The Halo Halo Podcast

Episode 612 - The Debate about Justin Timberlake and the Cultural Value of "Pakikisama"

On this episode of The Halo Halo Podcast, Jezzie and Sigi dive deep and figure out where they stand with Justin Timberlake. They revisit the *NSYNC boy band craze; Justified, and Sexyback albums; the Janet Jackson Superbowl controversy, his foray into acting and comedy and his latest album–Everything I Thought It Was. Further Jezzie pivots the convo to discuss the Filipino cultural value of pakikisama. This cultural value really informs the collectivistic attitudes and mentality that we as a culture possess and the influence of being family-oriented. Although this value can be weaponized, Jezzie encourages us to determine its value by asking ourselves if it benefits all of the community and that there is a feeling of inclusion.

Taste Test of VIP Experience of Madonna's Celebration Tour (Episode 611.625)

On this very special Taste Test, Jezzie takes us on his very VIP experience in Las Vegas seeing the Madonna Celebration Tour. Get out a flight of sparking wines as Jezzie recounts his journey behind the velvet rope. Get ready Halo Halo Listeners, he goes deep into the superfan experience. And if you are interested leave a comment in this week’s episode post and we will share some pics of Jezzie’s limited edition swag for your viewing pleasure.

Episode 611.5 - EGOT Warmup

Join Jezzie and Sigi in this warm up and they chart out an alternate universe where they achieve their EGOT status. Find out who plans to win their Emmy hosting a show and who will win their Oscar in the ensemble piece, “Puzzle”. Suspend your disbelief and follow their trails to acquire their EGOT status.

Episode 611 - Oscar 2024 Debrief

The Halo Halo Podcast is back for this month of March in fine pop culture form breaking down the 2024 Oscars. From observing shimmering dresses and shiny male brooches on the red carpet to adjusting to the early start time, Jezzie and Sigi share their hot takes on one of their fave events. Meaningful speeches and flowers from previous Oscar winners got the podcast hosts elated and vibrating from a crowd pleasing Gosling/Slash performance.

Episode 610.5 - Joining (Part 4 of 4 on Social Justice)

 The Halo Halo Podcast brings back its suite of four Social Justice centered episodes for this month of February. In this fourth and final episode, Jezzie reviews the framework we shared with our listeners to aid them to decipher the value of a social movement. This framework can also serve as a basis to help us engage in a more meaningful fashion as opposed to just superficial engagement. It also means that it takes time, commitment and being a good ally. Good allyship involves:
Being actionable— does what we say match our behaviour ?;
Using your privilege to support those that we are joining in a social movement;
Being okay with being criticized and sometimes embracing the discomfort;
Not expecting the social movement or others to educate you and
Not equating your own struggles with those of the social movement.

Episode 610 - Learning (Teachability, Part 3 of 4 on Social Justice)

The Halo Halo Podcast brings back its suite of four Social Justice centered episodes for this month of February. In this third episode, Jezzie guides us in our continued discussion that cultural humility and discernment in joining social movements means not only learning about other cultures, but also learning about ourselves and social systems. This learning is continual and encourages us to be teachable and learn more about the deeper parts of one’s culture. There is a need for us to move away from being ethnocentric to ethnorelative. Striving to do this and being willing to learn about ourselves in an honest fashion and debunking social systems that we are in can help us understand other cultures and histories in an authentic and respectful way, thus make us ultimately teachable.

Episode 609.5 - Humility (Part 2 of 4 on Social Justice)

The Halo Halo Podcast brings back its suite of four Social Justice centered episodes for this month of February. In this second episode, the focus is on Cultural Humility. It is first described by Melanie Tervalon, as a mindset which requires us to: learn from others–while honoring those that we learn from; understand and accept the differences we have with others; and be self-reflective and engage in critical self-reflection. Jezzie discusses further that when we adopt a culturally humble stance, we are in a position to then discern.

Episode 609 - Discernment (Part 1 of 4 on Social Justice)

The Halo Halo Podcast brings back its Social Justice centered episodes for this month of February. In this episode the focus is on Discernment on Movements and Counter-movements. Discernment is key to understanding social movements and counter-movements. Jezzie guides a discussion on the meaning of discernment and the need to understanding the arguments behind a movement; not getting swept up in the urgency; questioning information sources and being critical of our own motivations.

Taste Test of "The Talented Mr. Ripley" (Episode 608.625)

Write Up-On this  Taste Test, Sigi goes into the 1999 Pop Culture Movie vault an rewatches The Talented Mr. Ripley. Find out why he would pair this flick with a duo cocktail of gin and sin and a rye and tonic. From the classic direction of  Minghella, the beauty of Italy and the talented cast, you will find yourself immersed in this psychological thriller that may have inspired shows like You and movies like Saltburn.

Episode 608.5 - Deep Cut, Vanity Fair Cover Casting Warmup

On this warm up, Sigi and Jezzie dust off old issues of Vanity Fair and revisit the famous Hollywood Issue where ingenues and popular stars graced the cover to promote their movies/shows for the year.  They face the imaginary task of being the guest editors and cast the Hollywood 2024 Vanity Fair cover shoot. Find out who is one the list and will land on the cover!