ISA: Hi. This is Isa. I'm here to introduce the host, my mom, Elise. All right, let's start the show.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
ELISE HU, HOST:
You're listening to IT'S BEEN A MINUTE from NPR. And as my daughter, Isa, said there, I'm Elise Hu. I'll be your guest host for a little while.
So this week we marked a difficult anniversary. It's hard to believe it, but it's been one year since the Atlanta area shootings that targeted three spas. A white man killed eight people. Most victims were Asian women. That tragedy shocked and shook us and was particularly painful for a lot of Asian Americans like me. In the aftermath, our communities and allies came together for vigils and rallies and campaigns to stop Asian hate. But now, one year on, Asian Americans - women, especially - continue being targeted. Reports of anti-Asian hate crimes have reached record levels. One report shows that anti-Asian hate crimes increased by more than 300% last year. And since the start of this year, among others we've lost is Michelle Go, killed after someone pushed her onto New York subway tracks - also Christina Yuna Lee, who a man stabbed to death after following her home.
This influx of hate isn't something we can handle alone, so I called up Nicole Chung to help process all this. She is the author of the memoir, "All You Can Ever Know," and also a contributing writer for The Atlantic. We talked about what's changed or hasn't since the Atlanta shootings, how to cope and what we can hope for, for our families and our communities.
Nicole, we're talking because a year has passed since the horrific violence we saw in Atlanta. Eight people were killed, six of them Asian women. That tragedy is a moment where ongoing racism against Asians got a new level of visibility. So my question is, what has changed and what hasn't in the past year?
NICOLE CHUNG: That is one of the harder questions. I mean, I was talking about this with a friend recently, another Korean American writer, and she'd gotten a version of this question. And I was thinking - I was like, well, we are all sadder, certainly. It's felt like a very brutal year - a couple of years. And so, honestly, I sometimes feel as though I'm out of words when it comes to this. But I think one thing we sort of all can agree is that there has been sort of increased attention - right? - partly because some of the harassment and violence against our communities has been in national headlines. You know...
HU: Yes.
CHUNG: ...There have been videos and all of that.
HU: Yes.
CHUNG: And at the same time, you know, I think there's still a lot of everyday violence against us and harassment and racism that is not as visible, that you don't see, that isn't caught on video.
HU: I've read a few surveys taken over the past year or so, and something like 70 to 80% of Asian Americans say we have experienced racism or feel discriminated against in the U.S. And another number shows that 37% of white Americans say they haven't heard about an increase of hate crimes against Asian Americans since the coronavirus started in 2020.
CHUNG: My goodness.
HU: How do we confront a problem like this where so many white Americans say they don't even see it?
CHUNG: It's so frustrating. And I remember that survey from last year. And I think, like, some large number - I want to say in the 40% range - like, of white Americans could not actually name a notable Asian American.
HU: That, too. Yeah (laughter).
CHUNG: Yeah. But I remember being, like, appalled by that as well. Like, really? And so there's a general lack of awareness when it comes to our communities and, like, a kind of invisibility. It's not just in terms of, like, racism that we face.
HU: Yeah.
CHUNG: It's the fact that we exist and the diversity of our experiences. You know, as many people have said, we are often, like, kind of all thrown together...
HU: Sure.
CHUNG: ...Under this Asian American or even an AAPI umbrella. But there's so many communities. And so there's a lot of ignorance around that. But there is a real need to educate. There is a real need to talk about what's happening and to reach out and to make this seen and known. And on the other hand, there's a great emotional toll to that, right?
HU: Yeah.
CHUNG: Like, the number of interviews and pieces that we both participate in - right? - (laughter) we both...
HU: (Laughter) Right.
CHUNG: ...Write. I mean, that can almost feel as though in these discussions we are almost centering white people and people who have the luxury to not think about this racism against us or about other communities of color.
HU: You have written about how you don't know if you really want to keep educating other people about the violence or the fear that our community faces.
CHUNG: I think it's something we're never quite done with. I certainly can identify with and have written about this feeling of exhaustion - right? - the feeling that there is sometimes a burden of representation or education...
HU: Right.
CHUNG: ...And that there are days when you're kind of equipped to do that work, and then there are days when you are very much not.
HU: Yeah.
CHUNG: And I would say, too, that it really takes a toll when you do encounter in spaces where you have to just be - your family, your workplace, you know, your friend groups. So it's complicated because on the other hand, like, I am a writer, and I am also a transracial Korean adoptee. And so my life has really been kind of reaching across these gaps.
HU: And being a bridge.
CHUNG: Yeah, exactly. Like, and at the same time, you know, I wrote this in a piece last year, sometimes it can feel like what I'm doing is offering up my trauma as, like, a bridge for people to walk across. And again, like I - it's a privilege to get to share both my story and to write about - well, not just this, but, like, many topics. And at the same time, like, I'm very aware of when I'm being kind of reached out to because something horrific has happened to someone in our communities, and that's just a hard thing to balance, to sit with.
HU: It is not only exhausting out there, it's also still scary - right? - this drumbeat of news of violence and senseless death. How do you think about living and moving about public spaces these days?
CHUNG: I am still living a pretty isolated life. I largely move around, like, my neighborhood. And that said, like, I think about this when I go to the grocery store or the pharmacy or wherever. If someone walking by me looks at me in a way that I feel is somewhat unfriendly, you know, I kind of wonder, like, what the reason is. You sort of can't help it. I don't mean to sound paranoid, but, like, that is the environment that we're living in.
HU: I've gotten super self-conscious about coughing. Like, even if - even clearing my throat or sneezing because I have allergies or something...
CHUNG: Right.
HU: ...I just don't want to do anything in public that might draw attention to the fact that I'm coughing while Asian.
CHUNG: Yes. And I also think about the fact that, you know, where I live and in many places now, mask policies are rolling back.
HU: Yeah.
CHUNG: And so when I walk into a place - and I've just chosen, personally, to keep my mask on indoors in public spaces - I sometimes feel like I'm being looked at oddly for that. As I say this out loud, I sound - I feel like I - feel a little silly.
HU: Well, we're all processing this. Yeah.
CHUNG: But, like, I'm very - basically, I'm very aware. I would say, like, I'm - I've always been aware of moving through the world in an Asian body. But I would say, you know, especially over the last two years, I've been hyper-conscious of it.
HU: I have a couple daughters who the news doesn't really reach as easily because they're 4 and 6. My oldest one is 9, but the 4- and 6-year-old, I found myself having to really think through, A, how to answer their questions when they learn about these sorts of things, but, B, also just, at what point we talk about race and how they might be targeted because of race or seen as different because of it. Because I think that my mom started having these conversations with me quite young, right? Like ages 4 or 5...
CHUNG: Right.
HU: ...Because she wanted me to be aware, you know, that (laughter) - and not blindsided by it, which is a difference between my experience and yours, in that I was born to Chinese Taiwanese immigrant parents and grew up with them. You've written a lot about your experience as a transracial adoptee. You were born to Korean immigrant parents but adopted by white American parents, which I imagine complicates your identity. So I'm curious, how have the past few years of this heightened alert, heightened fear informed your own understanding of identity and community?
CHUNG: Yeah, so - and thank you for that question. I mean, I should say that, like, for some context, in the white family I grew up in, race was not really discussed and neither was racism, even though I began experiencing it from a very young age.
HU: Yeah.
CHUNG: You know, I would say the era was really one where, especially in, like, a transracial adoptive families, there was this emphasis on assimilation. There was an emphasis on like kind of, quote-unquote, "colorblindness," you know, believing actually that was in the best interest of the child. That was really what my parents were told. And I just think that, like, for all their love for me - and I really - I, you know, I never doubted that - the experience of being Korean, of being Asian American was not one they could fundamentally grasp when I was younger. And it was not something they had to think about. So we never had any conversations - you're right - about anti-Asian racism specifically. We didn't actually have that many about racism, generally. I think they honestly believed I wouldn't face it because they thought and had been told my race would be irrelevant.
HU: So then how is it different between your experience with your white parents and your experience with your kids and how you speak with them about racism?
CHUNG: It's just been a part of my conversations with them, obviously in, like, age- and developmentally-appropriate ways. I do think, you know, a lot of the thinking around this has changed for the better. I think with me and my own experiences with racism, it drove home the fact that, like, my not talking about it with them was not going to mean they didn't face it, you know, and...
HU: Yes. I think the same things.
CHUNG: Right. Right. And so my denying that or my ignoring it, I mean, not only does that not ultimately protect them, it does not help them - it does not help to prepare them for times when they will face it. And unfortunately, you know, my kids have faced it. I need to give them that context. I need them to understand, not that it necessarily will be a comfort, but they won't be left wondering the way I was, am I imagining this? Like, is this really happening? What is this? I didn't have the vocabulary to even call it racism. And so I do think it's important - and of course, parents of color generally know this - but I think it's really important to have those conversations even when we can't present solutions, you know, even when we are mostly listening and letting them know, we love you, we care about how you feel, like, we're here to support you, even though these things are very hard.
HU: Let's talk about an affirmative vision going forward. What does really living with dignity and agency look like for Asian Americans and Asians in the U.S.?
CHUNG: There are so many things, but I think one thing that has meant a lot to me, personally, has just been community. I honestly think one reason I don't despair despite the mounting violence and the attacks - because it's brutal. It's brutal to read and hear about. What keeps me from despair, at least many days, is knowing that I have people to reach out to, knowing that I have, especially, like, my Asian women friends who are like my sisters, who I can call or text and they will be there and they understand the toll. And again, like, there is not a lot sometimes that we can do at least, like, to prevent it, but we can be here for each other. And I felt the same, you know, kind of solidarity and love from other friends of color. You know, that's meant a great deal. So it's a hard time, I think, to be Asian American. But at the same time, I feel so much solace and love and joy in our communities and in the people who love us and who have been there, you know? I think it's worth focusing on that sometimes, like, the people who've always been with us and who we owe our solidarity to. So that's really been important for me, personally, over the last couple of years.
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HU: Nicole Chung is the author of the memoir "All You Can Ever Know" and contributing writer for The Atlantic. Nicole, thank you so much.
CHUNG: Thank you, Elise.
HU: Coming up, what's the deal behind all these new TV adaptations of tech scandals? Stick around.
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HU: OK. You know as well as I do - if you're a loyal listener of the show - that we talk about TV all the time. That's never going to change. And we all took notice when three different streaming platforms came out with three different shows about three different Silicon Valley startups, all premiering around the same time. There's "WeCrashed," which depicts the rise and fall of Adam Neumann's WeWork, the ubiquitous co-working company...
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JARED LETO: (As Adam Neumann) Come build tomorrow with us. We're going to change the world.
HU: ...There's "Super Pumped," which follows Uber co-founder and CEO Travis Kalanick...
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JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT: (As Travis Kalanick) It's a frictionless experience for every passenger - credit cards on file, you just get out of the car, get on with your life. It should feel like it's free. It's just easy.
HU: ...And "The Dropout," adapted from the ABC podcast of the same name, all about Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE DROPOUT")
AMANDA SEYFRIED: (As Elizabeth Holmes) Here at Theranos, we are developing new technology - new technology. This is an inspiring step forward.
HU: I wanted to dig in to the significance behind these shows all coming out now. So I called up a friend.
NITASHA TIKU: You know, they were all pretty emblematic of the tech era of the 2010s, right?
HU: That's Nitasha Tiku. She's a tech culture writer at The Washington Post. She told me that the failures of these CEOs aren't the only thing they have in common.
TIKU: So Silicon Valley is ascending into this global powerhouse. You know, it's getting to be at the top of the stock market. And most key is that the mythology around, like, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs was all kind of fully in place. So all three of these founders, they're living in that shadow - right? - and they're trying to achieve the greatness that they've already heard about.
HU: Got it. Got it. So, Nitasha, you reported on each of these companies in real time, which is why we wanted to talk with you because now we're watching these dramatizations. So what is it like to watch the fictionalized accounts?
TIKU: You know, I've been waiting for the fictionalized accounts that really end up treating Silicon Valley the same way that you see Wall Street portrayed or you see Hollywood portrayed. You know, I think I've paid attention to every TV and film adaptation of the industry back since, like, Amazon had the show called "Betas." And they've always been, like, kind of corny or with "Silicon Valley," the HBO show, it just - I think they got, like, too enamored of getting approval from the venture capitalists, so they just - they hewed almost too close to reality. I think tech likes to really talk about itself as unique and exceptional and, you know, if you don't understand how the technology works, then you can't possibly understand, you know, their motivations.
And that's - you know, once it gets to the big Hollywood - the show in lights, it's really - you know, you're really talking about kind of universal themes of power and jealousy and, like, hunger for glory. And I think that it gets those themes more accurate. I mean, it feels like a really rich, textured portrayal in a lot of cases. Like, in "The Dropout," you know, you get into these really waspy, giant homes, like, around Stanford, like, if you look at, like, George Solt's home, right? And, I mean, that to me feels really real. Like, it kind of made Elizabeth Holmes come alive to me in a way that even listening to every podcast episode and seeing her in the courtroom didn't.
HU: But even taking this precept of highlighting these greedy founders, making them relatable, humanizing them - are the culture-makers highlighting what's wrong with Silicon Valley, or are they unintentionally glorifying them by making these series?
TIKU: Yeah. You know, watching so many of them in a row, it just made me feel like, wow, capitalism really is able to absorb its critiques. You know, it's such an incredible system in that now it has almost become like the next stop on your tour, right? Like.
HU: Let's make more money out of these failed making money stories.
TIKU: Exactly. Like I can see - you know, there's a lot of attention - right? - between Silicon Valley, like, the tech industry and the media industry. And I can see the potential cynicism that could come from this. Like, you just want to take us down so that you can have a bestselling book that's adapted for a TV show. And, you know, I think it's important to remember that, like, "The Social Network" actually led to a generation of people, you know, not just age wise, but also coming from other industries, coming into the tech industry, like, they did not see this as a cautionary tale. You know, they saw it as aspirational and saw the tech industry as an exciting place to be around.
So, I mean, that's partly why I enjoy the shows more than previous fictionalized versions. But certainly, you know, I don't see these as an indictment of Silicon Valley, in part because you're not seeing all of the, like, macro-level financial incentives that really push the founders to act in this way. You know, you're having like good and evil. And you're seeing, like, companies told through the eyes of one person. Like, yeah, I can imagine that I would want to be a founder after watching some of these, not me personally, but, you know, if you were young...
HU: 'Cause you still wind up rich. I mean, even if you're ashamed, publicly shamed and - if you lose your job as leader of the company, all these people still wound up OK, maybe with the exception of Elizabeth Holmes, who might wind up behind bars, who might actually do some time. So I'm also curious about whether these stories are kind of too soon because they're still playing out. Like, Uber is still making billions of dollars per year. WeWork still exists in some form. Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani's trial started this week. He is Elizabeth Holmes' ex-boyfriend and the former CEO of Theranos. You see him in "The Dropout." Is it just too soon to do a meaningful look back?
TIKU: Right. Well, I do think that it's instructive. You know, even just people understanding what it's like when you're coming up, understanding the motivations of these founders who may have had, you know, in Adam Neumann and Travis Kalanick's case, early failures or just not being the next Mark Zuckerberg. I think we can have more insight into their hunger and into the way that the people who are supposed to be checks and balances - right? - their investors are not really providing that oversight. And there's there's no one really stopping them.
So - but these companies are still very much impacting our daily lives. I mean, look at the way that Uber drivers have had to try to survive during the pandemic. And, you know, right now, with gas prices, like, that's not going to be on the show. Whether these business models will be able to last without more money flowing in, that's not going to be on the show. Right? So there's a danger in just limiting it to that period of time. But it's still, I think, enough time for us to have some things we should take away from it.
HU: All right. So turning toward the future, Erin Griffith wrote in The New York Times that there are more than 900 tech startups that are each worth more than $1 billion each. One billion used to be the marker for unicorn, right?
TIKU: Right.
HU: So is there some real, honest innovation happening here that maybe we should actually be focusing on instead of these failures that this culture has fostered?
TIKU: Well, I wouldn't - so I guess I don't see the number of unicorns as synonymous with innovation. I guess I see that more as an indicator of, like, the amount of money pouring into the sector from private equity, sovereign wealth funds. Part of the reason that we're, you know, when you look at "Super Pumped" and you see Bill Gurley, the venture capitalist who's played by Coach Taylor, as we know him. Right. Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose. He's this affable guy, kind of a stand-up person. You know, in the most recent episode, you see his wife asking him, is it really about the money? And he's like...
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KYLE CHANDLER: (As Bill Gurley) At the end of this run, it's the one that that pays for all the others. It's the one that makes it so we never...
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CHANDLER: (As Bill Gurley) ...Ever have to think about money again.
TIKU: He talks about the need for one company to return the fund. You know, you make your reputation by these outliers. So the fact that there are that many companies that are valued that much just shows how many investors are hoping for the next Uber, I would say, rather than innovation. I mean, think about Theranos. Like, especially watching the show, you just think about like, if someone had actually been focused on the science, if she hadn't been pushing for this little machine that worked with a credit card and looked like something Steve Jobs created, she could have certainly, you know, offered an improvement on the blood testing process. Right? So I think there we see that, like, investors and the people who finance the tech industry, they're not necessarily most interested in innovation. They're interested in returning the investment to their limited partners, to the people that back them.
HU: Well, this whole train of fictionalized accounts isn't ending. There's a few stories, fictionalized dramatizations of Facebook that are already on deck.
TIKU: Oh, yes.
HU: They're coming out soon. What would be the next story you would adapt?
TIKU: I mean, it's got to be Elon Musk, right?
HU: Yeah. There's still a lot of hero worship of him.
TIKU: Oh, I think that we can see the past couple weeks of his ability to insert himself in the Ukraine-Russia war as, you know, he's certainly not - and not only that, but at the same time, there's simultaneously this reveal from the Grimes Vanity Fair cover that they had another child together.
HU: Yes.
TIKU: Like, yeah, of course. I mean, there's not that many CEOs that are able to capture the public imagination in that way. There has to be at least a fictionalized account - I mean, you know, maybe one that even starts on Mars. Who knows?
HU: (Laughter) OK, thanks so much for talking through all of this with me, Nitasha.
TIKU: Thanks for having me.
HU: All right, can you stick around and play a game?
TIKU: Yeah, of course.
HU: All right, can't wait. That's coming up.
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HU: You're listening to IT'S BEEN A MINUTE from NPR. I'm Elise Hu, here with Nitasha Tiku, tech culture writer for The Washington Post. Hey, Nitasha.
TIKU: Hey.
HU: And your friend Heather is here, too. Heather, can you introduce yourself?
HEATHER KELLY: Sure thing. My name is Heather Kelly. I'm a tech reporter at The Washington Post as well. And I'm sort of Nitasha's partner, I guess, in petty crime.
HU: Awesome. I can't wait - two Posties (ph). All right. They are here to play a game. It's called Who Said That?
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KANDI BURRUSS: Who had been saying that?
PORSHA WILLIAMS: Who said that?
KENYA MOORE: Who said that?
HU: This is my favorite part of the show. So the rules are simple. I share a quote, and you guess who said it or what it's about. There are no buzzers. Just yell out the answer. I may give you hints along the way. Hopefully, you won't need them. And as usual, you win nothing. There's still no prizes, except for glory. I don't think that's ever going to change. OK, y'all ready?
TIKU: Ready.
KELLY: I'm ready.
HU: OK, here's the first quote - "these past two months, I've realized my place is still on the field and not in the stands."
KELLY: Tom Brady.
(SOUNDBITE OF VICTORY TUNE)
HU: There it is. The rest of the quote - "I'm coming back for my 23rd season in Tampa. Unfinished business - LFG." What do you all think?
KELLY: I don't sport at all. I think he plays one of them. I just know who he's married to. And for some reason, that's not enough for him, so he needs to come back and keep sporting.
HU: His retirement only lasted 40 days.
TIKU: Well, not only that, he is now on the board of a couple crypto companies, I think, at least. I don't know if you saw those FTX...
HU: Oh, there's a tech angle to this.
TIKU: Yeah. Oh, yes. Yeah. I saw someone say like, oh, wow, yeah, 40 days on the board of a tech company, and he's already ready to go back on the field. So...
KELLY: I mean, that would make me go get a concussion as well, for sure.
TIKU: No comment.
HU: And condolences to those who bet on the end of his tenure in the league, like the guy who paid over $500,000 for Brady's, quote-unquote, "final career touchdown football."
TIKU: Should have been an NFT.
(LAUGHTER)
HU: Should have been an NFT. It could grow. All right, the second quote. Here we go - "boom. It's a miracle. Nobody, I guess, wanted to be the Grinch who blocked us."
KELLY: Hmm.
TIKU: Uh...
HU: It happened on Tuesday.
KELLY: Is it tech related?
HU: It is not tech related. I suppose it could affect everything because it is time related.
KELLY: Is it about daylight savings?
HU: Yeah.
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HU: Heather - two in a row.
KELLY: Oh, glory (ph).
HU: This is about the bill that unanimously passed the Senate this week that would make daylight savings time permanent. The quote is from Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, who co-sponsored the bill.
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SHELDON WHITEHOUSE: And this would give us the chance for Americans all across the country to be rid of fall back, to make daylight savings time permanent and to add a little sunlight into most people's lives. With that...
HU: So how do y'all feel about it?
KELLY: It's nice to see that they were able to agree on something and actually do something, if only it was not just daylight savings time.
HU: Do you think everybody just came in to work on Monday and was like, you know what? We're done with changing clocks.
KELLY: I absolutely felt that. I was very angry that morning. And, like, I support this. Yeah. Like, vote in anger. Do it, guys and gals.
HU: And it's bipartisan.
TIKU: Odd choice of priorities.
HU: (Laughter).
TIKU: But yeah, I mean, I - you know, this is my first daylight savings time with a kid. And I have to say, it makes even less sense with, you know, a tiny being that you have to take care of. So yay?
HU: All right, here's the final quote, everybody - your chance to catch up, Nitasha.
TIKU: OK. I'm ready.
HU: Well, you still couldn't catch up mathematically.
TIKU: I mean, you know, last time I played, I got none. So I'm just - my bar is so low.
HU: This is your chance to get one Who Said That right. "Serena and Venus, you are such marvels."
TIKU: Oh, God. Jane Campion.
(SOUNDBITE OF VICTORY TUNE)
HU: Oh, yay.
KELLY: Yay, Nitasha.
HU: This is Nitasha's inaugural point in Who Said That? OK, the full quote is Serena and Venus, you are such marvels...
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JANE CAMPION: However, you do not play against the guys like I have to.
(LAUGHTER)
HU: Do you want to put that in context, Nitasha?
TIKU: Yes, this is Jane Campion, director of "Power Of The Dog." She was accepting an award and she just made the absolute worst decision. I mean, you know, I saw people use that - actually, I saw Allison Davis, who's a writer for The Cut - use that Tyra Banks meme, like, we were rooting for you. We were all rooting for you. Like, why would you do that? I loved the movie. I actually love Jane Campion. I've seen, like, you know, all of her early movies, "Sweetie." I thought "The Power Of The Dog" was incredible, and I couldn't have been happier for her going into that awards show. And then it was just, like, wow, like, new heights of white women audacity. And I also...
HU: Why bring the Williams sisters into it at all?
TIKU: Yes. Why? And, like, she's just straight up wrong. I mean, they play mixed doubles. They absolutely changed the entire dynamic of their sport. They fought for, you know, women tennis players to get paid equally. Like, it's just - I mean, Venus' face while she was speaking was every - and then, you know, they had to have a photograph of Venus, like, smiling with her after, like, all this added labor of, like, not being able to react to that terrible comment. It was just - it was so unfortunate.
HU: It's so unfortunate that that was said and this was the whole situation. But congratulations, Nitasha, for getting one of these Who Said That's right.
TIKU: Finally. White women's supremacy works for me.
HU: (Laughter) All right. Thanks for playing, Nitasha Tiku, tech culture writer at The Washington Post, and Heather Kelly, tech reporter at The Washington Post. Thank you both.
KELLY: Thanks for having us.
TIKU: Thanks.
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AVA: Hi, I'm Elise's daughter, Ava. Now, it's time to end the show like we always do. Every week, listeners share the best thing that happened to them all week. We encourage folks to brag. And they do. Let's hear them.
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STEF: The best thing that's happened to me all week is that my girlfriend of 18 years is now my fiancée. And what's probably equally amazing is that our friends and family were there to share it with us. And that's something we couldn't have imagined 18 years ago.
PREETHA: The best thing that has happened to me this week is that I've gotten to, like, just play around in the dirt a little bit. And last year, I learned a lot about my soil, had a lot of dead plants. But I am taking that - those lessons and I am putting it into some slightly more successful ventures this year. There's been a lot of rain, so things are popping up. It's beautiful down here in Bama (ph).
ERIC: Eric (ph) here from Haddon Township, N.J. And the best thing that happened to me this week was that on my birthday for the first time since the pandemic started, my wife and I got to watch our son, who's 15 in a pre-professional ballet program, dance live on stage in front of an audience. And it was astounding. Not only did he do a ballet piece, but he did a contemporary piece, which we had never seen him do before. It was just beautiful. We could not be prouder of him.
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JERICA: It's Jerica (ph) in Warsaw, Poland, and as you can imagine, it's been kind of a rough week this week with everything that's going on and the news coming out all the time. But the best part of my week has been seeing the equally big amount of news of people who are responding in the very best ways - people volunteering, people donating, people organizing to help refugees coming into the country. And on Thursday, I was able to meet with my choir, and in two hours, we managed to make 700 sandwiches that we sent to the border to feed refugees who are coming into Poland.
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BRIAN: And this is Brian (ph) from East Harlem, N.Y. And for the best thing that happened to me this week, I have to tell you about the worst thing that happened to me last year, and that was the passing of my father. He passed away unexpectedly in October, and it's been really hard without him. When he passed, me and my siblings collectively remembered that he was in a doo-wop group back in the '50s. He made a couple of recordings, they redid a couple of songs, and they created CDs decades ago - I think it was in the '90s. Thankfully, today, my uncle just discovered the CD that he had, and it was like finding my hero, finding my father again after these many months. And it sounds a bit like this, if you could hear that. But that was definitely the best thing that happened to me this week.
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HU: Thanks to those listeners you heard there - Brian, Jerica, Eric, Stef (ph) and Preetha (ph). Listeners, you can send your best thing to us anytime during the week. Just record yourself and send a voice memo to our new email address, ibam@npr.org. That's ibam@npr.org.
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HU: All right, this week's episode was produced by Liam McBain, Anjuli Sastry Krbechek, Andrea Gutierrez and Jinae West. And shout out to Andrea. It's her birthday today. Happy birthday. Engineering help came from Gilly Moon. Our intern is Aja Drain. Our editor is Jordana Hochman. Special thanks this week to Dion Lim and our big boss is NPR's senior VP of programming, Anya Grundmann. So until next time, take care, y'all. I'm Elise Hu. And in the voice of Elizabeth Holmes (imitating Elizabeth Holmes) let's go change the world, change the world, change - change the world.
(Laughter) I can't do this.
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