Excellent insights.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this podcast. The title lured me in and I was hooked by the tagline “a true story about a fake story of a real life”. The story of Galen, artfully told and narrated by his niece, is both intriguing and tragic. The niece does a wonderful job of sharing facts, some very shocking, but in a manner of respect. In some ways, she honors his legacy. Although a majority of the stories are raw and troubling, the niece closes her reporting in a beautiful and loving way. I think Galen would be proud of her endeavor.

I never expected to be in tears so much in the last episode, but it’s such a beautiful story!! It’s an interesting listen that pulls you back episode after episode. And the end just is EVERYTHING!!!

Honestly, I just wanted to listen to something while walking the dogs. First episode was all over the place since I had no idea what I started…but I kept listening. After episode 2 I was hooked. What an incredible story of a man’s life, insight to cultural challenges and life on the US. Not sure what I expected but sure didn’t expect to be crying, laughing, and rooting for a a man, family, and story as I did in this. Well done.

As an “ABC” (first time hearing this term!) mixed race person, I really could relate to the culture and how it fit into larger American life. Of course my life was spared the felonies and murder, but the addiction, emotional distance, death, and family dynamics were so familiar. Maya addressed so many issues that went through my own mind while listening to this. That thoroughness was great to experience. Look forward to future projects!

I am loving this. Gaylan was one of my best friends in my acting days. Great job Maya!

I loved how personal this story was. It was simultaneously thought provoking, emotional, and confronting, while still being funny and full of action at times. A story that rarely gets told.

I really enjoyed this easy listen podcast. I binged the whole show over a few days and found myself very curious what was going to happen next to the uncle throughout the entire program. I appreciated the wrap up in the end with the aunties to hear their final perspective. I left the podcast feeling good and was happy that the story had a conclusion. I wish the best to this whole family.

Love the narration, great story.

Binged it on one night. Really fantastic story.

So many of the podcasts I listen to these days cover such dark subject matter that I find myself waiting to start the next episode until I’m feeling better about the world because I binging them can throw me into a depression. This one is different though, it still has the drama of mistakes made and a life gone off the rails but it’s told in tandem with the story of a low budget film production. The two come together in the most satisfying of ways. I found it highly engaging and enjoyable.

I think you did a fantastic job telling your uncle’s story. The good and the bad. I do NOT agree at all with the bad reviews here. I hope you find another story to tell.

The woman who created this podcast seems to slander, as far as I can tell, an innocent person. She swoons over the childhood friend who obviously is lying through his teeth. She keeps calling the subject a failure when he was an actor and writer who got movies made in Hollywood, which is more than most people can say. I seriously can't believe this poor guy's name is being dragged through the mud. What a disgrace. It's clear by the end that Miss Sugarman is the jerk with unresolved baggage.

Ms. Sugarman has woven the many factions of movie making together into a compelling podcast. Her talent in telling the backstory of two unknown movies in this season gives me hope she'll turn her talent and attention to telling the story of other films, big and small.

This could have been an interesting pod cast if not for the vocal fry and vocal ticks of the narrator. I would expect someone who refers to themselves as a wrier or journalist to avoid the use of “like” and “riiight” when speaking. I did not get past episode 1.

I loved this podcast so much!! I’m not Asian, however I felt a great deal of empathy and it actually helped me heal a bit more in my own grief. Parts of your uncle’s story were parallel to my own and I found it profoundly moving. There are several different versions of me throughout my life that no knows about. I’m now the version that I always wanted to be and plan to be until the day I die, hopefully. I am now going to search for more podcasts that you have been involved with. If this is the only one I hope you do more in the future!! You’re both brilliant.

I enjoyed all episodes, really heartfelt and full of some mystery and suspense. Lots about Asians in the mainstream. I feel like the podcast is really the incarnation of all the best of Galen’s work, a touching tribute.

The story sounds really interesting and I was really looking forward to hearing it but the vocal fry is too much. I made it about halfway through the first episode. Oh well.

This was really well done. I love movies like Joy luck club and realizing there could have been more movies with full dimensional roles of people of all backgrounds, but simple minded men in Hollywood could not see their opportunity to show a world as it is with real people and complex lives worthy of being represented. No wonder there is so much racial fear today. This is so well done. I hope she makes more podcasts

I really enjoyed this podcast. I thought it was really different and actually very touching. Super well produced as well.

He also jerk

Really well written, produced & amazing interviews. Thank you for sharing this fascinating story.

Even after finding out the movie was made by an Asian who could only afford has been actors and Eastern European locations, you still insisted on making the central narrative whitewashing.

The pod itself is creative and a pleasure to listen to. The narrator’s attempt to rehabilitate her relative — an admitted pimp, extortionist, thief, bully and likely murderer — using ‘90s Hollywood racial bias as the bad guy without truly addressing the harms of his past, feels willfully revisionist but unfortunately very current. Many of us have a mysterious black sheep in the family that no one talks about, and sometimes they really are just jerks.

Struggling to get through the first episode because - as others have noted - of the host’s vocal fry. And did no one think to correct her pronunciation of “poh-poh”?

As a native of Oakland I was excited to listen. The narrator and writing felt flat and unenthusiastic. And her referring to Latino’s as “Latine” gets a massive eye roll. When you seek out to appease virtue signaling listeners over the actual community you’re referring to, you get a massive eye roll.

I finished Magnificent Jerk today and I actually cried. It was amazing. This world is so far removed from my white, Mormon, Utah world but I was so taken in by your storytelling. Phenomenal job to you all. Much love and thanks!

One of my co-workers told me about this show a couple of days ago and I just binged the entire show in one day. Definitely didn’t expect to cry as much as I did towards the end of the series. Kudos to Maya for her storytelling and her team for the amazing production of this show.

I’m sorry but I had a hard time staying interested in the crimes this woman’s uncle took part in. It didn’t feel any more interesting than reading any random person’s rap sheet.

Only listened through half the episodes so far. Very interesting like a flower opening. I knew Galen since the late 60’s forward. I had been conversing with him up to his death. I always felt he made a difference. Where one comes from is important but where it leads you, more so. I will miss Galen.

This was such a ride from beginning to end! I wasn’t expecting to be as moved as I was by the end of it, either.

It’s rare for me to find a podcast that I get excited to listen to whenever I have some free time to spare and dread that it’s coming to an end. This is one of these podcasts! Really well produced, interesting and thought provoking story. I’d highly recommend this to anyone.

I really enjoyed this. So well done, creative, and varied. Interweaving the screenplay scenes into the narrative of the podcast added so much. The storytelling was heartfelt and absorbing. Thank you.

A story that will wraps itself around your heart. Beautifully well done.

Especially if you’re of Asian descent, this is a side of our community you rarely hear about or at least this perspective. There some great lessons here too, despite his early goings, he really seemed to grab hold of his path. He really seemed to be an unsung, unknown trailblazer of sorts too. This was a great story worth hearing. I loved that you included the reenactments too, it really helped to connect. Thank you so much for sharing your family’s story.

Amazing heart felt discovery and story telling. We need more untold stories like these, that is of Asian Americans. Thank you for your work!

Very interesting story. Thanks so much for sharing it.

I had to look up ABC to find out what it meant 😉. I’m a contemporary of Galen, having grown up in Northern California about 100 miles from the SF/Bay Area and visiting there at times with my family while growing up in the 1950s and 1960s. I didn’t know much of the history of Chinatown in both SF and Oakland, along with the gangs and the poor neighborhoods. I’m amazed at Galen’s strength and motivation to move south for both acting and screen writing and how he was able to put his past experience into his later life. Galen’s story, along with Maya and her family, was incredibly woven together in this fascinating podcast. Well done! [I also binged all of it, and glad I did as it helped me in following the story better. I like these “unknown stories of the past” and I am a real podcast fan of these, along with historical things I never learned in school.]

This was a great story and about so much more than her uncle’s very interesting life. I appreciated Maya’s vulnerability in sharing her grief and process of understanding her uncle. I felt like I learned something from her story and as someone who has also lost their mother I was able to completely relate even though our lives are so different.

This is a model podcast with smart, authentic storytelling. I’m so thankful I happened upon this podcast. It tells the story of a departed family member whose life is complicated and real. It illuminates the racism and limited opportunities in a place and time. I grew up during in California at the same time and it brought back memories. Thank you for creating the podcast and putting all of the work in to hit this level of quality - I’m certain it was not easy!

To mention Mario van Peeples who not sure if a well known actor but went on to star in a movie with ice t “ New Jack City “

Made me cry, laugh and call my mom after. And for those complaining about the barely there “vocal fry”, try and relax a little jeez

Poignant storytelling, beautiful sound design and writing. So glad Galen’s story was told, thank you for sharing it with us.

Yes

Fascinating investigation of a life and a moving story about getting through grief, growing closer with family, and coming to understand others. You can tell I loved it.

Absolutely beautiful story. Raw and true, there is no cover up of details. You come to understand that this person mattered and had a family. Rough life or not, it was so lovely to see a family pay tribute to and place a story to a wayward member. I hope they have his scripts made into films.

Especially the last episode. Thank you for sharing this story with us.

The story was multi-layered and showed the complexity of the Asian American experience. Also, the universal truth of a mother’s love and hope for her children. I love the way Galen was excavated through family stories, interviews with friends, associates, his writings and transcripts.

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Probably the best sound design and fictional re-enactments I’ve heard in a podcast.