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As a Food Content Creator, Why Talk Politics?
Joanne Lee Molinaro Isn’t “Getting Political.” She Always Was.
Recently, I interviewed Joanne Lee Molinaro — known to millions as The Korean Vegan. She built her platform focused on the intersections of culture, justice and connection through food: vegan Korean recipes rooted in memory, care and survival.
Joanne has been using her platform to speak directly about Trump, ICE, immigration, fascism, and the legal systems that normalize harm. For some followers, that has been uncomfortable.
But Joanne’s response to any criticism is simple: how could food ever be apolitical? She reminds us that food is about policy, borders, security, power and survival.
As a trained lawyer, Joanne brings precision to conversations many people experience only as dread or rage. She names how bureaucracy enables violence, how the law shields power, and how despair becomes fascism’s most effective ally. That clarity shows up in her pointed critiques of ICE, where she has challenged agents using the law itself — and invited other lawyers to do the same.Her work insists that silence is not safety — and that outrage, when grounded in truth, is a form of care.In this conversation, we talked about how her roles as a content creator and lawyer are inseparable; how her platform has amplified issues that might otherwise go ignored; and how she balances vulnerability with advocacy in a public, often hostile digital space.
We also discussed why this moment, marked by rising authoritarianism and normalized cruelty, has made speaking out feel not optional, but necessary.
Because when Joanne speaks — whether about dumplings or deportation, grief or human rights — she’s asking the same question every time:What do we owe each other, and what happens when we refuse to look away?
FOLLOW NATALIEsubstack: https://substack.com/@factsoverfearnataliebinstagram: https://www.instagram.com/@nataliebencivenga/#tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nataliebencivengathreads: https://www.threads.com/@nataliebencivengapodcast via spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/47JYsn9LQchErS3cnHP2YFpodcast via apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/facts-over-fear/id1855901950FACTS OVER FEARLet's dismantle the fear that is used to divide us surrounding the issues impacting the people and talk facts.ABOUT NATALIENatalie Bencivenga is a socially-conscious journalist working towards building equity in our communities through storytelling. Her goal is to inspire, educate and activate people to become catalysts for positive change. Join her for transformative conversations that uplift and challenge the ways in which we perceive the world. Let's turn this moment into a movement – together.
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By Natalie BencivengaJoanne Lee Molinaro Isn’t “Getting Political.” She Always Was.
Recently, I interviewed Joanne Lee Molinaro — known to millions as The Korean Vegan. She built her platform focused on the intersections of culture, justice and connection through food: vegan Korean recipes rooted in memory, care and survival.
Joanne has been using her platform to speak directly about Trump, ICE, immigration, fascism, and the legal systems that normalize harm. For some followers, that has been uncomfortable.
But Joanne’s response to any criticism is simple: how could food ever be apolitical? She reminds us that food is about policy, borders, security, power and survival.
As a trained lawyer, Joanne brings precision to conversations many people experience only as dread or rage. She names how bureaucracy enables violence, how the law shields power, and how despair becomes fascism’s most effective ally. That clarity shows up in her pointed critiques of ICE, where she has challenged agents using the law itself — and invited other lawyers to do the same.Her work insists that silence is not safety — and that outrage, when grounded in truth, is a form of care.In this conversation, we talked about how her roles as a content creator and lawyer are inseparable; how her platform has amplified issues that might otherwise go ignored; and how she balances vulnerability with advocacy in a public, often hostile digital space.
We also discussed why this moment, marked by rising authoritarianism and normalized cruelty, has made speaking out feel not optional, but necessary.
Because when Joanne speaks — whether about dumplings or deportation, grief or human rights — she’s asking the same question every time:What do we owe each other, and what happens when we refuse to look away?
FOLLOW NATALIEsubstack: https://substack.com/@factsoverfearnataliebinstagram: https://www.instagram.com/@nataliebencivenga/#tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nataliebencivengathreads: https://www.threads.com/@nataliebencivengapodcast via spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/47JYsn9LQchErS3cnHP2YFpodcast via apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/facts-over-fear/id1855901950FACTS OVER FEARLet's dismantle the fear that is used to divide us surrounding the issues impacting the people and talk facts.ABOUT NATALIENatalie Bencivenga is a socially-conscious journalist working towards building equity in our communities through storytelling. Her goal is to inspire, educate and activate people to become catalysts for positive change. Join her for transformative conversations that uplift and challenge the ways in which we perceive the world. Let's turn this moment into a movement – together.