Although they provide companionship, emotional support, and stress-relieving, these key “family members” of some Filipino American households may not get talked about very often: OUR PETS!  On this TFAL episode, we talk about pet ownership and welfare with two Filipino American veterinarians who are passionate about animals: Dr. Maria Solacito and Dr. Ronaldo “Joey” Vasquez. We discuss how to best care for our pets, what animal welfare practices are specific to Filipinos, and what kinds of Filipino food to feed your pets (hint: not a lot!).

Dr. Solacito has been the Senior Veterinarian for the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control.  She currently serves on the California Veterinary Medical Board and served as President of the Southern California Filipino Veterinary Medical Association (SCFVMA) for 2016-18.

Dr. Joey is a veterinarian who provides affordable veterinary care in Los Angeles, running the North Figueroa Animal Hospital.  He also works with organizations like the Humane Society and local rescues, providing veterinary services for the pets of the homeless and impoverished families.

Before our interview with these two veterinarians, the TFAL crew discusses our evolving views of animal welfare, what we learned from Bob Barker at the end of Price is Right, sabong (cockfighting), and we even talk a little bit about the derogatory term “Dogeater.”   Find out who from the TFAL crew hates animals (joke lang!), who wants a corgi, who named their pet after a famous actor, and who had pet chickens growing up. Finally, we talk about why it’s so important for people to look at pet adoption when considering getting pets.

Listen or download the episode through the embedded player on this page, find us on Mixcloud or subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts here. And for folks on Spotify, you can take a listen to us here.

“As the days go by…it’s the bigger love the family.”

Growing up in communal households, many Filipino Americans sense the unspoken duty to take care of their families.  Whether it’s taking care of one’s own children, or one’s parents, or new, adopted members of one’s family, we all know we have some form of obligation to something outside of ourselves. In this very personal TFAL episode, the crew discusses our roles as caretakers for our families. Did we do that??

All four of us have gone through tremendous life changes over the past year – and we’re not just talking about COVID.  We all found ourselves as new caretakers of other members of our families.  Joe (and his boss, Gerlie) are now raising a young daughter, Ryan is now co-raising the children of his girlfriend, and Elaine and Mike are now taking care of Elaine’s recently widowed mother.  Listen as we discuss our experiences as relatively new family caregivers.  Through it all, we are both embracing as well as learning from the challenges of our new responsibilities.

Do you have any experiences in taking care of your family members?  Let us know!  Email us at thisfilipinoamericanlife@gmail.com or leave a voicemail at (805) 394-TFAL.

In recent weeks, many Filipinos and Filipino Americans have appeared in mainstream U.S. news and entertainment.  Whether it’s the release of the Netflix anime series, TRESE, the long-awaited appearance of a Filipino nurse in Grey’s Anatomy, the recent announcement of a Pinay Captain America, or the heroic acts of Jordan Clarkson after a racist incident befell a Filipino food truck in Utah, Filipinos have been in the mix of American popular culture more than usual.

In this TFAL episode, the crew discusses this recent surge of Filipino visibility in entertainment.  Listen as we discuss all of the latest news in Filipino American life and give our lukewarm takes on each of them.  (We even briefly touch upon the controversial Aswang Project hullabaloo!)

Listen or download through the embedded player on TFAL, find us on Mixcloud or subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts here. And for folks on Spotify, you can take a listen to us here.

What do you think about these latest developments in popular culture? Let us know by leaving a voicemail (805) 394-TFAL or emailing us at thisfilipinoamericanlife@gmail.com.

How many Filipinos are in the United States?  Where are Filipinos located throughout the nation?  How well are we doing socio-economically?  What does this data tell us about our community?

Many people have researched answers to these demographic questions using statistical data.  One of these important figures is Neil Ruiz, Associate Director of Race and Ethnicity Research at the Pew Research Center.  Listen as we discuss Neil’s upbringing in a military family, his career as a researcher, and his work in studying the Asian and Filipino American communities.  We also devote a huge part of the show breaking down the latest demographic information of the Filipino American community and its implications for future policy.

Come join us as we learn more about our community profile and how we compare to other communities.  And of course, we start the episode with our goofy selves and discuss our failed attempts at conquering statistics.

Listen or download through the embedded player on TFAL, find us on Mixcloud or subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts here. And for folks on Spotify, you can take a listen to us here.

What do you think about the demographic data we presented on the show? Let us know by leaving a voicemail (805) 394-TFAL or emailing us at thisfilipinoamericanlife@gmail.com.

3-2-1 …. 1-2-3. What the heck is bothering me?

It’s been a while since TFAL has asked “Bakit?” “Why o’ why?”  For our latest edition of the Bakit List, the TFAL team shares what grinds their gears. We look at the annoying and ever so problematic topics that affect Filipino Americans.  Some of the discussions include land inheritance, living and perpetuating the lies our parents told us, and dealing with our familial ties back “home.” We also look at how algorithms and data open the door for opportunists to take advantage of Filipino audiences by “Pinoy-Baiting.”

Grind your gears with us, vent a little, ponder the mysteries with us, or help us find some creative solutions to how we deal with things that annoy the hell out of us.

Listen or download through the embedded player on TFAL, find us on Mixcloud or subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts here. And for folks on Spotify, you can take a listen to us here.

What grinds your gears? Let us know by leaving a voicemail (805) 394-TFAL.

So… there’s a lot going on in the world.  A lot of it not so great.  And while we talk about many of those things on our show and in our social media, we figured we all needed to take a little bit of a break to try and focus on the good things that are happening in our lives, and to think about some of the things that have actually brought smiles to our faces in the past few weeks.  And while those things may seem in short supply these days, there’s never a bad time to just stop for at least a moment to reflect on what we love, who we love, and why we love anything about this world in the first place.

That’s not to say we should ignore all of the bad things or pretend they don’t exist.  A lot of us have spent time these past few weeks processing the rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans and thinking about what to do about it, and we even hosted a Clubhouse room on the topic not too long ago.  But seeing as how we’ve all spent the better part of the past year just drowning in one seemingly inescapable tragedy or injustice after another, let’s all be kind to ourselves right now and give each other the space to experience at least a little bit of joy.

Listen or download through the embedded player on TFAL, find us on Mixcloud or subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts here. And for folks on Spotify, you can take a listen to us here.

Has anything brought you joy lately?  Please let us know by dropping a line on our voicemail, (805) 394-TFAL.  If the new voicemail greeting we have on there doesn’t bring a smile to your face, well… we tried!

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to write a TV or movie? If you had total creative freedom to pitch a show or movie, what would it be about?  Would you center Filipino or Filipino American stories?

In this TFAL episode, we talk TV writing with the one and only Rene Gube, comedian, actor, and writer for such shows like Crazy Ex Girlfriend (he played Father Brah) and Superstore. Listen as he discusses his roots in the Filipino American community, how he got his start in the entertainment industry, and how he navigates a predominantly white industry to push for Filipino storytelling. In the episode, the crew also discusses our story ideas and what it would these shows/movies be like if they came to fruition.  And of course, we talk about how to make a PCN into a TV show (kinda).

Listen or download through the embedded player, find us on Mixcloud or subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts here. And for folks on Spotify, you can take a listen to us here.

If you had the chance to create your own TV show or movie, what would it be about?  Let us know by dropping a line on our voicemail, (805) 394-TFAL.