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 apology, not the other way around. She also once again touches on how ridiculous it is to feel bad

when something good happens.

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 the stress of not losing 'the baby weight' fast enough, leading to a deeper conversation about where unhappy feelings originate from and how they might not necessarily be about the weight.

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 allowed to be proud of their own accomplishments, which unfortunately seems to create a lot of passive aggressive "fake humble" behavior. Youngmi explains how the phrase "잘난척하지마!" or "Don't be a show-off!" (direct translation: Don't pretend you're a high born!) is one of the most common insults in Korea whenever anyone is seen doing anything even minimally boastful, due to cultural disdain of show-offs.

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 is like as a filmmaker/creative who has a successful career in New York City, and how living it is extremely different than how it appears to be to others.

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 void of such strong criticisms of our "homelands." Youngmi and Mary have a deep conversation about how a big part of Korean culture is to recognize that love and hate are the same thing and that saying "Fuck Korea!" is the most Korean thing a Korean person can do.

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.