@chicago-ronin-1.bsky.social
With Professor Michael K. Bourdaghs (Dept. of East Asian Languages & Civilizations, University of Chicago), Yu Miri (柳美里/유미리; award-winning ethnic Korean Japanese essayist, playwright and novelist), and Jeremy Wechsler (Artistic Director, Theater Wit) for a facility walkthrough at Theatre Wit.s.
December 31, 2025 at 5:42 PM
With Professor Michael K. Bourdaghs (Dept. of East Asian Languages & Civilizations, University of Chicago), Yu Miri (柳美里/유미리; award-winning ethnic Korean Japanese essayist, playwright and novelist), and Jeremy Wechsler (Artistic Director, Theater Wit) for a facility walkthrough at Theatre Wit.s.
Seems like a good time to revisit “The Insider” (1999), the true-life story of an ex-tobacco company exec spilling the beans to 60 Minutes about the industry’s knowledge of tobacco health risks, and how CBS corporate tried to squash the story. www.youtube.com/watch?si=s_4...
www.youtube.com
December 22, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Seems like a good time to revisit “The Insider” (1999), the true-life story of an ex-tobacco company exec spilling the beans to 60 Minutes about the industry’s knowledge of tobacco health risks, and how CBS corporate tried to squash the story. www.youtube.com/watch?si=s_4...
Good time to remember the first, legendary screen incarnation of Frankenstein's monster, Boris Karloff, and how his Anglo-Indian heritage (and the discrimination he encountered) informed his portrayal of misunderstood monsters.
hazlitt.net/longreads/bo...
hazlitt.net/longreads/bo...
A Tight Collar and Plenty of Gin | Hazlitt
How the actor Boris Karloff obscured his Anglo-Indian roots and reinvented himself into an icon of Hollywood horror.
hazlitt.net
November 12, 2025 at 11:04 PM
Good time to remember the first, legendary screen incarnation of Frankenstein's monster, Boris Karloff, and how his Anglo-Indian heritage (and the discrimination he encountered) informed his portrayal of misunderstood monsters.
hazlitt.net/longreads/bo...
hazlitt.net/longreads/bo...
Anyone else remember Oliver Stone's film "Talk Radio" (1988), based on Eric Bogosian's stage play of the same name (and starring Bogosian). About a provocative radio "shock jock" whose confrontational on-air persona creates a situation that spins out of control?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQff...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQff...
Talk Radio - Trailer #1 - (1988)
YouTube video by Radio Videos
www.youtube.com
September 12, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Anyone else remember Oliver Stone's film "Talk Radio" (1988), based on Eric Bogosian's stage play of the same name (and starring Bogosian). About a provocative radio "shock jock" whose confrontational on-air persona creates a situation that spins out of control?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQff...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQff...
If you're in Louisville the 3rd week in July, me and some fine actors will be presenting QUESTION 27, QUESTION 28 , Chay Yew's play about the WWII internment of Japanese Americans, will be presenting it again at the ShPIeL Showcase theater festival. Produced by ShPIeL - Performing Identity.
July 4, 2025 at 2:47 PM
If you're in Louisville the 3rd week in July, me and some fine actors will be presenting QUESTION 27, QUESTION 28 , Chay Yew's play about the WWII internment of Japanese Americans, will be presenting it again at the ShPIeL Showcase theater festival. Produced by ShPIeL - Performing Identity.
Crazy that two rich powerful white men are doing this online right now.
June 5, 2025 at 10:57 PM
Crazy that two rich powerful white men are doing this online right now.
A lot Korean Americans of my generation wouldn't be here if our parents had not come as students. So, it's pretty awful Trump is throwing up barriers to people coming here (and the money and expertise they contribute) using a wholly unwarranted attack on free speech as the excuse.
South Korean students warned over social media posts amid Trump administration crackdown
President Donald Trump's administration is raising scrutiny over the social media posts of South Korean students in the United States or who plan to study there, the students and agencies that support them said.
www.reuters.com
May 28, 2025 at 4:24 PM
A lot Korean Americans of my generation wouldn't be here if our parents had not come as students. So, it's pretty awful Trump is throwing up barriers to people coming here (and the money and expertise they contribute) using a wholly unwarranted attack on free speech as the excuse.
I'm the voice of the audio tour (though not the promo video below) for the upcoming Hokusai and Ukiyo-e exhibit at the McAninch Arts Center (MAC) at College of DuPage (COD). www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMyk...
Hokusai & Ukiyo-e, The Floating World Exhibit at the McAninch Arts Center
YouTube video by College of DuPage
www.youtube.com
May 23, 2025 at 7:36 PM
I'm the voice of the audio tour (though not the promo video below) for the upcoming Hokusai and Ukiyo-e exhibit at the McAninch Arts Center (MAC) at College of DuPage (COD). www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMyk...
My aikido dojo was profiled by the local news here in Chicago.
Chicago dojo builds community through art of aikido
YouTube video by CBS Chicago
www.youtube.com
May 21, 2025 at 8:39 PM
My aikido dojo was profiled by the local news here in Chicago.
It's great so many Americans (including non-Catholics) are excited that the new pope is from the U.S. But it wasn't that long ago in history that anti-Catholicism was widestream, mainstream, and even upheld by prominent public figures.
www.catholicworldreport.com/2022/02/25/w...
www.catholicworldreport.com/2022/02/25/w...
When thriving U.S. publications raged against the Catholic Church
www.catholicworldreport.com
May 11, 2025 at 2:22 PM
It's great so many Americans (including non-Catholics) are excited that the new pope is from the U.S. But it wasn't that long ago in history that anti-Catholicism was widestream, mainstream, and even upheld by prominent public figures.
www.catholicworldreport.com/2022/02/25/w...
www.catholicworldreport.com/2022/02/25/w...
If you're interested in the staged reading, I've been told attendance is reaching capacity with only 20 or so left. Admission is free. Use the link to sign up. www.ilholocaustmuseum.org/events/live-...
Live Performance: Question 27, Question 28: Staging Loyalty, Identity, and Resistance - Illinois Holocaust Museum
In partnership with renowned theater producer and director David Y. Chack, Illinois Holocaust Museum presents a live performance of Question 27, Question 28, a compelling play by Chay Yew. Staged in c...
www.ilholocaustmuseum.org
May 3, 2025 at 10:16 PM
If you're interested in the staged reading, I've been told attendance is reaching capacity with only 20 or so left. Admission is free. Use the link to sign up. www.ilholocaustmuseum.org/events/live-...
1943 official U.S. Government film about the Japanese American internment. It's slick, well-produced, professional and exceedingly polite (and misleadingly alarmist). Which I'm sure made everything feel very comforting and acceptable to those not affected. www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVyI...
1943 U.S. government-produced film "Japanese Relocation" addresses relocation camps
YouTube video by The Oregonian
www.youtube.com
May 3, 2025 at 10:15 PM
1943 official U.S. Government film about the Japanese American internment. It's slick, well-produced, professional and exceedingly polite (and misleadingly alarmist). Which I'm sure made everything feel very comforting and acceptable to those not affected. www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVyI...
On April 29, 1945, the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, comprised of about 650 Americans of Japanese Ancestry (AJAs) from Hawaii and the mainland, earned its place in history as liberators of one of the Nazi's Dachau death camps. www.ajc.org/news/japanes...
Japanese Americans Helped Liberate Dachau. They Deserve Our Support In The Fight Against Hate.
www.ajc.org
April 29, 2025 at 11:48 PM
On April 29, 1945, the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, comprised of about 650 Americans of Japanese Ancestry (AJAs) from Hawaii and the mainland, earned its place in history as liberators of one of the Nazi's Dachau death camps. www.ajc.org/news/japanes...
Hi Everyone. I'm co-directing and consulting on this staged reading at the Illinois Holocaust Museum. It's tied into the "Resilience—A Sansei Sense of Legacy," and exhibition of art about the WWII internment of Japanese Americans.
April 16, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Hi Everyone. I'm co-directing and consulting on this staged reading at the Illinois Holocaust Museum. It's tied into the "Resilience—A Sansei Sense of Legacy," and exhibition of art about the WWII internment of Japanese Americans.
Just like to mention that Earl Warren, the California Attorney General who was a driving force behind the WWII internment of Japanese Americans without any charges or due process, later served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from 1953 to 1969.
April 8, 2025 at 1:13 AM
Just like to mention that Earl Warren, the California Attorney General who was a driving force behind the WWII internment of Japanese Americans without any charges or due process, later served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from 1953 to 1969.
I feel like we're living out a comic book villain's plan. www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPnc...
www.youtube.com
April 7, 2025 at 2:08 PM
I feel like we're living out a comic book villain's plan. www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPnc...
Found the perfect visual metaphor of where the U.S. is headed with these senseless tariffs (and, well, all it's other dumb policies under current leadership).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPkO...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPkO...
It's Just Good Business in 8k
YouTube video by Likeonions
www.youtube.com
April 4, 2025 at 10:45 PM
Found the perfect visual metaphor of where the U.S. is headed with these senseless tariffs (and, well, all it's other dumb policies under current leadership).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPkO...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPkO...
Saw a post that said Americans don't study history but are obsessed with nostalgia, and I think that thought is going to sit with me for a long time.
April 3, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Saw a post that said Americans don't study history but are obsessed with nostalgia, and I think that thought is going to sit with me for a long time.
It's great seeing Trump and the GOP face election losses and legal setbacks, but I think it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better. *Especially* because their vulnerabilities are showing. They've done stuff that's illegal; even crimes against humanity.
April 2, 2025 at 3:44 PM
It's great seeing Trump and the GOP face election losses and legal setbacks, but I think it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better. *Especially* because their vulnerabilities are showing. They've done stuff that's illegal; even crimes against humanity.
If you are in Chicago and have young children, I'm in a play for children set in 1940s Hawaii. filamenttheatre.org/heart-strings/
Heart Strings | Filament Theatre
photo by Danny Montemayor, design by Pono Designs “A family is lots of ways.” Hoku and Mahina are sisters, hanai sisters. Though they are not related by blood, they will always be bound. It is not alw...
filamenttheatre.org
March 26, 2025 at 2:40 PM
If you are in Chicago and have young children, I'm in a play for children set in 1940s Hawaii. filamenttheatre.org/heart-strings/
I think this is a scene from the movie “Poor Things,” but I can’t figure out who is Bella.
March 24, 2025 at 1:33 PM
I think this is a scene from the movie “Poor Things,” but I can’t figure out who is Bella.