This Filipino American Life

Episode 245 – Filipino American Anthems

What is the Filipino American anthem? Is it Bebot by the Black Eyed Peas? P.T.I. by Carl Angelo? Lemonade by Jeremy Passion? Us by Ruby Ibarra? Do You Miss Me? by Jocelyn Enriquez? Todo Todo by Daniela Romo (you know who chose that one!)?? In this TFAL episode, we look at so-called Filipino American anthems over the years and discuss how much of an anthem they really were to our community. One criterion though: if Producer Mike hasn’t heard of it, it doesn’t count! FYI, we recorded the episode before the launch of Carl Angelo’s #PTIchallenge so we missed the larger impact of that anthem. Pasensya na! Listen or download the episode through the embedded player on ThisFilipinoAmericanLife.com, or subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever your favorite podcasts are found. Did we leave a song out? Is there an anthem yet to be composed? Let us know! Leave us a voicemail at (805) 394-TFAL or email us at thisfilipinoamericanlife@gmail.com. This is episode was Joe’s bright idea, so any hate mail can be addressed to him directly. =)

Episode 244 – F*ck Cancer with Arthur Yu

https://thisfilipinoamericanlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/tfal-episode244.mp3 In this episode the TFAL crew has a conversation with Arthur Yu. Arthur Yu was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in 2023. Arthur did all the things you needed to do like rounds of chemo and looking for bone marrow matches. Arthur explored the National Marrow Donor Program (formerly Be The Match) for possible matches.  https://www.nmdp.org/ A match through NMDP wasn’t found, but a match through a distant relative in the Philippines was found. Instead of being joyful that a match had been found, a new battle came to a head when the relative in the Philippines was denied a visa to come to the States. This started the campaign for Arthur’s cousin to get their visa approved and how it came to the attention of TFAL.  Listen or download the episode through the embedded player on ThisFilipinoAmericanLife.com, or subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever your favorite podcasts are found. Want to share your experience with cancer? Are you registered with the National Marrow Donor Program? Leave us a voicemail at (805) 394-TFAL or email us at thisfilipinoamericanlife@gmail.com.

Episode 243 – The Politics of Language with Jennifer Delfino

“You’re not Filipino if you don’t speak Tagalog.” “You sound white.” “The national language of the Philippines is Filipino, not Tagalog.” “Filipino is already gender neutral.” Much of our online discourse in the Filipino community is about or related to language. The debates are out there. We here at TFAL want to tackle some of these linguistic arguments head on. On this TFAL episode, we talk about the politics of language in the Filipino/Filipino American community with linguistic anthropologist, Jennifer Delfino, Associate Professor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Listen as we talk about the politics of “sounding white,” the struggles of Filipino Americans to learn their heritage language, the fallacy and limitations of a Philippine national language, and of course, the ongoing debate of FilipinX. Let the debate rage on! Also, for fun, listen to Joe and Mike’s new made-up national identifiers towards the end of the episode. Listen or download the episode through the embedded player on ThisFilipinoAmericanLife.com, or subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever your favorite podcasts are found. What did you think of the episode? What other language questions do you have? Leave us a voicemail at (805) 394-TFAL or email us at thisfilipinoamericanlife@gmail.com.

Episode 242 – Walk This Way : A Camino Conversation with Kristine Jan Espinoza

Have you ever thought about doing a pilgrimage? Would you want to contemplate your life choices on a hiking journey through the mountainous regions of Europe? Do you just want to hear about someone else doing that and not deal with the physical and spiritual Olympics of it all? Then this episode is for you! The TFAL crew has an enlightening conversation with Kristine Jan Espinoza about their experience walking the Camino de Santiago. Listen or download the episode through the embedded player on ThisFilipinoAmericanLife.com, or subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever your favorite podcasts are found. Have you done a Camino? Would you ever? Leave us a voicemail at (805) 394-TFAL or email us at thisfilipinoamericanlife@gmail.com. This episode is brought to you by In Loving Memory | Undas | All Souls Edition. Join Oblivious Nerd Girl Services at Kubo Long Beach this Sunday, November 2nd at 3pm. Commemorate your loved ones and all the things you’ve lost since 2020. RSVP today: In Loving Memory | Undas | All Souls Edition. #tfalpodcast #tfal #filipino #filipinoamerican

Episode 241 – Labor of Love – Filipino and Mexican Solidarity with Faith Santilla and Martha Gonzalez

In this episode we have tfal fan favorite Faith Santilla aka  “Tita Faith” in her fourth appearance on the pod! Joining Faith is the amazing and inspiring Martha Gonzalez of Quetzal. On this episode Elaine, Kat, and Producer Mike talk story about the exciting and upcoming show at The Ford Los Angeles, Labor of Love. Join us in Commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the Delano Grape Strike in this evening concert, which features the legendary Joe Bataan, the “King of Latin Soul,” alongside the Grammy-winning ensemble Quetzal, whose music uplifts stories of community and resilience. Hosted by poet and activist Faith Santilla, the event honors the historic solidarity between Filipino and Mexican farmworkers during the 1960s movement. Get tickets here: bit.ly/laborofloveford This episode is brought to you by  Oblivious Nerd Girl Services | RSVP today: In Loving Memory | UNDAS | All  Souls Day edition