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APEX Express is a weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community.   This Pride Month—queer and trans AAPI community strength. On this episode, host Miata Tan is joined by guests from three organizations building queer AAPI community on their own terms. They explore what it's like to find joy, organize together, and show up for each other in this moment.   QTViệt Cafe Collective Learn more about QTViệt Cafe Collective and their new documentary Đồng Quê: Of the Same Womb Website | Instagram | Join the Collective Catch the film at an upcoming screening:  June 14 — World Premiere | 22nd Annual Queer Women of Color Film Festival | Presidio Theater, San Francisco  June 20 — Screening + Q&A with filmmaker Sage Tran | Hosted by the Q Corner | San Jose    Queer Hmong Intersectional Pride (QHIP) Learn more about QHIP and their upcoming workshops, events, and campaigns Instagram | Website | 5th Annual Elk Grove Pride   Lavender Phoenix (LavNix) Learn more about Lavender Phoenix and their Leadership Exchange program Website | Instagram | Leadership Exchange Program   Previous Episodes A Conversation with Lavender Phoenix: The Next Chapter — March 26, 2026 Trans & Queer Hmong Rise: Organizing in Central California — October 24, 2024 8 Years of QTViệt Cafe! — August 22, 2024   Transcript ​[00:00:00]  Miata Tan : Hello and welcome. You're tuning in to APEX Express, a weekly radio show uplifting the voices and stories of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. I'm your host, Miata Tan. We're nearly halfway through June, and Pride Month is in full swing. Pride is a time to celebrate, honor, and dig into the deep political history of queer and trans communities. And tonight, [00:01:00] we're zooming into a few distinct queer Asian American communities right here in Northern California. First, we'll hear from a collective of queer and trans Vietnamese artists, activists, and organizers based in the Bay Area, who have a brand-new documentary out this weekend. Then we'll dive into the political organizing of queer and trans Hmong communities in Fresno and Sacramento. And we'll close out the show with a queer Asian American community leader and some different ways that you can get involved this summer. Okay, let's get into it. First up, my conversation with QTViet Cafe Collective. And before you ask, no, QTViet Cafe is not a brick-and-mortar cafe that serves coffee. They are a Bay Area-based creative cultural hub for queer and trans Vietnamese liberation through gatherings, art showcases, cultural programming, and more. QTViet Cafe is a part of Asian Refugees United, [00:02:00] and tonight we'll be discussing their new documentary, Dong Hoi: Of the Same Womb. It is premiering this Sunday, June 14, as part of the 22nd Annual International Queer Women of Color Film Festival in San Francisco. Dong Hoi asks viewers what it means to return to a homeland, to a community, to yourself. Here's my conversation with the QTViet Cafe Collective. Miata Tan: Thank you all so much for joining me today on APEX Express. Sage, perhaps you can start us off. would you be able to introduce yourself and share a little bit about what the QTViet Cafe Collective is?  Sage Tran: My name is Sage. I use they/them pronouns. One of filmmakers/digital archivists for QTViet Cafe Collective. we are a cultural hub where we focus on, diasporic themes around intergenerational Vietnamese and identity and queerness. We do a lot our [00:03:00] events and workshops and gatherings around food, remembrance, and, our gay and they selves.  Miata Tan: Lovely. Jessie, who are you and what brought you to QTViet?  Jessie Nguyen: Sure, my name is Jessie, and my pronouns are they or Jessie, and I've been part of the collective since, 2018. I think I found the collective in a place in my life when I was really searching for ways to, bring an intersection to all parts of my identities, QTViet Cafe Just like Sage said, it's a creative hub, it's a cultural hub that is really dedicated to uplifting queer and trans Viet liberation through ancestral practices , different, forms of art and intergenerational connection. yeah, I just really appreciate the ways that QTViet Cafe has just been so dedicated to our, art and then also uplifting our art to really, bring forth community, organizing work, solidarity [00:04:00] work and our own, like, queer and trans Viet excellence  Miata Tan: Love that. Jean, could you share a little bit about yourself as well?  Jean Pham: Thanks for having us here. my name is Jean Pham. I use they/them pronouns. i've also been a part of QTViet Cafe since 2018 when I had first moved here to the Bay Area. Like Sage and Jessie had shared, QTViet Cafe is, it's a really special space. I think as d- diasporic Vietnamese, speaking broadly, like culturally we experience being displaced on many different levels. Um, when people say that it's a cultural hub, really tangible in a, in a lot of the activities and things that we do. we've hosted like art residencies. We cultural dinners. We have language groups. QTViet Cafe, it really exists to fill a need. and I think part of that need brought us, to the culmination of this specific project, to bring us back into Vietnam  Miata Tan: Yeah, lovely. And we can pick up from there your trip to Vietnam. this, was captured by Sage recently in a documentary. Sage, could you speak more about what, this new doco is about? where did this project come [00:05:00] from? Sage Tran: this project emerged from a collective hunger for wanting to return back to the motherland. for years of doing a lot of gathering here, specifically in the Bay Area, we've been able to stay rooted in the territories here. And, we all came to a consensus like , what would it be like to gather a bunch of us and connect with our siblings, brother, sisters, family, chosen fam out in the motherland? that became a seed that we cultivated, planted, tend to, and we fundraised with a lot of community support to get about 13 of us out uh, Vietnam. maybe Jessie can talk a little bit more about this, but Hai and Ma are the, folks who founded QTViet Cafe Collective [00:06:00] Jessie, Ma, and Hai. They all three went to Vietnam in 2022 and built a lot of beautiful connections of like local drag artists, queer trans collectives out there. That's kind of what birthed Dong Khoi.  Miata Tan: so  I've been lucky enough to, watch the film already. Donghui is the name of the documentary, but it's also the name of the performance that came together Jesse, perhaps you can speak to this this journey more and I know QTViet C- Cafe's been around since 2016,  this project goes back, a few years as well Jessie Nguyen: Yeah, sure. I can speak a little bit about that and just chiming into, like, what Sage already shared. there was a small group of collective members that that came up with the idea of, like, what would it be like for us as, queer and trans Viet diasporic folks to go to the homeland. the original intent was for that trip to happen in 2020. And it [00:07:00] actually, because of the pandemic, I think obviously things were, logistically it just didn't work, but that, dream, like, surfaced again, so the question came up about, like, what would it be like for us to travel together to the homeland as a collective and also share our art, to , connect with other Viets in Saigon. You know, when we're in the Bay, so much of our work is really centered around gathering communities around our food, our art, and our stories. And so it really made sense for us to think about what would that look like in Vietnam. And so in 2022, as Sage was mentioning, me, Hai, and Ma,, went to Saigon and just kind of explored, like, what is the creative scene like and were able to connect queer and trans Viet artists who are doing insanely inspiring creative work. we connected with folks from the Baxiu Collective, and they're a group of, queer and trans Viet artists who are doing drag in different, performance spaces in queer bars in Saigon. And then I think in that moment we're like, “Wait, we would love to [00:08:00] collaborate with you.” from that unfolded, a, a year-long , like, planning of, what would it look like for us to do a shared showcase together. And so we identified built relationships with a queer bar in Saigon. and then so leading up to the homeland trip, we planned this showcase where it would be a mix artists from our collective and artists from their collective, and then a whole, a whole performance that unfolded. And I think in the year of 2023, that year I think we ended up fundraising, about 50K in order to really subsidize and support the whole journey of getting us to Vietnam. Like, stipending artists and creatives that we were collaborating with. it was, one of the biggest projects I think that QTViet has ever been a part of and really undertaken, and I think it definitely is, like, a huge highlight for, like, my time with QTViet. Miata Tan: Lovely, and it's so beautiful to see it all come together in the documentary. Jean, could you speak to your experience? I understand this was [00:09:00] your first time ever visiting Vietnam  Jean Pham: Yes, it was my first time visiting Vietnam. so I had a well of emotions in terms of the lead-up to it. Like Jesse was sharing, you know, originally the plan was we were gonna go in 2020. That had to shift, you know, shelter in place and everything. A lot of the work that we do is reconnection, right? as diasporic Vietnamese being displaced from our ancestral land, as queer and trans people, um, a big rallying point for many of us is feeling displaced from our own families. And so part of, like, returning back together is fighting against it. It's like, what if we reconnect ? You know, what if we re- reunite? You know, w- if we're traveling together as queer community, we can really see and understand what it's like to be uh, Vietnam for ourselves. And so it was really, like h- it had this like gravity around it, and I think it made me really nervous but also excited. that being said, you know, a lot of other folks who are part of our cohort, even though they had gone to Vietnam before, a lot of them had also shared this is their [00:10:00] first time going without family, And we're going specifically towards, queer and trans community in Vietnam, which is also a departure from their other experiences too. Jessie Nguyen: Can I just add something? Because I just really loved what Gene shared. I just think that, yeah, I think that you really spoke to something there about how we can spend our whole lives, like, having this understanding of homeland that is actually quite disconnected from our queerness and our transness. And similar to, like, many other folks in the collective, like, I have been to Vietnam, multiple times before, but never in the context of centering my queerness and transness because I just wasn't sure, like, what felt safe. You know, without having, like, fluency in the language or even knowing, like, how to express my queerness in Vietnam. Oftentimes it just felt… I felt pretty invisibilized there, you know, because, like, being there with family, I just show up as, like, a, a family member, There's so much that is a part of me that is expressed through my queerness and my transness that [00:11:00] is that isn't as visible. And so I think that being in a space as a collective gave us permission to do and to feel deeply woven into our cultural experience was, like, in- in- incredibly liberating.  Miata Tan: Yeah. That's really beautiful, Jessie. I also noticed in the film your aunt was also, part of it as well, so you were able to hold that familial side of yourself as well as the queer side. Could you speak more to that?  Jessie Nguyen: Yeah. I was just watching the documentary yesterday too, and I was like, oh my gosh, I– it was so sweet that my aunt had a moment in that documentary. the thing that I was really interested in was trying to weave my connection with my family to, like, my connection with, like, my chosen queer family, And I think that became very possible when, we did the homeland trip. I'm, I'm not fluent in Vietnamese, and I'm especially not fluent in trying to articulate what it means to be queer and [00:12:00] Vietnamese. And so the idea of inviting QTViets to my aunt's home was, like, a way to be like, “Hey, this is who I and here are my– here's my community.” And maybe if I can't actually, like, articulate that, like, I I want my aunt to, like, feel that sense of, like, care and connection of my community. And then to me that felt like a way of inviting my Vietnamese family to this part of my life. I think that it's, it's oftentimes hard to even do that here in the Bay. You know? Like, the connection that I have to my blood family and then my connection to my chosen family here in the Bay, like, can feel quite separate. keeps me coming back to QTViet is that we always make space for that intergenerational connection that doesn't invisibilize our queerness and our gender identity . Miata Tan: Sage, could you speak more to this theme of family? It seemed to be really core to the documentary tell us about how that felt as the director, like being behind the [00:13:00] camera but also part of the QTViet team on this trip?  Sage Tran: directing and being behind the camera had a lot of challenges. I think there's something where I'm not sure if y- like folks can relate to this, but when you are filming something with your iPhone or on your camera, there's a connection and a disconnection that happens at the same time. You're not able to fully present, but you are. I was straddling the line of like is this shot looking beautiful and also crying I think there was a moment where we were in a taxi or Grab car, and it was Hai, Jesse, and Jesse's aunt, she was dropping some heavy moments, and I just remember we're all crying in the car while the Grab driver is like blasting music, and it's like a super bumpy road. People are honking at us, and it was just like such a funny and rocky, symbolic, memory I just was like, “Wow, I can't [00:14:00] believe I'm getting to document this” like historical moment, not only for Jesse, but just like for the collective and what does it mean for folks who are queer and trans that can't have moments like this. It's just like kind of a reminder to slow down and being like, ” Okay,” am I getting to embody this moment while holding the stabilization of the camera?” And I think still I find that to be a challenge, but a, a really fun dance of filmmaking, directing and being there. Miata Tan: Yeah, definitely. I can't imagine trying to keep the camera still while you're bawling your eyes out.  Sage Tran: Yes.  Miata Tan: Jean, we've talked a now about this connection of blood family and found family as well. could you speak a bit to the QTViet Cafe family that sort of came together on the trip, but also this wider, Vietnamese, queer community you were able to find over there in Saigon? Jean Pham: Every step of the way it felt really [00:15:00] good because when, like, you know, we were traveling together as this, this giant mass of just gay people. and so I always felt like, oh, I could kinda be off guard, I understand that, like, for a lot of Korean trans people, w- when traveling we're on high alert, there's just a lot of unpredictability. There is safety in numbers. There's safety in communities. I felt like, you know, the QTViets have my back. There was a bigger group that came together in SFO, and we just t- all booked the same flights. And then there were some people who were coming, like, a little bit later. I had been with QTViets at that point for about six or seven years, and so there was a lot of trust already built. With the Saigonese Viets, it, it was like a, just a natural kinship. You know? It was like, it was also as if like we were just friends off the bat or there was just this shared understanding. We had a gathering, and I think this is featured in the documentary. after gathering, people were just kind of, getting to know each other in in their flat, and they were teaching us how to walk in heels, and it was so lovely. And I remember thinking like, “Oh gosh, what music do I play here? How do I set the mood?” But the, th- I think the reality is, [00:16:00] you know, Rihanna is like a common language, like among gay people. Everyone under like … It was, it was funny 'cause like, you know, I would, you know, I would play music that I would just listen to. Like, they're just, pop girlies that would play in the States. And, yeah, gay people, like, they, they just love a diva no matter where you are. And so that that was really nice. But r- truly, like, the DIY drag scene in Saigon is huge, and it c- it's, like, so varied. And, I do wanna shout out, like, all the queens and the Baxio Collective and all the trans artists who really helped, make our show and, like, really helped hone in our craft. And they were pr- they were strict, you know? They were like, “You have to come here early, and you have to come in, like, days before. And we're gonna have to practice over and over again.” And they had, like, really specific notes on how to make the show better. And so it was interesting as a culture exchange they were learning, how we were operating in terms of how we organize and a- I think a lot of the spoken word, slam poetry style that, like, some of our members were bringing. And from them, we were [00:17:00] learning a lot of the theatrics on really how to, like, have a show and really think, holistically about all the different components. Miata Tan: Jessie, could you speak more to the show? Uh, what did it look like? How did it feel? Jessie Nguyen: So back in 2022 was when we discovered that there is actually one queer bar in Saigon, and it's in District 4. this bar called Bar Zinga. And it's, like, in this alleyway. It's pretty divey. And so when we were there in 2022, we actually spent uh, New Year's there, and we got to know the owner, and we got to know, like, what they envisioned for the space, which is they've been using it as a space for, drag, drag performances, music sets, and things like that. And we're like, “Oh, wait. Maybe this could be a good spot for us to do something for QTViet.” And So essentially the vision for the show was for us to collaborate with, Babel and Yat, who are the co-founders of Bạc Xỉu Collective, they are incredible, like, production artists and drag artists.  we [00:18:00] invited folks from the collective, if they wanted to share some of their art as well. And so we had… Let's see. I remember Irene, who is one of the poets and also, like, OG QTViets, shared, some poetry, and then we had also Hai sharing some erotica. Me, Hai, and Lan did a ao dai fashion runway show.  and then there was, Oh, Judy and Hiroshi who did, like, a whole, like, lô tô, so that was, like, based off of, like, like a Vietnamese game, and they did a whole performance on that. yeah. So it was kind of, like, cool to be in this space and inviting folks from the community to come in, and it was a full house. people were feeling so nervous, but the, also the energy of, like, I can't believe this is happening. You know? that the art that we've created in the Bay, that we get to share it in Saigon. Miata Tan: So beautiful. yeah, it's really nice to see this, cross-cultural, international, connection that you've built with, the folks in Vietnam. Sage, could you speak more to, the [00:19:00] documentary itself, what you hope viewers will take away from the film, and especially seeing depiction of, of queer joy in the performance? Sage Tran: I think what I hope viewers take is like the power of remembering and the power of remembering with community. Cause I think like also editing this film, I'm like, I remember exactly what y'all said word for word. It's like ingrained in my head.  I think there was something that, Jean, you said in… You said something where like it doesn't matter if you're Vietnamese, it doesn't matter where you were born. It matters and it doesn't, but also like there's so many cross-cultural connections and parallels that, tie us all together. And I think, on the theme of remembering and leaning into our joy and our creativity, there's so much that can unlock with, just living our truths. I think, yeah, I think that's what I hope viewers take away with  Miata Tan: Beautiful. and the documentary will be premiering, this [00:20:00] June, as part of QSMAP here in the city in San Francisco. We have A little bit of time here, so I'd love to talk about, uh, what else QTViet has on the horizon, campaigns, workshops, other performances. Jean, Jessie, would either one of you be able to speak to this?  Jessie Nguyen: The only thing that is really on my mind around QTViet is that we are celebrating our 10-year anniversary in September. And I don't know what that's gonna look like, but I think that it definitely is gonna be a invite and just a opportunity for us to reflect on everything that we've been able to cultivate as a collective, and also just to notice, like, how much we've evolved. I think that when so many of us joined in 2016 to 2018, we were, younger queers who were really looking for community and maybe felt pretty isolated. And I know that, like, where I am today, my connection to my Vietness and my queerness, like, feels so deeply ingrained. And a [00:21:00] huge part of that is because of having a container like QTViet. I was also gonna talk about Ordinary People, because it's actually a show that we're doing a audio visual storytelling performance that is led by one of the QTViet members, Jop, uh, Nguyen. And it's gonna include, several other QTViet members that are gonna be, contributing as, like, a band. there have been music and songs and videos and animations and, yeah, lots of different elements to really bring to life, like, what it feels like for our parents to, experience their homeland, their escape, their journey here, and then also how we really, how we connect to that story. Miata Tan: Thank you for sharing, Jessie. Sadly, this interview is airing after the Ordinary People performance, but I'll play a little snippet in a bit. Jean, final question. with this 10-year anniversary of QTViet Cafe, how do you see your recent [00:22:00] adventures informing your work? How you organize, how you gather Jean Pham: I think after the trip, there was, like, a re-invigoration of, purpose honestly, like, a new wave of renewed energy and also new people who were joining the space. we started practicing a lot more solidarity work. I think almo- almost immediately after returning, there were a few events that was in solidarity with, Palestine. And as we were returning from the trip, last year was also the 50th anniversary of the war in Vietnam ending, and so we used that as an opportunity to draw connections between how, the conditions of the Vietnam War was truly, like, politically activating for a lot of young people in the '60s, similarly to um, the genocide uh, Palestine was politically activating for people now, uh, and how, like, have a shared struggle. with 10 years of QTViet Cafe, I think it's more evident that QTViet is an, like, entity, a group that needs to exist. and we always invite people to join us. if anyone's listening who is diaspora queer and trans Vietnamese, is looking [00:23:00] for community, you know, looking for language classes or, like, just, uh, ways to build, you know, we're always more than happy to join people. You know, last year, Jessie and a a couple other friends organized this amazing trip to New York. there was really this big energy around uniting all the different scattered parts of QTViets all over and coming together and understanding that, you know, we, we all, um, um, have a lot in common. and so I, I do think that was really uplifted and highlighted in our trip, this feeling of, like, you know, we're not- we're actually not so alone, and there's so many of us, and we're, like, we're all so powerful. Miata Tan: Beautiful. I think that's a perfect place to end. Thank you all so much for joining me today Jessie Nguyen: Yay. Thank you so much  Sage Tran: Thank you so much. Thank you.  Jean Pham: I know, this is so lovely. Thank you. Miata Tan : That was Sage Tran, Jean Pham, and Jessie Nguyen with the QTViet Cafe Collective. Their new documentary, Dong Hue: Of the Same Womb, premieres this Sunday, June 14th at the Presidio Theatre in San Francisco. That's part of the 22nd Annual International Queer Women of Color [00:24:00] Film Festival, this year featuring 47 films, 10 world premieres, all totally free and open to the public. so if you're in the Bay, this is well worth your time. You can also catch QTViet Cafe's new documentary in San Jose on Saturday, June 20th at a screening hosted by the Q Corner, followed by a Q&A with Sage Tran, the filmmaker that you just heard from. For links to these events and more about QTViet Cafe and how you can get involved in the collective, check out the show notes for this episode. That's on our website at kpfa.org/program/APEXexpress Coming up next, queer and trans Hmong communities in California's Central Valley. But first, here's a taste of Ordinary People, a recent live performance by QTViet Cafe recorded in Oakland last month. ​ Miata Tan : [00:25:00] [00:26:00] [00:27:00] That was a live recording from Ordinary People by the QTViet Cafe Collective,  in Oakland last month. This is APEX Express, a weekly radio show uplifting the voices and stories of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Tonight, in honor of Pride Month, we're turning our attention to queer Asian American communities right here in Northern California: who they are, how they organize, and the future they are fighting for. Miata Tan: My next guests are Shai Chang and Christine Thao from Queer Hmong Intersectional Pride, also known as QHIP. QHIP grows out of Hmong Innovating Politics, a grassroots advocacy group based [00:28:00] in Fresno and Sacramento, and focuses on building community and political power for queer and trans Hmong communities in California's Central Valley. Here's my conversation with Shai and Christine. Miata Tan : You both so much for joining me today on APEX Express. Could you share a little bit about yourself? Who are you, and what is your work with Hmong Innovating Politics? Shai Chang: Hi, my name is Shai, pronouns are they and them. I'm trans, non-binary, also Hmong, located in Yokuts Valley, Fresno, California. the work that I do in Hmong Innovating Politics is that I am a community organizer. I'm the Fresno Trans and Queer Community Organizer, I work specifically in the program called Queer Hmong Intersectional Pride, or QHIP, Q-H-I-P. And we do a lot of really great work with our trans and queer, in particular, like, intersectional folks, people of color within our, our communities and our members and our base to organize to fight, fascism, racism, also, like, transphobia and forms [00:29:00] of hate, moving us towards social justice and liberation. Miata Tan : It's really important work, and I'm excited to get into more of what, Queer Hmong Intersectional Pride looks like, Christine, could you share a little bit about yourself? who are you, and how long have you been with, HIP and QHIP?  Christine Thao : Thank you so much for inviting my name is Christine Thao. I use she/they pronouns, and I am currently here on Nisenan, occupied Nisenan land here in the South Sacramento area. my role is the Sacramento, Trans Queer Community Organizer. And so I came into HIP, back in 2020, so during the COVID pandemic, and, um, I came on board as the administrative assistant. um, in 2024, I transitioned into the community organizer role.  Miata Tan : Lovely. Yeah. Can't wait to get into the work that you do and the campaigns. to ground us in the history of, Hmong communities in America, Shai, could you speak to, who [00:30:00] the Hmong Americans are? I know that Fresno and Sacramento is home to some of the largest populations of Hmong people in the States. Shai Chang: Yeah, definitely. so the Hmong communities are from Southeast Asia, very much like indigenous folks that live within the mountain ranges and the hills. and the reason why we came to America was because of the Secret War the war that happened in Southeast Asia. one of our community members General Vang Pao was involved within this war and then pulled in the rest of the Hmong community to be part of this it is to say that, like many of our young men during that time was pulled into the war, and they were 13, maybe even 14, 15, and younger who were, pulled into the war to fight for America, um, with the promise of that America was going to give them a place that they could call home it was in 1975 where the war ended and, that's when the military went ahead and was able to, because of Ronald Reagan signed, um, a letter for immigration for, [00:31:00] these Hmong folks and refugees to come into the United States. Miata Tan : Yeah, perhaps you can take us back to then, 2018 when, QHIP sort of came to life. what was the need that you were seeing for, queer and trans Hmong people in, in specifically Fresno and, and Sacramento where you all are based?  Shai Chang: the way Hmong communities have always existed was very much to be lay low, you know, not be sticking your head out. And so to be very clear, it's that we are still struggling, economically. we are still very much struggling racially. The ICE attacks definitely impacted our communities we are still very much immigrants and still very much not necessarily having a place of home. But internally is that the Hmong community still very much holds on to, like, the, the traditions. And so they're very patriarchal, um, very strict gender roles, and because of these things have then developed into, gender-based violence [00:32:00] as, like, trans and queer folks, it's that we definitely do experience another deeper layer of the oppressions, especially also in our community because there isn't actually any language in Hmong to talk about what trans or queerness is, where there's no exact word to describe, like, gay or lesbian and things like that. So there is definitely, like, an erasure that also has happened, and in the Hmong community is actually very conservative. Uh, But HIP was already a very progressive organization. And so it was in 2018 because of Hmong innovating politics coming to Fresno. it was at the Hmong New Years, I saw them. I was like, “Oh my gosh, I know who you are. I love you. Like, if there's anything I can do, please let me know,” ‘ Mai Thao was able to pull me in. It was like, “Hey, I want you to do something with us.” and with- was then funded three thousand dollars through HIP, to be able to go ahead and organize for whatever it means for me to trans queer Hmong work. during that time, it grew from, like, me, three people to having, like, fifteen people, [00:33:00] meet, once a week for three hours, and then another three hours we would go out and hang out. and so it really became this place for a social space for particularly, and, and I will name it, it's that majority of the folks in that space was gay cis Hmong men. And it wasn't until a year later from that first time that we first met in 2018 to we had a really hard conversation about our future, about the political work that that we should be doing. and so I've been with HIP for four years, and we've officialized during that time QTPIP to be a program, within HIP, and yeah, it's been really good. I don't have to worry about funding and things and organizing around that front end, and HIP has been able to be s- very supportive in being able to see that, and we can really work on the ends of what does it mean for us to organize around liberation and being on the ground with our community  Miata Tan : Yeah, definitely. It's interesting to hear about the progression from [00:34:00] perhaps a group that was maybe more apolitical moving into that political space.  Shai Chang: we've also been, struggling still even now to land on what it means for us to fight more intersectionally. that's where, like, QHIP and Queer Hmong and intersectional pride comes from, right? Is this word intersectional, coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw, is that We do have these cross identities that exist within ourselves. And so would love to have Christine talk more about what actually this issue is within not just Hmong communities, Hmong and trans queer communities. Christine Thao : Thank you, Shy. so Queer Hmong Intersectional Pride, we officially launched the program back in 2024. our QHIP program, It is open to young people between ages, 18 to 25. uh, young trans queer folks. Some go to college. Some, currently looking to be employed. Young people who are impacted, [00:35:00] young people who want to get involved, right, who, who do care about, this work, and who care about social justice, it's a eight-month program And our gatherings are, we call them our huddles, our QHIP huddles. And they're, we do them about biweekly, I can speak a little bit for Sacramento.  we've been meeting up at a cafe. We also use our office space. And, this is just a really a moment in time for our members to, bring up and have critical conversations about things that are happening in their lives or things that they're seeing in their community. Miata Tan : Perhaps you could speak more to the organizing piece. What does this look like? Um, what sort of work are y'all up to? Shai Chang: Some of the ways in which we have organized, in our community is through the framework of BBB. It's our belong, believe, become, and it sounds really cheesy, but this is really how we mobilize our people, we know as trans and queer people, especially as a person of color, we don't know and have enough spaces of [00:36:00] belonging. we actually have a, such a hard time believing in ourselves, and because of that, we have such a hard time in becoming. And this sounds like the story of literally just transitioning. when you Transition is that you really need to have a space of, believing in yourself. You need to have a space in which you can belong, where you are safe, and then through that you can actually become and this person that you have always wanted to be. This is how we mobilize and organize our members and our community because once they start practicing this ability to be able to believe in themselves, have the spaces for them to organize and organize with other people. and to figure out, like, , what is our campaign strategy? What is the ways in which we wanna win in our community, right? And Uh, in gender-affirming care in Fresno and the Central Valley was very, very hard. many of the times folks will have to go to, like, the bigger cities like LA SF to get their care that they needed. We need actual, like, [00:37:00] materialistic wins for our communities so that way they can get to where they need to be. when I'm talking about Materialistic things, it's that, we need them to be housed. We need them to have the affordable, uh, care. We need them to have, the affirming care that they are needing, we know how hard it is for, in particular, trans and queer people to be able to afford literally anything. and it's so much more harder for them to find a career or a job, in a place where they actually also can live and exist through their identities. we've seen the, impacts of, ICE and immigration on our own communities these were, like, the works that were coming out constantly for our communities to fight for, these kind of justice issues, through these ways, we've been able mobilize and move our people to what does it mean for us to actually start thinking about a campaign strategy for us to win some kind of materialistic need and, of course, we work with youths a lot, right? So where is our youth justice at? And this is literally our youth justice, right? We're having our young people share their voices. We [00:38:00] have our young adults organizing in the community, um, doing protestings, and fighting against the system. in particular, more recently, this, board of supervisor in Fresno County banned and denied, LBGTQ books in the Fresno County libraries. and we've organized to get people to show up to write letters and to really be there, and hundreds of people shown up and yet they still continue to, not hear their own constituency and their own community They continuously vote against us. that's why HIP is political, right? Is that we have our civic engagement side, is that, okay, well, it sounds like we need to vote them out, right? And that's what is it mean, and that's what it's about now.  Miata Tan : Yeah, I hear you. It sounds like you're really helping to build political power within Hmong communities in, in Fresno and Sacramento. I'm curious, what has wins look like, uh, for your groups there? how have, you perhaps helped to show those material, changes [00:39:00] for your young people? Shai Chang: Uh, to be honest, it's not much, We're still very new into formed more as a social group in 2018, and just finally became, you know what? Let's be political as f***.  Let's be authentic as f***, you know? y'all really wanna make trans and queer identities political, Then let's be political. and we've just started mobilizing, moving around those kind of things and identities only just more recently, right? As Christine mentioned, in  But the wins that we can really claim a name is that we have a 100% retention rate for our members. yeah. Um, we have tripled the amount of members that we had since then. and we are so excited for us to be able to, like, move and mobilize with our people intentionally and not just like, “Oh, we just need to be here for critical mass,” it is a two-part, right? It's that, one, we need critical mass. We And the other part of this is that we [00:40:00] people to come in intentionally to be a part of this movement work. I actually went to present about QHIP more recently, and they asked, “Oh my gosh, is there any, like, open meetings that you have flyers about? Like, when do y'all meet? And then, like, do you have a flyer for that? And I can share it with, my members.” And I was like, “Actually, we do meet, and it– we do meet biweekly on Fridays. The members themselves are holding the space for the meeting. and so I can ask them about that, but I also wanna let you know that it's not necessarily an open invitation for folks to just come in whenever they want.” We want people to come in intentional, and we want people to engage intentionally. And this is how we want us to move away from this autopilot into being able actively making changes and fights for our communities that will win us materialistic wins. Obviously in this administration, in the Trump administration, um, it has not been easy. just two years ago, they actually closed, the only LGBTQ [00:41:00] homeless shelter in Fresno, and a lot of folks now have, like, a hard time understanding where to go and what and how to navigate it. the Fresno, like, LGBTQ center also closed their doors for, like, the first time in, like, a long And so there is a lot of different impacts as impacting our community, from, like, LGBTQ centers closing, LGBTQ-serving organizations slowing down, And the way that our members and our community and our base have been organizing is As a community resource with one another is that like, ” Hey, I have an extra bed. Y'all can come sleep and crash ” there.” you hungry?” Let's go get food.” Right? Really checking with each other and also being able to ask our community for funding as So HIP, we were able to organize and did a fundraiser back in March 50K. That's huge we also know there are impacts that also is beyond us, too. it was with this past, like, Hmong New Year [00:42:00] that we did, that we wanted to do a Hmong New Year action, an action to really fundraise for our families who were detained by ICE. And so we did a mutual aid fundraiser, asking our community members to donate money, and we were able to raise… we only did it for, like, three hours, and we were able to raise $700. So we're like, ” What if we kept going?” Right? And that's where our fundraiser for 50K came from. so there is, like, ways in which we are trying to organize and mobilize our communities. And, to be very honest is that HIP and, QVIP is not necessarily a direct service organization and not necessarily in that way. I think many of the times people see HIP as like, “Oh, you're here to save us,” we're not that, right? We're really here to mobilize with our community, uh, we have our youth organization over in Edison High School, they were pushed into a small classroom, storage room, actually, for band and also, sports as well. And so it, it was being disruptive a lot. one of our [00:43:00] previous, like, young adult members recognized that, and they were like, ” Sh-uh, Shy and HIP, Please, can y'all do something about this issue?” And we're like, “No.” But we'll do it with you, right? and so we came in, we taught them about organizing, and literally those youths were able to organize themselves to have a classroom now, they remember that. They hold onto that, right? Regardless if we were here or not, they will still be able to know that and hold onto And so it's very much like that as well with our members, is that we want them to be able to organize within among themselves without having the need of, of HIP and entities being able to, have the, have the solution for them Miata Tan : mm, that makes a lot of sense. Really being able to work with community and give them tools so then they can continue to build is something really powerful that, you do at both HIP and QHIP. I'm curious, with this very challenging political moment that we're living through, not only for queer and trans folks, but immigrant communities as [00:44:00] well, how are you holding this, this pain alongside, trying to also celebrate and honor your communities, um, and especially your queer and trans community members? Shai or Christine,  Christine Thao : At HIP we have what is called third spaces, and third spaces are heart spaces. these are, spaces where our young people, they continue to, build their organizing. They get to organize with one another and with HIP, to hold space to build community, to build belongingness, To show up, be present, make connections. is also a space where our young people, they get to decompress as well,  in a world where it feels so chaotic, we do a lot of, the hard stuff with organizing, but then organizing can be so fun. and our young people, they get to see both sides, right, get to experience that. What I'm holding onto is being [00:45:00] engaged and getting involved, it is, Um, How can we connect our young people, to our community partners, right? To make those connections, to build deeper, this year it looks like us, being more intentional about our capacity and who we are, building out with, um… I'm on, I'm currently on the planning community for Elk Grove Pride, and so, uh, our young people are also a part of that, where they get to lead a role, and create, spaces of celebration, right? there's A lot of different opportunities our young people are also involved in, and, it, it is that wanting our young people to, feel empowered to get involved in these spaces as well.  Miata Tan : Yeah. Lovely. Thank you so much, Christine. It sounds like you're really able to create, a beautiful space and community for your young people. Shy, uh, to close out, I'd love to know what's on the horizon for QHIP. It's Pride Month. unfortunately this episode is airing after Fresno Pride, but, perhaps you could [00:46:00] speak a little bit to that and what else is on the horizon. Shai Chang: Sure thing. the first thing I need to say is Happy Pride Month. so Happy Pride Month, everyone. Fresno always hosts their Pride parade, always the first Saturday of, of the Pride month it is On Saturday, June 6. Pride parade over at Tower District in Fresno. it's gonna be very fun. It's super exciting. We will be marching in there all together, and the theme for this year is, Pride Without Border. we're gonna be Extra powerful in calling out all of the different, struggles that our intersectional folks are all facing and being able to march together in liberation. what's also coming up next is, I- I'm foreseeing it to happen probably next month or in August, is that we will have a third space event to really celebrate Pride. we spend all our energy to be part of the Pride parade preparing our members and supporting them, but we haven't necessarily celebrated QHIP's [00:47:00] own Pride, you know, we work very politically in election works, and so we always have a bunch of these like, door hangers, Vote yes on Prop 3,” things like that, right? And so we have so much of those paper, and so what we usually do during this, like, Pride event that we do in QHIP is that we- we use these as an opportunity for us to do trash drag. it's an opportunity for us to get glammed out everyone gets to participate creating this, like, image through the trash drag. And so we're excited to be able to do that, so please keep on the lookout. Miata Tan : Sorry, why is it called trash drag? I'd love to know.  Shai Chang: It's because, like, we had s- you know, this much f- okay, we, we have a lot of flyers from the our elections, And especially this year. You know how in, in the mail you'll get so much, like, ” Vote for this person, vote for this person.” all of this is all paper that is then thrown away without any second thought. and we will make them, and we'll make, like, thousands of copies , right? But we never are able to pass it all out. what we do is that we will go ahead and reuse them one last time for [00:48:00] them to have an opportunity for them to shine, We'll have them split up into teams, and then use all the different trash that they can gather and use, and glue them, tape them , staple them to make a dress, to make an outfit for this one person that they're gonna designate to be the drag mother for their team. Miata Tan : I love that. That sounds like so much fun.  Shai Chang: Yeah. We're gonna be doing it in Fresno and also in Sacramento, so we'll figure out a ways for everyone to be involved.  Miata Tan : Oh, how wonderful. Christine, could you speak to what events are coming up in Sacramento for us?  Christine Thao : We are also having, um, Elk Grove Pride on June 20th. It's from 5:00 to 9:00. it's gonna be at the Elk Grove Laguna Town Hall. And so community is very welcome to attend. It is a free event. Think of it like, kind of like a resource gathering with, um, some really amazing performances we have, a lot of like, BIPOC TQ, artistes, and then also vendors [00:49:00] as well. So please show up and, would love to, to meet folks and connect with folks in these spaces.  Miata Tan : Beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing, Christine, and we'll be sharing all the details of how you can get involved and learn more about QHIP and HIP at the end of this episode as well. Thank you both so much for joining me today.  Shai Chang: Thank you so much for having me. Miata Tan: That was my conversation with Shai Chang and Christine Thao at Queer Hmong Intersectional Pride, also known as QHIP Miata Tan : this is APEX Express on 94.1 KPFA, a weekly radio show uplifting the voices and stories of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. To close out tonight's show, I have one final guest. Cynthia Fong is the lead organizer at Lavender Phoenix, also known as LavNix, A Bay Area organization building power for queer and trans Asian and Pacific Islander communities. You may have heard of them. Their new executive director joined us on [00:50:00] air just a few months ago. Here's a short conversation with Cynthia Fong on Queer Joy, community power, and what LavNix has coming up this summer Cynthia Fong: Thank you so much for having us. My name is Cynthia. I use they/them pronouns, and I'm here with Lavender Phoenix. Lavender Phoenix, we build trans, non-binary, queer API power through organizing in the Bay Area. We work with our members to demand true solutions to care and safety, and we're excited to be here with you all. Miata Tan : I'm so excited to close out the episode with you. And as we're in Pride Month, I hoped you might be able to share a little bit about queer joy and how Lavender Phoenix is celebrating that at the moment, honoring each other.  Cynthia Fong: Yeah, absolutely. Especially in times like this, times of escalated violence against our communities, we know that queer joy, queer resistance, and queer power are truly antidotes to the systems that are making us sick. For us, that means in our work, we fight for care not cops, [00:51:00] we fight for budgets that truly reflect the needs of our people, we fight for a free Palestine, and we fight to abolish ICE. If you agree with all of the things that I just said we also do a lot of leadership exchange programs, and that is where we really cultivate that belonging and community in our trans and queer API community. Miata Tan : Oh, I love that. Could you share a little bit more about the leadership exchange with our listeners?  Cynthia Fong: Yeah, absolutely. This is one of our time-honored traditions. It's called the Queer Leadership Exchange, it's also known as LEX. And this program will run for two weekends in July. we aim to provide training on fundamental organizing skills, trans and queer history in the Bay Area, and really to provide an opportunity for trans and queer Asian and Pacific Islanders to connect with, with each other in a space that's made by and for us. We invite you to apply if you are trans or queer [00:52:00] and if you identify as Asian or Pacific Islander. Our deadline is July 1st. And in these two weekends, we usually gather with about 20 to 30 folks, and it's really interactive. We have a mix of activities that we invite people to, to skill up on and, and really to become the leaders that our movements need. Miata Tan : Love that. Could you share a little bit about some leaders you've seen come out of these programs? Like, what does that look like? How are they, helping to, to organize community?  Cynthia Fong: the folks who graduate from our LEX program, it, it's really a wide range of people, whether it's trans and queer APIs at work in other nonprofit sectors. It's also our folks who may be supporting our community in other ways, like as artists, as students, educators, as therapists. We see a lot of people take these skills and translate them into a variety of different sectors that we know trans and queer API people… we're everywhere, more and more so now. And we would [00:53:00] love every single one of us to be grounded in our histories when we do that work. And not only our histories, but also in a firm sense of belonging with one another, to know that we're not alone, to know that there are other trans and queer Asians and Pacific Islanders here in the Bay Area, all of whom share these values of wanting to build working class power. Miata Tan : that's so nice, a more multi-generational, multi-sector,  ​ Cynthia Fong: And, you know, we take it as an opportunity, too, for us to build with other organizations and people who, who are like-minded. We don't take it for granted. We know the Bay Area is a place where it's very diverse, where We are actively fighting for what values we believe in and whose agenda we are willing to put in power. And so we really welcome a wide range of people. No matter where you are, the real important thing is you, you share our values. you believe in true solutions to care and safety that are not rooted in systems of policing or incarceration  Miata Tan : [00:54:00] That's really powerful. to close this out , Could you share a little bit more about what's on the horizon for Lavender Phoenix later in the year? You mentioned a few of the campaigns, Care Not Cops. perhaps if you wanna dive into some of those.  Cynthia Fong: Yeah, absolutely. Um, we are joining a really big coalition of people from Alameda to Sacramento to San Francisco, all of whom are paying a lot of attention to our budgets, when you say Care Not Cops, we see our budgets to really be that moral document that show us where our priorities are. For us, June is Pride Month, but it's also budget season, Um, it gives us a really big opportunity to be as loud as we can about what we believe. and in San Francisco with $16 billion, it's quite shameful that we have our community partners like the San Francisco Community Health Center, Lyric, our youth programs being defunded, all the while new jails are being opened, all the while the police are getting new toys, they're [00:55:00] showing us that the money exists but it's not for us. And so we join the voices that are demanding for a people's budget, and we know that that's gonna be an ongoing fight. We've been in it for a few years now, and we plan to continue. In terms of our organization, we're actually super excited to say we have 100% of our membership really diving into what the next five years looks like for us. Folks may remember we came onto APAICS to announce a name change a few years ago. We were formerly known as API Equality Northern California. We came on APAICS a few years ago to share that we've changed to Lavender Phoenix, and we anticipate some new changes on the horizon being announced at the end of the year as well, hopefully with deeper clarity about what the next five years will look like for us. Miata Tan : Ooh. Interesting. It's not a new name change, is it?  Cynthia Fong: No, no. We, we're gonna stay… We're keeping the t- we're keeping our name. We love our name. We love the history in our name. But it's really just the theory of [00:56:00] change, you know? I think our moment today is very unique, very different, very politically tumultuous, and we wanna be sharp. We wanna know what we're organizing for, what we're organizing against, and, and what it means for us to build power.  Our last theory of change process is what resulted in us focusing on leadership programs, leadership development. It is also where we decided that healing is really important for our people. It's also where we decided that safety is really important for our people. And so I anticipate that it's gonna be a deepening not, not a change, but a deepening of how we orient to this bigger picture of our movement for liberation and justice. Miata Tan : So beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing, Cynthia. Um, it was really lovely to speak with you.  Cynthia Fong: Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much. I, hope to come Back soon. Miata Tan : That was Cynthia Fong with Lavender Phoenix. If you want to learn more about LavNix, we sat down with their team earlier in the year. Find that episode and their leadership exchange program in the show notes. Tonight, we also heard [00:57:00] from the QTViet Cafe Collective and Queer Hmong Intersectional Pride. Links to all of these organizations and their upcoming work are at kpfa.org/program/APEXexpress. This is APEX Express KPFA, airing every Thursday evening at 7:00 PM. Thank you for tuning in tonight APEX Express is a proud member of the Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality, a network focused on long-term movement building, capacity infrastructure, and leadership support for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders committed to social justice. Learn more at aacre.org. This program produced by Ayame Keane-Lee, Anuj Vaidya, Isabel Li, Jalena Keane-Lee, Miko Lee, Miata Tan, Preeti Mangala Shekar and Swati Rayasam. Tonight's show was produced by me, Miata Tan. Get some rest y'all.   The post APEX Express – 6.11.26 – Pride, Power, and Queer AAPI Voices appeared first on KPFA.

Individually they were just like those guys who like to hang around the comic book shop and talk comics but together they form EMX! Check out Thacher's books a DemonWeaselStudios.com In this eXplicit, uncut and unedited episode of EMX we review Marvel Comics X-Men books of April 2026: Cyclops #3 Generation X-23 #3 Inglorious X-Force #4 Logan - Black, White and Blood #4 Magik and Colossus #3 Moonstar #2 Psyclocke - Ninja #4 Rogue #4 Storm - Earth's Mightiest Mutant #3 Uncanny X-Men #26-27 Uncanny X-Men Annual #1 Wolverine #18-19 X-Men #28 X-Men United #2 [RSS] Subscribe [RSS] EMX Subscribe [Apple Podcasts] Subscribe [Google Podcast] Subscribe All Podcasts  Email: EMP@EarthsMightiestPodcast.com Website: http://www.EarthsMightiestPodcast.comFacebook Group: http://facebookgroup.earthsmightiestpodcast.com/Viet's Website: http://www.comedianviet.comThacher's Website: http://www.DemonWeasel.com  

Viet und Jolina teilen in der 76. Folge ihre Eindrücken von der Dokomi und sprechen über die uns direkt in die Hölle führen: "Hell's Paradise Staffel 2", "Baki-Dou", "Needy Girl Overdose", "Devil May Cry" Season 2, & "Vox Machina" Staffel 4. Timecodes: 00:00:00 Start 00:00:10 Dokomi 2026 00:14:16 Baki-Dou (Netflix) 00:23:09 Needy Girl Overdose (Crunchyroll) 00:32:53 Devil May Cry Season 2 (Netflix) 00:39:04 Hell's Paradise (Crunchyroll) 00:47:20 Vox Machina Season 4 (Prime Video) 00:54:00 Crunchyroll Awards 2026 Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/pixelviet Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pixelviet/ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/pixelviet.bsky.social TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pixelviet Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/pixelviet

A weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, deejays, and activists. Tonight's APEX Express show is focused on food justice and Asian America. First, Host Miko Lee talks with artist Macy Tran about their work on food as a form of resistance, and then she speaks with researcher Dr. Milkie Vu around her work on food insecurity and Asian American communities.   Show TRANSCRIPT [00:00:00] Opening: Apex Express Asian Pacific expression. Community and cultural coverage, music and calendar, new visions and voices, coming to you with an Asian Pacific Islander point of view. It's time to get on board the Apex Express.   [00:00:30] Miko Lee: Welcome to Apex Express. I'm your host, Miko Lee, and tonight we're talking about food justice and Asian America. First, we talk with artist Macy Tran about their work on food as a form of resistance, and then we speak with researcher Dr. Milkie Vu around her work on food insecurity and Asian American communities. Join us tonight as we delve into food justice. Welcome to Apex Express, Macy Tran, I'm so happy to meet you.    [00:01:03] Macy Tran: I'm happy to meet you as well, Miko. Thanks for having me.   [00:01:06] Miko Lee: I just wanna start with the question I ask all of my guests, which is, who are your people and what legacy do you carry with you?    [00:01:13] Macy Tran: I come from a legacy of powerful Vietnamese people who were born and raised in Vietnam and now are part of the diaspora in Minnesota. I come from food peoples and healers and chefs and creatives of all sorts who have learned how to make ends meet and to adapt and to work with what they have. I come from a long line of people who have loved through food and who have used food as a means of cultural preservation and education and survival, which has now been passed on to me. There's so much to say about who I come from. My grandparents have stories of survival and resilience throughout the American War in Vietnam. And it's only because of just their love and the decisions they've made on behalf of their love that I am here today. My parents own a restaurant in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Vietnamese restaurant called Pho 79/Caravelle That has a 40 plus year legacy of serving Chinese and Vietnamese food to the Minneapolis community. It started with my grandma's brother, and then it passed down to my grandma. And now my grandma has since passed and has passed it down to my father and my mother. And so I like to say that it's restaurant people who raised me. I grew up sleeping in the booths and all of the aunties, even though they weren't blood aunties were my aunties. Because our survival was just so foundationally just predicated on food and what we served and shared with others, and also what we ate at home and the celebrations that we would have both at the restaurant and at home. This is really what makes me.    [00:03:20] Miko Lee: Thank you for sharing. Do you wanna talk more about the legacy part?   [00:03:24] Macy Tran: I carry a legacy of peoples who really know the importance of food and the way we use food to care and support each other. Even in the most hard of times when my family was. On a boat with 200 other people and didn't know if they were going to survive when they kind of landed abroad. The shores of Indonesia, food has been with them throughout it all, and it is how I was raised to love and care for people. I see the ways that food is not just a means for sustenance, but also as joy, as creativity, as love, and I carry all of those, decisions and skills with me.    [00:04:19] Miko Lee: Thank you so much. I learned first about your book when I read a piece that you wrote for 18 million Rising, and I'm wondering if you could just talk about how that piece around food as a form of resistance, how did that come about?   [00:04:33] Macy Tran: I have a friend who works with 18 million Rising, and since the federal occupation in Minneapolis, I've been doing a lot of food justice organizing here. And it has been a way in which I have seen and expressed just the skills and love that I give to my community. I was just feeling compelled to give food. That was what I knew. In the past two months as my friends have been going out on the streets following ICE agents around legally observing, I have felt that my role in this movement is to feed frontline folks who are out doing the work and also feeding our community during a time in which it's very scary and difficult to leave your home without fear of being abducted. In Minneapolis we have created systems of, food resource sharing that have been really powerful to witness and experience and to get engaged with. And so one way that I've been doing it is I've been cooking community meals most Sundays, sometimes Saturdays that feed 200 plus people.   [00:05:47] I am providing delicious food for my friends who are out on the streets and coming home and hungry and cold. And I also helped facilitate and organize a food distribution at my parents' restaurant after the murder of Alex Preti I really wanted to not just be involved in like acting and responding to what was happening but as an artist, as a creative, I felt the need for also remembering and preserving and reflecting about what's been going on in Minneapolis. I kept being pulled in all these different directions and was organizing over here and supporting this community and doing this. And then when my friend reached out to me at 18 million Rising,. It was such a great opportunity for me to really reflect on my practice of food as resistance and food as justice. I've been a food writer in the Twin Cities for about the past three years. Food, events, I mostly cover restaurant stories and festivals and theater and all that sort of stuff in the BIPOC community here in the Twin Cities. And I realized writing this piece that this was the first time in a while, that I had written something actually for myself from my heart that was in my voice. Without an editor saying, no, you have to say it this way. No, we have to cut that part out. No, you use too many words here, and so I really took this piece as an opportunity to share what my life was like here in my own words and my own experiences. And just use it as a moment to really reflect and share the things that I'm learning and the way that I am practicing and using food as a bridge to healing and transformation during this time in which we are ripe for needing that.   [00:07:47] Miko Lee: Can you roll back a little bit and talk to me about how you got started as an organizer? What, when you first learned about social justice work and what pulled you in?   [00:07:56] Macy Tran: It definitely wasn't the way that I was raised. I was born in the us my parents were born in Vietnam and then came over to the US and they really raised me with the mentality of you just put your head down and you work hard and you don't really get involved. And like, yeah, you care for others, but mostly you care for your family. I was actually someone who was always butting heads with my family because I was like, do you not see all of these issues that are happening in the world? Like the issue, the systems that were implicated in. We have to care beyond just ourselves, and we would always butt heads about that.   [00:08:33] Miko Lee: At what age did that start?    [00:08:35] Macy Tran: Oh, probably when I was a teenager. around that time I was finding my voice. and it wasn't until college that I really started putting words and frameworks and theory into what I have already witnessed in my family and my community, which is just community care and the ways that facilitates justice and transformation I would say since college that I really started actively organizing primarily on campus. I went to a smaller liberal arts school. So organizing and just getting involved in our community in that way was pretty easy. And like after I graduated college, I spent five years in Southeast Asia, one year in Vietnam, and then four years in Thailand where I was primarily working at the intersections of education and refugee justice and environmental justice. I got to meet all sorts of organizers and activists from across the region who have taught me. Really everything, a lot of what I know about organizing and what it means to show up specifically within a Southeast Asian context and how to use kind of my feet in both worlds, both my American political identity and my Southeast Asian political identity.   [00:09:59] And to merge those for the better and for my community. So I would say that. I've always had a big heart ever since I was little. And actually my parents were always like, you are too trusting. You people are gonna take advantage of you in the world. And I was like, I just wanna live in this world with so much love. And the way that they taught me to do that was. Through food and through reliability and just what it means to show up consistently for my people. And so in some ways it was all baked into me, even though they might not see that and they might not have raised me in that way. I see the ways in which they have sacrificed for love and nourished their families through food and made incredibly scary risks for the freedom of their family and for their people, and for a new life. And I just feel like I'm walking in their footsteps, doing the same even if they might not feel that way.    [00:11:09] Miko Lee: So did you have to talk your family and the restaurant into getting involved in the food support work for activists in Minnesota?   [00:11:18] Macy Tran: it wasn't a challenging conversation to have and I was surprised by that.    [00:11:22] Miko Lee: Oh, great.    [00:11:23] Macy Tran: Um, yeah, my parents have been, actually, this is the most politically active and vocal I have seen them. It's really incredible. I would say that for a lot of actually the Vietnamese community that I've been witnessing in Minneapolis, like they're saying things that I never thought that they would say. They're putting analysis like what together? The Vietnamese community is, I would say, skews at least the older generation, I should say. The older generation of Viet folks skews pretty right wing, conservative Republican, Trump supporting. And I'm just seeing dissent for the first time. It's not always like that explicit, but it is, I would say in the past what I've seen is just like. When kind of rightwing or more Republican opinions come up, if people disagree with that, it's just like you're just quiet. But now I'm seeing a way in which like people are responding, commenting on social media, like posting publicly about it. It's just been really, really powerful. When I first started organizing in response to the federal occupation, my parents were really quite worried and they did not want me to get involved. And they didn't really understand why I felt compelled to do this. And then when Alex Prety was murdered, I. It was actually my auntie, my mom's youngest sister that brought up the idea of a food distribution because she was feeling like I just wanna do something and like, what is an avenue in which we can do something? Well, we have this restaurant. Mm-hmm. And so she proposed it to my parents first, which Oh    [00:13:05] Miko Lee: wow.   [00:13:06] Macy Tran: Love, shout out to her because    [00:13:09] Miko Lee: Thank you, auntie.    [00:13:10] Macy Tran: She did right. She did the hard work for me. I think I would've been a little more hesitant or would've taken a little bit more time to just process, like how to go about asking them, because there's just a different power dynamic there. Sure. But because my auntie is more of a peer mm-hmm. And she had this idea and she has also worked at the restaurant mm-hmm. For many, many years of her life. I think it really spoke to my parents and I think it really was a moment for them to connect the ways that this restaurant is so important to not only our family and how we show up in community, but also to our community in Minneapolis. Mm-hmm. I have traveled all across the world and have met people who have eaten at Pho 79 and have told me stories of getting engaged there, of getting a tattoo of the, like restaurant on their, on their arm. The, the logo. Yeah, the logo. It's crazy, you know, like people, and I've also heard generations of families like growing up on my parents' food. Mm-hmm. As we share food with people and they support our business, it's only because of our community that we've been able to survive this far you know?. My parents came to Minnesota with nothing, and it's only because of the kindness of other Minnesotans and other Vietnamese Minnesotans that we were able to get anywhere.   [00:14:35] In this moment they saw that and they saw that. We can, we have these resources. This won't be hard for us. We have everything here that we need. This is the channel in which we can work in. And yeah, they were just ready to do it. I think also my parents were ready to take a risk because the business was not doing well, we weren't, there were not people coming out to eat. Everyone was scared to go out to eat. People were not really spending money. And this was really ever since the pandemic and the way that has impacted the restaurant industry and particularly immigrant businesses, and then also the George Floyd uprisings and the way that just the, violence and also the transformation that happened to the street that we were on Eat Street. It just really changed the ways people saw that corridor, that business corridor. And it was a really big business impact. And so my dad was just, I think, in a place where he was really willing to take a risk and a stand for what he believed in. And my mom as well. As a way to also just like. Really be present in community and show that, hey, like we are out here and we believe in loving our community and seeing the ways that people are showing up for our community as and for our business as well. And honestly, since the food distribution business has been steady and I think. My parents are, I mean, they're definitely feeling relieved, but I'm just feeling so grateful that they stood on their values, you know, and they stood grounded in that. And as a result, like the community is reciprocating. and that is such a beautiful thing that I don't, I think my dad took a risk not knowing what would happen, because more exposure is not always good. And I've been telling him that, you know, especially with the Vietnamese community being, of, of his genera generation being more right wing and more conservative. He recognizes that and he recognizes that we had to do something. So I feel so proud of them for just being really chill and okay, and actually impassioned and compelled to do something.   [00:16:57] Miko Lee: It sounds like it brought you a little bit closer with your family too.    [00:17:00] Macy Tran: Definitely. Definitely did. Yeah. I feel like me and my family have never really been able to sit at a table and talk about politics and what's going on in the world without one of us just like getting activated or feeling defensive or not seeing each other. It is a terrible thing what has happened and what continues to happen in our city, under federal occupation and so much beauty and creativity and love has come from it. And I even feel that at the most micro scale between me and my parents.    [00:17:39] Miko Lee: Can you, share with us that are not located in Minnesota, what the experience is like of this federal occupation on a day to day? Like, we're talking today on March 2nd, and I say that because our world, everything's changing every day and this is gonna air on a separate day. So I wanna name that. So right now, what is it like when you're just walking through the streets in downtown Minneapolis ?   [00:18:01] Macy Tran: Yeah. It's interesting because when you ask me this, I think about my experience like a month ago and how different it was and it felt to walk around a month ago compared to now. A month ago. It. I was seeing a neighbor on every corner of major streets, like looking for ice. You know, I was seeing car caravans, honking and following ICE agents. It's interesting 'cause like I actually just had a friend visit from Milwaukee and. She was nervous about ice. She's Asian American as well, and she was like, should I be scared? What's actually going on? And I told her, actually, yes, what's going on is scary and violent. And I feel so safe because I am meeting neighbors I have never met before. I'm making small talk with people who are just. Out on the streets walking their dog in a way that they would not normally, I'm talking to business owners, we're talking about the impacts of this occupation. Everywhere I go, there were eyes and that felt really powerful and strong. And now that operation Metro Surge is technically over they are supposed to be withdrawing ICE agents from the city. I would say there is definitely a decrease in the number of ICE agents in our city. Activity is much slower. However I would say out in the suburbs of Minneapolis and St. Paul, they are seeing action and enforcement from ICE agents. That is. Either at the, kind of the same amount that we were receiving or escalated. The concentration is higher out in the suburbs And so even though things were quieter in the city, they were elsewhere. And    [00:19:57] Miko Lee: yeah, I just saw videos this morning of protesters that were peacefully marching that just got tackled. Actually by Minnesota Sheriff's department working in conjunction with ice. I know every state in every region is a little bit different. But I thought that was something that Governor Waltz was working on right?    [00:20:15] Macy Tran: So actually the city ordinance that you are talking about is actually on a Minneapolis City level. So that was a decision made by Mayor Fray. Oh, that's only city. So it's only MPD, Minneapolis Police Department, who is not supposed to assist in, federal and right. Federal enforcement. However, on a county level, that's different. I see. So sheriffs might be working with, I know it's like, so complic, what a mess complicated. I    [00:20:41] Miko Lee: know. This is the same, I mean, this is the same everywhere, right? Mm-hmm. It's all broken down. Okay. So, so I think I hear you saying that ICE has kind of moved on with the targeted big city approach and they're going out into the suburbs instead. Is that right?    [00:20:57] Macy Tran: Yes. There are still protestors, and observers going every day to the Whipple building. The Whipple building is where ICE agents are coming from, and so they have definitely recorded a decrease in the number of ICE vehicles. So the volume isn't as high, but the cars are still coming and we're still seeing enforcement and violence in our neighborhoods. Just the other day, just a few streets down, a person was abducted in our neighborhood in Minneapolis. And because the volume isn't as high, they're not as easily able to track. And so they're working a lot more under the radar. Yeah. Mm-hmm. And their tactics have become just a lot more. Under the radar as well. In the early days in January, it was really easy to identify ICE out-of-state license plate, tinted windows. Big vehicles like super easy. Nowadays they're putting like coexist bumper stickers and little things on their dashboards and like, you know, driving little sedans and it's definitely not as easy and they're moving a lot more covertly. And because Operation Metro Surge has technically decreased and because many of our frontline activists have been working at this for months and are getting tired. Mm-hmm. There is a really interesting transition period happening here. Mm-hmm. Where I think we're all trying to align on what is the next.   [00:22:31] What's the next step? Mm-hmm. How? How are we, what is the best way to move given that this is the way that ICE is operating now? Yeah,    [00:22:40] Miko Lee: right. Just    [00:22:41] Macy Tran: under reflection. Mm-hmm.    [00:22:42] Miko Lee: Under such sneaky circumstances, like what they recently did in New York at Columbia, showing up at Columbia University with a missing child picture of a little kid. And that's how they got entry into the dorms, which is so wrong to terrible get a student. So that's actually illegal to like misrepresent being a police officer when they're not, they're a nice officer and    [00:23:05] Macy Tran: mm-hmm.    [00:23:06] Miko Lee: Showing a photo, I mean, it's so awful.    [00:23:08] Macy Tran: Mm-hmm.    [00:23:09] Miko Lee: I'm wondering how people that don't live in Minnesota can get involved.   [00:23:14] Macy Tran: Hmm. The, greatest frontier currently that is in need of support is rent support. There are, probably hundreds of maybe thousands of people who are likely at risk of eviction in the Twin Cities, because they have not been able to work for the past two months without fear of being abducted. We're calling on Governor Waltz for an eviction moratorium, which would prevent folks from being evicted. Governor Waltz is the only person who really has jurisdiction to implement an immediate rental moratorium, and he's done that before during the pandemic, and so we're trying to make arguments that this is. A state of emergency people are like not able, they weren't able to work. Like people are going to get evicted putting calls to his office, sending emails. So that's one way to get involved from abroad, uh, or not abroad outside of Minnesota, but also abroad if you're abroad And listening to this. The other way was, is that there's a lot of hyper-local organizing that is happening within Minneapolis that I can speak to every. Neighborhood and corner, I feel like, of Minneapolis is being accounted for usually by a team of just volunteer mutual aid groups who are fundraising for rent, who are fundraising for groceries who are fundraising for utilities.   [00:24:45] And these are all like live fundraising pages on the internet. And if you have even just 10, $20 to spare to help a Minneapolis resident, um, not get evicted in the next month. Um, every dollar matters. In this moment, rent is due. Soon, we're just at the beginning of March. And if folks aren't able to pay rent now and they haven't been able to pay rent in the last couple of months, like this is only going to have a snowball effect. We cannot risk vulnerable neighbors migrants, immigrants being, like more of them being unhoused at this moment. We already in our city have so many unhoused people who are not being cared for by our city officials, who are having their encampments being taken down and who are already not receiving adequate support. Our system cannot handle an influx of more unhoused people and we can prevent this. I would say that is kind of the biggest frontier at the moment in terms of what I'm seeing organizing on the ground.    [00:26:01] Miko Lee: Would you have links that you could share with us definitely for rent support. That would be really great if, and I'll definitely, I'll add them to the Apex Express show notes so folks that wanna get involved can contribute and help support community. You wrote in your piece about books, lovely books and podcasts and things that inspired you, which I always love hearing about those things. And one of the books you wrote about was Rice and Baguette, A History of Food in Vietnam. Can you talk a little bit about it, how it deepened your understanding of food legacies and resistance?    [00:26:33] Macy Tran: Mm So I read that book while I was living in Vietnam actually. So it was really cool for me to, what I love about that book, it's a little like academic. I will say that it is a food history like you are reading history, you know, it's a little bit like dense at some points, um, for    [00:26:49] Miko Lee: the real foodie audience.    [00:26:51] Macy Tran: For real. I'm like, if, yeah, exactly. And luckily that's me. I was into it. What I loved about it were, the legends, like there were some what I, so in Vietnam when I was living there, something that I loved and was learning more was that like Vietnamese people have so many legends about folk legends about food, like the origins of the watermelon,, the origins of our bunte cake, which is the cake that we eat, the sticky rice cake we eat during, lunar New Year. There are so many Food origin stories that I just did not grow up being raised on. And so, this book talked about some of like, how did pho even get started, you know, is pho even truly Vietnamese? It's, that's a debate I'm not gonna have right now. But. I loved just hearing the greater context in which all of this existed, especially not growing up with those stories and being,    [00:27:55] Miko Lee: Hey, wait, what is the origin of watermelon?    [00:27:58] Macy Tran: So it's this like funny little. Story where, this prince essentially gets banished to an island with his wife. And then on this random island, he finds this like incredible fruit, the watermelon, and he's like, whoa, this is so delicious. I want I must show this to the people back at home, but they won't have me because I'm banished. And then he basically floats the watermelon back to the mainland and they find it and they're like, oh my gosh, this is so incredible. We must, invite this man back to the mainland.    [00:28:38] Miko Lee: How did they know it was from him? Did he like carve his name in the watermelon?    [00:28:43] Macy Tran: I don't know. It's actually been a while since I've heard this story, so I could be just like. You know, I don't know all the details. That's    [00:28:50] Miko Lee: okay. That's always better anyway.   [00:28:53] Macy Tran: just stories like that. I love to hear them. I also learned about what it was like to eat and cook during foreign occupation when, oh, you know, the French were colonizers mm-hmm. When the Chinese were colonizers. Mm-hmm. And just the incredible Vietnamese food ways that emerged from those periods of colonization. Mm-hmm. They were both brutal and violent and also full of adaptation and creativity and survival foods. And so the book just talked about all of that, and I just love knowing those stories that help me know the ways in which our people have been able to survive for this long and are now free under, foreign  occupation.    [00:29:40] Miko Lee: Speaking of, you mentioned creativity and adaptability, and you are a multihyphenate person, as an artist, as an organizer, as a writer, as a visual artist, collage maker, I'm wondering how your artistry impacts your organizing and vice versa. How do they speak to each other? How do they influence each other?    [00:30:01] Macy Tran: Hmm. I am someone who, when there is an issue or a problem that arises, I'm often just confronting it with what can I do? What can I like feasibly do? How can I show up? And I think my artistic practices actually help me slow down. Even the ways that I can show up in community and do things in community, I'm very responsive. I'm always like, okay let's do a thing. Let's organize it. Let's get our hands dirty. I am out there, I am organizing people, you know, like tangibly. And I think the ways that my artistic practices partner with that is that my artistic practices help me reflect and remember and deepen and find spiritual grounding and purpose. my art is a way that I bridge conversations with my ancestors and I bridge what it means to know myself and be a person, a community member, a Vietnamese American daughter in this moment, right? And it reminds me of the skills that I have and wanna bring to the world. It also helps me create different narratives for understanding what's happening and. For finding creative solutions and for collaborating with others. So I think I would honestly be so burnt out and exhausted and sad if it were not for my artistic practices. I think it's because of my artistic practices that I find energy, that I find belonging, that I find meaning in the work that I'm doing.    [00:31:51] Miko Lee: I love that answer. Can you share, because you brought this up, can you share about a conversation or an interaction you've had with an ancestor and how that's influenced you recently?   [00:32:03] Macy Tran: Hmm. That's such a great question. I'm going to tie this answer into Lunar New Year because, lunar New Year is a time in which our material world and the spiritual world really can converge in a meaningful way, at least for me. And every year when I celebrate Lunar New Year, I will do something different. I deepen my practices. I just kind of deepen what I know about. Folk tradition and ancestor worship. And every year I learned new things and I wanna try new things. And so this year was the first year that I built a public altar space in my living room. Usually I just have it in my bedroom or in a small corner of my home somewhere that's like usually private. But I built like. It wasn't like a tiny little altar, like it was big, you know, like I had photos of all my relatives on there. I had flowers, I had five kinds of fruits. I had, you know, little, every time I ate a meal, I was putting a meal aside for my family to eat with me. And, Some cultures you don't eat the food that you leave on the altar, but in my family we do. And the reason for that is because we get to become one with our ancestors. We get to embody what our ancestors are and eat as well and their spirits, and so this past Lunar New Year, I actually threw a, I had celebrations on both sides of the family. And then I organized a new year party for my chosen family who came from all walks of life. And the prompt for the party, it was a potluck. The prompt for the potluck was cook something or bring something that your ancestors would be just delighted to eat on the altar. And so we    [00:34:00] Miko Lee: love that.    [00:34:01] Macy Tran: Oh yeah. It was so sweet. People came out with their best work, I should say, like the food was fantastic. Our ancestors were eating well, and I was sitting there. And this altar was full of tiny little plates of food, beautiful flowers. I also asked people to bring pictures, photos of their ancestors or people that they wanna honor. Incense were lit. The room was filled with incense smoke, and I was just, there was a moment where I was just, kinda in the corner of the room just watching, you know, and I had a feeling like, wow, all of our ancestors are hanging out right now. Not only are me and my chosen family, you know, building a community and belonging for ourselves but also like. I could have never, and probably they could have never predicted that my friend's like Jewish grandpa was hanging out with my Vietnamese grandmother and grandfather, you know, or yeah, my friends like grandparents from Antigua are now hanging out with like my family members and it's, it was just a moment where I just felt not just the joy.   [00:35:16] And love in the space of connecting with my real, like my friends in that moment. But also just the miraculousness of what it meant to hold all of our ancestors in that space. And so, after that I ended up writing a piece on my substack, actually as a letter to my ancestors. I, I kept the altar up for a week, a week and a half. And on the last day I was ready to take it down and move it back upstairs into my room. But on the last day, I thought, I'm gonna light the incense one more time. And have my ancestors in the space as I write this piece to them. There were so many things I wanted to say to them. And also at the same time, I felt like as I was writing, they were saying things to me, this is what I have to teach you in this moment, is kind of what they were saying to me. This is like, this is what it's like to celebrate that under occupation. This is what it was like when we thought it wasn't even possible to celebrate Tet. Like we had literally nothing but rice and water and yet we still did, and my grandma recently passed a I mean, it's not so recent anymore, but it's been just over a year now. And she was like, One of the first like major deaths of the elder generation in my family. And Tet was the time that I could commune with her and share love with her. And, I could just feel her presence in the space and I would even, memories felt like a way that she was talking to me. The memory of just the crackle of her sesame balls, like she made the best sesame balls. They were like. Thin and crispy and fluffy, but also like so like they were not skimping on the mung bean on the inside. It was fantastic. So I'm just like, I haven't had a sesame ball from her in over a year, but I can remember how it tastes and feels, and my mouth and that memory itself is a message from her. To remember what has fed me through so many years, and how important it is to just remember the, not only just the foods that we eat, but the people that have loved that food into existence. And now me, you know,    [00:37:38] Miko Lee: have you made it the dish, the sesame balls.    [00:37:43] Macy Tran: I actually have her recipe books, so I planned to I just didn't have time, this past Tet, but me and my brother were going to, and then I think we decided we wanted to do it on just like on a lower key day, like instead of like in the midst of just like so much family celebration, there was so much to prepare and we were like, let's just plan a low key weekend where it's just me and you and there's no timeline and we don't have to get this anywhere and they don't have to be perfect. Like    [00:38:14] Miko Lee: that sounds lovely. So it's personal and it's family and Exactly. And if for a one year anniversary, death anniversary is coming up, that might be a great time to honor her.    [00:38:22] Macy Tran: Exactly. Exactly.    [00:38:24] Miko Lee: I'm wondering what was like some standout dishes from that lovely event to you?    [00:38:29] Macy Tran: Ooh. I mean, I will talk about the dish I made.   [00:38:33] Miko Lee: Okay.    [00:38:36] Macy Tran: Which I thought was fantastic and I think my friends also thought were delicious. Was delicious. Um, but a dish that is commonly eaten during the lunar new year for Vietnamese people is a tit ka, which is a caramelized, braised pork belly. This caramelized, braised pork was stewing for probably three hours. Wow. And so, yeah, and I used coconut water with it. I didn't like, straight up coconut water and it    [00:39:04] Miko Lee: no Coca-Cola.    [00:39:06] Macy Tran: No Coca-Cola not in this one. And I just made a huge, huge pot and it was basically almost all gone by the end of the night. So that was like a really good feeling. Um, my brother made an incredible duck heart lap. He works at Diane's Place, actually, it's a famous Hmong restaurant in Minneapolis. And they processed duck on the menu. And so he had like access to all these duck organs and he made an incredible loup that he brought to the party. And my, one of my little sisters, Iris, she's Puerto Rican and she made like tostones, like fried plantains and then she also made Puerto Rican rice, and she, she made like three or four dishes. So like, people really went above and beyond for their ancestors. I could really, I mean, it was probably like 20 people who came to this party, so there were so many dishes and they were all. So good. So I, I don't wanna, once I get into it, I'm gonna go into it, so I'm not gonna chat your ear off.    [00:40:13] Miko Lee: Sounds lovely. Sounds yummy. Mm-hmm. And my last question is, I'm wondering what manifestation for the year of the horse you have for yourself.    [00:40:23] Macy Tran: The 18 million rising essay that I wrote came, it was right before the lunar new year that it got published. And it came during a time where I was already thinking a lot about my creative practice and how in, in relationship my creative practice in relationship with also the ways that I organize and the ways that I cook and, organize around food. And when this opportunity for this essay emerged and just the way it has been received has been such an honor, like, because I haven't written for myself, you know, in so long and like really with my own voice I just didn't realize that people were going to resonate with it so much and find like an invitation to engage in food justice themselves and their own ancestry. And also the ways that it made them think about food and their relationship to food. And it was such a blessing for me to receive that resonance from people, you know, and to receive, just the stories that I've heard and the way it spoke to them. And I felt like that has been a blessing for me to just really expand my creative practice and be more public with it. I'm like, dang, if this little thing that I wrote impacted people in the way that they think about the world, like. I have so many more ideas I wanna share and like be in partnership with others about.   [00:41:57] And I just launched my Substack, right after the Lunar New Year and I was like, all right, you're the fire horse. Let's freaking go. I am ready, I am running. So, I just wanna be creating so much and like act manifesting and actualizing a lot of the dreams that I have, my creative dreams that I have continued to put on the back burner. Things about hosting supper clubs and doing more work around my parents' restaurant, like helping them create narrative around the restaurant and sharing our restaurant story with people. And just using my words and experiences as a way to connect with the world and also be open to the ways that people wanna connect with me. So that's kind of the ways that I'm, I'm seeing this year unfold already, and it's already started with a bang. I also wanna add that year of the fire horse for me is just a lot about movement and progress. And so in this sense movement, I think of social movements and the ways that social this particular social movement against ICE in our city will fundamentally. Impact us for the next lunar year. It happened right at the beginning of the lunar New Year and it's going to have deep effects into the year, and we will forever be changed by this. And I am so excited to see the ways in which we harness this energy for transformation, for care into something that's really meaningful.   [00:43:37] Miko Lee: Thank you so much for joining us on Apex Express. It was a delight to talk with you.    [00:43:42] Macy Tran: Thank you, Miko. This was so great. Thanks for having me.   [00:43:45] Miko Lee: Next up, listen to researcher professor, Dr. Milkie Vu, speak on her exploration on Asian Americans and food insecurities. Welcome, Dr. Milkie Vu, assistant professor at Northwestern. Welcome so much to Apex Express.    [00:44:04] Dr. Milkie Vu: Thank you. I'm delighted to be here.    [00:44:07] Miko Lee: Dr. Milkie is a mixed methods researcher focusing on community engagement and health issues, and I'm excited to talk with you today. I wanna start by first asking the question that I ask all of my guests, which is, who are your people and what legacy do you carry with you?   [00:44:24] Dr. Milkie Vu: My people are the Vietnamese community, and when I think of my people, the first word that comes to my mind is resilience. I was raised in Vietnam. I speak Vietnamese fluently and I embrace my culture very deeply. I carry the memory of my parents and grandparents who have lived to colonization multiple world. And the challenge of post-war poverty and the ability to, endure all these hardship is the legacy that I bring with me and in my day to day life it acts as a personal life of hope for me and then professionally in the. Work that I do is really a foundation and it drives my dedication and commitment to working on health solution with Asian American and immigrant communities who have similar stories of hardship, but also perseverance.   [00:45:19] Miko Lee: Thank you so much. I really appreciate how your background has informed the work that you're doing, and I wonder if you could talk a little bit more about this study, this scoping review on food insecurity among Asian Americans. Can you one first start off by breaking down what a scoping review is.   [00:45:37] Dr. Milkie Vu: Yeah, I'm happy to talk about that. So a scoping review is essentially a methodology that we use to be able to summarize existing scientific literature and try to understand how this literature. Answer research questions that we have.   [00:45:56] Miko Lee: Can you tell me what inspired this study?    [00:45:59] Dr. Milkie Vu: I've done community engaged research with, Asian American population for over a decade. In doing so, I have come to realize , as an anecdotal evidence, how food insecurity is a issue in the community. And yet that's very little that has been, done in terms of research or policy that target this problem., So for example, the US Department of Agriculture, will publish annually a report on food insecurity in America and it will include several, racial and ethnic populations, but Asian Americans are frequently ommitted from that report. So, you know, at the national level, that data doesn't exist, which then, makes it very difficult to understand what is the severity of the problem and what are some of the solutions that could be done to address them. So that's why we were interested in doing a deeper dive into summarizing the literature too be able to see what has been done about this problem and what are some of the barriers that exist, towards food security for community members, and what are some of the literature gaps? Our review was published in 2024 was the first scientific review of the literature on food insecurity among Asian Americans.    [00:47:27] Miko Lee: And what did your study uncover?    [00:47:31] Dr. Milkie Vu: We documented several important findings. There is a lack of existing data on this problem. Due to this myth of Asian Americans being the model minority. Assuming that Asian Americans are uniformly successful socioeconomically and thus not experiencing, any challenge including food insecurity. One of the things that we found is the importance of data disaggregation and looking at food insecurity in different Asian origin groups. We found that food insecurity really varied. So for example, if you look at some groups like Japanese Americans, we found the prevalence of between two to 11% of the population reporting food insecurity. But then if you look at some of the Southeast Asian groups, for example, Filipinos or Hmong American or Vietnamese, the rates are much higher. So the studies that we found report, between eight to 41% of food insecurity and among Filipino population. Close to 48% for more Hmong American, and then between 14 or 28% for Vietnamese Americans, so much higher than the rates for other groups.   [00:48:48] Data Dion is important and there shouldn't be this grouping of different Asian groups in research because then it really erased like the struggles specific communities with food insecurity. I think the other finding that was really important is looking at more systemic or structural barriers that prevent people from being food secure. Our review found that limited English proficiency is a important driver of food insecurity. The lack of appropriate language services, whether that's food pantry or for things like snap navigation. These could be important target point infusion policy or interventions that could help address food insecurity, community members. We also look at a couple of qualitative studies that found really interesting things. So for example, even when Asian American community members do use food assistance programs like snap, the benefits are often not sufficient. And they have a negative experience. There's also fear of how that might negatively impact the immigration status or application. Those are important barriers that should be acknowledge.   [00:50:08] Miko Lee: Some of these numbers are so high. You mentioned 48% with Hmong folks with, it's just so surprising, and I wonder if there's a sense of the why some of these communities have a higher food insecurity than others.    [00:50:21] Dr. Milkie Vu: Yeah, one of the things that we did point out in the conclusion was the need for just more studies focusing on these, smaller Asian groups or smaller Asian population that are done in like the appropriate language to be. From some of the experience I've had, part of it is probably shaped by, the historical conditions to which some of these, communities might have come to the us. For example, thinking about my community Vietnamese, coming to America as refugees, fleeing persecution or free fleeing war and how that, historical conditions might create structural and socioeconomic challenge in Britain, in the community. I am also curious about is the availability of service and program that are linguistically appropriate or, providing culturally relevant food for these communities. So those are important points that we can hypothesize, but obviously more research is needed to understand, the root cause of these challenge and how to address them.   [00:51:28] Miko Lee: And were you focused on specific regions or this was national?    [00:51:34] Dr. Milkie Vu: I'm really glad that you asked about this. So the review itself is, summarizing all published literature focusing on Asian Americans. All of the studies take place in the us. A lot of the, studies probably focus on data that are from the coast. So either on Asian American, on the east coast or the west coast. , But we looked at the study like from a nationwide angle and I'm also happy to talk about some of the new committee organizations in Chicago looking at food insecurity and community-based solutions to address that among Asian Americans. Part of the motivation for the follow-up study was just thinking about the lack of data focusing on the Midwest or Chicago where I live.    [00:52:20] Miko Lee: Please, I'd love to hear more about that . [00:52:23] Dr. Milkie Vu: The COVID pandemic, had brought a lot challenges for food insecurity. For people nationwide in general, but then for Asian American, there's also this, so what I call like the double, almost like a double pandemic, like the waves of entire Asian violence and hate crimes. And so thinking about how that impact food insecurity in general among, Asian American community members. About two years ago, we interviewed around, 13 organizations in Chicago. All of them are either community based organizations, social services or food pantry, working with, primarily with Asian American community members, from diverse groups: korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipino, south Asian, Mongolian, et cetera throughout Chicago. And the question that we asked them was, thinking about what programs they have offered during the COVID pandemic that aim at reducing food insecurity among community members. How did they implement this program? Who are some of the vulnerable populations served by the program? How did the pandemic as far as anti-Asian racism impact the program organization? That was the first study that looked at how community organization in Chicago help address this issue of insecurity on this, the COVID pandemic.   [00:53:57] Miko Lee: And so what is the next step for this study or what is the next piece that you're working on as connected to this?    [00:54:05] Dr. Milkie Vu: Yeah. Think about the role of the community organization as grassroots organizations that work from the ground up , as opposed to more top down program structure. They're doing a lot of the heavy lifting to help community members address food insecurity, because they know the community very well. They are able to provide the in language service that community members need. They're also trusted by community members. So a lot of the time,, certain populations especially say if those with limited their English proficiency or, more newly arrived immigrants, might feel more comfortable going here as opposed to going to this organization as opposed to, another one that are more generic and don't have the staff that speak the right language. I think the other thing is, staff with the similar cultural backgrounds are able to understand. There was one quote from the study that I did in Chicago. That stuck with me. When we tell them you could go to the food bank, the American food is not quite tailored to their taste. So they will get a big chunk of cheese and they will be like, what is this? Nobody wants to eat this. Again, thinking about the role of committee organization as so important in knowing the language, knowing the cultural preferences. And then just thinking of ways that we can further support, the programs and operations that they do. This is a really challenging time for nonprofits, social service organization, both in terms of providing food as well as other social service to Asian American and immigrant communities. How can research from a place like, researchers, from academia like me, are able to partner with them to further the service that they do and be able to find the funding that support them and community members. I think that's the important step for me.   [00:56:02] Miko Lee: Dr. Vu, how can folks find out more about your work?    [00:56:06] Dr. Milkie Vu: Yeah, In order to understand more about the work that we do, so we have a website, for our lab that frequently include, you know, like our current projects as well as publications. So you can go to site, so SI ts.northwestern.edu/vu group. and you'll be able to find more information about the research that we published. We've also recently, in the beginning of the year start, to find ways to disseminate research on social media. So we also have a Facebook group for our lab that disseminates our research findings as well as include information about the community members and partners Other trainees in the lab that make this work possible. The labs Facebook group is at facebook.com/maybe give research. and then you can always reach out to me via my email milkie.vu@northwestern.edu So I'm glad to connect with people who have similar research interests or would like to learn more about the work that we do.   [00:57:06] Miko Lee: Thank you so much for joining us and sharing your information about your important work that you're doing on research with Asian American community. Appreciate hearing from you.    [00:57:15] Dr. Milkie Vu: Thank you so much.   [00:57:18] Miko Lee: Please check out our website, kpfa.org/program/apexexpress to find out more about our show and our guests tonight. We thank all of you listeners out there. Keep resisting, keep organizing, keep creating, and sharing your visions with the world because your voices are important. Apex Express is produced by Ayame Keane-Lee, Anuj Vaidya, Cheryl Truong, Isabel Li, Jalena Keane-Lee, Miko Lee, Miata Tan, Preti Mangala-Shekar and Swati Rayasam. Tonight's show was produced by me Miko Lee, and edited by Ayame Keane-Lee. Have a great night.   The post APEX Express – 6.4.26 – Food Justice appeared first on KPFA.

Latvijas izlase vakar, 28. maijā, pasaules hokeja čempionātā ceturtdaļfināla spēlē ar 0:2 zaudēja Norvēģijai. Latvijas hokeja izlase sesto reizi spēlēja pasaules čempionāta elites divīzijas ceturtdaļfinālā, norvēģi - ceturto. Līdz ar to Latvijas izlase šo hokeja čempionātu noslēdz ar 6. vietu. Tas ir otrais visu laiku labākais Latvijas valstsvienības rezultāts pasaules čempionātā hokejā. Ilgtermiņa perspektīvā Latvijas izlasei šis ir vērtīgs rezultāts, jo iegūti noderīgi pasaules ranga punkti, kas var ļaut pakāpties augšup un varbūt mūsējiem izdodas izvairīties no olimpiskās kvalifikācijas pirms 2030. gada olimpiskajām spēlēm Francijas Alpos, proti, izlase olimpiskās spēles sasniedz uzreiz ar rangu un nav jāspēlē vēlviens turnīrs Pasaules čempionātā vakar aizvadītas arī pārējās spēles. Tajās Somija ar 4:1 pārspēja Čehiju, Kanāda ar 4:0 uzveica ASV, Šveice ar 3:1 bija pārāka pār Zviedriju. Rīt, 30. maijā, pusfināla spēles, un Norvēģija izaicinās mājiniekus šveiciešus, kas astoņos mačos vēl ne reizi nav izjutusi zaudējuma rūgtumu.

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Starp Latvijas Mākslas gada balvas nominantiem par veiksmīgu debiju aizvadītajā gadā bija fotogrāfs Filips Šmits. Viņš radošajā darbībā, kā arī vienkārši ikdienā pievēršas miera meklējumiem pilsētvidē. Tostarp, apbalvojumam nominēts par fotosesiju Rīgā, Dreiliņkalnā. Vietā, kur virs uzkrātiem atkritumiem nu pieejama atpūtas zona, kur iedzīvotāji mēdz sauļoties. Fotogrāfija no šī notikuma šobrīd skatāma radošajā kvartālā “Veldze”, fotogrāfa personālizstādē “Saules skūpstā”. Kā var nojaust pēc nosaukuma, izstādē iekļautas vēl citas bildes, kurās tverta saules gaisma. Analogās fotogrāfijās tverta gan spēja pilsētas steigā mikrorajonā starp milzu ēkām tvert mieru sauļojoties, gan kādi dabiskā vidē neierastāki tēli. 

Viet und Jolina sind wieder da und sind ganz verzaubert, denn die Dokomi steht vor der Tür und die aktuelle Anime Season hat viel Zauberhaftes zu bieten: "Witch Hat Atelier", "Dorohedoro" Staffel 2, "Devil May Cry" Staffel 2, "Wiedergeboren als Schleim" Staffel 4, "Classroom of the Elite" Staffel 4 & "Invincible" Staffel 4. Falls ihr uns nur hören wollt, dann schaut doch auch gerne bei "Nani - Der Anime-Talk" vorbei. Ihr findet den Überall, wo es Podcasts gibt. Spotify: (http://spoti.fi/314DidZ) iTunes: (http://apple.co/2YyLOUR) Timecodes: 00:00:00 Start 00:11:45 Devil May Cry Season 2 (Netflix) 00:19:36 Dorhedoro Season 2 (Netflix) 00:29:20 Meine Widergeburt als Schleim in einer anderen Welt Season 4 (Crunchyroll) 00:36:11 Invinsible Season 4 (Prime Video) 00:42:20 Atelier of Witch Hat (Crunchyroll) 00:57:27 Classroom of the Elite Season 4 (Crunchyroll) Twitter: Nani - / nanianimetalk Jolina - / jolythepsych Viet - / pixelviet Instagram: Nani - / nanianimetalk Jolina - / jolythepsych Viet - / pixelviett

Vasara - ne tik kelionų, bet ir lauko terasų laikotarpis. Po ilgų pasivaikščiojimų mieste, norisi kažkur prisėsti ir užkąsti. Ar apsilankymai restoranuose gali kelti tik geras emocijas? Pokalbis su restoranų apžvalgininke Alija Lobanovaite.Paskaičiuosime eurovizines išlaidas, kurios šiemet pūtėsi dėl politinių audrų. Komentuoja Eurodiena.lt redaktorius Rytis Gerlikas.Ir atskleisime kodėl Italija tampa europos milijonierių užuovėja?Ved. Mindaugas Aušra ir Jurgita Čeponytė

Nachdem Gregor und Viet bereits über die Verfilmungen von Super Mario und Sonic geplauscht haben, bereden sie in der heutigen Folge weitere Gaming-Verfilmungen, die seit den Plauschangriffen vor über 15 Jahren erschienen sind. Darunter ist MORTAL KOMBAT, die SILENT HILLS, MONSTER HUNTER, das allgemeine Schaffen von UWE BOLL und PAUL W.S. ANDERSON und vieles mehr. Werbung: https://linktr.ee/Podcastsrbtv Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Individually they were just like those guys who like to hang around the comic book shop and talk comics but together they form EMX! Check out Thacher's books a DemonWeaselStudios.com In this eXplicit, uncut and unedited episode of EMX we review Marvel Comics X-Men books of March 2026: Cyclops #2 Generation X-23 #2 Iceman Omega #1 Inglorious X-Force #3 Logan - Black, White and Blood #3 Magik and Colossus #2 Moonstar #1 Psyclocke - Ninja #3 Rogue #3 Storm - Earth's Mightiest Mutant #2 Uncanny X-Men #25 Wolverine - Weapons of Armageddon #2 Wolverine #17 X-Men #26-27 X-Men Annual #1 X-Men of Apocalypse #3 X-Men United #1 [RSS] Subscribe [RSS] EMX Subscribe [Apple Podcasts] Subscribe [Google Podcast] Subscribe All Podcasts  Email: EMP@EarthsMightiestPodcast.com Website: http://www.EarthsMightiestPodcast.comFacebook Group: http://facebookgroup.earthsmightiestpodcast.com/Viet's Website: http://www.comedianviet.comThacher's Website: http://www.DemonWeasel.com  

Giữa lòng Palawan, giữa bãi biển xanh ngắt và nhịp sống hiền hòa của Puerto Princesa, tồn tại một cộng đồng nhỏ mang tên Vietville, dấu tích sống động của một giai đoạn lịch sử đầy biến động. Ít ai biết rằng, phía sau những quán ăn bán phở, bánh mì hay những con phố yên bình hôm nay là câu chuyện của những người Việt từng lênh đênh trên biển, đánh cược mạng sống để tìm kiếm tự do.

Šobrīd Latvijas Mākslas akadēmijas eksperimentālajā mākslas telpā “Pilot” skatāma kolektīva “Latvānija” izstāde. Mākslinieces izstādes nosaukumā “Dārza iestāde” spēlējās ar vārdu “iestāde”, attiecinot to gan uz institūciju, gan stādīšanas procesu. Vietā, kuru tu iekop, ir nepieciešams laiks, lai izaugtu kaut kas skaists un praktisks. Nepieciešams zināt gadskārtas un būt saiknē ar zemi. Tieši tāpat arī “Latvānijas” darbos. Gadskārtu ieražas un folklora mijas ar laikmetīgām izpausmēm. Sapņu pasaulē iemājojuši rūķi.

Stāsta Latvijas Vides, ģeoloģijas un meteoroloģijas centra eksperts, projekta Life Goodwater IP vadītājs Jānis Šīre; pārraides producente – Rūta Paula Ilgu laiku cilvēkam šķita, ka laba upe ir paklausīga upe. Taisna, ātra, paredzama, viegli ierāmējama kartē un viegli pielāgojama saimnieciskajām vajadzībām. Tāpēc daudzas Latvijas upes savulaik tika iztaisnotas, padziļinātas un pielāgotas meliorācijas vajadzībām, lai ātrāk novadītu lieko ūdeni un atvieglotu saimniekošanu. Tobrīd tas šķita loģiski. Taču tagad kļūst arvien skaidrāk redzams, ka, kopā ar upes līkumiem, mēs daudzviet aizvācām arī tās spēju pašai sevi uzturēt labā stāvoklī. Taisna upe ūdenim ir kā ātrgaitas šoseja. Tā ātri aizvada visu, kas tajā nonāk - ne tikai ūdeni, bet arī augsnes daļiņas, barības vielas un citu piesārņojumu. Ja upe plūst vienveidīgā, iztaisnotā gultnē, ūdenim nav laika ne nomierināties, ne attīrīties. Tas strauji aizplūst tālāk uz lejtecēm, nesot līdzi piesārņojumu un palielinot slodzi ezeriem un citām upēm. Tāpēc iztaisnota upe nevis atrisina problēmu, bet bieži vien to vienkārši pārceļ citur. No pirmā acu uzmetiena upe joprojām šķiet dzīva, jo ūdens taču plūst. Tomēr šādā gultnē pazūd daudz kas svarīgs. Nav seklumu un dziļumu maiņas, nav mierīgāku posmu, nav akmeņu, sakņu, kritalu, bedrīšu un citu dabisku elementu, kas dažādo plūsmu. Līdz ar to samazinās arī dzīvotņu daudzveidība. Zivīm, kukaiņiem un citiem ūdens organismiem paliek mazāk piemērotu vietu, bet pati upe kļūst bioloģiski nabadzīgāka. Jo vienveidīgāka upe, jo vājāka tās spēja pašai uzturēt līdzsvaru. Taču problēma nav tikai ūdens kvalitāte. Iztaisnota upe arī plūdu laikā uzvedas citādi. Tā ātri savāc un strauji novada lielu ūdens daudzumu, un tas nozīmē, ka lejtecēs ūdens līmenis var celties straujāk un radīt bīstamākus apstākļus! Līkumi, palienes un dabiski daudzveidīga gultne ūdeni piebremzē. Tie ļauj tam izkliedēties, uzkrāties un aizplūst pakāpeniski, nevis vienā rāvienā traukties uz priekšu. Citiem vārdiem, dabiska upe ne tikai labāk attīrās, bet arī labāk sadzīvo ar lieliem ūdens apjomiem. Līkumota upe darbojas pavisam citādi nekā taisns kanāls. Meandri palēnina plūdumu, padara to nevienmērīgu un rada daudzveidīgas straumes zonas. Vienā vietā ūdens plūst straujāk, citā mierīgāk, vienā krastā izskalo gultni dziļāk, citā nogulsnē smalkās daļiņas. Tur, kur ir oļi, saknes, koku atliekas un gultnes reljefs, ūdens mutuļo, sajaucas ar gaisu un piesaista skābekli. Tas ir ļoti svarīgi, jo skābeklis veicina dabiskos pašattīrīšanās procesus. Savukārt dažādās dzīvotnes nodrošina vietu organismiem, kas arī piedalās vielu apritē un palīdz uzturēt upes veselību. Vienkārši sakot, līkumota upe pati sev palīdz, tā neļauj ūdenim aizskriet pa īsāko un ātrāko ceļu. Daļa piesārņojuma aizkavējas, daļa nosēžas, daļa dabiskos procesos tiek pārveidota. Gultnes dažādība mazina plūsmas vienveidību, bet palienes un lēnākas zonas palīdz uzņemt lieko ūdeni. Tādēļ upe kļūst ne tikai tīrāka, bet arī noturīgāka pret krasām pārmaiņām. Tieši tāpēc šodien arvien biežāk saprotam, ka agrākā upju iztaisnošana daudzviet ir bijusi kļūda. Vēloties ūdeni aizvadīt pēc iespējas ātrāk, samazinājām upes spēju pašai sevi attīrīt un mazināt plūdu riskus. Atņemot upei tās dabisko ritmu, saskaramies ar sekām - sliktāku ūdens kvalitāti, mazāku bioloģisko daudzveidību un vietām arī lielākiem plūdu draudiem lejtecēs. Risinājums nenozīmē vienkārši atgriezt visu pagātnē. Taču tas nozīmē mācīties no iepriekšējām kļūdām. Vietās, kur tas iespējams, upēm jāļauj un jāpalīdz atgūt līkumus, daudzveidīgu gultni un dabisku plūdumu. Arī Latvijā jau ir īstenoti vairāki šādi pilotprojekti, piemēram, Slampes upē Ķemeru Nacionālajā parkā un Dvietes upes palienē. Kopumā ir jādomā ne tikai par ātru ūdens novadīšanu, bet arī par to, kā ūdeni aizturēt, piebremzēt un dot laikam paveikt savu darbu. Daba bieži piedāvā gudrākus risinājumus nekā taisna līnija kartē. Tāpēc, raugoties uz upēm, vērts atcerēties vienu būtisku atziņu: līkumi nav trūkums, tie ir upes spēks, kas palīdz tai elpot, attīrīties, uzturēt dzīvību un vienlaikus mazināt plūdu riskus. Taisna upe var būt ērta uz papīra, bet dzīva, vesela un izturīga upe dabā gandrīz vienmēr ir līkumota.

Daugiau nei 40-yje Lietuvos vietų vyksta nacionalinis miškasodis, skirtas Prezidento Valdo Adamkaus artėjančiam 100-mečiui.Kaip sekasi iniciatyvos „Mes darom“ dalyviams tvarkyti aplinką Vilniuje, Kaune ir Klaipėdoje?Pasirodžius pranešimų, kad Vašingtonas svarsto pakeisti savo poziciją Falklando salų atžvilgiu, Londonas pabrėžė, kad salų suverenitetas priklauso Britanijai.Tęsiantis diskusijoms dėl valdančiųjų siūlomų LRT įstatymo pataisų, Vilniaus Katedros aikštėje šiandien dar vienas protestas.Varėnos rajone surengta Bobausių šventė, kuria simboliškai pradėtas grybavimo sezonas.Vilniaus Lazdynų baseine tęsiasi Lietuvos plaukimo čempionatas.Ved. Madona Lučkaitė

Brandon had a real issue with piss. Michael Jackson movie; what we think before everyone sees it. Nipsey Hussle (type that in your iPhone and see what it corrects to). Mardi Gras vs Blaqhouse: we've tasted them both, so has John Taffer and Robert Irvine. Viet fucking Nam man!

Stāsta Latvijas Vides, ģeoloģijas un meteoroloģijas centra eksperts, projekta Life Goodwater IP vadītājs Jānis Šīre; pārraides producente – Rūta Paula Latvijā ir apmēram 12 400 upju ar kopējo garumu gandrīz 38 tūkstoši kilometru, un aptuveni 52% no visas kopējās upju platības atbilst upju straujteču un dabisku upju posmu dzīvotnei. Tās ir īpaši aizsargājamas dzīvotnes gan Latvijā, gan Eiropā, taču aiz šī šķietami iedvesmojošā fakta slēpjas nopietna problēma: liela daļa Latvijas upju vairs nav dabiskas. Tās gadu gaitā ir taisnotas, padziļinātas, aizsprostotas, pat aizbērtas un citādi pārveidotas, tādēļ daudzi dabiskie procesi, kas upē nodrošina dzīvību, pašattīrīšanos un līdzsvaru, mūsdienās ir izjaukti. Vēl satraucošāk - izcilā stāvoklī ir tikai ļoti neliela daļa šo dzīvotņu. Kāpēc tad šī dzīvotne ir tik vērtīga un kāpēc tās zudums ir tik būtisks? Straujteces un dabiski upju posmi ir viena no bagātākajām un jutīgākajām dzīvotnēm visā upes sistēmā. Tie veido vienotu tīklu visā Latvijā, nodrošina mājvietas daudzām augu un dzīvnieku sugām, kalpo par dabiskajiem migrācijas ceļiem un vienlaikus palīdz attīrīt ūdeni. Ar katru šādu upes posmu saistās vesela dzīvā pasaule - ne tikai pašā ūdenī, bet arī upes krastos, palienēs, mežos, pļavās un gravās. Dabiskās upju ielejās veidojas īpaši daudzveidīgi apstākļi, kuros var pastāvēt sugas un biotopi, kas nevar izdzīvot industriālās lauksaimniecības ainavā. Īpaši nozīmīgas ir straujteces ar akmeņainu vai oļainu gultni un strauju ūdens tecējumu. Tieši šādos apstākļos veidojas ar skābekli bagāta vide, kas nepieciešama daudzām retām un jutīgām sugām. Šeit sastopami organismi, kas pielāgojušies ātrai straumei un tīram ūdenim: dažādas zivju, kukaiņu, gliemju, augu un citu organismu sugas, no kurām daudzas ir retas un aizsargājamas. To vidū ir ziemeļu upespērlene, biezā perlamutrene, sārtaļģes, strauta nēģis, strauta forele un alata. Straujteces ir arī vienīgās nārsta vietas lasim, taimiņam un upes nēģim, bet to krasti un piekraste ir būtiska dzīves vide arī zivju dzenītim, ūdensstrazdam un pelēkajai cielavai. Tomēr šo dzīvotni apdraud ne tikai agrākie pārveidojumi, bet arī šodienas ietekmes. Viens no būtiskākajiem draudiem ir piesārņojums. Upēs nonāk barības vielas no intensīvi apsaimniekotām lauksaimniecības un apbūvētām teritorijām, tās ieplūst ar virszemes noteci, meliorācijas sistēmām un arī no notekūdeņu attīrīšanas iekārtām. Liekās barības vielas veicina aizsērēšanu un aizaugšanu, un no tā cieš ne tikai daba, bet arī cilvēks - upe kļūst mazāk pievilcīga peldētājiem, laivotājiem un makšķerniekiem. Upēm kaitē arī sadzīves atkritumi. Mainās arī zivju sugu sastāvs: izzūd foreļupes, bet palielinās stāvošiem ūdeņiem raksturīgo sugu īpatsvars. Otrs būtisks apdraudējums ir dažādi šķēršļi upēs. Aizsprosti un citas būves pārtrauc upes nepārtrauktību, traucē zivju migrāciju un pasliktina ūdens ekoloģisko kvalitāti. Tie maina ūdens režīmu, samazina palieņu nozīmi, noplicina ainavas daudzveidību un kavē dabiskos procesus, kas nepieciešami veselīgai upes attīstībai. Arī taisnošana un padziļināšana samazina dzīvotņu daudzveidību un atņem upei tās dabisko ritmu.  Tāpēc nav pārsteigums, ka Latvijas upju ekoloģiskā kvalitāte atpaliek no Eiropas vidējā līmeņa. Tomēr risinājumi ir iespējami, un tie sākas ar attieksmi. Katrs var darīt kaut ko konkrētu upju labā: nepiesārņot upes un to krastus, neiepludināt neattīrītus notekūdeņus, lauku malās pie upēm atstāt zālāju joslas, ierobežot invazīvās sugas, saglabāt upju dabiskošanos arī meliorētās teritorijās. Vietās ar strauju tecējumu dabai var palīdzēt arī ieliekot upē akmeni, lai straume vairāk mutuļotu un bagātinātu ūdeni ar skābekli. Plašākā mērogā nepieciešama valsts institūciju, pašvaldību, nevalstisko organizāciju, zemju īpašnieku un sabiedrības sadarbība, lai likvidētu šķēršļus, uzlabotu zivju migrāciju un atjaunotu dabisko upju ritējumu. Tādēļ galvenais secinājums ir skaidrs: upju straujteces un dabiski upju posmi nav tikai aizsargājama dabas vērtība, bet arī būtiska mūsu pašu dzīves kvalitātes daļa. Jo vairāk spēsim saglabāt un atjaunot dabiskas, brīvi plūstošas upes, jo lielāka būs bioloģiskā daudzveidība, tīrāki ūdeņi un noturīgāka Latvijas ainava nākotnē.

Why you need to see Truong Minh Quy's film, Viet and Nam, listen to Connie Converse's album, How Sad, How Lonely and read Tove Jansson's Finn Family Moomins. Colm Tóibín, Meghan O'Gieblyn and Luke Clancy have their reasons.

Stāsta Latvijas Stratēģijas un ekonomikas risinājumu institūta (LaSER) pētnieks Roberts Kits; pārraides producente – Liene Jakovļeva Baltijas valstu politiskā un militārā sadarbība ir bijusi aktuāla jau kopš šo valstu dibināšanas, taču vienlaikus tā vienmēr bijusi arī izaicinājumu pilna. Pēc Pirmā pasaules kara jaunizveidoto valstu teritoriālās domstarpības nereti kavēja sadarbības veidošanos. Spilgts piemērs ir noslēdzošā Brīvības cīņu bruņotā sadursme 1920. gadā starp Latviju un Lietuvu, abām pusēm saglabājot pretenzijas uz Ilūkstes apriņķi. Neraugoties uz domstarpībām, pagājušā gadsimta 20. un 30. gados tika izvirzīta virkne ideju un iniciatīvu, kā veicināt gan šaurāku, gan plašāku Baltijas integrāciju kā ziemeļu, tā dienvidu virzienā. Piemēram, 1917. gadā igauņu valstsvīrs Jāns Tenisons (Jaan Tõnisson) rosināja izveidot Baltijas-Skandināvijas federāciju. Šai idejai laika gaitā attīstoties, tika pausti aicinājumi federācijai aptvert valstis no Zviedrijas līdz Lietuvai. Savukārt Polijas karavadonis un valsts vadītājs Juzefs Pilsudskis (Józef Piłsudski) iestājās par ciešāku integrāciju no Baltijas līdz Melnajai jūrai kā reģiona drošības un stabilitātes pamatu, tostarp, 1922. gadā noslēdzot Varšavas vienošanos par Polijas, Latvijas, Igaunijas un Somijas sadarbību. Trīspusēja Baltijas valstu sadarbība tika formalizēta 1934. gadā, Latvijai, Lietuvai un Igaunijai noslēdzot līgumu par Baltijas Antantes izveidi. Tiesa, nosacītu militārās sadarbības dimensiju šī savienība ieguva krietni novēloti – vien Otrā pasaules kara priekšvakarā. To, ka ambīcija veicināt Baltijas valstu sadarbību bieži vien nerezultējas praktiskā rīcībā, ilustrē aizsardzības industriju attīstība starpkaru periodā. Lai gan tolaik, līdzīgi kā šodien, lielu daļu sarežģītākā un tehnoloģiski ietilpīgākā militārā aprīkojuma nodrošināja ārvalstu piegādātāji, arī vietējie ražotāji spēlēja svarīgu lomu aizsardzības spēju attīstībā. Uzskatāms piemērs ir kara aviācija. Lai gan vairums Latvijas militāro lidaparātu – 177 sauszemes un 18 jūras aviācijas lidmašīnas – bija ražotas ārvalstīs, 22 lidmašīnas bija ražotas Latvijā – gan Valsts elektrotehniskajā fabrikā VEF, gan Liepājas Kara ostas darbnīcā. [1] Visplašāk zināmās ir avioinženiera Kārļa Irbīša konstruētās mācību lidmašīnas VEF I-12 un I-15, kā arī vieglais iznīcinātājs I-16, kas tika nodots Vācijas Gaisa spēkiem. Tomēr jāatzīmē, ka Latvija nav vienīgā Baltijas valsts, kas starpkaru periodā ražoja militārās lidmašīnas. Piemēram, Lietuva 1925. gadā izveidoja aeroplānu darbnīcu, kurā tika ražotas Lietuvas aviācijas inženiera Antana Gustaiša (Antanas Gustaitis) konstruētās ANBO sērijas mācību un izlūklidmašīnas, kuru vēlākie modeļi (ANBO III un ANBO IV) pildīja arī vieglo bumbvedēju funkcijas. Vietējās aviācijas industrijas attīstība stiprināja Lietuvas Gaisa spēku spējas, tomēr ražošanas jaudas saglabājās salīdzinoši nelielas. Arī Igaunijā tika konstruētas un ražotas pamatā mācību lidmašīnas. Igaunijas militārās aviācijas industrijas aizsākumi tiek datēti ar 1934. gadu, kad trīs avioinženieri – Voldemārs Posts (Voldemar Post), Otto Orgs (Otto Org) un Reins Noidorfs (Rein Neudorf) – izstrādāja divu mācību biplānu (PON-1 un PON-2) prototipus Igaunijas paramilitārās Gaisa un gāzes aizsardzības līgas (Õhu‑ ja Gaasikaitse Liit) vajadzībām. Interesanti, ka PON-1 modeli Igaunijas konstruktori licencēja ražošanai Liepājas Kara ostas darbnīcā, kas kļuva par vienu no retajiem Baltijas aizsardzības industriju sadarbības piemēriem starpkaru periodā. [2] Kopumā secināms, ka Baltijas valstu militārās aviācijas industrija starpkaru periodā bija fragmentēta un primāri vērsta uz vietējo tirgu. Arī industrijas specializācijas Latvijas, Lietuvas un Igaunijas starpā lielā mērā pārklājās – visu trīs valstu aviācijas industrija fokusējās uz mācību un vieglo kaujas lidaparātu izstrādi. Turklāt ražošanas mērogošanu lielā mērā ierobežoja atkarība no ārējām izejmateriālu un ražošanas komponenšu, it īpaši, dzinēju, piegādēm. Vājas industriālās sadarbības rezultātā, tehnoloģiski ietilpīgākas industriālās jaudas Baltijas valstīs neizveidojās, un sarežģītākās aviācijas sistēmas nodrošināja ārvalstu piegādātāji. Arī mūsdienās saspringtās drošības situācijas dēļ Baltijas valstis aktīvi stiprina aizsardzības spējas, lai pasargātu iedzīvotājus no visa veida apdraudējumiem. Baltijas valstu aizsardzības budžeti pēdējo desmit gadu laikā ir pieauguši teju septiņas reizes, šogad sasniedzot aptuveni 5% no iekšzemes kopprodukta. Lai veicinātu to, ka pieaugošie aizsardzības izdevumi pēc iespējas lielākā apmērā paliek vietējā ekonomikā un stiprina tautsaimniecību, Baltijas valstis aktīvi attīsta vietējās aizsardzības industrijas, kas jau šobrīd ne vien apgādā bruņotos spēkus, bet arī eksportē, aptverot plašu kompetenču loku no kiberaizsardzības risinājumiem un bezpilota lidaparātiem līdz munīcijai un bruņotiem transportlīdzekļiem. Aizsardzības industrijas attīstība paver iespējas jaunam uzrāvienam Baltijas valstu sadarbībā. Atšķirībā no 20. gadsimta, sadarbību neierobežo teritoriāli strīdi. Baltijas valstis vieno dalība NATO un Eiropas Savienībā, un nav nekādu šaubu par to, kas ir galvenais drauds reģiona drošībai. Vai spēsim sekmēt reģionālo sadarbību un attīstīt kopīgas pievienotās vērtības ķēdes? [1] Brūvelis, E. (2012). Latvijas aviācijas vēsture: 1919-1940. Rīgas Nami izdevums. [2] Humberstone, R. (1999). Estonian Air Force 1918-1940. Blue Rider Publishing.

Pavasarį bunda ir gamta ir automobiliai keliuose. Tik kur juos visus mieste sutalpinti? Ar įmanomas miestas kur stovėjimo vietų pakaktų visiems? Pokalbis su urbanistu Mindaugu Pakalniu.Taip pat ar kuro krizė privers žmones sėsti į elektromobilius? Komentuoja automobilių rinkos ekspertas Vitoldas Milius.Ved. Mindaugas Aušra ir Jurgita Čeponytė

Stāsta Latvijas Vides, ģeoloģijas un meteoroloģijas centra eksperts, projekta Life Goodwater IP vadītājs Jānis Šīre; pārraides producente – Rūta Paula Pasaulē pēdējo piecdesmit gadu laikā izzudusi vairāk nekā trešdaļa mitrāju. Tas var šķist kā nebūtisks fakts par attālām purvainām teritorijām, kuras cilvēks vienkārši pielāgojis savām vajadzībām. Taču tieši šeit sākas problēma. Vietās, kur agrāk ūdens uzkavējās, attīrījās un uzturēja dzīvību, šodien tas aizplūst pārāk strauji, līdzi nesot augsnes daļiņas, slāpekli, fosforu un citus piesārņotājus. Rezultāts ir redzams upēs un ezeros: pasliktinās ekoloģiskā kvalitāte, pieaug eitrofikācijas risks, sāk dominēt viendabīgas ūdensaugu sugas, bet sugas, kurām vajadzīgs dzidrs, auksts un skābekļa bagāts ūdens, pamazām izzūd. Šo problēmu saasina cilvēka vēlme vidi pārveidot sev ērtāku. Mitras ieplakas tiek nosusinātas, upes iztaisnotas, ūdens plūsmas paātrinātas, bet dabiskie mitrāji apbūvēti vai pielāgoti saimnieciskai darbībai. Ilgu laiku tas šķita progress. Tomēr tagad kļūst skaidrs, ka, likvidējot dabiskos filtrus, nākas meklēt jaunus risinājumus tam, ko daba agrāk paveica pati. Mitrājs nav vienkārši pārmitra teritorija. Tas ir bioloģiski nozīmīgs mehānisms, kas, aizturot ūdeņu plūsmu, veicina to pašattīrīšanos. Tāpat mitrājos mājo fantastiska dabas daudzveidība. Mitrāju esamība palīdz cilvēkiem un dzīvajai dabai pielāgoties klimata pārmaiņu ietekmei – tiek mazināta plūdu ietekme, kā arī "barotas" gruntsūdeņu rezerves. Arī cilvēks var radīt mitrājus. Mākslīgajos mitrājos tiek atdarināti dabiskie pašattīrīšanās procesi. Grāvja vai upes ūdens plūsma tiek palēnināta, mitrāja dziļākajā daļā nosēžas augsnes daļiņas, kas satur fosforu, bet seklajā zonā iestādītie ūdensaugi un niedres uzņem slāpekli un citas ūdenī izšķīdušās barības vielas. Vienlaikus norisinās arī bioloģiski un ķīmiski procesi, kas piesārņojošās vielas pārvērš citās formās. Mitrājus ierīko gan pie lauksaimniecības zemēm, gan kā papildu filtrēšanas risinājumu jau attīrītiem notekūdeņiem – turklāt tos iespējams veidot arī pie privātmājām. Jo tuvāk piesārņojuma avotam mitrājs tiek izveidots, jo tas ir efektīvāks! Ceļā no idejas līdz mākslīgajam mitrājam ar ekskavatoru vien būs par maz. Vispirms jāsaprot, kur no šāda objekta būs vislielākais ieguvums. Tad vajadzīgas sarunas ar zemes īpašniekiem, un ne vienmēr tās ir vienkāršas. Kad kļūst saprotams, ka iegūs ne tikai vide, bet arī pati teritorija – tā taps sakoptāka, pārskatāmāka un lietderīgāk izmantojama, –  sākotnējo piesardzību bieži nomaina atbalsts. Latvijā mākslīgie mitrāji veidoti jau vairākus desmitus gadu. Šīs pieejas mērķis ir uzlabot iekšzemes ūdeņu kvalitāti gan lauksaimniecības teritorijās, gan pie ezeriem un kā risinājums notekūdeņu attīrīšanai. Tiek lēsts, ka Latvijā uzbūvēti ap 20 mākslīgo mitrāju – taču, lai visas Latvijas mērogā panāktu jūtamu rezultātu, būtu nepieciešami apmēram tūkstotis jaunu mākslīgo mitrāju. Mitrāji nav šķērslis attīstībai, bet daļa no gudrākas attīstības. Tie palīdz samazināt piesārņojumu, mazina ūdeņu aizaugšanu, atbalsta bioloģisko daudzveidību un var būt nozīmīgi arī plūdu risku mazināšanā, jo spēj uzkrāt lielu ūdens daudzumu. Ne velti 2024.gadā mitrājs tika godāts kā gada dzīvotne. Ja reiz esam izjaukuši sistēmas, kas ūdeni attīrīja dabiski, mums jāspēj tās atjaunot vai veidot no jauna. Un tieši mitrāji ir viens no skaidrākajiem pierādījumiem tam, ka risinājums dažkārt slēpjas nevis cīņā pret dabu, bet sadarbībā ar to.  

Passend zur Osterzeit rollen wir den Stein von der Höhle und begeben uns auf den Videospiel-Friedhof! Remakes und Remaster boomen wie nie zuvor, doch während manche Publisher alte Spiele nur lieblos aufwärmen, schmoren echte Meisterwerke bis heute im Hardware-Gefängnis oder der absoluten Lizenz-Hölle. Welche verstaubten Klassiker müssen dringend als AAA-Remake wiederbelebt werden? Lea, Micha und Viet haben jeweils 3 Spiele mitgebracht auf deren Wiederauferstehung sie hoffen. Von alten Shooter Klassikern, über Rollenspiel Giganten bis zu Stealth Ikonen, ist alles dabei. Alle Links zum GameStar Podcast und unseren Werbepartnern: https://linktr.ee/gamestarpodcast

Wir leben in bizarren Zeiten, auch was Anime angeht! Denn "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure" ist in den "Steel Ball Run" gestartet! Aber auch "Rooster Fighter", "Oshi no Ko Staffel 3", "Fate Strange Fake", "Beastars Final Season", "Sentenced to be a Hero" und "Love through a Prism" haben Viet und Jolina mehr als einmal hingucken lassen! Timecodes: 00:00:00 Start 00:04:10 Fate Strange Fake (Crunchyroll) 00:16:00 Rooster Fighter (Disney +) 00:21:03 Beastars The Final Season (Netflix) 00:21:55 Sentenced to be a Hero (Crunchyroll) 00:31:48 Oshi no Ko Staffel 3 (Crunchyroll) 00:42:30 Love through a Prism (Netflix) 00:53:37 Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run (Netlix)

Vai ir vēl bijis kādreiz tā, ka kāda komanda pamet spēli un ko darīs ar saziedoto naudu? Irbem ģimenes pieaugums, kurš vietā? Un, protams, par F1! Fenikss – Tagad arī Online https://fenikss.lu/

Der Super Mario Galaxy-Film ist da und Viet und Gregor haben ihn angesehen. In unser umfangreichen Kritik gehen wir nicht nur auf Videospielfilme allgemein ein, sondern stellen alle Mario-Kinofilme gegen die Sonic-Filme. Wer wird gewinnen? Hört es im Podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Individually they were just like those guys who like to hang around the comic book shop and talk comics but together they form EMX! Check out Thacher's books a DemonWeaselStudios.com In this eXplicit, uncut and unedited episode of EMX we review Marvel Comics X-Men books of February 2026: Cyclops #1 Generation X-23 #1 Inglorious X-Force #2 Logan - Black, White and Blood #2 Magik and Colossus #1 Psyclocke - Ninja #2 Rogue #2 Storm - Earth's Mightiest Mutant #1 Uncanny X-Men #23-24 Wolverine - Weapons of Armageddon #1 Wolverine #15-16 X-Men #25 [RSS] Subscribe [RSS] EMX Subscribe [Apple Podcasts] Subscribe [Google Podcast] Subscribe All Podcasts  Email: EMP@EarthsMightiestPodcast.com Website: http://www.EarthsMightiestPodcast.comFacebook Group: http://facebookgroup.earthsmightiestpodcast.com/Viet's Website: http://www.comedianviet.comThacher's Website: http://www.DemonWeasel.com  

Individually they were just like those guys who like to hang around the comic book shop and talk comics but together they form EMX! Check out Thacher's books a DemonWeaselStudios.com In this eXplicit, uncut and unedited episode of EMX we review Marvel Comics X-Men books of January 2026: Inglorious X-Force #1 Logan - Black, White and Blood #1 Psyclocke - Ninja #1 Rogue #1 Spider-Man and Wolverine #9 Uncanny X-Men #22 Wolverine #14 X-Men #23-24 X-Men of Apocalypse #2 [RSS] Subscribe [RSS] EMX Subscribe [Apple Podcasts] Subscribe [Google Podcast] Subscribe All Podcasts  Email: EMP@EarthsMightiestPodcast.com Website: http://www.EarthsMightiestPodcast.comFacebook Group: http://facebookgroup.earthsmightiestpodcast.com/Viet's Website: http://www.comedianviet.comThacher's Website: http://www.DemonWeasel.com  

Veidojot iekļaujošu sabiedrību, pieejama vide un pakalpojumi kļūst par būtisku nosacījumu arī tūrismā. Kā pieredzi dabas takās un pie ūdeņiem padarīt pieejamāku cilvēkiem ar invaliditāti, senioriem un ģimenēm ar maziem bērniem? Raidījumā Kā labāk dzīvot vērtē vides pieejamības eksperts Jurģis Briedis, Kurzemes plānošanas reģiona projektu vadītāja Alise Lūse un "Ērgļu stacijas" saimnieks Māris Olte.

Panelists: Dim Talking Points: Following the path of sinusitus, The Shah of Iran, The Photo Album, apologizing for priviledge, an evening at Hamer Hall watching Terminator 2: Judgement Day, the Viet building a village on water.#sinusitis #sleepapnea #snoring #melbourne #music #thedukeleverageshow #instagram #spotify #podcast #maga #trump #epstein #soundcloud #australia #newpodcast #podcaster #newepisodeIf you think you have a story to share or want to find a safespace to argue the pointless and the poignant, drop us a line at therealdukeleverage@gmail.com or DM us on the social media feeds. We're all about making dreams come true!https://linktr.ee/thedukeleverageshowDon't forget to hit the URL in the profile to get to our links. Make sure to like, share and follow and if you've listened to over 2 hours over 3 episodes you should keep our doors open and buy us a coffee!

Augustas Šuliauskas, Tomas Purlys ir Jonas Miklovas aptaria pasakišką vakarą Kaune, kur „Žalgiris” po 50 minučių kovos įveikė Pirėjo „Olympiakos“. Vyrai taip pat apžvelgia geriausią žaidimą Europoje demonstruojantį Stambulo „Fenerbahče” ir išsako savo lūkesčius apie šio mėnesio rinktinių langą. Tinklalaidės partneriai: Nord VPN. Apsilankykite https://nordvpn.com/basketnews ir dvejų metų planui gaukite keturis papildomus mėnesius. Jei nepatiks - per 30 dienų galite atgauti pinigus. Atsirado papildomų išlaidų? Vartojimo paskola - vienam ar keliems poreikiams. Pildyk paraišką internetu ir sužinok kiek gali pasiskolinti: https://inbank.lt/paskola/paskola-vartojimo Nealkoholinis alus „Gubernija”, daugiau informacijos – https://gubernija.lt/ Susitinkame stebėti rungtynių BasketNews ambasadoje! Vietų rezervacija čia: https://actionbyapollo.lt/vilnius/activity/basketnews-transliacijos/ Temos: Reikėjo įsižnybti, kad patikėtumei (0:00); Charakterį parodžiusios rungtynės (3:42); Klausimus kėlę teisėjų sprendimai (7:41); Rungtynes keitę teisingi Masiulio sprendimai (14:37); Skaudžiai kirtę antrieji „Olympiakos” šansai (19:11); Rungtynes keitusi kova ir energija (20:12); Kas čia įvyko su Butkevičiumi?? (26:57); Gražiausia vakaro akimirka ir ilgai laukta lyderių chemija (30:25); Fournier ir Bartzoko konfliktas (35:15); Pasikeitęs Cisco (36:57); „Žalgiris” dėl Francisco pasiruošęs viskam (45:30); Nuoširdžios Sabo emocijos (50:46); Žiūrim į turnyrinę ir tvarkaraštį (52:40); Geriausią žaidimą Europoje demonstruojanti „Fenerbahče” (54:00); „Fener” taikosi į istorinius rodiklius (58:44); Niekada nesibaigiantys klausimai dėl rinktinės sudėties (1:05:14); Turi būti dvi pergalės (1:09:12).

Sorry Baby, but it's One Battle After Another, as we clash and debate our favorite films of 2025! We're covering obligatory mentions of the biggest films of the year and picking up our Weapons to dunk on some that we're Regretting You watched. Which of these films will we look back on with strong Sentimental Value, 28 Years Later? Which are winners, which are Sinners? I'm afraid you're going to have to Wake Up Dead Man from your Dreams (Sex Love), some might even call that a Resurrection, because you've got No Other Choice but to listen and find out.LinksWilson's Reviews: News from Home, Eat Drink Man WomanBen's Reviews: Avatar: Fire and Ash, What Does That Nature Say to You Eli's Sinners ReviewBen's Kinetoscope Piece: The Spirits in the MediumList: Full List of films discussed on LetterboxdList: Deep Cut's Top 12 of 2025Tell us your faves at our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com Timestamps:00:00:00 Intro00:02:58 General 2025 thoughts00:12:08 Non-2025 gems00:16:22 2025 on Deep Cut00:20:16 Eli's fave Letterboxd reviews from Wilson and Ben00:21:46 Obligatory Mentions00:22:06 Marty Supreme dir. Josh Safdie00:24:08 The Secret Agent dir. Kleber Mendonça Filho00:25:44 Frankenstein dir. Guillermo del Toro00:28:38 Sentimental Value dir. Joachim Trier00:30:59 Hamnet dir. Chloé Zhao00:38:36 Hamnet spoiler00:40:27 If I Had Legs I'd Kick You dir. Mary Bronstein00:42:27 Bugonia dir. Yorgos Lanthimos00:44:13 Kpop Demon Hunters dir. Maggie Kang & Chris Appelhans00:46:55 Train Dreams dir. Clint Bentley00:48:49 Avatar: Fire and Ash dir. James Cameron00:54:30 Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning dir. Christopher McQuarrie00:56:48 Eddington dir. Ari Aster00:57:14 Wicked For Good dir. Jon M. Chu00:58:16 No Other Choice dir. Park Chan-wook00:59:48 Magellan and Phantosmia dir. Lav Diaz01:01:54 The Phoenician Scheme dir. Wes Anderson01:05:34 Weapons dir. Zach Cregger01:12:28 Materialists dir. Celine Song01:13:40 Materialists Spoiler01:18:02 Regretting You dir. Josh Boone01:19:38 Sirat dir. Oliver Laxe01:22:27 Sirat Spoiler01:25:41 Sirat Spoiler 201:26:19 Deep Cut Upkeep Overview01:28:35 Honorable Mentions01:28:40 Viet and Nam dir. Truong Minh Quy01:29:14 Blue Moon dir. Richard Linklater01:30:25 Boys Go to Jupiter dir. Julian Glander01:31:04 Baby dir. Marcelo Caetano01:31:33 Nouvelle Vague dir. Richard Linklater01:32:48 Black Bag dir. Steven Soderbergh01:34:36 Cactus Pears dir. Rohan Kanawade01:35:35 Seaside Serendipity dir. Satoko Yokohama01:36:33 Sorry Baby dir. Eva Victor01:37:58 Misericordia dir. Alain Guiraudie01:39:06 Silent Friend dir. Ildikó Enyedi01:41:20 Caught by the Tides dir. Jia Zhangke01:42:48 Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk dir. Sepideh Farsi01:44:51 My Sunshine dir. Hiroshi Okuyama01:46:56 Superman dir. James Gunn01:48:52 100 METERS dir. Kenji Iwaisawa01:53:31 Reflection in a Dead Diamond dir. Hélène Cattet & Bruno Forzani01:54:28 Afternoons of Solitude dir. Albert Serra01:57:05 The Wedding Banquet dir. Andrew Ahn01:57:19 Top 501:57:30 One Battle After Another dir. Paul Thomas Anderson02:05:57 Resurrection dir. Bi Gan02:07:51 Peter Hujar's Day dir. Ira Sachs02:12:19 Christmas Eve in Miller's Point dir. Tyler Taormina02:17:10 I'm Still Here dir. Walter Salles02:19:14 28 Years Later dir. Danny Boyle02:21:06 Dreams (Sex Love) dir. Dag Johan Haugerud02:25:37 Resurrection dir. Bi Gan02:26:29 Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery dir. Rian Johnson02:28:07 It Was Just an Accident dir. Jafar Panahi02:32:05 Cloud dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa02:33:32 Left-Handed Girl dir. Tsou Shih-Ching 02:37:29 One Battle After Another dir. Paul Thomas Anderson02:40:04 Sinners dir. Ryan Coogler02:45:41 Outro

Aviācija un laika apstākļi, kas ziemā ietekmē lidostas darbu, ir šajā nedēļā Toma Briča sarunu tēma. Šī ziema līdz šim bija itin mierīga, bija februāra sākumā viens gadījums, kad bieza migla pāris stundas kavēja gaisa satiksmi, un nupat piedzīvotais putenis bija pārbaudījums gan lidostas tehniskajam personālam, īpaši skrejceļu uzturētājiem, un, protams, arī dispečeriem. Par to, kāda ir viņu ikdiena un kā to ietekmē laikapstākļi, saruna lidostas dispečeri Renāru Bernānu. Viņš tā arī teica – visādi gadās, bet Rīgas lidosta ir samērā drošā vietā. Renārs Bernāns vērtē, ka Rīgas lidosta laikapstākļu ietekmes ziņā ir samērā mierīga.  "Mēs esam ērta un diezgan mierīga lidosta. Protams, mums ir daudz izteiktākas ziemas nekā lielākā daļā Eiropas. Mēs mākam ar to tikt galā," atzīst Renārs Bernāns. "Lidostā ir pietiekami daudz tehnikas, kas šo sniegu spēj ātri notīrīt, un arī piloti ir pieraduši pie sniega vairāk nekā dienvidu valstu piloti. Piemēram, Turcijas piloti pārvietojas pa sniegu un ledu manāmi lēnāk, jo viņiem ir bail no sniega un ledus." Viena lieta, ko no šīs sarunas atcerēties – ja Latvijai tuvojas vai ir sākusies kāda ierastā rudens-ziemas vētra, bet jums plānots kaut kur lidot, lielam satraukumam nav pamata, jo tieši aviācijai un vēl specifiskāk izlidošanai šādi vēji ir relatīvi nekaitīgi un reti būtiski ietekmē satiksmi vai rada draudus. Bet pirms sarunas mazliet informācijas par lidostām, kam nav paveicies tā, kā Rīgai. Ja raugāmies tepat Eiropā, tad, runājot par izteikti bīstamākām lidostām, parasti tiek pieminētas trīs. Un bīstamību rada ne tikai laikapstākļi.  Viena no šīm lidostām ir Reijkjavīkas lidosta Islandē, jo tā ir zeme ar skarbiem laikapstākļiem - biežām vētrām, puteņiem, biežu apledojumu. Tāpat kā vienu no bīstamajām bieži piemin Gibraltāru. Tur problēma ir specifisks sānu vējš. Bet vienu no riskantākajām lidostām pasaulē uzskata Madeiras lidostu.

Randy Kim is a creator and podcaster out of the Chicago-land area. Randy produces the Banh Mi Chronicles. He was the 2024 award recipient of the annual Communicator Awards. He is the founder of his current Substack newsletter, “Banh Mi Bites,” which explores conversations with BIPOC creatives and more. Randy formerly served as a board member with The National Cambodian Heritage Museum in Chicago and is now serving as a board member with the Vietnamese Association of Illinois. Listen to our conversation on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get podcasts. Follow Randy on social media @banhmi_chronicles and subscribe to his newsletter at https://substack.com/@banhmibites You can let us know your thoughts at: infatuasianpodcast@gmail.com, or via direct message on Instagram and Facebook @infatuasianpodcast  Please follow us wherever you get your podcasts.  We would love your ratings and reviews over at Apple Podcasts and Spotify! Our Theme: “Super Happy J-Pop Fun-Time” by Prismic Studios was arranged and performed by All Arms Around  #asianpodcast #asian #asianamerican #infatuasian #iinfatuasianpodcast #aapi #veryasian #asianamericanpodcaster #representationmatters

Individually they were just like those guys who like to hang around the comic book shop and talk comics but together they form EMX! Check out Thacher's books a DemonWeaselStudios.com In this eXplicit, uncut and unedited episode of EMX we review Marvel Comics X-Men books of December 2025: Amazing X-Men (2025) #3 Binary  (2025) #3 Cloak or Dagger #3 Expatriate X-Men  (2025) #3 Iron & Frost  (2025) #3 The Last Wolverine  (2025) #3 Laura Kinney: Sabretooth  (2025) #3 Longshots  (2025) #3 Omega Kids  (2025) #3 Radioactive Spider-Man #3 Rogue-Storm  (2025) #3 Sinister's Six  (2025) #3 Unbreakable X-Men  (2025) #3 Undeadpool  (2025) #3 X-Men - Age of Revelation Finale #1 X-Men - Book of Revelation (2025) #3 X-Vengers  (2025) #3 [RSS] Subscribe [RSS] EMX Subscribe [Apple Podcasts] Subscribe [Google Podcast] Subscribe All Podcasts  Email: EMP@EarthsMightiestPodcast.com Website: http://www.EarthsMightiestPodcast.comFacebook Group: http://facebookgroup.earthsmightiestpodcast.com/Viet's Website: http://www.comedianviet.comThacher's Website: http://www.DemonWeasel.com  

Manu und sein heutiger Gast Viet (PixelViet) haben sich die gestrige Xbox Developer Direct angeschaut und waren vom Gezeigten durchaus überrascht: Wir haben beeindruckendes Gameplay und einen richtigen DeepDive zum mit Spannung erwarteten Fable bekommen. Können die Playground Studios endlich die Vision von Peter Molyneux technisch umsetzen? Es sieht ganz danach aus. Wenig überraschend, aber dafür richtig schick: Forza Horizon 6 in Japan und auch Beast of Reincarnation wird erwartbar gut allen Anschein nach. Warum sich Viet auf das Spiel von Game Freak am meisten freut, erfahrt ihr im Cast. Kein Shadowdrop, aber kommt trotzdem bald: das auf den ersten Blick verwirrende neue Spiel von Double Fine. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Į LRT GIRDI kreipėsi klausytojas Antanas, kuris atkreipia dėmesį, kad neretai verslo centrų ir daugiabučių namų požeminėse stovėjimo aikštelėse stovėjimo vietos asmenų su negalia transportui įrengiamos formaliai, kad atitiktų normatyvą, o vėliau ženklai panaikinami ir vieta parduodama ar išnuomojama.

Augustas Šuliauskas, Karolis Tiškevičius ir Lukas Malinauskas aptaria Kauno „Žalgirio” vargus ir evakuaciją iš Tel Avivo, naują komandą LKL ir bausmę Vaidui Vaškevičiui. Tinklalaidės partneriai: – Antėja. Kiek stiprus tavo imuniteto skydas – ar jo užtektų visam sezonui? „Antėja“ siūlo imuniteto įvertinimo programą ir mažakraujystės tyrimus su –35 % nuolaida, galiojančia iki 02.01. Daugiau: https://www.anteja.lt/menesio-pasiulymai – PROTEIN M – tai daugiau nei sūrelis, tai tavo kasdienė pagalba gerai savijautai. Išbandyk ir pamilk! – Nealkoholinis alus „Gubernija”, daugiau informacijos – https://gubernija.lt/ – Susitinkame stebėti rungtynių BasketNews ambasadoje! Vietų rezervacija čia: https://actionbyapollo.lt/vilnius/activity/basketnews-transliacijos/ Temos: Pasveikinkite gildijos vadą (0:00); Grėsmingoje situacijoje atsidūręs „Žalgiris” ir blogas precedentas Eurolygoje (2:22); Kvestionuotini epizodai Tel Avive (8:35); Williamso-Gosso trūkumas ir Francisco pastangos (21:11); Įspūdinga Wrighto atkarpa, bet skausminga realybė (33:34); Niūri „Žalgirio” tendencija (41:37); Susiskaldymas Eurolygoje ir Pauliaus Motiejūno ateitis (48:08); Nauja komanda LKL (54:59); Dainiaus Adomaičio atodūsis (59:42); NBA – pagyros Kasparui Jakučioniui (1:09:23); Reakcija į žiūrovų komentarus (1:13:45); Laisvės atėmimo bausmė „Jonavos” prezidentui (1:21:11).

Dans cet épisode d'Aventtitudes, Phetmany vous fait découvrir un café : le café vietnamien.Elle vous partage ses boissons préférées : classiques revisités, créations audacieuses, cafés glacés ou à la crème salée. Mais aussi des adresses à Paris - et une à Grenoble - où boire un vrai bon café viet.Une recommandation qui donne envie de ralentir, de savourer, et de (re)découvrir la culture vietnamienne à travers cette expérience sensorielle du café.

Individually they were just like those guys who like to hang around the comic book shop and talk comics but together they form EMX! Check out Thacher's books a DemonWeaselStudios.com In this eXplicit, uncut and unedited episode of EMX we review Marvel Comics X-Men books of November 2025: Amazing X-Men (2025) #2 Binary  (2025) #2 Cloak or Dagger #2 Expatriate X-Men  (2025) #2 Iron & Frost  (2025) #2 The Last Wolverine  (2025) #2 Laura Kinney: Sabretooth  (2025) #2 Longshots  (2025) #2 Omega Kids  (2025) #2 Radioactive Spider-Man #2 Rogue-Storm  (2025) #2 Sinister's Six  (2025) #2 Unbreakable X-Men  (2025) #2 Undeadpool  (2025) #2 X-Men - Book of Revelation  (2025) #2 X-Men of Apocalypse (2025) #1 X-Vengers  (2025) #2 [RSS] Subscribe [RSS] EMX Subscribe [Apple Podcasts] Subscribe [Google Podcast] Subscribe All Podcasts  Email: EMP@EarthsMightiestPodcast.com Website: http://www.EarthsMightiestPodcast.comFacebook Group: http://facebookgroup.earthsmightiestpodcast.com/Viet's Website: http://www.comedianviet.comThacher's Website: http://www.DemonWeasel.com  

A weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, deejays, and activists. Tonight's show features Asian Refugees United and Lavender Phoenix in conversation about art, culture, and organizing, and how artists help us imagine and build liberation. Important Links: Lavender Phoenix: Website | Instagram Asian Refugees United: Website | Instagram | QTViệt Cafe Collective Transcript: Cheryl: Hey everyone. Good evening. You tuned in to APEX Express. I'm your host, Cheryl, and tonight is an AACRE Night. AACRE, which is short for Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality is a network made up of 11 Asian American social justice organizations who work together to build long-term movements for justice. Across the AACRE network, our groups are organizing against deportations, confronting anti-blackness, xenophobia, advancing language justice, developing trans and queer leaders, and imagine new systems of safety and care. It's all very good, very important stuff. And all of this from the campaigns to the Organizing to Movement building raises a question that I keep coming back to, which is, where does art live In all of this, Acts of resistance do not only take place in courtrooms or city halls. It takes place wherever people are still able to imagine. It is part of how movements survive and and grow. Art is not adjacent to revolution, but rather it is one of its most enduring forms, and tonight's show sits in that very spirit, and I hope that by the end of this episode, maybe you'll see what I mean. I;d like to bring in my friends from Lavender Phoenix, a trans queer API organization, building people power in the Bay Area, who are also a part of the AACRE Network. This summer, Lavender Phoenix held a workshop that got right to the heart of this very question that we're sitting with tonight, which is what is the role of the artist in social movements? As they were planning the workshop, they were really inspired by a quote from Toni Cade Bambara, who in an interview from 1982 said, as a cultural worker who belongs to an oppressed people, my job is to make the revolution irresistible. So that raises a few questions worth slowing down for, which are, who was Toni Cade Bambara? What does it mean to be a cultural organizer and why does that matter? Especially in this political moment? Lavender Phoenix has been grappling with these questions in practice, and I think they have some powerful answers to share. So without further ado, I'd like to introduce you to angel who is a member of Lavender Phoenix. Angel: My name is Angel. I use he and she pronouns, and I'm part of the communications committee at LavNix. So, let's explore what exactly is the meaning of cultural work.  Cultural workers are the creators of narratives through various forms of artistic expression, and we literally drive the production of culture. Cultural work reflects the perspectives and attitudes of artists and therefore the people and communities that they belong to. Art does not exist in a vacuum. You may have heard the phrase before. Art is always political. It serves a purpose to tell a story, to document the times to perpetuate and give longevity to ideas. It may conform to the status quo or choose to resist it. I wanted to share a little bit about one cultural worker who's made a really big impact and paved the way for how we think about cultural work and this framework. Toni Cade Bambara was a black feminist, cultural worker, writer, and organizer whose literary work celebrated black art, culture and life, and radically supported a movement for collective liberation. She believed that it's the artist's role to serve the community they belong to, and that an artist is of no higher status than a factory worker, social worker, or teacher. Is the idea of even reframing art making as cultural work. Reclaimed the arts from the elite capitalist class and made clear that it is work, it does not have more value than or take precedence over any other type of movement work. This is a quote from an interview from 1982 when Toni Cade Bambara said, as a cultural worker who belongs to an oppressed people, my job is to make revolution irresistible. But in this country, we're not encouraged and equipped at any particular time to view things that way. And so the artwork or the art practice that sells that capitalist ideology is considered art. And anything that deviates from that is considered political, propagandist, polemical, or didactic, strange, weird, subversive or ugly. Cheryl: After reading that quote, angel then invited the workshop participants to think about what that means for them. What does it mean to make the revolution irresistible? After giving people a bit of time to reflect, angel then reads some of the things that were shared in the chat. Angel: I want my art to point out the inconsistencies within our society to surprised, enraged, elicit a strong enough reaction that they feel they must do something. Cheryl: Another person said, Angel: I love that art can be a way of bridging relationships. Connecting people together, building community. Cheryl: And someone else said. Angel: I want people to feel connected to my art, find themselves in it, and have it make them think and realize that they have the ability to do something themselves. Cheryl: I think what is rather striking in these responses that Angel has read aloud to what it means to make art that makes the revolution irresistible isn't just aesthetics alone, but rather its ability to help us connect and communicate and find one another to enact feelings and responses in each other. It's about the way it makes people feel implicated and connected and also capable of acting. Tony Cade Bambara when she poses that the role of cultural workers is to make the revolution irresistible is posing to us a challenge to tap into our creativity and create art that makes people unable to return comfortably to the world as is, and it makes revolution necessary, desirable not as an abstract idea, but as something people can want and move towards  now I'm going to invite Jenica, who is the cultural organizer at Lavender Phoenix to break down for us why we need cultural work in this political moment. . Speaker: Jenica: So many of us as artists have really internalized the power of art and are really eager to connect it to the movement.  This section is about answering this question of why is cultural work important.  Cultural work plays a really vital role in organizing and achieving our political goals, right? So if our goal is to advance radical solutions to everyday people, we also have to ask ourselves how are we going to reach those peoples? Ideas of revolution and liberation are majorly inaccessible to the masses, to everyday people. Families are being separated. Attacks on the working class are getting worse and worse. How are we really propping up these ideas of revolution, especially right in America, where propaganda for the state, for policing, for a corrupt government runs really high. Therefore our messaging in political organizing works to combat that propaganda. So in a sense we have to make our own propaganda. So let's look at this term together. Propaganda is art that we make that accurately reflects and makes people aware of the true nature of the conditions of their oppression and inspires them to take control of transforming this condition. We really want to make art that seeks to make the broader society aware of its implications in the daily violences, facilitated in the name of capitalism, imperialism, and shows that error of maintaining or ignoring the status quo. So it's really our goal to arm people with the tools to better struggle against their own points of views, their ways of thinking, because not everyone is already aligned with like revolution already, right? No one's born an organizer. No one's born 100% willing to be in this cause. So, we really focus on the creative and cultural processes, as artists build that revolutionary culture. Propaganda is really a means of liberation. It's an instrument to help clarify information education and a way to mobilize our people. And not only that, our cultural work can really model to others what it's like to envision a better world for ourselves, right? Our imagination can be so expansive when it comes to creating art. As organizers and activists when we create communication, zines, et cetera, we're also asking ourselves, how does this bring us one step closer to revolution? How are we challenging the status quo? So this is exactly what our role as artists is in this movement. It's to create propaganda that serves two different purposes. One, subvert the enemy and cultivate a culture that constantly challenges the status quo. And also awaken and mobilize the people. How can we, through our art, really uplift the genuine interests of the most exploited of people of the working class, of everyday people who are targets of the state and really empower those whose stories are often kept outside of this master narrative. Because when they are talked about, people in power will often misrepresent marginalized communities. An example of this, Lavender Phoenix, a couple years ago took up this campaign called Justice for Jaxon Sales. Trigger warning here, hate crime, violence against queer people and death. Um, so Jaxon Sales was a young, queer, Korean adoptee living in the Bay Area who went on a blind like dating app date and was found dead the next morning in a high-rise apartment in San Francisco. Lavender Phoenix worked really closely and is still connected really closely with Jaxon's parents, Jim and Angie Solas to really fight, and organize for justice for Jaxon and demand investigation into what happened to him and his death, and have answers for his family. I bring that up, this campaign because when his parents spoke to the chief medical examiner in San Francisco, they had told his family Jaxon died of an accidental overdose he was gay. Like gay people just these kinds of drugs. So that was the narrative that was being presented to us from the state. Like literally, their own words: he's dead because he's gay. And our narrative, as we continue to organize and support his family, was to really address the stigma surrounding drug use. Also reiterating the fact that justice was deserved for Jaxon, and that no one should ever have to go through this. We all deserve to be safe, that a better world is possible. So that's an example of combating the status quo and then uplifting the genuine interest of our people and his family. One of our key values at Lavender Phoenix is honoring our histories, because the propaganda against our own people is so intense. I just think about the everyday people, the working class, our immigrant communities and ancestors, other queer and trans people of color that really fought so hard to have their story told. So when we do this work and think about honoring our histories, let's also ask ourselves what will we do to keep those stories alive? Cheryl: We're going to take a quick music break and listen to some music by Namgar, an international ethno music collective that fuses traditional Buryat and Mongolian music with pop, jazz, funk, ambient soundscapes, and art- pop. We'll be back in just a moment with more after we listen to “part two” by Namgar.    Cheryl: Welcome back.  You are tuned in to APEX express on 94.1 KPFA and 89.3 KPFB B in Berkeley and online at kpfa.org.  That song you just heard was “part two” by Namgar, an incredible four- piece Buryat- Mongolian ensemble that is revitalizing and preserving the Buryat language and culture through music. For those just tuning in tonight's episode of APEX Express is all about the role of the artist in social movements. We're joined by members of Lavender Phoenix, often referred to as LavNix, which is a grassroots organization in the Bay Area building Trans and queer API Power. You can learn more about their work in our show notes. We talked about why cultural work is a core part of organizing. We grounded that conversation in the words of Toni Cade Bambara, who said in a 1982 interview, as a cultural worker who belongs to an oppressed people, my job is to make revolution irresistible. We unpacked what that looks like in practice and lifted up Lavender Phoenix's Justice for Jaxon Sales campaign as a powerful example of cultural organizing, which really demonstrates how art and narrative work and cultural work are essential to building power Now Jenica from Levner Phoenix is going to walk us through some powerful examples of cultural organizing that have occurred in social movements across time and across the world. Speaker: Jenica: Now we're going to look at some really specific examples of powerful cultural work in our movements. For our framework today, we'll start with an international example, then a national one, a local example, and then finally one from LavNix. As we go through them, we ask that you take notes on what makes these examples, impactful forms of cultural work. How does it subvert the status quo? How is it uplifting the genuine interest of the people? Our international example is actually from the Philippines. Every year, the Corrupt Philippines president delivers a state of the nation address to share the current conditions of the country. However, on a day that the people are meant to hear about the genuine concrete needs of the Filipino masses, they're met instead with lies and deceit that's broadcasted and also built upon like years of disinformation and really just feeds the selfish interests of the ruling class and the imperialist powers. In response to this, every year, BAYAN, which is an alliance in the Philippines with overseas chapters here in the US as well. Their purpose is to fight for the national sovereignty and genuine democracy in the Philippines, they hold a Peoples' State of the Nation Address , or PSONA, to protest and deliver the genuine concerns and demands of the masses. So part of PSONA are effigies. Effigies have been regular fixtures in protest rallies, including PSONA. So for those of you who don't know, an effigy is a sculptural representation, often life size of a hated person or group. These makeshift dummies are used for symbolic punishment in political protests, and the figures are often burned. In the case of PSONA, these effigies are set on fire by protestors criticizing government neglect, especially of the poor. Lisa Ito, who is a progressive artists explained that the effigy is constructed not only as a mockery of the person represented, but also of the larger system that his or her likeness embodies. Ito pointed out that effigies have evolved considerably as a form of popular protest art in the Philippines, used by progressive people's movements, not only to entertain, but also to agitate, mobilize and capture the sentiments of the people. This year, organizers created this effigy that they titled ‘ZomBBM,' ‘Sara-nanggal' . This is a play on words calling the corrupt president of the Philippines, Bongbong Marcos, or BBM, a zombie. And the vice president Sara Duterte a Manananggal, which is a, Filipino vampire to put it in short, brief words. Organizers burnt this effigy as a symbol of DK and preservation of the current ruling class. I love this effigy so much. You can see BBM who's depicted like his head is taken off and inside of his head is Trump because he's considered like a puppet president of the Philippines just serving US interests. Awesome. I'm gonna pass it to Angel for our national perspective. Angel: Our next piece is from the national perspective and it was in response to the AIDS crisis. The global pandemic of HIV AIDS began in 1981 and continues today. AIDS is the late stage of HIV infection, human immunodeficiency virus, and this crisis has been marked largely by government indifference, widespread stigma against gay people, and virtually no federal funding towards research or services for everyday people impacted. There was a really devastating lack of public attention about the seriousness of HIV. The Ronald Reagan administration treated the crisis as a joke because of its association with gay men, and Reagan didn't even publicly acknowledge AIDS until 19 85, 4 years into the pandemic. Thousands of HIV positive people across backgrounds and their supporters organize one of the most influential patient advocacy groups in history. They called themselves the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power or ACT up. They ultimately organize and force the government and the scientific community to fundamentally change the way medical research is conducted. Paving the way for the discovery of a treatment that today keeps alive, an estimated half million HIV positive Americans and millions more worldwide. Sarah Schulman, a writer and former member of ACT Up, wrote a list of ACT UPS achievements, including changing the CDC C'S definition of aids to include women legalizing needle exchange in New York City and establishing housing services for HIV positive unhoused people. To highlight some cultural work within ACT Up, the AIDS activist artist Collective Grand Fury formed out of ACT Up and CR and created works for the public sphere that drew attention to the medical, moral and public issues related to the AIDS crisis. Essentially, the government was fine with the mass deaths and had a large role in the active killing off of people who are not just queer, but people who are poor working class and of color. We still see parallels in these roadblocks. Today, Trump is cutting public healthcare ongoing, and in recent memory, the COVID crisis, the political situation of LGBTQ people then and now is not divorced from this class analysis. So in response, we have the AIDS Memorial Quilt, this collective installation memorializes people who died in the US from the AIDS crisis and from government neglect. Each panel is dedicated to a life lost and created by hand by their friends, family, loved ones, and community. This artwork was originally conceived by Cleve Jones in SF for the 1985 candlelight March, and later it was expanded upon and displayed in Washington DC in 1987. Its enormity demonstrated the sheer number at which queer folk were killed in the hiv aids crisis, as well as created a space in the public for dialogue about the health disparities that harm and silence our community. Today, it's returned home to San Francisco and can be accessed through an interactive online archive. 50,000 individual panels and around a hundred thousand names make up the patchwork quilt, which is insane, and it's one of the largest pieces of grassroots community art in the world. Moving on to a more local perspective. In the Bay Area, we're talking about the Black Panther Party. So in October of 1966 in Oakland, California, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale founded the Black Panther Party for self-defense. The Panthers practiced militant self-defense of black communities against the US government and fought to establish socialism through organizing and community-based programs. The Black Panthers began by organizing arm patrols of black people to monitor the Oakland Police Department and challenge rampant rampant police brutality. At its peak, the party had offices in 68 cities and thousands of members. The party's 10 point program was a set of demands, guidelines, and values, calling for self-determination, full employment of black people, and the end of exploitation of black workers housing for all black people, and so much more. The party's money programs directly addressed their platform as they instituted a free B Breakfast for Children program to address food scarcity Founded community health clinics to address the lack of adequate, adequate healthcare for black people and treat sickle cell anemia, tuberculosis, and HIV aids and more. The cultural work created by the Black Panther Party included the Black Panther Party newspaper known as the Black Panther. It was a four page newsletter in Oakland, California in 1967. It was the main publication of the party and was soon sold in several large cities across the US as well as having an international readership. The Black Panther issue number two. The newspaper, distributed information about the party's activities and expressed through articles, the ideology of the Black Panther Party, focusing on both international revolutions as inspiration and contemporary racial struggles of African Americans across the United States. Solidarity with other resistance movements was a major draw for readers. The paper's international section reported on liberation struggles across the world. Under Editor-in-Chief, David Du Bois, the stepson of WEB Du Bois, the section deepened party support for revolutionary efforts in South Africa and Cuba. Copies of the paper traveled abroad with students and activists and were tra translated into Hebrew and Japanese. It reflected that the idea of resistance to police oppression had spread like wildfire. Judy Juanita, a former editor in Chief Ads, it shows that this pattern of oppression was systemic. End quote. Paper regularly featured fiery rhetoric called out racist organizations and was unabashed in its disdain for the existing political system. Its first cover story reported on the police killing of Denzel Doel, a 22-year-old black man in Richmond, California. In all caps, the paper stated, brothers and sisters, these racist murders are happening every day. They could happen to any one of us. And it became well known for its bold cover art, woodcut style images of protestors, armed panthers, and police depicted as bloodied pigs. Speaker: Jenica: I'm gonna go into the LavNix example of cultural work that we've done. For some context, we had mentioned that we are taking up this campaign called Care Not Cops. Just to give some brief background to LavNix, as systems have continued to fail us, lavender Phoenix's work has always been about the safety of our communities. We've trained people in deescalation crisis intervention set up counseling networks, right? Then in 2022, we had joined the Sales family to fight for justice for Jaxon Sales. And with them we demanded answers for untimely death from the sheriff's department and the medical examiner. Something we noticed during that campaign is that every year we watch as people in power vote on another city budget that funds the same institutions that hurt our people and steal money from our communities. Do people know what the budget is for the San Francisco Police Department? Every year, we see that city services and programs are gutted. Meanwhile, this year, SFPD has $849 million, and the sheriff has $345 million. So, honestly, policing in general in the city is over $1 billion. And they will not experience any cuts. Their bloated budgets will remain largely intact. We've really been watching, Mayor Lurie , his first months and like, honestly like first more than half a year, with a lot of concern. We've seen him declare the unlawful fentanyl state of emergency, which he can't really do, and continue to increase police presence downtown. Ultimately we know that mayor Lurie and our supervisors need to hear from us everyday people who demand care, not cops. So that leads me into our cultural work. In March of this year, lavender Phoenix had collaborated with youth organizations across the city, youth groups from Chinese Progressive Association, PODER, CYC, to host a bilingual care, not cops, zine making workshop for youth. Our organizers engaged with the youth with agitating statistics on the egregious SFPD budget, and facilitated a space for them to warm up their brains and hearts to imagine a world without prisons and policing. And to really further envision one that centers on care healing for our people, all through art. What I really learned is that working class San Francisco youth are the ones who really know the city's fascist conditions the most intimately. It's clear through their zine contributions that they've really internalized these intense forms of policing in the schools on the streets with the unhoused, witnessing ice raids and fearing for their families. The zine was really a collective practice with working class youth where they connected their own personal experiences to the material facts of policing in the city, the budget, and put those experiences to paper.   Cheryl: Hey everyone. Cheryl here. So we've heard about Effigies in the Philippines, the AIDS Memorial Quilt, the Black Panther Party's newspaper, the Black Panther and Lavender Phoenix's Care Cop zine. Through these examples, we've learned about cultural work and art and narrative work on different scales internationally, nationally, locally and organizationally. With lavender Phoenix. What we're seeing is across movements across time. Cultural work has always been central to organizing. We're going to take another music break, but when we return, I'll introduce you to our next speaker. Hai, from Asian Refugees United, who will walk us through, their creative practice, which is food, as a form of cultural resistance, and we'll learn about how food ways can function as acts of survival, resistance, and also decolonization. So stay with us more soon when we return.   Cheryl: And we're back!!. You're listening to APEX express on 94.1 KPFA, 89.3 KPFB in Berkeley. 88.1. KFCF in Fresno and online@kpfa.org. That was “Juniper” by Minjoona, a project led by Korean American musician, Jackson Wright.  huge thanks to Jackson and the whole crew behind that track.  I am here with Hai from Asian Refugees United, who is a member QTViet Cafe Collective. A project under Asian Refugees United. QTViet Viet Cafe is a creative cultural hub that is dedicated to queer and trans viet Liberation through ancestral practices, the arts and intergenerational connection. This is a clip from what was a much longer conversation. This episode is all about the role of the artist in social movements and I think Hai brings a very interesting take to the conversation. Hai (ARU): I think that what is helping me is one, just building the muscle. So when we're so true to our vision and heart meets mind and body. So much of what QTViet Cafe is, and by extension Asian refugees and like, we're really using our cultural arts and in many ways, whether that's movement or poetry or written word or song or dance. And in many ways I've had a lot of experience in our food ways, and reclaiming those food ways. That's a very embodied experience. We're really trying to restore wholeness and health and healing in our communities, in our bodies and our minds and our families and our communities that have been displaced because of colonization, imperialism, capitalism. And so how do we restore, how do we have a different relationship and how do we restore? I think that from moving from hurt to healing is life and art. And so we need to take risk and trying to define life through art and whatever means that we can to make meaning and purpose and intention. I feel like so much of what art is, is trying to make meaning of the hurt in order to bring in more healing in our lives. For so long, I think I've been wanting a different relationship to food. For example, because I grew up section eight, food stamps, food bank. My mom and my parents doing the best they could, but also, yeah, grew up with Viet food, grew up with ingredients for my parents making food, mostly my mom that weren't necessarily all the best. And I think compared to Vietnam, where it's easier access. And there's a different kind of system around, needs around food and just easier access, more people are involved around the food system in Vietnam I think growing up in Turtle Island and seeing my parents struggle not just with food, but just with money and jobs it's just all connected. And I think that impacted my journey and. My own imbalance around health and I became a byproduct of diabetes and high cholesterol and noticed that in my family. So when I noticed, when I had type two diabetes when I was 18, made the conscious choice to, I knew I needed to have some type of, uh, I need to have a different relationship to my life and food included and just like cut soda, started kind of what I knew at the time, exercising as ways to take care of my body. And then it's honestly been now a 20 year journey of having a different relationship to not just food, but health and connection to mind, body, spirit. For me, choosing to have a different relationship in my life, like that is a risk. Choosing to eat something different like that is both a risk and an opportunity. For me that's like part of movement building like you have to. Be so in tune with my body to notice and the changes that are needed in order to live again. When I noticed, you know, , hearing other Viet folks experiencing diet related stuff and I think knowing what I know also, like politically around what's happening around our food system, both for the vie community here and also in Vietnam, how do we, how can this regular act of nourishing ourselves both be not just in art, something that should actually just honestly be an everyday need and an everyday symbol of caregiving and caretaking and care that can just be part of our everyday lives. I want a world where, it's not just one night where we're tasting the best and eating the best and being nourished, just in one Saturday night, but that it's just happening all the time because we're in right relationship with ourselves and each other and the earth that everything is beauty and we don't have to take so many risks because things are already in its natural divine. I think it takes being very conscious of our circumstances and our surroundings and our relationships with each other for that to happen. I remember reading in my early twenties, reading the role of, bring Coke basically to Vietnam during the war. I was always fascinated like, why are, why is Coke like on Viet altars all the time? And I always see them in different places. Whenever I would go back to Vietnam, I remember when I was seven and 12. Going to a family party and the classic shiny vinyl plastic, floral like sheet on a round table and the stools, and then these beautiful platters of food. But I'm always like, why are we drinking soda or coke and whatever else? My dad and the men and then my family, like drinking beer. And I was like, why? I've had periods in my life when I've gotten sick, physically and mentally sick. Those moments open up doors to take the risk and then also the opportunity to try different truth or different path. When I was 23 and I had just like crazy eczema and psoriasis and went back home to my parents for a while and I just started to learn about nourishing traditions, movement. I was Very critical of the us traditional nutrition ideas of what good nutrition is and very adamantly like opposing the food pyramid. And then in that kind of research, I was one thinking well, they're talking about the science of broths and like soups and talking about hard boiling and straining the broth and getting the gunk on the top. And I'm like, wait, my mom did that. And I was starting to connect what has my mom known culturally that now like science is catching up, you know? And then I started just reading, you know, like I think that my mom didn't know the sign mom. I was like, asked my mom like, did you know about this? And she's like, I mean, I just, this is, is like what ba ngoai said, you know? And so I'm like, okay, so culturally this, this is happening scientifically. This is what's being shared. And then I started reading about the politics of US-centric upheaval of monocultural agriculture essentially. When the US started to do the industrial Revolution and started to basically grow wheat and soy and just basically make sugar to feed lots of cows and create sugar to be put in products like Coke was one of them. And, and then, yeah, that was basically a way for the US government to make money from Vietnam to bring that over, to Vietnam. And that was introduced to our culture. It's just another wave of imperialism and colonization. And sadly, we know what, overprocessed, like refined sugars can do to our health. And sadly, I can't help but make the connections with what happened. In many ways, food and sugar are introduced through these systems of colonization and imperialism are so far removed from what we ate pre colonization. And so, so much of my journey around food has been, you know, it's not even art, it's just like trying to understand, how do we survive and we thrive even before so many. And you know, in some ways it is art. 'cause I making 40 pounds of cha ga for event, , the fish cake, like, that's something that, that our people have been doing for a long time and hand making all that. And people love the dish and I'm really glad that people enjoyed it and mm, it's like, oh yeah, it's art. But it's what people have been doing to survive and thrive for long, for so long, you know? , We have the right to be able to practice our traditional food ways and we have the right for food sovereignty and food justice. And we have the right to, by extension, like have clean waters and hospitable places to live and for our animal kin to live and for our plant kin to be able to thrive. bun cha ga, I think like it's an artful hopeful symbol of what is seasonal and relevant and culturally symbolic of our time. I think that, yes, the imminent, violent, traumatic war that are happening between people, in Vietnam and Palestine and Sudan. Honestly, like here in America. That is important. And I think we need to show, honestly, not just to a direct violence, but also very indirect violence on our bodies through the food that we're eating. Our land and waters are living through indirect violence with just like everyday pollutants and top soil being removed and industrialization. And so I think I'm just very cognizant of the kind of everyday art ways, life ways, ways of being that I think that are important to be aware of and both practice as resistance against the forces that are trying to strip away our livelihood every day. Cheryl: We just heard from Hai of Asian refugees United who shared about how food ways function as an embodied form of cultural work that is rooted in memory and also survival and healing. Hai talked about food as a practice and art that is lived in the body and is also shaped by displacement and colonization and capitalism and imperialism. I shared that through their journey with QTV at Cafe and Asian Refugees United. High was able to reflect on reclaiming traditional food ways as a way to restore health and wholeness and relationship to our bodies and to our families, to our communities, and to the earth. High. Also, traced out illness and imbalance as deeply connected to political systems that have disrupted ancestral knowledge and instead introduced extractive food systems and normalized everyday forms of soft violence through what we consume and the impact it has on our land. And I think the most important thing I got from our conversation was that high reminded us that nourishing ourselves can be both an act of care, an art form, and an act of resistance. And what we call art is often what people have always done to survive and thrive Food. For them is a practice of memory, and it's also a refusal of erasure and also a very radical vision of food sovereignty and healing and collective life outside of colonial violence and harm. As we close out tonight's episode, I want to return to the question that has guided us from the beginning, which is, what is the role of the artist in social movements? What we've heard tonight from Tony Cade Bambara call to make revolution irresistible to lavender Phoenix's cultural organizing here, internationally to Hai, reflections on food ways, and nourishing ourselves as resistance. It is Really clear to me. Art is not separate from struggle. It is how people make sense of systems of violence and carry memory and also practice healing and reimagining new worlds in the middle of ongoing violence. Cultural work helps our movements. Endure and gives us language when words fail, or ritual when grief is heavy, and practices that connect us, that reconnect us to our bodies and our histories and to each other. So whether that's through zines, or songs or murals, newspapers, or shared meals, art is a way of liberation again and again. I wanna thank all of our speakers today, Jenica, Angel. From Lavender Phoenix. Hi, from QTV Cafe, Asian Refugees United, And I also wanna thank you, our listeners for staying with us. You've been listening to Apex Express on KPFA. Take care of yourselves, take care of each other, and keep imagining the world that we're trying to build. That's important stuff. Cheryl Truong (she/they): Apex express is produced by Miko Lee, Paige Chung, Jalena Keane-Lee, Preeti Mangala Shekar. Shekar, Anuj Vaidya, Kiki Rivera, Swati Rayasam, Nate Tan, Hien Nguyen, Nikki Chan, and Cheryl Truong  Cheryl Truong: Tonight's show was produced by me, cheryl. Thanks to the team at KPFA for all of their support. And thank you for listening!  The post APEX Express – January 1, 2026 – The Role of the Artist in Social Movements appeared first on KPFA.

Und das wäre Teil 2 des großen "Spiele des Jahres 2025"-Plauschangriffs, wo es nochmal große Brecher von Juli bis Dezember zu besprechen gab. Auch hier wieder podcast-technisch mit Gregor, Fabian, Ilyass und Viet. Wir gehen danach erstmal in die Winterpause, hören uns danach wieder mit neuen Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Unser alljährlicher Spiele-Recap-Podcast ist wieder da, und zwar mit der bewährten Truppe rund um Gregor, Fabian, Viet und Ilyass. Das in unserer Betrachtung sehr interessante 2025 ging schon in der ersten Hälfte gut los, die im Plauschangriff heute durchleuchtet wird. Werbung: https://linktr.ee/Podcastsrbtv Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Greg and Ed discuss the long, strange and complex history between Thailand and Cambodia in an attempt to shed some light on the tragic current conflict. Greg begins with some early history. The majority of Southeast Asia was once part of the Khmer Empire based in Angkor. Eventually Thai kingdoms in Sukhothai and Ayutthaya achieved independence, but tension between the two powers was constant. In a complex maelstrom of alliance and conflict, each power borrowed, copied and outright stole selected cultural artifacts from each other, such that untangling the exact pedigree of multiple shared cultural touchstones can be difficult. Like many empires in history, the Khmer power began to wane in the face of territorial integrity, outside threats, inside warring, and eventually,  the rise of Thai kingdoms (as well as Viet ones), all of which led to the slow decline of Angkor. In the late 1800s, the Khmers sought the protection of France, who bullied Siam into ceding territory that would eventually become modern Cambodia. Japan played a similar role in World War II. After the war in Vietnam, radical communists took over Cambodia and destroyed many institutions of modernity, but their extreme nature led them to be invaded by Vietnam, who eventually installed Hun Sen as prime minister. When Vietnam faltered in the 80s and 90s, Cambodia turned to China as a patron.  When Thaksin Shinawatra, an outsider among the Thai elite, rose to power, he formed an unlikely bond with the Hun Sen clan in Cambodia. However, the recent Shinawatra foray into legalized casinos in Thailand was too much for the friendship, and Hun Sen betrayed Thaksin's daughter, leading to the downfall of her government. Both countries used the incident and long-gestating disputes over the border to stoke nationalist fervor, and provocations eventually led to all out conflict. Greg and Ed agree that while the two countries have clear issues to settle, the ongoing violence can only make matters worse, and diplomacy, with or without the help of Donald Trump, must prevail.  Note that this episode was recorded on December 10, so there may or may not have been important developments by the time you hear this.  

12-3-2025: Wake Up Missouri with Randy Tobler, Stephanie Bell, John Marsh, and Producer Drake

Individually they were just like those guys who like to hang around the comic book shop and talk comics but together they form EMX! Check out Thacher's books a DemonWeaselStudios.com In this eXplicit, uncut and unedited episode of EMX we review Marvel Comics X-Men books of October 2025: Amazing X-Men (2025) #1 Binary  (2025) #1 Expatriate X-Men  (2025) #1 Iron & Frost  (2025) #1 The Last Wolverine  (2025) #1 Laura Kinney: Sabretooth  (2025) #1 Longshots  (2025) #1 Omega Kids  (2025) #1 Radioactive Spider-Man #1 Rogue-Storm  (2025) #1 Sinister's Six  (2025) #1 Unbreakable X-Men  (2025) #1 Undeadpool  (2025) #1 World of Revelation  (2025) #1 X-Men - Age of Revelation Overture  (2025) #1 X-Men - Book of Revelation  (2025) #1 X-Vengers  (2025) #1 [RSS] Subscribe [RSS] EMX Subscribe [Apple Podcasts] Subscribe [Google Podcast] Subscribe All Podcasts  Email: EMP@EarthsMightiestPodcast.com Website: http://www.EarthsMightiestPodcast.comFacebook Group: http://facebookgroup.earthsmightiestpodcast.com/Viet's Website: http://www.comedianviet.comThacher's Website: http://www.DemonWeasel.com  

Individually they were just like those guys who like to hang around the comic book shop and talk comics but together they form EMX! In this eXplicit, uncut and unedited episode of EMX we review Marvel Comics X-Men books of September 2025: Exceptional X-Men #13 Hellverine #10 Magik #9-10 Storm #12 Uncanny X-Men #20-21 Wolverine #13 X-Men #22 [RSS] Subscribe [RSS] EMX Subscribe [Apple Podcasts] Subscribe [Google Podcast] Subscribe All Podcasts Email: EMP@EarthsMightiestPodcast.com Website: http://www.EarthsMightiestPodcast.comFacebook Group: http://facebookgroup.earthsmightiestpodcast.com/Viet's Website: http://www.comedianviet.comThacher's Website: http://www.DemonWeasel.com

Individually they were just like those guys who like to hang around the comic book shop and talk comics but together they form EMX! In this eXplicit, uncut and unedited episode of EMX we review Marvel Comics X-Men books of August 2025: Exceptional X-Men #12 Giant-Size X-Men #2 Hellverine #9 Laura Kinney - Wolverine #9 Magik #8 Phoenix #14 Psylocke #10 Storm #11 Uncanny X-Men #19 Wolverine #12 X-Men - Tooth and Claw #1 X-Men #20-21 Deadpool-Wolverine #8 Emma Frost - The White Queen #3 Spider-Man & Wolverine #4 Wolverine and Kitty Pryde #5 Wolverine by Chris Claremont #1 Wolverines and Deadpools #2 [RSS] Subscribe [RSS] EMX Subscribe [Apple Podcasts] Subscribe [Google Podcast] Subscribe All Podcasts  Email: EMP@EarthsMightiestPodcast.com Website: http://www.EarthsMightiestPodcast.comFacebook Group: http://facebookgroup.earthsmightiestpodcast.com/Viet's Website: http://www.comedianviet.comThacher's Website: http://www.DemonWeasel.com  

"The power of storytelling is to save us.... and to destroy us." Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Viet Thanh Nguyen, is deeply shaped by his identity as a refugee. Viet describes his upbringing, one without many books, one that dealt with violence and isolation, and one that made him incredibly interested in the Vietnam War. The two bond over the shared burdens that family takes on to start a new life and Viet talks about what it was like winning the most prestigious prize in literature for his debut novel, and how he was propelled from a professor to a public figure. Viet also speaks to the importance of sharing and uplifting refugee stories amidst the digital and political dangers facing today's society. Viet's latest book, “To Save and to Destroy”, an exploration of otherness and a call for political solidarity, is available now wherever you get your books. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

"The power of storytelling is to save us.... and to destroy us." Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Viet Thanh Nguyen, is deeply shaped by his identity as a refugee. Viet describes his upbringing, one without many books, one that dealt with violence and isolation, and one that made him incredibly interested in the Vietnam War. The two bond over the shared burdens that family takes on to start a new life and Viet talks about what it was like winning the most prestigious prize in literature for his debut novel, and how he was propelled from a professor to a public figure. Viet also speaks to the importance of sharing and uplifting refugee stories amidst the digital and political dangers facing today's society. Viet's latest book, “To Save and to Destroy”, an exploration of otherness and a call for political solidarity, is available now wherever you get your books. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today's episode features an interview with Viet Huynh from Hygreen, a company introducing an autonomous, solar-powered robotic lawnmower called Go, designed for residential use. The discussion highlights the mower's advanced features, including an AI camera for precise mapping and obstacle avoidance, ensuring it stays out of designated "no-go" areas like ponds or flower beds. Eric and Viet explore how this technology offers convenience, sustainability, and time-saving benefits for homeowners, suggesting it could allow individuals to focus on other pursuits like gardening or enjoying their ponds. The conversation also touches on the potential for this innovation to redefine the landscape industry, allowing professionals to shift from basic mowing to higher-margin services. The product is set for mass production in October and aims for a February 2026 release, with future plans including an autonomous pool cleaner. Key Takeaways: • Reclaim your time by automating tedious household chores like lawn mowing to focus on activities you enjoy.   • Invest in smart home technology to enhance your daily life and free up personal time.   • Prioritize higher-value pursuits such as gardening or building ponds, by delegating time-consuming tasks.   • Opt for sustainable solutions like electric, mulching mowers to benefit the environment and reduce noise pollution.   • Explore new innovations that leverage AI and robotics to improve efficiency and convenience in your home and lifestyle.