PODCAST · society
Escape From Plan A
by Escape From Plan A
Escape From Plan A is an ongoing discussion of life and politics in America from the perspective of Asian people living here.
Episodes
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Ep. 698: Is China Too Cheap? (ft. Han Feizi)
Teen talks with Han Feizi (pen name: https://asiatimes.com/author/han-feizi/) about the 内卷 (nei juan, or involution), why Chinese are super-productive but financially poor, and whether online China-glazing overlooks the real pain and struggle of Chinese workers who still earn terrible wages. This...
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Ep. 695: Back in Canada, Back in the Old World (ft. Steve)
Steve joins Teen during his summer trip back to his home city of Toronto, away from the grind of Hong Kong and Greater China, and talks about what he misses about North America, why expatriating to China is the right choice, and a deep dive into the looming Japanese financial crisis and what it...
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Ep. 690: The Lou Pai Appreciation Society Meeting #2 (ft. the Lou Pai Appreciation Society)
Mike, RVC, and Teen talk about the filthy cost of college, FAANG employee competence, and the pain of trying to sell a house right now. Part 1 of 2 For Pt 2 and bonus episodes: patreon.com/planamag
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Ep. 689: Trump's "MOU"
Teen and Shan talk about Trump's peace deal, why "MOU's" are worthless, and why Trump won't confirm what's even in it. For bonus episodes: patreon.com/p[anamag
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Ep. 686: China and Iran Update (ft. Dalian Mike)
Mike (in Daliian) joins Teen to discuss his first year back in China, the Iran War, and why it's the best and worst of times in America. Part 1 of 2 For part 2 and bonus episodes; patreon.com/planamag
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Ep. 384: Look at What the Raccoon Dragged In (ft. Mike and RVC)
Mike and RVC join Teen on a rainy weekend to talk AI, Iran War, the Death of Hollywood, and JP Morgan "Cannons". Part 1 of 2 For bonus pods: patreon.com/planamag
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Ep. 382: The Chinamaxxing World (ft. John Pang)
John Pang returns to join Teen to talk about geopolitics: Trump's humiliating trip to China, AI over-investment, whether the Iran War is a much more than just a 'crisis', and the true nature of American Exceptionalism,. Pt. 1 of 2 For bonus episodes: patreon.com/planamag
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Ep. 380: Stories of our Lives (ft. Jess)
Jess and Teen talk about the need to live within the confines of a story, how influencers and marketers co-opt our lives by co-opting the stories of our lives, and whether raw-dogging transcontinental flights is a true test of emotional fortitude. Pt. 1 of 2 for bonus episodes: patreon.com/planamag
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Ep. 378: Biography of a Business From Start to PE Exit (ft. Mike)
Mike joins Teen to talk in detail about the realities of starting your own business, growing into 8-digit revenues, hitting the wall of success, and living 'Mo Money Mo Problems'. Pt. 1 of 2 For Part 2 and bonus eps: patreon.com/planamag
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Ep. 376: Maybe the End of Corporate Careerism is Good (ft. Jess)
The podcast takes a turn towards tech as Teen continues down his vibe-coding project to hardware, and Jess wonders about how to bridge the gap between self-directed work and creativity versus the instilling of work ethic, selflessness, and discipline forced into us through corporate careers. What...
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Ep. 374: The Vibecoding Life (ft. Steve) Pt. 1
Steve joins Teen from HK to talk about life after careerism and what fills the vacuum left by leaving your job. Also, why vibecoding is great for the unemployed and bored. Pt. 1 of 2 For bonus eps: patreon.com/planamag
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Ep. 672: Is 'Slanted' a Great Asian American Film (ft. Chris Jesu Lee)
Chris is back to host Escape From Plan A! Teen joins Chris to talk in-person about Amy Wang's film 'Slanted', about how racial insecurity can become a kind of body dysmorphia. Is this the Asian American 'Get Out'? Is it in fact a better film that that? Pt. 1 of 2 Chris's piece 'Start Asian Hate':...
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Ep. 670: Is America a Low Desire Society? (ft. Jess)
Jess and Teen discuss Kenichi Ohmae's theory of a 'low desire society' and whether America fits that description. Are younger generations depressed and giving up on life, or is there a better (and more optimistic) interpretation of "the falling fertility rate", waning interest careerism, less...
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Ep. 669: The Alysa Liu Moment (ft. Chong and Chris) (unlocked)
Chong and Chris join Teen to talk about the overwhelmingly positive vibes surrounding Alysa Liu, and of course (it wouldn't be Plan A otherwise) dissecting the chud response around the good Wasian girl vs the traitorous Eileen Gu. Fully unlocked this week b/c everyone needs some good vibes. For...
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Ep. 667: How To Thrive In Dystopia (ft, Fred Lee)
Fred joins Teen to discuss how to maintain adherence to a contemporary lifestyle (careerism, consumerism) when the foundational narrative upon which that lifestyle rests has been undermined by 'narrative rupture': real artificial intelligence, real global virus outbreak, real illimunati, and...
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Ep. 665: The Era of American Conspiracy (ft. the Degens)
Mike and Steve join Teen from LA and HK (respectively) to talk about America in the era of conspiracy, Epstein as the Merovingian, and what the future reboot of the American Matrix will be like in comparison to current release version. Part 1 of 2 For access to Part 2 and all bonus episodes:...
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Ep. 663: Epstein and the Fall of America (ft. Angelica Oung)
Angelica joins Teen from Taipei to discuss America's image from abroad, what the Epstein Files have done to American legitimacy in the eyes of our Asian 'allies', and whether China is an alternative or a replacement for what America once was. Part 1 of 2 For access to Part 2 and all bonus…
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Ep. 661: AI Singularity, Bubble Pop, or Both? (ft. Mike)
Right in the middle of a work day, Mike joins Teen to talk about Claude Code, tech and finance jobs, and whether we need to start positioning for a market bubble pop. Part 1 of 2 For access to Pt 2 and all Bonus Episodes: patreon.com/planamag
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Ep. 659: Old Parents Are Not Fine Wines (ft. Jess)
Jess and Teen discuss the dilemma of caring for older parents and what old people portend for what's coming for the middle-aged. Part 1 of 2 For Pt. 2 and Bonus Episodes: patreon.com/planamag
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Ep. 657: Asian American Perspective on the Killing of Renee Good (ft. Chris Jesu Lee)
Chris joins Teen to discuss whether the intra-racial gender and class tensions among Asian Americans as a group - much discussed on this podcast in the past - might shed light on the raging hostility and violence over the killing of Renee Good at the hands of federal agents. Part 1 of 2 For…
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Ep. 655: China Is 1980s America Redux (ft. Dalian Mike)
Mike (@meow_meow_2020) joins Teen from Dalian to talk about moving to Northeastern China, whether China is liberalizing, is Xi Jinping the Chinese Ronald Reagan, and why China should be compared to the US as it exists today, but back at its Cold War peak in the mid-1980s. Part 1 of 2 For access…
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Ep. 651: Canned For Christmas (ft. Jess)
Teen talks to Jess about getting canned from a job for the last and final time. Why economic dependency is not the full story about our dependency on careerism. Why status and identity are so intertwined. Pt. 1 of 2 For access to bonus pods: patreon.com/planamag
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Ep. 647: Mortal Muffin (ft. Jess)
Teen and Jess discuss changing diet and other fundamental aspects of life as a matter of choice rather than 'willpower' and how a Mortal Kombat dance demonstration was mistaken for a bake sale. And more observations about careerism at the mid-lifespan point. Part 1 of 2 For access to bonus pods:...
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Ep. 644: Rejection (ft. Chris Jesu Lee and The Professors)
Chris reunites with Plan A, along with resident professors Chong and Fred, to discuss Tony Thulathimutte's short story collection "Rejection", a tour of modern alienation, pathos, and terminal loneliness. Part 1 of 2 For access to bonus episodes: patreon.com/planamag Chris's review of 'Rejection'...
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Ep. 642: Post Work (ft. Mike)
*Note, we have migrated off of SoundCloud, our new public webpage for EFPA episodes: https://rss.com/podcasts/escape-from-plan-a/ Mike and Teen spend a Saturday evening looking back on our working decades, life after work, and the investment-over-work mindset. Part 1 of 2 For part 2 and all bonus...
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Ep. 640: Talking to an AI About Investing (ft. DeepSeek v3.2)
Teen continues his experiment with AI, to try and get a better understanding of what we're all actually talking to. This time, he talks about personal investment strategy, because it's involves both the empirical and subjective domain. Conclusion: You Got To Know When To Fold 'Em. Part 1 of 2 For...
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Ep. 638: The Fancy Hobbies of Asian People (ft. Jess)
Jess and Teen talk about why fancy, high-skilled hobbies become more Asian as you climb higher on the skill and investment level. In the bonus section, they discuss the corollary of the Asian immigrant insistence on suffering and not living well. Part 1 of 2 For bonus episodes: patreon.com/planamag
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Ep. 636: The Risk of Ruin (ft. DeepSeek)
In an experimental podcast episode, Teen talks with the large language model DeepSeek-V3.2 to talk about the transgression and the professional managerial class, and why our view of it may be completely inverted. What does transgression actually mean within the constraints of a culture at once...
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Ep. 634: American vs Asian vs European Cities (ft. Scott)
Back from a 5 month world tour, Twitter moot Scott (@alreadydawn, born in Taipei, raised in SoCal) talks with Teen about his world city rankings. What makes a city great (Osaka) versus loathsome (ahem LA)? And what exactly constitutes a city even? See Scott's city rankings at:...
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Ep. 632: NYC-HK Express (ft. Steve)
Steve joints Teen from Hong Kong to catch upon buying Chinese EVs, the surreal political landscape of the US, and using real cameras again. Part 1 of 2 For access to bonus pods: patreon.com/planamag
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Ep. 630: Careerism after Harvard Business School (ft. @fredsoda)
Fred (@fredsoda on X) joins Teen to talk about starting out his career after just graduating from the famed HBS, and what life and work looks like at the beginning of the high arc track. What do these people actually want? What are they willing to do to get it? Part 1 of 2 For access to part 2:...
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Ep. 628: Book Discussion of "The Abolition of Man" (ft. Chong and Fred)
Two humanities professors -- Fred (poli sci) and Chong (literature) -- join Teen to discuss C.S. Lewis's "The Abolition of Man", a short book from 1943 that has found renewed currency in America in the wokeness debate and 'trad' values. Pt. 1 of 2 For Part 2 and all bonus episodes:...
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Ep. 626: Taiwan Inc. vs America (ft. Angelica Oung)
Angelica Oung (https://taipology.substack.com/) talks with Teen about recent changes in Taiwanese political consciousness and its attitudes towards China vs. America. Also, Angelica talks about going to fancy private schools, and the great Chinese real estate develeraging.] Part 1 of 2 For access...
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Ep. 624: A Southeast Asian Centered World (ft. John Pang)
John Pang joins Teen from Kuala Lumpur to catch up on world affairs, especially the growing importance of Southeast Asia and the way ASEAN is becoming the hub of a new world order. Part 1 of 2 For Part 2 and bonus episodes: patreon.com/planamag
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Ep. 621: Meet the Parents (ft. Kyle)
Kyle returns to talk with Teen about getting ready to have the first child, and traveling to Korea to meet his birth parents and siblings for the very first time. Part 1 of 2 For access to bonus episodes: patreon.com/planamag
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Ep. 619: The Utter Hypocrisy of the West's Human Rights Project (ft. Q. Anthony Ali)
Q joins Teen from Tianjin, China to catch up briefly about the first few months of living in China, the hypocrisy of the West's human rights rhetoric for China vs Israel -- including the recent genocide denialism of Bret Stephens -- and an extended talk in the bonus about the potential dangers…
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Ep. 617: The Anti-Modernity of the Young and the Old (ft. Jess)
Jess and Teen rail against modernity, a tendency it seems of the young and the old, but not of those stuck in the fat middle slog of life. The retreat of culture from physical real estate, the Hobbesian all-against-all ethic of the social media era, and how none of this is new, it's just getting...
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Ep. 615:The Human Zoo (ft. Jess)
Jess joins Teen to reflect on 8 years of friendship through working on Plan A, the endless treadmill of careerism, and how we all live in a Human Zoo. Made by and for humans. Part 1 of 2 For bonus episodes: patreon.com/planamag
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Ep. 613: Set the World on FIRE (ft. Jess)
Jess and Teen talk about a long running theme on this podcast: the trap of professional managerial class careerism, the cognitive traps built into it, and potential ways to get out of playing the squid game. Part 1 of 2 Bonus episodes: patreon.com/planamag
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Ep. 611: Why This Is Not Iraq Redux
Shorter pod today where Teen gives his thoughts on why we aren't facing Iraq War Redux, and why liberals are engaging in mass self-deception as a form of covert therapy rather than an assertion of their (completely discredited) world view. Bonus pod this week is a discussion with Carl Zha about...
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Ep. 609: What If We Just Fade Away? (ft. Steve)
Steve joins Teen from HK to talk about soft retirement plans. What if instead of working your ass off like a chimp until you earn the brass ring (FAKE), we just hit a target number and fade into 'maintenance' mode? Part 1 of 2 For access to Part 2 and bonus episodes: patreon.com/planamag
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Ep. 606: Asia's Utopian Tech Futurism (ft. John Pang)
John Pang joins Teen to discuss the contrast between America's dark vision of tech leading us into a dystopain near-future, while Asia dreams of a tech utopia. And theories on why China is building data centers in space. Part 1 of 2. To get access to bonus episodes: patreon.com/planamag
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Ep. 604: Taiwan's Rootless Cosmopolitans (ft. Angelica Oung)
Angelica Oung joins Teen from Taipei to talk about perfect bilingualism, wayward Taiwanese politics, and Noah Smith's weaboo fixations. Pt. 1 of 2 Bonus episodes: patreon.com/planamag
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Ep. 602: Father-Mothers (ft. Shan)
Shan and Teen talk about Evgenia Kovda's epic multi-day Twitter rant against stunted American adults who refuse to grow up, have children, and become 'tethered to life'. Do only parents experience the primal source of love? Can only parents be trusted to save the world? Why is the Pope an...
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Ep. 600: So How Did Moving To China Go? (ft Q Anthony Ali)
Q Anthony Ali joins Teen from Tianjin to talk about leaving Toronto, starting a new chapter in life in China, and the small things about adjusting to life in China. Pt 1 of 2 To access bonus pods: patreon.com/planamag
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Ep. 597: The Dog-Eat-Dog World (ft. CS Taniguchi)
CS Taniguchi joins Teen to talk about trying to live your best life in an objectively bad era. Part 1 of 2 To get access to Part 2 and all bonus episodes: patreon.com/planamag
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Ep. 595: The Asian American-ness of Jewish Movies (ft. Trevor Beaulieu)
Trevor joins Jess and Teen to follow up on the discussion of Jewish American culture and its under-appreciated impact on American culture overall (see ep. 586). This time with a focus on the films 'Annie Hall' and 'Quiz Show' and how the Asian American experience echoes these earlier works, but…
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Ep. 593: L-Day Has Cometh (ft. Mike)
Mike joins Teen to break down last week's "Liberation Day" against the whole world, the stock market meltdown, and what kind of sense can be made of what seems to be economic seppuku by the United States. What does any of this shit mean? Part 1 of 2 To access bonus pods: patreon.com/planamag
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Ep. 591: People Are Just Bugging Out (ft. Mike)
Mike joins Teen to talk about figuring out an alternative to the career-family path, people just cracking under the pressure, and The White Lotus. Part 1 of 2. For access to bonus episodes: patreon.com/planamag
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Ep. 590: Is China Switching to Offense? (ft. John Pang)
John Pang joins Teen to talk about Trump's escalating trade war with China, and why we in America may have grown complacent with China only playing defense i.e. responding in kind and proportion to American aggression. Is it possible that era of Chinese conservatism is over, and that we could see...
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Escape From Plan A have?
Escape From Plan A currently has 489 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Escape From Plan A about?
Escape From Plan A is an ongoing discussion of life and politics in America from the perspective of Asian people living here.
How often does Escape From Plan A release new episodes?
Escape From Plan A publishes regularly with 489 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Escape From Plan A?
You can listen to Escape From Plan A on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Escape From Plan A?
Escape From Plan A is created and hosted by Escape From Plan A.
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