May-lee Chai (she/her)

@mayleechai

Writer. Prof at SFSU. My Hungry Ghosts: Essays & Incantations…coming 9/22/2026! Tomorrow in Shanghai & Other Stories; Useful Phrases for Immigrants; The Girl from Purple Mountain; etc. Board member of NBCC @bookcritics. Web:

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May-lee Chai (she/her)@mayleechai· 4d

Great post by @rbreich.bsky.social on inequity in the U.S.: the bottom 90 percent of Americans are struggling to make ends meet; the “3 richest Americans have as much as the entire bottom half of the nation.” “The only other country w similarly high levels of wealth concentration is Russia.”

America's huge middle class has become a small shadow of what it once was. The bottom 90 percent are struggling to make ends meet. The richest 10 percent account for a large and growing portion of all consumption. The top one-tenth of one percent holds an increasing portion of all wealth.
Today the great divide is not between left and right. It's between democracy and oligarchy.

The richest 130,000 Americans and their immediate families now own as much wealth
as the bottom 90 percent — 117 million - combined. The three richest Americans own as much as the entire bottom half of the
population.
The only other country with similarly high levels of wealth concentration is Russia.

May-lee Chai (she/her)@mayleechai· 8d

mayleechai.wordpress.com/2026/08/01/r... My blog post on “Remembering the ‘Comfort Women’ and My Hungry Ghosts”

Blog post image of the red sign at St Mary’s Square labeled “San Francisco ‘Comfort Women’ Memorial” and an arrow pointing to the right

May-lee Chai (she/her)@mayleechai· 13d

Who are the34 percent who actually approve? “a net job approval of -28, also a record low.” I feel this record can still be broken.”

July 28, 2026
Americans' approval of Donald Trump's job performance continues to decline, according to the July 25 - 27 Economist / YouGov Poll. 34% of U.S. adult citizens strongly or somewhat approve of Trump's job performance, tied for a record low for either Trump term, while a record 62% disapprove. That's a net job approval of -28, also a record low.
At this point in Trump's first term, he had a net job approval of -9.

May-lee Chai (she/her)@mayleechai· 13d

Coming soon! MY HUNGRY GHOSTS: ESSAYS & INCANTATIONS. Stay tuned for list of readings and events at bookstores. Available to pre-order now: blairpub.com/shop/p/my-hu...

Cover image of MY HUNGRY GHOSTS: ESSAYS AND INCANTATIONS: black background with yellow phases of the moon on it. With “coming 9/22/2026” in red on top of the image

All three book covers for May-lee Chai “the Blair collection”: TOMORROW IN SHANGHAI (red circles over blue circuitry like background); black cover with yellow moons of MY HUNGRY GHOSTS; and pink cover with confetti like dots for USEFUL PHRASES FOR IMMIGRANTS.

May-lee Chai (she/her)@mayleechai· 16d

I think I’ve been to this museum in Nanjing. Is it this one?

Chinese language placards for three kinds of dinosaur discovered in what is now Jiangsu province

Display of mastodon like dinosaur in Nanjing

May-lee Chai (she/her)@mayleechai· 20d

Love this beautiful, empowering mural, “Asian American Community Heroes,” in SF Chinatown.

Images of Norman Fong, Betty Ong, and others over orange background

Images of Ruth Asawa making a wire sculpture, Yuri Kochiyama looking upwards, and others over an orange background

Wong Kim Ark surrounded by images of other Asian American community heroes amidst bright orange and pink flowers

Mural placard: Asian American Community Heroes by artist Anne Marie Lapitan, 2022

May-lee Chai (she/her)@mayleechai· 22d

Finally some good news to start the week!

WSJ
HEALTH • WELLNESS
Five Cups of Coffee a Day Is Fine for Most Adults, Heart Association Says
Research has been mixed but association says evidence of coffee's safety and even benefits has been growing over time
By Andrea Petersen
Over photo of a sun lit table with four cups of coffee on the white tablecloth
The researchers analyzed dozens of studies…

May-lee Chai (she/her)@mayleechai· Jul 11

Nice little street fair in SF Chinatown today! Lion dances, yummy food, boba tea, games for kids, and more! 11am -3 pm

A pink lion facing a man setting up a red step for the lion to jump on

Children in red outfits preparing to perform a lion dance in a sunny alleyway

Green sign for Community Youth Center “food fun summer” July 11, 2026 11 am-3 pm Waverly Place

Sign for Greet Tea brown sugar pearl fresh milk boba tea with a picture of the glass of golden boba tea with black pearls

May-lee Chai (she/her)@mayleechai· Jul 11

Many thanks to the CU Boulder Alumni Association and COLORADAN Magazine for featuring my upcoming book, MY HUNGRY GHOSTS:ESSAYS & INCANTATIONS! I appreciate the support! 💖🙏👻🍚 #ForeverBuffs www.colorado.edu/coloradan/20...

My hungry ghosts by May-lee Chai cover showing title in yellow script ove a black background with a design of moons in various phases. Text: in this collection of timely essays and incantations award-winning author May-lee Chai explores the intersection of world history and her own – feeding her herself and her ghost in the process.

Drawing upon the traditional Chinese Daoist and Buddhist concept of hungry ghosts, May-lee Chai writes about personal hauntings, the people, histories, ancestors and family members who continue to touch her life.
Hungry ghosts are spirits that are caught between realms forgotten by their descendants and separated from their ancestors. Yet the Chinese traditional celebration of the Hungry Ghost Festival in the 7th lunar month shows a path forward and a way to heal, when the living can still feed even the hungriest of the wandering spirits in this most egalitarian of holidays.
This spiritual practice serves as inspiration in
Chai's writing.
In these 12 reflections and incantations, both new and previously published award-winning works, Chai explores Chinese spiritual traditions, the lunar almanac, exile and the diaspora born of war; weaves family stories with our society at large; examines the legacies of the "women of Nanjing" who were enslaved there by the Japanese military in Marld Mar 11• and nunminne tha ranict faar_

May-lee Chai (she/her)@mayleechai· Jul 10

Why does SFSU have AR-15 rifles??!!!

The investigation also uncovered inconsistencies over what equipment is being tracked. San Jose State University and San Francisco State University possess AR-15 rifles even though Cal State policy does not authorize them. Cal State spokesperson argued they are "standard issue" and exempt from reporting, while San Jose State's own report classified them as "specialized firearms."

May-lee Chai (she/her)@mayleechai· Jul 6

Oh, so now it’s wrong to use someone else’s copyrighted intellectual property without permission? Do tell!

NYT headline:
American A.I.
Companies Say
Chinese Copycats Are Quickly Catching Up
U.S. companies complain that
competitors in China are unfairly copying their A.I. systems using a technique that has been around for years.
(Under illustration of blue circuits with a ball of light on top)

May-lee Chai (she/her)@mayleechai· Jul 5

A tale of two cities ( via NYT)

Washington (sign):
PLEASE EVACUATE
DUE TO SEVERE WEATHER,
THIS EVENT IS POSTPONED UNTIL WEATHER PASSES, GO TO FREEDOM250 SOCIAL MEDIA FOR UPDATES
PLEASE PROCEED TO THE NEAREST EXIT

Lightning strikes from an angry back cloud over DC

Beautiful fireworks in the clear sky over Brooklyn

Happy children carrying American flags in sunny Manhattan

May-lee Chai (she/her)@mayleechai· Jul 5

Oh no.

Headline from NYT: “weather disrupts America’s 250 th birthday celebration in Washington” federal and local officials scramble to safely evacuate thousands of people from the national mall because of severe weather, according to multiple officials

May-lee Chai (she/her)@mayleechai· Jul 3

Our national metaphor. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/03/s...

Headline: “Why not let the algae take over?” Next to picture of green, algae-ridden reflecting pool

May-lee Chai (she/her)@mayleechai· Jun 30

Interesting quotes to remember: “Large language models are not reasoning machines. They’re plausibility engines.” The errors will not go away. They’re part of the design.

These scary - OK, OK, funny - incidents aren't the result of coding errors. They're the result of an essential, inescapable fact about the artificial intelligence that has become so common in so many aspects of our daily lives:
Large language models are not reasoning machines. They're plausibility engines.
It's not just that they don't test their outputs to make sure they're correct or logical, or that they fail to do so in certain instances. They can't, and they'll never be able to on their own. They can only assess which answers are probable, based on the data on which the models have been trained. And that holds true whether they're trained on the full breadth of human output or only on peer-reviewed scientific articles. It's baked into the way they operate.

So when an A.I. model follows a
scammer's carefully written prompts and gives away the keys to the kingdom - or when it responds to your earnest query with wild hallucinations — it's not an aberration. It's the technology working the way it was designed.

May-lee Chai (she/her)@mayleechai· Jun 30

Purple seal!

May-lee Chai (she/her)@mayleechai· Jun 25

As part of Anti-Prime Day you can support independent bookstores and order my books ON SALE from Bookshop-dot-org bookshop.org/p/books/my-h... and even pre-order my new collection: MY HUNGRY GHOSTS: ESSAYS AND INCANTATIONS!

MY
HUNGRY
GHOSTS
ESSAYS AND INCANTATIONS
MAY-LEE CHAI
Cover image of black background with white phases of the moon
My Hungry Ghosts: Essays and
Incantations
May-Lee Chai
• Paperback
$18.95 regular price; sale price $17.66
PRE-ORDER

Anti-prime day poster for BOOKSHOP.ORG (June 23-26)

"Illuminating, heartbreaking, and yet also very funny..
A rewarding and entertaining reed."
-CHARLES YU, National Book Award-winning author of Interior Chinatown
Over cover image of blue background with red mars-like circles
TOMORROW
IN
SHANGHAI
AND OTHER STORIES
MAY-LEE CHAI
Tomorrow in Shanghai: Stories
May-Lee Chai
• Paperback
$17.95 $16.73
? ADD TO CART

"A splendid gem of a story collection…. Chai's work is a grand event."
-EDWARD P. JONES, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Known World
Over cover image of reddish background with confetti like squares on it
USEFUL
PHRASES
FOR
IMMIGRANTS
stories
MAY-LEE CHAI
Useful Phrases for Immigrants: Stories
May-Lee Chai
• Paperback
$16.95 $15.80 (sale price)
ADD TO CART

May-lee Chai (she/her)@mayleechai· Jun 24

Fog and birds

Photos of birds in v formation against gray clouds

May-lee Chai (she/her)@mayleechai· Jun 23

I was going to take a picture of the pineapple buns and fresh egg tart I got today, but I couldn’t wait and ate them all along with some fresh lychees. This is all that remains! Mm mmm!

May-lee Chai (she/her)@mayleechai· Jun 20

Isn’t the U.S. military dumping hydrogen peroxide into a river the plot of THE HOST?

Poster for THE HOST shows slimy tentacle coming out of water holding a little girl

May-lee Chai (she/her)@mayleechai· Jun 20

Good lord. This sounds awful, but also very much of our times. Definitely no singing animated foxes or joyful stealing from the rich to give to the poor in 2026.

Picture of Hugh Jackman in long gray wig pulling back the bowstring of a bow
under headline “‘the death of Robin Hood ’ review: not a merry band” from the NYT

This Robin Hood has been killing and stealing his whole life, and the stories told about him are invented from whole cloth. (It's worth noting that "The Death of Robin Hood" is actually a loose adaptation, or perhaps reimagining, of a ballad that dates back to at least the 17th century, "Robin Hoode His Death," itself an expansion of an even earlier Robin Hood legend.) He also has so many enemies, the family members of people he's killed, that he's lost track. He is a common thief - or perhaps an uncommon one, only because he is so good at it, and so brutal. He's had few companions in his life, but one of them, Little John (Bill Skarsgard), tracks him down and asks for his help in settling a score. Robin agrees, but things go badly, and when he wakes up he is in a convent, being tended to by the compassionate Sister Brigid (Jodie Comer).

The contrast between Robin Hood's former life and life in the convent is remarkable, almost night and day. There are elements of "The Death of Robin Hood," which is set in the 13th century, that plead for comparison with the medieval films of Robert Eggers, including the use of language. People die in horrific ways, their heads bashed against rocks or jaws torn open; Sarnoski shoots the first section of the film in bleak colors, either washed-out day or inky black night.

May-lee Chai (she/her)@mayleechai· Jun 18

Name a tv show you’re positive no remembers but you.

Prisoner Cell Block H poster showing four white women grimacing behind bars

May-lee Chai (she/her)@mayleechai· Jun 18

“ and if we are being honest, I will tell you this, if you compare the agreement Obama did with Iran to this, what’s the difference? In some ways, Obama was more serious.” Ya think?🤔

=
NEW YORKER

I'm a Gemini, too. But not like this. I don't do it to my friends. I must clarify to you how I am feeling: for three years, we have fought to bring back deterrence. And now he is giving Iran what it wants. I feel sorry for him and for us. He has put us at huge risk.
And, if we are being honest, I will tell you this: if you compare the agreement Obama did with Iran to this, what's the difference? In some ways, Obama was more serious.

May-lee Chai (she/her)@mayleechai· Jun 13

Oh now they are putting up a curtain so we won’t be able to see them take the letters off the Kennedy Center.

Picture from YouTube livestream showing workers on scaffolding putting up a large plastic curtain

May-lee Chai (she/her)@mayleechai· Jun 13

So s-l—ooooo-wwww.

Picture of men on scaffolding before Kennedy Center. “The Donald T” letters visible above the scaffolding.

May-lee Chai (she/her)@mayleechai· Jun 12

Oh I finally got the group chat notification. Now I see what people were talking about yesterday.

• New
Group Chats
Take the conversation private.
• Add people with a link
Post it to Bluesky or share anywhere.
Up to 50 people
Bring up to 50 friends together in one chat.
• You're in control
Mute, leave, or remove people anytime.

Got it
Start a group chat

May-lee Chai (she/her)@mayleechai· Jun 11

Oh poor baby

NYT headline: The Epstein
Files
Bill Gates Says Epstein
Tried to Use His Extramarital Affairs
Against Him
The billionaire philanthropist testified on Wednesday in a closed-door congressional hearing about the Justice Department's investigation of Jeffrey Epstein.

May-lee Chai (she/her)@mayleechai· Jun 11

Details about the cross burning in Chicago today, at the park where President Obama delivered his acceptance speech! Via The AP

A large burning cross — a historic symbol of hate and intimidation against Black Americans - was discovered in a Chicago park where former President Barack Obama famously delivered his acceptance speech when he was elected the nation's first Black president.
Tuesday afternoon's act sent shock waves through a city where more than one in four people are Black. Some people drove or walked by, staring, and a video of the cross-burning gained traction online.
The video, taken by a motorist, shows the wooden cross engulfed in bright orange flames as it leans against a tree in Grant Park, located in the core of the city's downtown and near Lake Michigan.

May-lee Chai (she/her)@mayleechai· Jun 4

Platner. Good lord. It’s worse than you thought even if you’re one of the ppl who thought the Nazi tattoo was bad in and of itself. (Which he allegedly openly called “my totenkompf.” ) Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/06/04/u...

Headline:
the New York
TIMES
EXCLUSIVE
“Several Women
Who Dated Graham
Platner Recall
'Unsettling' Behavior” over picture of platner in plaid shirt talking into a mic

She said he kept an AR-15 lying around his apartment on Capitol Hill, and would sharpen an ax - a relic from his time working on the Appalachian Trail before he enlisted in the Marines — while watching television.
He had what she described as a "warrior ethos" and would fantasize about killing people he deemed a threat, she said. She said he told her that rape was about power.
It was something that stuck with her through the years, Ms. Fifield said.
"He said this a lot: If anybody ever broke in here, I would rape them," she recalled, saying that he added that it would not be in "a sexual way, not in a gay way."
"He was like, I would rape them to show them that I'm dominant," she said.
Asked about those remarks, a Platner campaign official did not dispute them.

But in extensive conversations over the past two months, three other women who had been romantically involved with Mr.
Platner offered a far more complicated assessment, describing volatile and
"toxic" relationships that were unsettling and at times emotionally wrenching.
Mr. Platner could be charming and charismatic, they recalled in interviews, but also demeaning to women and, in at least one case, even physically threatening. He drank heavily and was regularly unfaithful.
Mr. Platner, 41, a combat veteran, has spoken openly about grappling with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and drinking that he said resulted from his time in the military. As revelations about him have surfaced - including his dismissive remarks online about rape and derogatory comments about women, as well as a tattoo he had that is widely recognized as a Nazi symbol - …

Some of the women also raised questions about his trustworthiness. Mr. Platner's insistence that he did not know that his tattoo was a Nazi symbol until it became a campaign issue last fall was simply not true, Ms. Fifield said. After all, she said, he had taught her the word for it years earlier, referring to it as "my Totenkopf."

May-lee Chai (she/her)@mayleechai· Jun 3

Too close for comfort! And scary map of places I wouldn’t want to live in.