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Author Anne Soon Choi joins us to reveal the life of Dr. Thomas Noguchi, who was known as the "coroner to the stars" in Los Angeles who performed the autopsies of Robert F. Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe and Natalie Wood. The inspiration for the Jack Klugman TV series "Quincy, M.E.," Noguchi became famous for his big press conferences—which often created more controversy than offered solutions. Join us to learn about Noguchi and never-before-revealed facts about his biggest cases, which took place against the backdrop of Hollywood's infamous celebrity culture and the heated racial politics of the 1960s and 1970s. Anne Soon Choi, Ph.D., author of L.A. Coroner: Thomas Noguchi and Death in Hollywood (Third State Books), is a historian and professor of Asian American Studies and university administrator at California State University, Northridge. Her essay “The Japanese American Citizens League, Los Angeles Politics, and the Thomas Noguchi Case,” on which this book is based, won the 2021 prize for best essay from the Historical Society of Southern California. Choi has previously served on the faculty of Swarthmore College and the University of Kansas and is an Andrew Mellon Fellow and an American Council of Learned Societies Digital Ethnic Studies Fellow. She lives and writes in Los Angeles, California. Our moderator, Helen Zia, is a author, journalist and Fulbright Scholar. Her latest book, Last Boat Out of Shanghai: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Fled Mao's Revolution, was an NPR best book and shortlisted for a national Pen America award, while her first book, Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People, is a foundational textbook in schools across the country. The daughter of Chinese immigrants, Helen's role in organizing and leading the national Asian American civil rights movement to obtain justice for Vincent Chin and to counter anti-Asian racism is documented in the Academy-award nominated “Who Killed Vincent Chin?” and has been featured on the PBS series "The Asian Americans," "Amanpour & Co.," Lisa Ling's "This is Life," Soledad O'Brien, and other media. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Send us a textIn this interview with author Susan Tate Ankeny, we talk about her biography of Chinese American WWII Women Air Force Service Pilot, Hazel Ying Lee, American Flygirl, the Aviatrix Book Club discussion book for May 2025. Buy the book: https://literaryaviatrix.com/book/american-flygirl/Children's Books about Hazel: https://literaryaviatrix.com/book/the-fearless-flights-of-hazel-ying-lee/https://literaryaviatrix.com/book/skyward-the-story-of-female-pilots-in-wwii/The Blurb: One of WWII's most uniquely hidden figures, Hazel Ying Lee was the first Asian American woman to earn a pilot's license, join the WASPs, and fly for the United States military amid widespread anti-Asian sentiment and policies.Her singular story of patriotism, barrier breaking, and fearless sacrifice is told for the first time in full for readers of The Women with Silver Wings by Katherine Sharp Landdeck, A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell, The Last Boat Out of Shanghai by Helen Zia, Facing the Mountain by Daniel James Brown and all Asian American, women's and WWII history books.In 1932, Hazel Ying Lee, a nineteen-year-old American daughter of Chinese immigrants, sat in on a friend's flight lesson. It changed her life. In less than a year, a girl with a wicked sense of humor, a newfound love of flying, and a tough can-do attitude earned her pilot's license and headed for China to help against invading Japanese forces. In time, Hazel would become the first Asian American to fly with the Women Airforce Service Pilots. As thrilling as it may have been, it wasn't easy.In America, Hazel felt the oppression and discrimination of the Chinese Exclusion Act. In China's field of male-dominated aviation she was dismissed for being a woman, and for being an American. But in service to her country, Hazel refused to be limited by gender, race, and impossible dreams. Frustrated but undeterred she forged ahead, married Clifford Louie, a devoted and unconventional husband who cheered his wife on, and gave her all for the cause achieving more in her short remarkable life than even she imagined possible.American Flygirl is the untold account of a spirited fighter and an indomitable hidden figure in American history. She broke every common belief about women. She challenged every social restriction to endure and to succDid you know you can support your local independent bookshop and me by shopping through my Bookshop.org affiliate links on my website? If a book is available on Bookshop.org, you'll find a link to it on the book page. By shopping through the Literary Aviatrix website a small portion of the sale goes to support the content you love, at no additional cost to you. https://literaryaviatrix.com/shop-all-books/Thanks so much for listening! Stay up to date on book releases, author events, and Aviatrix Book Club discussion dates with the Literary Aviatrix Newsletter. Visit the Literary Aviatrix website to find over 600 books featuring women in aviation in all genres for all ages. Become a Literary Aviatrix Patron and help amplify the voices of women in aviation. Follow me on social media, join the book club, and find all of the things on the Literary Aviatrix linkt.ree. Blue skies, happy reading, and happy listening!-Liz Booker
In this recurring series, host Candice Bloch takes you inside the world of how a project gets made. Through discussions with creators about their individual journey on a particular completed production, we gain insights about what it takes to bring a vision to fruition. Whether hearing about process or logistics, lessons or advice, these success stories of bringing a project to life can be informative and inspiring.On this month's episode, the focus is on impactful documentaries. Maggie Burnette Stogner talks about two of her documentaries, Unbreathable: The Fight for Healthy Air and Upstream Downriver. And after that, Laura Seltzer-Duny talks about three of her documentaries, The Last Boat Out, Nobody Wants Us, and Las Abogadas.Maggie Burnette Stogner is an award-winning veteran of the filmmaking industry, the Executive Director of the Center for Environmental Filmmaking, a professor of film and media arts at American University, and a founder of the independent production company, Blue Bear Films. To learn more about her and her work, including the 2020 documentary Unbreathable: The Fight for Healthy Air, or the upcoming documentary, Upstream Downriver, check out:https://www.unbreathable.org/https://www.upstreamdownriver.org/https://www.american.edu/soc/environmental-film/ https://maggiebluebear.media/https://www.cefimpactmedia.org/Laura Seltzer-Duny is an award-winning producer and director and founder of Seltzer Film & Video. To learn more about her and her 2010 PBS documentary The Last Boat Out, her 2020 Emmy-nominated PBS historical documentary Nobody Wants Us, and her upcoming 2022 documentary Las Abogadas, check out:https://www.seltzerfilmvideo.com/
As the seriousness of the Coronavirus pandemic continues to rise, so, too, does racism against Asians and Asian Americans. This isn't the first time Asian Americans have been targeted and used as a scapegoat. In 1982, Chinese American Vincent Chin was brutally murdered by autoworkers who blamed Japan for factory closures in Detroit. Helen Zia was a young journalist at that time and this crime further ignited her motivation to fight racism and other injustices. In this episode of “The May Lee Show”, May talks with legendary activist Helen Zia about her life's work fighting for Asian Americans, women and LGBTQs. Helen also talks about her latest book, “Last Boat Out of Shanghai”, which tells the epic story of numbers mainland Chinese who fled Moa Zedong's communist revolution.
With the surprisingly good performance of Joe Biden at the recent debate, Thom muses that Biden has shifted more to the left than the Democratic Party has been just a few months ago. So Bernie has left his mark even if he may or may not get the nomination. Plus the latest on the Corona Virus and listener calls.For the Book Club, Thom reads from "Revolutionary Love: A Political Manifesto to Heal and Transform the World" by Michael Lerner and "Last Boat Out of Shanghai: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Fled Mao's Revolution" by Helen Zia.
SPEAKERS Jeffrey Wasserstrom Author, Vigil: Hong Kong on the Brink (Forthcoming); Professor of History, UC Irvine; Twitter @jwassers In Conversation with Helen Zia Journalist; Author, Last Boat Out of Shanghai: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Fled Mao’s Revolution This program was recorded in front of a live audience at The Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco on January 6th, 2020.
Trump's impetuous killing of a senior Iranian administration official led to a military crisis that apparently led to an airliner with hundreds of people aboard being shot out of the sky 10 miles from Tehran. It’s increasingly looking like the Ukrainian International Airlines jet that went down within hours of the Iranian missile strike after taking off from Tehran was shot down by a missile itself. So, who shot down the jet? And why does the Trump Administration refuse to discuss it?Rep. Mark Pocan calls in an update from the Congress debating an update to the War Powers Act and other news.For the Book Club Thom reads a portion from "Last Boat Out of Shanghai" by Helen Zia.
Recorded live at Cal Poly Pomona! Jeff and Phil welcome author/activist Helen Zia. They discuss the tumultuous forces of history and migration that inform her latest book, Last Boat Out of Shanghai: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Fled Mao's Revolution.
Why are AAPI's at a higher risk for PTSD? We have local reax from Sri Lankans on the fatal Easter bombings, author/activist Helen Zia on her new book "Last Boat Out of Shanghai," Clint Ramos's storied career and #starringjohncho has become an art exhibit
SPEAKERS Julia Flynn Siler Journalist, Author, The White Devil’s Daughters: The Fight Against Slavery in San Francisco’s Chinatown (Forthcoming) In Conversation with Helen Zia Journalist; Author, Last Boat Out of Shanghai: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Fled Mao’s Revolution This program was recorded in-front of a live audience at the Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco on May 14th, 2019.
Robin on strategists Nancy Pelosi and Elizabeth I (Tudor), Iowa’s Steve King, Opus Dei, and “First Partners.” Guest: Award-winning journalist and author Helen Zia on immigrants, the Chinese diaspora, and her major new book, Last Boat Out of Shanghai.