Monday, January 18, 2010

Ginseng Radio Launches New Asian American Programming


Ginseng Radio is an online radio station that focuses on North American East-Asian culture. It features music from Taiwan, China, Korea, and Japan; call-in shows regarding important cultural issues; entertainment shows focusing on anime, dramas, and import cars; and unique Christian programming. Instead of airing shows using radio waves, all content is accessed via its website and can be downloaded or listened to from your computer. Based in Toronto, Canada, the non-profit organization is a program of Youth Unlimited for Christ.

I eagerly awaited the launch of their programs the week of January 11th. So far, I am able to access three: "Brown Rice and the Boss, " "Bento Box," and "Mandate." Each show is about 50-80 minutes long and consists of the hosts conversing with one another on various cultural or spiritual topics interspersed with music. My favorite conversation dealt with Jackie Chan movies and Sammo Hung's television show, Martial Law, with Arsenio Hall. Another interesting topic was about how J-pop, or Japanese pop music, has gone mainstream with the rise of anime, which has fans from many divergent cultures.

The station is also sponsoring an Ugly Jacket Contest. Send in a picture of a really ugly jacket by February 14th and you could win a prize! They have cool tee shirts, caps and other Ginseng Radio merchandise for sale, too.

As far as I know, Ginseng Radio is a unique Christian organization producing content in English aimed at North American Asians. I look forward to more new shows in the future.