Radical Buddhism: Claiming Asian America's Revolutionary Vision

About Radical Buddhism: Claiming Asian America's Revolutionary Vision

When most people think of Buddhism, they think of a peaceful escape from the world. Yet the Buddha was a radical who taught us how to change not only our minds, but our societies. When most people think of Asian America, they see a silent and apolitical minority. But at the roots of Asian America, we find a political movement grounded in faith, solidarity, and organizing. This is Radical Buddhism, where Ryan Lee Wong, author and former Zen monastic, talks to Asian American Buddhist leaders about the relationship between inner change and social change, faith and politics. Together, they’ll explore how the Buddha’s teachings of 2,500 years offer us the rituals, insights, and skills to build a more compassionate society. Radical Buddhism is a production of Axis Mundi Media (https://www.axismundi.us/), made possible by a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation, which seeks to deepen public knowledge of religion. Andrew Gill is the producer, with original music by Scott Okamoto and cover art by Eric Zwierzynski. The Barre Center for Buddhist Studies is our fiscal sponsor.

Publisher

Axis Mundi Media + Ryan Lee Wong

Category

news · religion & spirituality · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

5 Oct 2026

Latest episode

5 Nov 2026

Latest episodes

4 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   5 Nov 2026

   Healing from History

   Is it possible to be harmed by things that happened before we were born? And if so, how do we understand and heal them? Koreans use the term han to describe a rage and grief that carries from one generation to the next, and especially since Korea’s violent twentieth century. My guest, Jungwon Kim, has spent years studying not only han, but how ritual and community organizing can heal it. She’s been to the sites of mass atrocities in Korea, and brought Korean Americans together to change narratives and policies. She was deeply influenced by the Engaged Buddhism of Vietnamese teacher Thích Nhất Hạnh, and uses his example in her work. Jungwon Kim, a writer, facilitator, and cultural organizer whose work explores transgenerational grief. She has practiced in the Plum Village Zen tradition for 17 years and is the co-founder of two BIPOC sanghas in Brooklyn. www.jungwonkim.earth (http://www.jungwonkim.earth) Substack: substack.com/@jungwon217 (https://substack.com/@jungwon217) Instagram: @jungwon217 (https://www.instagram.com/jungwon217/) Ryan Lee Wong is author of the novel Which Side Are You On, a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel. He’s trained in Buddhism for over a decade, and lived for two years at a Zen temple in upstate New York. He co-facilitates Roots and Refuge, an annual Asian American Buddhist writing retreat. He was born and raised in Los Angeles, the son of a fifth-generation Chinese American father and a Korean immigrant mother, and has organized several exhibitions on the 1970s Asian American Movement. Find Ryan on Substack: https://ryanleewong.substack.com/ (https://ryanleewong.substack.com/) Instagram: @ryanlwong (https://www.instagram.com/ryanlwong/) or his website: https://www.ryanleewong.com/ (https://www.ryanleewong.com/) Radical Buddhism is a production of Axis Mundi Media (https://www.axismundi.us/) and made possible by a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation, which seeks to deepen public knowledge of religion. Andrew Gill is the producer, with original music by Scott Okamoto and cover art by Eric Zwierzynski. The Barre Center for Buddhist Studies is our fiscal sponsor. Jungwon Kim’s website (https://www.jungwonkim.earth/): watch more of the “Unbind Your Heart” ritual, and read her writing on K-Pop Demon Hunters and more. She also posts her research on instagram (https://www.instagram.com/jungwon217?stkn=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw%3D%3D&utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet). Korea Peace Now! (https://koreapeacenow.org/): an organization dedicated to ending the Korean War through advocacy and education. Blue Cliff Monastery (https://www.bluecliffmonastery.org/?gad_campaignid=429953470&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADbFMkp2XOKoeejlhwib5ZSDGmDZ2&gclid=CjwKCAjw_KjVBhAHEiwAnC0N9AgO8vR6W9vOKyeV_9AN21msaPLN0vMlguhKMgXYy6QqRbsHcaT3wxoCp8wQAvD_BwE): where Jungwon went often with her children, founded by Zen Master Thích Nhất Hạnh that regularly offers retreats on Engaged Buddhism. The Korean War: A History (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/35571/the-korean-war-by-bruce-cumings/) by Bruce Cumings: a short primer on the tragedies of the Korean War and what led to it, bringing a critical historian’s eye to all sides of the conflict.

2. 

   29 Oct 2026

   Inventing Asian America

   Before we go deeper into the idea of Radical Buddhism, we have to understand Asian America. What if we saw Asian America as it was originally intended: a political strategy, a way to bring people together for liberation? How might this social context open new possibilities for Buddhism in America? Until 1968, we were still ‘Orientals.’ Then thousands of young people, including my parents, began the Asian American Movement, a national political and cultural effort to assert rights and dignity. My guest is May Chen, who was one of the first to teach classes and organize as an Asian American. I’ll ask her how that movement came to be, and how it was not only about race, but labor and solidarity—a radical idea that’s still evolving. May Ying Chen is an activist and union officer who represented immigrant garment workers in New York City's Chinatown for 20-30 years. May was a founding member of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA). Now retired, she promotes and shares projects related to labor history and Asian American Studies. Ryan Lee Wong is author of the novel Which Side Are You On, a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel. He’s trained in Buddhism for over a decade, and lived for two years at a Zen temple in upstate New York. He co-facilitates Roots and Refuge, an annual Asian American Buddhist writing retreat. He was born and raised in Los Angeles, the son of a fifth-generation Chinese American father and a Korean immigrant mother, and has organized several exhibitions on the 1970s Asian American Movement. Find Ryan on Substack: https://ryanleewong.substack.com/ (https://ryanleewong.substack.com/) Instagram: @ryanlwong (https://www.instagram.com/ryanlwong/) or his website: https://www.ryanleewong.com/ (https://www.ryanleewong.com/) Radical Buddhism is a production of Axis Mundi Media (https://www.axismundi.us/), and made possible by a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation, which seeks to deepen public knowledge of religion. Andrew Gill is the producer, with original music by Scott Okamoto and cover art by Eric Zwierzynski. The Barre Center for Buddhist Studies is our fiscal sponsor. www.foundationsandfutures.org (http://www.foundationsandfutures.org) www.laborarts.org/1982 (http://www.laborarts.org/1982) www.apalanet.org (http://www.apalanet.org) “Asian American & American Zen” (https://www.lionsroar.com/asian-american-american-zen/): Ryan’s personal essay about merging the Asian American Movement and American Buddhism. Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) (https://www.apalanet.org/about.html): More on the history and current work of APALA, which today represents nearly 1 million union members. Cornell University ILR School Online Resource (https://ilgwu.ilr.cornell.edu/announcements/5.html): Details the history of the ILGWU and the story of the major 1982 Chinatown strike, as well as a short documentary (https://ilgwu.ilr.cornell.edu/archives/filmVideo/index.html?defaultVideoID=9) on the strike May Chen Papers (https://findingaids.library.nyu.edu/tamwag/wag_301/): for researchers interested in learning more about May’s life and work through her archives. Serve the People: Making Asian America in the Long Sixties (https://www.versobooks.com/products/81-serve-the-people?srsltid=AfmBOorDaRvJxFe7U67uGhT3RwYPS8_TaJNQ8oJ7hirQAfPLeUsZBE0-) by Karen L. Ishizuka: An oral history-driven overview of the Asian American movement from one of its veterans. Black, Brown, Yellow, and Left: Radical Activism in Los Angeles (https://www.ucpress.edu/books/black-brown-yellow-and-left/paper) by Laura Pulido: Charts the overlaps and affinities between The Black Panthers, El Centro de Acción Social y Autonomo (CASA), and East Wind during the 1960s and 70s.

3. 

   22 Oct 2026

   Freeing a Prisoner, Freeing the Mind

   Host Ryan Lee Wong interviews his mother, activist Jai Lee Wong, about her journey from radical organizer to Buddhist practitioner and her role in the landmark "Free Chol Soo Lee" movement.

4. 

   5 Oct 2026

   Trailer: Can Buddhism change not just our minds, but our society?

   Ryan Lee Wong interviews Asian American Buddhist leaders about how the Buddha's teachings inspire inner and social transformation for a more compassionate society.

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Apple Podcasts (US)

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