Podcasts about japanese canadian

How does mental illness affect your relationships? Leanne Toshiko Simpson is a psych ward survivor and fourth generation Japanese Canadian who turned her experience into a refreshingly honest romcom novel about people with mental illness. Brought to you By: The Sonar Network https://thesonarnetwork.com/

Yves joins us to unpack the life and achievements of Hide Hyodo Shimizu, a Japanese Canadian woman dedicated to education and voting rights.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you meet a Japanese American, depending on their age, it's a pretty good bet that they, their parents, and/or their grandparents (or great-grandparents) were imprisoned by the US government in so-called internment camps for several years during World War II. Most families lost everything they had built up: farms, homes, businesses, jobs, possessions, and whatever wealth they had accrued. If you meet a Japanese American, it's also a pretty good bet, they probably won't spontaneously start talking about what they or their family went through, how they feel about it, and how they or their family recovered from the ordeal. I (Christina) wanted to rectify that by sitting down with my old friend Chie Furuya, whose parents (as tiny children), grandparents, and other family members were “sent to camp”, to ask her about it. The answers and stories she had for me were both fascinating and unexpectedly heartening. Her people are a resilient, cheerful people and I feel like there are life lessons for all of us here, in terms of withstanding and recovering from severe injustice (and coming out on top).Ariel's addition to this episode description is to point out that Japanese internment occurred in Canada in the early 20th century as well. We (by which she means Canada, or perhaps so-called Canada, as she likes to call it) aren't some bastion of anti-racism and tolerant plurality (if we ever were). Here are a few links for further edification if you are interested or want to know more about the Canadian side of the story:-"Where is Japantown?" a Secret Life of Canada podcast that describes this history in detail: https://www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-podcasts/203-the-secret-life-of-canada/episode/15776151-s3-where-is-japantown-Obasan by Joy Kogawa is an incredibly famous work of Canadian Literature - or at least, it was, back in the day, as it came out in 1981. But IYKYK. It describes the fallout of the Japanese internment camps through the eyes of a young girl growing up in Alberta and it galvanized the nisei community to stand up to the Canadian government and demand accountability and reparations for the atrocities of the internment camps. Link here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9723.Obasan-Here is a link to the Japanese-Canadian centre in Toronto, the only Japanese cultural centre that I know of in central/eastern Canada: https://jccc.on.ca/ and the Nikkei Museum in BC: https://centre.nikkeiplace.org/ Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Erika Prevost is a Japanese-Canadian actor to watch celebrated for her dynamic performances in film, television, and dance. She first rose to prominence as Sloane on the multi-award-winning teen dance drama The Next Step, where she showcased her extensive dance background, including training in Hip-Hop, Contemporary, Ballet, Jazz, and Ballroom. Her early career also featured performances on NBC's The Voice, the Just for Laughs Gala, and the Pan Am Games Opening Ceremony, establishing her as a multifaceted talent. Erika discovered her passion for acting after being cast in the horror feature Polaroid starring alongside Riverdale's Madelaine Petsch. Other work has included a series regular role as Brianna Bradley in Netflix and USA Network's Dare Me.  One of Erika's first major roles was in Prime Video's feature film An Autumn Romance. She has since made her mark with standout performances in Sony's Party of Five, Lionsgate's Step Up All In, Starz's American Gods, and Universal Pictures' Bring It On: Cheer or Die. Erika's lead role in Lifetime's Saying Yes to Christmas earned her consideration for a Canadian Screen Award.  Her previous work also includes a memorable turn in Amazon Studios' Emmy-nominated series The Boys where she portrayed the fierce and deadly Tala in season four, marking her first role as a Japanese-speaking character. This milestone reflects Erika's commitment to authentic and diverse storytelling. Currently, Erika stars as Patty Montclair-Ito in the new hit series Saint-Pierre airing now on CBC and CBC Gem. The drama follows Inspectors Donny Fitzpatrick (Allan Hawco) and Geneviève Archambault (Joséphine Jobert) as they uncover the dark underbelly of crime on a remote French archipelago. Erika's role as rookie officer Patty Montclair-Ito plays a key part in navigating the island's web of secrets, bringing depth and intrigue to the series. Want to watch: YouTube Meisterkhan Pod (Please Subscribe)

Welcome to MuseNews, the BCMA's monthly museum sector news podcast. Each month we recap some of the latest breaking news, happenings, and announcements from museums, galleries, and heritage organizations across BC and beyond. January Stories: Rebuilding Telegraph Cove: Community Mobilizes to Restore a Vital Economic Engine - West Coast NOW  Museum of Anthropology unveils first exhibit dedicated to the Nuxalk Nation | Georgia Straight Vancouver's source for arts, culture, and events Victoria museum display celebrates work of Japanese-Canadian photographer - Saanich News Northern B.C. museum honours pioneer female pilot from the early 1900s - Quesnel Cariboo Observer Museum of Northern BC commemorates 100 years with a reflective exhibit - Houston Today Unmasking heritage: the rise of women carvers on the North Coast - Houston Today Through sculpture, syilx Okanagan artist turns pictographs into towering 3D figures   If you have news you want to share on this program, please email us at bcma@museum.bc.ca

In Episode 158 of Brew Crime, we continue our exploration of Canada's dark history with Part 2: Internment Camps during World War II. Dive deeper into the harrowing stories of those impacted by these camps and the systemic injustices they faced. From forced labor to separation from loved ones, this episode uncovers a lesser-known chapter of Canadian history that still echoes today.

After the last episode exploring Cybersix, I felt that we still needed to dig deeper into the story behind the incredible Japanese-Canadian co-production. There was one major perspective missing, and I was very fortunate to not only get in contact with him, but have him agree to come on the podcast: Hervé Bédard, executive producer of Cybersix and founder of Network of Animation! Zee the Raccoon and Brady Hartel once again join me, although we spend most of this interview completely spellbound at the perspective Bédard had to offer, not only on the production of Cybersix, but on his incredible personal history in the animation industry, as well as the relationship between art and society.

In this first conversation, Michael Ross and Carmel Tanaka discuss her role as the founder of JQT Vancouver, a unique non-profit advocating for inclusivity in Jewish queer spaces. They delve into Carmel's identity as both Japanese-Canadian and Jewish, exploring how these intersections shape her activism and community work.Introduction to Carmel's identity, activism, and the creation of JQT Vancouver. Key Themes: intersection of Jewish and queer identities, challenges in Jewish LGBTQ+ community acceptance, current Conservatism vs. liberalism in Canadian Jewish communities.Takeaways: Carmel Tanaka emphasizes the importance of creating inclusive spaces for LGBTQ+ individuals within Jewish communities. The intersection of Carmel's Japanese and Jewish identities profoundly influences her activism and community engagement. JQT Vancouver's mission is to provide a safe haven for queer Jewish individuals to express their identities. The conversation highlights the ongoing challenges of acceptance and representation in Jewish LGBTQ+ spaces. Carmel shares her personal connections to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, enriching her perspective on activism. The podcast underscores the need for nuanced discussions around identity, politics, and community in today's world. Links referenced in this episode:jqtvancouver.caMentioned in this episode:This category is for internal use only. Here you can try out whatever you'd like regarding PrePost Roll Good Luck!

ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In this episode, Lindsay Wong (author of Tell Me Pleasant Things About My Immortality), David Norwell (author of A Complex Coast), Lara Jean Okihiro (co-author of Obaasan's Boots), and Andrea Warner (author of Rise Up and Sing!) to reflect on books that have influenced or inspired them. These amazing authors have been part of this years Storied video series. This episode is basically amazing authors recommending great books on topics such as writing about family, combining fact and fiction in novels and short stories, and writing about the environment. Visit BC and Yukon Book Prizes: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/ Storied videos: https://vimeo.com/showcase/11316134 ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Lindsay Wong is the author of the critically acclaimed, award-winning, and bestselling memoir The Woo-Woo, which was a finalist for Canada Reads 2019. She has written a YA novel entitled My Summer of Love and Misfortune. Wong holds a BFA in creative writing from the University of British Columbia and an MFA in literary nonfiction from Columbia University. She currently teaches creative writing at the University of Winnipeg. David Norwell is an author, illustrator, and world traveller. He holds a BSc in Geography from the University of Victoria, and has worked for six seasons conducting biological and geological surveys In BC, Alberta, and the Yukon. His passion is communicating science in a way that accesses the human heart. David has visited thirty-three countries, sailed across the Atlantic and Indian Ocean, trekked over the Himalayas with a kitten, and hitchhiked over two hundred rides. He is dedicated to understanding the human experience and sharing his findings. When not working on books, he is volunteering at schools, studying Buddhism, and practising meditation. Lara Jean Okihiro is a writer, researcher, and educator of mixed Japanese Canadian heritage living in Toronto. Intrigued by the power and magic of stories, she earned a Master's (Goldsmiths College) and a Doctorate (University of Toronto) in English. Living abroad inspired her to learn about her family's experience of internment. Lara writes about dispossession, hoarding, social justice, and carrying the important lessons of the past into the future. Andrea Warner (she/her) writes and talks. A lot. She's the author of Buffy Sainte-Marie: The Authorized Biography and We Oughta Know: How Four Women Ruled the '90s and Changed Canadian Music. She's the co-writer and associate producer of the 2022 documentary Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On and co-hosts the the weekly feminist pop culture podcast Pop This!. ABOUT MEGAN COLE: Megan Cole the Director of Programming and Communications for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in Chatelaine, This Magazine, The Puritan, Untethered, and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com ABOUT THE PODCAST: Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. As a settler on these lands, Megan Cole finds opportunities to learn and listen to the stories from those whose land was stolen. Writing the Coast is a recorded series of conversations, readings, and insights into the work of the writers, illustrators, and creators whose books are nominated for the annual BC and Yukon Book Prizes. We'll also check in on people in the writing community who are supporting books, writers and readers every day. The podcast is produced and hosted by Megan Cole.

ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In this episode, host Megan Cole talks to Janis Bridger and Lara Jean Okihiro. Janis and Lara are the authors of Obaasan's Boots, which was a finalist for the 2024 Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize. In their conversation, Lara and Janis talk about their relationship and how that evolved through the writing of the book. We also talked about why Canadians don't talk about Japanese internment and the role that books play in humanizing it. Visit BC and Yukon Book Prizes: bcyukonbookprizes.com/ About Obaasan's Boots: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/obaasans-boots/ ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Lara Jean Okihiro is a writer, researcher, and educator of mixed Japanese Canadian heritage living in Toronto. Intrigued by the power and magic of stories, she earned a Master's (Goldsmiths College) and a Doctorate (University of Toronto) in English. Living abroad inspired her to learn about her family's experience of internment. Lara writes about dispossession, hoarding, social justice, and carrying the important lessons of the past into the future. Janis Bridger is an educator and writer who has many creative outlets and a love for the outdoors. She lives in Vancouver, Canada, close to where her Japanese Canadian grandparents lived before being interned. Janis earned a diploma in Professional Photography (Langara College), a Bachelor of Education and General Studies (Simon Fraser University) and a Master of Education (University of Alberta), specializing in teacher-librarianship. Social justice, diversity, and kindness are paramount in her life and embedded in her everyday teaching. ABOUT MEGAN COLE: Megan Cole the Director of Programming and Communications for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in Chatelaine, This Magazine, The Puritan, Untethered, and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com ABOUT THE PODCAST: Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. As a settler on these lands, Megan Cole finds opportunities to learn and listen to the stories from those whose land was stolen. Writing the Coast is a recorded series of conversations, readings, and insights into the work of the writers, illustrators, and creators whose books are nominated for the annual BC and Yukon Book Prizes. We'll also check in on people in the writing community who are supporting books, writers and readers every day. The podcast is produced and hosted by Megan Cole.

Send us a textThis episode features our friend, Lance.  He joins us in the record room to discuss his past 2 years sailing the Pacific coast from Canada to Columbia and plenty of blue sea in between.Lance left behind the socially tumultuous climate in Canada two years ago with his bicultural daughter (Japanese-Canadian) and his wife.  He had little experience sailing a boat, and learned everything about sailing from YouTube videos.He recounts some of his experiences here in this episode and looks toward a future with more sailing and possibly a return to Japan.You can check out some of his adventures here:https://www.youtube.com/@sailingdiscoverypassage  

ABOUT THIS EPISODE: In this episode, you'll hear from three different authors: Lara Jean Okihiro, Janis Bridger, and Jordan Scott. Lara and Janis wrote the book Obaasan's Boots, and Jordan wrote My Baba's Garden. In the summer, these three authors participated in our Storied video On Writing About Family. These are their reflections on how writing about family can be one of the most complicated things, and how they each approached it in their work. Visit BC and Yukon Book Prizes: bcyukonbookprizes.com/ View the full Storied: On Writing About Family: https://vimeo.com/showcase/11316134?share=copy ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Lara Jean Okihiro is a writer, researcher, and educator of mixed Japanese Canadian heritage living in Toronto. Intrigued by the power and magic of stories, she earned a Master's (Goldsmiths College) and a Doctorate (University of Toronto) in English. Living abroad inspired her to learn about her family's experience of internment. Lara writes about dispossession, hoarding, social justice, and carrying the important lessons of the past into the future. Janis Bridger is an educator and writer who has many creative outlets and a love for the outdoors. She lives in Vancouver, Canada, close to where her Japanese Canadian grandparents lived before being interned. Janis earned a diploma in Professional Photography (Langara College), a Bachelor of Education and General Studies (Simon Fraser University) and a Master of Education (University of Alberta), specializing in teacher-librarianship. Social justice, diversity, and kindness are paramount in her life and embedded in her everyday teaching. Jordan Scott is a poet whose work includes Silt, Blert, DECOMP, and Night & Ox. Blert, which explores the poetics of stuttering, is the subject of two National Film Board of Canada projects, Flub and Utter: a poetic memoir of the mouth and STUTTER. Scott was the recipient of the 2018 Latner Writers' Trust Poetry Prize for his contributions to Canadian poetry. He is the author of I Talk Like a River, winner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award. He lives in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island with his wife and two sons. ABOUT MEGAN COLE: Megan Cole the Director of Programming and Communications for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in Chatelaine, This Magazine, The Puritan, Untethered, and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com ABOUT THE PODCAST: Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. As a settler on these lands, Megan Cole finds opportunities to learn and listen to the stories from those whose land was stolen. Writing the Coast is a recorded series of conversations, readings, and insights into the work of the writers, illustrators, and creators whose books are nominated for the annual BC and Yukon Book Prizes. We'll also check in on people in the writing community who are supporting books, writers and readers every day. The podcast is produced and hosted by Megan Cole.

Juhn Atsushi Wada was a Japanese–Canadian neurologist known for research on epilepsy and human brain asymmetry, including his description of the Wada test to assess cerebral hemispheric dominance of language function. The Wada test is the gold standard for establishing cerebral dominance and is conducted worldwide prior to epilepsy surgery. He became a pioneer in the utilization of the kindling model of epilepsy, which permitted controlled studies of the development of epilepsy in the laboratory. Drs. Maryam Nouri and Laurent Sheybani interviewed Drs. Jerome Engel Jr., Marilyn Jones-Gotman, and Solomon Moshe about their memories and relationships with Dr. Wada and his impact on epilepsy research and clinical care.More information on Dr. Wada:In memoriam: Juhn Atsushi Wada (Epilepsia Open)Juhn Wada 1924-2023 (ILAE website)Dr. Juhn Atsushi Wada (British Columbia Medical Journal) Support the showSharp Waves episodes are meant for informational purposes only, and not as clinical or medical advice.Let us know how we're doing: podcast@ilae.org.The International League Against Epilepsy is the world's preeminent association of health professionals and scientists, working toward a world where no person's life is limited by epilepsy. Visit us on Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, and LinkedIn.

Welcome to Dreaming in Color, a show hosted by Darren Isom, a partner with The Bridgespan Group, that provides a space for social change leaders of color to reflect on how their life experiences, personal and professional, have prepared them to lead and drive the impact we all seek. In this episode, we sit down with Naomi Ostwald Kawamura, the Executive Director of Densho, an organization devoted to documenting the testimonies of Japanese Americans who were unjustly incarcerated during World War II. Naomi has a rich background, with a BFA in Metal Design from the University of Washington, a Master's in Education from Harvard, and a PhD from the University of British Columbia, where she studied the intergenerational transfer of memory in Japanese-American and Japanese-Canadian communities. Before Densho, she led the Nikkei Place Foundation and held key roles at the San Diego History Center and the California Center for the Arts. Naomi is passionate about addressing the challenges faced by community history organizations, especially concerning the legacy of Japanese American WWII incarceration, and has shared her insights in various publications, including an upcoming book on ethnic diversity and national identity in history education.Join this conversation as Naomi explores themes of heritage, resilience, and storytelling. She discusses her upbringing as the daughter of Japanese immigrants in California and her parents' encouragement to embrace both her Japanese and American identities. Naomi shares her family's history, including her father and grandfather's survival of the American atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 and emphasizes the importance of making history relevant for younger generations. Listen as she highlights the challenges of preserving oral histories, the role of technology in accessibility, and the power of art in conveying complex emotions and histories.This is Dreaming In Color. Jump Straight Into: (00:22.2) Introduction of Naomi Ostwald Kawamura, Executive Director of Densho.(01:37.9) Naomi reflects on an inspirational visit to the Meiji Jingu Shrine.(02:45.7) Naomi discusses her roots and the immigration story of her parents.(06:07.2) Naomi connects her history to the bombing of Hiroshima.(07:52.6) Being a light in the darkness: Naomi shares how her family's history inspires her work. (12:15.6) Naomi dives into memory research and discusses collecting stories from diverse perspectives to honor and preserve each viewpoint, thereby creating comprehensive historical narratives.Episode Resources: Connect with Naomi through LinkedIn.Learn more about Densho through their website.Read Naomi's interview with Densho here. Read Naomi's Densho article “Building Community and Connection that Transcends Borders” here.Watch Naomi's town hall on community and connections here.August 6th and 9th, 2024, mark the 79th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This New York Times Op-Ed presents survivor testimonies and underscores the significance...

George Nobechi is a Japanese-Canadian photographer living in Nagano, Japan. His work is often described as evoking solitude, duality and longing.  Being bicultural, he is simultaneously an insider and outsider in both Eastern and Western cultures and this is reflected in his sensibility and vision.Topics Richard and George discuss:• Japanese and Canadian cultures• Working with Sam Abell• The concept of Nukumori • Quiet Images• Being both an insider and outsider in Eastern and Western cultures• "Photography found me"• The American Southwest• Loneliness, serenity, and quietude• Wind and Light• The everyday life is worthy of being photographed• Is photography truth?Notable Links:George Nobechi WebsiteGeorge Nobechi Instagram*****This episode is brought to you by Kase Filters. I travel the world with my camera, and I can use any photography filters I like, and I've tried all of them, but in recent years I've landed on Kase Filters.Kase filters are made with premium materials, HD optical glass, shockproof, with zero color cast, round and square filter designs, magnetic systems, filter holders, adapters, step-up rings, and everything I need so I never miss a moment.And now, my listeners can get 10% off the Kase Filters Amazon page when they visit.beyondthelens.fm/kase and use coupon code BERNABE10Kase Filters, Capture with Confidence.

Welcome to MuseNews, the BCMA's monthly museum sector news podcast. Each month we recap some of the latest news, happenings, and announcements from museums, galleries, and heritage organizations across BC and beyond. Join Lorenda and Leia as we explore the latest MuseNews! This months news: Curator of Peace Gallery North bidding farewell to Fort St. John North Van exhibition pays ode to Vancouver prop house  Unveiling Gender: New exhibit explores representation at Sooke Region Museum  Nanaimo Museum showcasing history of Japanese-Canadian internment   Maple Ridge Museum earns award for Japanese Canadian exhibit Kitimat to host first ever all Haisla community art show | CFNR Network Snuneymuxw First Nation repatriates nearly 100 items from the Royal BC Museum    

In this episode we welcome Meredith Hama-Brown, director of the feature film Seagrass, in conversation with Sonja Baksa, Programmer + Program Lead at VIFFHaving decamped to a Gabriola Island couples' retreat in a last-ditch attempt to save their crumbling marriage, preoccupied Judith (Ally Maki) and Steve (Luke Roberts) leave their young daughters to their own devices. In turn, 11-year-old Stephanie (Nyha Breitkreuz) quickly ditches six-year-old Emmy (Remy Marthaller) in favour of a pack of unruly teens and their accompanying temptations. Abandoned and adrift, the introverted Emmy grows fixated with an eerie cave and convinced that her late grandmother has been conjured as an unseen ghost.Drawing from her own childhood experiences, writer-director Meredith Hama-Brown demonstrates a profound talent for eliciting unspeakably nuanced, frequently heartbreaking performances from Breitkreuz and Marthaller. Likewise, she deftly investigates the unique tensions of Judith and Steve's interracial marriage (including her infatuation with another man). All the while, Norm Li's highly observant cinematography provides a practically mesmerizing degree of intimacy. A deftly orchestrated, deeply moving portrait of a family at the brink of implosion, Seagrass sees Hama-Brown exude compassion and conviction in an accomplished debut.Meredith Hama-Brown is an actress, producer, and director. She is best known for her short Broke Bunny (2018), which won the Telus Sea to Sky Award at the Vancouver International Film Festival. With this short, she also won Best Narrative Film Award at Las Cruces International Film Festival and Best Film Award at the Future of Film Show. In 2020, Brown was selected for the TIFF Filmmaker Lab and was awarded the Canada Goose Fellowship for her first feature film, Seagrass (2023).This conversation was recorded remotely in March 2024.–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––This podcast is brought to you by the Vancouver International Film Festival.Presented on the traditional and unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) nations. The Greater Vancouver International Film Festival Society is a not-for-profit cultural organization that operates the internationally acclaimed Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF), and year-round programming at VIFF Centre. See what's playing now at viff.org.

In this DOXA Documentary Film Festival double-header, Sabrina Rani Furminger speaks with two filmmakers whose films are featured in the 2024 edition of the popular fest. Up first is Rachel Epstein, the filmmaker behind The Anarchist Lunch. The film is the story of a lunch – or rather, 35 years of lunches enjoyed each week by a group of ardent leftists who congregated in a Vancouver Chinese restaurant to discuss the important topics of the moment. Among them is Rachel's father, Norman. The Anarchist Lunch follows these revolutionaries over a period of several years, through the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and during the unfolding of resonant global events. As some members struggle with personal health issues, Rachel's film takes on new layers to explore the meanings of activism, camaraderie, and growing old. Next up (at timecode 26:13) is Cindy Mochizuki, whose film Between Pictures: The Lens of Tamio Wakayama re-introduces viewers to the famed Vancouver photographer and activist who passed away in 2018. Tamio spent several years of his childhood in an internment camp, after being held with thousands of other forcibly displaced Japanese Canadians in cruel and dehumanizing conditions at Hastings Park – and after the internment ended in 1946, Tamio and his family moved to Chatham, Ontario, once the terminus for the Underground Railroad. And that remarkable beginning is only just that: the beginning of Tamio's remarkable life as a photographer and activist. In these two fascinating conversations, the documentarians discuss legacy, activism, and the joys and challenges of fact-based filmmaking. Episode sponsor: Fish Flight Entertainment

Leanne Toshiko Simpson is looking at romantic comedy through a new lens. The fourth-generation Japanese Canadian writer has just released her debut novel, “Never Been Better,” which tells a love story set at a psychiatric facility. Leanne lives with bipolar disorder and has spent time in a psych ward herself. She joins Tom to tell us why she wanted to use the rom-com format to talk about mental illness.

Meredith Hama-Brown is the force behind Seagrass, one of the most talked-about feature film directorial debuts to come out of Western Canada in recent memory. Seagrass is the story of a family falling apart. Ally Maki stars as Judith, a Japanese Canadian woman who brings her family to a self-development retreat after the recent death of her mother. When Judith and her husband befriend another interracial couple (one who seems to have the perfect marriage), Judith begins to recognize how irreparably fractured her relationship actually is. Seagrass is devastating, engrossing, and somehow at once a family drama and a ghost story and a 1990s period piece, all set against a startling Pacific North West backdrop and lovingly shot by exceptionally talented cinematographer Norm Li. Seagrass played to sold out crowds at TIFF, won the coveted International Film Critics Awards Fipresci Prize, and was selected for Canada's TIFF Top Ten showcase screening. The film had its highly anticipated North American theatrical release in February, and will be available on VOD on April 2. In this fascinating and thoughtful conversation, Meredith discusses her journey to and with Seagrass, casual racism, where Seagrass should be placed in a video store, and what comes next. Episode sponsor: Fish Flight Entertainment

The actor Alan Ritchson is best known for playing Jack Reacher, an ex-military nomad who negotiates suspicious and dangerous situations. But in his new film “Ordinary Angels,” Alan plays a father whose brawn is of little use in the face of his young daughter's illness. He sits down with Tom to talk about playing a dad desperate to save his child, what it's like to do a scene with an Oscar winner when you can tell she's not sure about you, and why he wrote a letter to Tom Cruise when he booked “Reacher.”Plus, the Canadian film “Seagrass” is getting a lot of attention. Set in British Columbia in the 1990s, it tells the story of a Japanese-Canadian woman named Judith who goes on a retreat with her family in an attempt to mend her marriage with her white husband, Steve. Director Meredith Hama-Brown tells guest host Talia Schlanger what she wanted to explore about the Japanese-Canadian experience and the generational trauma caused by Japanese internment during World War II.

Mini-podcast about the mass deportation of Japanese Canadians in 1942.See all of our anniversaries each day, alongside sources and maps on the On This Day section of our Stories app: stories.workingclasshistory.com/date/todayAnd browse all Stories by Date here on the Date index: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/dateOur work is only possible because of support from you, our listeners on patreon. If you appreciate our work, please join us and access exclusive content and benefits at patreon.com/workingclasshistory.AcknowledgementsWritten and edited by Working Class History.Theme music by Ricardo Araya. Check out his YouTube channel at youtube.com/@peptoattack

Show notes below:   Talking Shit With Tara Cheyenne is a Tara Cheyenne Performance Production www.taracheyenne.com Instagram: @TaraCheyenneTCP  /  FB: https://www.facebook.com/taracheyenneperformance Podcast produced, edited and music by Marc Stewart Music www.marcstewartmusic.com    © 2024 Tara Cheyenne Performance   Subscribe/follow share through Podbean and Google Podcasts and Apple Podcasts and Spotify.   Donate! To keep this podcast ad-free please go to:  https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/13386   Links:   Festival Of Recorded Movement: https://www.f-o-r-m.ca/   https://www.f-o-r-m.ca/the-team    The London Contemporary Dance School: https://theplace.org.uk/study     About Sophia:   My name is Sophia Mai Wolfe (she/her/hers), I am a queer, Japanese-Canadian independent artist whose practice is ever-changing. My practice moves and connects me to live performance, video documentation, curation, festival programming, editing, filmmaking, and directing. I am a grateful guest of what is colonially know as Vancouver on the territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish),and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. My dance practice has led me to performing and touring internationally with companies and independent choreographers such as Company 605, Co-Erasga, Chick Snipper, Cindy Mochizuki, Lisa Mariko Gelley, Kelly McInnes, Antonio Somera, Zahra Shahab, The Only Animal and New World Theatre. I hold an MA in Screendance from the London Contemporary Dance School, and am the founding Artistic Director of F-O-R-M (Festival Of Recorded Movement). Through completing my MA, I became interested in making work that challenges and slows our attention. I use film and dance to invite connection and empathy towards the bodies we witness on screen, as well as invite sensation within the bodies of those witnessing. I work independently and collaboratively with artists and communities to engage audiences in work that moves them through embodied and imaginative experiences. I am also involved with videocan as a video archivist and on the research team which is an online archive of Canadian performance directed by Patrick Blenkarn and Milton Lim. I have also curated screenings for New Blue Dance Festival (Toronto), Vancouver Art Gallery, DOTE (Vancouver) and Body+Camera (Chicago).   About Tara:   Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg, is an award winning creator, performer, choreographer, director, writer, and artistic director of Tara Cheyenne Performance, working across disciplines in film, dance, theatre, and experimental performance. She is renowned as a trailblazer in interdisciplinary performance and as a mighty performer "who defies categorization on any level". Along with her own creations Tara has collaborated with many theatre companies and artists including; Zee Zee Theatre, Bard on the Beach, ItsaZoo Theatre, The Arts Club, Boca De Lupo, Ruby Slippers, The Firehall Arts Centre, Vertigo Theatre (Calgary).  With a string of celebrated solo shows to her credit (including bANGER, Goggles, Porno Death Cult, I can't remember the word for I can't remember, Body Parts, Pants), multidisciplinary collaborations, commissions and boundary bending ensemble creations Tara's work is celebrated both nationally and internationally.  Tara is known for her unique and dynamic hybrid of dance, comedy and theatre. She is sought after for creating innovative movement for theatre and has performed her full length solos and ensemble works around the world (highlights: DanceBase/Edinburgh, South Bank Centre/London, On the Boards/Seattle USA, High Performance Rodeo/Calgary etc.). Recent works include a collaboration with Italian dance/performance artist Silvia Gribaudi, empty.swimming.pool, (Castiglioncello, Bassano, Victoria and Vancouver), ensemble creation, how to be,  which premiered at The Cultch, and her solo I can't remember the word for I can't remember, toured widely, and her newest solo Body Parts has been made into a stunning film which is currently touring virtually. Tara lives on the unceded Coast Salish territories with her partner composer Marc Stewart and their child.

In which Patrick talks alone in a microphone as Mack faces a cyclone! The show is going solo this week to talk a little about Japanese-Canadians and how Daphne Marlatt's Steveston interprets their history. --- Support: Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/historiacanadiana); Paypal (https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/historiacanadiana); recommended reading (https://historiacanadiana.wordpress.com/books/) --- Contact: historiacanadiana@gmail.com; Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/CanLitHistory). --- Sources/Further Reading Marlatt, Daphne. Steveston, Ronsdale Press, 2001 [1974]. Szabo-Jones, Lisa. “Matters of Poetics and Resiliency in Daphne Marlatt's Steveston.” Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, vol. 25, no. 2, 2018, pp. 377–95 Thompson, Paul. “Community History.” Oral History, vol. 4, no. 2, 1976, pp. 98-101.

The Pals X Garrett Neiles Episode 247 -  Presented By Hardbite Chips. Canadian based and every chip is made with no preservatives, no GMOs, no trans fat, no gluten, no cholesterol! Garrett Neiles is realizing the depth that comes with maturity and the satisfaction that comes with a growing sense of self. The Japanese-Canadian pop-rock artist from Winnipeg, Manitoba picked up the guitar as a way to connect and has been working on that dream ever since. Injuring his wrist while attending the University of Victoria on a golf scholarship, he passed time in post-op healing physically and emotionally, contemplating who he is, his place in the world, what he truly values and what a healthy and happy life looks like. Recognizing his passion for performance and strong singing voice, Neiles married the latter to his guitar, developed a rock-and-roll rasp, and took cues from some of his favourite legacy artists like Rob Thomas' (Matchbox 20) songwriting and Steven Tyler's (Aerosmith) vocals. Neiles' songwriting reflects a man dedicated to growth, who's learning life's complex corners and new, healthier ways to connect with himself and the world. Edgy and clean-cut, Neiles' nostalgic 2000's-era brand of pop-rock boasts big hooks and a bold take on a widely appealing sound. Neiles also works with True North Youth Foundation's Project 11, a global educational mental health subdivision where he's performed at their Bell Let's Talk day, as well as sang the national anthem at Winnipeg Jets games.   Excel Study Beats Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/album/0jl79m67xRPJxn5dGDX7bj Follow him at @garrettneiles.music and us @thepalspodcast / @yourpalrick @danigalarneau

In this episode of Under the Onion Skin, I am chatting with Japanese/Canadian director Kaho Yoshida about her film "Tongue"."Tongue" by Kaho YoshidaMixed media, 2D and stop-motion, 2'// 2022 // CanadaLogline: Tired of being talked at by men, a woman takes a sensual trip with unusual friends.http://www.kahoyoshida.com/tongue & https://www.instagram.com/kahoanimation/?hl=en@kahoanimationUnder the Onion Skin: https://giuliamartinelli.com/podcastIntro Music: "Backoning" by Telecasted from Youtube Audio Library

Get to know Japanese Canadian actor, Momona Tamada! Momona brought us the story of her costar from the Babysitter's Club– Malia Baker. Listen as she tells us about her love of dance, acting, and family! This podcast is a production of Rebel Girls. It's based on the book series Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls. This interview was written and produced by Haley Dapkus with sound design and mixing by John Marshall Media. Original theme music was composed and performed by Elettra Bargiacchi. Our executive producers are Joy Smith and Jes Wolfe. Thank you to the whole Rebel Girls team who make this podcast possible. Stay rebel!

Momona Tamada is a young Japanese Canadian actor best known for her dazzling performance in The Baby-Sitters Club. Momona reaches audiences with her magnetic performances and passion for advocacy. This podcast is a production of Rebel Girls. It's based on the book series Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls. This story was produced by Deborah Goldstein with sound design and mixing by Mumble Media. It was written by Alexis Stratton and edited by Abby Sher. Fact-checking by Joe Rhatigan. Narration by Malia Baker. Joy Smith was our executive producer. Original theme music was composed and performed by Elettra Bargiacchi. Thank you to the whole Rebel Girls team who make this podcast possible. Stay rebel!

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres only invited leaders with credible new climate pledges to speak at this year's UN climate ambition summit. But the UN has limited power to cajole nations when it comes to climate. And, Armenian separatist forces in Azerbaijan's breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh surrendered on Wednesday, 24 hours after Azerbaijani forces began an offensive to take full control of its territory. Also, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden have been at odds over proposed judicial reforms in Israel, which Netanyahu backs. On Wednesday, the two leaders are expected to meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. Plus, reparations for Japanese Canadians may be seen as too little, too late. 

On this Sei Nakauchi Pelletier interview: The musical influence of his parents on his career, and dealing with the loss of his father at age 13… How the success of the band was predicated on not looking into the future so much, and letting things come organically… How the band worked diligently to create a harmonious way of arranging music for 7 different players and 7 different instruments… a Super Cool story about how their song “Barbara” came together and the backstory to some of their other melodic and cinematic tracks. His top 3 musical experiences and his worst gig ever! Why he's a simple guy and what he loves about this… Why NOT looking into the future “just made sense,” and why Staying Curious & Open Solves a LOT of Problems. Fantastic conversation with an incredibly talented composer and musician and a genuine, 100% real human being Discover Where the Money's Hiding in the Music Business in 2023:  https://MusicReboot.com Cool Guitar, Music & ELG T-Shirts!: https://www.GuitarMerch.com   Sei is the founding member, bandleader and lead guitarist of the Japanese / Canadian band, Teke Teke. He is also the primary songwriter along with lead singer Maya Kuroki... and when he's not making music, he works as a film and television composer. Musically, the band dips their toes in psychedelic rock, prog, and eleki... which is a type of surf rock native to Japan, that's fun, melodic and exciting. There are 6 other members in the band, besides Sei, including rhythm guitar, vocalist, bass, horn player, flute, and keyboards. The band released 3 EPs and 2 Studio LPs including their latest album, Hagata. Maya sings in Japanese, but even though you don't understand the lyrics, there's no problem feeling the vibes and emotions of the music. Fun, great band! Subscribe & Website:  https://www.everyonelovesguitar.com/subscribe Support this show: https://www.everyonelovesguitar.com/support

Welcome to Witness to Yesterday. This summer, we will be reissuing our top 10 episodes. We hope you enjoy revisiting these with us. The Witness to Yesterday team is working hard, and we're excited to bring you the next new season in September, 2023. Thank you for listening. Original Episode Description: Patrice Dutil discusses the uses of the War Measures Act in twentieth century Canada with Xavier Gelinas, the curator of political history at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau and the co-author of Lost Liberties: The War Measures Act, published by the Canadian Museum of History. The discussion examines the origins of this legislation and its application during the First World War, the Second World War and during the October Crisis of 1970. The motivations of the various governments are examined as are the chief victims of the WMA: relatively new immigrants, Japanese Canadians during 1942-45 and dissidents. The WMA is also considered for what it reveals about Canadian political culture. Finally, the difficulties in rendering judgment are explored. This podcast was produced by Jessica Schmidt. If you like our work, please consider supporting it: https://bit.ly/support_WTY. Your support contributes to the Champlain Society’s mission of opening new windows to directly explore and experience Canada’s past.

In Platemark s3e27, host Ann Shafer talks with Emma Nishimura, an artist and professor based in Toronto. Emma works in printmaking, photography, sculpture, and installation. Her work addresses ideas of inherited memory and trauma with a specific focus on the experiences her family and thousands of other Japanese Canadians endured during and following their forced incarceration during the Second World War. Episode image: Ann Gaby-Trotz. Emma Nishimura (Canadian, born 1982). Blending In, 2008. Photogravure and thread. 14 x 14 x 1 in. Courtesy of the artist. Emma Nishimura (Canadian, born 1982). Kay age 17, 1937, 2017. Photoetching on flax and abaca. 3 x 3 x 2.5. Courtesy of the artist. Furoshiki forms. Three furoshiki forms from Rememory project on a shelf. [INSTALLATION VIEW] Emma Nishimura: Rememory: Echoes and Archives. United Contemporary, Toronto. March 30–May 6, 2023. Emma Nishimura (Canadian, born 1982). Keo Shibatani, 2018. Etching and hand painting on gampi with wax. Sheet: 17 x 22 in. Courtesy of the artist. [DETAIL] Emma Nishimura (Canadian, born 1982). Keo Shibatani, 2018. Etching and hand painting on gampi with wax. Sheet: 17 x 22 in. Courtesy of the artist. [INSTALLATION VIEW] Emma Nishimura (Canadian, born 1982). Constructed Narratives. Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre, Toronto, ON. 2015. Courtesy of the artist. Emma Nishimura (Canadian, born 1982). Revelstoke, 2013. Etching on gampi with wax and thread. Sheet: 15 ½ x 9 ½ in. Courtesy of the artist. [DETAIL] Emma Nishimura (Canadian, born 1982). Revelstoke, 2013. Etching on gampi with wax and thread. Sheet: 15 ½ x 9 ½ in. Courtesy of the artist. Emma Nishimura (Canadian, born 1982). Slocan Lake, 2013. Etching on gampi with wax and thread. 25 ½ x 15 in. Courtesy of the artist. [DETAIL] Emma Nishimura (Canadian, born 1982). Slocan Lake, 2013. Etching on gampi with wax and thread. 25 ½ x 15 in. Courtesy of the artist. Michael Waugh (American, born 1967). Citizens United, 2020. Pen and black ink on Mylar. 45 x 69 in. (114.3 x 175.3 cm.). Courtesy Von Lintel Gallery. [DETAIL] Michael Waugh (American, born 1967). Citizens United, 2020. Pen and black ink on Mylar. 45 x 69 in. (114.3 x 175.3 cm.). Courtesy Von Lintel Gallery. Emma Nishimura (Canadian, born 1982). Printed by Atelje Larsen, Helsingborg, Sweden. Generational Echoes IV, 2019. Photoetching on Hahnemuhle paper. Sheet: 23 x 28 in. Courtesy of the artist. Zarina (American, born India, 1937–2020). Atlas of My World (Six Works), 2001. Portfolio of 6 woodcuts. Sheet (each): 25 ½ x 19 ½ in. (64.8 x 49.5 cm.). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.   USEFUL LINKS Emma's website: https://www.emmanishimura.com/ Emma's Instagram: @emma.nishimura Atelje Larsen: https://www.ateljelarsen.com/ Paper Borders: Emma Nishimura and Tahir Carl Karmall. Print Center New York. October 10–December 18, 2019. https://www.printcenternewyork.org/paperborders Emma Nishimura: Rememory: Echoes and Archives. United Contemporary, Toronto. March 30–May 6, 2023. https://www.unitedcontemporary.com/exhibitions/55-emma-nishimura-rememory-echoes-and-archives/

Ice Skates and Hot Players. If that is your thing, then Japanese-Canadian romance author and hockey enthusiast Melanie Ting is right up your alley. We talk with this self-published phenom about her love of hockey, the need for diversity in the sport and the genre, and why we AMerican girls need to start sweating these hockey players. For more on Melanie and her latest book, I Hate Nate, visit her website: www.MelanieTing.com Follow Romance in Colour on Social Media IG ⁠@RomanceInColour⁠ Twitter: ⁠@RomanceNColour ⁠ Facebook Groups: ⁠www.facebook.com/groups/RomanceinColour⁠ Follow Tati Richardson on social media and pick up her debut, The Build Up, ⁠here⁠ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/romanceincolour/message

Rainn Wilson on playing Dwight Schrute on "The Office," writing about how art and spirituality intersect in his new book, “Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution,” and why he refuses to be cynical. Plus, choreographer Mayumi Lashbrook (26:05) on her new dance piece, “Enemy Lines,” how her grandfather's experience of being forcibly placed into a Japanese Canadian internment camp inspired the performance, and why telling this story has lifted a sense of burden.

If you've thought that you've ever gone above what is expected in your life, you haven't heard this week's stories. In this week's episode, both our storytellers give new meaning to going the extra mile. Part 1: Jack Walsh exaggerates the severity of his brain tumor to get out of buying a timeshare. Part 2: Laura Fukumoto goes above and beyond trying to make a special mushroom dish from her grandmother's childhood. Jack Walsh is an award-winning educational television producer as well as a writer, performer, storyteller, and synthesizer mess-around-with-er. He lives in Decatur, GA, with his wife, two daughters, and his pandemic puppy, Trish. Laura Fukumoto graduated with a BFA from the University of British Columbia and has worked in so-called Vancouver for more than a decade, wearing many hats to survive. More recent hats include fabric wizard, poet, costume designer, playwright, and graduate of Simon Fraser University's Writer's Studio. Recent poetry performances include Diasporic Dynasty, Queer Arts Festival, and Powell Street Festival, as well as a small tour of her co-written play “Mending Circle”. She writes about her Japanese-Canadian heritage, queer joy, and hopes to more fully explore her love of mycology. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Actor and playwright Hiro Kanagawa (Star Trek: Discovery) returns to the YVR Screen Scene Podcast to talk about Forgiveness, his adaptation of Mark Sakamoto's acclaimed memoir that tells the story of a real-life family confronting the atrocities of the past and finding within itself a way forward. Forgiveness tells the parallel stories of Sakamoto's maternal grandfather Ralph, a Canadian soldier of European descent who spent years in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp, and Mitsue, his paternal grandmother, who was one of the thousands of Japanese Canadians interned by the Canadian government. In the face of tremendous adversity and transgressions, they chose not to live a life of anger but instead to embrace forgiveness—a gift of love they passed down to their families. Forgiveness had its world premiere in Vancouver earlier this month and will open in Calgary this spring. In this fascinating conversation with Sabrina Rani Furminger, Hiro reflects on the connection between past and present, why a play about the past is especially timely in 2023, the role that art can play in moving important conversations forward, and how his experience with Forgiveness has changed how he sees his work. Episode sponsor: Biz Books and The Drama Class

When she was 8 years old, Grace Eiko Thomson was uprooted from her home in Vancouver, BC and sent to the Minto Mines Japanese Canadian Internment Camp. She was one of an estimated 21,000 Japanese Canadians who were interned by the government during the Second World War. In this episode, Grace tells her story.

In this podcast episode, Nicole O'Byrne speaks to Barry Wright about his book Canadian State Trials, Volume V: World War, Cold War, and Challenges to Sovereignty, 1939–1990, co-edited with Susan Binnie and Eric Tucker. The book was published for the Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History by the University of Toronto Press in 2022. It is the final installment in a five-volume series on the history of Canadian State Trials and focuses on the political trials and national security measures of 1939 to 1990. Topics covered in this collection of essays include the internment of Japanese Canadians during and after WWII, labour strikes, and Indigenous protests, particularly in British Columbia. Canadian State Trials, Volume V is a diverse collection of work of legal scholars, historians, and interdisciplinary scholars. Barry Wright is Professor Emeritus of law, criminology, and history at Carleton University. He has done extensive research on political trials, the administration of national security measures in Canadian history and on the rule of law and criminal law reform in the 19th century British Empire. He has co-edited all five volumes in the Canadian State Trial series. This podcast was produced by Jessica Schmidt. Image credit: A.Y. Jackson and the Origins of the Group of Seven If you like our work, please consider supporting it: bit.ly/support_WTY. Your support contributes to the Champlain Society's mission of opening new windows to directly explore and experience Canada's past.

Kota joins an online forum “Nikkei Organizing: A Community Discussion on Organizing Strategy and Developing Revolutionary Movements” held via Zoom on November 13, 2022.The event was hosted and moderated by Miya Sommers from Nikkei Resisters as part of her Master's thesis project, and joined by representatives of two other US-based organizations: Zen and Henry from J-Town Action and Solidarity, and Anne and Cori from Nikkei Uprising. The event was also inspired by James Boggs' 1974 speech "Think Dialectically, Not Biologically," as well as Kwame Ture's distinction between organizing and mobilizing.Other topics include: Japaneseness and cultural nationalism in Nikkei communities, how Japanese imperialism affects Nikkei identity, opposing anti-Blackness and the Prison Industrial Complex, Maoism and the Mass Line,  and the role of the petty bourgeoisie in gentrification.On the Japanese state's global reach and settler nationalism, see Jane Komori's work here. Shout out to Canada-Philippine Solidarity Organization, Japanese Canadians for Social Justice, and Young Japanese Canadians of Toronto. Intro:  Cielo by Huma-Huma Outro:  Organizing Steadily by Power StruggleSupport the show

Episode 240: Canada has had a long and embarrassing history of race relations, starting with the indigenous peoples who'd lived here for thousands of years prior to the arrival of European colonizers.  Our nation has also facilitated the mass internment of people perceived as threats to our national security during war time. As World War I raged in Europe, internment camps were set up to house Ukranians, Germans, Turks and Bulgrians. Of the more than 8500 detainees involuntarily held in camps across the country, a small percentage were women and children, the dependants of the men being held. Other internees included homeless people, conscientious objectors, and members of outlawed cultural and political associations.  At the outset of World War II, a number of Canadian citizens of German and Italian decent, as well as Jews who were immigrating to Canada, fleeing Europe were rounded up and put into internment camps. After the Japanese attack on the United States in Pearl Harbour, Hawaii, on 6 December, 1941, North Americans were afraid. The Second World War had come far too close to home. Just over a month after the Pearl Harbour attack, a process began which saw the mass internment of Japanese Canadians from 1942 until 1949. Many of the detainees, including women and children, had been born in Canada. The country they'd grown up to love had uprooted them from their homes, seized their properties and taken away their rights and freedoms. Dark Poutine is sponsored by BetterHelp. Sources: Internment in Canada | The Canadian Encyclopedia Internment of Japanese Canadians | The Canadian Encyclopedia The Canadian Race Relations Foundation — Legalized Racism Japanese Canadian History – The Politics of Racism Hastings Park Internment Centre - vancouvertraces Japanese Canadian Historic Sites in BC: Journeys of Home | Super, Natural BC Hastings Park 1942 | Internment at Hastings Park Tashme: A forgotten internment camp remembered - Fraser Valley Current Tashme | Historical Project Canada's Internment Camps – Canadian History Ehx “Enemy Aliens” - The Internment of Ukrainian Canadians | Canada and the First World War From Racism to Redress: The Japanese Canadian Experience Japanese Canadian internment and the struggle for redress | CMHR Japanese Internment Japanese Canadian Historic Places - Heritage BC HOME PAGE – Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre Internment in Canada: WW1 vs WW2 – All About Canadian History Vanishing B.C. Japanese-Canadian internment sites in the Slocan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the Guthrie Theater celebrates its 60th anniversary, the landmark theater has chosen to open their season with Qui Nguyen's Vietgone. The show is a romantic comedy about two Vietnamese refugees who fall in love at a resettlement camp in 1970s Arkansas. Director Mina Morita said that during the rehearsal process input from the local Vietnamese community was an important part of the story telling. “We [had] a lot of conversations both amongst the cast and creative team about how we were reaching out.” Morita said, “[We] had spoken to some elders as well, from the Vietnamese community, in preparation for rehearsal.” The show also hired a cultural consultant to help with the nuances of presenting a story with a specific cultural lens. While it is notable that the Guthrie is opening the season with an all-Asian cast that focuses on the Vietnamese American experience, “Vietgone” is not a new show, having premiered in 2015. Eric Sharp, one of the cast members, said that as more Asian plays show they can be successful, the more they are being produced. “Now there is a critical mass of plays that have been found viable.” he said, “I hate that word, but it's true. There are plays like “Vietgone”... like “The Great Leap,” like “Cambodian Rock Band,” that not only Asian people know about now.” While Asian voices have been part of the American theater as far back as the 1920s with the drama "The Submission of Rose Moy,” by Ling-Ai Li, Sharp has noticed wider recognition especially in the last decade. In fact, when Sharp graduated college nearly 20 years ago, he wasn't sure what it looked like to have a career as an Asian American theater artist. “My idea was that I was going to fit into this white American theater or this idea of what it means to be white on stage and that I would do that irrespective of my race.” Sharp said. “Well, you graduate, and then you find out very quickly that that's not the case.” He found Theater Mu, which allowed him to explore what it means to be an Asian American artist, without compromising his ambitions. “I always call it the happiest accident of my life” Sharp said. Ben Hovland | MPR News Rick Shiomi poses for a photo at the Kling Public Media Center in St. Paul on Sept. 22. Rick Shiomi, playwright and co-founder of Theater Mu, said he always wanted that to be the purpose of the organization, to act as both a theater that produces Asian work and give artists the opportunity to grow so they can work in other theaters. “The thing I didn't want was for people in the larger community to be able to look at Theater Mu and say, ‘Okay, that's a little niche group,'” Shiomi said. Much like Sharp, Shiomi did not think there was space for him to write theater from his Japanese Canadian view until he found the community of Asian theater makers in San Francisco in the 1970s. “I actually wanted to become a writer for a long time, but really felt like, there was nothing that I could say, in an odd way,” Shiomi said, “because I had no understanding that there was an Asian Canadian, or an Asian American perspective.” The Guthrie is not the only theater in town with a show featuring Asian artists and playwrights. Theater Mu's 30th season opens Friday with the world premiere of “A Different Pond,” a stage adaptation of the children's book of the same name. Meanwhile, Full Circle Theater premieres Shiomi's new play “Fire in the New World” in October at Park Square Theatre. Courtesy of Theater Mu. | Amy Rondeau Benji Stoebner (left) and Hieu Bui (right) play father and son in "A Different Pond." Park Square is currently showing “The Humans” through Oct. 9. The show usually casts white actors in the one act drama, but director Lily Tung Crystal decided to cast Asian actors to play the daughters in the piece and portray them as Korean adoptees. “I felt like this community in Minnesota would understand that choice, because so many in our community are Korean or Chinese adoptees,” Crystal said. “I don't think that choice would have happened if they didn't hire an Asian American director.” The flourishing of dramatic arts in the Twin Cities comes during a nationwide rise in hate-motivated crimes toward Asians and Asian Americans. “We believe at Theater Mu that one reason for the rise in anti-Asian hate and violence is because of the lack of our stories in film, television and stage,” said Lily Tung Crystal, who also serves as Theater Mu's artistic director. “When people don't see our stories, then it's easy for them to see us as other, or un-American, or even subhuman.” Even with all the current productions running with Asian representation, Crystal says that there is still work to be done to ensure the work is recognized properly. “Maybe right now there is a lot of Asian plays, but that's not to say for the rest of the season there'll be this flurry of activity.” Crystal said. “It can still be considered by some institutions that that's a sort of outside thing to do ... like ‘we might consider doing an Asian American play this season, but not next season.'” Listen Minnesota's Guthrie Theater turns 60: A look at its legacy 2021 All the home's a stage: Far-flung actors, crew unite for Theater Mu's new show “Vietgone” at the Guthrie runs until Oct 16. Theater Mu and Stages Theatre Company's “A Different Pond” runs until Oct. 23, and Full Circle Theater's “Fire in the New World” opens Oct 19.  

As a bassist to the stars, you won't find many solos on Saya Gray's debut album “19 Masters.” The Japanese-Canadian songstress hardly recalls writing songs, as her process has her nearly blacking out or going into “a flow state,” knocking out songs in about an hour. Check the beautiful flow of “Saving Grace.” 

On this episode of The Unfinished Print it is with honour, and great pleasure that I am able to present to you, my interview, with British  artist Rebecca Salter. We speak on her mokuhanga, her own work and work produced together with the Satō woodblock workshop in Kyōto. We discuss where Rebecca believes mokuhanga has gone since writing her book, Japanese Woodblock Printing (2001), a book which constantly inspires me in my own work. This book helps me to understand, what has felt at times to be such an esoteric and complicated art form, just a little bit more.  Please follow The Unfinished Print and my own mokuhanga work on Instagram @andrezadoroznyprints Twitter @unfinishedprint, or email me at theunfinishedprint@gmail.com Notes: may contain a hyperlink. Simply click on the highlighted word or phrase. Rebecca Salter - website, interviews with Royal Academy, 1 and 2. University of West England - once called Bristol Polytechnic, is a public research University located in Bristol, England. British Museum - is a public museum, located in London, England, and is focused on human history, arts and culture. It was established in 1753.  Kyoto City University of Arts - is a public university of the arts located in Kyōto, Japan, and was established in 1880. lithography - is a printing process which requires a stone or aluminum plate, and was invented in the 18th Century. More info, here from the Tate.  screen printing - also called, serigraphy, is a method of printing by using stencils and forcing the ink through a screen onto paper, or other fabric. More info, here. Akira Kurosaki 黒崎彰 (1937-2019) - one of the most influential woodblock print artists of the modern era. His work, while seemingly abstract, moved people with its vibrant colour and powerful composition. He was a teacher and invented the “Disc Baren,” which is a great baren to begin your mokuhanga journey with. At the 2021 Mokuhanga Conference in Nara, Japan there was a tribute exhibit of his life works. Azusa Gallery has a nice selection of his work, here. intaglio printmaking - is a style of printmaking, the opposite of relief printmaking, where scratches are made with a burin on the plate (copper, zinc, aluminum) and then dipped in acid. Ink and pigment is rubbed on with a brayer, brushes, etc. More info can be found, here.    scrolls - called kakemono 掛物 or emakimono 絵巻物  in Japanese. These scrolls contain many different types of themes and subjects. More info can be found, here. monoprint - is a print made from a re-printable block, such as wood, or an etched plate. It is usually a one and done type of printing with only one print being made. blue and white Japanese ceramics - are ceramics made for the Japanese market. Originally imported into Japan in the 17th Century from China, local Japanese ceramists from northern and southern Japan began locally producing ceramics. As trading with the Dutch escalated more porcelain wares were being imported from Europe into the Japanese port of Imari. Imari became the word to describe these types of blue and white ceramics.  Genji Monogatari emaki - is an elaborate scroll produced in 12th Century, Japan. It is based on the famous Tale of Genji, a tale written in the 11th Century and is attributed to Murasaki Shikibu (around 973-1014). You can find images of this scroll, here.  Edo Culture - the Edo Period of Japan (1603-1868) was a period of peace and prosperity for the Japanese military government, or bakufu. Led by the Tokugawa family, Edo period culture flourished in theatre, literature, and the arts. For a fantastic book on the subject please seek out, Edo Culture: Daily Life and Diversions of Urban Japan by Kazuo Nishiyama (trans. Gerald Groemer) and Edo Kabuki in Transition: From the Worlds of the Samurai to the Vengeful Ghost by Satoko Shimazaki.  Edo v. Kyōto Kabuki - kabuki theatre is a bombastic and powerful theatre from Japan. In its long history it has been generally attributed to both  Edo (Tōkyō) and Kyōto.  Edo kabuki is called aragoto kabuki and Kyōto kabuki is called wagoto kabuki. Aragoto kabuki is generally very loud and external, whereas Kyōto kabuki is more understated and gentle.  Satō woodblock workshop - is a traditional Japanese woodblock production house based in Kyōto, Japan. Here is an article from The Journal of Modern Craft with Rebecca Salter regarding this workshop.  Japanese woodblock of the 1950's and 1960's - post-war Japan was growing at an exponential rate, and this was true for the Japanese woodblock print. As the sōsaku-hanga movement began to out last the shin-hanga of the 1920's in terms of production, where most people could produce prints on their own,  American scholars , Oliver Statler (1915-2000), and James Michener (1907-1997), helped catalogue and document the burgeoning Japanese woodblock print movement through their books, The Floating World (1954), by Michener, and Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn (1956) by Statler, for a Western audience. Along with the Western art scene and the 1951 São Paulo Art Biennial, Japanese woodblock prints began to be respected as a stand alone piece of fine art.  kozo paper -  is paper made from mulberry bark and is commonly used in woodblock printmaking, and cloth.  Echizen, Fukui - is a city located tin the prefecture of Fukui. The paper produced from this region is kozo, mitsumata, and gampi.  More information can be found from the website of Echizen Washi Village. Mosquito net technique - is a technique in ukiyo-e, and can of course be reproduced by the modern mokuhanga practitioner, where very fine lines are carved on two wood blocks and, when printed together, create the image of slight, thin netting. Rebecca Salter details this technique in her book, Japanese Woodblock Printing (2001)   Yale Center for British Art - located in New Haven, Connecticut, the YCBA is dedicated to British art of all types.  Louise Caan - is a British architect and teacher based in Oxford where she teaches architecture at the Oxford Brookes School of Architecture.  urushi zuri - is a technique which is used in traditional Japanese woodblock and mokuhanga, where pigment is mixed with nikawa (animal glue), and printed to enhance the enjoyment of the print. Usually seen in black hair, or garments represented in the print.  Japanese museums dedicated to Japanese woodblock -  if you are visiting Japan and are interested in the Japanese woodblock print you are spoiled for choice. This list is definitely not complete so I would advise doing some research for local museums which may be open in different parts of Japan you may be visiting. This list is a mix of museums dedicated specifically to the woodblock print, or museums dedicated to woodblock print artisans.  Finally, check online for larger art museums , galleries, and department stores, in the area that you're visiting to see whether they are having any shows dedicated to woodblock print artists, genres, etc. while you're there. I've added hyper-links. The Japan Ukiyo-e Museum  - Matsumoto, Nagano Sumida Hokusai Museum - Ryogoku, Tōkyō Ōta Memorial Museum of Art -  Harajukiu/Omotesando, Tōkyō Tokaidō Hiroshige Museum - Shizuoka City, Shizuoka Hokusai Museum - Obuse, Nagano Kamigata Ukiyo-e Museum -  Ōsaka CIty, Ōsaka Nakagawa Batō Hiroshige Museum - Nakagawa, Tōchigi Kawanabe Kyōsai Museum - Warabi, Saitama Naoko Matsubara - is a Japanese/Canadian contemporary artist, and sculptor, who lives and works in Oakville, Ontario, Canada.  She has focused much of her artistic life on making mokuhanga and has gained critical acclaim for it. My interview with Naoko Matsubara can be found, here.  Katsutoshi Yuasa - is a Japanese contemporary artist, and sculptor, who works predominantly in mokuhanga. He has  produced an incredible mount of work. My interview with Katsu can be found, here.  Brook Andrew - is an Australian contemporary artist who has shown internationally.  Ukiyo-e Censorship - the military Tokugawa government (bakufu) was not happy about being criticized. Ukiyo-e prints often lampooned authority with their imagery. Other artistic pursuits in Japan at the time, such as kabuki theatre, did the same. In ukiyo-e and Tokugawa history there were “reforms” which the bakufu created in order to stem this type of criticism. The Ehon Taikōki of 1804, which focused on woodblock prints and poetry, and The Tempo Reforms of 1841/42 that focused on actor prints, the manufacturing of woodblock prints,  and their price, to name just a few reasons.  William Evertson - is an American woodblock printmaker and sculptor based in Connecticut, USA, who's themes focus on the politics and process of The United States.   Annie Bissett - is an American mokuhanga printmaker based in Rhode Island, USA. She explores American life, past and present,  sexuality, and the esoteric through her prints. My interview with Annie Bissett can be found, here.  Paul Binnie - is a Scottish mokuhanga printmaker and painter, based in San Diego, USA. Having lived and worked in Japan in the 1990's, studying at the Yoshida atelier while there, Paul has successfully continued to make mokuhanga and his paintings.  Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition - is a summer exhibition held at the Royal Academy in London, England. It is an open submission, one which started in 1769, showcasing all types of artistic mediums.  余韻 - (yoin) - is a Japanese word which means “lingering memory.” The Lake District - is an area in North West of England which has numerous mountains, lakes, and a National Park. It has been an inspiration for many artists, writers, and actors for years. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  © Popular Wheat Productions opening and closing credit music - Cut/Copy - Rendevous from the album, I Thought of Numbers (2001) logo designed and produced by Douglas Batchelor and André Zadorozny  Disclaimer: Please do not reproduce or use anything from this podcast without shooting me an email and getting my express written or verbal consent. I'm friendly :) Слава Україну If you find any issue with something in the show notes please let me know. ***The opinions expressed by guests in The Unfinished Print podcast are not necessarily those of André Zadorozny and of Popular Wheat Productions.***      

Welcome to Season 2, Episode 20! Here comes another installment in our mid-week interview series. This week, our conversation is with Hiro Kanagawa, a veteran actor and voice over artist you've probably seen or heard over the past 30 years. He's also a writer, so we take time to talk about acting, writing, the changes he's seen over his career, and what he still hopes for. Additionally, we discuss some of his future work including Forgiveness, a story that touches on the Japanese Canadian internment during WWII. Some of his latest acting roles include Star Trek: Discovery and Altered Carbon. His award winning writing includes the play Indian Arm. Visit Hiro Kanagawa to learn more about him and is projects. For previous episodes and information, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or social media links at https://linktr.ee/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@1882media.com.

Fabiola Gil Alares is one of mokuhanga's most interesting artists. Her work, with bright flat, rich colours with a romantic appeal, tells a fantastic story, one which naturally draws you to her work. In this episode of The Unfinished Print, I speak with mokuhanga printmaker Fabiola Gil Alares about her prints, her artistic background, the amazing book project she's undertaken and what it feels like to be one of the hardest working mokuhagna artists, today.  Special thanks to my good friend Consuelo Orrego for help in translation.  Please follow The Unfinished Print and my own print work on Instagram @andrezadoroznyprints Twitter @unfinishedprint, or email me at theunfinishedprint@gmail.com Notes: may contain a hyperlink. Simply click on the highlighted word or phrase. Fabiola Gil Alares - website, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Mokuhankan Laura Boswell - is a British printmaker who uses mokuhanga, and linocut and reduction printmaking, as her mediums of choice. She was interviewed by The Unfinished Print, which can be found, here. She is an important teacher and promoter of mokuhanga. More info can be found, here. MI Lab - Is an artist-in-residency located in Lake Kawaguchi, near Mt. Fuji. Once called Nagasawa Art Park, MI Lab has been an important centre of many talented and successful mokuhanga printmakers, working today. More info, here.  Mokuhankan and David Bull - is a brick and mortar woodblock print shop located in Asakusa, Tōkyō. It is a learning and working space, where it sells the works of artist Jed Henry, master carvers of the past, and various print series. All are printed and carved by Mokuhankan printmakers and carvers. Started by printmaker David Bull as a way to sell his own series and reprints of old carvers of the past, Mokuhankan has grown exponentially over the years and is a must visit when coming to Tōkyō. More info, here.  Shoicihi Kitamura - is a master carver of Japanese woodblock. He has taught at Nagasawa Art Park and has conducted many demonstrations on carving, and at various International Mokuhanga Conferences. More info, here.  Hidehiko Gotō - is a master baren maker and mokuhanga artist who has conducted many demonstrations on baren making throughout the world, and at the International Mokuhanga Conferences. Some of his mokuhanga can be found here. Gotō also contributed to Fabiola's book.  Terry McKenna - is a mokuhanga artist and instructor based in Karuizawa, Nagano, Japan. He is a student of Richard Steiner, an American woodblock printmaker based in Kyōtō, Japan. Terry runs and operates the Karuizawa Mokuhanga School, which is a school open to those who are interested in wanting to learn and study mokuhanga in a Japanese setting. Both Richard and Terry have been interviewed by The Unfinished Print, here, and here.  Educational Museum of Origami, Zaragoza - is a one of its kind museum focused on the Japanese paper art of origami, located in Zaragoza, Spain. More info, here.  Serigraphy - is another word for the art of silk screen printing. Silk screen printing can be in on various materials, silk, canvas, paper, etc.  Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) - is one of the most, if not the most, famous Japanese artist ever known. He designed woodblock prints, as well as creating his own paintings, screens, scrolls, and commissioned art in Buddhist temples throughout Japan. More info, here. The British Museum has a lot of info, here.  Miyakodori - is a publishing house of woodblock prints. Started by Takashi Kashiwagi, a woodblock carver himself, he releases and carves (through laser and hand carving) artists such as Tōkyō based graphic designer Shinji Tsuchimochi. More info, here. shop.  Saitō Kiyoshi (1907-1997) - was a Japanese woodblock printmaker and artist who worked in the sōsaku hanga style of mokuhanga. His fame outside of Japan was fairly comprehensive with his peak fame being in the 1950's and 1960's. For a comprehensive book on his life and times, Saitō Kiyoshi: Graphic Awakening published by The John & Mable Ringling Museum is an excellent source. Can be found, here. Lecture by Dr. Paget about Saitō can be found, here. Royal Talens Gouache - is a specific brand of gouache pigment. Gouache pigments are a mixture of pigment, water and binder and usually opaque and used in painting, and various types of printmaking. Royal Talens is a maker of different types of pigments, originally a Dutch company but is currently produced all over the world. More info, here.  Nakajima Tsuzen - is a mokuhanga printmaker who has been working in the medium for many years. His work highlights the woodblock technique of mokume, where the grain of the wood is used to highlight certain aspects of the print. Mr. Nakajima's website can be found, here. Instagram Different types of wood - mokuhanga printmakers can use many different types of wood for their work. Most of the time, shina veneer harvested sustainably, is used for modern woodblock prints. Japanese cherry wood was used a lot but because of it's expense today it is used rarely. Other woods used is basswood, elm, and even red oak. Mokuhanga books in English - As Fabiola mentions in the episode, there are various other books on mokuhanga and it process in the English language. Here is a list of books that I am aware of. It is also important for me to say, that through this list we can see how important Fabiola's book is for those who speak languages other than English and hopefully other mokuhanga practitioners will publish books in various languages around the world. This list is by no means exhaustive, so if you believe I've missed someone please message me. If the book is in print (or even out of print and there are PDF's) you will see the authors name hyper-linked so you can buy the books : April Vollmer - Japanese Woodblock Printshop: A Modern Guide to the Ancient Art of Mokuhanga. (2015) Watson-Guptill Publications Tuula Moilanen, Kari Laitinen, and Antti Tanttu - The Art and Craft of Woodblock Printmaking. (2013) Aalto Books Laura Boswell - Making Japanese Woodblock Prints. (2020) The Crowood Press. Hiroshi Yoshida - Japanese Woodblock Printing. (1939) Sanseido Company, Ltd. Walter J. Phillips -  The Technique of the Colour Woodcut. (1926) Brown-Robertson, New York. Rebecca Salter - Japanese Woodblock Printing. (2001) A&C Black. Toshi Yoshida & Rei Yuki - Japanese Print Making: A Handbook of Traditional and Modern Techniques. (1966) Tuttle Publishing. Marilyn Chesterton and Rod Nelson - Making Woodblock Prints. (2015) Crowood Press  Terry McKenna - Terry has written two excellent woodblock primers for the beginner and the intermediate practitioner. The first is Mokuhanga Fundamentals: Core Skills... & the second book is, Creative Print. Both can be purchased directly from here, and other fine establishments in e-book or physical form. Self Published.  Naoko Matsubara -  is a Japanese-Canadian mokuhanga printmaker who has been a printmaker for over 60 years. She has worked with artists such as Munakata Shikō (1903-1975) and has published many books, and has traveled the world for her work. More info, here. Her website can be found, here.  opening and closing credit music - TELEVISION -  Marquee Moon (1977) Elektra/Asylum  © Popular Wheat Productions logo designed and produced by Douglas Batchelor and André Zadorozny  Disclaimer: Please do not reproduce or use anything from this podcast without shooting me an email and getting my express written or verbal consent. I'm friendly :) Слава Україну If you find any issue with something in the show notes please let me know. ***The opinions expressed by guests in The Unfinished Print podcast are not necessarily those of André Zadorozny and of Popular Wheat Productions.***  

Randall Okita is a Japanese Canadian director and artist. His latest movie is the new IFC Midnight thriller, See for Me. See for Me is about a young blind woman, house-sitting at a secluded mansion, who finds herself under invasion by thieves seeking a hidden safe. Her only means of defense is a new app called “See For Me” that connects her to a volunteer across the country who helps her survive by seeing on her behalf through her phone. See for Me is now available on-demand and super entertaining, beautifully directed, and of the many fantastic performances, features one of my personal favorite actors of all time, Kim Coates. Really enjoyed this interview with Randall; we got into the making of See for Me, his director origin story, and as always, his advice for aspiring filmmakers. Now without further ado, here is See for Me Director, Randall Okita. Here are some key takeaways from this conversation with Randall.  Communicate with Music. One of the ways that Randall is able to articulate the tone and trajectory of specific scenes is by selecting songs and pieces of music indicative of what he has in his head. So many elements of cinema are nuanced to the point where they're hard to communicate with words. Sometimes you need another medium to convey the intangible details of your vision and music can be a great tool for this because it evokes very specific feelings. Randall uses music during the planning, filming, and editing of his movies and even plays certain tracks for actors to inform their performances. Find people at the right time. Randall is one of those directors who were able to get extremely high production value and excellent performances from a relatively low budget. Randall cites that a key to doing this well is finding people at certain moments in their career when they're in a position to extend themselves. This is a matter of finding people at JUST THE RIGHT MOMENT when their career is about to take off when your project can offer them a stepping stone to get to where they want to be. This is a great way to give people killer opportunities while also increasing the production value of your own film on a budget. Part of this is hiring people based on ability as opposed to experience, and it definitely has its risks, but when it works, it can be a great exchange. Cast relevantly. The protagonist of See for Me is a young blind woman, and Randall made sure that he cast someone who was actually visually impaired to play the role - this choice made all the difference. Even though it's a hot topic, casting for relevance isn't necessarily even a matter of social good as much as it's a means to bring real authenticity to your performances and, therefore, deeper realism to your movie. As a result of personal experience with becoming blind in adulthood, lead actor Skyler Davenport brought a level of reality to the role and was able to channel actual experiences. This extended beyond the performance and into many other choices made on the film that were directly informed by Skyler's true-life experience, all of which served the movie's realism. Thanks as always for listening, don't forget to subscribe.    ----- Produced by Simpler Media

Episode Notes:Today's guest is Joanna Chiu, a long-time journalist covering China from both inside and outside the country, co-founder and chair of the editorial collective 'NüVoices 女性之音', and the author of the new book "China Unbound." She now covers Canada-China issues for the Toronto Star. Joanna, welcome to the podcast.4:20 on Huawei, Meng Wanzhou and the two Michaels - when the whole Huawei, Meng Wanzhou saga was unfolding, I got so many questions from not just Canadian journalists, but media around the world about what was going on. I think it's surprising to us because we've been in the China-watching bubble, but more broadly, what happened was very shocking for a lot of people all over the world23:20 people like me and my family aren't fully accepted as Canadians or as Australians or as Americans, it's always like a hyphen, like Chinese-Canadian, Chinese-American. That just plays into what Beijing wants. When people of Chinese descent are taken as political prisoners or get calls from Chinese police saying, "Stop supporting Hong Kong on social media or stop doing this," these people get less attention. They're not taken seriously when they try to report what's happening because unfortunately a lot of people in the West have accepted the CCP's myth that we're still essentially Chinese36:20 on Canada-China relations - in Canada, the mood after the Michaels returned and the Meng case was resolved is that they really want to go back to business as usual. To not have any kind of plan in place on how to prevent Canadian hostages from being taken in the future. The Prime Ministers office really steering this even though other parts of government was like, "We need some sort of plan, we need some sort of update to foreign policy in general." There's very little political will.Links: China Unbound on Amazon. Joanna Chiu’s websiteNüVoices 女性之音Transcript:Bill:Hi everyone, today's guest is Joanna Chiu, a long-time journalist covering China from both inside and outside the country, co-founder and chair of the editorial collective 'NüVoices', and the author of the new book "China Unbound." She now covers Canada-China issues for the Toronto Star. Joanna, welcome to the podcast.Joanna:Thank you Bill, thanks for having me on your new podcast, very exciting.Bill:Thanks, yeah you are the second guest, and so I'm really happy to have this opportunity to speak with you. Before we dig into your book, could you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you ended up where you are and doing what you do?Joanna:Okay. I guess my bio is that my family is one of the many who left Hong Kong after the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests because my parents were worried about what would happen going forward. So growing up in Canada, I felt that China was actually part of my whole family story because what happened led to my family uprooting themselves. So I was always really interested in China and studied Chinese history and wanted to return to be a reporter to chronicle what was happening in the country, which I was so fascinated by.Joanna:So I started reporting on the ground in Hong Kong in 2012, covering all the things that happened there including the Occupy to pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong. I moved to Beijing in 2014 and that's where I started covering basically everything in the whole country for European media outlets, including German, Deutsche Presse-Agentur, and AFP (Agence France-Presse). And I guess my career was a bit unique in that I also free-lanced for several stints. So I got to kind of get a sense of what many different jurisdictions and countries wanted to know about China in my time there writing for all sorts of outlets.Bill:Interesting and so I was there until 2015 and I think we overlapped for just about a year. When did you actually leave China to go back to Canada?Joanna:Yeah, I left China in late 2018. I wanted to stay for longer because even seven years on the ground I felt I barely got to scratch the surface of all the things that I could write about in China. Especially because I had such a broad remit where I was a front-line reporter for all of these major events but also could do basically any feature story I wanted. So it was just totally open and I could have stayed there for decades, but I had to go back to Canada. I got asthma from the smog and I think my Canadian lungs just couldn't handle air. I was just like really allergic to Beijing as soon as I landed and I stuck it out for four years. But back in Canada, I felt I would have to move on from my passion and interest in China, but a couple of months after I returned, Meng Wanzhou, a Huawei executive was detained in the Vancouver International Airport. And just over a week later, two Michaels were detained. So definitely I think that was the biggest China story at the time, and it continued to be very impactful around the world.Joanna:So I started covering that and it just led to basically being a reporter for the Toronto Star, focusing on China. And that's what I've been doing since then. I have also been working on my book since early 2019. So not my plan, but definitely the past decade has been very China focused, including my last few years.Bill:It's great, I've always been a fan of your work, and I will say, it's very interesting how many foreign correspondents used to live in China have left the country. Some willingly, some not willingly, but how it turns out how most of them have found jobs covering how China's impacting the world wherever they're now based.Joanna:Mm-hmm (affirmative).Bill:I think that's a good segue into talking about your book because it really is true that the China story is everywhere now. And that's something, I think, you try and capture in "China Unbound." So tell us who you wrote it for, why you wrote it, and what do you hope that the readers take away from it?Joanna:Mm-hmm (affirmative). So when the whole Huawei, Meng Wanzhou saga was unfolding, I got so many questions from not just Canadian journalists, but media around the world about what was going on. I think it's surprising to us because we've been in the China-watching bubble, but more broadly, what happened was very shocking for a lot of people all over the world. They didn't know the context of Beijing's political system and its increasing ... how its authoritarianism translates also into its foreign policy and its stances towards different countries and diaspora groups all over the world. But these things were not just stories I covered, but stories that were close to my life. Because growing up, my father worked for a Chinese-Canadian radio station and people were talking already then about pressure to self-censor, pressure from the Chinese embassy on Canadian media outlets. This was happening in the 90s and people of Chinese descent around the world were trying to have discussions about this, but basically not really getting much traction or broader public attention.Joanna:It did seem ... I will ask you if this is what you felt, but it took two white men from Canada being taken hostage over this high-profile executive's arrest in Canada for a lot of people in the world to be like, "Wait, what's going on? How will Beijing's political system and authoritarianism possibly impact me and my family or my country or my business?" So I wrote this book for basically everyone, targeting the general reader because I really try to be as immediate as possible in my writing. Most of the reporting is eyewitness reporting from myself in collaboration with journalists around the world and looking at how we got to this point. Western countries and China, how we got to this point where it seems like a lot of obstacles that seem insurmountable. All of these tensions, all of these worries.Joanna:I wanted for people to start with this book and then I provided this long reading list at the end so they can continue to be engaging with these issues. Because I feel that we might not have really noticed, but a lot of the narratives around China in the mainstream public have been very very simplified. And that is a disservice to all countries. And especially to the people who end up being targets and whose lives end up being affected by some of these big conflicts going on.Bill:What you said earlier about it really taking two white men, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig to get people's attention. It's interesting because these pressures have existed, as you said talking about your father and his experience, but these pressures on the diaspora have existed for decades. They've certainly intensified, and you have multiple instances of ethnic Chinese who are jailed in China, American, Australian, where it didn't seem to kind of capture the national attention the way that the detention of the two Michaels did. And that's unfortunate, but it does feel like the conversation and awareness now has shifted and so there's a lot more awareness that these kind of pressures are existing across all sorts of communities. You can tell me I'm wrong, but the Chinese government has also shifted its approach, hasn't it? Sort of widened its net in terms of how they pressure?Joanna:Yeah, so in the past, you know the united front, a lot of that work of foreign influence in both intimidation and providing carrots and sticks. Flattering global politicians and global members of the elite among the diaspora have been going on, but the most harsh efforts of influence in the past I think were mostly directed at people of Asian descent. It was only in more recent years where the really harsh tactic, the detentions, have been applied to foreign nationals who are not of Asian descent. It seems like that is a deliberate shift in tactics, would you agree?Bill:No, I would. And I think it's interesting when you look at sort of who they've targeted, especially around the Meng Wanzhou case. Two Canadians were very quickly arrested, a third Canadian who had been convicted of dealing drugs had a re-sentence to death. There's still no word about Schellenberg's fate in the wake of the Meng Wanzhou deal. But I think that one thing that's interesting is they've yet to target Caucasian Americans. And so far, certainly what I was fearing in the Meng Wanzhou incident was that ... someone had told me that they had put together lists who they might target but they held back because part of the messaging is they're at least today not quite ready to go toe-to-toe with the U.S.. But willing to penalize countries and the citizens of the countries that are seen as effectively being U.S. allies or lackeys depending on who you're speaking with. Does that make sense?Joanna:Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yeah, that makes sense. And my book, people have said that because I'm Canadian and I spotlight countries and experiences like Australia, Italy, Greece, Turkey. So so-called middle powers, that middle-power perspective, whereas many books out of the U.S. and China have it from the U.S. perspective.Bill:Right, right.Joanna:And I think that's important context for Americans to understand because in America, it seems like a lot of it is about this almost glorious competition with China where the U.S. has to win. I have been kind of mortified that people commenting on my book have said things like, "We need to read this so that we can win and not let China win." Things like that. But if they had actually read it, they would have probably seen that that's not right. I criticize the Western nations' handling and attitudes towards China as much as I criticize Beijing's actions. So I would also point out that Australian journalists who are white were affecting. Bill Birtles and Michael Smith spent days holed up in their Australian embassies in China. Basically fleeing because they got tipped off that otherwise they might get detained. Related to Australia's more aggressive critical stance towards China as of late.Bill:And also-Joanna:It does seem-Bill:Sorry, was it also related to the detention of Australian Chinese ... Australian journalist Cheng Lei who was originally Chinese then naturalized into Australian citizenship. And she's disappeared into the system in China, right?Joanna:Yeah, so Cheng Lei ... Again, while she's not a global household name like the two Michaels, she is actually detained. Her case ... we know very little about it, but it seems very clear it's related to the political situation between the two countries. And also Bloomberg journal Haze Fan ... and I think actually Haze's case might be as close as China has gotten so far to targeting Americans because even though a Chinese national, she worked for Bloomberg. She was a prominent journalist for Bloomberg. So it's interesting because writing this book, I'm trying to provide this nuance and context for the public but under so much pressure because of global contexts. Things are so tense that it could get worse at any moment and you don't know. You're hearing from your sources about a list that they were preparing of Americans they could possibly target. The stakes are so high.Joanna:Both of us, these are people we know. I don't know if you knew Kovrig, but it's a relief that he's back.Bill:Not well, but I did know a little bit.Joanna:For the more than 1,000 days he was in detention, I was writing this book and that was always on my mind. It's so immediate and it's so urgent for more people to understand what's going on rather than I think fanning the flames or making things worse or not using the opportunities there are to engage more productively with China. But we see the dialogue on China becoming so toxic right now, where it's almost as if there's two camps. The more extreme on both sides seem to get more airtime and interest. And people want those nuggets of talking points on China that really signify this is how we fight back. Rather than the people who are trying to provide a lot more context. It's not as easy as doing this or that to resolve everything or get what you want.Bill:Well with what you said earlier about sort of "we have to win," I have yet to see a clear definition of the theory of victory and what it is. The other thing I'd say, and this will lead into my next question is, we talk about in many ways how toxic the discourse has gotten in the West. It's also incredibly toxic inside China in very worrisome ways. And in many ways, sort of state-supported and state-encouraged ways. One of the questions I want to ask you is how we ... So first question is as you talk about in the book and you've talked about in other places, this whole discussion around Chinese Communist Party influence or interference in other countries ... Whether it's through the United Front or other means or vectors ... How do we differentiate what we should actually, "we" being the countries that are targeted ... How should you differentiate what actually matters that people should be concerned with versus that's the normal thing that a foreign government would do to try and improve other countries' perceptions of that country and advance their interests in those countries.Bill:And related, as this discourse does get more toxic, how do we talk about these things without tipping into racism? In the U.S. certainly, we have a really long and nasty history of anti-Asian and specifically anti-Chinese racism. And there are a lot of reasons to be very worried about going too far where we're back in a very dark place in terms of how people of Asian and Chinese descent are treated in this country. But at the same time, there are real issues and potential threats coming from some of these PRC activities. So how do we talk about that in a way that effectively deals with the problems but also makes sure that people are safe and able to enjoy the rights that they deserve and have?Joanna:Yeah and that's why I try to provide a lot of that history concisely within each chapter of the book because we need to know what happened before to know to be a lot more careful with our language and our actions now. Because definitely it just seems like history is repeating itself during the McCarthy era. Chinese-Americans' loyalties are constantly questioned, they lost their jobs. And now former President Trump has said that he thinks basically all students are possibly Chinese spies. We've seen these prosecutions of certain Chinese national scientist professors in America that were basically pretty embarrassing.Bill:Yes.Joanna:It seemed a lot of the suspicions were unfounded and it was almost like a witch-hunt which is really difficult. When things seemed politicized and politically motivated and you put a blanket suspicion on all these people, it's exactly what happened in the past.Bill:Mm-hmm (affirmative)Joanna:And it's not just America. It was in Canada, Australia, Europe. In Canada, we had internment of Japanese Canadians during World War II. And people know that this is in the background. And even before things got more tense when a lot of the approach among Western countries towards China was that the goal was to expand trade ties and economic ties as much as possible, there was still a lot of racism. Walking down the street, I got called slurs like the c-word in downtown Vancouver multiple times.Bill:Recently?Joanna:Throughout my life living in Canada. In Vancouver, particularly, there was a long-standing stereotype of the crazy rich Asian that was ruining the city with our Maseratis and condo buying.Bill:Wasn't there a reality show that was based on rich Chinese in Vancouver, I think?Joanna:Yeah, there was that and there's a lot of scapegoating against East Asians for lots of problems with COVID-19 and all this with the two Michaels in Huawei. This just really spiked particularly in countries like Canada, U.S., Australia with the large Chinese diaspora in many places. People who weren't even Chinese, like an indigenous woman in Canada, she was punched in the face. Things like that. And its not like we can throw up our hands and be like, "People are just going to be racist, this is just going to happen." I think a lot of people in positions of influence and politicians need to take responsibility for what they've done to stoke this behavior and not condone it. So talking to certain politicians in Canada in the conservative party, they tell me that there's been a shift in strategy to talk about China as the Chinese Communist Party, the communist regime, to deliberately stir up a red scare. In the U.S. definitely, the FBI in an announcement about one of its investigations into a Chinese American scientist said the words "Chinese Communist regime" or "Chinese Communist government" five times.Bill:That was the announcement about the MIT professor, was it Chen Gang, I think?Joanna:Yeah, I think so.Bill:The prosecutor or the FBI folks up in Boston, I believe.Joanna:Right. Yeah, that was the one. And it's just not necessary. You don't need to ... My argument is that the facts about what Beijing is doing are urgent and sobering enough. You don't really need to embellish it with this language of trying to get people scared of this Communist entity. But perhaps it's more to do with domestic politics in each place. Someone explained it to me in the U.S. where pretty much everyone is critical of China. You don't get more attention by just being moderately critical, you have to be really more extreme. It's as if it's like a competition to be as hawkish as possible to get that acclaim and public support.Bill:And as you said, it's unnecessary because as you just said, the facts can speak for themselves in many areas. And it again, it goes back to how do we have rational discussion about what the problems and challenges are without tipping over into something that's really nasty and scary. It's something I struggle with, obviously in my newsletter, I have ... It's funny when you write about China, I have people who think I'm a CCP apologist and people who think I'm way too hawkish. You sort of can't win, it's such a fraught topic that it is something I struggle with. Because you certainly don't want to be in a position where you're stirring things up, but at the same time you can't just throw up your hands and say, "Well we're not going to deal with this because it's too dangerous." I mean, it's too dangerous the other way too, right? But it's really difficult, and the question I have is, do you think the powers in Beijing understand this? Is this something they try to use or leverage?Joanna:Oh yeah, I think so. I think it plays right into what Beijing wants. Because the myth it has been promoting for years is that China is the center of Chinese civilization even if your family has been away from China for generations, you're still Chinese. And since you're still Chinese, your de-facto leader is still the CCP. It's a legitimate power for all Chinese people. Because people like me and my family aren't fully accepted as Canadians or as Australians or as Americans, it's always like a hyphen, like Chinese-Canadian, Chinese-American. That just plays into what Beijing wants. When people of Chinese descent are taken as political prisoners or get calls from Chinese police saying, "Stop supporting Hong Kong on social media or stop doing this," these people get less attention. They're not taken seriously when they try to report what's happening because unfortunately a lot of people in the West have accepted the CCP's myth that we're still essentially Chinese. It's in the law, if there's dual-nationality, they don't accept the second nationality.Joanna:But even more than that, I still worry that ... it's happened to people like me. I actually gave up my Hong Kong citizenship, I'm only Canadian. But just because of my Chinese blood, I'm at greater risk of whatever repercussions. I've definitely been singled out when I was a foreign correspondent in Beijing for writing too much about human rights. And they did not say the same things about other people in my office. So by not listening to people in the diaspora and still treating them as they're still outsiders, we're with this connection to China whether we agree or not, that's really playing into it. And also when there's this racism, Chinese media, Chinese embassies, they've been really up front about condemning this and using it as a way to shore up loyalty among overseas Chinese, especially people who are more recent immigrants to get that support. There's so many of these China Friendship associations around the world. It's tough to understand their impact because it's all basically legal. They are these groups that openly support Beijing's policies all around the world. And they have, in my reporting, taken part in basically trying to make friends with politicians around the world and using those interviews, events, photographs to turn into propaganda to say, "We got support from this politician." There were groups that have offered money for people to vote for certain candidates in other countries' elections.Joanna:So it's complicated because when these groups are alienated, when they still feel that ... On a pragmatic level, it makes better sense for them to have good relations with Beijing. These groups are going to increase and proliferate and it's hard to understand what they're doing because you don't want to villainize it. In a way it's very natural for people, say, with business ties in China to try to hob-nob with Chinese embassies and try to support them. When I do report on some of these activities like the potential vote buying and interfering in elections, people use it as an excuse to say, "Oh, everyone's like that. All recent immigrants are working for the CCP." And that just puts a lot of reporters and researchers in these really tricky situations where you want to report on what's going on, but because discourse just fails to be nuanced enough, people just kind of take it as a reason to be more hostile and to not really open up their minds that there's a diversity of opinions among Chinese people and the Chinese diaspora.Bill:And it's also hard I think because so much of it happens in Mandarin or other Chinese dialects, so most people who don't speak the language have no idea what's going on.Joanna:Mm-hmm (affirmative). But it's been such a rich field of potential reporting for me, going back to Canada. It's really, really resitting. I have been able to read all of these reports. I've been able to translate these posts into English for audiences who found it really interesting. But I would argue that it's not actually that hard because there are so many Chinese speakers all over the world. It's not like it's a niche population, like a small population. In these stories where Steve Bannon and Miles Kwok's like cultish group was protesting outside a Canadian journalist's house accusing him of being a Chinese spy, when he was actually critical of Beijing. There were death threats.Bill:They did that to a bunch of people in America too. They had a whole program of targeting people.Joanna:Yeah, New Jersey.Bill:Yeah.Joanna:Yeah, so in that case. In Texas, with Pastor Bob Fu, he was one of the targets. And the FBI came in, the bomb squad, they put him and his family in a safe house. But in Canada, police monitored it, checked in once in a while. I actually sent them videos, like this looks like a death threat. And I actually ... Me and my colleagues, we translated some of this information and we posted it on YouTube to explain what was going on. But then it took three months later, this going on in Canada ... Two of these protestors just savagely beat one of the target's friends. And the police were responding to questions of why didn't you step in earlier, there were death threats? They admitted that they were slow with the investigation because they didn't have Chinese language resources. And that doesn't make sense really, in Vancouver, when there are so many people of Chinese descent. It's not hard to find someone to look at something and translate it to understand it.Joanna:In the conclusion of my book, one of the points I make is that information in Chinese language is treated like a secret code that can't be cracked. Instead, people like Newt Gingrich and other kind of just make things up. In his book, Newt Gingrich ... I don't quite remember but he just provided nonsensical translations of Chinese words and then extrapolated a whole bunch of theories about China based on that. Which is insulting to all of the people, not just of Chinese descent, but people like you who have taken the time to learn Mandarin and to understand China.Bill:There's a lot of that here in the U.S., I don't know how much it exists in other countries. But certainly the taking stuff out of context or just crappy language skills. And then, like you said, extrapolating something much bigger and darker and nefarious than in many cases it actually is, for sure.Joanna:Yeah. In the U.S. people tell me that they do have Chinese speakers, but lower down in the chain who provide reports and information. But going up the chain, the politicians and the pundits, they pick and choose information to support what they believe already. So these researchers feel like they're not even being heard because politicians are just grabbing what they want anyways. In many cases, people of Chinese descent are worried about even going to China or talking about their family in China because they're not going to get promoted to more influential positions. They're not going to get security clearance because the assumption is that if you have any sort of China ties that you might be compromised. And that's a very prejudicious trend in D.C.Bill:When I moved back to D.C. after ten years, I had no interest in working for the government, but I had a funny conversation with someone who does have security clearance. He says, "Don't even bother to apply, you'll never get a security clearance because you lived in China for too long."Joanna:That's crazy.Bill:That's fine, but there are reasons for governments to be concerned with ties to other foreign governments, but certainly for folks of Chinese descent it's much more pernicious. And it does seem like in many places the assumption is that you're potentially at risk of compromise. One of the problems is how people's families are being leveraged back in China. You see it in the way the persecutions of the Uyghurs and Tibetans. But you see it also in Han Chinese, people who are doing things that are considered controversial or anti-China outside of China. It's a very common tactic, right, to harass, hassle, otherwise make difficult for family members back in China, right?Joanna:Yeah, and that is a major ... There's no solution to that. I tried to spotlight a lot of these voices in the book. I spoke with people like Vicky Xu, the campaign against her has just been ridiculous. People made fake porn of her, thousands of accounts were basically attacking her, doxxing her.Bill:I feel like that story didn't get as much attention as maybe it should have. She was just so brutally targeted by very obviously state-backed campaigns.Joanna:Yeah. Very personal and they started with her family. She's been open about that, how her family and parents have been pressured. But she didn't stop her work, so they went further. They sent thousands of accounts and they made fake pornography about her so that when people search in Chinese, that's what comes up. And trying to completely smear her character. But that story did not get that much attention.Bill:This is because of her work at the ASPI down in Australia, right? Specifically around XinjiangJoanna:Xinjiang, yeah. I think she's one of the main researchers in Australia that focused on Xinjiang. The bigger issues looking at supply chains, looking at forced labor, and where internment camps are. Recently she found a trove of police documents about the repression. And because of her fluent Chinese and her networks, she was able to find this and provide this information. So people like her, I think, Beijing wants the most to silence and has the means and leverage to try to do so. I think she's unique in that she continues to do this work. We're not sure for how long because you have to wonder how long someone can take this.Bill:Right.Joanna:More people that I know of are either operating anonymously, they're really providing subtle advising roles to governments in a very very anonymous manner. Because they're worried about their families. Or they're writing under pseudonyms and they don't get a lot of attention because no one knows who they are. They're worried about ... not even access. I think a lot of researchers worry about being able to go back to China. At different levels, people who are worried about the safety of themselves and their family members.Bill:So just given the trajectory of China under Xi Jinping, is there any reason to think this is going to get better? Or are we sort of more close to the beginning of where this trajectory goes?Joanna:Mm-hmm (affirmative) I think we're kind of at a pivotal point. A lot of it isn't waiting for what Beijing does, but there's a responsibly on Western countries to at least be smarter about China and to have proper expertise in places of governments to try to even have some well thought out policy on these issues. In the U.S. Cabinet, very little China experience. And like we talked about, the people with experience ... They have trouble having influence. And in Canada, the mood after the Michaels returned and the Meng case was resolved is that they really want to go back to business as usual. To not have any kind of plan in place on how to prevent Canadian hostages from being taken in the future. The Prime Ministers office really steering this even though other parts of government was like, "We need some sort of plan, we need some sort of update to foreign policy in general." There's very little political will. I think the amount of criticism in different countries' media doesn't reflect the lack of political will of governments to even put the basic structures in place to understand China better. To be able to translate basic things from Chinese into English to be aware of.Bill:And in Canada, why do you thing that is? Especially given the diversity of Canada and the number of people of Chinese descent in the country. But also what just happened over the last close to three years. Why wouldn't the government have had a bit more of a shift in views of how the relationship in China should go?Joanna:Mm-hmm (affirmative) I think it's related partly to what we were talking about before where politicians are worried about stoking racism, losing support from Canadians of Chinese descent. Partly an election issue, and I think traditionally in Canada, the main government advisors on China have been people in the business world who do have a vested interest in making sure that tensions are as low as possible to facilitate smoother business interactions. But that's also not even the case where if you ... I think the idea in the West has been reformed through trade. Through interactions, economically, China will naturally liberalize, become more democratic. But in recent years, we've seen political tensions move over to economic coercion, economic retaliation. Not just from China but back and forth, with America, Australia, other countries have also did tit-for-tat trade tariffs. Different ways where the political situation can impact the economic relationships. So it's not even necessarily the case that just by focusing on business, everything will be all good. I think a lot of politicians are trying to put their head in the sands about that and not trying to understand the really complex situation unfolding. And Canadians on the whole, surveys show, pretty frustrated about the situation in action and just passiveness that they see from Ottawa.Bill:I guess the Huawei decision will be interesting, whether or not Huawei is allowed into the Canadian 5G network construction. Certainly here in D.C., there's all the factors you talked about and there's a lot of opportunity for lobbyists from various industries and companies to sort of shift Biden administration and Capitol thinking to policies that are more likely to make money dealing with China. And that certainly has an impact on the policies. So just shifting gears quickly because we're almost out of time and this has been a really great conversation. One of the things we were talking about was lifting up and getting more diversity of voices. Can you tell the listeners about NüVoices and what you helped create there? I found that to be a really wonderful and useful project that's been up for a couple years now? Or has it been three years? Time just sort of blended away with the pandemic, right?Joanna:So actually we were founded in 2017.Bill:Oh my gosh, okay.Joanna:In Beijing, so it's almost under five years. It's been like a daily kind of passion project in the community for me. We kind of wanted to create a more open and accepting China space, both in person with events and chapters around the world and also virtually. And it started in reaction with panels and book deals. The people who get platformed on China are often white male experts. No offense to yourself.Bill:People like me. No, no, I get it. I get it.Joanna:You're one of our longtime supporters and our patrons and we've spoken about how this helps to create a better world for your kids, for your daughters. Because we want to remove any excuses that people have for not even having one woman on their panel. Five years ago, people just kept saying to us and our co-founders, "We tried to find a female expert, but we couldn't find one." Or "We couldn't find a woman on this topic." Which is ridiculous because looking around, actually people we know, I see more women than men entering these fields. Definitely being a journalist in China, there's more women than men. And women who can speak Chinese and doing great work. So we created this open-source directory. Now it has more than 600 people all around the world who are women or non-binary on all sorts of topics. And speaking all sorts of languages in all sorts of time zones. I think just that project alone helped to remove those excuses. Any time someone makes an excuse that they couldn't find a woman, someone just has to send that person the link to this directory. No more excuses.Joanna:And on top of that we have a twice monthly podcast which I co-host sometimes and events all around the world. And basically social groups and networks and it's a platform so that people can benefit from this supportive atmosphere. We really try and celebrate diverse voices on China, experts on China. I find that women tend to ... because they're facing so much discrimination, women experts often have to fight harder to provide unique insights and reporting. So the kind of good quality you get just reaching out to any female expert in China, its a pretty good bet on fresh and interesting perspectives. And definitely I found that the case with my book. Because you know I tried to practice what I preach and most of my sources are coming from diverse backgrounds, women and minorities ... I shouldn't even use the word "minorities", people who aren't white basically.Bill:Mm-hmm (affirmative) right.Joanna:In each country, and I think that provides a different layer than people who enjoy positions of more power in those countries, who might not see some of the more uglier sides or the more complicated sides because that's not their experience. They're not getting the five star treatment when they go to China that a lot people in power do.Bill:It's definitely one of the things I enjoy about your book, it does have these different perspectives that are so important as we are all sort of trying to figure out what's going on and start thinking about what we can do. Specifically, NüVoices, I was looking at the directory last week. I think it's like 620 entries or something, I'm certainly planning to mine it for guests for the podcast because it's a really tremendous resource. And I will put a link to it in the show notes when we publish the podcast. Well thank you so much, is there anything else you'd like to add or say to the audience? Other than buy your book, "China Unbound", it's a great book. Please go ahead and go buy it and read it. It's a great book.Joanna:Just asking yourself, being based in the U.S., what are the best avenues for a more productive conversations on China? Instead of going to people who are more simplistic, what are some more resources you'd recommend? Including, of course your newsletter and that community. But who's doing the work to make up more well-informed approaches?Bill:That's a great question, and I'm not actually sure I have a good answer. I'm struggling with that and part of it is maybe that I'm based in D.C. where it is quite ... It's difficult to be in D.C. and to be not hawkish about China if you want to get ahead in certain parts of the government here. And so, I'm not actually sure. I know that there's China Twitter ... I mean Twitter in general is just kind of a cesspool and China Twitter is not a productive or constructive place for discourse about anything. I don't know, I wish I had a better answer for you, I need to think about it more.Joanna:Mm-hmm (affirmative)Bill:Do you have any guesses or any suggestions?Joanna:I was expecting a more simplified reaction to my book, but actually all the events I've been doing so far are conversations with academics and fellow reporters have been really nuanced. And it seems like there's a hunger for people who want to admit there are no simple solutions and to talk about that. But it doesn't' seem like here's a particular space or a think tank that has that approach. It seems-Bill:The think tanks probably are the place. I mean there are other ... The folks at SupChina are trying to do that. I don't know if you've talked to them. Kaiser's got his podcast and they do their conference. I think their conference ... We're recording on the 1st of November so they're I think next week. But in general, I don't know, it's also ... Like anything, it's hard to have a more textured or kind of deeper discussion in these 30 minute chunks or when you're sitting on a panel. It's just putting in the time and having ... Like you're doing, talking to me and you're talking to lots of people for your book. And this is a topic that has probably come up in most of your conversations and it's just something we're going to have to keep talking about. I know over the next few months there are at least two more books that are coming out about China's influence in the world. And so it'll be interesting to see where those goes in terms of how they impact or move the discourse and how those get played. And again, I think it's like I said, me struggling with how do you address these issues that are very real and influence interference without going overboard and over-exaggerating and destroying innocent people's lives. Which I think has already happened and continues to be a big risk.Joanna:I do think simple answers that people need to pay better attention and not just to get a shallow understanding, but to really understand the nitty-gritty and try to untangle complexities. And support the people who are trying to do this work. A lot of their names are in my book. If you don't want to buy it, flip to the back of the notes and you'll get their names and look up those articles. People like Yangyang Cheng, Helen Gao. People who are straddling both worlds, Chinese and Western. Because of those real lived experiences, their perspectives are just naturally very nuanced and insightful, I think. So people are doing this work, its just they're not the ones on CNN and getting book deals because of structures power. So support NüVoices.Bill:Absolutely. Like you said, I'm a supporter of NüVoices, I'm very happy to put a link to that as well. Support you through Patreon, right? We should move you over to Substack, but that's a different discussion. That's my bias. Well look, thank you so much. It's really been a pleasure to speak with you and I hope that many of you listeners will go out and buy the book. It's really a worthwhile read and Joanna really has great reporting, great perspectives. And this book is really important contribution to the conversation we all need to be having about China and the future and China's role in the world. So thank you and hope to talk to you again soon.Joanna:Thank you so much for all of your work, really platforming those more quality, well-informed sources on China. You've run the newsletter for a long time, so I think that makes a big difference as well because you use your expertise to point people to credible, good sources. So I'll also subscribe to your newsletter.Bill:Thank you. Get full access to Sinocism at sinocism.com/subscribe

Prejudice is the result of fear and ignorance as illustrated in 3 outstanding films now screening on the Planet Classroom YouTube Channel: Siroun Webcast, Through the Wall, and Swimming Upstream. Youth voices from around the world join ORB, Planet Classroom's virtual host, to focus on the Japanese Canadian internment and struggle for redress, the Armenian Genocide and the lessons relevant now, and the Mexico-United States border wall. Audiences will find themselves immersed in the realities of people and communities that have faced racism and ethnic cleansing and continue to struggle with the aftermath. Guests suggest solutions for building bridges and inspiring positive change.

Prejudice is the result of fear and ignorance as illustrated in 3 outstanding films now screening on the Planet Classroom YouTube Channel: Siroun Webcast, Through the Wall, and Swimming Upstream. Youth voices from around the world join ORB, Planet Classroom's virtual host, to focus on the Japanese Canadian internment and struggle for redress, the Armenian Genocide and the lessons relevant now, and the Mexico-United States border wall. Audiences will find themselves immersed in the realities of people and communities that have faced racism and ethnic cleansing and continue to struggle with the aftermath. Guests suggest solutions for building bridges and inspiring positive change.

Prejudice is the result of fear and ignorance as illustrated in 3 outstanding films now screening on the Planet Classroom YouTube Channel: Siroun Webcast, Through the Wall, and Swimming Upstream. Youth voices from around the world join ORB, Planet Classroom's virtual host, to focus on the Japanese Canadian internment and struggle for redress, the Armenian Genocide and the lessons relevant now, and the Mexico-United States border wall. Audiences will find themselves immersed in the realities of people and communities that have faced racism and ethnic cleansing and continue to struggle with the aftermath. Guests suggest solutions for building bridges and inspiring positive change.