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Kickass News

George Takei Brings WWII Injustice to the Screen

Kickass News

Kickass News

Society & Culture, News

4.31.3K Ratings

🗓️ 12 August 2019

⏱️ 37 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Long before Star Trek, a very young George Takei was one of 145,000 Japanese Americans held in internment camps during World War II, and now he returns to this formative experience in his life as a historical consultant and star in the second season of AMC's horror anthology series The Terror: Infamy. He talks about the painful experience of having his whole family uprooted by their own government, the eerie sense of déjà vu that he got when he first arrived on the set of The Terror: Infamy, and how he served as a link to the past for the other actors on the show. He recalls being forced to live in a horse stall at a California race track for two months and then getting shipped across the country to an internment camp in the swamps of Arkansas, but that it all just seemed like a great adventure to an innocent boy who was oblivious discrimination and injustice. George explains why he takes issue with the term "Japanese internment camps," why his parents were nearly deported over a citizenship questionnaire, and why he fears that history might be repeating itself under President Donald Trump. Plus he reveals how an early experience in the camps partly inspired him to go into acting, and we talk a little Star Trek. The Terror: Infamy premieres on Monday, August 12 at 9/8 Central on AMC. Order George Takei’s new graphic novel They Called Us Enemy on Amazon or wherever books are sold and follow him on Twitter at @GeorgeTakei. This episode is sponsored by Bank of America’s The Academy for Consumer and Small Business, Kronos HR Solutions, and BetterHelp. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

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Listen to what's new with wired wherever you get your podcasts.

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This is Kickass News, I'm Ben Mathis.

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Feeling stuck in your job?

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Bank of America's The Academy for Consumer and Small Business

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Take your first step towards a long-term career path at careers.bankofamerica.com

1:01.1

and now on with the show.

1:05.7

Hi, I'm Ben Mathis. Welcome to Kickass News.

1:09.9

Season 2 of AMC's hit series The Terror returns tonight August 12th at 10-9 Central.

1:16.7

Set during World War II, the haunting and suspenseful second season of AMC's horror-infused

1:22.3

anthology series centers on a series of bizarre deaths that haunt a Japanese-American community.

1:28.7

But it also confronts the real shadows in our history as it shines a light on the often overlooked story

1:34.7

of Japanese-American internment and asks what it truly means to be an American.

1:40.3

From 1942 to 1945, more than 145,000 Japanese-Americans and Japanese Canadians were forced

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