filipino american

Episode 204 – Filipino Psychology and Spirituality with Carl Lorenz Cervantes

How do Filipinos practice indigenous spirituality through Catholicism? Who are these “spirits” our parents or grandparents keep talking about that are around us? What explains the Filipino psyche and the way we make sense of the world? How many souls do we have? Some of these questions have helped many Filipinos and Filipino Americans in…

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Episode 203: TFAL talks Palestine w/ Michael Arage & JT | Nevadans for Palestinian Liberation

In this episode the TFAL crew talks with TFAL alum, Michael Arage, and JT of Nevadans for Palestinian Liberation @npl_palestine. In this episode we have a discussion of our history with the Free Palestine movement, why this issue is important to our community, and how we can show our allyship and be a part of…

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Episode 202 – Vision Boarding Abundance

New year new TFAL?  Or are we back to our usual shenanigans? Actually, for the first time in months, and thanks to Ryan’s terrible internet, we met up in person and recorded an episode! One New Years’ tradition that many of the folks in TFAL (and maybe some of you) partake in is the creation…

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Episode 201 – Lost LA: Historic Filipinotown

Last year, some of us on the TFAL crew had the opportunity to participate in the creation of a special episode of the PBS Socal/KCET show, Lost LA, which focused on the Filipino American community of Southern California.  The episode premiered this week and is available on the PBS website or on YouTube.  In this…

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Episode 200 – TFAL 200 Live! Building Community with Faith Santilla and Johneric Concordia

Looks like we made it! TFAL’s 200th episode! (Give or take a few bonus episodes and unreleased things here and there…) Back in October, we recorded our 200th episode live at the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy in Los Angeles. (Well technically, it was our 195th at the time but who’s really keeping…

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Bonus Episode: “Filipino Balikbayan is Homecoming in a Box” by Gravy Podcast

Before we end 2023, we’re sharing a special bonus episode for you from our friends at Gravy, a narrative podcast produced by Southern Foodways Alliance and distributed by APT Podcast Studios. Named the “Publication of the Year” by the James Beard Foundation, the series showcases a South that is constantly evolving, using food as a…

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Episode 199 – The First (?) Annual TFAL Awards!

2023 is almost over!  And to close things out before we get to our grand finale of the year, we decided to do something… a little different?  Or maybe not? In what is apparently essentially in the grand tradition of our reflections on highlights (Episodes 19.5, 140, 157) and/or airing of grievances (Episodes 4.5, 25.2,…

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Episode 198 – “Save the Last Tinikling For Me”: Philippine Folk Dances with Ray Tadio

Rondalla. Kulintang. Bamboo poles. Gangsas. Sway balance. DANCE! We all are quite familiar with Philippine folk dances such as Pandanggo sa Ilaw, Vinta, Carinosa, Banga, and of course, Tinikling.  Whether we learned them through P.E. classes back in the Philippines, church festivals in the U.S., on college campuses at a PCN, or even on viral…

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Episode 197 – Filipino American History, Settler Colonialism, and Jeremy Passion’s “Lemonade” with Adrian De Leon

When and where does Filipino American history begin?  Is it on October 18, 1587 in Morro Bay, California?  According to our guest in this TFAL episode, this date and time only reinforces a settler colonialist narrative.  Writer and public historian, Adrian De Leon, argues that “Filipino America” actually began in the 1760s in the Philippines. …

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Episode 196 – Dust Your Shoulders Out: Melissa Magsaysay on Filipino Fashion

  Many of us have grown up seeing women in our lives rock the duster around the house. The piece of apparel is synonymous with traditionally women’s work. But what if the duster could be updated? What would that look like?  In this episode the TFAL Crew,  sans food appreciator Ryan Carpio, have an intimate…

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