K-Pod (KoreanAmericanStory.org, Catherine Hong, Juliana Sohn)

Visual artist KangHee Kim, best known as @tinycactus on Instagram, uses Photoshop to transform images of everyday street scenes and apartment interiors into surreal dreamscapes, all featuring portals into dreamlike worlds. On a visit to KangHee’s home and studio in Queens, Catherine and Juliana learn that the artist’s very distinctive work is directly connected to her status as a DACA recipient, which has prevented her from leaving the U.S. for over a decade. These images of “surreal escapism,” as she refers to them, have since become a form of visual therapy and have been called emblematic of today’s digital aesthetic. Follow KangHee on Instagram @tinycactus Follow K-Pod on Instagram @kpodpod Hosts: Juliana Sohn @juliana_sohn Catherine Hong @catherinehong100 Editor: AJ Valente Producer: Jessica Park Executive Producer: HJ Lee

Peter Kim grew up in New Jersey knowing he wanted to do one thing in life: act. A graduate of the Yale School of Drama, he made his Broadway debut in Thoroughly Modern Millie and has since built a solid stage, film and television career. This past fall, he astonished audiences with a funny and heartbreaking performance in the play Wild Goose Dreams at the Public Theater. Catherine and Juliana learn about Peter’s family (spoiler alert: his parents weren’t exactly thrilled about having a "gay actor son"), the casting challenges he’s faced, and his growing role as a mentor, teacher and activist.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/WsrCMiaonkE

Follow Peter Kim on Instagram @peterkimpeterkim
Hosts: Juliana Sohn @juliana_sohn Catherine Hong @catherinehong100
Executive Producer: Hj Lee
Editor: AJ Valente

instagram.com/kpodpod
youtube.com/koreanamericanstoryorg

Designer Carol Lim has been at the leading edge of American fashion since 2002, when she and Humberto Leon co-founded the retail shop Opening Ceremony in downtown New York. She and Humberto went on to design their own acclaimed fashion collection, also called Opening Ceremony, and to become co-creative directors of Kenzo, a position they held for eight years. In January 2020, Opening Ceremony announced that it would be coming under new ownership and closing all its retail locations. In a Zoom call, Carol chats with Catherine and Juliana about the major changes at the company. She also shares stories about growing up in Los Angeles, her favorite dress in middle school (Benetton), her SAT scores, her famous friendship with fellow Berkeley classmate Humberto, and her belief in the value of nunchi (눈치). Co-host, Producer, Photographer: Juliana Sohn @juliana_sohn Co-host, Producer, Editor: Catherine Hong @catherinehong100 Production Manager: Jessica Park Audio Engineer: AJ Valente Executive Producer: HJ Lee Follow Carol Lim on Instagram @carollim Follow K-Pod on Instagram @kpodpod

Jim Lee is one of the most influential and revered figures in the world of comic books. The chief creative officer and publisher of DC Comics, Jim was born in Korea and immigrated to the States when he was nearly five. From Superman to Batman to Iron Man to Wonder Woman, Jim has drawn just about every superhero you can think of and holds the record for the best-selling comic book of all time, X-Men, #1. Jim tells Catherine and Juliana about his earliest childhood memories of life in Seoul; his lifelong obsession with drawing; his teenage years as a Korean American prep schooler; and the epic blowout he had with his parents when he announced he wasn’t going to medical school. He also shares his thoughts on the importance of representation in the industry and the possibility of Americans embracing an Asian superhero. Joining our co-hosts for this special episode is K-Pod audio engineer and Jim Lee superfan AJ Valente. Follow Jim Lee on Instagram @jimlee Follow K-Pod on Instagram @kpodpod Co-host, Producer, Photographer: Juliana Sohn @juliana_sohn Co-host, Producer, Editor: Catherine Hong @catherinehong100 Production Manager: Jessica Park Audio Engineer: AJ Valente Executive Producer: HJ Lee

Welcome to Season 2 of K-Pod! For our opening episode, we’re turning the tables on the show’s co-hosts, writer Catherine Hong and photographer Juliana Sohn. The longtime friends chat with the founder of KoreanAmericanStory.org, HJ Lee, about their first meeting (at summer school in the 1980s!), their work for magazines, and what’s most surprised them about doing the podcast. Hosts: Juliana Sohn @juliana_sohn Catherine Hong @catherinehong100 Editor: AJ Valente Producer: Jessica Park Executive Producer: HJ Lee

With his lacerating wit, pop culture savvy and equal fluency with humor and pathos, the Emmy-nominated screenwriter, playwright and producer Jason Kim is one of the most dynamic young voices in the entertainment world. He has written for Girls and Love and is a producer on HBO’s Barry. He also wrote the book for KPOP, an off-Broadway show that won Outstanding Musical at the 2018 Lucille Lortel awards. Currently, he’s developing a series for Amazon called Neon Machine, starring Korean hip-hop star Tablo. Born in Seoul, Jason immigrated with his family to St. Louis, MO when he was ten. He talks to Catherine and Juliana about fleeing the midwest for NYC immediately after high school, his quarter-life crisis as a young staffer at The New Yorker, his decade-long process of coming out to his parents, his grandmother who encouraged him to be a writer and — last but not least – his devotion to his dermatologist.

 

Photo credit: Juliana Sohn

Follow Jason Kim on Instagram@deepkimpact

Follow K-Pod on Instagram@kpodpod

 

Co-host, Producer, Photographer: Juliana Sohn @juliana_sohn

Co-host, Producer, Editor: Catherine Hong @catherinehong100

Audio Engineer: AJ Valente

Executive Producer: HJ Lee

 

KoreanAmericanStory.org is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to capture, preserve, and share stories of the Korean American experience. 
 

Kathleen Kim is the talented puppeteer behind Ji-Young, the electric guitar-playing, ddukbokki-eating seven-year-old Muppet character who made her debut on Sesame Street last fall. Kathy was born in Flushing, Queens to parents who immigrated to the States in the 1970s. Puppeteering was just a hobby until 2014, when Kathy — who had been working as a reality TV producer — was accepted into a program at Sesame Workshop and found herself fast-tracked into the niche world of professional puppetry. Kathy tells Juliana and Catherine how she first fell in love with the craft; what it’s like working on set alongside Cookie Monster, the Honkers and Abby Cadabby; and her experience hearing from so many Asian Americans about what the existence of a character like Ji-Young has meant to them.

 

CREDITS 

Co-host, Producer, Photographer: Juliana Sohn https://www.instagram.com/juliana_sohn/ 
Co-host, Producer, Editor: Catherine Hong https://www.instagram.com/catherinehong100/
Audio Engineer: AJ Valente 
Executive Producer: HJ Lee

If you’ve seen a Pixar movie in the last 20 years, you’ve almost certainly enjoyed the work of Peter Sohn. A director, animator and voice actor, Sohn’s credits include Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, WALL.E, and 2015’s The Good Dinosaur, which he directed and co-wrote. Another fun fact: Peter served as the physical model for Russell, the lead character in Up. Peter tells Catherine and Juliana about his memories of growing up in the Bronx in the ‘70s, where his parents owned a grocery store. He also shares stories about his mother, a talented artist whom he credits for sparking his lifelong love of movies (despite her later objections to his choice of career). Animation fans will enjoy hearing about Peter’s path to CalArts, his experience co-directing the English language version of Ponyo (stressful!) and the types of new multicultural stories he hopes to tell.

 

Follow Peter Sohn on Instagram @petesohn18
Follow K-Pod on Instagram@kpodpod

 

Co-host, Producer, Photographer: Juliana Sohn @juliana_sohn

Co-host, Producer, Editor: Catherine Hong @catherinehong100

Audio Engineer: AJ Valente

Executive Producer: HJ Lee

 

KoreanAmericanStory.org is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to capture, preserve, and share stories of the Korean American experience. 

Michelle Zauner is a singer, songwriter and guitarist who records dreamy, melancholic indie pop under the name Japanese Breakfast. She’s also a talented writer whose debut book, a memoir titled Crying in H Mart, is being published by Knopf today! In it, she recounts her experiences growing up half-Korean in her mostly white town of Eugene, OR, her path to becoming a musician and her struggle to reclaim her Korean heritage after her mother’s early death from cancer. From her home in Brooklyn, Michelle talks to Catherine and Juliana about her idyllic childhood summers in Seoul, her tumultuous relationship with her mom, her channeling of grief into creativity and the importance of Korean role models in her life, from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen Oh to YouTuber Maangchi. Stay tuned to the very end, when she shares her favorite snacks and staples from H Mart! Photo credit: Peter Ash Lee Follow Michelle Zauner on Instagram @jbrekkie Follow K-Pod on Instagram @kpodpod Co-host, Producer, Photographer: Juliana Sohn @juliana_sohn Co-host, Producer, Editor: Catherine Hong @catherinehong100 Production Manager: Jessica Park Audio Engineer: AJ Valente Executive Producer: HJ Lee

Eunjo “Jo” Park is the executive chef at Kāwi, the fine-dining Korean restaurant opened by David Chang’s Momofuku restaurant group in New York City. Jo is at the forefront of a growing group of chefs putting modern Korean food on the map. After culinary school at CIA she climbed the ranks in some of the best kitchens in the country, including Daniel, Per Se and Momofuku Ko. She tells Catherine and Juliana about her childhood in rural Korea, learning to cook for herself while her parents ran a dry cleaners, a devastating injury early on in her career, and the challenges lying ahead. Follow Jo Park on Instagram @eunjoful Hosts: Juliana Sohn @juliana_sohn Catherine Hong @catherinehong100 Editor: AJ Valente Producer: Jessica Park Executive Producer: HJ Lee

Byron Kim is a Brooklyn-based artist who works in an area known as the abstract sublime. Part of the permanent collections of the National Gallery of Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art, his minimalist paintings sit at the threshold between abstraction and representation, conceptualism and pure painting. Catherine and Juliana learn about Byron’s original plan to become a poet (he switched to art, thinking it would be “easier”); his physician parents, who immigrated to New York back in the 1950s; the gigs that got him through his early years as a struggling New York artist (four words: Skadden Arps graveyard shift); his career breakthrough at the landmark 1993 Whitney Biennial; and his ongoing series known as “Sunday Paintings,” arguably his most personal work to date.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ode9nx0PdDU
Hosts: Juliana Sohn @juliana_sohn Catherine Hong @catherinehong100
Executive Producer: Hj Lee
Editor: AJ Valente
instagram.com/kpodpod
youtube.com/koreanamericanstoryorg

Oejong Kim worked as a translator, chef and corporate housing specialist in Tokyo and New York before discovering her true passion: knitting. In 2004, Kim co-founded the yarn and knitwear company Loopy Mango, which has become a creative force in the knitting world. Loopy Mango’s signature product is Big Loop, a luxuriously thick, chunky merino wool yarn that has inspired many imitators. Catherine and Juliana travel to Beacon, NY to meet Oejong and see for themselves why this artsy, eccentric Korean-American in the oversized glasses has become a cult figure in the DIY world.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/m1sx1e3GBOA

Follow Oejong Kim on Instagram @loopymango @oejongkim
Hosts: Juliana Sohn @juliana_sohn Catherine Hong @catherinehong100
Executive Producer: Hj Lee
Editor: AJ Valente

instagram.com/kpodpod
youtube.com/koreanamericanstoryorg

Author David Yoon became a breakout star in 2019 with his critically acclaimed YA debut novel, Frankly in Love, which hit the New York Times bestseller list and has also been optioned for a movie. In a Zoom interview, Juliana and Catherine talk to David about his path to becoming a writer, the “surreal” experience of seeing his first novel take off, and his partnership in love and literature with his wife, YA superstar author Nicola Yoon. (“I feel like I won the love lottery with her.”) Follow David Yoon on Instagram @davidoftheyoon Follow K-Pod on Instagram @kpodpod Hosts: Juliana Sohn @juliana_sohn Catherine Hong @catherinehong100 Editor: AJ Valente Producer: Jessica Park Executive Producer: HJ Lee

Margaret Cho needs no introduction. In 1994, the comedian was the first Asian American to have her own sitcom (All-American Girl, loosely based on her experience as a teenager growing up in San Francisco). After the show was cancelled, she returned to standup, where she built a reputation for her confessional, bawdy and subversive material, which targeted racism, homophobia, fat shaming, the entertainment industry, and most mercilessly, herself. From her Los Angeles home where she and her chihuahua, Lucia, have been sheltering during the pandemic, Margaret tells Catherine and Juliana about her minister grandfather, her dad’s deportation, becoming financially independent at age 18, a shaman’s surprising prophecy and her favorite K-dramas (Itaewon Class, Replay 1988, Mystic Pop Up Bar, Prison Playbook, Hospital Playlist, It’s Ok Not To Be Ok, Flower of Evil, Stranger 2). Hosts: Juliana Sohn @juliana_sohn & Catherine Hong @catherinehong100 Editor: AJ Valente Producer: Jessica Park Executive Producer: HJ Lee Follow Margaret Cho on Instagram @margaret_cho Check out her podcast "The Margaret Cho" Follow K-Pod on Instagram @kpodpod

Jenny Kwak put Korean food on the map when she opened the restaurant Dok Suni in New York's East Village in 1992 when she was just 19.  Later, she opened a second successful restaurant, Do Hwa, where Quentin Tarantino was famously an investor. Catherine and Juliana catch up with the pioneering chef-restaurateur at her new Brooklyn restaurant, Haenyeo, where she’s flexing her creativity with dishes like cajun-inflected dduk boki. Jenny talks about her thwarted plans to be a painter; the rollicking early days of Dok Suni; her ambivalence about celebrity chef culture and her close relationship with her mom (who still keeps her kimchi recipe a secret, even from Jenny).

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/bd6haUYcmDM
Follow on Instagram: @haenyeobk @jennyk.bk
Hosts: Juliana Sohn @juliana_sohn Catherine Hong @catherinehong100
Executive Producer: Hj Lee
Editor: AJ Valente
instagram.com/kpodpod
youtube.com/koreanamericanstoryorg

For our season finale of K-Pod, we interviewed Young Huh, one of the most sought-after interior designers in the country. Young is known for creating stylish interiors based on classic proportions, luxurious materials and an understanding for how people live. By all measures, 2019 was a banner year for Young: her room at the Kips Bay Decorator Show House was the talk of the New York design world and she was named to Elle Decor’s A-list. Catherine and Juliana find out what it’s like working at the top ranks of the industry; how she gets results from contractors without being a screamer; and all about her “miserable” slog through law school before finding the courage to defy her parents (her dad’s famous words: “Lawyer is better!”) and pursue a creative life. This is the final episode of K-Pod season 1! Thank you to all our listeners for tuning in every week and giving us your positive feedback. We will be back in 2020 with season 2 with even more great stories from Korean American creatives. Please email us at k-pod@koreanamericanstory.org with your suggestions and comments!

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/o1VOcG4CxSE
Follow Young Huh on Instagram @younghuh
Hosts: Juliana Sohn @juliana_sohn Catherine Hong @catherinehong100
Executive Producer: Hj Lee
Editor: AJ Valente
instagram.com/kpodpod
youtube.com/koreanamericanstoryorg

K-Pod is back! To kick off Season 5, co-hosts Catherine Hong and Juliana Sohn present a special two-parter. First, they preview the upcoming season, which, as they explain, will look a bit different this time around. Instead of focusing on the lives of individual artists and creatives, they’ll be chatting with experts on a range of Korean American cultural topics. The first of these episodes will focus on language; other episodes in the works will center on Korean cultural traditions and celebrations, Korean American mental health and traditional Korean medicine. (Bet you didn’t know that Juliana’s dad made her and her sisters drink deer blood!) In part two of the episode, we take the time to get to know our co-hosts a little better.  Juliana and Catherine discuss being moms of halfie (sorry, “biracial”) children, Juliana’s family’s reaction to her divorce, Catherine’s dad’s touching 87th birthday and the importance of preparing legacy portraits. Bonus: check out the YouTube version to see Catherine’s dog sauntering around her living room.

 

CREDITS 
Co-host, Producer, Photographer: Juliana Sohn https://www.instagram.com/juliana_sohn/ 
Co-host, Producer, Editor: Catherine Hong https://www.instagram.com/catherinehong100/
Audio Engineer: AJ Valente https://ajyval.myportfolio.com/ 
Executive Producer: HJ Lee 
Production Manager: Young Sun https://www.kimberlyyoungsun.com/ 

 

KoreanAmericanStory.org is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization whose mission is to create and preserve the stories of the Korean American experience.

Whether you’re a fluent Korean speaker or barely capable of uttering 안녕하세요, this episode is for you! Kicking off our new series on cultural topics, K-Pod pays a visit to Young-mee Yu Cho, Rutgers University Professor of Korean Language and Culture. As co-author of the widely-used textbook series Integrated Korean, Cho has shaped how Korean language is taught in the States today. She dives into all of Catherine and Juliana’s questions, including: What are some Korean words that don’t exist in English? Why is Korean so hard for English speakers to learn? Is Han really the defining characteristic of Korean culture? Should we be spelling 떡볶이 “Dukbokki,” “tteokbokki,” or “teokbokki?” What’s up with the one-syllable names? How has the language changed from the time our parents immigrated? And finally… why are Korean mothers always telling us that we might as well kill ourselves?

Chang-rae Lee is the author of Native Speaker, On Such a Full Sea, A Gesture Life, Aloft, and The Surrendered, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. His latest novel, My Year Abroad, is a dazzling tale about an American college student whose life is upended when he travels to Asia under the wing of a mysterious Chinese American entrepreneur. From his home in San Francisco, where he’s on sabbatical from his position as a professor at Stanford, Chang-rae talks with Catherine and Juliana about overcoming the pressures of being “the first” well-known Korean American novelist, developing his early love of writing as a student at Exeter, and the way his mother’s early death from cancer at age 52 may have influenced his decision to pursue writing as a career. He also shares stories about his parents (we learn his mother was featured in Time magazine in 1956!) and his fond memories of the Korean church summer camp he attended as a kid. Follow K-Pod on Instagram @kpodpod Co-host, Producer, Photographer: Juliana Sohn @juliana_sohn Co-host, Producer, Editor: Catherine Hong @catherinehong100 Production Manager: Jessica Park Audio Engineer: AJ Valente Executive Producer: HJ Lee AAPI anti-violence resources: https://stopaapihate.org/ https://www.aafederation.org/ https://www.hatecrimebook.com/

Edward Lee is the acclaimed chef of several restaurants in Kentucky and the DC area, most notably Louisville’s 610 Magnolia, where he first made his mark on Southern cuisine almost 20 years ago using ingredients such as gochujang and soy sauce aged in whiskey barrels. He won a James Beard award for his 2018 book Buttermilk Graffiti and he was nominated for an Emmy for his work hosting the PBS series Mind of a Chef. Lee is also the co-founder of a remarkable nonprofit called The Lee Initiative, which during the pandemic has been supporting restaurant workers, struggling farms and other communities in need. Catherine and Juliana talk to Edward about how growing up in Carnarsie, Brooklyn—where there were very few Korean Americans—shaped his palate and his identity. He also shares stories about Clay, the hip Korean restaurant he opened in New York in the late ‘90s, his recent guest appearance on Top Chef: Portland, and his newfound mission in life to help others. Follow Edward Lee on Instagram @chefedwardlee For more information on Lee Initiative or to donate, go to Leeinitiative.org Follow K-Pod on Instagram @kpodpod Co-host, Producer, Photographer: Juliana Sohn @juliana_sohn Co-host, Producer, Editor: Catherine Hong @catherinehong100 Production Manager: Jessica Park Audio Engineer: AJ Valente Executive Producer: HJ Lee

Soyoung Lee built her career at Metropolitan Museum of Art where she was the museum’s first curator of Korean art, organizing such landmark shows as  “Silla: Korea’s Golden Kingdom” and “Diamond Mountains: Travel and Nostalgia in Korean Art." Last year, after 15 years at the Met, she was appointed Chief Curator of the Harvard Art Museums. She talks to Juliana and Catherine about her childhood as the daughter of a South Korean diplomat living in Jakarta, Stockholm and London; her early love of Japanese art; and the challenges of making ancient art compelling to modern American audiences.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/4nuVk3Ka2Jk

Hosts: Juliana Sohn @juliana_sohn Catherine Hong @catherinehong100
Executive Producer: Hj Lee
Editor: AJ Valente

instagram.com/kpodpod
youtube.com/koreanamericanstoryorg

In recent years we’ve seen a boom of Asian American actors in film and TV. But for decades, John Cho was practically the only one. He first came to fame in 2004 playing Harold in the Harold and Kumar films, a role that challenged many people’s ideas about what a leading man could look like. He’s built his career thoughtfully ever since, taking roles (Sulu in the Star Trek films, Spike Spiegel in Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop) that don’t play into negative stereotypes. The son of a minister, Cho was born in Seoul and moved to the States when he was six. He has just written his first book, Troublemaker, a middle grade novel about a 12-year-old Korean American boy’s experience of the LA riots. In a candid and open conversation, Cho recalls his own experience of 사이구(SaIGu), his memories of growing up in the church and the bottled up anger he’s often felt as an Asian American man. Juliana and Catherine also get to hear about Cho’s love of Little House on the Prairie and how books helped him through his peripatetic childhood.

 

Follow John Cho on Instagram @johnthecho

Co-host, Producer, Photographer: Juliana Sohn @juliana_sohn

Co-host, Producer, Editor: Catherine Hong @catherinehong100

Audio Engineer: AJ Valente

Executive Producer: HJ Lee

 

KoreanAmericanStory.org is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to capture, preserve, and share stories of the Korean American experience. 

Continuing their special series on cultural topics, Catherine and Juliana discuss the ways Korean Americans are observing age-old traditions like Paebek (wedding tea ceremony), Dol (first birthday) and Jesa (ancestor veneration). Their first guest is event planner Christine Chang of Live Love Create in Los Angeles, who explains how her wedding and Dol clients are honoring their heritage in a “fusion” style that feels relevant to them. (Think: a shorter, more inclusive Paebek or a golf ball included in the doljabi.) Next, they chat with mother-daughter duo Laura Kim and Estella Riahi of Leehwa Wedding & Hanbok, a sought-after hanbok studio where LA’s Korean community have been ordering custom garments since the early 1990s. Catherine and Juliana learn how hanbok styles have evolved and how Leewha has become the go-to source for celebs looking for hanboks for awards season. Finally, the hosts speak with Jennifer Kim, aka Mudang Jenn, a shaman based in New York who explains the tradition of Jesa and how Korean Americans are adapting the ritual for today.

Christine Chang of Live Love Create Events @livelovecreate

Leehwa Wedding & Hanbok @leehwawedding

Mudang Jenn @shaman.mudang

Check out the full video on Youtube, link in bio!

__________

KoreanAmericanStory.org is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization whose mission is to create and preserve the stories of the Korean American experience.

CREDITS

Co-host, Producer, Photographer: Juliana Sohn @juliana_sohn

Co-host, Producer, Editor: Catherine Hong @catherinehong100

Audio Engineer: AJ Valente https://ajyval.myportfolio.com/

Executive Producer: HJ Lee

Production Manager: Kimberly Young Sun @kimberlyyoungsun

While Korean immigrants are notorious for pushing their kids to become doctors, it’s worth remembering that Koreans have cultivated their own age-old approach to wellness for over 5,000 years. Hanbang – aka traditional Korean medicine – encompasses acupuncture, herbs and cupping and has lately attracted a surge of interest among both Korean Americans and Westerners. Continuing our special series on cultural topics, our hosts sit down with two respected practitioners, Dr. Erin Lee and Dr. Robert Lee, to gain an understanding of this often misunderstood field. Juliana (a Korean medicine adherent) and Catherine (a semi-skeptic) get a chance to ask their burning questions, including: How does Korean medicine differ from Chinese medicine? Is there clinical proof  of the effectiveness of herbal remedies? How exactly does acupuncture work — and is it the same thing as “dry needling?” Why do Koreans fear sleeping with fans? What is cupping? How can patients find a good acupuncturist? And what’s the deal with the deer antlers anyway? 

Diana Son is a television writer and producer whose credits include The West Wing, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Southland, Dirty John, Blue Bloods and Thirteen Reasons Why, where she served as showrunner. She first came to fame as a young playwright in 1998 with the acclaimed play Stop Kiss, which premiered at the Public Theatre and starred an unknown Sandra Oh. In a Zoom interview, Catherine and Juliana learn about Diana’s recent bout with Covid-19, her experience being the only Asian or Asian woman in countless writing rooms and her most recent project, an adaptation of the novel If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha into a series for Apple. Follow Diana Son on Twitter @dianason Follow K-Pod on Instagram @kpodpod Hosts: Juliana Sohn @juliana_sohn and Catherine Hong @catherinehong100 Editor: AJ Valente Producer: Jessica Park Executive Producer: HJ Lee

Say it isn’t so! After five seasons, we are wrapping up our podcast about Korean Americans in arts and culture. For the final episode of K-Pod, co-hosts Catherine Hong and Juliana Sohn look back on the series and recall some favorite moments, from creative director Ji Lee on the value of pursuing personal projects to interior designer Young Huh’s case for beauty in everyday life. They also reveal dream guests they wish they had gotten (Sandra Oh); the one episode Juliana’s son actually listened to (Michelle Zauner); and what’s next for KoreanAmericanStory.org in its mission to heal generational trauma through storytelling. Our deepest thanks to our supporters and everybody who listened to K-Pod. 감사합니다!

Facebook creative director Ji Lee is one of the most influential graphic designers working in the country today. Born in Korea and raised in Brazil, he built his career in advertising, working for Google Creative Lab, Droga 5 and Saatchi & Saatchi. But it’s his wide range of witty and subversive personal projects — like the Bubble Project and the Instagram sensation Drawings for my Grandchildren, which features the artwork of his 76-year-old father — that are dearest to his heart. Catherine and Juliana learn about his Korean-Brazilian childhood, his unique creative process and his passion for challenging the way we see the world.

Follow Ji Lee on Instagram @ji_lee_
Hosts: Juliana Sohn @juliana_sohn Catherine Hong @catherinehong100
Executive Producer: Hj Lee
Editor: AJ Valente

instagram.com/kpodpod
youtube.com/koreanamericanstoryorg

Writer-performer Karen Chee is a rising star in the comedy world and the youngest member of the writing staff of Late Night with Seth Meyers. A 2017 graduate of Harvard, she’s known for smart, quirky humor that’s unafraid to take on issues of gender, race and politics. Thanks to the recurring segment “What Does Karen Know?” she’s also known for her millennial ignorance of fax machines and Nirvana. Karen tells Catherine and Juliana about her childhood as a “square” (she only watched PBS and C-Span), her early ambitions to be a political speechwriter and how she got her first big gig, writing jokes for Sandra Oh at the Golden Globes.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/X-Wt4uaNO9w

Follow Karen Chee @karencheee
Hosts: Juliana Sohn @juliana_sohn Catherine Hong @catherinehong100
Executive Producer: Hj Lee
Editor: AJ Valente

instagram.com/kpodpod
youtube.com/koreanamericanstoryorg

Romon K. Yang — aka Rostarr — is a Brooklyn-based artist, currently living in Bali, who works in painting, drawing, sculpture, digital and film. His signature works are large-scale black-and-white abstract paintings that recall both calligraphy and street art. In 2016, he collaborated with Nike on a much-coveted collection of sneakers and apparel; he has also created work for the Standard Hotels group and Moncler. Rostarr tells Catherine and Juliana about his rebellious childhood in Virginia, his fraught relationship with his parents, and the years he spent as a breakdancer, graphic designer and music industry art director before finding his calling as an artist.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/jxYaLowMj08

Hosts: Juliana Sohn @juliana_sohn Catherine Hong @catherinehong100
Executive Producer: Hj Lee
Editor: AJ Valente
instagram.com/kpodpod
youtube.com/koreanamericanstoryorg

Eric Kim is a writer for the New York Times and author of the cookbook Korean American: Food That Tastes Like Home. Over the past couple of years, Eric has become something of a darling in the New York food world not only for his innovative and idiosyncratic creations (think: sheet-pan bibimbap, gochugaru salmon, Stouffer’s style mac & cheese) but the intimate stories that accompany them. His readers know that as a kid growing up in the suburbs of Atlanta, he loved the McNuggets and greasy ball pit at McDonald’s. They also know that for his first date with his boyfriend, he made kimchi and mayo sandwiches. Eric attended NYU and was on his way to getting a PhD in English at Columbia when he dropped out to pursue food writing full time. He tells Catherine and Juliana about his experience moving home during the pandemic, where he stayed nearly a year to work on recipes alongside his mother. He also shares his theory about the connection between Atlanta’s strip clubs and lemon pepper chicken wings, the story of how he came out to his parents and his not-very-Korean take on the best way to make rice. 

Follow Eric Kim on Instagram @ericjoonho
Follow K-Pod on Instagram @kpodpod

 

Co-host, Producer, Photographer: Juliana Sohn @juliana_sohn

Co-host, Producer, Editor: Catherine Hong @catherinehong100

Audio Engineer: AJ Valente

Executive Producer: HJ Lee

 

KoreanAmericanStory.org is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to capture, preserve, and share stories of the Korean American experience. 

Ashley Park is a Tony, Grammy, and Emmy-nominated musical theater actress who has dazzled Broadway audiences with her performances in Mamma Mia, Sunday in the Park With George, The King and I and Mean Girls. She has also appeared in Netflix’s Tales of the City and off-Broadway in KPOP and Grand Horizons. But Park didn’t waltz her way into stardom without struggle. As a teenager in Ann Arbor, she was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia, necessitating eight months in the hospital. Ashley tells Catherine and Juliana about how her passion for performing fueled her recovery and shares some of the secrets to her success. Follow Ashley Park on Instagram @ashleyparklady Follow K-Pod on Instagram @kpodpod Hosts: Juliana Sohn @juliana_sohn Catherine Hong @catherinehong100 Editor: AJ Valente Producer: Jessica Park Executive Producer: HJ Lee

Celebrity manicurist Jin Soon Choi has been a force in the beauty world for the last two decades. Her pioneering work has been featured on countless magazine covers and has made her a backstage fixture during New York Fashion Week. In the industry, everyone loves Jin — she’s the fun-loving, ageless cool kid who hangs out with Marc Jacobs and the Hadid sisters, always with a smile on her face. But what Catherine and Juliana learn is she’s never forgotten her humble start in the States when she spoke just a few words of English and worked as a waitress at GamMeeOk in Koreatown.

Follow Jin Soon Choi on Instagram @jinsoonchoi

Hosts: Juliana Sohn @juliana_sohn Catherine Hong @catherinehong100 Executive Producer: Hj Lee 
Producer: Kevin Park 
Editor: AJ Valente

instagram.com/kpodpod 
youtube.com/koreanamericanstoryorg

Daniel K. Isaac is best known for his ensemble role on the Showtime series Billions where he plays portfolio manager Ben Kim. But 2022 was a pivotal year for the actor and playwright, whose passion is the stage. He starred in The Chinese Lady at the Public Theater; he made his playwriting debut with Once Upon a (korean) Time for the Ma-Yi Theater Company; and he's currently starring opposite Linda Lavin in You Will Get Sick at the Roundabout Theater. Daniel was born in Southern California, the only child of a single mother active in her evangelical Korean church. As a gay teenager, he struggled against his sexual orientation and even underwent conversion therapy. (Spoiler alert: It did not work.) In a candid, funny and yes, raunchy, conversation he opens up about his early sexual experiences, his estrangement from his father and his ongoing conflict with his mother, who disowned him when he was in college and is still “in the closet” about being the mom of a gay son — despite the fact that Isaac has turned many of her remarks into the viral hashtag #accordingtomymother. Prepare to laugh, cry and cover your young children’s ears.

 

CREDITS 
Co-host, Producer, Photographer: Juliana Sohn https://www.instagram.com/juliana_sohn/ 
Co-host, Producer, Editor: Catherine Hong https://www.instagram.com/catherinehong100/
Audio Engineer: AJ Valente https://ajyval.myportfolio.com/ 
Executive Producer: HJ Lee 
Production Coordinator: Young Sun https://www.kimberlyyoungsun.com/ 

 

KoreanAmericanStory.org is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization whose mission is to create and preserve the stories of the Korean American experience.

Los Angeles-based siblings Jeanne Yang and Ben Yang have both made their mark on the fashion world, but in very different ways. Jeanne Yang is a highly sought-after stylist known for her work with Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr. and Christian Bale. Previously, she designed the fashion line Holmes & Yang with actress Katie Holmes. Ben Yang (aka Ben Baller), Jeanne’s younger brother by five years, originally made his name in the music industry working with Dr. Dre, Snoop and Master P. For the past decade he’s become known as the jeweler to the stars—the larger-than-life personality behind the custom blinged-out grills and chains worn by Drake, Kanye, Kid Cudi, and Justin Bieber. Catherine and Juliana learn about the siblings’ childhood in Los Angeles’s K-Town, their bizarre experience visiting the North Korea consulate in Berlin in 1981, their very different experiences of adolescence (Jeanne at boarding school, Ben expelled by multiple schools) and their perspective on finding their place as Korean Americans. Hosts: Juliana Sohn @juliana_sohn and Catherine Hong @catherinehong100 Editor: AJ Valente Producer: Jessica Park Executive Producer: HJ Lee Follow Jeanne Yang on Instagram @jeanneyangstyle Follow Ben Baller on Instagram @benballer Follow K-Pod on Instagram @kpodpod