Model Minority Moms

Kate Wang, Susan Lieu, Jeanette Park

Welcome to Model Minority Moms where we reckon with the myth of success in career, family and life. We’re Jeanette, Kate, and Susan - Harvard classmates and Asian American working moms who get real about the pressures of fitting in while standing out.

https://modelminoritymoms.com

Model Minority Moms is a project of Real Life Media LLC.

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20 episodes
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August 7 · 35 min
Ep 144: Moms Gone Mild - Vegas BSB edition (pre-show)
**Special note to our listeners** Love the show? Help us keep the conversation going! Become a paid subscriber through our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Your contributions help us continue to make content on issues related to the Asian-American, immigrant, modern parent experience. THANK YOU to our super awesome listeners who have already signed up! -------------------------------------- We're interrupting our series on Power, Money and Marriage to talk about... Vegas. And the Backstreet Boys. Yeah - moms gotta go a little wild sometimes (just kidding, more like moms gone mild). Anyhow, we talk about mom fun trips, how we chose Vegas, our BSB teenage nostalgia, and how we're fretting about what to wear. We're posting this pre-trip recording with our post-trip thoughts as a two-fer and we're taking a short break in releasing more episodes until September 4th! We hope you enjoy this lighter episode and we will see you in the fall!
August 7 · 53 min
Ep 145: Moms Gone Mild - Vegas BSB edition (post-show)
**Special note to our listeners** Love the show? Help us keep the conversation going! Become a paid subscriber through our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Your contributions help us continue to make content on issues related to the Asian-American, immigrant, modern parent experience. THANK YOU to our super awesome listeners who have already signed up! -------------------------------------- Post-trip recording where we dish about the BSB show (TLDR: It was amazing), share tips about going to concerts at the Sphere and argue about NSYNC vs BSB. We also talk about what else we enjoyed in our whirlwind Las Vegas mommy weekend, from where to eat and cool non-gambling fun to be found in Vegas. We're posting this pre-trip recording with our pre-trip thoughts as a two-fer and we're taking a short break in releasing more episodes until September 4th! We hope you enjoy this lighter episode and we will see you in the fall!
July 31 · 58 min
Ep143: Power, Money and Marriage Part 4 - Leaning Into being a Tradwife CEO
**Special note to our listeners** Love the show? Help us keep the conversation going! Become a paid subscriber through our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Your contributions help us continue to make content on issues related to the Asian-American, immigrant, modern parent experience. THANK YOU to our super awesome listeners who have already signed up! -------------------------------------- Our millennial well-educated woman fantasy: We would be running a major company/organization, calling the shots, showing people how brilliant and capable we are. But then we come home, slip into our A-line dress and go harvest zucchini from our weed-free garden. And we're so well rested and our children come in and say, "Hello, Mother." Everybody's emotionally regulated and connected and the children go and practice their piano and everybody sits down for dinner, and then the dishes magically disappear, clean themselves, and go into the cupboards. In this episode, we talk about what's been held up as cultural norms and expectations that promise women value and power in relationships and society, what it was like to go through the Lean In era of the 2010s as young, child-free professional women and then encountering the tradwife memes of the last few years.
July 17 · 1 hr 4 min
Ep142: Power, Money and Marriage Part 3 - Claiming your power is dissecting your resentments?
**Special note to our listeners** Love the show? Help us keep the conversation going! Become a paid subscriber through our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Your contributions help us continue to make content on issues related to the Asian-American, immigrant, modern parent experience. THANK YOU to our super awesome listeners who have already signed up! -------------------------------------- Susan complained that the last episode sounded like everything is totally peachy with all of us when it comes to Power, Money and Marriage in each of our lives. Of course, the reality is more complicated than that. In the big picture, things might be fine but in the reality of daily life, there is friction and... resentments. A good healthy dose for each of us apparently. This series is supposed to be about power and money in the context of marriage and parenting but when we tried to put the spotlight on the problems around money and power, we got to... resentments. But why? Maybe it's because we feel that the level of power afforded to moms is unfair. Maybe the low value placed on the work of mothering is unfair (and we equate having value with having power). Maybe the expectation around earning income and being a good parent is unfair and wildly unrealistic (and we equate meeting others' expectations to having value to having power). So the chain is: unrealistic expectations that cannot be met --> feeling devalued in others' eyes --> feeling like we get less respect and power --> feelings of unfairness and resentment. Capiche? Maybe some of those resentments are justified. Maybe some are within our control to mitigate and reclaim that power. Anyhow, we dissect in our usual style on this episode.
July 3 · 1 hr
Ep141: Power, Money and Marriage Part 2- Why do many women downshift their careers after kids
**Special note to our listeners** Love the show? Help us keep the conversation going! Become a paid subscriber through our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Your contributions help us continue to make content on issues related to the Asian-American, immigrant, modern parent experience. THANK YOU to our super awesome listeners who have already signed up! -------------------------------------- We cringe even as we write this title. Should we use the word "downshift"? Is that a betrayal of generations of feminists who fought for our right to equal opportunity in the classroom and workplace? To current and future women who work so hard for their place in society? Should we use a more neutral word like "renegotiate" instead? But at the exact same time, the question is so obvious to any mom who lives between the paid working world and the child-rearing world. We downshift/change/renegotiate our careers (or don't) because of financial considerations, the emotional weight of going either way and the power that is lost or gained. For the three of us, we are seeing it happen to mom friends all around us. Quietly shifting to something less than full-time. Moving to a related but lower-stress field. Leaving the industry altogether and building something more flexible and maybe more personally meaningful. But it doesn't mean that these women aren't working. On the contrary, many are working more than ever across family and outside of family. At the same time, the specter of expectations of still contributing half of the family income still hangs over many of us. We process it out loud on this second episode of our series.
June 19 · 58 min
Ep140: Power, Money and Marriage Part 1- We started even and now we're here
**Special note to our listeners** Love the show? Help us keep the conversation going! Become a paid subscriber through our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Your contributions help us continue to make content on issues related to the Asian-American, immigrant, modern parent experience. THANK YOU to our super awesome listeners who have already signed up! -------------------------------------- Oh boy we're on a roll with the sticky topics so many of us deal with but are rarely spoken of in polite company. In this new series, we're talking about Power and Money in Marriage. When women did not have equal access to education, financial products or job opportunities, having a lopsided balance of power with your husband was pretty typical, even predictable. But as Millennial women who often outshined our male peers in academic achievement, could run our own financial lives and careers, and was brought up on the 90's slogan of "you can have it all"... what happens if you decide you maybe can't have it all actually (at least not at once) and take a step back your career (and earning power) to focus on motherhood? What are the emotions associated with that? (for us: a curious mix of guilt, shame, self-doubt mixed with deep conviction) What are the social costs? ("I'm a full-time mom" is not often the strongest opener at a mixer) What are the costs to your power in your relationship? What are the financial costs? In true MMM style, we romp through it all.
June 5 · 56 min
Ep139: Mean Mommy vs Nice Mommy - which one are you?
**Special note to our listeners** Love the show? Help us keep the conversation going! Become a paid subscriber through our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Your contributions help us continue to make content on issues related to the Asian-American, immigrant, modern parent experience. THANK YOU to our super awesome listeners who have already signed up! -------------------------------------- Are you a mommy dictator, loosey goose or leader? Are we over-doing the "gentle parenting" and we will end up with teenagers who want awards for just wiping their own butts? Or are we really engaging in age-appropriate expectations that will result in secure, happy, and of course, successful adult children who will want to hang out with us when we're old? Timeouts for your kid. Timeout for mommy. Timers. Countdowns. Tagging in/out with your partner. Authoritarian, Authoritative, Permissive. We talk about all the things related to discipline, trying to get the desired behavior from your child, how hard to push them and what else we're trying to balance at the same time.
May 22 · 52 min
Ep138: Faith & Spirituality series - Marriage across faith backgrounds, what to tell your kids about God, the afterlife and moral living
**Special note to our listeners** Love the show? Help us keep the conversation going! Become a paid subscriber through our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Your contributions help us continue to make content on issues related to the Asian-American, immigrant, modern parent experience. THANK YOU to our super awesome listeners who have already signed up! -------------------------------------- Mom, what happens to you and me when we die? Mom, what is God? Mom, why do you go to temple and Daddy doesn't? Mom, why do bad things happen? In this final episode of our Faith & Spirituality series, we turn our discussion from the spiritual/religious aspects of our childhoods to those of our relationships with our spouses and kiddos. Do you and your spouse share a common spiritual/ religious worldview or not? How has that played out in the early days of your relationship versus now? How does that impact how you raise your children? How are you answering questions from your kids that broach on the spiritual, metaphysical and moral? How does faith, uncertainty and community play out in those conversations? We will be the first to say we don't have clean answers to any of these questions. But we share the messy, honest view of how our own situations have played out in the hope that it sparks a connection, new questions and fresh energy.
May 8 · 1 hr 13 min
Ep137: Faith & Spirituality series - Religion was weird, powerful, confusing, and beautiful for us as kids
**Special note to our listeners** Love the show? Help us keep the conversation going! Become a paid subscriber through our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Your contributions help us continue to make content on issues related to the Asian-American, immigrant, modern parent experience. THANK YOU to our super awesome listeners who have already signed up! -------------------------------------- As a kid, religious stuff can be kind of weird. You're told God might send you to hell, you're forced to sit for hours chanting things that you don't understand, you feel like if you have questions or doubts you are a bad person. Yet for some of us, they also simultaneously offered us a lifeline - a deep community (however flawed), a place to share our gifts, hope of a greater power and goodness, somewhere to turn to when we were at the end of our rope. In this episode, we have a frank conversation about the good, the bad, the weird, the confusing and the beautiful of our religious upbringings. For better or for worse, these experiences were some of the most formative parts of our childhood and we feel people don't talk about it enough. We try to bring our curiosity and honesty to an in-depth look at how we experienced religion and spirituality in our families of origin.
April 24 · 1 hr 4 min
Ep136: Faith & Spirituality series - The joys and hurts of being an Asian American Christian with Kristin Lee, author of We Mend with Gold
**Special note to our listeners** Love the show? Help us keep the conversation going! Become a paid subscriber through our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Your contributions help us continue to make content on issues related to the Asian-American, immigrant, modern parent experience. THANK YOU to our super awesome listeners who have already signed up! -------------------------------------- We know, we're potentially opening up a can of worms with this new series on Faith & Spirituality. Religion, spirituality, faith, worldview, whatever you might call it - it is usually a very private matter in the United States and one that can be full of judgment. At the same time, it is something that informs our values, our choices and how we parent. So in keeping with our style, we decided to dive headlong into it. We aim to speak honestly from our personal experience, based on the mutual trust we have among the three of us and our listeners. We are not aiming to "convert" anyone to our viewpoint but to give visibility to this intimate but very central part of our lived experience. In this episode, we speak with Kristin Lee, a Chinese-American physician, mom, wife and author of We Mend With Gold- An Immigrant Daughter's Reckoning with American Christianity. She talks about the deep joys as well as the misgivings she experienced growing up in the Asian-American church, and the questions that she wrestled with as a young adult. We also discuss the relationship between the white American church and more marginalized Christian voices and how mending those often fractured relationships can lead to a more healthy, beautiful and authentic faith community. To learn more about Kristin's work, check out: Book: We Mend with Gold IG: @ktlee.writes Website: https://kristintlee.com/
April 10 · 1 hr 13 min
Ep135: Peeing yourself, prolapse, pain - get the pelvic 411 with Dr. Jennifer Guan
**Special note to our listeners** Love the show? Help us keep the conversation going! Become a paid subscriber through our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Your contributions help us continue to make content on issues related to the Asian-American, immigrant, modern parent experience. THANK YOU to our super awesome listeners who have already signed up! -------------------------------------- Your pelvis. It's not something most people really think about until they have a problem with it. And often, problems start (for women at least) during pregnancy and post delivery. And it's often not just right after delivery... it can actually last years or even decades. Some of us are still experiencing pain or peeing ourselves years after our kids are born. Then you find out, actually a well-functioning pelvis is critical to having a well-functioning life. If you are peeing yourself during exercise or every time you hear running water, your life will not function well. If organs that should be inside your pelvis, are sliding out of your pelvis, your life will be impacted. If sex, walking around, picking up your child, or doing other normal things are painful, there will be costs to bear. While we can daydream about free postpartum pelvic PT being the standard of care (like it is in France), our guest Dr. Jennifer Guan talks us through the basis of pelvic health, common problems, ways to prevent injury during pregnancy and delivery, and options for care afterwards. Please note that all of our episodes are meant to be informational only and should not be taken as advice. Please consult a qualified professional to get support for your specific situation. Learn more about Dr. Guan's work at https://www.balancedynamicspt.com Further reading: Pelvic pain: Pelvic Pain Explained by Elizabeth H. Akincilar and Stephanie A. Prendergast When Sex Hurts by Andrew T. Goldstein, Caroline F. Pukall, and Irwin Goldstein Postpartum: The Fourth Trimester by Kimberly Ann Johnson Why Did No one Tell Me? by Emma Brockwell Peri-menopause/menopause: What Fresh Hell Is This? by Heather Corinna Menopause Manifesto by Jen Gunter The Hormone Repair Manual by Lara Briden General pelvic health: The Vagina Bible by Jen Gunter Floored by Sara Reardon
March 27 · 1 hr 10 min
Ep134: Feeling hot and crazed? Could it be perimenopause - with Dr. Rebecca Dunsmoor-Su
**Special note to our listeners** Love the show? Help us keep the conversation going!Become a paid subscriber through our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Your contributions help us continue to make content on issues related to the Asian-American, immigrant, modern parent experience. THANK YOU to our super awesome listeners who have already signed up! --------------------------------------- Are you looking around periodically these days, wondering if the heat is turned up too high? Waking up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat and mind racing? Feeling extra brain fog, anxiety or depression? Weight creeping on but never off? It might be PERI MENOPAUSE people! In this episode, we talk to Dr. Rebecca Dunsmoor-Su, board certified OBGYN and Chief Medical Officer for Gennev, a clinician-built menopause care platform. She explains the biological basis for perimenopause (it actually shares some similarities with being a teenager! :p), lays out the current medical guidelines for treating perimenopausal symptoms and debunks the many many myths about perimenopause treatments that are floating out there. Perimenopause is absolutely real folks and if you're starting to feel it, you're not alone. We learned that perimenopause is a pivotal time in a women's health - both from a mental health perspective (it's the time when suicide rates are the highest for women) and physical health perspective (you are laying the foundation for a healthy second half of life). So don't ignore it folks and listen! To learn more about Dr. Rebecca Dunsmoor-Su and her work, check out: @ovary_active on IG https://gennev.com/
March 13 · 1 hr 33 min
Ep133: Teaching kids their heritage language - a conversation with Jojo Learning Founder Christine Yang Barry
**Giveaway Alert! Keep reading for details** In this episode, we interviewed Christine Yang Berry, creator of the multiple award-winning Jojo Chinese songs for Baby and Me musical book series. Christine created these musical books to help families introduce Mandarin to babies, toddlers, and preschoolers through singing, bonding, and everyday communication. We talk to Christine about the challenges, rewards and opportunities for raising multilingual children and what she's learned over the years about what's foundational for children to acquire multiple languages (hint: it's not flashcards or forced Saturday language school). To celebrate the episode, we're giving away 10 copies of books 1 and 2 of the series. To enter the giveaway, please follow @modelminoritymoms and @jojo_learning on Instagram and comment the word "giveaway" on the post announcing this episode drop. Anyone who tags a parent friend who might also want to raise a Chinese English bilingual child will also receive an additional entry in the random drawing per friend tagged. Giveaway ends March 31 2026. Winners announced in early April 2026. Jojo Learning is also offering a special discount to MMM Listeners- use the code MMMJOJO15 at this link to get 15% off your first order until September 30, 2026.This giveaway is not sponsored or endorsed by any other entity other than Jojo Learning and the Model Minority Moms podcast.
February 27 · 1 hr 19 min
Ep132: The Joys and Perils of being Mixed Asian
**Special note to our listeners** Love the show? Help us keep the conversation going!Become a paid subscriber through our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Your contributions help us continue to make content on issues related to the Asian-American, immigrant, modern parent experience. THANK YOU to our super awesome listeners who have already signed up! --------------------------------------- Being stereotyped as "so pretty" but having your features picked apart. Knowing two cultures but not feeling full belonging in either. People intrigued with you but also often having wildly incorrect assumptions. In this episode, we sit down for a frank conversation with Becky White, a fashion model, voice actress and singer who is of White American and Korean descent. Becky is also the founder of the Halfie Project where she explores and archives the stories of people with mixed Korean ancestry around the world. Becky grew up as a US military kid and as a young adult, lived in South Korea for 10 years before recently settling in New York City with her husband who is of African-American and Korean descent. Among other things, we talk to her about growing up with a white father from the South and a mother who grew up in South Korea, the experience of working in the fashion modeling industry as a mixed-race person, and what she thinks is important to emphasize to the next generation of mixed-race kids. You can learn more about Becky and her work here: IG: @thehalfieprojectIG: @rebeccarose.official https://www.rebeccarosewhite.com/
February 13 · 1 hr 19 min
Ep131: Dad postpartum depression and being a biracial dad - interview with Daniel Tam-Claiborne
**Special note to our listeners** Love the show? Help us keep the conversation going!Become a paid subscriber through our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Your contributions help us continue to make contenton issues related to the Asian-American, immigrant, modern parent experience. THANK YOU to our super awesome listeners who have already signed up! --------------------------------------- We welcome Daniel Tam-Claiborne back for a second recording because as Susan would say, there was just too much juice to squeeze in just one episode :) While we talked about his experience growing up as a Chinese-Jewish biracial kid in New York City in the last recording, we fast forward in this one to his experience of becoming a dad. Daniel experienced significant symptoms of postpartum depression after his daughter arrived and he talks us through that often hidden experience that many dads go through after they become parents. He started speaking to his quarter- Chinese daughter in Mandarin as he was coming out of the worst of his postpartum depression and we discuss how he and his wife arrived at the decision to commit to a bilingual upbringing for their child who doesn't easily "read" as Chinese or Chinese American. If you'd like to learn more about Daniel Tam-Claiborne and his work, check out: - His debut novel ⁠Transplants⁠ which was a 2023 PEN America Literary Award Finalist- Website at ⁠www.travelbreedscontent.com
January 30 · 1 hr 25 min
Ep130: Navigating belonging as a biracial person - interview with Daniel Tam-Claiborne
Do you sometimes ask your kids questions like "are you doing ok?" or "am I causing you trauma" and then they stare at you blankly and ask if they can have candy now? All three of us have kids who are of multiple racial and ethnic ancestry. We all worry about how they will relate to various parts of their identities and if they will feel a healthy sense of belonging... but that's not the sort of thing most kids will be able to straight up tell you. So we brought on an incredibly thoughtful adult who grew up as a bi-racial person in America and we had a very honest and vulnerable discussion of what that was like for him. Daniel Tam-Claiborne is the author of Transplants, which was a 2023 PEN America Literary Award Finalist. Daniel talks about his childhood growing up in New York City with an ethnically Chinese mother who herself grew up in Cuba and his Jewish father. He discusses how he felt both insider/outsider in many aspects of his identity as a biracial person and how that has shaped his life as an adult and even now as a father of a young daughter. If you have a biracial person in your life that you care for, this one is a must-listen. Learn more about Daniel Tam-Claiborne: - Debut novel Transplants - Website at www.travelbreedscontent.com
January 16 · 1 hr 13 min
Ep129: K-everything series- KDramas
**Special note to our listeners** Love the show? Help us keep the conversation going! Become a paid subscriber through our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Your contributions help us continue to make content on issues related to the Asian-American, immigrant, modern parent experience. THANK YOU to our super awesome listeners who have already signed up! ---------------------------------------Spoiler alert! Though we don't go into any shows in deep detail, we do talk about the high-level plot lines of Crash Landing on You, Queen of Tears, Castaway Diva, The Extraordinary Attorney Woo, Winter Sonata, Bon Appetit Your Majesty and When Life Gives You Tangerines. If you've ever promised yourself "just one more episode and I'll go to sleep" past midnight while watching a Kdrama, this is a safe space for you ≧☉_☉≦. If you don't know what we are talking about, you can skip this episode... or listen and choose to enter the delightfully addictive world of Kdramas +_+ Why so delightful you ask? Why so addictive? Isn't this just a soap opera but filled with Korean actors instead of American ones? Oh no my dearie... Kdramas are a whole 'nother beast, by turns beautiful, cuddly, cute, hilarious, dark and vengeful. There are storylines that grab you but you won't see often in Western shows (we explore why). Characters that pretty much check every box (and are completely unrealistic but who cares). One episode and you will be invested and hitting that "play next" button until it's embarrassingly late (or early :p).
January 2 · 1 hr 8 min
Ep128: K-everything series - Korean food (Warning: don't listen hungry!)
**Special note to our listeners** Love the show? Help us keep the conversation going! Become a paid subscriber through our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Your contributions help us continue to make content on issues related to the Asian-American, immigrant, modern parent experience. THANK YOU to our super awesome listeners who have already signed up! --------------------------------------- Korean BBQ, Kimchi, Bibimbap, Kimbap, Seafood Pancake, Soondu Jigae, Seolleongtang, Naengmyun, Kalbi Jjim - is your mouth watering yet? Riding the broader wave of "Hallyu" (or Korean pop culture) in America, Korean food and ingredients are showing up in more places as well. Kimchi at your local Krogers, gochujang on your pork ribs? And it's not only traditional Korean food that's having a significant influence - what's the story with Paris Baguette in Pittsburgh or (gasp)... Paris? (yes the one in France). In true MMM fashion, we walk through the wonder world that is Korean food and its rising influence in the West. We make your mouth savor with our loving descriptions of how Korean flavors and textures hit our taste buds (we told you - don't listen hungry!), give you a 101 on the traditional Korean table to help deepen your understanding and give you the socio-political-economic take on why Korean food is the way it is and how it's been exported, re-imported and re-exported to be the delightfully delicious array it is today.
Dec 19, 2025 · 1 hr 5 min
Ep127: K-everything series - Kpop Demon Hunters
**Special note to our listeners** Love the show? Help us keep the conversation going! Become a paid subscriber through our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Your contributions help us continue to make content on issues related to the Asian-American, immigrant, modern parent experience. THANK YOU to our super awesome listeners who have already signed up! --------------------------------------- Talking about Korean culture in America right now, we couldn't walk past Kpop Demon Hunters. As of now, it is THE MOST WATCHED ORIGINAL NETFLIX TITLE OF ALL TIME, its film soundtrack has 4 songs in the top 10 of the Billboard 100 and was double-platinum certified and it received five Grammy nominations. We see IG reels of Mormon dads dancing with their daughters to Golden. 8-year-old girls with no Korean heritage belting out Take Down at birthday parties. All this delivered by a anime-style cartoon about a modern-day shamanistic Kpop girl group who defeats demons on the side - pretty crazy right? As Asian American women (including one resident Korean-American), we have all the feels about Kpop Demon Hunters and clue you into what we felt were all the secret winks.
Dec 5, 2025 · 1 hr
Ep126: K-everything series - K beauty
Snail mucin, "glass" or "mochi" skin, BB creams, face masks galore... if you are even remotely interested in makeup and skincare, you've probably noticed the rising influence (bordering on takeover) of Korean beauty in America. Emphasizing skin care and a more "demure" look, Korean beauty products have gone mainstream in the US and are everywhere now from Sephora to Walmart. What's behind the rise of K-beauty products in the US? Do these products even work? What are the beauty standards that underpin them? What about the more invasive beauty procedures (like plastic surgery) that Korea has also become known for? As Asian-Americans (including one resident Korean-American, one makeup and skincare connoisseur, and one professed "cavewoman" skincare adherent :) we've got the exclusive cross-cultural breakdown for you in this fun and honest look at the K-beauty phenomenon in America.

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