The Paper Plane Podcast

The Paper Plane is a podcast created and hosted by Colin Ehara, where he interviews people he is blessed and honored to share community with, and asks them about a book(s) that have had a transformational impact on their lives. In a society where literacy rates are steadily declining and a growing number of podcasts hosted by men, un/consciously champion expressions of masculinity that come at the expense of women, femmes, and LGBTQIA2S+ (especially BIPOC) folx, this space aims to operate as a counternarrative.

The Paper Plane is a space that intends to highlight the dire importance of relationships, community, dialogue, perpetual learning, honest expression as art, art as honest expression, and freedom for literacy and literacy for freedom. It speaks to planes of existence attached to the act of reading, but also as a metaphor for the “flights” we take as we sit in what Ta-Nehisi Coates calls “a one way interface” as readers, and how these “journeys” shape us...

Contributors

Host

Colin Masashi Ehara

Colin Masashi Ehara, M.A, M.A.T. (he/him/his) is a Yonsei-Nikkei (4th Gen. Japanese diaspora)/Scottish/German/Haudenosaunee-Mohawk heritage Ethnic Studies and English Language Arts Educator, who was born (Berkeley, CA) and raised (Richmond, CA) on unceded Bay and Plains Miwok, Confederated Villages of Lisjan, and Muwekma Ohlone territories. Over the last 20 years Colin has found joy and community via labors of love in San Francisco, San Rafael, Berkeley, East Oakland, Redwood City, and his hometown of Richmond, as a Basketball Coach, Poet/Emcee/DJ-Producer, documentary filmmaker, Journalist, Educator-Organizer, After School Program Coordinator, Youth Development Case Manager, Educational Researcher, high school Lead Teacher, Instructional Coach, and Dean of Culture, and is currently a Community College Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies. Colin and his wife/partner, Educator/Artist, Emalyn Lopez, reside with their 2 beloved daughters in the East Bay, CA.

Guests

Guest

Lisa Ang

Lisa Ann Hernadez Ang (she/her/siya) is a Pilipinx-American writer, scholar, and professor from the East Bay. After graduating from UC Berkeley with a degree in English, she worked at the Mayor’s Office of San Francisco for eight years, first as liaison to the APA community, then as Deputy Communications Director. She earned her M.A. in English Literature from SF State and taught writing there, as well as at Los Medanos College in Pittsburg. Since 2017, she has taught Asian American Literature, African American Literature, The Graphic Novel as Literature, Poetry Writing, Critical Thinking, and other writing and literature classes at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill. Professor Ang is currently on sabbatical to conduct research on Asian American literature and media and to write her first formal poetry collection.