I have been a fan of Steven Kim’s work since his Buzzfeed & Worth It days. I was so stoked to see him start this new venture of Watcher with Ryan Bergara & Shane Madej. Then, after listening to their Here’s What You Do podcast, I turned to this podcast. I’ll be honest, I had waited to start and felt the corona-fatigue with my parents keeping the news on our TV half the day. This podcast brings so much depth, shading, and humanity to this issue. The mother of a college friend is working in the department of health in our state’s capital and she recently shared on Facebook to implore friends, family, acquaintances and strangers to do the right thing and call out racism as her mother’s assistance was being denied because “they didn’t want to catch anything.” She’s Asian American. That was her only fault, and it simultaneously broke my heart and made my blood boil. I grew up in a secular, interfaith household in a very conservative and hyper-Christian area, but I’ve been working on acknowledging my privilege as a white person in my 20’s. And still, the day after the 2016 election was one of the hardest days of my life as I broke down and sobbed for my friends of color, worried that their lives would be in danger with this presidency. “I know I’m screwed because I’m a woman, but at least I’m white. What’s going to happen to my Latino friends? And my Muslim friends? Any of my minority friends?” I cried to my mom. I was shrugged off by coworkers saying, “It wouldn’t be that bad,” and I was “overreacting.” I hate that I was right. First, they came for my Jewish and Latino friends, my Muslim friends have been coping since 9/11, and now they’re coming for my Asian friends. More than ever, this podcast is needed, and I applaud Steven Lim for making this podcast. (Who, funnily enough, discounts himself for “not being a journalist” and expressing his emotions & opinions, yet interviewed two different Asian restauranteurs who closed down AND stayed open during this pandemic. So well done.) Keep fighting the good fight, Steven. 👏🏻