#5 Anti-Asian violence in Atlanta: Red Canary Song's Yves Tong Nguyen on the mental health of Asian sex workers & massage workers

03/21/21 • 20 min

In this episode, I talk to Yves Tong Nguyen, a Vietnamese American cultural worker at Red Canary Song. Red Canary Song is a grassroots collective that works to help Asian and migrant sex workers and massage workers in Flushing, New York. In the wake of anti-Asian violence in Atlanta, talked about the massage work industry in the US, the policing of work, and if there’s a space to talk about mental health. We also talk about how hypersexualization and fetishization of Asian women play into myths around sex and massage work. The link to resources and where to donate is here: https://minorfeelings.substack.com/p/a-quick-post-on-how-you-can-stand. Music by Ketsa. Original image: Chang W Lee, The New York Times.

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#4 The Politics of “passing the mic” with Christina Dhanaraj

The past few weeks have seen an outrage in India over the rape and murder of Manisha, a 19-year-old Dalit woman in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh. Divya Karthikeyan talks to Christina Dhanaraj, a writer and advisor for Smashboard, a non-profit based in Paris and New Delhi. She was formerly a consultant for #dalitwomenfight and co-founder of Dalit History Month. On this episode, we discuss what it means to “pass the mic”, the inherent problems with the term, why it’s important to be anti-caste and how to be a good ally.

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#6 Unpacking the "Good Immigrant" trap with writer Frankie Huang

In this episode, I talk to Beijing American writer, illustrator and strategist Frankie Huang on the myth of the model minority in the wake of anti-Asian violence, the weaponization of gratitude, racial microaggressions, and what it's like to be asked whether you'd prefer your home country or the country you chose to live in, over and over. Music by Ketsa. Read Huang's Daily Beast piece here: https://www.thedailybeast.com/white-fragility-is-a-disease-and-it-just-killed-six-asian-women