With midterm elections around the corner, Brad Jenkins discusses how Asian Americans are the margin of victory for Democrats and how to support AAPI candidates for office. Brad and Nancy also discuss Brad's unique career path from working in a hedge fund to serving in the Obama administration to becoming a producer.

About Brad:

AAPI Victory Fund President and Enfranchisement CEO and Founder Brad Jenkins spent four years serving as President Obama’s Associate Director in The White House Office of Public Engagement. From The White House, Jenkins brought together creative executives, thought leaders, and some of the world’s biggest stars to advance the President’s agenda—culminating in the Emmy-award winning “Between Two Ferns” interview on the Affordable Care Act. Jenkins then joined Will Ferrell’s Funny Or Die as Managing Director and Executive Producer running Funny Or Die D.C. Since then, Jenkins has produced over 70 social impact campaigns, documentaries, specials, and events with organizations, companies, PACs, IEs, and foundations with a particular focus on the Asian American Pacific Islander community.

Brad Jenkins: Twitter, Instagram
AAPI Victory Fund: Website
Buzzsprout Affiliate Link: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1257539

Host, Nancy Wu: Website, Instagram, Twitter

Welcome to Progressive Opinions of Color (POC), a podcast that creates space for people of color in conversations about economics, politics, and culture. The goal of this podcast is to engage the state of the economy, and other pressing topics in politics, economics, and culture, all through perspectives inclusive of the lived experiences of people of color. Whether you're new to politics or already a huge politics nerd, we hope this podcast inspires community and conversation among us. Join us in reimagining politics and economics with underrepresented voices.

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We're kicking off AAPI Heritage Month with Linh Nguyen, Senior Advisor for RUN AAPI.

We talk about being the only Asian women at the table in politics, how to get more AAPI Gen Z to get excited about and involved in politics, the importance of AAPI representation in politics, and how to better serve the Asian American community in politics. We even discuss results from one of the first, if not only, surveys on AAPI Gen Z and how they feel about the political climate and asian representation.

About Linh:
Linh Nguyen is a Senior Advisor for RUN AAPI and a Senior Advisor for Beto O’Rourke’s campaign for Governor in Texas. Linh has extensive political electoral experience, specializing in outreach strategy to young voters, Asian-Pacific Islanders, and communities of color. 

Linh joined the Democratic Party of Georgia as their AAPI Coalition Director for the 2021 Senate runoff elections. She rounded out the election cycle with the Presidential Inaugural Committee’s Office of Public Engagement to welcome the Biden-Harris administration where she consulted on creative programming with community partners. Linh also consulted on AAPI engagement in disaster relief and public health emergencies for Governor Newsom’s Office of Emergency Services. She spent the 2020 presidential year with Sen. Cory Booker and was the Political Director for #TheNew campaign: a creative collaboration between RUN AAPI and Meena Harris’s Phenomenal Woman.

Linh Nguyen: Twitter
Run AAPI: Website
Buzzsprout Affiliate Link: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1257539

Host, Nancy Wu: Website, Instagram, Twitter

Welcome to Progressive Opinions of Color (POC), a podcast that creates space for people of color in conversations about economics, politics, and culture. The goal of this podcast is to engage the state of the economy, and other pressing topics in politics, economics, and culture, all through perspectives inclusive of the lived experiences of people of color. Whether you're new to politics or already a huge politics nerd, we hope this podcast inspires community and conversation among us. Join us in reimagining politics and economics with underrepresented voices.

Support the show

Today’s guest is Shan Wu. As a former federal prosecutor, nationally known criminal and student defense lawyer, and frequent guest on CNN and other news outlets, Shan is regularly called on to explore political and legal topics, ranging from election and impeachment questions to high-profile Title IX cases. 

We discuss: 
-The spike in hate crimes against AAPI folks

-What is the legal definition of a hate crime and why hate crimes are underreported

-The affirmative action case at Harvard

-The nomination of Judge Kentanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court; the value of Judge’s experience as a public defender; Biden’s promise to nominate the first Black women to the Supreme Court.

-Justice Breyer’s hesitancy to retire and viewing the Supreme Court as an apolitical institution

-Shan’s own career development, life story, and becoming a spokesperson for AAPI folks

Shanlon Wu: Twitter
Buzzsprout Link: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1257539

Host, Nancy Wu: Website, Instagram, Twitter

Welcome to Progressive Opinions of Color (POC), a podcast that creates space for people of color in conversations about economics, politics, and culture. The goal of this podcast is to engage the state of the economy, and other pressing topics in politics, economics, and culture, all through perspectives inclusive of the lived experiences of people of color. Whether you're new to politics or already a huge politics nerd, we hope this podcast inspires community and conversation among us. Join us in reimagining politics and economics with underrepresented voices.