May Celebrations: AAPI Heritage Month & Mother's Day 🥳

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The Ten News Season 3: Episode 58

In today's episode: 🥳 Learn all about Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with Corinne Catibayan 📣 Mother's Day Tribute: Ten'ers share their 'breaking news' on why their mom is the best 🎬 Tze Chun, American Film & TV Producer, gives us a sneak peek into the new Gremlin TV series 🤔 Trivia with Tessa: AAPI Heritage Month celebrates more than 50 ethnic groups. Do you know how many languages the groups speak?

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Links

https://www.nami.org/Your-Journey/Identity-and-Cultural-Dimensions/Asian-American-and-Pacific-Islander#:~:text=AAPI%20communities%20consist%20of%20approximately,Asian%20and%20Pacific%20Islander%20ancestries.

https://www.unitedlanguagegroup.com/blog/translation/asian-pacific-isnalnd-languages-in-us

TRANSCRIPT:

Ryan Willard  00:01

Okay, I think that does it.

Pamela Kirkland  00:05

Hi, Ryan. Wow, this is an amazing spread. What are all the snacks for?

Ryan Willard  00:11

We're having our AAPI Heritage Month party today. Did you forget?

Pamela Kirkland  00:15

Oh, it totally slipped my mind.

Ryan Willard  00:17

I've got ube cupcakes from my favorite Filipino bakery, soup dumplings from my favorite Chinese spot, and mochi ice cream from the Japanese ice cream shop.

Pamela Kirkland  00:29

Is that a Gremlin that just ran by?

Ryan Willard  00:32

No, that was actually a Mogwai. I'll explain later.

Pamela Kirkland  00:35

Wow. Okay. Happy AAPI Heritage Month. I'm Pamela Kirkland.

Ryan Willard  00:41

And I'm Ryan Willard. It's Wednesday, May 10th.

Pamela Kirkland  00:44

This is The Ten News.

Sound Bit  00:47

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Ryan Willard  00:55

I'm Filipino so this is a special month for me and everyone with Asian or Pacific Islander Heritage.

Pamela Kirkland  01:01

What exactly is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month?

Ryan Willard  01:07

Ten News correspondent Corinne Catibayan is here to drop some knowledge.

Corinne Catibayan  01:12

Hey, Ryan and Pamela I just picked up this cool history book and wanted to share what I read. 

Ryan Willard  01:17

I love reading but I love storytime even more. Here, Pamela I made us some chicharron.

Pamela Kirkland  01:25

Let's get comfy.

Corinne Catibayan  01:36

Long ago, there was a Japanese teenage boy named Manjiro who loved to fish and sail. One dark night, while on a fishing trip with his friends, Manjiro got caught in a violent and dangerous storm! The storm took Manjiro and his friends far away from their village, leaving them stranded on a desert island!  It was difficult for them to contact anyone for help since at the time, there were no gadgets. So they waited. And waited. And waited. One day, Manjiro spotted a big ship coming closer to them. “Could it be, the long wait is over?”, Manjiro thought. Alas, it was the John Howland whaling ship. On board was U.S. sea captain William Whitfield. Captain William was on a 5-year voyage around the Pacific when he and his crew spotted Manjiro, his friends, and their wrecked ship. So Captain William took them along and they all sailed around the Pacific. At the end of the voyage, Manjiro’s friends disembarked in the Hawaiian Kingdom’s Honolulu. Manjiro, on the other hand, wanted to stay behind to learn more! Manjiro traveled with Captain William all the way to Fairhaven, Massachusetts. Now in America, Manjiro went to school and his favorite subjects were English and navigation. But after a few years in America, Manjiro missed his home. So he set sail back to Japan. BUT! It was a risk coming home. At the time, it was traditional for Japanese citizens who left the country for any reason to be punished harshly. So even if Manjiro was afraid to go home, he was determined to make his way back to his country to share everything he’s learned with his friends. When he arrived in Japan, he was questioned by leaders and was held under house arrest. He constantly tried convincing authorities he didn’t do anything wrong. Finally, after six long months, he was finally released! Manjiro was relieved and happy to start his new life back in his home country. To make things even better, Manjiro became a samurai to the shogun (Japanese military leader) and was told to educate other samurai about foreign affairs. After this, more and more Japanese started to visit the United States. Bigger groups of Japanese moved to America and started working as farmers and fishermen.  

Ryan Willard  04:16

Woah, wait. So Manjiro was kind of like, the first Japanese immigrant to set foot in America? 

Corinne Catibayan  04:23

Exactly! And so that’s why almost 200 years later, we celebrate Asian immigrants in America. The month of May in particular because this month is when Manjiro and other Japanese immigrants arrived in the United States. That and the completion of a transcontinental railroad which was constructed mostly by Chinese immigrants. Today, it’s established as the Asian American and Pacific Islander or AAPI month!

Ryan Willard  04:52

That’s awesome and makes me so proud to be a part of this group. It’s a large and diverse community from East, Southeast, and South Asia and the Pacific Islands of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. There are roughly around 20 million Asians and 600,000 native Hawaiian residents in the country. The AAPI is the fastest-growing demographic group in the U.S. How do you plan to celebrate, Corinne?

Corinne Catibayan  05:17

It’s actually my first time celebrating because I just moved to the United States! I’m so excited because being a Filipina is one of the things I’m most proud of. Our culture is a mix of multiple ethnic groups and generations of interacting with neighboring cultures and colonial powers. The Philippines was colonized by Spain, America, and Japan so a lot of our traditions and culture were blended and influenced by that history. Filipinos are the second largest Asian American group in the United States and being a part of it means I have a responsibility to share my culture and roots with those I meet here. This month, I plan to eat Filipino food, watch Filipino movies and listen to OPM to celebrate my culture. 

Ryan Willard  05:48

I love being Filipino. This month is my excuse to devour all Filipino and Asian food. You also need to teach me some more Tagalog words, Corinne!

Corinne Catibayan  05:51

“Salamat po!” is what you would say. You add “po” to show respect or when talking to an elder.  

Ryan Willard  05:57

Well, salamat, Corinne! That was awesome and I can’t wait to learn even more about the Philippines and other AAPI cultures this month. 

Corinne Catibayan  06:05

Anytime, Ryan! You’re getting close! Happy AAPI month, Tenners! How are you celebrating AAPI month?

Ryan Willard  06:23

Mother’s Day is almost here! We asked Ten’ers to send us their Mother’s Day tributes in the form of ‘Breaking News.’  

Pamela Kirkland  06:30

For example, breaking news. Lorie Kirkland is the best because she's the best listener. You can call her for anything. Take it away, Ten'ers.

Ten'er  06:41

Breaking news from Ali and Ben. Marcy Larson is the best mom because she is fun to play with. And she's always in a good mood. Happy Mother's Day, Mom! My name is Oliver. I'm 11 years old. I'm gonna be twelve soon. Did you know my mom is the best? She always gets me to school on time and picks me up early from school too! So, she is definitely the best mom. Breaking news. Misty is the best mom because she puts cookies in my lunch. Thank you, Mama. Hi, I'm Kai. I'm eight years old. I like to go shopping with my mom. She's the best mom. Because she visits everything that my school does. Bye.

Ryan Willard  07:54

Those were so good. And we have even more. Stay tuned for later in the episode for more Mother's Day tributes.

Pamela Kirkland  08:06

Ahhh the gremlin is back! Ryan! HELP! 

Ryan Willard  08:10

Calm down Pamela…it’s just a MOGWAI. It will only become a gremlin if it eats after midnight.

Pamela Kirkland  08:17

Got it. But, ummm, why is there a furry mythical creature here in the studio?

Ryan Willard  08:22

Because there’s a brand new animated Gremlins show coming to Max called Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai and the showrunner, Tze Chun is here to tell us about it!

Pamela Kirkland  08:32

Oooooh! Okay, that’s exciting! I’ll hide the snacks from the Mogwai…

Ryan Willard  08:40

All right, Ten'ers, I am here with the man, the myth, the legend. I'm not going to tell you who he is. I'm going to let him do that. So, sir, could you please tell us who you are, where you're from, and what it is that you do?

Tze Chun  08:51

Hi, my name is Tze Chun. I am a writer and executive producer and showrunner of a new Gremlins animated series that's going to be on HBOMax 

Ryan Willard  09:03

Amazing. Now, I'm a big fan of the Gremlins movies from the 80s, but can you explain the world of Gremlins for our Ten’ers who might not have seen the films? 

Tze Chun  09:11

Sure, so the original movies came out in the 80s and they're about a teenager who meets a little creature called Gizmo. And Gizmo is really adorable. And the issue is that Gizmo comes with rules. And the rules are you can't feed them after midnight, you can't expose them to bright light, and you never get them wet. And in the movie, when they get wet, they spawn. And if they eat after midnight, they become something that we call an evil mogwai. So they go from being something that's really cute and cuddly, almost like a puppy or a kitten, to something that's evil and scary and mischievous.

Ryan Willard  10:01

Awesome. And the original movies took place here in the United States and the series takes place. Is it in China?

Tze Chun  10:07

That's right. So in the original movies, there's a character called Mr. Wing. And Mr. Wing owns a, like an antique shop that has all these cool kinds of old things in them. And he is the protector of Gizmo. And we wanted to go back in time and have our show take place during the time when Mr. Wing, who we were calling Sam Wing. Sam Wing is 10 years old. He's growing up in 1920 Shanghai. So it's over a hundred years ago. Shanghai is this crazy city that's bustling. And he meets Gizmo who has been in our opening. He kind of separated from his home, whose homeland, the Valley of Jade. And it's up to Sam, who was a 10-year-old kid, Elle, who is a 12-year-old French street thief, and Gizmo to bring him back to the Valley of Jade. And... As they're doing that, they're also being pursued by some bad guys. And those bad guys, some are human, but some are also supernatural creatures. And some are evil mogwai that Gizmo has spawned in the pilot.

Ryan Willard  11:16

Love that. And do we call them gremlins in this series? The evil Mogwai? 

Tze Chun  11:22

We call them Ma Guai. I don't believe we call them gremlins. There might've been a little Easter egg where we nod toward it. And for any parents that are listening, like the... This is a show that we really wanted to create so that families could watch it together. You know, there's something in there for the parents, things in there for the kids, teenagers. A lot of the writers in the writers' room are parents. One of the most fun things about being in the room was, as we were brainstorming, saying like, oh, what would our kids like to see? And you know, is this going to be scary for them? Is this going to be funny? How do we make... The scare is scary but also makes it really funny at the same time. 

Ryan Willard  12:04

Awesome. Last question about the show. Are there any other Easter eggs that you think are super cool that parents might want to watch out for?

Tze Chun  12:13

So one of the things we talked about a lot in the writer's room because we're all huge Gremlins fans and we grew up watching those movies, was how do you create a bunch of Easter eggs throughout the series? So there are dozens of them throughout the first 10 episodes and we hope that people will pick up on them and discuss them, but they were really fun to hide in the show.

Ryan Willard  12:38

Awesome. Can I ask you what's your cultural heritage or background?

Tze Chun  12:44

So my mom is Singaporean but ethnically Chinese, and my dad is from Hong Kong. And really making this show was such a joy because a lot of the mythology, a lot of the spirits and creatures that populate 1920s China and are kind of after our heroes are monsters and creatures that I grew up hearing about. And in American media, there's not really a lot of depiction of them. And so what's really fun about the show is, even though I was really familiar with these spirits and creatures and Chinese mythology and Chinese horror, introducing that to American audiences that might not be familiar with it was really a joy and it's been a dream. 

Ryan Willard  13:29

Do you celebrate AAPI month and if so how?

Tze Chun  13:32

A couple of years ago, I did a thing, I think it was starting during AAPI month where on social media, and on Twitter, I boosted a different Asian American creator every day. And I thought I was going to do it for just a little bit of time, but I ended up doing it for an entire year because as I started looking at who was working and all these different industries, it was just really incredible and inspiring to see so many Asian American creators. And, you know, to me, Asian Heritage Month is like kind of year-round. And I'm really blessed with that. Not only just in terms of the friends that I have but also for the Gremlin's crew, there was a lot of Asian representation, and being able to work with other Asian artists was really great. 

Ryan Willard  14:29

Awesome. That is amazing. Now, is there anything else you'd like to say to our Ten'ers, our audience before you go?

Tze Chun 14:37

So Gremlins was a really formative movie for me and my other writers in the writer’s room. And we just love Gizmo and all those characters so much. And we hope that you guys will fall in love with Gizmo as well because he's adorable.

Ryan Willard  14:56

Gizmo's the best. Thanks, Tze! 

Pamela Kirkland  14:59

Mogwai they're just so cute. Just don't feed him after midnight.

Ryan Willard  15:03

You can catch Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai on HBOMax on May 23rd! Now it's time for a few more shout-outs from you amazing Ten’ers. And even one from one of our grown-up listeners! 

Ten'er  15:20

Breaking news. Missy is an awesome mom because she cheers me on at sports. I love you, mom.  Breaking news, my mommy is the best. Happy Mother's Day.  Breaking News, my mom Molly is the best because she takes care for two lovely children. Me and my brother, Henry. I love you mom. Breaking news. My mom Noel is an awesome artist. I love you, mom.

Grown-up  15:54

My mom's name is Sherry. And every single Sherry that I've ever met in my life has been a very fun person. But my mom Sherry is the funnest. And nobody calls her Sherry, everybody calls her Cookie. And there's one thing you need to know about Cookie is that she makes every situation more fun. Even like the really hard ones. She's a really fun person and a loving person. So Mom if you're listening, Happy Mother's Day.

Pamela Kirkland  16:25

These were so awesome - we hope all of you Moms out there feel the love from all of us at The Ten News.

Tessa Flannery  16:37

Welcome to the trivia room. Oh hello, Mr. Mogwai! You’re so cute! I was just about to do trivia, how about you on up on the Trivia Throne, for today’s Trivia Question? 

Sound Bit  16:55

What is going on here?

Tessa Flannery  17:05

The 2020 US Census found that 24 million Americans identified as Asian, and another 1.6 million identified as Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islanders. AAPI Heritage Month celebrates more than 50 ethnic groups - but do you know how many languages those groups speak? Is it:  10? 50? or 100? Ten’ers, did you guess it? Corinne, what’s your answer? Mr. Mogwai? What's your answer?  The answer is… C! AAPI communities speak over 100 different languages! The most commonly spoken in the US are Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Korean, Hindi, and Urdu. Thank you for joining us Mr. Mogwai! Now, on your way! Ten’ers, do you want to sit on the Trivia Throne and share your trivia knowledge? Visit thetennews.com/contact to get in touch, and we might have you on the show! 

Pete Musto  18:10

Hey, Ryan, wake up. What are you still doing here after midnight? Hmm. Good morning.

Ryan Willard  18:15

Pete, good morning... evening. Well, I eat too many snacks and fell asleep. What are you still doing here?

Pete Musto  18:22

Well, I lost track of time playing with this cute little mug why? I think he's hungry.

Ryan Willard  18:29

Probably no, wait.

Pete Musto  18:33

Sweet, fancy Moses.

Ryan Willard  18:37

I have an idea. Tze, it's Ryan. What should I do if I accidentally took a nap, fell asleep, and then woke up and a mogwai was eating at 12.07 a.m.? 

Tze Chun  18:51

You should call your loved ones and you should run away as fast as possible.

Ryan Willard  18:54

Oh boy.

Pete Musto  19:03

Ummmm, maybe you should give Ten News Snaps before things get out of hand.

Pamela Kirkland  19:13

Ten’er caarsson wrote this review of The Ten News: “Best podcast ever. Helps you learn stuff in a fun way”

Ryan Willard  19:21

Thanks, caarsson, and thanks for listening to The Ten News! Ten Things You Need to Know drops every Tuesday and our in-depth reports drop every Wednesday. But if you want some bonus content, you could join the Ten’ers Club on our website or on Apple Podcasts. 

Pamela Kirkland  19:35

The Ten News is a coproduction of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts.

Ryan Willard  19:40

The Ten News creative team is trying to get the Gremlin out of the studio and includes Tracey Crooks, Pete Musto, and Tessa Flannery. Special thanks to correspondent Corinne Catibayan. 

Pamela Kirkland  19:51

Our Production Director is Jeremiah Tittle, and our Executive Producers are Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan.  

Ryan Willard  19:58

I'm Ryan Willard.

Pamela Kirkland  19:59

And I'm Pamela Kirkland. Thanks for listening to The Ten News!