Host 1 (0:00)

This is an Iheart podcast.

Host 2 (0:04)

This episode is brought to you by WhatsApp. Your personal messaging is also your personal space. Completely private. That's why it's nice to know that on WhatsApp, no one can see or hear your personal messages. So the calls with your mom, chats about the latest work drama, late night voice messages, and all those photos and videos of your dog. Every personal message stays private because no one, not even WhatsApp, can see or hear your personal messages. WhatsApp message privately with everyone.

Host 1 (0:36)

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Host 2 (1:36)

You're listening to Comedy Central.

Comedian/Teacher (1:43)

That's right, people. We've got our own month. And in honor of AAPI Month, I'm gonna teach you about the most underrepresented demographic of all time Asian Americans in sports. And I don't just mean the heavy hitters like Jeremy Lin, Michelle Kwan, Tiger Woods. Yeah, we're claiming him. You got a problem with that, take it up with the U.N. instead, I want to focus on the underdogs who blaze the trail for all the other Asian American athletes to come. People like Wally Yonamine, the Japanese American who played not one, but two professional sports. And unlike Michael Jordan, he didn't suck at one of them. Also, he never became a crying meme. Why are you sad? You're Michael Jordan. First in 1947, Yonamine became a running back for the San Francisco 49ers. But in the wake of World War II, he faced a ton of discrimination. Even while he was playing, when he would get tackled, the opposing team would punch and kick him. Do you realize how insane that is? I mean, it's football. Everyone's going home with brain damage already. You don't need to force it. After a wrist injury in 1951, Yonamine decided to switch to baseball. He moved to Japan to play for the Yomiuri Giants, where He was an 11 time All Star and became the first American player ever to be inducted into the Japanese Baseball hall of Fame. Crazy thing is, Yonamine faced racism in Japan too. But this time because he was American. At games, the fans would chant yankee go home. Which is normally something you expect to hear only at Red Sox games. Or honestly, any place in Boston that serves alcohol. But enough about baseball. Let's talk about something people actually watch. The Olympics. In 1948, Victoria Manalo Draves became the first AAPI Olympic champion. But being Filipino, she also faced a lot of discrimination. In fact, when she was younger and she used a public pool, the town assholes would drain the water after she swam in it. Which isn't just racist, it's idiotic. You're gonna double your water bill just because you're afraid of catching. Being Asian, you can't even get that from a pool. You have to share the same straw, dumbasses. But against the odds, Manalo won her gold medal in the women's 3 meter springboard. And she was cheered on by diver Sammy Lee, the first Asian American man to win an Olympic gold medal. That's right, the first two AAPI gold medals at the same games. It was like Asian Christmas, which is just Christmas. But not every Asian who broke the color barrier had a happy ending. In 1948, Larry Kwong became the first non white player in the NHL when he joined the New York Rangers. But they only put him on ice for a minute and he never played in another game again. Which sucks. But breaking the color barrier is like losing your virginity. Even if you only did it for a second, it still counts. Another great first happened in 1927 when Walter R. Chu became the first person of East Asian descent to play in the NFL. And because his last name was Archew, he earned the nickname Sneeze. Sadly, this was before athlete sponsorships were a thing, so he couldn't even get that sweet, sweet Kleenex money. Eventually, he retired from the NFL to compete in a safer sport. Wrestling. Proving that Asians can roll around without balls in someone's face just like everyone else. But let's Move on to my personal favorite sport, basketball. The first non white player of any race in NBA history was Japanese American Wataru Misak. In 1947, he was the first draft pick of the New York Knicks, and they even promoted his skills to sell tickets. But shocker, he faced a lot of anti Japanese sentiment and only ended up playing three games. It was so bad, he decided to go back to school to get his engineering degree, which I respect. He was basically like, oh, you don't like me being Asian? Well, I'm gonna be extra Asian now, bitches. But sports isn't just about the athletes. There's so many other people who've made history without destroying their joints. People like Kim Ng, who became the general manager of the Miami Marlins, making her the first female GM in any major American men's league. She worked her way up the ladder facing racism and sexism. It's the surf and turf of discrimination. So now you know. There's been so many unsung Asian sports heroes in history, don't bother thanking me. My meager teacher salary is thanks enough. And yes, this is all gonna be on the final. All right, all right, settle down everyone, because today we're learning about something that's blowing up all over the world. No, not climate change, okay? I don't teach boring stuff in this classroom. I'm talking about K Pop. It's why your cousin suddenly speaks Korean more fluently than English. And believe it or not, K Pop used to be something that only Koreans knew about. The rest of the world wasn't always into it. Like how there was a time when white people didn't know about yoga. The first group to really break through internationally was the Kim sisters. Seokja, Eja and Minja started singing as children during the Korean war for American GIs. They sang, they danced, and they played 20 instruments. I can't even name 20 instruments. Saxophone. In 1959, they got a contract to perform in Vegas. Ed Sullivan was taping a show there and they managed to book a performance on the show. There was such a hit, they got asked back 20 more times. Do you know how great you have to be to get asked back to anything 20 times? I don't even get invited to join LinkedIn that much. Unfortunately, the growth of K Pop hit a bump in the road soon after when South Korea fell under the dictatorship of President Park Chung Hee, who started banning music. They even created blacklists of songs that radio stations couldn't play. Everyone's end of year Spotify summary just said your most played song was the national anthem. But Korean artists kept making music that challenged the status quo. Like folk singer Han Dae Soo, whose albums were banned for anti government messaging. Or rock guitarist Sin Cheong Hyun, who, the story goes, defied the dictator's request to write a song in his honor. And let's face it, wanting a song to be written about you is classic dictator behavior. Right after military parades and having a weird haircut, everyone tells you looks great. By the 80s, the dictatorship had loosened. And by loosened, I mean the dictator was assassinated. But whatever, it made listening to radio fun again. Outside music was allowed back in the country, and two of the most influential genres became hip hop and R and B. Black artists from Michael Jackson to Run DMC reshaped the musical landscape of South Korea. It inspired performers like Deuce, DJ Doc, and Sir Taeji and Boyz, who are the earliest examples of K pop as we know it today. They even made it into the movie soundtrack for Three Ninjas Kick Back. You didn't think we'd be watching a movie in class today, did you? Yeah, well, I didn't think I'd still have a hangover. But sometimes life surprises you. This was a big moment for Korean pop music, even if the song was being played over a scene set in Japan. But give them a break, okay? They're the three ninjas, not the three cultural sensitivity experts. The next big step towards today's K pop was in the 1990s, when major music studios started putting performers together in boy and girl bands. That's right. Korea was doing that long before Simon Carwell's nips ever started poking through his T shirts. That's a no from me, dawg. It's no surprise this new wave of K pop blew up around the world. It featured complex melodies unlike any other pop music and always had next level dance choreography. To this day, those remain the signature elements of K pop. That and being Asian very important requirement. This new generation of K pop stars became so successful, the government started to take notice and soon launched a program to promote Korean music around the globe. They saw K pop as a way to boost Korea's cultural strength and economy without having to do a squid game. But one of the biggest K pop sensations was a surprise no government could predict. I'm sorry. I know it took you 10 years to get this out of your head, but we gotta talk about it. Gangnam style was the first video to break apart billion views on YouTube. It was so popular, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon praised the song, saying the arts was the path to cultural understanding. He said that about condemn style. That's like if they played Baby Shark during a war and all the soldiers started laying down their weapons and hugging each other. Since then, the rest of the world is more into K Pop than ever before. From girl groups like Girls Generation and blackpink to artists like Clint. But let's get to the group you've been waiting for. The reason you all enrolled in this class in the first place. BT Motherf. S Three letters. So important. The rest of the Alphabet doesn't even exist anymore. They've dominated the charts. They've generated billions in revenue. They made it okay to eat butter again. They even increased tourism to South Korea. I mean, I'm glad my fans aren't that devoted, because then they'd have to travel to Australia, which, trust me, you don't want to do that. BTS is, without a doubt the biggest group in the world. You can tell by their fans. The BTS army is the second largest military after the US and they've droned zero weddings. BTS might be on hiatus, but there's so much new K pop we can enjoy while they're gone. And now you know how it got to where it is today. Oppaganm style. Ah, F. Now it's in my head again. Get it out. Get it.