Hello from the US lockdown!
It’s just the three of us this episode, chatting about soggy bread and soggier humans—and all things China, America’s best frenemy and the official scapegoat of the 2020 election.
1:00 - What's the deal with focaccia? Tammy loves it, but Jay and Andy associate it with terrible sandwiches on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
3:17 - The Goopy cook and columnist Alison Roman got semi-canceled last week. We unwisely weigh in on this racialized controversy among wealthy celebrity foodies and lifestyle-brand influencers.
7:43 - In honor of Asian American Pacific Islander heritage month, we debate the utility of panels. Why so many? Are they capable of tackling broader structures and patterns, or do they necessarily champion capitalistic upward mobility? Also: the historian checklist of Yellow Peril, the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, and the 1982 murder of Vincent Chin; the meaning and coherence of “AAPI”; and the often reactionary history of global pan-Asianism.
24:10 - Trump is predictably blaming China for Covid-19 and everything wrong with his administration, and the Republicans have circulated a template for anti-Beijing electioneering. What does this leaked GOP strategy brief (aka the O’Donnell Memo) say? And why have the Democrats, too, gone all in on China bashing? Hint: polling numbers. Also - What really happened in China at the start of the pandemic? Is “wet market” out and “bat laboratory” in? Bonus: how US nationalism produces Chinese patriotism and whether we’re headed for another Cold War.
ABOUT US
Time to Say Goodbye is a podcast—with your hosts, Jay Caspian Kang, Tammy Kim, and Andy Liu. We launched this thing because, like you, we’ve been sheltering in place and wanted an outlet for our thoughts on the coronavirus, Asia, geopolitics, and Asian Americans.
A short introduction to your hosts:
Jay Caspian Kang is a writer-at-large for the New York Times Magazine and the author of the forthcoming book The Loneliest Americans.
E. Tammy Kim is a magazine reporter, a contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, and a retired lawyer. She co-edited the book Punk Ethnography.
Andrew Liu is a historian of modern China. He wrote a book called Tea War, about the history of capitalism in Asia. He remains a huge Supersonics fan
