Column Catch-Up Time: Belle Yang's FORGET SORROW, Daniel Dae Kim and the end of LOST, and the poisoning of political discourse

I'd hoped to stay current on a, um, more current basis with the archiving of Asian Pop, my San Francisco Chronicle/SFGate column, on this personal blog, but as usual that's proven to be something of a quixotic quest. So, here I am catching up with six weeks worth all at once — three columns, each of which deserves its own space.

Back on May 19, I interviewed the wonderful Belle Yang on the occasion of the publication of her latest book and first graphic novel, Forget Sorrow — a truly luminous book, and well worth reading by any fan of great comics, or simply great stories. She's found her metier with graphic fiction, and I hope she never looks back. I brought the book with me to the Shanghai World Expo, which proved to be an ideal (and ironic) place to peruse it.

Remembering to forget

At the World Expo in Shanghai, Jeff Yang reads author Belle Yang's new graphic novel, "Forget Sorrow," and considers China's desire to edit its past as it writes its future

Then on June 3, I spoke with Daniel Dae Kim, one of the best reasons to watch the show Lost (though Jin-centric episodes were too far and few between), and almost certainly one of the best reasons to watch the forthcoming Hawaii Five-O remake. (Another, naturally, is Grace Park.)

ASIAN POP: The book of Daniel

Daniel Dae Kim can't get the island thing out of his system. After six groundbreaking years as a castaway on "Lost," he's now poised to join CBS's fresh take on the classic cop-show Hawaii Five-O."

Finally, two weeks ago, on June 17, I wrote a column that explored the ugly ways that extremist rhetoricians — like Fox News host Glenn Beck — have pushed the edges of what passes for "mainstream" dialogue further out into the fringe, with potentially devastating results for those on the margins ... like immigrants. 

Bust your windows

Jeff Yang watches and reads Glenn Beck, and becomes afraid. Very afraid.

That catches me up, but you know how these things work — new ones come down the chute every two weeks! My next column looks at the upcoming slate of Asian-pop-related summer blockbusters (led by the in-theaters-now "Karate Kid" remake) — with a little help from my bloggish friends — and it lands tomorrow. So keep your eyes peeled...

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