Interviewing Alpha Asians

By J -


Q: "Great book James! I found your blog earlier this year :) and I shared it with my friend at city college.  I let him know I picked up your Strength and Physique book online.  

"Just curious: How'd you get in contact with all the Asian role models you blog about?"

-Kevin


My Answer: How'd I get in contact with all the Asian role models I blog about?  Same way you're contacting me: email.  I just identified some interesting people I wanted to interview and sent them emails.

Sometimes people email me for an interview.  I get a lot of artist, film makers, writers, activists and content creators wanting to showcase or promote their movie, video, blog, YouTube channel, book, charity, etc.  They usually say something to the effect of:


"Dear Alpha Asian,

 You're Asian. I'm Asian.  Don't you hate the lack of Asian representation in the media? I just made a [movie/video/book] about Blah-blah-blah, yakity-smashkity with Asians.  

 I'm free for interviews.  Please write a blog post about my [movie/video/book].  Thanks! "



Sometimes I promote this stuff, sometimes I don't.  Most people want me to promote their content but don't give me any promotion on their part.  The worst are what BigWoWo calls the Robin Hood in Reverse:

"An Asian American will approach an activist and ask him/her to 'support my movie!' either through Kickstarter or some other fundraising tool. They’ll appeal to the activist through kinship, saying that we ought to support our own, that the Asian American community needs to support its artists. They’ll talk about how racist Hollywood is.  

"Then when we give them money, they take that money and make yet another Asian Female-White Male movie. Of course, we need another AF/WM movie like we need a hole in the head."


Anyway, on this blog I promote or showcase that which interests me or speaks to me as an Asian American male.  So I'll reach out to some Alpha Asians, or they'll contact me.  I haven't done podcast interviews in awhile, as they're very time consuming and labor intensive.  It would be easier if I had a co-host.  Besides, recently there's been an explosion of Asian American podcasts you can check out.






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Interview with Rick Lee

By J -
Image
Q: I'm an avid follower of your site and had a question, since I believe you are the most recent one to have done an interview /been in contact with Rick Lee. I was wondering: is he still actively keeping up with his website?  Also I was wondering if you ever heard of the podcast DVDASA hosted by David Choe ? I'm sure you know of him or can easily find out who he is, but I wanted to know how I can contact him. I think he'd make a great guest on the show especially, because of his Asian-Man website. I believe he was the first Asian male porn star. David Choe talks about it sometimes, but he mentions Keni Styles as the first, but Rick is.  I'd love for him to be able to get on the show, set the record straight and help continue changing perceptions of Asian males.  Sorry if this is sort of random. Anyways hope to hear from you soon Thanks! -J My Answer: Are you trying to contact David Choe or are you trying to contact Rick Lee or both?  I'm s
Read more

Muscle Building Diet for the Asian Male

By J -
Image
As a strength trainer with an Asian American background, I often get questions and comments from Asian dudes all over the world. A common theme that pops up among Asian lifters is the belief that their Asian genes are limiting their progress in their quest for a muscular physique. I always tell them this: don't let race or ethnicity be a limiting factor in your training goals or any goal. It does not matter if you are Asian or a skinny bastard or a woman. If your goal is to be bigger, faster, stronger, then you still travel the same road that everyone else travels to size and strength. I mean look at Tommy Kono . Here was a Japanese American who grew up in an internment camp, and he became arguably the greatest Olympic weightlifter the US offered to the world.  He was also a successful bodybuilder, winning the Mr. Universe title in 1955 and 1957.  He built a phenomenal physique in an era before steroids. He didn't let race or ethnicity be a limiting factor in his mind or on
Read more

Strength Training for the Asian Lifter, Part II

By J -
Image
Since I keep getting inquiries on my previous article Strength and Bodybuilding for the Asian Lifter , I thought I'd write up a follow-up: I’m a bit of a bodybuilding purist. I normally don’t write my exercise articles from the angle of “develop the muscles that drive her wild in bed!” Men’s Fitness, however, interviewed me one time for an article titled Sculpting Her Five Favorite Body Parts. The interviewer picked my brain on how to develop muscles so that a woman, as she put it, “couldn't keep her hands off you.” When it comes down to it, Asian men want the same thing everybody else wants when they exercise: to look good naked! Women don’t give a crap how much you bench, but they will notice the tone in your arms when you’re wearing a T-shirt. A lot of Asian guys feel that their Asian genes are somehow holding them back when it comes to gaining muscle. But guess what? Whether or not it is true that Asian men have a harder time gaining muscle, most women don’t
Read more