junior
Girls Generation
BIGBANG
Produced by Casey Lee
Audio Mixed and Edited by Ethan Lee
Graphic and Logo Design by Chris. Kim (Instagram @chuffimation)
Intro/Outro Music by Ethan Lee (soundcloud.com/leegato)
Casey, Ethan, and Alison catch up after a two-week break, talking about their personal experiences during the 2020 US election and discussing the Asian American film of the decade, Crazy Rich Asians. Join in as they discuss the plethora of both positive and negative thoughts they have on the blockbuster!
Alison's Taiwan Mix: https://www.mixcloud.com/alisonchi/taiwan-then-and-now-1968-2020/
Works/Articles Mentioned and Inspired By:
Crazy Rich Asians is a win for Asian Americans. But it gets Singapore wrong. (Vox) (https://www.vox.com/first-person/2018/8/17/17715124/crazy-rich-asians-movie-singapore)
One Way That Crazy Rich Asians is a Step Backward (The Atlantic) (https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/08/asian-americas-great-gatsby-moment/568213/)
Crazy Rich Identities (The Atlantic) (https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/08/singapore/568567/)
Produced by Casey Lee
Audio Mixed/Edited by Ethan Lee
Graphic/Logo Design by Chris Kim (@chuffimation)
Intro/Outro Music by Ethan Chong (https://soundcloud.com/ampersand97)
For this bonus episode, Casey sits down with fellow former campaign staffers Tony Choi (Twitter: @tonykchoi) and Hunter Blas to discuss their respective journeys to working in politics as AAPIs, as well as their thoughts on how campaigns can engage meaningfully with AAPIs ahead of the 2020 U.S. Election. Follow us on Instagram @thankyouenjoypod and Twitter @tyenjoypod.
Works mentioned during this episode:
"One Korean American's Reckoning" from NPR's Code Switch (https://www.npr.org/2020/07/20/892974604/one-korean-americans-reckoning); "America Is in the Heart" by Carlos Bulosan;
"Don't Ignore The Asian Vote In 2020" from Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwFr6RX2Y40)
Credits:
Produced & Edited by Casey Lee
Logo design by Chris Kim (Instagram: @chuffimation)
Intro music by Metal Lettuce (https://soundcloud.com/metal-lettuce)
Outro music by Ethan Lee (https://soundcloud.com/leegato)
Ethan sits down with data journalist Aida Ylanan (Instagram @a1da) and media developer Oshin Tudayan (Instagram @ohoshin) to discuss the perplexing phenomenon of Trump-supporting Filipino Americans, and how 400 years of colonization in the Philippines has helped spawn this unlikely political party of Asian Americans.
Works Mentioned and Inspired From This Episode:
Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)
"I Went To A 'Filipinos For Trump' Rally. Here's What I Found" by Anthony C. Ocampo
"'Minor Feelings' and the Possibilities of Asian American Identity" by Jia Tolentino
Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong
America Is In The Heart by Carlos Bulosan
Produced by Casey Lee
Audio Mixed and Edited by Ethan Lee
Graphic and Logo Design by Chris Kim (Instagram @chuffimation)
Intro music by Metal Lettuce (soundcloud.com/metal-lettuce)
Outro music by Ethan Lee (soundcloud.com/leegato)
Ethan and Alison their thoughts on the romantic comedy Always Be My Maybe, starring Ali Wong and Randall Park, which evolves into a personal conversation about San Francisco, gentrification, Keanu Reeves, and food politics.
Produced by Casey Lee
Audio mixed by Ethan Lee
Graphic/Logo Design by Chris Kim Instagram: @chuffimation
Music by Ethan Chong (soundcloud.com/ampersandbeats)
In commemoration of Filipino American History Month, the Thank You/Enjoy team will be dedicating their October Thank You To-Go episodes to uplifting Filipino voices, stories, and topics.
In this very first Filipino American History special, Ethan invites friend and media preservationist Chris Castro to discuss the invisibility of Filipinos in American media, and how history and media portrayal have contributed to the erasure of Filipino Americans in the greater Asian American diaspora. Dive in as Chris shares his own personal heritage and stories growing up, reflecting on how the media he has consumed affected his perception of Filipino Americans in the media.
Produced by Casey Lee
Audio mixed by Ethan Lee
Graphic/Logo Design by Chris Kim (Instagram @chuffimation)
Intro music by Metal Lettuce (https://soundcloud.com/metal-lettuce)
Outro music by Ethan Lee (https://soundcloud.com/leegato)
Dedicated to Breanna Nery.
EPISODE SPOILERS BELOW
Mentioned:
Center for Asian American Media (https://caamedia.org/)
Media Mentioned:
Wayne's World (1992)
Twilight Zone S3E15 "A Quality of Mercy" (1961)
Casablanca (1942)
Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
Citizen Kane (1941)
Singing in the Rain (1952)
Friends S5E6 "The One With The Yeti" (1998)
Friends S5E8 "The One With All The Thanksgivings" (1998)
Family Guy S4E25 "You May Now Kiss the...Uh...Guy Who Receives" (2006)
Celebrities Mentioned:
Jacob Batalon
Lea Salonga
Hailee Steinfeld
Bruno Mars
Vanessa Hudgens
Darren Criss
H.E.R.
apl.de.ap
Tia Carrere
Pilar Seurat
What is racial triangulation, and where do we draw the line for cultural appropriation? Alison and Ethan discuss 88rising and the recent cultural trend of Asian artists entering predominantly black music spaces, cultural appropriation, and how this all connects to the academic concept of racial triangulation.
Articles/works mentioned:
Hosted by Alison Chi and Ethan Lee
Produced by Casey Lee
Mixed by Ethan Lee
Graphic/Logo by Chris Kim https://www.instagram.com/chuffimation/
Music by Ethan Chong https://www.instagram.com/ampersand.beatss/ | https://soundcloud.com/ampersand97
Inspired by Tigertail’s portrayal of a father’s immigrant story, Alison, Casey, and Ethan discuss the age-old question “Where are you really from?” and dive into their own family histories.
Hosted by Alison Chi and Ethan Lee
Produced by Casey Lee
Mixed by Ethan Lee
Graphic/Logo by Chris Kim https://www.instagram.com/chuffimation/
Music by Metal Lettuce https://metallettuce.bandcamp.com/ | https://soundcloud.com/metal-lettuce
Remember when we could ugly cry in theaters? This week Alison and Ethan share their love for ‘The Farewell’ (2019) directed by Lulu Wang.
Correction @ 11:59 - 12:13: Ethan erroneously stated that he saw the film in August 2018 and that the UCLA screening was in Spring 2018. Although it certainly feels like two years has passed, Ethan was one year off: the UCLA screening was in Spring 2019, and the wider release was in July 2019; Ethan saw the film in August 2019.
Hosted by Alison Chi and Ethan Lee
Produced by Casey Lee
Mixed by Ethan Lee
Graphic/Logo by Chris Kim https://www.instagram.com/chuffimation/
Music by Ethan Chong https://www.instagram.com/ampersand.beatss/ | https://soundcloud.com/ampersand97
On this episode of Thank You To-Go, Ethan is joined by Casey and guest Leesan Kwok to discuss the P.F. Chang’s of cinema: the new Disney live-action film 'Mulan' - covering topics of misrepresentation and lost opportunities.
Hosted by Alison Chi and Ethan Lee
Produced by Casey Lee
Mixed by Ethan Lee
Follow Leesan Kwok: https://www.instagram.com/kwokadoodaldoo/
Graphic/Logo by Chris Kim https://www.instagram.com/chuffimation/
Music by Metal Lettuce https://metallettuce.bandcamp.com/ | https://soundcloud.com/metal-lettuce
In this episode of Thank You/Enjoy, Alison and Ethan discuss the film Tigertail (2020) - directed and written by Alan Yang. They share some personal anecdotes and reasons why they liked or (heavily) disliked the film.
Hosted by Alison Chi and Ethan Lee
Produced by Casey Lee
Mixed by Ethan Lee
Graphic/Logo by Chris Kim https://www.instagram.com/chuffimation/
Music by Ethan Chong https://www.instagram.com/ampersand.beatss/ | https://soundcloud.com/ampersand97
On this episode of Thank You To-Go, Alison joins Ethan as they talk about the different terminology for coding Asian American Cinema. This episode will explain terminology that will be used throughout the podcast and on other types of media, so feel free to keep coming back for a refresher.
Correction: Ethan mispronounced Jacob Batalon's surname, which should be pronounced similar to "Ba-Ta-Lone."
Media mentioned:
Harry Potter (Cho Chang/Patil Twins)
Latest MCU Spiderman films
Star Trek (original series and recent films)
The Edge of Seventeen
Searching
The Half of It
The Farewell
Tigertail
The Big Sick
Crazy Rich Asians
Always Be My Maybe
Hosted by Alison Chi and Ethan Lee
Produced by Casey Lee
Mixed by Ethan Lee
Graphic/Logo by Chris Kim https://www.instagram.com/chuffimation/
Music by Metal Lettuce https://metallettuce.bandcamp.com/ | https://soundcloud.com/metal-lettuce
Welcome to the Thank You/Enjoy podcast! Alison Chi and Ethan Lee introduce themselves in this episode, explore why they started this podcast, explain the logo, and talk about their moment(s) of political activation and what's to come on season 1.
Hosted by Alison Chi and Ethan Lee
Produced by Casey Lee
Mixed by Ethan Lee
Graphic/Logo by Chris Kim https://www.instagram.com/chuffimation/
Music by Ethan Chong https://www.instagram.com/ampersand.beatss/ | https://soundcloud.com/ampersand97