In this short bonus episode, TFAL presents a retelling of the short story, “The Filipino and the Drunkard.”  Written in 1935 by William Saroyan, this short story tells the tale of a young Filipino who is aboard a ferry boat in 1930s San Francisco.  While waiting to go across the Bay to visit his brother,…

Most of us have read “My Family’s Slave” on the Atlantic, written by the late Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Alex Tizon.  The article saddened us, angered us, and confused us.  What’s to make of the story of Eudocia Pulido, aka Lola, who toiled her whole life against her will and without pay for a family that wasn’t…

  If you’ve been listening to the show you’ll know that we love food at This Filipino American Life.  We love talking about it in our personal life, with strangers, and on the podcast.  TFAL resident reality checker Gerlie and graphic designer Vince join us for a bit as we share our favorite Filipino restaurants….

Photo credit: Ted Visaya Design “You want palo??” If you grew up in a Filipino household, you probably know what the word palo means. Palo, a Tagalog word that means spank, which derived from the Spanish word palo or stick (those colonizers yo!), is a form of punishment used to discipline misbehaving children. To a kid, hearing that…