on belonging, grief, and identity (with special guest Eddy Boudel Tan) Live at the Book Warehouse
What happens when you've spent your whole life fitting a mold — and you finally decide you've had enough? This week, James sits down with Eddy Boudel Tan, Vancouver-born author of The Tiger and the Cosmonaut , recorded live at Book Warehouse on Main Street. In this episode: The experience of being second-generation Chinese Canadian — caught between cultures, between expectations, between versions of yourself What Eddy calls "Asian rage" — the anger that builds when you're expected to minimize yourself to move through the world The loneliness of being surrounded by people who love you but don't really know you Why Casper, the novel's protagonist, keeps people out even as he falls apart The Buddhist concept of impermanence, and what it actually does to your relationship with fear Going home when home doesn't feel like home anymore Identity as oversimplification — and the liberation of letting go of the label The fleeting, morbid, weirdly hopeful thought: What if this is the happiest I'll ever be? The Tiger and the Cosmonaut is available now wherever books are sold. Find Eddy on Instagram at @eddyautomatic. REMINDER: May 19th at the Book Warehouse on Main (4118 Main street) An Asian Heritage Month Celebration of Authors with guests Eddy Boudel Tan, Wiley Wei-Chiun Ho, and Donna Seto. Doors at 6:30pm 📩 friendlesspod@gmail.com 📱 @friendlesspod on Instagram and TikTok 🌐 friendlesspod.com Create your podcast today! #madeonzencastr