SEASON 1, EPISODE 9!
IN THIS FULL EPISODE FOR PAID SUBSCRIBERS: you will see Maria reflect on how it felt to be low-key famous as “That Target Lady” in the commercials, her take on “cancelled” comedians, including Louis CK and the one quality that really stood out about him, and her life after being in a psychiatric ward.
If you’re a FREE SUBSCRIBER, this is a shorter PREVIEW. You can also head to any podcast platform to listen to the FREE VERSION. But I will always save the FULL, extended cut only for Paid Subscribers here on Substack. Consider being a (PAID) subscriber! And join a like-minded community who cares about the world who also love to HEE HEE HA HA.
SUNDAY, JULY 13TH LOS ANGELES! Come see me, Margaret Cho and so many incredible Asian American comedians at THE BELLY LAUGHS food and comedy festival! JULY 12 and 13! FEST PASSES OUT NOW! https://www.lalive.com/belly-laughs-festival
SATURDAY, JULY 26TH NEW YORK! I shall be at Union Hall in Brooklyn to record a LIVE episode of What Should We Talk About? GET TICKETS AND BRING FRENZ
Today we have one of my inspirations: comedian, actor and best selling author Maria Bamford! By the way, Maria’s memoir, “Sure I’ll Join Your Cult: A memoir of mental illness and the quest to belong anywhere” is now available in paperback. Love a big back. Love a paperback. Also, another one of my comedy inspirations, Stephen Colbert has called her his “favorite comedian on earth,” while Judd Apatow said she is “the funniest woman in the world” and I, Jenny Yang - while NOT a white guy comedy kingmaker - calls Maria, “Pretty dang cool.”
Check out this 2014 New York Magazine The Cut profile on her because it encapsulates why I fell in love with her comedy: “Maria Bamford and the Hard Work of Acting Normal” By Lili Loofbourow. And you MUST see this 2022 late-night talk show standup comedy sets — this one is just under 5 minutes — on the old James Corden show:
It is Friday, June 20th, 2025 and this week, just like the crust of an exquisite croissant, I am…falling apart.
This is What Should We Talk About? With Jenny Yang, your weekly catchup time with smart and funny people to find joy in an unjust world. We discuss topics submitted by our guests and you, the listener. Any topic! Current, old! Big, small! Nerdy, petty! Submit a topic: Leave a voicemail or text 323-250-3589
Bringing Maria joy this week is the WE DO NOT CARE CLUB by the creator Melani Sanders, a viral voice on perimenopause.
Bringing me joy this week is seeing videos of people buying out fruit stands, flower stands, fruit sellers on the streets to send them home. Getting QR codes shared by community orgs who are doing this through their mutual aid and grassroots groups. Follow Ktownforall, CCED, ElSerenoNightMarket to donate and help.
ON THE AGENDA:
PODCAST UPDATE:
White women are sharing the clip, chiming in, PUT ME IN COACH! I’m ready for this! Just tell me what to do! I was built for this. So okay. I know we said that mostly as a joke but what does this mean SERIOUSLY.
GUT CHECK
Fear
Feeling left out of any group – while protesting - I wish I could make puppets
BUTT NUGGET OF THE WEEK: the domestic terrorist white supremacist who assassinated Minnesota Democrat Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark.'
Midwest culture
Maria Bamford as a Caren por La Causa - Letting Jenny open for her TWICE.
PAID SUBSCRIBERS GET THE REST OF THE AGENDA BELOW
Productivity when everything falls apart (content warning: mentions of suicide and mental health)
True of False: When you are more healed, your art is less good.
ACTION ITEMS (place for you to make note of some things you want to try or do from today’s chat)
Because you don’t want to feel like you are losing your mind and because we long for a better world filled with fun, love, joy, and cool shit. This is What Should We Talk About? With Jenny Yang.
PAID SUBSCRIBERS SEE THE CONTINUED AGENDA TOPICS, LINKS TO SOURCES + TIMESTAMPS BELOW THE PAYWALL! Everyone gets to join the SUBSCRIBER CHAT!
If you are as obsessed with the intersection of pop culture, politics, and personal growth as I am, please consider becoming a paid member of my Substack for $8 a month or $80 a year ($6.67 a month). You will get:
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Hit that subscribe button if:
you care about building a better world filled with joy, love, comedy and cool sh*t.
you are tired of doomscrolling on social media and want a way to get a run-down of the week in news and culture without triggering your fight or flight response!
you want to get what you need as someone who cares about the world and then go touch grass.
you are as obsessed with food, self-care, building community, TV, film, pop culture, AND politics as I am AND you think it should all be in the same conversation.
you are freaking out because you hear about the wild news of the day, look around and everyone is just living their life like business-as-usual, so you’re tearing your hair out and think, “WHY ARE WE NOT TALKING ABOUT THIS?”
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Jenny Yang is a standup comedian, actor, and tv writer who was named one of Variety's Top Ten Comics to Watch and has been featured at Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal, the San Francisco Sketch Festival, and Netflix is a Joke Festival.
Jenny is a former labor organizer who was born in Taiwan and raised in Los Angeles, and stars opposite Michelle Yeoh as an assassin in the Netflix action comedy-drama series, The Brothers Sun.
Follow her weekly podcast “What Should We Talk About?” on Substack: jennyyang.substack.com
ONGOING LIST OF RANDOM RESOURCES TO SURVIVE THESE TIMES:
Let me know if there’s another resource you’d like to add to this list!
I use DELETEME to scrub my personal info off the internet. Use my referral link before and I get twenty bucks off my monthly bill!
Download the 5Calls app or use their website! It’s a great and easy way to call your representatives on issues you care about. The scripts are already written and you can call your reps with a push of a button. No rerouting - no looking up phone numbers.
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