Asia Pacific Forum

Jan 19 2025 9 ep. 62 mins 1
Asia Pacific Forum Podcast artwork

Asia Pacific Forum (APF), is a unique public affairs podcast on Asian and Asian American culture, politics, history and current events. Since its early days as a community radio program on New York’s famed WBAI, APF has produced interviews with a wide range of eminent figures in Asian and Asian American communities: emerging artists; writers and musicians; and grassroots activists campaigning for racial, economic and environmental justice.

Contact us at asiapacificforum[at]gmail.com

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Asian American politics in the Trump Era

Jan 19 2025 65 mins  
As we head into the Second Trump Administration, we’re taking stock of what’s been happening in politics within and around Asian American communities. In light of new data showing significant shifts to the right among Asian American voters, as well as new, sometimes troubling developments in diaspora politics, we are doing a deep dive into some issues relevant to AAPI communiti

Remembering Hyun Lee: A Warrior for Justice in NYC’s AAPI and LGBTQ Communities and the Korea Peace Movement

Jun 28 2023 90 mins  
This Pride Month episode is a special tribute to a former APF collective member and dear friend Hyun Lee, who passed away last year in 2022. Hyun was an APF member for several years from 2010, mainly covering stories on the people’s struggles in South and North Korea and against US imperialism and militarism especially in East Asia. Hyun (also known as Lee Hyun Jung) was a long-

Corky Lee's Legacy

Mar 10 2023 24 mins  
For decades, Corky Lee depicted the struggles, joys, conflicts and connections that make up the warp and weft of everyday life in Chinatown, and gave us a ground-level view of Chinatown’s social, labor and political activism. Unlike conventional photojournalists who covered Chinatown at the time, the self-taught photojournalist was actually rooted in this community, He cut his te

Confronting Caste in the South Asian Diaspora (with Paula Chakravartty and Ajantha Subramanian)

Aug 10 2022 31 mins  
Over the past few years, the Asian American community has been navigating the country’s tumultuous racial and ethnic politics in unprecedented ways--as the targets of racial violence, as an increasingly important force in electoral politics, as the subject of countless pop cultural tropes, and as an ambivalently positioned minority group in the American social hierarchy. But the

Cotton Ban in Xinjiang, Pandemic historical specificity of anti-Asian violence, and Remembering Corky Lee

Apr 23 2021 91 mins  
In this episode, we look at the significance of the cotton ban from Xiang, untangle the data around the increase of anti-Asian violence across the country and in New York City, unpack how race, gender, and class issues impact Asian American communities, and we will end with audio archives of Corky Lee's voice; the unofficial Asian American photographer laureate died of COVID-19 in

December 2020-Post-election Episode: the campaigns, the voters, and the future of immigration detention under Biden

Dec 16 2020 46 mins  
In this post-election special (thank god it's over), we look at how the election has affected Asian American communities, and also how immigration issues in particular have played out for the incoming Biden administration. We check in with  Alvina Wong, Campaign & Organizing Director of the Asian Pacific Environmental Network, and Shaw San Liu, executive director of the Ch

Asia Pacific Forum August 2020

Aug 29 2020 61 mins  
Asian America on the Black-led Uprising for Racial Justice The Black Lives Matters protests that have spread around the country for the last several months have been punctuated by solidarity protests led by Asian American groups. We spoke to Thenmozhi Soundararajan of Equality Labs about the connections between anti-caste discrimination and anti-Black racism and the role of the Sou

Asia Pacific Forum June 2020: COVID-19, Electoral Politics and Labor; Asian Americans & Black Lives Matter; Chinatown Rent Strike, Natisu

Jun 07 2020 86 mins  
Since our last episode, the world seems to have been turned upside down. Not only has the COVID-19 pandemic continued to ravage communities around the world, but a nationwide groundswell of protest against police brutality has erupted in the wake of George Floyd's killing. Meanwhile, hostilities between the US and China are escalating over the pandemic response. In this episode, we

Pandemics, Racism, War Crimes and Climate Change

Apr 14 2020 67 mins  
Anti-Asian Violence and Discrimination in the Coronavirus Era With the establishment of the United States as the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, millions of Americans are feeling the impact of the crisis. But many in Asian American communities are also facing hatred directed towards those perceived to be responsible because the president and other public figures have played