Episode 32 - Growing Old with Hua Hsu

Diversity Hire

Hello and welcome to our longest episode of Diversity Hire yet!!

On our 32nd episode, we were honored to have a conversation with Asian America's foremost tastemaker, the one and only Hua Hsu. This barnburner of a conversation covered Julius Randle and the Knicks, how campus politics has changed since Hua was in college, what it was like to teach one of our podcast co-hosts, being washed and making zines, being a public school person, West Coast vs East Coast aesthetic and intellectual experience, can representation still matter???, what does it mean to be an activist, and MUCH MUCH MUCH MORE.

Kevin and Arjun also talk about the Reply All controversy and how darkly ironic it is. Stick around and listen to this full episode, you won’t regret it ;) Thanks for listening!

* Arjun & Kevin talk about Reply All [this was recorded before the hosts stepped down] (0:00)

* We’re joined by Hua Hsu, a dedicated Diversity Hire listener (6:40)

* Quick Take! (9:45)

* Hua leads us through his career timeline (11:22)

* Why east coast kids feel like they’re a step a head of everyone else (17:39)

* What was it like to teach Kevin at Vassar? (26:30)

* How has teaching the youth shaped Hua’s views of idpol and progress (re: “Corky Lee’s Photographs Helped Generations of Asian-Americans See Themselves", The New Yorker, 2020) (31:36)

* Being an “activist” (36:52)

* What is diversity? (re: “The Rise and Fall of Affirmative Action”, The New Yorker, 2018) (47:11)

* Why do Asians act like that? (49:52)

* Who is winning the narrative of Asian America? (re: “Are Asian Americans the Last Undecided Voters", The New Yorker, 2020) (57:27)

* Can we organize via a cross immigrant identity? (1:02:07)

* How did hustle become an excuse for labor exploitation? (re: “How Can We Pay for Creativity in the Digital Age”, The New Yorker, 2020) (1:09:04)

* What place does the critic occupy in a world where art is infinitely accessible? (1:18:10)

* Reminiscing on the good ol’ Warriors (1:21:00)

* Arjun’s Feelings Don’t Care About Facts Corner (1:24:10)

* The Diversity Tribunal (1:41:43)

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