Hairy Butthole

This week, Youngmi talks about the momentous occasion of her manuscript being turned in, and as a surprise to no one, it made her depressed. She also discusses the negative impact her busy schedule this past year had on her relationship with her son and the process of mending a hard phase between parent and child. 

This week, Youngmi speaks with Atheer Yacoub (comedian/writer of Denied Entry ). Atheer discusses her perspective as a Palestinian on the recent events in Israel and Palestine. She also touches on how her childhood growing up in the West Bank and Alabama shaped her work as a comedian.

This week, Youngmi talks to Joanne Molinaro (cookbook author of The Korean Vegan , TikTok star). Joanne discusses how she got into veganism, the history of veganism in Korea and all the psychology involved with having a restricted diet. She discusses why she believes a lot of people have a negative knee-jerk reaction when hearing about vegans, and reveals she used to feel the same way before becom...

This week, Youngmi talks to Kimmy Yam (journalist at NBC News). Kimmy shares a relatable story about a time when she was a child that her parents forgot to pick her up from school. Although this is a common experience among children, she discusses the added stress of being the only Asian family in a small town, and how that dynamic played into every event in her childhood. She also discusses her h...

This week, Youngmi brings on her chaotic daily group chat members: Alex Pemoulie and John deBary. They discuss the modern phenomenon of the group chat and why they think it plays such a huge role in the daily lives of everyone today. They talk about the origins of the rise of the popularity of the medium stemming from older forms of communication from Y2K chat interfaces like AIM, to ancient ritua...

This week, Youngmi talks with Doyeon You (fashion content creator @yoni0323 , founder of C'Est D) about the rigid beauty standards in South Korea. Doyeon is a fashion designer and creator of content based on body positivity. She discusses what her life was like growing up in Korea as someone considered "overweight" by Korean standards. They touch on their shared experiences of being constantly bod...

This week, Youngmi chats with Laura Danger (@thatdarnchat, educator, content creator, author of the upcoming book No More Mediocre ). Laura talks about her extremely viral Internet content on the subject matter of weaponized incompetence among men in cishet relationships/marriages and breaks down some of the mind blowing statistics surrounding the distribution of domestic labor. Laura and Youngmi...

This week, Youngmi is joined by Laurie Woolever (author of Bourdain: The Definitive Oral Biography ), who discusses the loss of her mother to multiple sclerosis. She talks about what it was like growing up while knowing her mother had an illness which was most likely going to take her life. She also discusses how certain sad events caused her to laugh uncontrollably and examines what that reaction...

This week, Youngmi talks with Charlie Bardey (comedian, host of Exploration Live Comedy podcast) about the pain of breakups. Charlie and Youngmi touch on their recent breakups and how they deal with the same pain in opposite ways. Charlie explains his impulse to try to keep his exes in his life at all costs and Youngmi explains why she feels the need to block them on everything and never think abo...

This week Youngmi sits with KimChi (founder of KimChi Chic Beauty) about the recent surge in homophobia online. She touches on how pride feels different this year than previous years as corporations have pulled away due to online hysteria. She also discusses her upcoming two books: a YA novel about the importance of public libraries to children and a lifestyle book about her travels and food. 

This week, Youngmi discusses a topic suggested by a listener about her relationship with her queer identity. She talks about why it's difficult for her to discuss, as well as the relationships she's had later in her adult life.

This week, Youngmi discusses "people pleasing trauma response." She talks about the realization she had around this trauma response and the work she's done to move away from it as well as experiencing it in someone else and the harm it caused her. Leading her to ultimately realize how manipulative and harmful this response is. She also touches on a bizarre coincidence about the billionaire submers...

This week, Youngmi discusses how she plots out her work week while living with ADHD, which makes it nearly impossible to set a schedule and adhere to it every day. She also touches on the feelings of inadequacy stemming from a childhood of undiagnosed ADHD, which caused her to internalize the message that there is something "wrong" with her.

This week, Youngmi jokes about the differences between New York and Los Angeles from Los Angeles. Joking aside, she discusses why it's funny but also sort of sad when people make broad generalizations about differences in people who live in different cities. She also discusses the relentless feeling of not doing enough work and not making enough money.

This week, Youngmi discusses an emotional symptom of experiencing negligent abuse as a child. She talks about why she feels the need to always be “ok” and how that has profoundly harmed her. She discusses the importance of pointing out negligent abuse because for most people experiencing trauma around it, it is invisible. She also points out that many of the behaviors of our parents and the boomer...

This week, Youngmi discusses her history with depression. She talks about the events in her childhood that led her to develop this mental illness and the process of ongoing recovery as an adult. She also touches on the reasons why it is so hard to get out of depressive episodes and why it is so hard to reach out for help while experiencing them.

This week, Youngmi shares her real thoughts about the month of May being celebrated as Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander month. She talks about the good the bad and the corporate.

This week, Youngmi discusses the topic of “having it all” and why women are constantly asked about their work/life balance but men aren’t. She also touches on women who decide to be child-free by choice and why she considers it a revolutionary act.

This week, Youngmi discusses her relationship to jealousy and anger. She talks about how her childhood relationship to her family impacted her emotions as adults. She discusses how people who are socialized female are often made to suppress emotions usually associated with men, such as anger, and how that experience led her to not be able to see her own emotions until well into her 30s. Also she d...

This week, Youngmi discusses the psychological impact she carried into adulthood from growing up poor. She talks about interacting with other adults who shared her past and the harmful messages they seemed to have internalized. She also discusses how Korean and American cultures view poverty differently.

This week, Youngmi discusses what it’s like to date as a single Asian mom. She talks about the negative stereotypes surrounding single moms and how they proved untrue in her experience. She also discusses why she thinks these harmful tropes were created. Also, she touches on how her Asian identity plays into it all.

( TW: ED, child abuse ) This week Youngmi Mayer discusses being an overweight child and how the abuse she received from her family led her to internalize the idea that everything bad that happened was because of her inability to manage her weight. Also, she discusses developing eating disorders in her teens and how she manages her eating disorders today with the help of therapy.

This week, Youngmi discusses how sexual/romantic relationships she had in her teens with adult men profoundly shaped her as a person. She touches on how common this type of relationship is, and why she thinks so many people have the problematic view that it is “normal,” when it is far from it.

This week, Youngmi discusses the trauma of pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding. She touches on topics that rarely seem to be discussed because of the stigma of shame of “not being a good mother.” Also, she reads an informative message from someone who lives with ADHD in Korea, who goes in depth about what it’s like to be diagnosed and seek treatment for ADHD while living in Asia, as well as the pro...

This week, Youngmi discusses two topics suggested by listeners: ADHD and friendship breakups. She talks about being diagnosed with ADHD as an adult and how it felt to look back on her life and reassess her childhood. She also discusses how she views friendships and why they seem so different to her than romantic relationships.