Escape From Plan A

Kyle returns to talk with Teen about getting ready to have the first child, and traveling to Korea to meet his birth parents and siblings for the very first time. Part 1 of 2 For access to bonus episodes: patreon.com/planamag

Q joins Teen from Tianjin, China to catch up briefly about the first few months of living in China, the hypocrisy of the West's human rights rhetoric for China vs Israel -- including the recent genocide denialism of Bret Stephens -- and an extended talk in the bonus about the potential dangers for Jewish people in the West presented by Israel's atrocities. Part 1 of 2 For access to bonus pods: patreon.com/planamag

Jess and Teen rail against modernity, a tendency it seems of the young and the old, but not of those stuck in the fat middle slog of life. The retreat of culture from physical real estate, the Hobbesian all-against-all ethic of the social media era, and how none of this is new, it's just getting worse. And an extended discussion in the bonus around pro-/anti-natalism against the backdrop of a society spiraling out. Part 1 of 2 For bonus episodes: patreon.com/planamag

Jess joins Teen to reflect on 8 years of friendship through working on Plan A, the endless treadmill of careerism, and how we all live in a Human Zoo. Made by and for humans. Part 1 of 2 For bonus episodes: patreon.com/planamag

Jess and Teen talk about a long running theme on this podcast: the trap of professional managerial class careerism, the cognitive traps built into it, and potential ways to get out of playing the squid game. Part 1 of 2 Bonus episodes: patreon.com/planamag

Shorter pod today where Teen gives his thoughts on why we aren't facing Iraq War Redux, and why liberals are engaging in mass self-deception as a form of covert therapy rather than an assertion of their (completely discredited) world view. Bonus pod this week is a discussion with Carl Zha about initial impressions of the US bombing of Iran, as well as how life is going on 6 years after abandoning life in the United States. To access: patreon.com/planamag Links: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-858546 https://youtu.be/zsRvCiXOXCs

Steve joins Teen from HK to talk about soft retirement plans. What if instead of working your ass off like a chimp until you earn the brass ring (FAKE), we just hit a target number and fade into 'maintenance' mode? Part 1 of 2 For access to Part 2 and bonus episodes: patreon.com/planamag

John Pang joins Teen to discuss the contrast between America's dark vision of tech leading us into a dystopain near-future, while Asia dreams of a tech utopia. And theories on why China is building data centers in space. Part 1 of 2. To get access to bonus episodes: patreon.com/planamag

Angelica Oung joins Teen from Taipei to talk about perfect bilingualism, wayward Taiwanese politics, and Noah Smith's weaboo fixations. Pt. 1 of 2 Bonus episodes: patreon.com/planamag

Shan and Teen talk about Evgenia Kovda's epic multi-day Twitter rant against stunted American adults who refuse to grow up, have children, and become 'tethered to life'. Do only parents experience the primal source of love? Can only parents be trusted to save the world? Why is the Pope an unmarried, childless bachelor? A married couple tackles these question. Pt. 1 of 2 For bonus episodes: patreon.com/planamag

Q Anthony Ali joins Teen from Tianjin to talk about leaving Toronto, starting a new chapter in life in China, and the small things about adjusting to life in China. Pt 1 of 2 To access bonus pods: patreon.com/planamag

CS Taniguchi joins Teen to talk about trying to live your best life in an objectively bad era. Part 1 of 2 To get access to Part 2 and all bonus episodes: patreon.com/planamag

Trevor joins Jess and Teen to follow up on the discussion of Jewish American culture and its under-appreciated impact on American culture overall (see ep. 586). This time with a focus on the films 'Annie Hall' and 'Quiz Show' and how the Asian American experience echoes these earlier works, but in ways that don't often get expressed in Asian American culture. Pt 1 of 2 To get access to pt 2 and bonus episodes: patreon.com/planamag

Mike joins Teen to break down last week's "Liberation Day" against the whole world, the stock market meltdown, and what kind of sense can be made of what seems to be economic seppuku by the United States. What does any of this shit mean? Part 1 of 2 To access bonus pods: patreon.com/planamag

Mike joins Teen to talk about figuring out an alternative to the career-family path, people just cracking under the pressure, and The White Lotus. Part 1 of 2. For access to bonus episodes: patreon.com/planamag

John Pang joins Teen to talk about Trump's escalating trade war with China, and why we in America may have grown complacent with China only playing defense i.e. responding in kind and proportion to American aggression. Is it possible that era of Chinese conservatism is over, and that we could see China taking the tempo of the fight and switching to offense? What could China do to us? See Teen's related article on Substack here: https://interarma.substack.com/p/scott-bessents-coming-war-against?r=6pahq To support Plan A and get access to bonus episodes and the Discord community: patreon.com/planamag

Prof Fred Lee and Chong join Teen to talk about the state of higher education, why universities are bloated with administrators but short on full time professors and instructors, and the way college and grad/professional programs have become finishing schools to sell oneself into the corporate market. Part 1 of 2 To access Part 2 and all bonus episodes: patreon.com/planamag

Trevor from Champagne Sharks joins after a long hiatus to talk with Jess and Teen about 90s media culture, the context-lite stochastic New York City of primetime sitcoms, the exceptionalism of 'Seinfeld', and crypto-Jews. Part 1 of 2. To access Part 2 and all bonus episodes, become a supporter at patreon.com/planamag

Mike, Steve, and Teen find the Lagrange Point of LA, HK, and NYC to catch up on all things degenerate: California, stocks, economy, and the first 30 days of Trump 2. This is part 1 of 2. For access to part 2 and all bonus episodes: patreon.com/planamag

Lei Gong joins Teen to talk about the continuing attacks online against Asian diaspora women as a group, and whether the use of politics is a just a disguise to hide an underlying racialized misogyny with deep psychosexual roots (guess the answer). Part 2 bonus of this episode is a discussion about Chinese stocks and whether it's time to buy. Totally different topic! To gain access to bonus episodes: patreon.com/planamag