Podcasts

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!

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 Park 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

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?

Dr Erin Lee on Instagram @workinprogressacu

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?

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.

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.

In this month’s KoreanAmericanStory on KRB 87.7 FM, Angie Kim, Community Organizing Fellow at Minkwon Center for Community Action, talks about her experience as a DACA Dreamer and her involvement in advocacy for young immigrants.

In this month’s KoreanAmericanStory on KRB 87.7 FM, Executive Director of Restore NYC, Jimmy Lee, talks about his personal journey of passion, faith and social change, starting from working on Wall Street, discovering a need to help women with AIDS in Africa, and coming back to the U.S. to start an NGO that brings shelter and aid to sex-trafficking victims in New York.

In this month’s KoreanAmericanStory on 87.7 FM, Doogaji creators Charles and Victoria Thompson talk about the importance of bicultural identity, and how their books are meant to instill this value in Korean American children.