Podcasts about Angel Island

The Oakland Ballet's newest performance, the “Angel Island Project," hopes to depict the experiences of Chinese immigrants who were victim to discriminatory travel policies. 

Angel Island provides a compelling setting for a modern Ballet. Then, we discover a museum without walls. And, an East Palo Alto poet on her Louisiana Creole roots.

Immigration is a hot-button topic for many nations around the world, and especially in the United States. The Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation is one organization that not only seeks to preserve the history of immigration through Angel Island, but also to steward a culture that recognizes the complexities of immigration and works to build a community of safety and belonging. Ed Tepporn is the Executive Director of the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation, and in this conversation excerpt, he and Charlton discuss the legacy of Angel Island and the nuances of what immigration means to this country now and in the future. Mentioned in the Episode Island: Poetry and History of Chinese Immigrants on Angel Island, 1910-1940, Edited by Him Mark Lai, Genny Lim and Judy Yung Voices of Angel Island by Charles Egan Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation Connect with Del Sol Quartet DelSolQuartet.com Del Sol Quartet on Spotify Facebook Instagram YouTube This episode is a bonus from the "Angel Island" season of Sounds Current. If you haven't already, we encourage you to go back to "Part 1: A Haunting History" and listen to the full 4-part story. Sounds Current is produced and edited by The Creative Impostor Studios and hosted by Charlton Lee.    

In this episode, we sit down once again with Bill Willoughby, CEO of Century Lithium (TSXV: LCE.V, OTCQX: CYDVF), to discuss the latest developments at their Nevada-based lithium project, Angel Island. We cover the company's unique chlor-alkali processing method, recent optimization studies, and the impact of the U.S. government's executive order to accelerate domestic mineral production. Bill shares insights on Century's permitting progress, strategic partnerships, and the potential for significant CAPEX reductions. CHAPTERS

A new exhibit at the Angel Island Immigration Station encourages visitors to consider the past and present of US border policy and border technology. The exhibit was curated by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). We speak with Dave Maass, the Director of Investigations at the EFF. You can plan your visit to the exhibit here: https://www.aiisf.org/planyourvisit —- Subscribe to this podcast: https://plinkhq.com/i/1637968343?to=page Get in touch: lawanddisorder@kpfa.org Follow us on socials @LawAndDis: https://twitter.com/LawAndDis; https://www.instagram.com/lawanddis/ The post New Exhibit on Border and Immigration at Angel Island w/ Dave Maass appeared first on KPFA.

Casey Dexter-Lee is a state park interpreter who has dedicated 23+ years to Angel Island. Casey has been an invaluable resource for coordinating our world premiere on Angel Island and subsequent Angel Island Concert Series.  In this bonus episode, Del Sol violinist Hyeyung Sol Yoon talks with Casey on location about what it's like to visit, live, and work on Angel Island. Casey shares why it's important to preserve the legacies of the island for future generations. Mentioned in the Episode Angel Island State Park Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation Immigrant Voices Connect with Del Sol Quartet DelSolQuartet.com Del Sol Quartet on Spotify Facebook Instagram YouTube This episode is a bonus from the "Angel Island" season of Sounds Current. If you haven't already, we encourage you to go back to "Part 1: A Haunting History" and listen to the full 4-part story. Sounds Current is produced and edited by The Creative Impostor Studios and hosted by Charlton Lee.      

  A weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, deejays, and activists. Grace Lee Boggs said, “History is not the past. It is the stories we tell about the past. How we tell these stories – triumphantly or self-critically, metaphysically or dialectally – has a lot to do with whether we cut short or advance our evolution as human beings.” In our current chaotic time, it feels like we are intentionally ignoring history. Our lack of awareness feels like a de-evolution, as our education department is gutting, books are banned, and so many American institutions are at risk, it feels as though a critical analysis of history is being ignored.  On Tonight's APEX Express, Host Miko Lee focuses on Wong Kim Ark and the importance of Birthright Citizenship. She speaks with historian David Lei, Reverend Deb Lee and lawyer/educator Annie Lee and activist Nick Gee. Discussed by Our Guests: What You Can Do To Protect Birthright Citizenship Our history is tied to the legacy of Wong Kim Ark and birthright citizenship, and it will take ongoing advocacy to protect this fundamental right. Here are four ways you can stay involved in the work ahead: Invite a friend to attend an event as part of Chinese for Affirmative Action's weeklong series commemorating Wong Kim Ark. Take action and oppose Trump's executive order banning birthright citizenship. Learn about Wong Kim Ark and Trump's executive order to end birthright citizenship. Sign up to join Stop AAPI Hate's Many Roots, One Home campaign to fight back against Trump's anti-immigrant agenda.   How you can get engaged to protect immigrants: https://www.im4humanintegrity.org/ https://www.bayresistance.org/ Bay Area Immigration: 24 Hour Hotlines San Francisco 415-200-1548 Alameda County 510-241-4011 Santa Clara County 408-290-1144 Marin County 415-991-4545 San Mateo County 203-666-4472   Know Your Rights (in various Asian languages) Thank you to our guests and Chinese for Affirmative Action for the clip from Wong Kim Ark's great grandson Norman Wong   Show Transcript: Wong Kim Ark Opening: [00:00:00] Apex Express Asian Pacific expression. Community and cultural coverage, music and calendar, new visions and voices, coming to you with an Asian Pacific Islander point of view. It's time to get on board the Apex Express.   Miko Lee: [00:00:35] Grace Lee Boggs said history is not the past. It is the stories we tell about the past, how we tell these stories. Triumphantly or self critically metaphysically or dialectically, has a lot to do with whether we cut short or advance our evolution as human beings. I. Well, in our current chaotic times, it feels like we are intentionally ignoring history. Our lack of awareness feels like a de-evolution. As our education department is gutted and books are banned, and so many of our American institutions are at risks, it feels as though a critical analysis of history is just being intentionally ignored. So welcome to Apex Express. I'm your host, Miko Lee, and tonight we're gonna delve back into a moment of history that is very much relevant in our contemporary world. Tonight's show is about long Kim Ark. There's a famous black and white photo of a Chinese American man. His hair is pulled back with a large forehead on display, wide open eyes with eyebrows slightly raised, looking at the camera with an air of confidence and innocence. He is wearing a simple mandarin collared shirt, one frog button straining at his neck, and then two more near his right shoulder. The date stamp is November 15th, 1894. His name is Wong Kim Ark. Tonight we hear more about his story, why it is important, what birthright citizenship means, and what you could do to get involved. So stay tuned. Welcome, David Lei, former social worker, community activist, lifelong San Franciscan, and amazing community storyteller. Welcome to Apex Express.    David Lei: [00:02:21] Thank you, Miko.    Miko Lee: [00:02:23] Can you first start with a personal question and tell me who are your people and what legacy do you carry with you?    David Lei: [00:02:31] I'm now on the board of Chinese Historical Society of America. Chinese American History is pretty important to me for my identity and the story of Chinese in America is American history, and that's where I'm at now.   Miko Lee: [00:02:50] And what legacy do you carry with you from your ancestors?    David Lei: [00:02:56] To pass on the wisdom they pass to me to future descendants. But I'm here in America, so I know after a few generations, my descendants won't look like me. Most likely they won't speak Chinese. They're going to be Americans. So. The lessons and values and wisdoms, my ancestors passed to me, I'm passing to America.   Miko Lee: [00:03:30] we are talking on this episode about Wong Kim Ark and as a community storyteller, I wonder if you can take me back to that time, take me back to Wong Kim Ark growing up in San Francisco, Chinatown, what was happening in San Francisco, Chinatown at that time    David Lei: [00:03:48] Okay, this is the end of the 19th century and we have the Exclusion Act in 1882 where Chinese were excluded from coming to America with few exceptions like merchants, diplomats, and scholars. So if you're Chinese and you're a laborer you just can't come. And there were concerns about. Going, even if you were here, there's a process for your return, the documents you will need. But even that was iffy. But for Chinese in general, there was birthright citizenship. So if you were born here, you have citizenship and that because of the 14th amendment. So many Chinese thought birthright citizenship was important 'cause you can vote, you have more rights, less chance that you will be deported. So the Chinese, born in America, right at 1895, formed a Chinese American Citizens Alliance. The concept of being a American citizen was in everybody's mind in Chinatown at that time. The Chinese been fighting for this birthright citizenship ever since the Exclusion Act. Before Wong Kim Ark, there was Look Tin Sing in the matter regarding Look Tin Sing was a CA federal Court of Appeal case. Look Tin Sing was born in Mendocino, so he's American born. He assumed he was a citizen. His parents sent him back to China before the Exclusion Act, and when he came back after the Exclusion Act, of course he didn't have the paperwork that were required , but he was born here. So to prove that he was a citizen. He had to have a lawyer and had to have white witness, and it went to the federal Court of Appeal, ninth Circuit, and the Chinese sixth company. The City Hall for Chinatown knew this was important for all Chinese, so gave him a lawyer, Thomas Den, and he won the case. Then in 1888, this happened again with a guy named Hong Yin Ming. He was held and he had to go to the Federal Court of Appeal to win again, then Wong Kim Ark 1895. He was stopped and. This time, the Chinese six company, which is a city hall for Chinatown they really went all out. They hired two of the best lawyers money could buy. The former deputy Attorney General for the United States, one of which was the co-founder of the American Bar Association. So these were very expensive, influential lawyers. And because Wong Kim Ark was a young man under 25, he was a cook, so he was poor, but the community backed him. And went to the Supreme Court and won because it was a Supreme Court case. It took precedent over the two prior cases that only went to the Court of Appeal.    Now you might think, here's a guy who has a Supreme Court case that says he's an American citizen. Well, a few years later in 1901, Wong Kim Ark went to Mexico to Juarez. When he came back to El Paso the immigration stopped him at El Paso and says, no you are just a cook. you're not allowed to come in because we have the 1882 Exclusion Act. Wong Kim Ark Says, I have a Supreme Court case saying I'm a US citizen, and the El Paso newspaper also had an article that very week saying they're holding a US citizen who has a Supreme Court case in his favor saying that he is a US citizen. However, immigration still held him for four months in El Paso. I think just to hassle. To make it difficult. Then by 1910, Wong Kim Ark had a few sons in China that he wants to bring to the us so he arranged for his first son to come to America in 1910. His first son was held at Angel Island. Interrogated did not pass, so they deported his firstborn son. So he says, wow, this is my real son, and he can't even get in. So this is dealing with immigration and the US laws and the racist laws is unending. Just because you win the Supreme Court case, that doesn't mean you're safe as we are seeing now. So it takes the community, takes a lot of effort. It takes money to hire the best lawyers. It takes strategizing. It takes someone to go to jail, habeas corpus case oftentimes to test the laws. And even when you win, it's not forever. It's constantly challenged. So I think that's the message in the community. Chinese community had push back on this and have pushed for Birthright citizenship from the very beginning of the Exclusion Act.    Miko Lee: [00:09:48] Thank you so much for that. David. Can we go back a little bit and explain for our audience what the Six Companies meant to Chinatown?    David Lei: [00:09:57] From the very beginning, there were a lot of laws racist laws that were anti-Chinese, and the Chinese always felt they needed representation. Many of the Chinese did not speak English, did not understand the laws, so they formed the Chinese Six Companies. Officially known as the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association. most Chinese come from just the six districts from Guangdong Province. They're like counties. However, in China, each counties most likely will have their own dialect. Unintelligible to the county next to them. They will have their own food ways, their own temples. almost like separate countries. So there were six major counties where the Chinese in America came from. So each county sent representatives to this central organization called the Chinese six companies, and they represented the Chinese in America initially in all of America. Then later on, different states set up their own Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, so they would tax their own membership or get their own membership to pay fees. They had in-house lawyers to negotiate with city government, state government, federal government, and they would raise the money. They were the GoFundMe of their days. Almost every month they were hiring lawyers to protect some Chinese, somewhere in America against unfair unjust laws. The Chinese six company was very important to the Chinese in America, and they were the first to really push back on the Chinese exclusion Act between 1882 and 1905. 105,000 Chinese in America after the exclusion Act sued a federal government more than 10,000 times. This is about 10% of the Chinese population in America, sued the federal government. I'm not including state government, counties nor municipalities. This is just the federal government. About 10% of the Chinese here sued and almost 30 of these went to the Federal Supreme Court, and it was the sixth company that organized many of these winning for all Americans and not just the Chinese right. To a public education. Even if you are an immigrant tape versus Hurley in 1885. Then we have the Yick Wo versus Hopkins case that gave equal protection under law for everyone. Now, the 14th Amendment does have this clause equal protection under law, but everybody thought that meant you had to write a law that was equal for everybody. But in the case of Yick Wo versus Hopkins, it was also important that the law is executed and administered equally for everyone. That's the first time where it was made very clear that equal protection under law also means the administration and the execution of the law. So that is the core of American Civil Rights and the Chinese won this case for all Americans. Of course, Wong Kim Ark.    The concept of political asylum, public law 29 was a Chinese case passed by Congress in 1921, and then we have Miranda Act. If you look into the Miranda Act, it was based on a Chinese case, 1924 Ziang Sun Wan versus the US two Chinese were accused of murder in Washington DC They were tortured, denied sleep. Denied food, denied attorneys, so they confessed. But when it came to trial. They said we didn't do it, we confessed 'cause we were tortured and they won in the Supreme Court, but it was a Washington DC case only applicable to federal jurisdictions. So when Miranda came up, the Supreme Court said, well, we decided this in 1924, but now we'll just make it applicable to state, county and municipality. And then of course, as recently as 1974 Chinese for affirmative action helped bring the Lao versus Nichols case. Where now is required to have bilingual education for immigrant students, if there are enough of them to form a class where they can be taught math, science, history in their original language. These and many more. The Chinese brought and won these cases for all Americans, but few people know this and we just don't talk about it.    Miko Lee: [00:15:35] David, thank you so much for dropping all this knowledge on us. I did not know that the Miranda rights comes from Asian Americans. That's powerful. Yes. And so many other cases. I'm wondering, you said that Chinese Americans and the six companies sued, did you say 10,000 times?    David Lei: [00:15:53] We have 10,000 individual cases. In many of these cases, the Chinese six company helped provide a lawyer or a vice.    Miko Lee: [00:16:03] And where did that come from? Where did that impetus, how did utilizing the legal system become so imbued in their organizing process?   David Lei: [00:16:14] Well, because it worked even with the exclusion act, during the exclusion period most Chinese. Got a lawyer to represent them, got in something like 80%. In many of the years, 80% of the Chinese that hire a lawyer to help them with the immigration process were omitted. So the Chinese knew the courts acted differently from politics. The Chinese did not have a vote. So had no power in the executive branch nor the legislative branch. But they knew if they hire good lawyers, they have power in the court. So regardless of whether their fellow Americans like them or not legally the Chinese had certain rights, and they made sure they received those rights. By organizing, hiring the best lawyers, and this was a strategy. suing slowed down after 1905 because the Chinese lost a important case called Ju Toy versus the us. The Supreme Court decided that since the Chinese sue so much, their courts of appeal were tied up with all these cases. So the Supreme Court says from now on, the Supreme Court will give up his rights to oversight on the executive branch when it comes to immigration because the Chinese sue too much. And that's why today the executive branch. Has so much power when it comes to immigration, cause the court gave up the oversight rights in this ju toy versus the US in 1905. So if we go to the history of the law a lot of the legal policies we live in today, were. Pushback and push for by the Chinese, because the Chinese were the first group that were excluded denied these rights. but the Chinese were very organized one of the most organized group and push back. And that's why we have all these laws that the Chinese won.    Miko Lee: [00:18:30] And in your deep knowledge of all this history of these many cases, what do you think about what is happening right now with all the conversations around birthright citizenship? Can you put that into a historical perspective?    David Lei: [00:18:44] So being an American. We always have to be on the guard for our rights. Who would've thought Roe v. Wade would be overturned? So all these things can be challenged. America's attitude change. Civil disobedience, the Chinese are actually, we have on record the largest number of people practicing civil disobedience over a long period of time. In 1892, when the Exclusion Act, Chinese Exclusion Act had to be renewed, they added this. New requirement that every Chinese must carry a certificate of residency with their photo on it. Well, this is like a internal passport. No one had to have this internal passport, but they made the Chinese do it. So the Chinese six company. Says, no, this is not right. Only dogs need to carry a license around to identify. Itself and only criminals needs to register with a state. And we Chinese are not dogs and we're not criminals, so we're not going to do it 'cause no one else needs to do it. So the six company told all the Chinese 105,000 Chinese not to register. 97% refuse to register. In the meantime, the six companies sued the federal government again. Saying the Federal Go government cannot do this. The Chinese lost this case in the Supreme Court and everybody then had to register, but they didn't register until two years later, 1894. So they held. Held out for two years.   Miko Lee: [00:20:31] How many people was that?    David Lei: [00:20:32] About a hundred thousand. 97% of the 105,000 Chinese refused to do this. So if you look at these certificate of residencies that the Chinese were forced to carry. They were supposed to register in 1892. Almost all of them are 1894. Some of them in fact many of them are May, 1894, the last second that you can register before they start deporting you. So the Chinese. Also practiced civil disobedience and the largest incidents, a hundred thousand people for two years.    Miko Lee: [00:21:15] How did they communicate with each other about that?   David Lei: [00:21:18] The Chinese were very well connected through the six companies, their district association, their surname association oftentimes because of. The racism segregation, the Chinese were forced to live in Chinatowns or relied on their own network. To support each other. So there, there's a lot of letter writing and a lot of institutions, and they kept in touch.That network was very powerful. In fact, the network to interpret a law for everybody interpret uh, any rules of business, and. Just how to conduct themselves in America. They have a lot of institutions doing that. We still have them in the 24 square blocks we call Chinatown. We have almost 300 organizations helping the immigrants. Chinese there with language, with how to do your taxes tutoring for their kids. Advice on schools paying their bills and so on. We have surnames associations, we have district associations, we have gills, we have fraternal organizations, and we certainly have a lot of nonprofits. So it's very, very supportive community. And that's always been the case.    Miko Lee: [00:22:42] I'm wondering what you feel like we can learn from those organizers today. A hundred thousand for civil disobedience. And we're often portrayed as the model minority people just follow along. That's a lot of people during that time. And what do you think we can learn today from those folks that organize for civil disobedience and the Chinese Exclusion Act?    David Lei: [00:23:03] It takes a community. One person can't do it. You have to organize. You have to contribute. You have to hire the best lawyers, the very best. In fact, with the Yik Wo versus Hopkins case, the equal protection under law, the Chinese immediately raised 20,000 equivalent to half a million. It takes collective action. It takes money. You just have to support this to keep our rights.    Miko Lee: [00:23:29] And lastly, what would you like our audience to understand about Wong Kim Ark?    David Lei: [00:23:35] Well, Wong Kim Ark, he was just an average person, a working person that the immigration department made life miserable for him. Is very difficult to be an immigrant anytime, but today is even worse. We have to have some empathy. He was the test case, but there were so many others. I mentioned Look Tin Sing, whose adult name is Look Tin Eli. We know a lot about Look Tin Eli and then this other Hong Yin Ming in 1888 before Wong Kim Ark and so generations of generations of immigrants. Have had a hard time with our immigration department. It's just not a friendly thing we do here. And you know, we're all descendants of immigrants unless you're a Native American. Like I mentioned Look Tin Sing, who was the first case that I could find. For birthright citizenship. His mother was Native American, but Native American didn't even get to be citizens until 1924. You know, that's kind of really strange. But that was the case.    Miko Lee: [00:24:50] That's very absurd in our world.    David Lei: [00:24:52] Yes, Chinatown is where it is today because of Look Tin Sing, his adult name, Look Tin Eli. He saved Chinatown after the earthquake. He's the one that organized all the business people to rebuild Chinatown like a fantasy Chinese land Epcot center with all the pagoda roofs, and he's the one that saved Chinatown. Without him and his Native American mother, we would've been moved to Hunter's Point after the earthquake. He later on became president of the China Bank and also president of the China Mayo Steamship Line. So he was an important figure in Chinese American history, but he had to deal with immigration.   Miko Lee: [00:25:39] David Lei, thank you so much for sharing your wisdom with us. I appreciate hearing this story and folks can find out when you are part of a panel discussion for Wong Kim Ark week, right?    David Lei: [00:25:50] Yes.    Miko Lee: [00:25:51] Great. We will be able to see you there. Thank you so much for being on Apex Express. Annie Lee, managing director of Policy at Chinese for affirmative action. Welcome to Apex Express.    Annie Lee: [00:26:01] Thank you so much for having me Miko.    Miko Lee: [00:26:02] I wanna just start with this, a personal question, which is, who are your people and what legacy do you carry with you?    Annie Lee: [00:26:10] I am the daughter of monolingual working class Chinese immigrants. And so I would say my people hail from Southern China and were able to come to the United States where I was born and was allowed to thrive and call this place home. I do this work at Chinese for Affirmative Action on their behalf and for other folks like them.    Miko Lee: [00:26:31] Thanks Annie, Today we're recording on March 17th, and I'm noting this because as we know, things are changing so quickly in this chaotic administration. By the time this airs on Thursday, things might change. So today's March 17th. Can you as both an educator and a lawyer, give me a little bit of update on where birthright citizenship, where does it stand legally right now?    Annie Lee: [00:26:55] As an educator and a lawyer, I wanna situate us in where birthright citizenship lives in the law, which is in the 14th Amendment. So the 14th Amendment has a birthright citizenship clause, which is very clear, and it states that people who were born in the United States, in subject to the laws thereof are United States citizens. The reason. This clause was explicitly added into the 14th Amendment, was because of chattel slavery in the United States and how this country did not recognize the citizenship of enslaved African Americans for generations. And so after the Civil War and the Union winning that war and the ends of slavery . We had to make African Americans citizens, they had to be full citizens in the eye of the law. And that is why we have the 14th Amendment. And that clause of the 14th Amendment was later litigated all the way to the Supreme Court by Wong Kim Ark, who was born in San Francisco, like me, two Chinese immigrant parents. When he left the United States, he went to China to visit his family. He tried to come back. They wouldn't let him in. and he said, I am a citizen because I was born in the United States and this clause in your 14th amendment, our 14th amendment says that I'm a citizen. It went all the way to Supreme Court and the Supreme Court agreed with Wong Kim Ark. Does not matter your parents' citizenship status. Everyone born in the United States is a US citizen, except for a very, very narrow set of exceptions for the kids of foreign diplomats that really is not worth getting into. Everyone is born. Everyone who's born in the United States is a citizen. Okay? So then you all know from Trump's executive order on day one of his second presidency that he is attempting to upends this very consistent piece of law, and he is using these fringe, outlandish legal arguments that we have never heard before and has never merited any discussion because it is just. Facially incorrect based on the law and all of the interpretation of the 14th amendment after that amendment was ratified. So he is using that to try to upend birthright citizenship. There have been a number of lawsuits. Over 10 lawsuits from impacted parties, from states and there have been three federal judges in Maryland, Washington State, and New Hampshire, who have issued nationwide injunctions to stop the executive order from taking effect. That means that despite what Trump says in his executive order. The birthright citizenship clause remains as it is. So any child born today in the United States is still a citizen. The problem we have is that despite what three judges now issuing a nationwide injunction, the Trump's government has now sought assistance from the Supreme Court to consider his request to lift the nationwide pause on his executive order. So the justices, have requested filings from parties by early April, to determine whether or not a nationwide injunction is appropriate. This is extraordinary. This is not the way litigation works in the United States. Usually you let the cases proceed. In the normal process, which goes from a district court to an appeals court, and then eventually to the Supreme Court if it gets appealed all the way up to the Supreme Court. This is very different from the normal course of action and I think very troubling.    Miko Lee: [00:30:36] So can you talk a little bit about that? I know we constantly say in this administration it's unprecedented, but talk about how there's three different states that have actually filed this injunction. , how typical is that for then it or it to then go to the Supreme Court?    Annie Lee: [00:30:53] Just to clarify, it's not three different states. It's judges in three different states. In fact, more than many, many states, 18 more than 18 states. There have been two lawsuits related, brought by states one that California was a part of that had multiple states over 18 states as well as San Francisco and District of Columbia. Then there was another lawsuit brought by another set of states. and so many states are opposed to this, for different reasons. I find their complaints to be very, very compelling. Before I get into the fact that multiple judges have ruled against the Trump administration, I did want to explain that the reason states care about this is because birthright citizenship is not an immigration issue. Birthright citizenship is just a fundamental issue of impacting everyone, and I really want people to understand this. If you are white and born in the United States, you are a birthright citizen. If you are black and born in the United States, you are a birthright citizen. It is a fallacy to believe that birthright citizenship only impacts immigrants. That is not true. I am a mother and I gave birth to my second child last year, so I've been through this process. Every person who gives birth in the United States. You go to the hospital primarily, they talk to you after your child is born about how to get a social security card for your child. All you have to do is have your child's birth certificate. That is how every state in this country processes citizenship and how the federal government processes citizenship. It is through a birth certificate, and that is all you need. So you go to your health department in your city, you get the birth certificate, you tell, then you get your social security card. That is how everyone does it. If you change this process, it will impact every state in this country and it will be very, very cumbersome. Which is why all of these states, attorneys general, are up in arms about changing birthright citizenship. It is just the way we function. That again applies to re regardless of your parents' immigration status. This is an issue that impacts every single American. Now, to your question as to what does it mean if multiple judges in different states, in different federal district courts have all ruled against. Donald Trump, I think it really means that the law is clear. You have judges who ha are Reagan appointees saying that the birthright citizenship clause of the 14th amendment is crystal clear. It has, it is clear in terms of the text. If you are a textualist and you read exactly what the text says, if you believe in the context of, The 14th Amendment. If you look at the judicial history and just how this clause has been interpreted since ratification, like everything is consistent, this is not an area of law that has any gray area. And you see that because different judges in different district courts in Maryland, in Washington, in New Hampshire all have cited against Donald Trump.    Miko Lee: [00:33:54] So what is the intention of going to the Supreme Court?    Annie Lee: [00:33:59] I mean, he is trying to forum shop. He's trying to get a court that he believes will favor his interpretation and that is why the right has spent the last half century stacking federal courts. And that is why Mitch McConnell did not let Barack Obama replace Antonin Scalia. The composition of the Supreme Court is. So, so important, and you can see it at times like this.    Miko Lee: [00:34:28] But so many of the conservatives always talk about being constitutionalists, like really standing for the Constitution. So how do those things line up?   Annie Lee: [00:34:38] Oh, Miko, that's a great question. Indeed, yes, if they were the textualist that they say they are, this is a pretty clear case, but, Law is not as cut and dry as people think it is. It is obviously motivated by politics and that means law is subject to interpretation.   Miko Lee: [00:34:59] Annie, thank you so much for this breakdown. Are there any things that you would ask? Are people that are listening to this, how can they get involved? What can they do?    Annie Lee: [00:35:09] I would recommend folks check out StopAAPIHate. We are having monthly town halls as well as weekly videos to help break down what is happening. There's so much news and misinformation out there but we are trying to explain everything to everyone because these anti-immigration. Policies that are coming out be, this is anti-Asian hate and people should know that. You can also check out resources through Chinese for affirmative action. Our website has local resources for those of you who are in the Bay Area, including the rapid response lines for bay Area counties if you need any services, if you. See ICE. , if you want to know where their ICE is in any particular location, please call your rapid response line and ask them for that verifiable information. Thank you.    Miko Lee: [00:36:00] Thank you so much, Annie Lee for joining us today on Apex.    Ayame Keane-Lee: [00:36:04] You are listening to 94.1 KPFA and 89.3 KPFB in Berkeley, 88.1 KFCF in Fresno, 97.5 K248BR in Santa Cruz, 94.3 K232FZ in Monterey, and online worldwide at kpfa.org.   Miko Lee: [00:36:23] Welcome, Nicholas Gee from Chinese for affirmative action. Welcome to Apex Express.    Nicholas Gee: [00:36:29] Thanks so much, Miko. Glad to be here.    Miko Lee: [00:36:31] I'm so glad that you could join us on the fly. I wanted to first just start by asking you a personal question, which is for you to tell me who you are,, who are your people and what legacy do you carry with you.   Nicholas Gee: [00:36:46] I'll start off by saying Miko, thanks so much for having me. My name is Nicholas Gee and I am a third and or fourth generation Chinese American, born and raised in Houston, Texas. And for me, what that means is, is that my great-great-grandparents and great-grandparents migrated from Southern China, fleeing war and famine and looking for opportunity in the middle of the early, like 19 hundreds. And they wanted to start an opportunity here for future generations like me. My people are my family who migrated here over a hundred years ago. who were settling to start a new life. My people are also the people that I advocate with, the Language Access network of San Francisco, the Immigrant Parent Voting Collaborative, my colleagues at Chinese for affirmative action and stop AAPI hate. I think about my people as the people that I'm advocating with on the ground day to day asking and demanding for change.   Miko Lee: [00:37:41] Thank you. And what legacy do you carry with you?    Nicholas Gee: [00:37:45] I carry the legacy of my elders, particularly my grandparents who immigrated here in around the 1940s or so. And when I think about their legacy, I think a lot about the legacy of immigration, what it means to be here, what it means to belong, and the fight for advocacy and the work that I do today.    Miko Lee: [00:38:05] Thanks so much, Nick, and we're here doing this show all about Wong Kim Ark, and I know Chinese for affirmative action has planned this whole week-long celebration to bring up as we're talking about legacy, the legacy of Wong Kim Ark. Can you talk about how this one week celebration came to be and what folks can expect?    Nicholas Gee: [00:38:26] Yeah. As folks may know we are in the midst of many executive orders that have been in place and one of them being the executive order to end birthright citizenship. And Wong Kim Ark was actually born and raised in San Francisco's Chinatown, particularly on seven. 51 Sacramento Street. In the heart of the community and local partners here in this city, we're really trying to figure out how do we advocate and protect birthright citizenship? How do we bring momentum to tell the story of Wong Kim Ark in a moment when birthright citizenship is, in the process of being removed And so we really wanted to create some momentum around the storytelling, around the legacy of Wong Kim Ark, but also the legal implications and what it means for us to advocate and protect for birthright citizenship. And so I joined a couple of our local partners and particularly our team at Chinese for affirmative action to develop and create the first ever Wong Kim Ark Week. Officially known as born in the USA and the Fight for Citizenship, a week long series of events, specifically to honor the 127th anniversary of the Landmark Supreme Court case, US versus Wong Kim Ark, which affirmed birthright citizenship for all in the United States.    Miko Lee: [00:39:44] What will happen during this week-long celebration?   Nicholas Gee: [00:39:48] We have several scheduled events to raise awareness, mobilize the community, and really to stand up for the rights of all immigrants and their families. One is an incredible book Talk in conversation with author and activist Bianca Boutte. Louie, who recently authored a book called Unassimilable. And she tells a personal narrative and provides a sharp analysis for us to think about race and belonging and solidarity in America, particularly through an Asian American lens. This event is hosted by the Chinese Historical Society of America. Following. We have a live in-person community symposium on Wong Kim Ark legacy and the struggle for citizenship. There'll be a powerful community conversation with legal advocates, storytellers, movement builders, to have a dynamic conversation on the impact of birthright citizenship. Who is Wong Kim Ark? What is his enduring legacy and how people can join us for the ongoing struggle for justice? And you know, we actually have a special guest, Norman Wong, who is the great grandson of Wong Kim Ark. He'll be joining us for this special event. We have a couple of more events. One is a Chinatown History and Art Tour hosted by Chinese Culture Center, this is a small group experience where community members can explore Chinatown's vibrant history, art, and activism, and particularly we'll learn about the legacy of Wong Kim Ark and then lastly, we have a in-person press conference that's happening on Friday, which is we're gonna conclude the whole week of, Wong Kim Ark with a birthright, citizenship resolution and a Wong Kim Ark dedication. And so we'll be celebrating his enduring impact on Birthright citizenship and really these ongoing efforts to protect, our fundamental right. and the San Francisco Public Library is actually hosting an Asian American and Pacific Islander book display at the North Beach campus and they'll be highlighting various books and authors and titles inspired by themes of migration, community, and resilience. So those are our scheduled, events We're welcoming folks to join and folks can register, and check out more information at casf.org/WongKimArk    Miko Lee: [00:42:04] Thanks so much and we will post a link to that in our show notes. I'm wondering how many of those are in Chinese as well as English?    Nicholas Gee: [00:42:13] That is a fantastic question, Miko. We currently have the community symposium on Wong Kim Ark legacy in the struggle for citizenship. This event will have live interpretation in both Mandarin and Cantonese.    Miko Lee: [00:42:46] What would you like folks to walk away with? An understanding of what.    Nicholas Gee: [00:42:30] We really want people to continue to learn about the legacy of birthright citizenship and to become an advocate with us. We also have some information on our website, around what you can do to protect birthright citizenship. As an advocate, we are always thinking about how do we get people involved, to think about civic engagement intentional education and to tie that back to our advocacy. And so we have a couple of ways that we're inviting people to take action with us. One is to invite a friend to consider attending one of our events. If you're based here in the San Francisco Bay area or if you're online, join us for the book Talk with Bianca. , two, we're inviting folks to take action and oppose the executive order to ban birthright citizenship. Chinese for affirmative action has. A call to action where we can actually send a letter to petition , to oppose this executive order to send a message directly to our congressman or woman. and lastly, you know, we're asking people to learn about Wong Kim Ark as a whole, and to learn about the impacts of birthright citizenship. My hope is that folks walk away with more of an understanding of what does it mean here to be an advocate? What does it mean to take action across the community and really to communicate this is what resilience will look like in our community    Miko Lee: [00:43:44] Nick Gee, thank you so much for joining me on Apex Express. It was great to hear how people can get involved in the Wong Kim Ark week and learn more about actions and how they can get involved. We appreciate the work you're doing.    Nicholas Gee: [00:43:56] Thanks so much Miko, and I'm excited to launch this.   Miko Lee: [00:43:58] Welcome, Reverend Deb Lee, executive Director of Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity and part of the Network on Religion and justice. Thank you so much for coming on Apex Express.    Rev. Deb Lee: [00:44:09] Great to be here. Miko.    Miko Lee: [00:44:11] I would love you just personally to tell me who are your people and what legacy do you carry with you?   Rev. Deb Lee: [00:44:17] Wow. Well, my people are people in the Chinese diaspora. My family's been in diaspora for seven generations, from southern China to southeast to Asia. and then eventually to the United States. What I carry with me is just a huge sense of resistance and this idea of like, we can survive anywhere and we take our love and our family and our ancestor we gotta carry it with us. We don't always have land or a place to put it down into the ground, and so we carry those things with us. , that sense of resistance and resilience.    Miko Lee: [00:44:56] Thank you so much. I relate to that so much as a fifth generation Chinese American. To me, it's really that sense of resilience is so deep and powerful, and I'm wondering as a person from the faith community, if you could share about the relevance of Wong Kim Ark and Birthright citizenship.   Rev. Deb Lee: [00:45:12] Yeah, Wong Kim Ark is critical because he was somebody who really fought back against racist laws and really asserted his right to be part of this country, his right to have the Constitution apply to him too. I'm just so grateful for him and so many of the other Chinese Americans who fought back legally and resisted against in that huge wave of period of Chinese exclusion to create some of the really important immigration laws that we have today. I wouldn't be a citizen without birthright citizenship myself. Wong Kim Ark really established that every person who is born on this soil has a right to constitutional protection, has a right to be a citizen. And in fact, the Constitution in the 14th Amendment also applies to let equal treatment for everyone here, everyone who is here. You don't even have to be a citizen for the constitutional rights. And the Fourth Amendment, the fifth Amendment, the first amendment to apply to you. And those things are so under attack right now. It's so important to establish the equality. Of every person and the right for people here in this country to have safety and belonging, that everyone here deserves safety and belonging.    Miko Lee: [00:46:24] Thank you so much for lifting up that activist history. as, a person who was raised in a theological setting at a seminary, I was really raised around this ethos of love as an active tool and a way of fighting for civil rights, fighting for things that we believe in. And I'm wondering if you could talk about how you see that playing out in today. And especially as you know, this Trump regime has had such incredible impacts on immigrants and on so much of our activist history. I'm wondering if you have thoughts on that?    Rev. Deb Lee: [00:47:00] Well, so much of the civil rights history in this country, you know, going back to like the activism of Chinese Americans to establish some of those civil rights. You know, it goes back to this idea of like, who is fully human, who can be fully human, whose humanity will be fully recognized? And so I think that's what's connects back to my faith and connects back to faith values of the sacredness of every person, the full humanity, the full participation, the dignity. And so I think, Wong Kim Ark and the other, like Chinese American activists, they were fighting for like, you know, we don't wanna just be, we're gonna just gonna be laborers. We're not just going to be people who you can, Bring in and kick out whenever you want, but like, we want to be fully human and in this context of this nation state, that means being fully citizens.And so I think that that struggle and that striving to say we want that full humanity to be recognized, that is a fundamental kind of belief for many faith traditions, which, you know, speak to the radical equality of all people and the radical dignity of all people, that can't be taken away, but that has to really be recognized. What's under attack right now is. So much dehumanization, stigmatization of people, you know, based on race, based on class, based on gender, based on what country people were born in, what papers they carry, you know, if they ever had contact, prior contact with the law, like all these things. You know, are immediately being used to disregard someone's humanity. And so I think those of us who come from a faith tradition or who just share that kind of sense of, value and, deep humanism in other people, that's where we have to root ourselves in this time in history and really being, you know, we are going to defend one another's humanity and dignity, at all costs.   Miko Lee: [00:48:55] Thank you for that. I'm wondering if there are other lessons that we can learn from Wong Kim Ark, I mean, the time when he fought back against, this was so early in 1894, as you mentioned, the Chinese exclusion acts and I'm wondering if there are other lessons that we can learn from him in, in our time when we are seeing so many of our rights being eroded.   Rev. Deb Lee: [00:49:17] I think that there's so many ways, that we think about how did people organize then like, you know, it's challenging to organize now, but if you can imagine organizing then, and I'm thinking, you know, when Chinese people were required to carry identification papers and you know, on mass they refused to do that and they. Practice, like a form of civil disobedience. And I think we're at this time now, like the Trump administration's telling anybody here who's unauthorized to come forward and to register well, I think people need to think twice about that. And people are, there are many other things that they're trying to impose on the immigrant community and I think one like lesson is like, how do people survive through a period of exclusion and we are today in a period of exclusion. That really goes back to the mid 1980s, when there was, last, a significant immigration reform that created a pathway to citizenship. Only for about 3 million people. But after that, since that time in the mid 1980s, there has been no other pathways to citizenship, no other forms of amnesty, no other ways for people to fix their status.So in fact, we are already in another 40 year period of exclusion again. And so one of those lessons is how do people survive this period? Like right, and left. They're taking away all the laws and protections that we had in our immigration system. They were very narrow already. Now even those are being eliminated and any form of compassion or discretion or leniency or understanding has been removed. So I think people are in a period of. Survival. How do we survive and get through? And a lot of the work that we're doing on sanctuary right now we have a sanctuary people campaign, a sanctuary congregations campaign is how do we walk alongside immigrants to whom there is no path. There is no right way. there is no opening right now. But walk with them and help support them because right now they're trying to squeeze people so badly that they will self deport. And leave on their own. This is part of a process of mass expulsion but if people really believe that they want to stay and be here, how do we help support people to get through this period of exclusion until there will be another opening? And I believe there will be like our, our history kind of spirals in and out, and sometimes there are these openings and that's something I take from the faith communities. If you look at Chinese American history in this country, the role that faith communities played in walking with the immigrant community and in supporting them, and there's many stories that help people get through that period of exclusion as well.   Miko Lee: [00:51:52] Deb, I'm wondering what you would say to folks. I'm hearing from so many people [say] I can't read the news. It's too overwhelming. I don't wanna get involved. I just have to take care of myself. And so I'm just waiting. And even James Carville, the political opponent, say we gotta play dead for a few years. What are your thoughts on this?    Rev. Deb Lee: [00:52:11] Well, we can't play totally dead. I wish the Democrats wouldn't be playing dead, but I think that a person of faith, we have to stay present we don't really have the option to check out and we actually have to be in tune with the suffering. I think it would be irresponsible for us to. You know, turn a blind eye to the suffering. And I wanna encourage people that actually opportunities to walk with people who are being impacted and suffering can actually be deeply, fulfilling and can help give hope and give meaning. And there are people who are looking for solidarity right now. We are getting a lot of calls every week for someone who just wants them, wants someone to go to their court or go to the ice, check-in with them, and literally just like walk three blocks down there with them and wait for them. To make sure they come out. And if they don't come out to call the rapid response hotline, it doesn't take much. But it's a huge act like this is actually what some of the immigrant communities are asking for, who are millions of people who are under surveillance right now and have to report in. So those small acts of kindness can be deeply rewarding in this. Sea of overwhelming cruelty. And I think we have an obligation to find something that we can do. , find a way, find a person, find someone that we can connect to support and be in solidarity with and think about people in our past. Who have accompanied us or accompanied our people and our people's journey. And when those acts of kindness and those acts of neighbors and acts of friendship have meant so much I know like my family, they still tell those stories of like, this one person, you know, in Ohio who welcome them and said hello. We don't even know their names. Those acts can be etched in people's hearts and souls. And right now people need us.    Miko Lee: [00:53:59] Oh, I love that. I've talked with many survivors of the Japanese American concentration camps, and so many of them talk about the people of conscience, meaning the people that were able to step up and help support them during, before and after that time. Lastly, I'm wondering, you're naming some really specific ways that people can get engaged, and I know you're deeply involved in the sanctuary movement. Can you provide us with ways that people can find out more? More ways to get involved in some of the work that you are doing.    Rev. Deb Lee: [00:54:29] I'll put a plug in for our website. It's www dot I am number four, human integrity.org. So it's, iam4humanintegrity.org. We work with families that are impacted facing deportation, looking for all kinds of ways to get the community to rally around folks and support and we work with faith communities who are thinking about how to become sanctuary congregations and how to be an important resource in your local community. The other organizations, I would say sign up for Bay Resistance. They're organizing a lot of volunteers that we call on all the time we're working with. We're, you know, working with many organizations, the Bay Area, to make sure that a new ice detention facility does not get built. They are looking at the potential site of Dublin. We've worked really hard the last decade to get all the detention centers out of Northern California. We don't want them to open up a new one here.   Miko Lee: [00:55:27] Deb Lee, thank you so much for joining us on Apex Express and folks can actually see Deb on Tuesday night in Wong Kim Ark Week as one of the speakers. Thank you so much for joining us.    Rev. Deb Lee: [00:55:38] Thank you, Miko.    Miko Lee: [00:55:39] Thank you so much for joining us on Apex Express. We're gonna close this episode with words from Norman Wong, the great grandson of Wong Kim Ark.   Norman Wong: [00:55:49] So let's fight back. Threats to birthright citizenship will only divide us, and right now we need to come together to continue the impact of my great grandfather's. This is my family's legacy, and now it's part of yours too. Thank you    Miko Lee: [00:56:11] Please check out our website, kpfa.org to find out more about our show tonight. We think all of you listeners out there. Keep resisting, keep organizing, keep creating and sharing your visions with the world because your voices are important. Apex Express is created by Miko Lee, Jalena Keane-Lee, Preti Mangala-Shekar, Swati Rayasam, Aisa Villarosa, Estella Owoimaha-Church, Gabriel Tanglao, Cheryl Truong and Ayame Keane-Lee.    The post APEX Express – 3.20.25- Wong Kim Ark appeared first on KPFA.

The podcast is back, with its new co-host, Ryan. Ryan and I talk about the Rio band experience, the truck killing bridge, his inability to sleep recently, Angel Island and various ships Ryan got to stay at by being part of Cub Scouts, and why Conan O'Brien is my favorite comedian. This was recorded at my computer desk using my Yeti X, so there may be some other sounds, and this episode may be louder than the rest. Please lower your volume if that's the case.

Del Sol's relationship with Susan Moffat began as a chance encounter at a spontaneous street performance during the pandemic. In this bonus episode, hear how that meeting blossomed into impactful collaborations at the Albany Bulb and Angel Island, and an entire curriculum of programming at UC Berkeley, A Year on Angel Island. Susan highlights the broader educational and emotional impacts of these collaborations, including initiatives to connect students with their heritage and history through immersive art experiences (in which Charlton's daughter participated!). Susan says the students learned that “ they can create knowledge and they can create art. And that the art can be both a way of asking questions and also of sharing the knowledge that they've gained with other people.” Enriched by Susan's multifaceted work in creating inclusive and sustainable urban spaces, this conversation explores how art not only reflects but transforms our understanding of history, place, and human connections. Mentioned in the Episode A Year on Angel Island at UC Berkeley Love the Bulb Connect with Del Sol Quartet DelSolQuartet.com Del Sol Quartet on Spotify Facebook Instagram YouTube This episode is a bonus from the "Angel Island" season of Sounds Current. If you haven't already, we encourage you to go back to "Part 1: A Haunting History" and listen to the full 4-part story. Sounds Current is produced and edited by The Creative Impostor Studios and hosted by Charlton Lee.

This is for young artists, musicians, new ensembles, and anyone seeking to take on bigger or more complex projects in their creative work! Emiko Ono is the Director, Performing Arts Program at The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. And it is safe to say that without the Hewlett Foundation's 50 Arts Commission, there may never have BEEN an Angel Island Oratorio. In this short excerpt, Charlton and Emiko are discussing the creative process and offering insight based on their own experiences for aspiring artists who are in pursuit of funding and resources in order to realize their vision. Visit Hewlett.org to learn more about programs and grants in areas such as: gender equity and governance,  climate change,  strengthening democracy,  advancing education for all,  community-led conservation in the North American West, and  meaningful artistic experiences in communities across the Bay Area. Connect with Del Sol Quartet DelSolQuartet.com Del Sol Quartet on Spotify Facebook Instagram YouTube This episode is a bonus from the "Angel Island" season of Sounds Current. If you haven't already, we encourage you to go back to "Part 1: A Haunting History" and listen to the full 4-part story. Sounds Current is produced and edited by The Creative Impostor Studios and hosted by Charlton Lee.

Century Lithium Chief Financial Officer Braam Jonker joined Steve Darling from Proactive to announce the company's successful completion of its initial internal Optimization Study, which identified potential capital expenditure (CAPEX) reductions of up to 25% for Phase 1 of its Angel Island Project. This optimization follows the company's Feasibility Study released in April last year, which estimated initial Phase 1 CAPEX at $1.581 billion. Jonker explained that cost savings are expected through several key improvements, including modifications to the flow sheet, optimized equipment selection, and updated vendor quotes for critical processing areas such as filtration, Direct Lithium Extraction, and the chlor-alkali plant. Additionally, an internal review of engineering and construction plans identified opportunities to streamline processes, reduce redundancies, and enhance efficiency from mining through to the on-site production of battery-grade lithium carbonate. The company also anticipates reductions in indirect costs, including contingency and engineering, procurement, and construction management, as a percentage of overall CAPEX, thanks to these optimizations. Furthermore, Century Lithium expects to generate additional revenue by selling surplus sodium hydroxide produced during the lithium extraction process, further improving the project's economics. With these promising results, Century Lithium will now initiate work on an Updated Feasibility Study to validate the findings of the Optimization Study to the required level of confidence. The company believes that the combination of enhanced mine planning, streamlined processing, and additional by-product sales will position Angel Island as a competitive, cost-efficient producer of battery-grade lithium carbonate, supporting the growing demand for lithium in the global energy transition. #proactiveinvestors #centurylithiumcorp #tsxv #lce #otcqx #cydvf #mining #oricaspecialtymining #LithiumMining #AngelIslandProject #NevadaLithium #MiningNews #CapExSavings #BraamJonker #ProactiveInvestors #BatteryMetals #ResourceSector

“My hope is not to divide, but to bring people together. Because only when we know about the history, then we can see our present and can learn [from] mistakes and to do better.” So says composer and conductor Huang Ruo on his vision for Angel Island. This bonus is Charlton's full conversation with Huang Ruo recorded in a friend's apartment in New York, during the 2024 Next Wave Festival, co-presented by Brooklyn Academy of Music and Prototype Festival. Follow the evolution of our collaboration from the first time we met, through the dark times of the COVID pandemic, all the way to New York.  Learn more about Huang Ruo's work at HuangRuo.com, including the world premiere of his new opera, The Monkey King, written with David Henry Hwang at San Francisco Opera in November 2025.  Also Mentioned in this Bonus A Dust In Time, written by Huang Ruo & performed by Del Sol Quartet Connect with Del Sol Quartet DelSolQuartet.com Del Sol Quartet on Spotify Facebook Instagram YouTube This episode is a bonus from the "Angel Island" season of Sounds Current. If you haven't already, we encourage you to go back to "Part 1: A Haunting History" and listen to the full 4-part story. Sounds Current is produced and edited by The Creative Impostor Studios and hosted by Charlton Lee.    

We're going on tour in March 2025! We'll be engaging in performances and residencies in Lincoln, Nebraska; Kansas City, Missouri, and Iowa CIty, Iowa. And in April we'll be at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. Check out our calendar for more details at Calendar — Del Sol Quartet 

How do we learn from the past to change the future? This bonus is an excerpt of Charlton's interview with Matthew Ozawa, stage director for the New York premiere of Angel Island at BAM produced by Beth Morrison Productions. In this clip, Matthew shares how his first experience on Angel Island and personal family history inspired the staging of the Prototype Festival staging. And Charlton describes how this project has shifted his own relationship to the energy of the Immigration Station detention barracks. As Matthew says, “This is now gonna exist for all times, for so many generations and people to experience, to think about, to learn about their history in a way that pre this piece, probably people didn't even know about... And this is why we make art.” Matthew has some exciting productions on the horizon for 2025 including Puccini's Madama Butterfly with Pittsburgh Opera in March and with Utah Opera in May. You can follow Matthew's work at matthewozawa.com. Connect with Del Sol Quartet DelSolQuartet.com Del Sol Quartet on Spotify Facebook Instagram YouTube This episode is a bonus from the "Angel Island" season of Sounds Current. If you haven't already, we encourage you to go back to "Part 1: A Haunting History" and listen to the full 4-part story. Sounds Current is produced and edited by The Creative Impostor Studios and hosted by Charlton Lee.    

Century Lithium CEO Bill Willoughby joined Steve Darling from Proactive to share significant progress with Proactive, revealing the company has entered into a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Orica Specialty Mining Chemicals. The MOU sets the groundwork for a formal multiyear offtake agreement, enabling Orica to purchase sodium hydroxide from Century Lithium's Angel Island project near Silver Peak, Nevada. Orica, a global leader in mining and infrastructure solutions, is also a key manufacturer and supplier of specialty mining chemicals to Nevada's mining sector. This collaboration strengthens Century Lithium's integration into the region's mining ecosystem. Willoughby elaborated on the company's innovative and patent-pending process for extracting lithium from the claystone at Angel Island. The method combines chloride leaching with direct lithium extraction, utilizing salt—either as solid sodium chloride or saline brine—to produce reagents for leaching and pH control. Beyond lithium carbonate as the primary product, the process generates surplus sodium hydroxide, which is anticipated to contribute significantly to keeping operating costs low. The initial agreement with Orica spans five years and includes the option for an additional five-year extension under a right-of-first-offer arrangement. This partnership underscores the Angel Island project's potential for not only producing lithium efficiently but also leveraging by-products to create sustainable operational synergies. Century Lithium's progress at Angel Island marks a critical step in the company's mission to deliver cost-effective and innovative solutions to the growing demand for lithium and related chemicals. #proactiveinvestors #centurylithiumcorp #tsxv #lce #otcqx #cydvf #mining #oricaspecialtymining #LithiumExtraction #BatteryTechnology #RenewableEnergy #MiningInnovation #SustainableEnergy #NevadaProjects #ChemicalProcessing #CleanEnergySolutions #ProactiveInvestors

One of the complexities of Angel Island by Huang Ruo is that vocal parts are alternately in English and Chinese. For American choral groups, who are familiar with practicing Italian, German, French, and Latin diction, Chinese is not a common language with which they often have experience. And for this project, it was important to get it right. This bonus is an excerpt of Charlton's interview with Sidney Chen of Volti. Volti is the vocal ensemble that was instrumental in the development and world premiere of Angel Island. In this clip, they are discussing the nuances of Chinese language, phonetics, and coaching the ensemble through the oratorio's text.  They also share stories about both Charlton's and Sid's personal relationship to learning Mandarin Chinese. Volti has an exciting calendar of music events planned for 2025, including a new commission from LJ White with Left Coast Chamber Ensemble in January and February and a program dedicated to “environmentalism in music” in June. Learn more at www.voltisf.org. And see what Sid Chen is up to at sidneychenarts.com. Featured music from The Angel Island Oratorio composed by Huang Ruo. Performed by Del Sol Quartet & United States Air Force Band's Singing Sergeants / National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, recorded and edited by Suraya Mohamed. Connect with Del Sol Quartet DelSolQuartet.com Del Sol Quartet on Spotify Facebook Instagram YouTube This episode is a bonus from the "Angel Island" season of Sounds Current. If you haven't already, we encourage you to go back to "Part 1: A Haunting History" and listen to the full 4-part story. Sounds Current is produced and edited by The Creative Impostor Studios and hosted by Charlton Lee.  

Angel Island Immigration Station Concert Series Satuday, December 14, 2024 @ 12pm* Program: Korean experience on Angel Island Del Sol violinist Hyeyung Sol Yoon has curated a program that explores the long history of Korean immigration to San Francisco, from those seeking refuge from Japanese-occupied Korea in the early 20th century to more recent immigration taking place post-1965.  The program will feature San Francisco-based Korean composer Jungyoon Wie's “Han”, which incorporates traditional Korean lullaby and an elegy that represents the complexity of han, a feeling of collective unresolved anger, grief, and regret amongst the Korean people.  To join us for this special musical and historical experience, take the ferry from Tiburon or San Francisco then bike, walk or tram to the immigration station. *Exact time of the concert is subject to change based on ferry schedule changes The event is free with admission to the Detention Barracks Museum ($5 adult, $3 youth). Learn more about this and other upcoming events at delsolquartet.com/calendar.

We are in the midst of preparing some bonus content for you from our Angel Island season, but in the meantime, we wanted to share incredible news. Sounds Current: Angel Island has won GOLD for Artists & Designers Shaping Culture at the 2024 Signal Awards! The Signal Awards set a standard for editorial excellence by honoring the organizations, artists, mavericks and brands who are shaping the podcast industry, and the storytelling medium. We are truly honored to be recognized by their esteemed academy of judges among a cohort of "the most potent, meaningful and unprecedented audio projects being made today." (Their words, not ours!) See our Winner's Gallery page and discover more Signal Award winning shows at https://bit.ly/signalawardsoundscurrent. Upcoming Concerts! Peninsula Jewish Community Center "Up Close" Saturday November 16 at 8:00pm Doors open at 7:30pm This 60-minute program presents Derek David's String Quartet No. 4 “Kaddish” which features Jewish folk melodies to explore themes of loss and mourning and will be followed by a “Meet the Artists” reception.  Tickets are available at the front desk or by calling 650.378.2703. Membership is not required to purchase tickets. Angel Island Immigration Station Concert Series Satuday, December 14, 2024 @ 12pm* Program: Korean experience on Angel Island Del Sol violinist Hyeyung Sol Yoon has curated a program that explores the long history of Korean immigration to San Francisco, from those seeking refuge from Japanese-occupied Korea in the early 20th century to more recent immigration taking place post-1965.  The program will feature San Francisco-based Korean composer Jungyoon Wie's “Han”, which incorporates traditional Korean lullaby and an elegy that represents the complexity of han, a feeling of collective unresolved anger, grief, and regret amongst the Korean people.  To join us for this special musical and historical experience, take the ferry from Tiburon or San Francisco then bike, walk or tram to the immigration station. *Exact time of the concert is subject to change based on ferry schedule changes The event is free with admission to the Detention Barracks Museum ($5 adult, $3 youth). Learn more about these and other upcoming events at delsolquartet.com/calendar.

We take a deeper look at the creation and enduring legacy of the country's first detention center, Angel Island, and examine how the past reflects the complexities of today's immigration matrix. Reporter Andrea Gutierrez visits Angel Island and hears from a Chinese descendant whose ancestor fought against her deportation in the 1920's. Find an annotated transcript at our website here. Find more information—including transcripts and resource guides—visit 70MillionPod.com (Here). Follow @70MillionPod.

It's time for another listing party, as we tackle perhaps the most controversial Sonic soundtrack(s) ever composed. Special guest RecD chimes in as we look back at Sonic 3 & Knuckles, a soundtrack that is perhaps known less for the music it features and more for the many mysteries behind its creation. Which are better, the original tracks, or the "original" tracks? Whether you're a dedicated fan or just a stranger in Moscow, listening to the gang's thoughts just might be the happiest days of your life. (0:00:00) Intro/Main topic: Sonic 3 & Knuckles listening party (0:17:45) Title track (0:20:52) Menu themes (0:27:07) Jingles (0:40:25) Bonus/special stages (0:51:26) Knuckles theme (0:56:41) Boss themes (1:02:02) Multiplayer stages (1:08:00) Angel Island (1:12:52) Hydro City (1:16:10) Marble Garden (1:20:17) Carnival Night (1:30:58) Ice Cap (1:41:38) Launch Base (1:53:58) Big Arms (1:56:21) Mushroom Hill (1:59:30) Flying Battery (2:02:35) Sandopolis (2:05:46) Lava Reef (2:09:36) Sky Sanctuary (2:13:41) Death Egg (2:16:34) Doomsday (2:18:55) Credits themes (2:26:17) Other tracks (2:30:00) Final thoughts (2:37:46) Outro Amie Waters on Linktree RecD on YouTube What we know about the Sonic 3 soundtrack

For years all immigrants were allowed into the U.S., but some could not become citizens. Later, certain nationalities were limited or completely banned. This episode outlines those changes through the 1980s and discusses the pseudoscience of eugenics and how it was used to justify such bigotry and even involuntary sterilizations in the 20th Century. 

Come experience the multi-faceted experience of Angel Island in its first-ever concert series.  From within the detention barracks at the Immigration Station, we'll be exploring music and stories of the many communities who have connections to the island and its history. A beautiful day on the island, a richness of history, an exploration of the darkness and also the hope that the island represented. September 14, 2024 @ 11:30AM & 2:00PM Kaddish: Featuring Music By Derek David If you'll be in the San Francisco Bay area, we'd love to invite you to join us! Take the ferry from Tiburon or San Francisco. Then bike, walk, or tram to the immigration station. Be sure to reserve your seat at delquartet.com/island. *** THE CONCERT We've combined music by Derek David  - his Quartet # 4 "Kaddish" and his own performances of Yiddish folk songs with short selections that give a wide view of Jewish-American music, from the Broadway standards of Jerome Kern to Ljova to Bay Area's own Gabriela Lena Frank. The concert contains a spectrum of emotions: fun Yiddish songs, the Broadway song tradition, and Derek's personal reflecting on mourning.  “Kaddish” explores mourning through two Jewish folk melodies sourced from the Ruth Rubin Legacy Archives, indirectly reflecting on death, dying, and romance. In a previous Del Sol concert with Derek , the audience - young and old - found a fresh viewpoint on Jewish-American experience, energized around Derek's intensely personal music. Suddenly, Yiddish seemed vital, complex, vibrant, funny and sad - not a dying language at all. THE HISTORY Approximately 8,000 Jews and Russians passed through Angel Island between 1910 and 1940.. According to the Angel Island Immigration Center's Immigrant Voices Project, “historians have explored the long and often unjust treatment of Japanese and Chinese on Angel Island, much less is known about the thousands of Russians, Eastern Europeans and Jews who came to the U.S. via Asia.” Two distinct waves included: = Large numbers of Russian, Polish, and Lithuanian Jews began arriving at Angel Island in 1915. They were mainly men who had left their homes to escape the turmoil of war and military duty. =At least 500 Jewish refugees made it to San Francisco and Yokohama in 1939 and 1940 to escape Nazi regimes.

The sun is out, the water is cool, and it's time to get away from it all and enjoy the summer! The only question is...where? That's what The Hill Is Always Greener plans to settle today, as we try to create a list of the top 10 summer vacation destinations in Sonic's world. Is it better to be near civilization or out roughing it? What kind of activities does each spot offer? And is a beach still a beach if it only touches water during a crisis? So pop your shades, grab one of those those little umbrella drinks, and kick back as you join us for some fast-footed fun in the sun. (0:00:00) Intro/Main topic: Top 10 Sonic summer vacation destinations (0:05:38) Emerald Hill (0:07:19) Green Hills (0:08:27) Angel Island (0:11:38) Carnival Island (0:15:06) Resort Island (0:17:22) Station Square/Emerald Coast (0:20:10) Neo Green Hill (0:21:20) Emerald Town/Emerald Beach (0:23:49) Seaside Hill/Ocean Palace (0:26:44) Sunset Hill (0:29:48) Water Palace (0:31:03) Splash Canyon/Red Canyon (0:33:50) Soleanna/Wave Ocean (0:36:05) Southern Island/Plant Kingdom (0:38:56) Blue Coast (0:40:42) Apotos/Windmill Isle (0:43:06) Adabat/Jungle Joyride (0:46:09) Tropical Coast (0:47:26) Dolphin Resort (0:50:22) Seaside Island (0:53:21) Northstar Islands/Bridge Island (0:55:32) Scrambled Shores (0:57:39) Trimming the list (1:01:39) Re-ordering the list (1:33:33) The final list/Our personal picks (1:40:40) Final thoughts (1:42:00) Outro Amie Waters on Linktree

Join Dr. Stephanie J. Wong on the "Color of Success Podcast" as she hosts Charlton Lee, the founding violist of the Del Sol Quartet. With over three decades of reshaping the contemporary string quartet landscape, Charlton has premiered works by notable composers at prestigious venues worldwide. In this episode, he dives into the transformative Angel Island project and the powerful union of music and language in expressing cultural history and healing. This episode explores not just Charlton's artistic journey but also the broader narrative of Asian-American resilience and identity. Guest Bio: Charlton Lee, founding violist of the Del Sol Quartet, has been a pivotal figure in the evolution of the contemporary string quartet for over thirty years. His work includes premiering hundreds of new compositions across global stages and leading significant commissions from composers like Terry Riley and Huang Ruo. Beyond performance, Charlton's dedication extends to education, influencing aspiring musicians through diverse initiatives from school programs to rural residencies. With degrees in Applied Mathematics, Physics, and Music, his unique insights have enriched both the scientific and musical communities, highlighted by his publications in Physics Review Letters and Strings Magazine, and a TEDx talk on just intonation. Show Notes: Host: Dr. Stephanie J. Wong Topics Covered: The origins and impacts of the Angel Island project. The synergy between music, language, and cultural expressions. Historical and modern contexts of Asian-American discrimination. The role of art in healing and community engagement. The upcoming "Songs of the Diaspora" project, showcasing diverse immigrant stories through music and poetry. Resources: Charlton's TEDx talk on just intonation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmV-mIxmpvQ Del Sol Quartet's website for music samples and project updates: https://www.delsolquartet.com/ Listen to the Sounds Current Podcast for more insights into the Angel Island project: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sounds-current/id1744176966 Book Mentioned: "Cancel the Filter: Realities of a Psychologist, Podcaster, and Working Mother of Color" by Dr. Stephanie J. Wong, available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1960299239?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_3VH87AO6WEDGWPNR6N7R Website: https://www.colorofsuccesspodcast.com/ Subscribe on Platforms: Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more. Follow on Social Media: @color_of_success on Instagram

The word “departure” generally refers to the physical act of leaving a place. However, departure also indicates a deviation from one's traditional course of action or way of thinking.  As we close out this season of Sounds Current, Charlton and esteemed collaborators reflect on their experiences related to the development and subsequent productions of Angel Island. How have the music, the conversations, and their experiences on Angel Island shaped their understanding of the current immigration debate in the US and beyond? How has being a part of the project affected their personal narratives and understanding of family history? And what does the future hold for this project as a whole?  And how is the audience receiving the piece? For the first time in this series, we hear immediate reactions.. Part 4 Features: Matthew Ozawa, Stage Director, New York premiere of Angel Island Andi Wong, Teaching Artist and Arts Advocate Genny Lim, Poet, Playwright, Performer, and Pioneer Casey Dexter-Lee, State Park Interpreter II for Angel Island Susan Moffat, Principal, Future Histories Studio Huang Ruo, Composer, Angel Island Ben Kreith, Del Sol Quartet violinist Kathryn Bates, Del Sol Quartet cellist Hyeyung Sol Yoon, Del Sol Quartet violinist Sidney Chen, Singer, Volti San Francisco Ed Tepporn, Executive Director, Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation And numerous audience members from the Next Wave Festival, co-presented by Brooklyn Academy of Music and Prototype Festival, Produced by Beth Morrison Projects in association with Brooklyn Academy of Music.   Featured Music Provided By: Meilina Tsui Byron Au Yong Theresa Wong Timo Chen Taylor Ho Bynum Erika Oba Juri Seo   Order Huang Ruo's A Dust in Time here, listen in Spotify or your favorite music streaming service. The Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation invites you to Immigrant Voices, a growing archive of personal stories of Pacific Coast immigrants. Explore here.   LEARN MORE: https://www.delsolquartet.com/podcast Del Sol Quartet on Spotify Facebook Instagram YouTube   CREDITS: Hosted by Charlton Lee Produced by Andrea Klunder, The Creative Impostor Studios, Charlton Lee, Kathryn Bates, Hyeyung Sol Yoon, Ben Kreith Story Editor: Andrea Klunder Sound Design: Andrea Klunder Technical Director & Post Production Audio: Edwin R. Ruiz Field Producer & Recording Engineer: Kathryn Bates Field Producer: Verena Lee Podcast Manager: Alex Riegler Show Notes: Lisa Widder Cover Art: Felicia Lee Theme Music: Charlton Lee Executive Producers: Andrea Fellows Fineberg, Don Fineberg Featured music from The Angel Island Oratorio composed by Huang Ruo. Performed by Del Sol Quartet & United States Air Force Band's Singing Sergeants / National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, recording and edited by Suraya Mohamed.  

We never experience a story in the same way twice. Sure, key elements remain firmly in place, but variables like political era, maturity, staging, and even the weather permeate each telling and play a vital part in the life of the piece. Charlton invites Del Sol collaborators to elaborate on their roles in the creation, performance, and ongoing support of The Angel Island Project. What role did the COVID-19 pandemic play in the development of the piece? What was it like to play the oratorio in the place that inspired it? How has interpretation of the piece expanded outside the confines of Angel Island? What can art teach us about 20th-century immigration policies, and how can it inform 21st-century solutions?   Part 3 Features: Huang Ruo, Composer, Angel Island Sidney Chen, Singer, Volti San Francisco Kathryn Bates, Del Sol Quartet Cellist Andi Wong, Teaching Artist and Arts Advocate Susan Moffat, Principal, Future Histories Studio Ben Kreith, Del Sol Quartet Violinist Casey Dexter-Lee, State Park Interpreter II for Angel Island Genny Lim, Poet, Playwright, Performer, Pioneer Hyeyung Sol Yoon, Del Sol Quartet Violinist  Taylor S. Armstrong, Senior Master Sergeant, United States Air Force Band   Featured Music Provided By: Erika Oba Timo Chen Byron Au Yong Theresa Wong Jungyoon Wie   Order Huang Ruo's A Dust in Time here, listen in Spotify or your favorite music streaming service. The Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation invites you to Immigrant Voices, a growing archive of personal stories of Pacific Coast immigrants. Explore here.   LEARN MORE https://www.delsolquartet.com/podcast Del Sol Quartet on Spotify Facebook Instagram YouTube   CREDITS Hosted by Charlton Lee Produced by Andrea Klunder, The Creative Impostor Studios, Charlton Lee, Kathryn Bates, Hyeyung Sol Yoon, Ben Kreith Story Editor: Andrea Klunder Sound Design: Andrea Klunder Technical Director & Post Production Audio: Edwin R. Ruiz Field Producer & Recording Engineer: Kathryn Bates Field Producer: Verena Lee Podcast Manager: Alex Riegler Show Notes: Lisa Widder Cover Art: Felicia Lee Theme Music: Charlton Lee Executive Producers: Andrea Fellows Fineberg, Don Fineberg Featured music from A Dust in Time and The Angel Island Oratorio composed by Huang Ruo. Performed by Del Sol Quartet. Angel Island also features the United States Air Force Band's Singing Sergeants / National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, recorded and edited by Suraya Mohamed.    

Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Higher-effort summer solstice: What if we used AI (i.e., Angel Island)?, published by Rachel Shu on June 25, 2024 on LessWrong. As the title probably already indicates, this post contains community content rather than rationality content. Alternate, sillier version of this post here. Motivation I've been a co-organizer of the Bay Area Rationalist Summer Solstice for the past few years, and I've been thinking about how to make it a more meaningful and engaging experience, like what we have with Winter Solstice. The last few Summer Solstices, which I'd describe as mostly being big picnics, have been fun, but fairly low-effort, low-significance, and I think that's a missed opportunity. Here's a few things that I'd like more of in Summer Solstice, non-exhaustive: 1. A sense of a temporary alternate world created around a shared purpose. 2. Time to connect with people and have deeper conversations. 3. Longer, more immersive collective experiences and thoughtfully designed rituals. 4. Thematic resonance with rationalist goals and community projects. 5. Ability to host the whole community, including children. I have an idea for next year's Summer Solstice, which I think would get at fulfilling some of these goals. There's an island, Angel Island, in the middle of San Francisco Bay which is reasonably easy to get to, can accommodate lots of people, and has a bunch of qualities which would get at the goals above. I've visited. It's naturally transporting, feels like a world into itself. I've done substantial research and think it's feasible to run Summer Solstice there. I'm posting this idea for discussion instead of running ahead with the planning for the following reasons: 1. As already suggested it requires a lot higher commitment from attendees. Travel is about 75 minutes each way, including a ferry ride, and the ability to come and go is dictated by the ferry schedule. 2. It requires a lot higher commitment from organizers. The coordination, preparation, and logistics needs are similar in degree to those of winter solstice, and the communication needs are even more involved. 3. I'm actually looking for someone else to take lead for next year. I've done it at least one year too many by tradition, and I also suffer winter depression, affecting some of the critical months of planning for a project of this scale. I'm kind of worried that putting forth too specific a vision makes it hard to pass on ownership, but the idea is pretty cool and has a lot of flex room, so here goes. Here's the idea so far: Part 1. Smolstice This would be a 2-night campout on Angel Island from Friday to Sunday for likely 60-100 people (depending on how many camping spots we can compete to reserve). This gives people the chance to go in deep. Camping spots are spread out, some for larger subgroups, some for smaller subgroups. Each subgroup can have its own theme or project. Stag hunts may be held. Clandestine initiations may be held. The island holds its own secrets. Staying both nights means spending an entire day outdoors on the island, sunrise to sunset. The perfect solstice observance. Resyncing to the rhythm of the sun. The chance to use an entire day thoughtfully. Oh, also, two nights of s'more's, what more could a human want? The island also is a great camping spot for children (Boy Scout and school groups constitute a large percentage of reservations). There's a lot of kids in the community now, and this would be a chance to teach skills that involve teamwork or decisionmaking under uncertainty, like orienteering and building structures. Even just being able to plan the trip themselves is a level of autonomy that reliably excites kids. Just this much would satisfy 4.5/5 of the solstice goals outlined above. But it couldn't be a chance to gather the entire regional community. Thus: Part 2. Sw...

Much like Angel Island, the project, Angel Island, the place, is a point of entry, connecting many visitors to a history they know nothing about––and reminding some of a traumatic past they'd rather forget.  Del Sol Quartet violist Charlton Lee and collaborators draw audiences into the world of Angel Island, a tranquil state park in San Francisco Bay dotted with winding trails and a campus of restored wooden buildings that once served as a processing station, interrogation hub, and detention center for mostly Asian immigrants between 1910 and 1940.  What is the island like today, and what may life have been like for the 500,000 newly arrived individuals and families who landed here a century ago in search of a better life? And what is the emotional legacy of the stories that may never have been told from one generation to the next? This conversation contains brief, graphic mentions of suicide. Please take care when engaging with the episode. Part 2 Features: Casey Dexter-Lee, State Park Interpreter II for Angel Island Hyeyung Sol Yoon, Del Sol Quartet violinist  Kathryn Bates, Del Sol Quartet cellist Ed Tepporn, Executive Director, Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation Emiko Ono, Director Of Performing Arts Program at The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation Andi Wong, educator and collaborator, Angel Island Project Genny Lim, poet and collaborator, Angel Island Project Music in this Episode Provided By: Theresa Wong Ken Ueno Timo Chen Taylor Ho Bynum Jungyoon Wie Erika Oba Byron Au Young The Angel Island Immigration Station Foundations invites you to Immigrant Voices, a growing archive of personal stories of Pacific Coast immigrants. Explore here. RESOURCES  & LINKS Huang Ruo Angel Island Immigration Station Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation Immigrant Voices Oral History Project Island: Poetry and History of Chinese Immigrants on Angel Island  Genny Lim The Last Hoisan Poets William & Flora Hewlett Foundation The National Archives at San Francisco (San Bruno) LEARN MORE ABOUT DEL SOL https://www.delsolquartet.com/podcast Del Sol Quartet on Spotify Facebook Instagram YouTube CREDITS Hosted by Charlton Lee Produced by Andrea Klunder, The Creative Impostor Studios, Charlton Lee, Kathryn Bates, Hyeyung Sol Yoon, Ben Kreith Story Editor: Andrea Klunder Sound Design: Andrea Klunder Technical Director & Post Production Audio: Edwin R. Ruiz Field Producer & Recording Engineer: Kathryn Bates Field Producer: Verena Lee Podcast Manager: Alex Riegler Show Notes: Lisa Widder Cover Art: Felicia Lee Theme Music: Charlton Lee Executive Producers: Andrea Fellows Fineberg, Don Fineberg  

In this episode of the Unscaled Travel Show, we explore San Francisco's top attractions. We'll share practical tips on navigating the city, riding the iconic cable cars, and booking tickets in advance. Discover must-see spots like the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz and unique alternatives like the Walt Disney Family Museum and Angel Island. Join us for essential advice to make the most of your visit to the Golden City. ____________________________________ S02 Ep62 ____________________________________ Connect with me on social media:  Instagram: @fullmetaltraveler Twitter: @fullmetaltravlr Facebook: @fullmetaltraveler Email: ⁠⁠Jeremy@fullmetaltraveler.com⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠www.fullmetaltraveler.com⁠⁠ Spotify: ⁠⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/unscaled⁠

Giga gigloo! Special guest Jolene joins us as we do a deep dive on Sonic Adventures: Dans Les Griffes de Robotnik, a one-off French comic from the early 90s! It's a very different take on Sonic and Tails' escapades on Angel Island, full of charming art, nonsensical phrases, incredibly dated stereotypes, and so much more. By the name of a sailed egg, you won't want to miss this! (0:00:00) Intro (0:02:18) Jolene's history with Sonic (0:04:09) Main topic: Sonic Adventures: Dans les Griffes de Robotnik (0:09:23) The fan translation (0:13:48) The art (0:17:06) Comic recap (1:02:31) The "sequel" (1:05:27) Final thoughts (1:09:12) Outro Amie Waters on Linktree Sonic Adventures In The Claws Of Robotnik [English Fanslation]

Welcome to Angel Island. With stunning views of San Francisco Bay and lush hiking trails, the island is nestled between the promise of the Golden Gate Bridge and California's sun-soaked mainland coast. But between 1910 and 1940, hundreds of thousands of Asians arriving at the Angel Island Immigration Station faced separation, interrogation, and often deportation under the longstanding Chinese Exclusion Act.  The ghosts of Angel Island, however, endure. Poems carved into the soft wooden walls of the detention barracks give voice to long-remembered frustration, humiliation, and loneliness of the immigrants detained  there. These inscriptions in Chinese calligraphy link that shameful past to our present immigration debate, bringing history into the reality of our current lives. In Part One, violist and founding member of the Del Sol Quartet, Charlton Lee, introduces both Angel Island's history and the creatives behind The Angel Island Project. A collaboration between Del Sol and composer Huang Ruo, this haunting oratorio for string quartet and chamber choir weaves together poetry and music in a poignant, powerful expression of history, hope, and humanity.  Part One Features:  Charlton Lee, Del Sol Quartet violist Huang Ruo, Composer and conductor Kathryn Bates, Del Sol Quartet cellist Hyeyung Sol Yoon, Del Sol Quartet violinist Ben Kreith, Del Sol Quartet violinist Ed Tepporn, Executive Director, Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation Andi Wong, Teaching Artist and Arts Advocate Genny Lim, Poet, Playwright, Performer, Pioneer   RESOURCES  & LINKS Huang Ruo Angel Island Immigration Station Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation Immigrant Voices Oral History Project Island: Poetry and History of Chinese Immigrants on Angel Island  Genny Lim The Last Hoisan Poets ArtsEd4All The Chinese Historical Society Of America William & Flora Hewlett Foundation UC Berkeley Global Urban Humanities Initiative   LEARN MORE https://www.delsolquartet.com/podcast Del Sol Quartet on Spotify Facebook Instagram YouTube   CREDITS Hosted by Charlton Lee Produced by Andrea Klunder, The Creative Impostor Studios, Charlton Lee, Kathryn Bates, Hyeyung Sol Yoon, Ben Kreith Story Editor: Andrea Klunder Sound Design: Andrea Klunder Technical Director & Post Production Audio: Edwin R. Ruiz Field Producer & Recording Engineer: Kathryn Bates Field Producer: Verena Lee Podcast Manager: Alex Riegler Show Notes: Lisa Widder Cover Art: Felicia Lee Theme Music: Charlton Lee Executive Producers: Andrea Fellows Fineberg, Don Fineberg Featured music from The Angel Island Oratorio composed by Huang Ruo. Performed by Del Sol Quartet & United States Air Force Band's Singing Sergeants / National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, recording and edited by Suraya Mohamed.

Tracy and Holly talk about the Disney animators' strike of 1941, Angel Island, and Tyrus Wong's Christmas cards. They also discuss the merits of dandelions. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How does a string quartet help build community from Chinese immigrant poetry carved into detention-center walls on Angel Island? Let their words sing out after 100 years of silence. Season 1 of Sounds Current with the Del Sol Quartet follows the quest to shine light on San Francisco's Angel Island, a site of detention and dehumanization for Chinese immigrants in the 1900s. We travel with the creatives behind The Angel Island Project, including composer Huang Ruo, poet Genny Lim, educator Andi Wong and more. Sounds Current: Angel Island explores how we make compassionate art that builds community. *** San Francisco's Del Sol Quartet believes that music can, and should, happen anywhere - screaming out Aeryn Santillan's “Makeshift Memorials” from a Mission District sidewalk or a rural high school, bouncing Ben Johnston's microtonal “Americana” off the canyon walls of the Yampa River or the hallowed walls of Library of Congress, bringing Huang Ruo's “Angel Island Oratorio” home to the island detention barracks or across the Pacific to the Singapore International Arts Festival.  Since 1992, Del Sol has commissioned or premiered hundreds of works from diverse composers. Their performances provide the possibility for unexpected discovery, sparking dialogue and bringing people together. CREDITS Hosted by Charlton Lee Produced by Andrea Klunder, The Creative Impostor Studios, Charlton Lee, Kathryn Bates, Hyeyung Sol Yoon, Ben Kreith Story Editor: Andrea Klunder Sound Design: Andrea Klunder Technical Director & Post Production Audio: Edwin R. Ruiz Field Producer & Recording Engineer: Kathryn Bates Field Producer: Verena Lee Podcast Manager: Alex Riegler Show Notes: Lisa Widder Cover Art: Felicia Lee Theme Music: composed by Charlton Lee, performed by Del Sol Quartet Executive Producers: Andrea Fellows Fineberg, Don Fineberg   LEARN MORE https://www.delsolquartet.com/podcast Del Sol Quartet on Spotify Facebook Instagram YouTube   Featured music from The Angel Island Oratorio composed by Huang Ruo. Performed by Del Sol Quartet & United States Air Force Band's Singing Sergeants / National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, recording and edited by Suraya Mohamed.

Today, we learn about a play that portrays the historical hardship and heart of Bay Area Chinese immigrants. Then, we'll learn the secret that unlocked a new life for the historic immigration station at Angel Island. And, we visit China Camp state park where the past and the present live side by side.

A weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, deejays, and activists. Host Miko Lee speaks with Asian American creatives and Pulitzer prize finalists performance artist Kristina Wong and playwright Lloyd Suh. They reflect on how the covid lock down impacted their work and ruminated on how built communities can arise in times of hardship. One is creating work that explores the times we live in and the other is delving into the past. Each share their creative process and why art matters to them.   Show Note Links Kristina Wong's Website Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord, at A.C.T.'s Strand Theater (1127 Market St., San Francisco) March 30 – May 5, 2024. Kristina's Radical Cram School  Lloyd Suh's bio The Far Country BY LLOYD SUH at Berkeley Rep. March 8 – April 14, 2024   Show Transcript Opening: [00:00:00] Apex Express Asian Pacific expression. Community and cultural coverage, music and calendar, new visions and voices, coming to you with an Asian Pacific Islander point of view. It's time to get on board the Apex Express.   Miko Lee: [00:00:28] Good evening and welcome to Apex Express. I'm your host, Miko Lee and tonight we get to hear from two Asian American creatives. Both are Pulitzer prize finalists who have had their work presented around the country. They reflect on how the COVID lockdown impacted their work and they ruminate on how built communities can arise in times of hardship. One is creating work that explores the times we live in and the other is delving into the past to lift up stories that might be missing in history. Each share their creative process and why art matters to them. Tonight, join me as I talk story with performance artist Kristina Wong, whose show Sweatshop Overlord opens at ACT's Strand Theater on March 30th and with playwright Lloyd Suh whose show The Far Country runs at Berkeley Rep until April 14th. First up is my chat with Kristina Wong. Welcome Kristina Wong to Apex Express.   Kristina Wong: [00:01:24] I'm so happy to be here. Thank you.   Miko Lee: [00:01:27] We are so happy to have you as the performance artist, writer, creator of Kristina Wong's Sweatshop Overlord, which will run at ACT from March 30th through May 5th. Yay!   Kristina Wong: [00:01:36] Yes, that's eight shows a week, one body. Just me, everybody. Just me.   Miko Lee: [00:01:43] One woman show. Excellent.   Kristina Wong: [00:01:44] No understudy. I've been looking for an understudy. But apparently the theater doesn't think it works as well if someone else goes around saying they're Kristina Wong. So, I gotta stay healthy. For you!   Miko Lee: [00:01:54] That would be interesting, though. I would actually love to see a multi-people Kristina Wong version. That'd be really interesting.   Kristina Wong: [00:02:02] Yeah. There are enough Kristina Wongs on this planet to do that, but can they do what I do? I don't know.   Miko Lee: [00:02:07] I don't think many people can do what you do. [Kristina laughs] Okay, so I want to start with the question I ask many many people, and this is a big one: who are your people and where do you come from?   Kristina Wong: [00:02:21] My people, so many questions. Well, the people that I was born into, I'm third generation Chinese American, Toisan on my father's side and Cantonese on my mother's side. And we were a San Francisco family. Both my parents were born in San Francisco, went to San Francisco high schools. I went to San Francisco. Now I live in Koreatown, Los Angeles, my alternate Asian universe. I will say that those are the people I was born into. When I was growing up in middle school and high school I was somewhere between a theater kid who also liked making prank calls and was constantly trying to figure out who my people were and what my clique was cause I don't even know if I would totally fit in with the theater kids. And then when I got to college, I discovered radical solo performance work and activism and finally could put, like, words around things that I had been told, “We don't talk about it. You just get really good grades and then just become successful and that's how you deal with that,” you know? But was introduced to interdisciplinary art and naked performers and people putting all their trauma out there in beautiful theater ways. Now as an adult, as I tie it back into the show, Kristina Wong Sweatshop Overlord, my people are the aunties. This community of aunties that I found myself leading for 504 days during the pandemic. I somehow found myself, as many artists did, non essential and running a mask sewing group and needing people to help me sew masks. And a lot of those happened to be aunties, a lot of them were Asian women who had mothers and grandmothers who were garment workers. And we had learned how to sew as survival skills that were passed down to us. And those of late have become my people. And that's the story of the show.   Miko Lee: [00:04:16] Kristina, can you step back for a moment and just tell how that got started? How did Auntie Sewing Squad in the very, very beginning, how did it get started?   Kristina Wong: [00:04:24] March 12th, I was doing what I thought was my last show on earth. For some reason, there was a community college in Sacramento, American River Community College that had not canceled its classes, that had not taken its classes online and I had one last show on the books at 12 in the afternoon. I was doing a show called Kristina Wong for Public Office. I actually ran and served in local office in Koreatown, Los Angeles, where I live and was doing a big campaign rally show about what it meant to run for local office. And the idea was the show was going to tour all of 2020 as we led up to the November 2020 elections. And I sew my set pieces and my props. So you imagine all this American flag bunting made out of felt that I've sewn on a Hello Kitty sewing machine. And so this really ridiculous, like an American flag threw up on the set. Like that was my set. And the show is not going well, the students are very distracted. As it turns out, they are receiving a text in the middle of my show saying we're going online until further notice. So I suddenly have no income. No tour. I'm back in LA. I'm hiding inside my apartment as we all are. Going, “Why did I choose to do this with my life? Why was I so compelled to become an artist? What is my purpose in all this? Why, why did I choose this unessential work?” But then I couldn't feel sorry for myself because there were people who are risking their lives to deliver mail, to work at the grocery store, to go to work every single day at the hospital. And I see this article that I'm tagged in on Facebook saying that hospitals have no masks and are looking for home sewn masks. And the whole culture of mask wearing was so, you know, unheard of at this point and I looked at my Hello Kitty sewing machine and I was like, well I've never sewn medical equipment before. I've sewn my sets. I've sewn a giant vagina costume. I think I can make medical equipment. And I was just sort of called like Joan of Arc to sew. And I made this very naive offer to the internet where I said, if you're immunocompromised or don't have access to masks, I'll get you a mask. I didn't have the materials to do this, but I just offered this because it felt like that's what you were supposed to do in this moment. We were all connected and as strong as our weakest link.   March 20th is when I sewed my first mask. March 24th, I was like, okay, I need help because there's no way. One day when I was sewing nonstop all night, I made about 30 masks. That's not enough to fulfill the list that was exponentially building in my inbox. So I thought, okay, I'll make a Facebook group, and sort of offload some of this work to other people who might be sewing who could help me. And I make the group in a rush. I call it Auntie Sewing Squad. I don't realize our acronym is ASS. I start to add my mother into the group, her friends into the group, all sorts of folks are in the Facebook group. And as it turns out, you can't just start a Facebook group and expect people to just sew, so I, [laughs] so I find myself having to figure out how do we get the materials? How do we teach people how to sew these masks that none of us have sewn before? How do we teach people how their sewing machines work? Because some of them haven't touched their sewing machines in decades. And how do we vet these requests for masks, because a lot of people are panicking in our inbox, and we kind of have to create a system where just because someone's going, “Please send as many as you can,” as many as you can might mean 10 masks, it might mean 300. And are they just panicking right now and they think they need that many masks, or, you know, like, so we just had to make a lot of decisions and it felt like in those first days we were playing God, trying to figure out well, If we've only made a finite number of 15 masks today, who gets them, right? And obviously you're going to look at who's at most risk. So, so this was supposed to just be a two week thing, right? This was supposed to be a thing until the government got the masks off those cargo ships and got them to everybody. This was before masks became a bipartisan thing and a politically polarizing thing. And the group just kept going because we found beyond hospitals there were a lot of very vulnerable communities that could not even afford the cheap masks that were showing up on the market. And we're talking about farm workers, folks seeking asylum at the border, indigenous reservations. We sent a lot to the Navajo Nation and to the Lakota tribe in North and South Dakota. So this ended up going on for over 500 days. It became a community of over 800 volunteer aunties, all sewing remotely, all working remotely. We developed this whole system in which we could respond to the high COVID rates that we were witnessing and to communities that were being adversely impacted, either because they had no access to healthcare or no access to clean water.   Miko Lee: [00:09:03] That's an important one.   Kristina Wong: [00:09:05] Yeah.   Miko Lee: [00:09:06] How many masks did you end up creating?   Kristina Wong: [00:09:08] We ended up sewing in total, what we recorded was 350,000 masks were sewn and distributed. We also rerouted hundreds and thousands of dollars worth of medical equipment to a lot of those places. The thing is, like, in a crisis, and I have to remind us, even though it was four years ago, because we forget so many of the details, if you saw an article that farm workers were getting hit by COVID, you don't, you're not going to just send a bunch of masks to some address you find online, right? Because not everyone's checking their mail, not everyone might be at that office address, you're not clear who might distribute those masks once they arrive. So we had to do a lot of work in terms of calling and working with other mutual aid organizers and these communities and figuring out like, well, what is the actual impact? How are you getting these masks around and how many can we send you at least to hold you over for a week or two, right? Like, yes, there are you know, hundreds of thousands of farm workers, but we're not sitting on a ton of masks that we just, you know, that come out of our butt and that we just have like we actually like sit down at our sewing machines and cut and sew these things. So—   Miko Lee: [00:10:13] And you had to research and make the connections—   Kristina Wong: [00:10:16] Make the connections. Yeah. And some of those requests shifted into full on other kinds of aid. So the Navajo reservation had volunteer sewing groups, but they didn't have access to sewing supplies. I'm in Los Angeles where we have a garment district and we were looking at a map going, well, in theory, someone could drive round trip across a very long day, you know, to, to lessen the risk of exposure. And so our first truck over wasn't, you know, just a van filled with masks, but a van filled with the supplies that they could use to sew masks. And then we learned that only 30 percent of that reservation has running water. That when multigenerational families were getting COVID, there was nowhere to quarantine, so they requested things like tents to quarantine and buckets to make homemade hand washing stations. First it was sewing supplies, but we did about eight runs back and forth to the reservation during the pandemic to get supplies to those mutual aid organizers who could get it to people. I helped secure like a big soap donation from Dr. Bronner's. It was like, we just thought it was just the masks, but we basically stepped in all of structural racism and systemic you know poverty and all the ways the system was broken and it had already left behind a lot of indigenous communities and people of color who are getting hit like super hard by this pandemic. So ASS, our unintentional acronym, Anti Sewing Squad, that's sort of what we fell into was going from, okay, we're going to make a few masks to full on shadow FEMA.   Miko Lee: [00:11:51] Yeah, not even just sewing squad, but sort of a superhero squad. Let us come in where the government has failed and help where we can. It's incredibly powerful. Thank you for doing that.   Kristina Wong: [00:12:02] Yeah, I don't know if I would have done it again, honestly, even though out of it came this incredible show, but if you told me at the top of this, this is actually going to go on for 500 days, I don't know that I would have done it. Like, it was so exhausting, and that's also sort of a joke in the show, is people kept going, “Oh, you aunties, you're heroes, you're heroes!” and I'm like, oh my god, like, heroes are what you call the people who do the work no one wants to pay for apparently, because [laughs] this is, this is, this is, this sucks. This sucks. Like, we don't want to be heroes. We want our systems that, like, we, we just saw how everything failed us in this moment. Capitalism failed us. The medical system failed us. Just all these things that we're supposed to step in, in these moments of crisis didn't work. What I witnessed and why I made a show about this, is I've witnessed how community steps up and I witnessed how these aunties showed me this generosity I've never witnessed in my life. Like most of the friendships I have in Los Angeles are because someone does something for a living and that, serves me and my job in a certain way, right? They're very transactional relationships. And I witnessed people who I had no idea who they were before this moment, willing to come to my house, brave this very unknown pandemic, to pick up a roll of elastic, to sew for a total stranger, risk their life going to the post office to mail these things, right? And so to me, that's, what's worth celebrating is this opportunity that I think that we all had as humanity to witness that this was our moment to all come together, I would say we lost that opportunity and we've just become resentful and whatever, but I, I feel like Auntie Sewing Squad showed me a glimmer of the generosity that was possible. And for me, that's worth celebrating. And the only reason why I feel like it's worth reliving the pandemic. In a 90 minute show.   Miko Lee: [00:13:54] Every night for multiple nights.   Kristina Wong: [00:13:56] Yes, eight nights a week. What am I doing? The show is so, you know, people are like 90 minutes. So long. It's like, it's because the pandemic was so long. I would have loved to cap this at 45 minutes, but this kept going. It kept going.   Miko Lee: [00:14:09] How many members are there in the Auntie Sewing Squad?   Kristina Wong: [00:14:12] I would say. We had and they were all involved in different capacities. I mean, like some of them may have been involved for all of a week before, they got pulled away by their families or job obligations. But we had about 800 different aunties coming in and out of the group. Not all of them were sewing, some of them were organizing spreadsheets, making phone calls, some of them were driving aunties. We had a huge system of care aunties, led by our Auntie Gail and basically, people who couldn't sew who felt really guilty would [be] like, “Can I send you all a pizza?” Which was really necessary because a lot of these aunties were operating on survivor's guilt, right? Of feeling like, well I have this privilege of being able to stay at home while my mailman risks his life to get, you know, get me the mail. Because it's really hard to go to sleep when you know that you at your sewing machine an hour longer could possibly save someone's life. But we also needed to encourage these aunties to stop and rest. You can't just tell people, okay, sew a bunch of masks and expect them to stay motivated to do it. We had aunties who lost family members to COVID. We had aunties who are falling into their own depression and getting isolated. So much of this group wasn't just about like, while we joke it's a sweatshop, a lot of it was this entire community that supported each other, cared for each other. We'd have zoom stitch n bitches where we'd, you know, the aunties would, I was working out this show on Zoom, never thinking that it was going to premiere off Broadway, to basically just entertain the aunties while they were at their sewing machines. Like we were this whole system this became this weird ad hoc family that supported each other through this very strange time. And that was sort of the staying power of why people stayed involved is because they'd never experienced community like this either, which was just all pure generosity. I feel like I'm describing a cult, and I sort of am, but whatever. It's a cult called ASS, so it's fine.   Miko Lee: [00:15:59] Well, a unique community that came together to address the harm that was happening. It's beautiful. Can you go back in time, roll us back in time, to how you first got politicized? I heard you say that about college, but is there a moment that happened for you?   Kristina Wong: [00:16:16] I think I was always a little politicized. I just never really had the language and education around it. When I was 12 years old in our middle school, there was a science lesson plan contest and we basically prepared a science lesson plan and taught it to another class. And my partner and I, we did something about saving the planet and just doing a deep dive. This is the nineties, right? Like how much we were screwing with our planet. And I think I still don't know that we all know the lesson, but I was like a little Greta Thunberg, you know. I just didn't know how to be an activist. It was like, do I collect cans that are thrown on the street? Like, how do I, how do I do this? Like, how does this equate to actual change? And I think that's, I think we have some more of those tools and we're also cognizant about how frustrating those tools are to implement and see happen. But that's, I think the first time I realized I was an activist and it wasn't until I got to college and was introduced to, I didn't know what Asian American Studies was I was like, what? Why would you study that? Like, what is that? I had no idea that Asian Americans have had a whole political history that has worked alongside the civil rights movement and, I had no idea I could put words to the microaggressions I'd expressed my whole life and that I could actually challenge them as not being okay. I went to UCLA. I feel like that's where a lot of people figure out that they're Asian American. That's also where I began to understand the political power of art. What I had understood of activism before that point was marching in rallies, screaming at people, berating people to recycle. But, you know, it's not sustainable. It's exhausting. It makes people want to avoid you. And it's an emotionally depleting. And so being introduced to artists, just sort of sharing their lives and their lives as having political power to put forward and to put meaning to was really incredible to experience like performers. I think some of the first performers I saw just like put themselves forward and all their flawed ways was actually kind of profound and incredible. That's where I was drawn to making art as my sort of form of protest and activism.   Miko Lee: [00:18:26] Is this where the roots of the Radical Cram School came about?   Kristina Wong: [00:18:29] Oh, yeah. Yeah. So Radical Cram School is my web series for children. You can find it on YouTube. And where that started was one of our producers, Teddy Chow, his daughter Liberty had come home and they, at that point they were living in Ohio where they were one of the few Chinese families there. And the daughter said, “I wish I wasn't Chinese.” And Teddy was like, “Can you go talk to her and her friends and make her proud?” And I was like, “You know what? I said that too when I was a kid.” And so somehow this blew up into us like, well, let's create a web series for kids, specifically for Asian kids, because I feel like Asian Americans and kids don't really. We just sort of, the tools we are offered politically don't really have our face in them. Like, we don't really understand where we fit in a political movement, and how to be an ally to black and brown movements. And I was like, let's do a web series where we gather Asian American kids and it to me was a little tongue in cheek. And I feel like a lot of me being in a bubble of other progressives in Los Angeles feels like I can lovingly poke at this idea of a cram school where we're trying to quickly teach Asian kids about the entire world of what's overwhelming and oppression in the setting. And so that became Radical Cram School which went on for two seasons and was completely decried by right wingers like Alex Jones. So I would say that's a success.   Miko Lee: [00:19:53] I think it is so delightful and funny. It's a little mix of like drunk history with Sesame Street.   Kristina Wong: [00:20:00] Yes. Yes. That's exactly what we were going for and I feel like I'm very lucky at some point in my lifetime. Yes, it didn't happen until college and like post college was introduced to all these incredible Asian American activists, many of us who are still with us right now. And this history and I feel like it's worth sharing.   Miko Lee: [00:20:21] The child that inspired the whole series. Was she actually in it?   Kristina Wong: [00:20:26] Liberty. Yes, she was in it. She's in it. She's both in the first and second season.   Miko Lee: [00:20:29] Was it mission accomplished in terms of having a sense of pride of being Asian American?   Kristina Wong: [00:20:35] I think so. It's always ongoing, right? Like I think pride, you don't, you don't get it once and it stays forever. It's something that we like, as we constantly learn to like love ourselves and appreciate what we have. And we're also part of growing a community too, right? Like, it's not just like, Oh, I'm proud. I found my pride at 13 and it stayed. Like, we always feel like kicked to the curb constantly and challenged. And I think, like for me, this pandemic was a really challenging time for Asian Americans. As we witnessed like the backlash, the hate, like how backwards it was that people would equate. Do you remember early on when people were like, can you get COVID from Chinese food? Like, it was just so like, what happened?   Miko Lee: [00:21:13] I mean, the whole Kung flu virus.   Kristina Wong: [00:21:15] The Kung flu, China virus, like all these these just sort of racist associations with it are like, are constantly challenging to our sense of pride. So hopefully having that web series out there will be these touchstones to remind Asian American kids that we exist. We're here. There's a basis. We're not building this from scratch and we may be recording it from scratch or constantly trying to remember this history into existence. But, to me it's a verb, right? The verb of finding pride is always active.   Miko Lee: [00:21:44] I wanted to switch gears a little bit and talk about how you, you often in your work play with gender expectations around Asian women from, you know, like you mentioned before sewing on your Hello Kitty sewing machine, which I have a Hello Kitty sewing machine too.   Kristina Wong: [00:21:59] Yes. It's a good machine. I don't know if it's a Janome.   Miko Lee: [00:22:02] It's actually incredibly practical. It doesn't have the bells and whistles, but it works. Yeah but I remember your big vagina MC for Mr. Hyphen America. I can't believe you sewed that on one of those tiny machines. And then, you have this web series about taking down how white men can date Asian women. And then the other thing is your fake porn site. Can you tell us about that?   Kristina Wong: [00:22:23] Oh, that's like That's 20 years of projects you've just named. Well, my very first project out of college, year 2000, still had dial up internet, my friends, was called BigBadChineseMama.com. You can still look it up. And this is before there were search engines, SEOs. And if you look for Mail Order Bride on Yahoo, because Yahoo was the search engine of choice at the time, it showed up in the top 10 search results for Mail Order Bride. Now, you know, if you look for porn, clearly outnumbered, yeah. So that was like my first project. And a lot of that came out of like me being kind of a depressed college kid and trying to use this thing called the internet to research stuff for my Asian American women class. And all I was finding was pornography and was like, Oh my God, [laughs] we have to like intercept this somehow. And like always feeling like I was not good at being a girl, right? Like the standards for being a good Asian girl, were the extremes. It was like Miss Chinatown, Connie Chung, and then these porn stars that would show up, you know, on these Google, on these searches and that was, that's it, right? So a lot of my projects have been about like being awkward out loud and being uncomfortable out loud and leaning into publicly embarrassing myself, but saying that it's my work.   Miko Lee: [00:23:45] And how has your family responded to your work? You grew up in San Francisco.   Kristina Wong: [00:23:49] Yeah. Oh, they didn't like it at first, but they love it now because I'm a Pulitzer Prize finalist, my friends.   Miko Lee: [00:23:54] Oh, how did that feel to get?   Kristina Wong: [00:23:56] So crazy! You know, I entered, anyone can become a Pulitzer Prize contender. Like you just need 75 dollars and then you mail your entry in and the committee reads it. And so six years before I was a Pulitzer finalist, my friend Brian Feldman and I, we entered our respective plays. Mine was The Wong Street Journal, his was a very experimental piece called Dishwasher. His entry was like two pages long and we were up against Hamilton, which ended up winning. And my mother was so excited because she'd only seen my play, you know, like that was the only play she'd ever seen that year. And she was like, “You're going to win. You're totally going to win.” Which was great that I had her confidence, but I was like, probably going to go to Hamilton. And I actually got a press pass, and I went to Columbia College, where they announced the winner just for press in person, and I happened to just be in New York at that time, and I had prepared three speeches. One, if I won, a speech if I was a finalist, and then the speech if I lost. And I read all three speeches outside after Hamilton was declared the winner of the Pulitzer. So that day when they were announcing it, my, that same friend Brian was like, “Good luck today.” And I was like, “What are you talking about?” And he's like, “They're announcing the Pulitzers.” And then they were announcing it online because you know, it's 2022. And I was like, they're not going to give it to me. I do solo work. I'm an Asian woman. They've never given an Asian woman anything in the drama category and my phone just started exploding at lunch when I was in Chinatown having lunch with some friends and I couldn't believe it. I was just like freaking out and it just feels so dignified, right? And I'm not exactly a dignified person. So I'm like, [laughs] you know, I was like, “Oh my God, this is going to look so good on Tinder. Holy crap, this is crazy.” So it's, I'm still shocked when I look at that by my name. I'm like, this is so weird. But it's just funny because yeah, I entered as a joke six years before, and then I was on the committee the following year reading the applicants. So crazy things happen, folks. Crazy things can happen.   Miko Lee: [00:26:06] I have one more question, which is, you started ASS, Auntie Sewing Squad, in the very beginning when you were making this piece about running for public office. Even though that was created in 2020, you know, we're basically having the same election again.   Kristina Wong: [00:26:19] Yeah, I know. It's a sequel. Why are we in the sequel? I hate sequels.   Miko Lee: [00:26:24] So are you reviving that piece as well?   Kristina Wong: [00:26:27] I did, I have done it a little earlier this year. There have been some requests to maybe do it before November. We will always have elections, so it's a little bit evergreen. I actually had a reality television pilot that didn't get picked up by Trutv. And it was a very self satirizing version of myself that I was going to be playing in this pilot, which was basically satirizing myself as an activist. And it did not make sense once Trump took office to satirize myself, because as it turns out, most of the world have very two dimensional visions of what an Asian American is like and would think that that's who I really was and not get that it was a loving poke at myself. And I think looking at Radical Cram School and how I play myself there can give you a sense of, this won't make sense to everybody. Right. And so I was an out of work reality TV star, and what do you do when you're an out of work reality TV star? You run for public office. So there's a lot of that humor around that era. Just, I think we've just gotten so exhausted with, right? [Laughs]. Like, why, why are these two people still here? Oh my god. This is the best we could do? But there's still a lot of public offices to run for. It doesn't start and end with the presidency or the Senate. The story of the show is like what can happen locally? There are so many local offices that would surprise you. You could literally just go to the meeting and go take the vacated seat and go around saying you're an elected official. For better or for worse, whatever that means. So, but yeah, it did get recorded for Center Theatre Group, but it's not available for streaming anymore. So they did stream it right before the election during the pandemic. And maybe it will have a few more runs right before the election this year, but I'm not sure.   Miko Lee: [00:28:07] Okay, well, keep us posted so that we know. Is there anything else you'd like our audience to know about your upcoming play at ACT, Kristina Wong's Sweatshop Overlord?   Kristina Wong: [00:28:19] I just want to say it's such a special show and I feel very lucky I feel like there's not a lot of this. There's literally pushback in the publishing world and the network TV world where they're like, we do not want you to pitch anything about the pandemic. We are sick of the pandemic. So I feel like this record of this time came under the wire. I'm told it is not annoying as many things about the pandemic are [laughs]. And to me, it's really I find a lot of humor, not at the expense of like how tragic that time was, but in that a group of aunties came together and formed this ad hoc sewing army to protect the country. And, and so this really plays out like a war movie on stage and I think really kind of gives us something to reflect on and appreciate of each other in that moment. And so that's really what I hope brings people out is this need to feel that there's something sort of comforting that we can take from this moment, because I don't know that we got that. I think we just sort of ran from that so fast that we never really reflected. I hope to see everybody at ACT, The Strand Theater on Market, March 30th to May 5th, I believe is when I close. I do shows eight days a week. I do them on weekdays. I do them on weekends. I am living in that theater, folks, and I am living there for you. So please come out. I'll see you. It's Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord. Finalist for the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Drama.   Miko Lee: [00:29:44] Kristina Wong, thank you so much for sharing your time with us. And we look forward to seeing the show and learning more about the Auntie Sewing Squad. Thank you so much.   Kristina Wong: [00:29:54] Thanks Miko.   Miko Lee: [00:29:54] This is Apex Express and you are listening to 94.1 KPFA and 89.3 KPFB in Berkeley, 88.1 KFCF in Fresno, 97.5 K248BR in Santa Cruz, 94.3 K232FZ in Monterey, and online worldwide at kpfa.org. Next up, listen to the Radical Cram School where kids learn about the story of Detroit activist and American revolutionary Grace Lee Boggs. This is the project that Kristina Wong was talking about creating to help young Asian Americans have a sense of pride and an understanding of their history. Take a listen to the Radical Cram School.   Radical Cram School: [00:30:43]   Miko Lee: [00:35:24] That was Kristina Wong's Radical Cram School. You can check out more of that on YouTube, which is linked in our show notes. Next up, take a listen to my interview with playwright, Lloyd Suh. Welcome award winning playwright Lloyd Suh to Apex Express.   Lloyd Suh: [00:35:41] Hello.   Miko Lee: [00:35:43] Your new show, The Far Country, is premiering at Berkeley Rep through April 14th and we're so happy to have you here.   Lloyd Suh: [00:35:52] Thanks for having me.   Miko Lee: [00:35:53] Okay I'm going to start with a big question, which is who are your people and where do you come from?   Lloyd Suh: [00:35:58] My family immigrated to the United States, from South Korea in the early 1970s. I was born in Detroit, Michigan and grew up mostly in the South suburbs of Indianapolis, Indiana but I've lived in the New York City area for the past like 25 years.   Miko Lee: [00:36:17] Thank you so much for that. I noticed that many of your plays are based around the Chinese American experience and less on your Korean American background. Can you talk a little bit more about what has inspired your artistic play choices?   Lloyd Suh: [00:36:30] Yeah. In the past, like, almost decade, really, I've been writing about these kind of forgotten or underexplored moments in Asian American history. It's kind of very accidental and almost involuntary. I was doing research on one play and it would lead me down a rabbit hole into reading about a story that I just couldn't shake, that I needed to, you know, get in a room with peers and explore. And so one play would just kind of lead to the next, I was writing a play under commission for the National Asian American Theater Company in New York called Charles Francis Chan Jr. That play kind of accidentally became about the history of the stereotypes that kind of permeate around Asian America to this day, and where those stereotypes came from. And in researching that history, there's just so much more scholarship around now, around Asian American history than there was when I was in school. There was just so much to read, and so much that was new to me. And in the process of researching that play, I came across the story of Afong Moy, regarded as the first Chinese woman to set foot in the United States. And there was something about her story that just haunted me, that I just couldn't shake and I knew I needed to get in a room with peers and like really wrestle with it. So in the process of that play, I was researching the exclusion era and it's unavoidable, right? The way in which the Chinese Exclusion Act and the experience of people on Angel Island really serves as kind of a fulcrum for so much of what Asian America is now, right? It created geographical restrictions, legislative, economic, not to mention cultural and stereotypical. Like, it's just the foundation for so much of what we've had to navigate as this obviously, socially constructed, very important sort of attempt at solidarity that we call Asian America. What that led to was just feeling like I'm just following, you know, I'm just following this impulse. I was doing it kind of subconsciously at first, but once I became aware that I was writing this history, it became really clear that what I was looking for, in total was trying to place myself on this continuum, trying to understand, where have we come from and where are we going and where are we now. The Far Country and another one of my history plays, The Heart Sellers, which is kind of a bookend to The Far Country in a lot of ways. were written largely during the pandemic.   Miko Lee: [00:38:57] Oh, that's so interesting. And so you've sort of been on this pathway, a timeline through Asian American history.   Lloyd Suh: [00:39:05] Yeah. It felt different during the pandemic, like, right. Like, before it was kind of impulsive and it felt very organic and I wasn't always very self aware of that, about how one play connected to the other. But once you know, we were in this moment of deep self reflection just based on what was going on in the world at that time too—a pretty intense reckoning in this country over American history, over, you know, who we build monuments to, over our accounting of what it is to be an American and a contemplation about like who we've forgotten. And so it became just more purposeful in that way. It became just clearer, especially as I started to think about the ways in which, you know, I have aging parents and I have growing children and wanting to understand how do I talk about one to the other? How do I place myself and my parents and my children on this continuum of this long arc of history? That doesn't just go backwards, but, you know, it goes forward as well. That in each of these plays, there's a gesture towards the future, and then thinking about the future and when, you know, when characters talk about the future in these plays, I like to think that for actors who are, who are playing those roles, that they can feel really palpably and recognize that when these characters are talking about the future, they're talking about them. And then when audiences hear them talk about the future, they also could feel the ways in which they mean them.   Miko Lee: [00:40:24] So you're both, as Helen Zia says, lifting up these missing in history moments, trying to tell these stories that haven't been told. Also, I hear you're reflecting a lot during that time of COVID during the lockdown time on how do we rise up our stories? I'm wondering if you could talk a little bit more about the pandemic time and the impact on you as an artist and if the rise in anti-asian hate that really started happening around that time impacted your storytelling.   Lloyd Suh: [00:40:53] Absolutely. Yeah, I mean that whole period was, it was such a bizarre time to be a playwright. I mean, it was a bizarre time to be anything, right? But the idea of writing a play was pretty absurd because there were no theaters, right? And it's like, there's no sense of, hey, when will there be theater again? Right? It just seemed—   Miko Lee: [00:41:15] An unknown, an unknown field, right?   Lloyd Suh: [00:41:17] Yeah, so it was a little silly, right? You're like, oh, your play is due. And you're like, no, it's not [laughs] nobody's going to do anything. Like, why am I writing plays, right? And I think everybody in that time was thinking about, like, why do I do the things that I do? Why do I spend the time on the things that I spend time on? And, you know, our relationship with time was just very different. So very early in the pandemic, I was like, yeah, why am I, why would I write a play? There's no, it just doesn't make any sense right now. But then as I sat with the things that I knew I needed to wrestle with, and just knowing the way I wrestle with things is to write about them, that it felt like, okay, I'm gonna, I'm gonna do this anyway, even though there's no sense that theater will come back anytime soon. I'm going to do this anyway. And it became an aspirational thing. Like to write a play became aspirational in the sense that it's like, I believe that theater will come back, that we're not all gonna die, that civilization will continue, and that this will matter, right? That what I'm exploring right now, will be meaningful to myself, to my peers and to strangers, in whatever the world looks like then. And so to write aspirationally is pretty, pretty cool. It's different, you know. To be able to write with that aspiration was really valuable. And I think it's part of why and how these plays came to be the kind of plays they are.   Miko Lee: [00:42:40] I appreciate the hopeful side that you are infusing into your plays, given the time that we were in was when many people felt so hopeless. I'm wondering if because you're writing about the immigration station and Angel Island and also the Exclusion Act were, what was happening in the country around, you know, Trump saying Kung flu virus and all the stories about the elders that were getting beat up in Chinatown and, all over the country, the slurs that people were getting. Did that impact or help to inform how you're writing about the Exclusion Act?   Lloyd Suh: [00:43:14] Yeah. I think that reading the news during that time, it's very similar to reading the history, right? You can see where that comes from. I remember during that time, in a lot of news media, tended to make it seem or insinuate that this was new, that this was surprising somehow. Having been immersed in this history, it was frustrating to see the ways in which people, sometimes very smart people [laughs] not recognizing, hey, this is not new. This is ancient. This was there from the beginning. Yeah, of course, that absolutely informs everything. It feels like, yes, I'm writing history, but I'm trying to write out of time. One of the things about writing aspirationally at a time when there is no theater, is you also can't write to a specific time, you know, in the pandemic moment, writing in the pandemic moment you cannot write to the pandemic moment, right? Because you know, oh, this will not be, this is not when these plays will be seen. So you're writing for a kind of a future, right? You're writing for a time that you hope is different, in good ways, but you also acknowledge may be different in, in unpleasant ways.   Miko Lee: [00:44:15] Right.   Lloyd Suh: [00:44:16] But it's also like all of this is out of time, you know, the phenomenon of violence against Asian Americans or against anybody or against a culture is so pervasive throughout history. Right. So, it's not hard to make that or to let that exist out of time. Right.   Miko Lee: [00:44:35] I mean, the violence against the culture is deeply American.   Lloyd Suh: [00:44:38] Yeah. And feeling like it's not something you have to force. It's just something that you have to acknowledge and reckon with on its own terms, which is to say, it's not about 2020. It's not about a particular moment. It's about a long arc of history where these things come from, how they've brewed, how they've festered, how they've lingered, how they've been ignored and forgotten and buried over, and how they might be transformed. How they might be diagnosed, you know, like I think of them as wounds. In a few of these plays, characters refer to, like a sense of historical trauma as a wound, a wound that you can't recognize if you don't know where it comes from. You can't diagnose it and you can't heal it if you can't diagnose it. So part of it is like saying, “Hey, there is a wound.” When I think for a very long time a lot of cultural tradition has been to say, “Push it away, push it away. Move on.”   Miko Lee: [00:45:31] “Keep working. Don't, don't think about it. Just keep working.”   Lloyd Suh: [00:45:33] Yes. Yes. Bury it. And even generation to generation, you don't want to hear those stories.   Miko Lee: [00:45:38] That's right.   Lloyd Suh: [00:45:39] If I have a thesis in any of this, [laughs] it's that, no, we need, you need to know. You know, I think that these characters, this is too early for them to have a name for the concept of epigenetics, but I see it. I see it in tradition, this idea that it does pass down.   Miko Lee: [00:45:54] The trauma through the bloodline.   Lloyd Suh: [00:45:56] Yeah. And so like, if you're going to feel the pain, you got to know where it comes from. If you know where it comes from and if you can deal with it with people, right, with a community on a deep level, then it can be healed. And if you don't, then it never will be.   Miko Lee: [00:46:10] So do you look at most of your plays as a healing modality? Is that what you want from your audiences?   Lloyd Suh: [00:46:15] That's a great question. I mean, I think about that for myself, I would say on a certain level. I mean, I think about it as many things, but that is part of it. Yeah. Like I think about it as I need to understand this. Like, you know, like just thinking about the exclusion era. I felt like, okay, I know I need to write about this because I know we need to make sense of it for myself. I need to understand how it manifests in my life, how it manifests in what is possible for my children, how it manifests in America. So that's part of it for sure for me and for my peers, the people in the room. For audiences, I would say, especially as I've gotten older, I've started to redefine my relationship with audiences in that, like, I had a playwriting teacher once talk about how a playwright's job is to unify an audience. That no matter where an audience comes from, like whatever happened to them that day, they're all coming from different places when they gather in the theater. But through the course of the play, a playwright wants them to become one organism and have the same discoveries in the same moment.   Miko Lee: [00:47:13] Oh, that's interesting. Do you agree with that?   Lloyd Suh: [00:47:16] For a long time I did, but then I had this moment when I was writing a play for young audiences, when I found this really useful tension between like the adults who, you know, thought that the fart jokes were juvenile [laughs] and the young people who would just not understand these references that are there for the adults. And it was kind of cool because you'd feel pockets, different people reacting in different ways. And especially as I was doing some of these early history plays, I found this useful tension between people based on socio location. That Asian American audiences were just naturally responding to different things in a way that was kind of interesting. And so what I realized is if I manipulate an audience so that they're operating as one organism, they're not responding as themselves. They're not responding in as deeply personal of a way, right? So what I want is for people to bring something of themselves to it. Like, no matter what happened to them that day, no matter what happened in the news, no matter what happened in their personal life, that through the experience of watching a play, they can relate something of themselves to what they're watching, and they can bring that into the theater with them. and so, like very purposefully in these plays, I try not to unify an audience, right? Which is to say, I'm not trying to divide them, but I'm also trying to make them respond as individuals.   Miko Lee: [00:48:37] Right, because the first one actually feels like you're trying to get a cult together. Everybody should think the same way and feel the same way, as opposed to individually responding about where each of us are at and how we take in that information of the play.   Lloyd Suh: [00:48:52] Yeah, yeah. And I just find that so much more satisfying because I like to leave a lot of room in my plays, for actors, for directors and designers to personalize.   Miko Lee: [00:49:02] All the other creatives to be able to have their input to put it into their voice.   Lloyd Suh: [00:49:07] Yeah, and just even to make choices like there are moments where you could go many directions like if somebody were to ask me, “Hey, what does this line mean?” I would say, “Well, you know, like, what does it mean to you?” Right? Like it's make it yours. Every character can have secrets that I don't need to know.   Miko Lee: [00:49:22] Oh, you're doing therapy speak with the actors [laughs]. What do you think it means?   Lloyd Suh: [00:49:26] Yeah, I mean, I think it is. It's like making choices, making big choices that allow for any production to be an amalgamation of many people's real personality, their history. Like if I were to go into a rehearsal room and just spend it making everybody do what I already know, I want them to do. Then watching the play is just watching something where I already know what's going to happen.   Miko Lee: [00:49:47] Right. What's the fun in that? [Laughs]. Um, so let's come back and talk about The Far Country, which is at Berkeley Rep right now. Tell us about this play. I heard you saying that each of your plays, the rabbit hole of the journey that one discovered the other, but can you tell us very specifically about The Far Country?   Lloyd Suh: [00:50:07] Yeah, The Far Country is a play that takes place during the exclusion era, about a very unlikely family that spans across a couple of decades navigating the paper son system, and the experience of a young man on Angel Island Detention Center. The journey leading up to that and the journey leading away from it as this very unlikely family tries to build something lasting in America, despite the extraordinary legislative restrictions that were in place at the time.   Miko Lee: [00:50:36] Lloyd, can you speak a little bit more for audience members that may not know what the Exclusion Act was?   Lloyd Suh: [00:50:42] Yes, totally. The Chinese Exclusion Act was legislation passed in 1882, that restricted all Chinese laborers from entering the United States. And this was a period of time when China was, specifically Toisan was ravaged by natural disaster, war, economic disenfranchisement, horribly one sided trade agreements with the West. There was an extraordinary wave of Chinese laborers who were immigrating to the United States in the years preceding. Partially through the gold rush, partially through the opportunity to work on the transcontinental railroad. In the United States, it was a period of such xenophobia and such anger and hatred towards these incoming Chinese laborers that these extraordinarily restrictive laws were passed, the Page Act, prior to the Chinese Exclusion Act. But what also happened is the great earthquake of 1906 in San Francisco destroyed all the government records pertaining to birth records and who was there. So it created this really odd opportunity for Chinese currently residing in the United States to claim birthright citizenship, to claim to have been born in the United States because there was no documentation to prove otherwise. And if somebody was able to obtain birthright US citizenship through that process, they could then bring their children to the United States. And so what it did was it created this system whereby people who had obtained birthright US citizenship could then pretend to have a son or a daughter that they would sell that slot to so that somebody could enter the United States. And so it created these really kind of patchwork unlikely families of people connected only by paper, only by false documentation. And the navigation of that system, ultimately created this very weird community.   Miko Lee: [00:52:32] Expand on that. What do you mean by weird community?   Lloyd Suh: [00:52:36] People who were not able to be themselves, who changed their names, who at least on paper were pretending to be somebody else. Families that were not connected by blood, but pretending to be connected by blood. A community that was almost entirely male, a community that was in the United States, but not really permitted to travel outside of a particular geographical area. This was a community that was constructed in reaction to legislation, in reaction to imprisonment on Angel Island. And in reaction to the horrible conditions of that time. What's remarkable to me is the ways in which they built a community anyway, they built families anyway, they built opportunity anyway, and the resilience of that, the bravery of that, the sacrifice of that, is something that I am simultaneously in awe of, but also feel a responsibility and an obligation to build on to honor, to try and illuminate in some way to try to share with others. But also just to recognize the incredible pain of it, that they gave up everything, like really everything. They gave up their name, they gave up their family, they gave up their identity, in order to pretend to be somebody who belongs. That's the only way to build any kind of future. These were pioneers who did things that it's hard for me to imagine. But I know that they did it for us. Not just us, but for the future, for future generations, for you know, those who come after, and that is very powerful to me.   Miko Lee: [00:54:03] I appreciate that as a fifth generation Chinese American, whose family comes from Toisan, whose grandmother was on angel island under a different name because her husband, my grandfather had bought papers from her great grandfather so that they could not actually be married because on paper they would be brother and sister. So even though she had a legal right to actually be in the U. S., she had to take a whole new name and a different identity on Angel Island. So we all have these complicated stories that are part of our history. Thank you for rising that up and bringing that to the world. I'm wondering what you want the walk away message for folks coming to see The Far Country.   Lloyd Suh: [00:54:49] Yeah. I mean, that's a great question. The only way I can answer it is to go back to what I said before about wanting people to respond personally. Like I think everybody has a history, everybody has a family history, and everybody's is different, but I hope that anybody who watches this play has moments where they can think about their ancestry. About the things they know and the things that they don't know and just change their relationship to that somehow, just really reflect on it and reflect on not just their personal history, but how it relates to their definition of what it is to be an America. To add this really huge, but underexplored moment in American history and add it to their accounting of what it is to be a citizen, what it is to be an American. Cause one of the things about this history, as I'm describing the paper son process, depending on a person's particular relationship with the concept of immigration and depending on a person's political leanings, you know, some might hear my description of that and say, “Well, these are criminals. These are people who abused the system.” And I think that is a part of this history. One of the reasons it's buried. One of the reasons it's not talked about is because there is a sense of shame, societal shame, cultural shame, that these things were necessary, right? Shame is part of it. I don't want to pretend it's not, but I also want to acknowledge that in addition to whatever that sense of shame is, is a sense of pride. A sense of bravery, a sense of dignity, a sense of aspiration, what people were willing to do in order to build something for the future, for us, for their families. So a part of that is like just knowing that many of those stories still are untold, and wanting to uplift and honor, and, acknowledge, the beauty in these pockets that have historically felt painful.   Miko Lee: [00:56:48] Thank you Lloyd Suh for joining us on Apex Express.   Lloyd Suh: [00:56:51] Thanks so much. Appreciate it.   Miko Lee: [00:56:52] Please check out our website, kpfa.org to find out more about our show tonight. We think all of you listeners out there. Keep resisting, keep organizing, keep creating and sharing your visions with the world because your voices are important. APEX Express is created by Miko Lee, Jalena Keane-Lee, Preeti Mangala Shekar, Anuj Vaidya, Swati Rayasam, Aisa Villarosa, Estella Owoimaha-Church, Gabriel Tangloao, Cheryl Truong and Ayame Keane-Lee.   The post APEX Express – 3.21.24 Community in Time of Hardship appeared first on KPFA.

We're all familiar with Ellis Island.....Now learn about Angel Island near San Francisco.

Paper Son: Chinese American Citizen.  Chinese immigration to America was unique for various reasons.  All of this is the subject of my new series. I begin with the historical account of early American naturalization and immigration events, politics, and jurisprudence.  From the early years I work through and discuss first the Gold Rush and then the construction of the intercontinental railroad to the onslaught of Chinese immigration into the United States. Eventually leading to violence, exclusion, and deportation of Chinese persons.  All this finally led to the United States Government's acknowledgement and apology.  Including a recognition of Chinese American contributions. The discussion about naturalization and immigration inevitably leads to the questions of (1) who should be an American; and (2) what is an American?Support the show

Vinnie brought in his own Dial soap, there is an Angel Island convoy today, and Sarah's roof went on!

www.atravelpath.com   00:00 Introduction 01:00 Who Should Visit San Francisco? 02:30 How Long Should Someone Visit San Francisco? 03:30 When is the Best Time of Year to Visit San Francisco? 04:50 What is the Best Mode of Transportation in San Francisco? 10:15 What is the Nightlife Like in San Francisco? 11:03 Favorite Food Spots in San Francisco 13:40 What are 3 Things You Should Pack to San Francsico? 15:10 What are 2 Complaints Someone May Have About San Francisco? 17:30 What is 1 Thing You Can't Leave San Francisco Without Doing?   Julie's Social (California Wayfaring) https://californiawayfaring.com/ YouTube Instagram Facebook X   Julie's San Francisco Blogs: 13 Movies Set in San Francisco 2-Day San Francisco Itinerary 5-Day San Francisco Itinerary   Ways to Stay: Hotel Triton Airbnb TrustedHouseSitters Presido's Rob Hill Campground Angel Island Camping   Transportation Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Crissy Beach Parking   To Do Golden Gate Park Adventure Cat Boat Charter Japanese Tea Garden   Places to Eat Zushi Puzzle Ferry Plaza Famers Market Chowders   Related Blogs: Julies recap from Part 1:https://atravelpath.com/travel-blog-tips/       *All content from atravelpath.com, including but not limited to The Travel Path Podcast and social media platforms, is designed to share general information. We are not experts and the information is not designed to serve as legal, financial, or tax advice. Always do your own research and due diligence before making a decision.     Transcript from YouTube: all right Julie welcome back to the travel tips segment of the podcast thank you so in case anybody did not tune in to part one um Julie has been blogging for only 21 years she's been a professional blogger it was a lightning round on anybody looking to get into the blog space I encourage you to listen to that she shared her story um today travel tips we're talking about one particular destination so Julie where are we talking about today we are talking about San Francisco California fantastic now what made you decide to want to share this location today well I was born and raised just south of San Francisco and after college I lived in San Francisco for three years and in the last two years I've been splitting my time between London and San Francisco so the city is close to my heart and I absolutely love it wonderful so obviously San Francisco is a city there's so much to do but for someone who likes what type of experience who should go to San Francisco and where should they go that's a great question San Francisco can be for anyone and that's one of the things I love about it because if you just love you know Urban spaces and cities you've got everything you could possibly want here we've got great restaurants we've got great sightseeing uh we got the water we've got you know everything from the Golden Gate Bridge to alcatra a cool you know street art anything you want you can find it here but if you're one of those people who's like H like I like to be in a city but you know I need my nature fixed and I I like to be outdoors more we have that too so we have one of the if not the largest uh Park of any city in the US um in Golden Gate Park we've got just across the Golden Gate Bridge we've got the Marin Headlands um you don't even need a car you can even take the bus out there or a bike out there and you can go for miles and miles along the coast um so what I love about San Francisco is we have this amazing balance between the city and nature and it's really easy to do both so I think it's kind of has something for everybody and every different type of traveler if you're a foodie kind of you have wine we've got wine country right you know just north of the city um if you like to get out on the water you can go whale watching you can go sailing uh there's just a lot to do here absolutely we can vouch for that we only spent about probably 24 hours in San Francisco that's the only time we've been there however we packed in um the Japanese tea garden we went to um Pier 39 uh we got on the water we went to the bridge so like you said it does have something for everybody and we got to experience a lot of that in just 24 hours but really to get that full experience how long do you think someone should plan their trip for you know the good thing is you don't need a huge amount of time San Francisco as a city is actually not very big because it's on a peninsula and it's only 7 Miles by seven miles so there's a lot that you can do in a short amount of time obviously like I said I I think it's amazing to go beyond the city and see things like the Marine Headlands or Mir Woods or wine country or whatever else you want to see so I would say you know at least three days it gives you enough time to see the city and do a little bit outside of the city and you can go at a relaxed pace and you don't have to feel like you you know morning noon and night you're kind of at this grueling sightseeing non-stop schedule uh but it gives you enough time to see everything you you maybe need to see and then a few things that you can take your time on um you know ideally if you have more time great but three days is probably a good amount of time if you're on a on a schedule and you have other places to go and things to see perfect so you can really take you know that extended weekend getaway and enjoy the city absolutely awesome and then what about the best time of year what would you say definitely October um San Francisco is one of those places where people think oh it's California so it's just sunny and warm all year uh what they don't realize is in the summer we get a lot of fog and so it can be very very cold in the Summers and very foggy to the point where you can't even see the Golden Gate Bridge at all I always recommend October because it tends to be the best weather of the year it's usually warm it's usually clear it's usually Sunny Winters can be rainy or sunny but October is fairly consistent and so I always tell people if you come to San Francisco come in October yeah I actually think we were there in October and it was perfect weather so the first day yeah we we've heard the nickname fogust yes yes fogust is real it's very real and a lot of people come to San Francisco not realizing that and it it's it can be a surprise yes the first day were there um we went to see the bridge and it was just complete fog I think we got a little tiny glimpse of it but um day two in the afternoon fog cleared up and we had um completely unobstructed views of the bridge so there you go October is the time to go that's great now switching over to Transportation a little bit as far as flying in for that quick weekend if you need to rent a car like what do you think is the best mode of transportation and how do you suggest most people get to and from San Francisco yeah it really depends on what you want you can rent a car uh that gives you freedom to drive around the city or drive you know again up into the mine Headlands or Mir Woods or wine country if you want to but you don't need one um there is a train that goes from the airport into the city center both from San Francisco Airport and Oakland airport it's called BART Bay Area Rapid Transit um and it'll take you right into the Heart of the City um there are buses that will take you around the city or again it's fairly small you can walk or you can cycle um do be prepared for the hills um you can also take the cable cars which is super iconic and fun and even as locals we take the cable cars when we want to just have a good time and just do something different um so you again you don't need a car a lot of people will rent bikes and cycle across the Golden Gate Bridge and down to saalo and then take the ferry back so you don't need a car for that um I I like to say it's really really up to you how much control you want and how much you want to do and see in what way you want to do it one thing I'll add to that is I'm not sure if it's a California thing or just the fact that we were from New England or we were driving all over the middle of nowhere out west before we got to California but it threw me off a little bit when we got to San Francisco like the way the street lights were positioned it seemed like they were like farther away than I was used to and it took me like a minute to get used to that I don't know if that's like a californ like I said a California thing or not but that took me a while little while to adjust to and then just parking we had a 21t van and trying to find parking for it was it took a little bit of time yeah yeah San Francisco parking can be a difficult thing um so yeah definitely definitely recommend rening a smaller car than not if you are going to rent a car um I don't I haven't noticed that about the the street lights or the the stop lights but I will definitely make a mental note to to think about that yeah I don't know what it was I'm not sure if we're used to like back home the lights are on strings are on poles so they're like above the roadway but out there they're on like pedestals right yeah that's true huh yeah so maybe it's maybe we're just weird I don't know but it took me like a minute to get used to I think we had also been in the middle of nowhere where there probably weren't any stop lights and there was no traffic so the first stop light we saw yeah yeah exactly it's as you're going cross country all the different stop signs positioning um it definitely is a culture shock sometimes so just be careful when you're driving didn't hit anybody but just took me a little while to get used to um I will say for anyone though that is you know a camper or a van life person for us what we didn't plan on is the challenging parking being in a huge vehicle I kind of thought we could find a parking garage but our van was too tall um but down by the pier there was a lot of not parking garages but you know parking areas and we found some luck down there so if anyone has a bigger vehicle head down towards the pier yeah that's great and um there's definitely a big parking lot at Chrissy beach too um I'm not sure about side requirements there but there's no height requirement so that's something you could potentially look into too very good perfect now um moving over to the lodging aspect do you have any hotels that you love is it an Airbnb friendly city that you kind of suggest people do that to get a better more authentic experience yeah so I always have stayed at Hotel Triton which is right near Union Square Downtown it's kind of on the kind of border of the financial district Union Square and Chinatown so you are in a great location um you're near the water you're near all of the sort of downtown attractions um you're not too far from the cable cars and it's just a it's a great Hotel nice rooms um and you're you're kind of set they do a even a happy hour every night with wine and and whatnot for guests which is fun in terms of airbnbs there's definitely that's an option um they're not cheap I think that's one thing with anything in San Francisco you're going to find it is not an inexpensive City so do brace yourself but there are definitely airbnbs that you can stay in in San Francisco um again it's a city you can do trusted house sitters if you're on a budget and you don't want to pay San Francisco prices for accommodation you can definitely look into alternative kind of ways um we do even have a campground in the precidio uh it gets booked up way in advance so make sure to plan well ahead but you can camp here if you want to um and there are other uh options if you want to uh Camp you can even camp on Angel Island um which is an island in the middle of San Francisco Bay again gets booked up way in advance but it's certainly something if you're up for something totally kind of different spending a night on an island uh is a pretty cool experience too yeah very cool actually hadn't heard of that so if we work our way back with the camper then that's definitely something we're to look into and good note on the um doing it in advanced because I think sometimes when you're traveling especially if you're on these road trips you want to be a little more spur of the moment but especially with cities where there's less camping options definitely something you want to look into to prior to uh your arrival yeah for sure now it is a city so obviously there's a night life what do you like to do you know once the sun goes down yeah there's definitely great amazing restaurants the food in San Francisco is hard to beat and then there's really good night life um whether you want a dive bar or a high-end bar or you want to go out all night dancing or you want to speak easy uh the one thing I will say is well there's a great variety San Francisco is not a l night City so it's you're not going to be at places most places till you know 4: 5 6: a.m. um most things close by two at the latest even on the weekends so do just sort of mentally prepare yourself for that if you are more of a late night person yeah that's okay because there's so much to do in the daytime so it's probably good that forces you to bed a little bit earlier to Rally up in the morning because like you said so many good um breakfast spots and of course you know all the fun activities on the water definitely now just transitioning into food in San Francisco do you have any favorite spots that you want to mention you think if somebody goes they should check out absolutely my favorite spot is Zushi Puzzle which is a sushi restaurant it's it's one of those places I always tell people don't judge it until you've eaten there because you're going to walk in and think where did she send me it's on this sort of random street um the decor is fine but it's nothing wow worthy uh but the food is so good and you should order from the special menu with the special roles uh the Salesforce role is amazing the butterface the Wasabi Tom you can tell I've been there a million times and I always send people there because it is so good so it's definitely something to try if you have a big budget or you want to totally Splurge sit at the sushi counter with Chef Roger and do the Omas menu where he just like puts food in front of you all night and it's amazing too but even if you just do the regular experience it's it's delicious tell Chef Roger Julie sent you right do you have any other food spots you want to mention I think the other food spot I would mention is more General but it's the uh fairy Plaza Farmers Market which is a farmers market at the ferry building right on the waterfront uh the main Market day is Saturday and it has a million food stalls selling everything from fresh produce to prepared foods to meals there's shops inside selling cupcakes and all kinds of other things and it is just it's like a food Paradise um and the stall where I always get breakfast is called Prima Vera and I get the Chila keyce and I sit if it's a sunny day sit outside facing the Bay Bridge and just watching the world go by and it's amazing awesome how about the uh the sourdough chowder is that a native dish to San Francisco I think so um that's what everyone says I as a local I I mean I think I had it as a kid I it's not something I eat on a regular basis but it is something that's very popular and it's certainly worth having if you like that um same thing with dungeon as crab in the winter uh it comes into season and it's absolutely delicious and um it's a great thing to to eat if you want to do Seafood uh especially down by the Waterfront maybe it's more of a touristy thing when I went there hope when I went there we got the Chowder because it's you know the San Francisco thing to do and uh I went there a long time with my family a while back and we did the same thing the Chowder Alcatraz and just all the San Francisco tourist things yeah yeah no I think it's great I mean I love clam chowder in a bread bll I just the the calorie count you can't have it every day yeah exactly you can't have it every day but it's definitely something to have if you like it yeah definitely something to have you're uh in the pi in San Francisco yeah for sure well great I guess we'll transition to the three two one Countdown the final three questions of the podcast what are three things somebody needs to pack when they go to San Francisco good question so I would say number one is good walking shoes because it is a walkable City but obviously again there are Hills so you know make sure sure your feet are comfortable um number two especially if you come in the summer bring warm clothes uh but at kind of any time of year you just never know um the fog can roll in when you least expect it or it can be cold in the mornings and evenings even if it's warm during the day so uh don't think oh I'm going to California I'll just bring some T-shirts uh definitely pack layers um and number three is uh pack an open mind and a positive attitude um San Francisco for some reason media is loving to hate San Francisco right now and a lot of people kind of come in with this mentality of it's going to be terrible or it's going to know I'm going to have to fight my way through this Doom Loop or whatever they're calling it um San Francisco is amazing don't listen to what they say uh it has its issues like every city does but it's a great City and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised so just come with an open mind we made that mistake when we went out there with my family a long time ago we thought it was going to be a sunny San Francisco and it was July and I think it was like 60 degrees foggy so that's really good advice to to bring warm clothes if you're going in the summer so just picky backing off that point you just made there what are two complaints or things people should be prepared for before venturing to San Francisco I think kind of dovetailing on that just be prepared for any weather um it's it's unpredictable uh at best and you can get surprises either way um and I think also be prepared for uh the Hills I think even for me when I come back from London and I've been away for a while I'm always like oh my gosh these Hills are real um so just don't be intimidated by them H you you'll walk off all those good sushi calories but it is something where you need to to be prepared there's some steep hills here yeah and now you just mentioned kind of like the role the media plays and how San Francisco San Francisco can get kind of a bad rap I know when we first drove in there we were at the Golden Gate Overlook and there were so many signs like lock your valubles in your car lock your car and it definitely we we had heard of you know all of the the stigmas associated with San Francisco and it and that definitely we were a little bit alarmed at first because we were not used to that um I will say in our the one day we spent there we didn't see like the 10 cities or the people sleeping in the street we didn't witness that I don't know if it was like just the area that we went to but um as far as we're concerned like where we ventured to it was a beautiful city yeah absolutely and I think like you said a lot of it's where you go um there is a homeless problem in San Francisco but there always has been uh I think the media sort of wants everyone to think it's brand new but it's it's been there forever it probably will be for for a long time if not forever more um it's mostly concentrated downtown so if you're downtown you're going to see more of that than if you're in other parts of the city um it's just something it's a fact of life in in San Francisco there are yeah break-ins are a thing um they were worse a few years ago because uh there was a policy where they sort of decriminalized smaller crimes and so crime skyrocketed and then they stopped doing that and now things seem to be getting better um I'd still recommend locking your car don't leave valuables um I do think that's a good thing to do in any City though um but definitely uh it's something to be wise about don't give anyone a reason to break into your car if you have one well I mean you're living there and you've been to 112 other countries that choose from another city so CLE you feel safe there all right Julie one last question we've talked about a lot of things in San Francisco but what is one thing if you could pick that you have to do before leaving San Francisco for me it's seeing the Golden Gate Bridge uh it's just one of those every time I drive across it every time I see it I just think oh man this never gets old it's just so stunning and so beautiful and the whole landscape around it whether you're on the bridge or you see it from the beach or you see it from any other perspective on a boat what have you it's just absolutely amazing it is a sight to see and we did the boat tour so the second day we were there it was such a beautiful day we're like you know what we we need to like make the most of this so we went to Pier 39 and hopped on one of the boat charters drove underneath it it was a you know shiny day it was beautiful we went around Alcatraz kind of regretted not going into it would that be like a top five or top three thing to do is a tour Alcatraz do you think if you have time I would definitely recommend it the audio tour is amazing they even have former prisoner is doing part of the narration for the audio tour so it's really really good and not only do you get to see alcatra and learn about it but you also get amazing views of the city from it and from the boat ride like you said just a fairy to and from so it's definitely worth a visit if you can and I did it when I went there a long time ago and we talk about doing it like gu so we didn't do it we bought the movie escape from Alat Tres after that and just watched it and we're like man I wish we went that's a great movie yeah yeah so that's my recommendation if you're going to go to San Francisco go watch the movie first cuz it'll definitely it'll make you want to go yes for sure a lot of history there yeah yeah actually on my California wafering blog I even have a a blog post about the best San Francisco movies to watch so that's definitely a list to look at if you want some inspiration great yeah we'll link that Below in any other blogs I'm not going to list all of them because already have a million blogs in San Francisco but we'll link some blogs in San Francisco below from Julie and one last time Julie where can our audience find out more about you you can find more about me at aady in london.com and California wearing. comom and all the social media platforms where I'm the same thing there awesome all right Julie thanks again thank you

San Francisco lies on the unceded territory of the Ramaytush Ohlone, who are still here, and who have stewarded this land for thousands of years.I was born in San Francisco, a few blocks from where I live today. Sometimes I wonder what it means to love a city. It's easy to dream about San Francisco, but how real are these dreams? What would it take to make them real?Produced by Emily Shaw, with audio assistance from George S. Rosenthal. Special thanks to the Prelinger Library, Ray Pang, Palace Shaw, Stepfanie Aguilar, The Stone Foxes, Eileen Torrez, Justine Lucas, Angel Island, and Ellyn Shea.Archival recordings courtesy of the Prelinger LibraryField recordings by Emily ShawCity on the Water - The Stone FoxesHey There, San Francisco - Eileen TorrezSan Francisco, You've Changed - Justine LucasGet Your Kicks on Route 66 - Angel Island with Ellyn Shea

Happy anniversary to us! To celebrate 50 episodes of The Hill Is Always Greener, we're taking a look back at a game currently celebrating its own milestone anniversary, Sonic the Hedgehog 3! The capstone to the original trilogy provides for endless discussion, including how a whole separate game was made because of McDonald's, the *multiple* renditions of many music tracks, and the ongoing debate as to just what color Knuckles actually is. In fact, this episode ended up being so huge that, much like Sonic 3 itself, we had to split it in two! Tune in next week for our second half, all about Sonic & Knuckles! (0:00:00) Intro/Main topic: Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (& Knuckles) (0:08:45) The box art (0:11:38) The split/"lock-on technology" (0:21:58) Competition mode (0:24:55) Knock knock, it's Knuckles (0:28:20) Other changes and new features (0:36:32) The story (0:40:19) Our various versions (0:46:47) Angel Island (and Blue Spheres) (1:04:25) Hydro City (1:11:36) Marble Garden (1:17:32) Carnival Night (1:23:30) Ice Cap (1:30:03) Launch Base Amie Waters on Linktree The Sonic 3 and Laputa Connection Retronauts Episode 524: Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Part 1 Retronauts Episode 542: Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Part 2

Angel Island is located in San Francisco Bay, and from 1910 to 1940, it served as the West Coast's primary immigration facility. It also functioned as a detention center, where hundreds of thousands of people, primarily Chinese, were held in often brutal and dehumanizing conditions. The new opera, "Angel Island," expands on the story, and is running at BAM from Jan. 11-13. The show's composer, Huang Ruo, and director, Matthew Ozawa, join us for a preview.  

Welcome 2024!  We came back from our holiday break with a LIVE episode to celebrate our 100th. We can't believe we've investigated the haunted history of 100 places. Thank you all for being part of our virtual ghost tours! For our milestone episode we discussed Angel Island off the coast of California and featured in the Ghost Adventures Special: Devil Island. With a lot of interesting evidence and wasted history, this was just the place we needed to break in the new year!We'd appreciate it if you took a moment to help our podcast by rating and reviewing on apple and NOW on Spotify! Don't forget to check our show notes for our social links! Definitely check out our Instagram (@hauntedorhoaxpod). We post all photos and videos talked about in the show there!Haunted or Hoax Social Medias:WebsiteInstagramTwitterFacebookSources for this Episode:TELEVISION & MEDIA:GHOST ADVENTURES: DEVIL ISLANDhttps://www.youtube.com/live/7iIG7ylRLYs?si=brcOvjxBU3raClAZWEBSITES:https://sfghosts.com/angel-island/

We've already been through a lot with Julie Albright--but when a book promises a disco dance, we are in for the ride (and a mystery). In this episode, we travel with Julie to Chinatown and learn how to solve a crime after dinnertime. While reeling from roommate news and the discovery of a puzzling note, Julie has enough on her plate when she decides to visit The Happy Panda, Ivy's family's restaurant. Following a great meal, the plot thickens when Julie and Ivy's beloved dolls go missing. Never one to ignore an injustice, Julie is inspired to launch an investigation. Both Julie and Ivy get more than they have bargained for, however, when they decide to also track down Ivy's grandmother's long lost friend. This book includes an extensive plotline about "paper daughters" and the process of detention at Angel Island in California. We discuss Julie's mystery solving skills, the story of Chinese immigration around San Francisco, and of course, the culminating event of the book, a Valentine's day disco dance.  Resources: Check out the great resources from the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation site here: https://www.aiisf.org/virtualgallery  You can find episodes, resources, and a link to our merch store and patreon on our website: dollsofourlivespod.com Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/dollsofourlivespod Order book: Dolls of Our Lives: Why We Can't Quit American Girl Order our audiobook: Dolls of Our Lives: Why We Can't Quit American Girl (Digital Audio) Check out books we mention at our bookshop.org storefront. We love to hear from you! Drop us a line dollsofourlivespod@gmail.com Follow us on social media: Instagram -@dollsofourlivespodcast Twitter - @dollslivespod Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/DollsOfOurLivesPod/ Follow Allison on Twitter and Instagram @allisonhorrocks Follow Mary @mimimahoney (Instagram) or @marymahoney123 (Twitter) Need a source of calm in your day? Listeners will get a free audiobook when you start a new monthly Libro.fm membership for $14.99 a month. You'll get two audiobooks for the price of one in your first month as a member. Valid in the US and Canada.Subscribe to Libro FM! Choose from over 150,000 audiobooks and even support your local bookstore with your purchases as a member. To sign up, use code DOLLS or this link: https://tidd.ly/3EwqiF5

S1 | E3: Part II: We are back In Her Business with Captain Maggie of the Angel Island-Tiburon Ferry.

S1 | E2: Part I: Captain Maggie McDonogh is the owner and fourth generation captain of the Angel Island-Tiburon Ferry. She's President and Chair-woman of the Board for the Angel Island Ferry Company, now celebrating almost 65 years serving the community on the San Francisco Bay.

We get lengthy this week as Arnold talks with Casey Dexter-Lee, Russell Nauman, and Professor Charles Egan about the station where immigrants coming into San Francisco used to have to go through.

On the night of June 11, 1962, three Alcatraz inmates, Frank Morris and John and Clarence Anglin, set out in a raft into the treacherous waters of San Francisco Bay. They were never seen again. In this episode of Zone 7, Crime Scene Investigator, Sheryl McCollum, talks with Ken Widner, the nephew of the infamous Anglin brothers involved in the daring escape. Ken dissects the official narrative, showcasing photographs, FBI omissions, and family tales that make the Anglins' survival a compelling probability. Together, they take a deep dive into the evidence, from facial recognition to Google Maps, that could forever change the story of the Alcatraz escapees. Show Notes: [0:00] Welcome back to Zone 7 with Crime Scene Investigator, Sheryl McCollum.   [3:30] Sheryl introduces guest Ken Widner to the listeners  [5:10] Question: Tell everybody about the escape in 1962 from Alcatraz. What were you and your momma doing? [13:00] Using facial recognition to analyze photographs  [13:33] Alcatraz Search for the Truth  [15:30] Question: Let's talk about family loyalty, and just how far you would go.  Tell us about the raft and going across to Angel Island.  [18:00] Sheryl and Ken discuss crossing the rough waters and what police ignored the day of escape [25:50] Ken questions the suspicious lack of documentation regarding a key individual, poking holes in the official narrative [26:10] Question: Can you paint the picture for the listeners about Brazil? [33:42] ​​”You find a wheat penny up there. The date makes sense. The location does not make sense unless they were there.”  [38:25] Question: Can you talk a little bit about your letter writing back and forth with Whitey Bulger?  [48:57] Alcatraz, The Last Escape  [50:35] “When everything goes to hell, the people who stand by you without flinching. They're your family.” -J.B Thanks for listening to another episode! If you're loving the show and want to help grow the show, please head over to Itunes and leave a rating and review! How to Leave an Apple Podcast Review: First, Open the podcast app on your iPhone, Mac, or iPad. Then, hit the “Search” tab at the bottom right-hand corner of the page and search for Zone 7. Select the podcast, scroll down to find the subheading “Ratings & Reviews”. and select “Write a Review.” Next, select the number of stars you'd like to leave. Please choose 5 stars! Using the text box which says “Title,” write a title for your review. Then in the text box, write the review itself. The review can be up to 300 words long, but doesn't need to be much more than: “Love the show! Thanks!” or Once you're done select “Send” in the upper right-hand corner.   --- Sheryl “Mac” McCollum is an Emmy Award winning CSI, a writer for CrimeOnLine, Forensic and Crime Scene Expert for Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, and a CSI for a metro Atlanta Police Department. She is the co-author of the textbook., Cold Case: Pathways to Justice. Sheryl is also the founder and director of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute, a collaboration between universities and colleges that brings researchers, practitioners, students and the criminal justice community together to advance techniques in solving cold cases and assist families and law enforcement with solvability factors for unsolved homicides, missing persons, and kidnapping cases.   You can connect and learn more about Sheryl's work by visiting the CCIRI website https://coldcasecrimes.org Social Links: Email: coldcase2004@gmail.com Twitter: @ColdCaseTips Facebook: @sheryl.mccollum See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Zone 7, Crime Scene Investigator, Sheryl McCollum, talks with guest Michael Essligner. Together, they peel back the layers of the notorious prison, Alcatraz, from its reputation as an impenetrable fortress to the infamous 1962 escape. Sheryl and Michael explore the psychology of Alcatraz inmates and discuss the prison's impact on rehabilitation. With firsthand accounts and meticulous research, they offer a nuanced view of the inmates' ingenuity and the prison's security lapses. Show Notes: [0:00] Welcome back to Zone 7 with Crime Scene Investigator, Sheryl McCollum. Sheryl sets the stage by sharing her childhood fascination with Alcatraz [3:40] Sheryl introduces guest Michael Essligner to the listeners  [8:40] The History of Alcatraz is addressed through stories  [9:40] Heat  [10:48] Sheryl and Michael start dissecting the details of the infamous Alcatraz escape [12:15] Michael explains the prison's security measures and how they had been relaxed by 1962, hinting at internal issues [15:31] The meticulous planning involved in the escape, from obtaining raincoats to other necessary items [17:00] Michael details the escape process, from dummy heads to reaching the roof [24:40] The benefits of Alcatraz in providing inmates with meaningful skills, challenging conventional views on imprisonment [28:22] Question: Can you explain Cell Block B to the listeners?  [32:36] Discussion on the prisoners' use of a broken vacuum cleaner motor to create a drill [36:53] Question: Can you talk about the accordion and what it was used for?  [37:00] Reflections on the enduring mystery surrounding the escape [44:44] Question: Michael Eslinger. Did they make it? Did they survive?  [45:50] “For every piece of evidence that suggests they died. There's another piece of evidence that comes up that suggests that they lived.” [46:54] “There's something addictive about secrets.” -J.E.H  Thanks for listening to another episode! If you're loving the show and want to help grow the show, please head over to Itunes and leave a rating and review! How to Leave an Apple Podcast Review: First, Open the podcast app on your iPhone, Mac, or iPad. Then, hit the “Search” tab at the bottom right-hand corner of the page and search for Zone 7. Select the podcast, scroll down to find the subheading “Ratings & Reviews”. and select “Write a Review.” Next, select the number of stars you'd like to leave. Please choose 5 stars! Using the text box which says “Title,” write a title for your review. Then in the text box, write the review itself. The review can be up to 300 words long, but doesn't need to be much more than: “Love the show! Thanks!” or Once you're done select “Send” in the upper right-hand corner.   --- Sheryl “Mac” McCollum is an Emmy Award-winning CSI, a writer for CrimeOnLine, Forensic and Crime Scene Expert for Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, and a CSI for a metro Atlanta Police Department. She is the co-author of the textbook., Cold Case: Pathways to Justice. Sheryl is also the founder and director of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute, a collaboration between universities and colleges that brings researchers, practitioners, students and the criminal justice community together to advance techniques in solving cold cases and assist families and law enforcement with solvability factors for unsolved homicides, missing persons, and kidnapping cases.   You can connect and learn more about Sheryl's work by visiting the CCIRI website https://coldcasecrimes.org Social Links: Email: coldcase2004@gmail.com Twitter: @149Zone7 Facebook: @sheryl.mccollum See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Narrator: Arif Hodzic