It’s Filipino-American History month, y’all ! And I’ve got a treat for you! This week, I’m talking with Dr. Allan Punzalan Issac, professor of Asian-American Studies at Rutgers University, where we discuss all things Filipino. From trying to answer our life’s calling (despite the protestations of family… well, at least mine) to thinking about nuance in the conversation around the Broadway show “Here Lies Love”. We’re asking questions about spectacle and visibility and what that means for the Filipino community, a people colonized by Spain and the US. We also talk a bit about his latest research on death and dying in the diaspora (how’s that for alliteration??) and play with the idea of writing a Broadway musical that includes singing aswangs!

Listen in on what it’s like to be Filipino, what it sounds like to be Filipino (you decide what I mean by that! ha!), and why visibility and representation are so essential to how we can BE in this world.

Today’s poems/ Books / Oracle / Tarot Cards mentioned:

• Oracle Card: Baby Steps

• Poem: “Have you prayed?” by Li Young Lee

Courses / Exclusive Content / Book Mentioned:

• Subscribe to “Adventures in Midlife” newsletter: leslieann.substack.com