“This I Believe” Podcast:
After refreshing my memory and reflecting on different ideas that I can do, I came up with two great ideas that I can use for my “This I Believe” Podcast.
One of them is on the political issues that happened in Hong Kong. In case you do not know what happened, Hong Kong is promised by the Sino-British Joint Declaration (signed by Britain and China back in 1985) that rights and freedoms would be ensured when Hong Kong is returned to China in 1997. However, since 1997, China has been repeatedly attempting to close the gap between Hong Kong and China, violating the rights of the people, hence massive and largely peaceful protests started in June 2019. Unfortunately, not only did China ignore the demands, but they also used excessive force and imposed new and more restrictions on the people of Hong Kong. It turned into a long and painful conflict between the people of Hong Kong and the Chinese government. I think it would be a great topic for me because it had a close connection with me as it affected myself massively and it would be interesting for those who never heard of that to get to know more.
Another idea that popped out of my brain is language barrier that I am facing. Even though I have been taught English when I was in 1st Grade, I do not speak English as my mother tongue. As a matter of fact, I speak three languages right now, including Cantonese, Mandarin (Chinese), and English, and I am learning more. It is (sometimes) really hard for me to understand what people are saying when they use slangs and more complicated words. Moreover, I do not have a good accent and I always pronounce words incorrectly, leading to confusion and inability to talk with people confidently. I am still learning to speak better English and I think this topic would be a great idea to work on as it is really personal and I am sure most people do not have the same issue.
“Personal is Political” Blog:
As for my “Personal is Political” Blog, I am thinking of doing something related to sports and how sports affect people’s life. I really enjoy playing and watching sports, for example, (especially) basketball, football, soccer, and volleyball, and I think there are millions of ideas and topics that I can write on the topic that everyone can relate to.
Moreover, I am thinking of doing something related to diversity in the world. I would want to discuss how different cultural, racial, and social background affect different people in a community and how it builds a community.
Civic Issues Blog:
In terms of my Civic Issues Blog, I am thinking of working on sustainability because I think it had been a huge concern in recent years. We are seeing more and more disasters all around the globe, including the crazy Australian wildfires in 2020 and more deadly cyclones and floods that happened on the US soil. I think I would want to focus on climate change and how it had been affecting our lives.
Another idea that I am thinking of doing is related to identity, such as nationality and diversity. I think myself is a great example for talking about that issue because I am having troubles with my identity. I am always mixed up by people that I am from China, but I am actually from Hong Kong and it is two completely different nationality (no matter what people say). However, I feel that not only myself is having that issue, but actually many international students or even some US citizens are having the same problems that is affecting their life. Therefore, I think it would be a huge and great topic to talk about.
Resources:
O’Hara, Jessica. Rhetoric and Civic Life – CAS 138T. https://sites.psu.edu/rcl2ohara/.
This I Believe. https://thisibelieve.org/.
Isaac, I really enjoyed your descriptions and ideas for your “this I believe” topic brainstorms. I found them to be both informative and compelling and definitely evident that you have passion behind both of those ideas. Secondly, I resonate a lot with your brainstormed ideas for your “personal is political” blog, more specifically the first option. As someone who is from Philadelphia, which is a die hard sports fandom, I can definitely see the impact and feel like that would be a good story to convey to an audience. Additionally, I agree with what you have said about sustainability and the rising increase of harm for your “civic issues blog”. Well done 🙂
I really like how you choose topics that are really personal to you. I love your Hong Kong idea and the language barrier idea. However, for the language idea what it is that you believe about language barriers isn’t quite clear. I love your idea about diversity for personal is political. I think there are many stories around diversity that can be interesting to tell stories about. I like your citizenship idea for civic issues.
I think all of these ideas are super thought-out. I can’t relate to the language barrier, and I would be interested in learning more. Giving your insight through all of the blog topics would be cool to listen to and having someone in class who can share sides of stories I don’t always see would be interesting and more impactful. Not many people talk about the natural disasters across the world and I think information is crucial.
Your Personal is Political blog post made me think of today’s class when Professor O’Hara was talking about how linked sports are to people’s identity. This would be a very fun topic and you can do a deep-dive in why and what sports have that make people so passionate. All your ideas are really interesting!