thisfilipinoamericanlife

Episode 252 – Original Pilipino Musings with Les the DJ – Eraserheads, OPM+, and Les Lore

In a few weeks, Combo On The Run, a documentary chronicling the rise of the band Eraserheads, is set to hit movie screens across North America.  It’s not often that a film from the Philippines gets a release and a reception as high profile as this film has been getting, let alone a documentary about…

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Episode 251 – Telling Truths about ‘Here Lies Love’ with Christine Balance

Here Lies Love, the play about the rise and fall of Imelda Marcos as the Philippine dictator’s wife during Martial Law is now playing in Los Angeles. The TFAL crew had the opportunity to watch Here Lies Love when it first opened at the Mark Taper Forum a couple of weeks ago. Love it or…

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Episode 250 – Echoes from the Ditches: A Conversation with a Martial Law Activist

For 10 years, TFAL has been trying to amplify voices from our community, but particular voices from sectors of our community that have been historically overlooked. We are especially attuned to the voices without glitz and glamor, without state-sanctioned narratives, and without algorithmic egos. For our 250th episode, and on the heels of the 40th…

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Episode 249 – The Fil Am Celebrity Draft

Have you ever dreamed about a TV show with an all-Filipino American cast? What kind of show it would be? Who would star in it? In this TFAL episode, Elaine, Joe, and Producer Mike dream up their ideal TV show by playing The Fil Am Celebrity Draft! Adapted from a game that Joe used to…

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Episode 248 – Community Care with Kalaya’an Mendoza

In this episode of the podcast, Kalaya’an Mendoza returns to talk with the crew about community care.  This episode is dedicated to the folks in Minnesota and beyond who are grieving, protesting, and resisting ICE kidnappings and intimidation. The crew reached out to Kalaya’an again to check in on how we can support each other…

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Episode 247 – Seafood City Late Night Analysis

Over the last few months, the hottest night out can be had at a Filipino supermarket. If you’re lucky enough to live near a Seafood City, you might have seen or experienced the multi-generational viral dance party conceptualized by JP Breganza back in August 2025. What is this phenomenon all about? Why does it attract…

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Episode 246 – Scientific Dragons | Flowers for Dom Magwili

Dom Magwili is a prolific actor, writer, and educator who has graced his presence on stage and screen for years. Most importantly Dom has played a role in our lives when he guided Kat as  she was PCN coordinator at UCLA and gave Elaine a boost of confidence when she was an emcee for the…

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Episode 245 – Filipino American Anthems

What is the Filipino American anthem? Is it Bebot by the Black Eyed Peas? P.T.I. by Carl Angelo? Lemonade by Jeremy Passion? Us by Ruby Ibarra? Do You Miss Me? by Jocelyn Enriquez? Todo Todo by Daniela Romo (you know who chose that one!)?? In this TFAL episode, we look at so-called Filipino American anthems…

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Episode 244 – F*ck Cancer with Arthur Yu

In this episode the TFAL crew has a conversation with Arthur Yu. Arthur Yu was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in 2023. Arthur did all the things you needed to do like rounds of chemo and looking for bone marrow matches. Arthur explored the National Marrow Donor Program (formerly Be The Match) for possible matches. …

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Episode 243 – The Politics of Language with Jennifer Delfino

“You’re not Filipino if you don’t speak Tagalog.” “You sound white.” “The national language of the Philippines is Filipino, not Tagalog.” “Filipino is already gender neutral.” Much of our online discourse in the Filipino community is about or related to language. The debates are out there. We here at TFAL want to tackle some of…

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