KEN FONG Podcasts

Attorney Dale Minami is most known for leading the legal team that overturned the conviction of Fred Korematsu. Forty years earlier, Korematsu had defiantly disobyed Executive Order 9066--which unjustly incarcerated over 100,0000 Japanese Americans during World War II-- which led to Korematsu v. United States, widely considered one of the worst and…

According to the Dept of Homeland Security, domestic terrorism is a greater threat to the safety and well-being of Americans today than any potential outside forces. The recent mass-shooting and killing of Black Americans in Buffalo, NY, is just the latest terrorist attack. The young white gunman's rage was fueled by something called "the great rep…

Actor Dennis Dun is seared in our collective memories from his iconic role in "Big Trouble in LIttle China" (1986), but before he hit the big screen, he was learning his craft on stages in the Bay Area. In this episode he shares why he jumped at the chance to return to the stage in "King of the Yees," while also recounting how Director John Carpent…

Many fans of rock and roll somehow either missed "Fanny," or forgot about this first commercially viable, critically acclaimed all-female rock band, founded and fronted by Filipina Americans sisters June and Jean Millington. I tracked June down and she packed in more stories in her episode than any other guest!…

This is a special episode for several reasons: My friend Patrick Hare is on the ballot in LA County to be a Superior Court Judge; the election is a month away on June 7th, but voters can mail in their ballots early; he would bring some unique and needed perspectives to the bench; I believe that once you hear from him, many of you will cast your vot…

Starting on May 20th, veteran actor Christopher Chen will be in acclaimed American playwright Lauren Yee's "King of the Yees" at the historic and charming Sierra Madre Playhouse (Sierra Madre, CA). Learn why he's so excited to be cast in one of Yee's plays, and to be directed by the legendary Tim Dang.…

In writing "When We Fell Apart," notable new novelist Soon Wiley has masterfully woven a story where his two protagonists come from very different experiences and places, yet share the struggle to carve out their own identities. Set in modern-day Seoul, it's also a love letter to Korea itself, but one that doesn't pull any punches.…

Filmmaker Kate Tsang's inaugural creation "Marvelous and the Black Hole" has already garnered rave reviews at the Sundance Film Festival and from a bevy of stellar critics. It's about a rebellious 13-year-old (Miya Cech) who's struggling with the loss of her mother, only to embark on an adventure with a children's party magician (Rhea Perlman).…

Austrian sinologist Regina Larko launched her Hashtag Impact podcast while living and working in Hong Kong. She herself is a person of impact, and she has populated her show with a variety of people who are also making a difference in the world. Of course, all this talk about making an impact led to our facing our mortality by living more purposefu…

Podcaster and author Sheena Yap Chan has amassed well over a million downloads in her mission to spotlight courageous Asian women, and to encourage Asian women everywhere to cultivate greater self-confidence.By Ken Fong

I last had Lisa Sharon Harper on in the immediate aftermath of the now-infamous "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville. She'd been part of a peaceful pushback by Christian clergypersons. She's recently published "Fortune," where she intertwines the experiences of ten generations of her forebearers and white America's history of passing racist, …

Russell Leong, especially through his words, has long helped to shape the Asian American movement. He was an undergrad at SF State as students went on strike to demand an ethnic studies program. He was the editor of the UCLA Asian American Studies Center "AmerAsia Journal" for more than three decades, and then as the founding editor of "The CUNY FO…

If you didn't grow up as a certain kind of Christian, you might be dumbfounded as to why so many conserverative American Christians admire Russia's President Putin, despite his ahborrent abuse of power and his current unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. Fong and Kemp discuss where this oxymoronic support comes from, and also discuss the Far Right's rac…

News anchor Michelle Li casually mentioned on-air that she'd eaten Korean dumpling soup on New Year's Day. Her comment elicited a hurtful racist critique from a White viewer. Ironically, the accusation that Michelle was being "very Asian" has given rise to the #veryasian movement where Asians everywhere are touting their favorite New Year's traditi…

Sean Lew has already made a name for himself as an innovative choreographer and dancer, but he's now carving out a new career as an actor. Currently playing "Chris" on the new hit FOX series "The Cleaning Lady," Sean talks about this shift for him, and really unpacks how he deals with the ongoing temptations to disconnect from the source of his cre…

Author, historian, and educator Dr. Pamela Rotner Sakamoto invested seventeen years of her life to be able to tell the unbelievable true story of the Fukuhara family, who had immigrated to the U.S. from Japan, where all four children were born. But when the patriarch died, his wife moved her young family back to Hiroshima. What followed was the reb…

Gedde Watanabe headlines a stellar ensemble cast in East West Players production of the Tony award-winning musical "Assassins." I've wanted to interview for years, and once you listen to our conversation, I think you'll understand why.By Ken Fong

With February being Black History Month, Ken Fong asks Ken Kemp to unpack his remarkable transformation from being an Evangelical, Republican White Male to being a politically and theologically progressive "beached white male" today.By Ken Fong

Dr. Timothy Fong is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA's Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, specializing in addictions. Our conversation explored the nature of addictions, and then looked at addictions related to gambling and cannabis, two of his areas of specialization.…

Psychotherapists Linda Yoon and Soo Jin Lee weren't afraid to launch YCC during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, they saw an even greater need for mental health education and resources. Since then, their agency's staff has mushroomed to keep up with their client-load. Given how they'd grown up in conservative Korean immigrant churches, we al…

Many of us first became aware of Pudi and his immense talents when he was part of the hilarious ensemble cast of "Community" (NBC, 2009-2015). In this deeply personal (and of course, still humorous) journey to uncover his estranged South Asian American father, Pudi beckons us to reflect on our parents.…

The COVID-pandemic inspired a petite Chinese American Southern California woman named Winnie Yee Lahkani to boldly insert herself into a subculture from the Deep South which has long been populated by large Black or White men. Her deftly seasoned smoked meats and business model have created a swelling fan-base, as well as the validation and admirat…

This episode was sparked by a recent Op Ed piece in the LA Times. The writer had recently learned that a 72 million year old dinosaur embryo fossil had been found in China, which then caused him to think deeply and differently about the age of Earth, and our own brief time on it. The Two Kens both share their own reflections, while also speaking op…

Nonprofit expert Vu Le speaks frankly and critically about the ongoing problems and challenges facing many nonprofits, and explains what he thinks need to change in that world and why.By Ken Fong

Australian Filipina Martha Millan shares how she landed this career-defining role in first-ever prime time drama created by an Asian American woman and anchored by two AAPI actresses.By Ken Fong

“Changing Tides” program coordinator Matthew Yonemura explains how a handful of Japanese American Millennials felt compelled in 2018 to launch a new non-profit to bring AAPI mental health problems out of the shadows and into normal conversations.By Ken Fong

After working as a writer/producer on The 100 for 4 seasons, Miranda earned a blind script deal with Warner Bros. Television. She developed an adaptation of the original Argentine series "La Chica Que Limpia" and is the creator and executive producer of the U.S. television adaptation "The Cleaning Lady," which will air a ten-episode first season on…

On January 3, 2022 French Cambodian actress Elodie Yung will be the first Cambodian to star in a prime time drama (FOX) that has been created and executive produced by an Asian American woman, Miranda Kwok. She shares what this milestone means to her as an actress, and how she tapped into the pain and perseverance of her Cambodian father to give gr…

Trump has revealed that millions of Americans are eager to join a cult of personality, even if the person at the top is clearly deeply flawed and unfit to be followed. The evangelical world also has examples of this disturbing pattern, and one of the most current ones is Pastor Mark Driscoll and the two churches he has established.…

Before Tom Ikeda became Densho's Executive Director, he was the general manager in Microsoft's multimedia publishing group. His essential understanding of digitizing media and creating online platforms has enabled Densho both to preserve their trove of priceless videotaped interviews with formerly incarcerated Japanese Americans, and to make them a…

Lucca Wang is biracial, being of Chinese and European descent, and grew up in the predominantly white Midwestern culture. During her 20’s she began to explore being Chinese more and connecting with others who are also multiracial Asian. Learning of the 1982 death of Chinese American man Vincent Chin during the upheaval of 2020 triggered her suppres…

R. Scott Okamoto grew up as a fervent Evangelical, oblivious to his ethnicity and culture, ignorant of issues of justice and racial reconciliation. His years serving as a leader in a campus ministry while in college filled in all these gaps, but when he graduated, he no longer fit in his family's church. While being a faculty member of an evangelic…

A recent audit of America's national monuments revealed what most AAPIs already know: there aren't any that uplift deserving individuals from our respective communities. If you missed the Op Ed by AsAm News staff writer Raymond Douglas Chong who wrote about this, here's your chance to eavesdrop on Ken's conversation with him.…

Dr. Yamashita is convinced that the Model Minority Myth among Asian Americans is exacerbating the rising rate of addictions in our communities. We reflect on the lessons from the Seventies, and also zero in on what many Asian American Christian churches need to do to stop stigmatizing those with addictions.…

Conservative columnist Jennifer Rubin recently wrote an Op Ed in WaPo with a similar provocative title, which prompted us to take a deep dive into this fascinating and relevant POV.By Ken Fong

Kenneth Lui's first feature-length film--"Artists in Agony" is a mockumentary about assassins. Hearing about his unconventional approach to write and shoot it over a span of eight years gave me a much deeper appreciation for the kind of creativity and commitment that are required by up and coming indie filmmakers like Lui.…

Dr. Russell Jeung and his two co-founders of Stop AAPI-Hate were recently recognized as icons of the effort to quell pandemic-fueled insults and attacks aimed at Asians and Asian Americans in the U.S. He talks about why it's critical to reshape the narrative surrounding BIPOC Americans, including those who are undocumented. And he concludes by hopi…

Filmmaker Jeffrey Gee Chin wants to ensure that Japanese American Human Rights activist Sei Fujii (1882-1954) is revered and respected for all that he accomplished on behalf of Japanese immigrants, Japanese Americans, and all people of color. His biography, "A Rebel's Outcry," officially becomes available on 11/2/21. He also wants to create a film …

If you're like me, after you finished "Squid Games," you were wondering what was worth bingeing next. Then you discovered "Midnight Mass," binged it, and now your head is swimming with all kinds of theories and questions. Last week we dropped a special episode where we discussed the first four episodes. After finishing the series, we could hardly w…

Evan Jackson Leong is best known for his documentary films. But he had long wanted to make a feature-length narrative film. He labored for years to write and edit the script for "Snakehead," and it finally will be in theaters at the end of October 2021.By Ken Fong

In this episode podcaster Ken Kemp and I dig into a new series on Netflix called "Midnight Mass." We both identified with the main character's struggles to live among people of faith on a tiny island while he no longer believes in any kind of higher power.By Ken Fong

Dr. Chuck recently self-published a book wherein he shares the sum total of all the wisdom he learned while caring for patients and medical colleagues for over three decades. His is especially passionate in his conviction that developing better mental health is the key to our experiencing greater overall health and satisfaction.…

Claire and her aging mother Isabel begin their journey together by visiting the once-beautiful mansion in Shanghai where the young Isabel had grown up. Much more than a trip down Memory Lane, "Remembering Shanghai" reveals the triumphs and tragedies going back five generations that mirror China's own challenges. Chao has layered the bones of this c…

Early in 2021, Dr. Kwong started a movement to challenge self-professing Christian politicians in D.C. (and their pastors) to admit that they were spewing hateful, racist rhetoric that was damaging their Asian American countrymen and fomenting the belief that China poses the biggest threat to this country. Was this incredibly naive on Kwong's part,…

Born deaf in one ear and with a form of autism, Shihori had no friends and was terribly bullied. She was staring at a lonely, fraught future. But she discovered that singing and writing music provided her with the means and the motivation to connect with people. Despite achieving great success in Japan, she was recently inspired to start afresh in …

Before Ray's language prowess landed in the U.S. State Department, he felt God had called him to be a liturgist and musician in the Catholic Church that he so loved. But when he came out of the closet, he no longer believed that the Church would love him as much as he loved the Church. He reflects on the changes in the State Department, especially …

While Dan is the first to say that he's clearly a work in progress, he's managed to craft a mindset and a work ethic that keeps him positive and his creative juices flowing. You'll hear a sample of his latest songs at the end of the episode.By Ken Fong

Hedy Wong began writing a story that she knew: hers. But it took years of refining and determination to bring it to screens in 2020 as "Take Out Girl." She is beautiful, smart, street-savvy, and oozing with talent, bringing all of that to bear as the lead in this feature film.By Ken Fong

In this latest special episode, these two long-time friends, former pastors, and fellow podcasters critique the "reparative therapy" movement while reviewing the Netflix documentary "Pray Away." But they wrestle with why anybody--gay or straight--would willingly be part of groups the require them to repress essential aspects of who they know themse…

Director/Writer Bao Tran has given us a rarity--a martial arts film where the fighters get older and have complicated lives! Ultimately, it's the timeless tale of aging warriors needing to rethink what they once believed and practiced in the face of today's challenges.By Ken Fong