Odd One In is a podcast that shares stories of misfits making their own way. The show is hosted and produced by 2021 AIR New Voices Scholar Kristin Leong. This podcast is a production of ROCK PAPER RADIO and is supported by 4Culture and The Slants Foundation. Listen and subscribe here.
In 2017, as the U.S. Supreme Court fought over whether or not Simon Tam’s band name, The Slants, was racist against Asians, Simon and his bandmates had to sit in the back pews. They were not allowed a front row seat at their own day in court.
In fact, neither Simon nor his bandmates were allowed to speak at the historic Matal v. Tam hearing at all—despite that they were the only Asian people in the courtroom that day for a precedence-setting ruling that essentially boiled down to who can decide what’s anti-Asian.
Spoiler: Simon won that years-long legal battle, and he was able to patent the name of his all-Asian rock bank. His victory changed America’s understanding of what freedom of speech can mean, while showing the world that a group of good-troublemaking Asian American punks can shape history.
In Odd One In’s third episode, Simon takes us through his bullied childhood in California, into the courtroom at the Supreme Court on that historic day, and then into his present day work on rock operas and uncrushable hope.
In the second half of this episode, we are joined by the brilliant Joe Kye, Portland’s genre-defying violinist-looper and Tiger Tiger founder to explore what happens when loneliness meets leadership.
Odd One In is a production of ROCK PAPER RADIO. This episode was written, produced, and hosted by Kristin Leong. The music featured in this episode is by The Slants and Joe Kye. This episode of Odd One In was made possible through generous support from The Slants Foundation and 4Culture.
Ep. #3: From Anime Conventions to the Supreme Court