Hairy Butthole

This week, Youngmi asks Mino Bowien (her son) what he knows about Trump and American politics. She also reflects on the first time Trump was elected president in 2016 and realizes for the first time the positive changes that came in her life as a direct result.

This week, Youngmi processes her emotions about her book coming out next week in real time. She comes to the realization that her fear of her parents being angry at her for sharing her account of her childhood is actually misplaced sadness, anger and the feeling of utter unfairness at the realization that she is, in fact, the person who deserves to be angry. She realizes  she is the person owed an...

This week, Youngmi talks to Sohla El-Waylly (James Beard Award Winning cookbook author of Start Here ) about the running internet joke about white people not seasoning their chicken. Sohla explains the definition of properly seasoning food, and how white people are not necessarily in the wrong here. She also discusses all the nuances surrounding her emotions about weight gain during pregnancy and...

This week, Youngmi speaks with Jon Kung (content creator, cookbook author) about his practice of hiding his career accomplishments from his parents. Jon traces his aversion to boasting about his success to his childhood, where he felt pitted against his peers in a competition against his will. Jon and Youngmi discuss the confusing rules surrounding boasting in Asian cultures, where one is never al...

Youngmi talks to Nancy Whang (LCD Soundsystem) about her continual journey with taking psychedelics to cure depression. Nancy also shares the story of the passing of her father, which turns out to be the most Korean most-laugh-while-crying story of all Hairy Butthole history.

This week, Youngmi's son Mino Bowien (child) asks to discuss the death of their cat, Donggo. Mino requested to discuss his feelings about the passing of their cat, and includes advice to other children and even adults dealing with the grief of losing a pet.

This week, Youngmi chats with Anthony Hull (filmmaker, founder of Side Projects). Anthony discusses what led him down the path to becoming a storyteller, and largely credits his Korean mom. When questioned about what his sad life experiences are, Anthony deflects the focus to his mother's hardships, and Youngmi questions the impulse to not want to center himself. Anthony also discusses what life i...

This week, Youngmi talks to Mary H.K. Choi (author) about her essay in The Cut about her recent autism diagnosis at the age of 43. Mary throws a curveball by focusing the conversation on Youngmi's upcoming memoir and the theme of loving and hating Korea. Mary reflects on the strongly negative view Youngmi has about Korea, and discusses how before this, Asian American literature has been almost voi...

This week, Youngmi reads an essay she wrote about a recent relationship and breakup she experienced with a people pleaser.

This week, Youngmi talks to her anonymous neighbor "Barbara," who coincidentally is also going through a terrible breakup. Barbara and Youngmi discuss the nuances of their relationships, and ultimately find the bond they were searching for in romantic relationships with men, between themselves.

This week, Youngmi discusses the death of her cat Donggo, whose name means butthole in Korean and who was extra hairy. She also touches on the larger topic of grief and how to strike a balance between making room for grief and getting back to living life, and parenting a child experiencing grief.

This week, Youngmi speaks with her close friend, renowned mixologist and cocktail book author, John deBary. John discusses being diagnosed with autism less than a month ago at the age of 41. He dives into a unique experience among people who receive diagnoses as adults: combing through huge events throughout their childhood and early lives and realizing how monumental the impact of their neurodive...

This week, Youngmi talks to Kate Moran (producer of Asian Comedy Fest, comedian, host of The Witchcast podcast) about her story as a Korean adoptee who succeeded in finding her birth mother. She notes how rare her experience was and discusses the strange feeling of grieving the loss of an imaginary "fairy mother" when meeting her biological mother who was, in fact, a human being with flaws. Kate r...

This week, Youngmi talks to Brittany Carney (writer, comedian, star of That is My Horse ) about being part of a race that you do not appear to be. Brittany shares a story about bonding with a Japanese child at a science camp she was teaching at. As a mixed-race person of Japanese and African American heritage, she talks about the rejection she feels when Japanese people have a hard time reading he...

This week, Youngmi talks with Jared Goldstein (actor, comedian) about struggling to be one of the "cool kids" in high school. Jared points out that contrary to the popular trope of bullies ending up working in gas stations while the kids they bullied become successful, real-life mean kids are usually rich and subsequently do very well as adults. Jared also talks about how 99 percent of his profess...

This week, Youngmi talks to Ed Pokropski (creator of Case 84: Adopted in the USA , producer of Asian Comedy Festival) about the one-person show he wrote about his adoption and subsequent return visit to Korea. Ed talks about growing up not wanting to visit Korea because of the resentment he felt about the forced narratives surrounding adoption and the idea of it being his "homeland." He also talks...

This week, Youngmi talks to Charlene Kaye (musician/actor/creator of Tiger Daughter ) about the extremely taboo topic of mother-daughter competition. Charlene talks about how her pursuit of her music/acting career was difficult for her mother to experience as someone who had to give up on her own dreams of becoming a singer as a young girl struggling with poverty in Singapore. Youngmi and Charlene...

This week Youngmi speaks with Umeko Motoyoshi (they/them), the founder of the online home goods store Umeshiso. Motoyoshi speaks about growing up in a cult founded by their father—an environment where the adults in their community had poor boundaries and where Motoyoshi had to take on a parental role as a child. This was coupled with the exhausting masking of their autism, which led them to a suic...

This week, Tulika Bose (journalist) joins the pod again to discuss the tense and somewhat terrifying climate of newsrooms following Oct. 7. She talks about how the "punishment" for speaking up has fallen disproportionately on the shoulders of women of color and how journalists are being silenced due to the interests of sponsors. She touches on the ways in which the industry runs now being almost c...

This week, Youngmi talks to Oak Laokwansathitaya ( @notanothertree ). Oak and Youngmi discuss the one year anniversary of their trip to Thailand. Oak discusses what it feels like as a Thai person going to a country known for its foreign tourist industry and how he feels protective of the people of Thailand when witnessing poor treatment at the hands of tourists.

This week, Youngmi chats with Royce Akifumi Wilmot (TikTok content creator, @shoshinboy ) about their weird theories on content creation, authenticity, why people just watch other people talk while sitting in their cars, and music. Royce creates content on "classic rock" (music that was popular when Youngmi was in high school) and they discuss how he fell into this niche. He also discusses a sad s...

This week, Youngmi talks to Lana Siebel (standup comedian). Lana discusses her childhood as a Ukrainian Jewish refugee. She talks about how her past shaped her into someone who has an immense desire for peace but at the same time someone who is riddled with unrelenting fear. Lana and Youngmi also discuss how strange it is for large groups of people to be grouped together in abstract "teams" based...

This week, Youngmi talks to Jes Tom (comedian, writer for Our Flag Means Death on Max) about a seemingly small issue he had in his last relationship, not being posted on main. Jes and Youngmi talk about how small problems in romantic relationships result in us feeling large emotions and how maybe our emotional reactions are indicative of larger important issues. Jes also discusses how it feels as...

This week, Youngmi talks to Mic Nguyen (comedian, host of Asian, Not Asian podcast) about navigating recent events as standup comedians. Youngmi talks about her theory on why Koreans took to Christianity so well and compares Jesus's behavior to all the Korean guys she knows. Mic talks about being a new dad and the fascinating, much neglected topic of Asian son-dad relationships. Youngmi and Mic al...

This week, Youngmi discusses her political beliefs and worldview. She talks about the dangerous idea that public-facing people's opinions matter more than other people. She also touches on why her identity as a biracial person has affected how she views "Us. Vs. Them" narratives that are used by governments worldwide to divide and alienate different groups of people.