Wrote about normcore Taco Bell open.substack.com/pub/frankbea...

Koreatown blends nightlife, affordability, immigrant cultures It’s not just the densest neighborhood west of Manhattan and a home for the Korean American diaspora, but the city’s cultural center.

For LA Local, I wrote about why Koreatown is LA’s true downtown and how it got that way thelalocal.org/neighborhood...

Koreatown blends nightlife, affordability, immigrant cultures It’s not just the densest neighborhood west of Manhattan and a home for the Korean American diaspora, but the city’s cultural center.

For LA Local, I wrote about why Koreatown is LA's true downtown and how it got that way thelalocal.org/neighborhood...

I don't post here a lot - not for any reason besides not having it figured it out - so I'm curious: does this platform's friendliness to links make people more likely to share and discuss stuff they've been reading?

China Is Winning by Waiting How Beijing turns predictability into power.

Interesting piece by Kyle Chan in Foreign Affairs arguing that China will benefit from Trump's destruction of the current order by being predictable and passive. www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

Borrowed time at Hokkaido's Station Inn Hirafu A stay at Station Inn Hirafu, a place sustained by a fragile equilibrium between human, nature and railroad - and repeated shinkansen delays.

link: substack.com/home/post/p-...

wrote about my stay at Hokkaido’s Station Inn Hirafu on Lunch Box, the only Japan rail stop with a hostel inside, why hunters must manage the ecosystem after the extinction of the wolf, and the eerie beauty of a managed landscape cleansed of fear.

Wrote about how we should both wake up and also try not to tear each other apart open.substack.com/pub/frankbea...

It’s hard to watch the videos. But you have to see for yourself what the administration is lying about, how casually ICE kills and how blatantly they lie. can’t tap out of this one.

I am trying not to post on these events in this state of mind but: I hope people understand what the observers are doing is brave and dangerous.

An agent pointing a weapon to camera. A person is visible between his legs, face down on the ground, being handcuffed. The air is hazy and other agents are in tactical gear nearby. Photo by David Guttenfelder/The New York Times.

Federal agents shot and killed a 37-year-old Minneapolis resident on Saturday, the city’s police chief said. The shooting prompted clashes between law enforcement and protesters, as Minnesota officials renewed demands that the Trump administration end its immigration crackdown. trib.al/u8ESi4Q

a story I wrote in 2017 has been adapted into a whole movie starring Lucy Liu that emphasizes AAPI mental health and it's being shown around the country this next week! Please go check it out.

I am impeaching Secretary Kristi Noem, who is an incompetent leader and a disgrace to our democracy.

She wreaked havoc in the Chicagoland area and has brought her reign of terror to Minneapolis. One of her rogue ICE agents shot and killed an innocent woman today. It must come to an end.

A 23 year old larping as a journalist made a misleading and inaccurate YouTube video that the administration full of chronically online shitposters used to justify the “largest immigration operation ever” and now someone is dead

Why a bag of frozen peas and canned green beans over fresh? Why is everything supported by such a tiny foundation of 1 dozen oats? And who made Chicken and broccoli the rulers of this newly precarious food world

This was released by the RFK USDA today, & I have so many questions. How does one interact with an inverted pyramid? At least w/ the old you knew to start at the bottom. I read the guidelines and still don't know how to interact w this triangle. Why an entire stick of butter?

‘Rosemead’ holds up a mirror to our battle against shame As a journalist covering Asian American communities, Frank Shyong saw the potency and danger of shame. An article he wrote inspired the film "Rosemead."

I have an op-ed today in the Seattle Times about "Rosemead" and the operation of shame in AAPi communities, how it's is not just our statistics but our history. www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

I made an ekiben zine with tracker, lore, maps and coloring book (and I write/draw/video about them a lot on my newsletter Lunch Box). Details here! open.substack.com/pub/frankbea...

Looking for traditional Japanese breakfast in Los Angeles?

The beloved Suehiro DTLA recently started offering *seven* different breakfast sets, including salted salmon, dashimaki tamago, and Japanese-style sausages with eggs.

🎥:
@marinamasako.bsky.social

king's fried chicken (church), los angeles, california, 1991

king's fried chicken (church), los angeles, california, 1991

I wrote about the point of making stuff yourself, what you gain from the creative process besides the inputs, and how LLM's sneakily encourage us to skip it. Learning skills is easier than ever. Why do we have an ocean of slop instead of a creative renaissance frankbear.substack.com/p/lbl-6-what...

Watching Stranger Things made me real sad! many lines felt like AI writing, words not said aloud just a-clanking around in mouths. Case study for how popular new IP attracts so much cash-grabbing that it ends up a shambling zombie of itself, denied even a merciful death by endless Netflix financing

AROUND JAPAN in 180 EKIBEN trailer: "Windows" Trailer for a documentary called Around Japan in 180 Ekiben. It's a travelogue unpacking the mythologies of the Japanese train station boxed lunch, taking place over the month I spent traveling…

Been chipping away at this and finally ready to show something. Here’s a trailer for my documentary project, Around Japan in 180 Ekiben youtu.be/-eLriTd4ydQ?...

I made an ekiben documentary and here's the trailer Plus an ekiben zine for subscribers

Link: open.substack.com/pub/frankbea...

Merry Christmas happy holidays y’all. I finished a zine and released a trailer for a documentary today. Details on Lunch Box:

No traffic in LA = epic holiday pantry run. Here’s mine, and how to build your own. This is not an advertisement for Honey Baked Ham. I just have nothing negative to say about Honey Baked Ham. frankbear.substack.com/p/how-to-hav...

New Lunch Box Atlas! The LA holiday move is to go on an epic pantry run that takes advantage of the reduced traffic. Sharing my December food crawl for paid subscribers open.substack.com/pub/frankbea...

New on Lunch Box: I wrote about the experience of reporting the true story behind the film "Rosemead," and how cases like these are not as rare as you might expect. frankbear.substack.com/p/i-wrote-th...

I kind of doubt there's real learning occurring. It feels like we are just engaged in a process of constant amnesia, wiping the slate clean so that it can be farmed anew for engagement

Hmart gate on TikTok such an interesting mess. People w large followings don’t usually have the skills to moderate and referee these discussions. It seems like every time a new platform and set of influencers come online, we abandon the previous discourse and have to recreate it