Mike, Steve and Teen find time on Saturday morning of Labor Day Weekend to catch up on the markets and the economy, a few current events, what's going on in each of LA, HK, and NYC, and try to avoid the doomerism of the news cycle. Easy listening podcast for hard times.To support and get access to premium episodes, go to: patreon.com/planamag…

Adam is back! One of the regulars when Plan A got started, Adam is back to talk with Teen about his work with the transnational adoptee organization Also Known As, the importance of volunteerism, and some just some shooting of the shit.To support: patreon.com/planamagبقلم Escape From Plan A Podcast by Plan A Magazine

Part 1 of 2John Pang joins Teen to talk about the phenomenon of a global return to traditional cultural norms, and where that leaves American liberal culture as it passes beyond its apex.To support: patreon.com/planamagبقلم Escape From Plan A Podcast by Plan A Magazine

This isn't a full episode, but just a short rant about the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony and what a missed opportunity it was to give the world a message of unity and hope. Instead, it was a display of narcissism and European insularity.بقلم Escape From Plan A Podcast by Plan A Magazine

This is the recorded audio of a Twitter Space held by the America Watchers (Carl Zha, John Pang, and Teen) on July 19 to talk about the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, the selection of JD Vance, and the return of traditional "honor politics" in America.This includes the discussion between Carl, John, and Teen. There was a lot of discussion w…

Fred Lee is a professor with a joint appointment in political science and Asian American Studies. He joins Teen to talk about his observations about mass burnout, the symptoms, causes, and likely effects. Byung-Chul Han's "Burnout Society" is discussed as well as Nietzsche's notions of sovereignty and will.Part 1 of 2 -- the related bonus episode c…

Jess and Teen talk about the phenomenon of married women with kids suddenly finding out in early middle age that their husband is fully checked out of family life. Teen relates personal experience as to what may be at play that causes this desire for solitude.Part 1 of 2 -- second part can be found on the Patreon feed. To join the Plan A Patreon go…

Part 1 of 2Mike joins Teen to discuss the rise of white supremacist anti-Semitism, the non-distinction between liberal interventionists and neocons, and the foreign policy reasons to consider a vote for Trump over Biden.Get access to bonus pods and Discord chat by joining our patreon: patreon.com/planamagEFPA Theme: "Escape From Plan A" by Ciel (Tw…

Part 1 of 2Chong and Mike join Teen on the eve of Juneteenth to talk about being alienated from suburban landscapes, lifestyle, and ultimately suburban people.Get access to bonus pods and Discord chat by joining our patreon: patreon.com/planamagEFPA Theme: "Escape From Plan A" by Ciel (Twitter: @aerialist)…

The second installment of a series whereby Teen gets into a public verbal confrontation, Shan records it, and then the couple reviews it like it's Inside the NBA. What was done well, what could be done better, and whether all of this nonsense could have been avoided.Get access to bonus pods and Discord chat by joining our patreon: patreon.com/plana…

Part 1 of 2Mike, Steve, and Teen have a discussion about buying real assets in a world dominated by financialized investment products. Primarily fun, but also maybe to hedge against future financial crises.Get access to bonus pods and Discord chat by joining our patreon: patreon.com/planamagEFPA Theme: "Escape From Plan A" by Ciel (Twitter: @aerial…

John Pang joins Jess and Teen from Hangzhou, China to talk about the need to study America as it really is, what life is really like here, and get beyond the outmoded tropes about this place so that the world can better understand us.Get access to bonus pods and Discord chat by joining our patreon: patreon.com/planamagEFPA Theme: "Escape From Plan …

Hen Zee (aka Dr. Z) joins Teen to talk about the recent sentencing and imprisonment of John Ong following a 2020 racist attack at his family's home in Manhattan Chinatown. Why we need to let go of our naive belief in (legal) justice, why and how to get prepared for hostility and danger, and to let go of our childish investments in liberalist ideas.…

Part 1 of 2Mike H. joins Teen to talk about Boeing's shocking failures, financialization, and how the economy became fake.Get access to bonus pods and Discord chat by joining our patreon: patreon.com/planamagEFPA Theme: "Escape From Plan A" by Ciel (Twitter: @aerialist)بقلم Escape From Plan A Podcast by Plan A Magazine

Part 1 of 2John Pang joins Jess and Teen to discuss what Teen saw in person at the Columbia campus over the weekend, the seriousness of the conflict, and why we are seeing internecine warfare within elite institutions and society.Get access to bonus pods and Discord chat by joining our patreon: patreon.com/planamagEFPA Theme: "Escape From Plan A" b…

Jess and Teen record a long pod about nostalgia for retro tech, only to hang up, continue the conversation, and realize the after-talk was actually the better pod. Here is the after-talk , about the virtualization of all technologies into software, the corruption of software as trojan horses into our lives, and the suspect loyalty of the technology…

Part 1 of 2Jess and Teen talk about how time and experience allows a more mercenary and disillusioned relationship with work and jobs, and how the cultish mythology around work and passion (esp in tech) was the cause and not the cure to the anxiety and pressure of careerism. Get access to bonus pods and Discord chat by joining our patreon: patreon.…

Jess and Teen discuss Wim Wenders' 2023 film 'Perfect Days' and what it says about aging and internal monologue.Get access to bonus pods and Discord chat by joining our patreon: patreon.com/planamagEFPA Theme: "Escape From Plan A" by Ciel (Twitter: @aerialist)بقلم Escape From Plan A Podcast by Plan A Magazine

Jess is back after a long hiatus to catch up with Teen on important life matters: the importance of spring in New York, the exquisite quality of computer manuals in the 1970s, and what the hell 'internal monologue' means.Get access to bonus pods and Discord chat by joining our patreon: patreon.com/planamagEFPA Theme: "Escape From Plan A" by Ciel (T…

Part 1 of 2Mike, Steve and Teen find a timezone compromise between LA, NYC, and HK to talk about managing our money in what seems like mad world of overpriced investment assets and unprecedented risk to the US dollar system.Get access to bonus pods and Discord chat by joining our patreon: patreon.com/planamagEFPA Theme: "Escape From Plan A" by Ciel…

Part 1 of 2John Pang joins Teen to talk about the meaning and the reality behind Aaron Bushnell's act of suicide by fire, the cultural context in which that took place, and then a wider discussion about the joys of getting older even surrounded by a culture which fears death and loathes aging.Get access to bonus pods and Discord chat by joining our…

Mike and Teen shoot the bull on generative AI, whether Sora + Vision Pro = Holodeck, and general musings about technology of no particular consequence.Get access to bonus pods and Discord chat by joining our patreon: patreon.com/planamagEFPA Theme: "Escape From Plan A" by Ciel (Twitter: @aerialist)بقلم Escape From Plan A Podcast by Plan A Magazine

Peter and Teen talk about Peter's newborn baby, the encroachment of the state into the private domain of the family, how zombie apocalypse films are really a pro-family fantasy genre, and home schooling as an option.Get access to bonus pods and Discord chat by joining our patreon: patreon.com/planamagEFPA Theme: "Escape From Plan A" by Ciel (Twitte…

Shan and Teen talk about middle age, how American culture does not prepare people for getting older, and how getting older is severely underrated. It often feels like being a kid again.Get access to bonus pods and Discord chat by joining our patreon: patreon.com/planamagEFPA Theme: "Escape From Plan A" by Ciel (Twitter: @aerialist)…

Shan and Teen talk about a very minor episode of losing one's temper at the Costco, why it's important to get mad when you're mad, practice getting mad, and to think obsessively about when you get mad after the fact.Get access to bonus pods and Discord chat by joining our patreon: patreon.com/planamagEFPA Theme: "Escape From Plan A" by Ciel (Twitte…

Part 1 of 2Steve talks with Mike and Teen about the experience so far of emigrating from the West - in his case, Toronto - and starting an entirely new permanent existence in Hong Kong and China.Get access to bonus pods and Discord chat by joining our patreon: patreon.com/planamagEFPA Theme: "Escape From Plan A" by Ciel (Twitter: @aerialist)…

Part 1 of 3John and Mike join Teen for a marathon weekend shitshoot about the likely trajectory of life in America in 2024. Something has clearly gone off the rails, that's without question, but it's hard to tell where this is headed. We try to get off the strictly political/geopolitical frameworks, and talk more subjectively about the mood in the …

Part 1 of 2Back home in Bali after an extended trip back to the United States, Carl Zha joins Teen to talk about the view of America from abroad. In part two (available to our Patreon supporters), John Pang jumps on from Hangzhou to offer his take after permanently moving out of the US.Get access to bonus pods and Discord chat by joining our patreo…

Teen is joined by Chris as they reminiscence about the early motivations they'd had for starting Plan A (e.g. Asian American online gender wars, Asian American political awareness) and what does and doesn't matter to them about those topics anymore.Subscribe to Chris' Substack, Salieri Redemption, at: https://salieriredemption.substack.com/Get acce…

After a long interlude, Escape From Plan A is back in production! Teen and Shan recount their first trip abroad (to Spain) in almost 4 years -- since right before COVID was discovered -- and the return of novelty to foreign travel. They talk at length about the Prado and the revelatory experience they had without the pressure of worshiping European…

Filip joins Teen to talk about the last half year of raising a baby girl, finding closure on one stage of life only to open a bigger door filled with newer, bigger kinds of anxieties. And yet, life has never been better.Get access to bonus pods and Discord chat by joining our patreon: patreon.com/planamagEFPA Theme: "Escape From Plan A" by Ciel (@a…

Part 1 of 2Friend of the pod Alice joins Teen to talk about the peculiar soullessness of Washington D.C.'s bureaucratic legion, and how modern therapy culture has a rotten core.Get access to bonus pods and Discord chat by joining our patreon: patreon.com/planamagEFPA Theme: "Escape From Plan A" by Ciel (@aerialist)…

Shan and Teen talk about one of their favorite topics as a couple: money and finances. The American financial environment is shifting into asset deflation mode, so a lot of 'common sense' about household finances -- buying a house is always good, renting is throwing away money, and 'cash is trash' -- need to be re-examined. And what cultural prohib…

Part 1 of 2On the eve of Steve leaving for HK and Mike turning 40, the degenerate threesome pour some drinks and have a good 'ol shit talk about growing up in Can-Merica, how to make work work, and when it's time to fold 'em and leave for good.Get access to bonus pods and Discord chat by joining our patreon: patreon.com/planamagEFPA Theme: "Escape …

Part 1 of 2John Pang returns to talk about Teen's dark visions of the world, why our juvenile capitalist culture's embargo on such dark visions is itself maddening, and how recent events are lifting the shroud off of realities we would rather not see.Get access to bonus pods and Discord chat by joining our patreon: patreon.com/planamagEFPA Theme: "…

Pt. 1 of 2Q. Anthony Ali joins Teen to talk about diaspora media people who habitually engage in gratuitous racism against their own people, the double-consciousness of diaspora and how to avoid it, and what the future of assimilation might be in a post-liberal world.LINKS:Q's Twitter: https://twitter.com/NobleQAliThat Viet Thanh Nguyen video: http…

Mike (@Meow_Meow_2020) and Samlang (@SClemmt) joins Teen in a long form podcast discussion about the proposed razing of Gaza (and the mass killing of Palestinian civilians). This could be one of the major genocides in modern world history, and the three of us counsel that Asian people should take an independent perspective that is not colored by Am…

"I'm just dating casually," "I'm not sure what I want," "I'm looking for my needs to be met." Teen and his wife Shan record a podcast about relationships, marriage, and moving past the perpetual adolescence of 'modernity.' Seeking to give love, not to receive. Fear as a sign of unreadiness. And the joys of recording while in bed.Get access to bonus…

Part 1 of 2John Pang returns to talk to Jess and Teen (on the eve of his 45th bday) to talk about how so many people based their lives around what amounts to a religion-like faith in financial markets, interpreting price signals as if they were the commands of a Higher Being. What happens when we discover this and lose faith in the Market God? What…

Part 1 of 2Mike, Steve and Teen chat on a Saturday evening about the state of AmeriCanada, and how national prosperity could be limited to the third generation out from the one that built it. There is the generation that built everything, the one that inherited it, and then the one that squanders it. They also talk about hyper-financialization and …

Part 1 of 2John Pang returns to talk with Jess and Teen about the buzzy term "liminal space" and the popular diaspora narrative of being "caught between cultures", "neither Asian enough or American enough", and the deep internal fallacies of this thinking about culture and identity.Get access to bonus pods and Discord chat by joining our patreon: p…

Jess and Teen originally intend to talk about bilculturalism but their shared worry over the state of affairs in America takes up the episode instead. From the inside of a country that is turning by the day more insular, self-righteous, divorced from reality, and violent both inside and out, Jess and Teen lay out a reasonable argument that worst-ca…

Part 1 of 2Mike, Steve and Teen reconvene to continue their discussion about the economic outlook, the bigger big picture, deep policy, and the whether Malaysia is a magical sweet spot for Chinese American expats.Get access to bonus pods and Discord chat by joining our patreon: patreon.com/planamagTHEME MUSIC:EFPA Theme: "Escape From Plan A" by Cie…

Mike, Steve, and Teen record a more laid-back pod that's all economics talk. We talk about rising mortgage rates, slumping home sales, stubbornly high prices, and predictions on next year.Get access to bonus pods and Discord chat by joining our patreon: https://patreon.com/planamagTHEME MUSIC:EFPA Theme: "Escape From Plan A" by Ciel (@aerialist)…

Chong and Teen spend a Thursday evening discussing a disturbing phenomenon both have run into online: self-described leftists who gleefully advocate for violence against Asian small business owners, on account of them being "petit bourgeois" and thus deserving to be wiped out in the fantasy revolution of these Basement Lenins.What a fucking joke, b…

Teen joins Chong, Katrina and Hen to give our final answers on self-flagellating Asian people who blame Asians for anything and everything - a phenomenon the four of us have spent way too much of life pondering - just so that you the listener don't have to waste a minute more of your life wondering if these political fartguns are loaded with any ac…

On the night before the premiere of their short documentary I'm Not An Activist, which follows Dragon Combat Club—a grassroots self-defense organization in NYC, director Dan Chen and producer/editor Ien Chi joined Teen and Chris for an in-person podcast to discuss their reasons for making the documentary and what they hope to accomplish with it.THE…

Part One of TwoJess and Teen sit down with returning guest Kenny Xu ("An Inconvenient Minority") to talk about SFFA's victory in the Supreme Court against Harvard, the state of education in America, and being an Asian American Republican.Please join us on Patreon to access Part 2: www.patreon.com/planamagTWITTER:Kenny (@kennymxu)THEME MUSIC:EFPA Th…

Jess and Teen talk with guest John Pang about the Western tendency to devalue Asian labor -- not just the laborer, but also Asian labor itself and its presumed lack of human qualities -- through the lens of Shein. Shein has pushed selection to a maximum, and price to a new rock bottom, inviting criticisms of labor exploitation in the name of profit…

Part 1 of 2Jess, Chris and Teen discuss the Supreme Court opinions on the SFFA lawsuits over race-conscious admissions systems, and provide commentary on the reactions from the Professional Asian Person industrial complex.Please join us on Patreon to access Part 2: www.patreon.com/planamagREFERENCED RESOURCES"Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. P…