The irony of silence

Artist, activist, and troublemaker Simon Tam stands for a portrait in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. Photo by Joe Jiang, courtesy of Simon.

In 2017, Simon Tam won his years-long battle to own the right to call his Asian American dance-rock band The Slants.

Simon’s Matal v. Tam victory only emboldened the path he was already on to reclaim the power that racist bullies had tried to take from him in his youth, while amplifying and organizing the voices of Asian American artists and activists.

In this Odd One In teaser, Simon takes us into the courtroom at the Supreme Court on the historic day of his hearing where the Justices debated if Simon’s band name was offensive to Asians. Meanwhile, the only Asian Americans in the courtroom that day—including Simon Tam whose name was on the docket—weren’t allowed to say a word.

Odd One In’s episode sharing Simon’s journey from bullied punk tween, to national crusader for justice and Asian American voices is coming soon. Subscribe to our ROCK PAPER RADIO newsletter to join our curious crew and to be the first to know when new episodes drop.

The song you heard in this podcast teaser is Made It by Yung Kartz.

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. Listen, subscribe, and learn more at RockPaperRadio.com.

You can find ROCK PAPER RADIO on Instagram and Twitter @RockPaperRadio. You can find Kristin on Instagram @leongstagram and on Twitter @kristinleong. You can find our ODD ONE IN podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your audio storytelling.