Escape From Plan A

Still good, just a significantly different podcast post-COVID. I don’t know if Teen fell out with the rest of the old crew (besides Jess) or what happened, but it has a different vibe compared to the beginning. (Granted it seems like a lot of the old guests were college kids)

It’s quite rare to see some respectful thoughts on AA situations.

I was a listener since 2018 when I was desperate to find a podcast that would talk about Asian and Asian Diaspora topics without fear, boundaries, and most importantly, without echo chambers. Every entry was filled to the brim with well thought and spoken opinions, even though personally I sometimes found it difficult to fully keep up with their logic (more of a personal shortcoming than criticism on their part). The past year (and most recently the second half of 2023) has not been good to the podcast. The pod is still uploaded weekly, but the topics are almost universally pessimistic, nihilistic, or doomer takes. Recent topics don’t even center around Asian or Asian diaspora topics, and devolve into seemingly panicked rants and raves over American society/politics. The roster of hosts has gone from four-five contributors down to one host (Teen) and a guest. At the end of 2022 Plan A made a resolution to step towards supporting Asian/Asian diaspora creatives. I wish Plan A themselves went along with it. Doomism is totally understandable (justified even), but the amount of heavy despair the podcast talks about is not only emotionally exhausting, but simply not a good trend for any podcast to go towards. I strongly recommend early entries into this podcast, but entries after 2021 can be skipped.

Are you tired of the overwrought and trite views brought to you by Boba Liberals and Blue Check Twitter Asians? Then you should listen to this podcast. Going through the catalogue, there are so many really fresh takes on the really unique experience of being Asian American.