Journalist Investigates her Hidden Family History, from Chinatown Gangs to the Hollywood Screen

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KQED

News Commentary, News, Politics

4.2 • 727 Ratings

🗓️ 2 February 2024

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On a visit to her grandmother’s house, journalist Maya Lin Sugarman unexpectedly discovered a trove of screenplays written by her uncle Galen. She was shocked to learn that one of the screenplays was turned into a gangster movie starring Rob Lowe, and even more shocked to learn that it was based on Galen’s real life experiences as a young gang member in Oakland’s Chinatown. Maya’s podcast “Magnificent Jerk” explores the shadows of family history, spotlights a slice of the Bay Area’s past that few seem to want to discuss, and searches for understanding in the gaps between fact and fiction. We talk with Maya about her uncle’s wild screenplay and what she learned trying to excavate buried secrets. Guests: Maya Lin Sugarman, journalist, host and executive producer of the podcast “Magnificent Jerk” William Gee Wong, journalist; author of “Sons of Chinatown: A memoir rooted in China and America” Brian Wong, Oakland Chinatown resident; friend of Galen Yuen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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1:00.0	From KQED.
1:01.0	From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Alexis Madrigal.
1:15.0	On a visit to her grandmother's house, journalist Maya Lynn Sugarman discovered a trove of screenplays
1:20.8	written by her uncle Galen.
1:22.5	She'd known him a bit as a young woman when he was living in a small apartment in Los Angeles,
1:27.3	so she was shocked to learn that one of the screenplays was living in a small apartment in Los Angeles.
1:27.5	So she was shocked to learn that one of the screenplays was turned into a gangster movie
1:31.3	starring Rob Lowe and even more shocked to learn that it was based on her uncle's real
1:36.1	life experiences as a young gang member in Oakland's Chinatown.
1:40.1	Maya's podcast, Magnificent Jerk explores the shadows of family history, spotlights a slice
1:45.5	of the Bay Area's past that few discuss, and searches for meaning in the gaps between
	...

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