VIRAL LOVE:
Stories of Chinatown Resilience
VIRAL LOVE is a podcast about the resiliencies of Chinatowns across the United States—particularly amidst the racial violence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
​
While phrases like “racism is a virus” or “hate is a virus” have gained popularity over the course of the pandemic, VIRAL LOVE hopes to make room for joy by highlighting stories of community, resilience, and peace building instead. Join Xin Sheng Project co-founder Sabrina Lin as she explores Chinatown as more than just a place with cheap food and hardworking immigrants trying to chase the “American dream,” but a place with stories and dramas of its own, and a place that we might look to as a microcosm of class and race tensions in America as we move towards becoming a majority-minority country.
Available wherever you get your podcasts:
Amidst the recent resurgence in anti-Asian violence during the COVID-19 pandemic, what does the future hold for Chinatown communities across the country? While phrases like “racism is a virus” or “hate is a virus” have gained popularity over the course of the pandemic, VIRAL LOVE hopes to make room for joy by highlighting stories of community, resilience, and peace building in Oakland, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York City.
​
Written, recorded, and produced by Sabrina Lin. Edited by Brendon Lin and Sabrina Lin. Theme music composed and performed by Mark Fish.
​
VIRAL LOVE is made possible by funding from Projects for Peace.
02
Oakland, CA
Oakland’s Chinatown might not be as well known as its San Francisco counterpart, but over the course of the pandemic, it became infamous for the viral clips of violence that originated on its streets. What’s really going on, and how is Chinatown grappling with this intense media scrutiny Join Sabrina as she speaks with Oakland-based organization Cut Fruit Collective to learn more about Oakland’s Chinatown as a living, breathing community—and the untold political history of the fortune cookie.
​
Written, recorded, and produced by Sabrina Lin. Edited by Brendon Lin and Sabrina Lin. Theme music composed and performed by Mark Fish. Additional music sourced from Blue Dot Sessions and Oakland Jazz Collective.
​
VIRAL LOVE is made possible by funding from Projects for Peace.
Or, search up "VIRAL LOVE Chinatown" wherever you get your podcasts!
Or, search up "VIRAL LOVE Chinatown" wherever you get your podcasts!
03
Los Angeles, CA
What do we really mean when we say “anti-Asian violence”?
​
Sabrina heads to Los Angeles to speak with the team behind Chinatown Community for Equitable Development and some iconic LA Chinatown elders to learn more about why fighting for housing and economic justice is key to addressing anti-Asian violence. Also, bad karaoke.
​
Written, recorded, and produced by Sabrina Lin. Edited by Brendon Lin and Sabrina Lin. Theme music composed and performed by Mark Fish. Additional audio sourced from Blue Dot Sessions and Community Spaces.
​
VIRAL LOVE is made possible by funding from Projects for Peace.
​
Other sources:
https://la.eater.com/2021/6/30/22554846/cced-la-chinatown-social-media-activism
https://laist.com/news/entertainment/destruction-las-original-chinatown-led-to-one-we-have-today
04
Houston, TX
Most people don’t imagine Houston’s urban sprawl when they think of Chinatown. But Houston is the most diverse city in the U.S. for a reason—and its Chinatown/Asiatown community is no exception.
​
Sabrina is joined by Xin Sheng Project co-founder and Houston native Sunnie Liu as they explore the birthplace of Viet-Cajun crawfish, a Latin American grocery chain stocked with lychees and oyster sauce, and why the call to “support Asian businesses” is more complicated than it seems.
​
Written, recorded, and produced by Sabrina Lin. Edited by Brendon Lin and Sabrina Lin. Theme music composed and performed by Mark Fish. Additional audio sourced from Blue Dot Sessions and Tremolo Productions.
​
VIRAL LOVE is made possible by funding from Projects for Peace.
Or, search up "VIRAL LOVE Chinatown" wherever you get your podcasts!
Or, search up "VIRAL LOVE Chinatown" wherever you get your podcasts!
05
New York City, NY
*Currently only available through YouTube. Apologies for the inconvenience!
​
Manhattan Chinatown is a complex cross-section of immigrant business owners, dim sum restaurant workers, grandpas playing cards in Columbus Park—and, most recently, a new wave of second-gen Asian Americans trying to preserve their childhood memories as they watch the pandemic erode Chinatown.
​
There’s a lot of love for Chinatown, but also a lot of different ideas about what Chinatown needs most during the pandemic. What happens when people don't agree on what the future of their community should look like—and who exactly is Chinatown for?
​
Written, recorded, and produced by Sabrina Lin. Edited by Brendon Lin and Sabrina Lin. Theme music composed and performed by Mark Fish. Additional audio sourced from Blue Dot Sessions and Universal Music Group.
VIRAL LOVE is made possible by funding from Projects for Peace.
​