Supernova writer, author, producer Paula Yoo joins us to talk about the pandemic of Asian hate in America and its long, tortured history, as well as COVID-19 and its effects on her over the past year. We also talk about her work in Hollywood writing for hit shows like The West Wing and how the business works. Paula is a brilliant soul with a huge and generous heart, it truly is an honor to have her on the show.

Paula Yoo is an award-winning book author, TV writer/producer and feature screenwriter. She is also a former journalist, having worked for The Seattle Times, The Detroit News, and PEOPLE Magazine. She graduated with a B.A. cum laude in English from Yale University, an M.S. in journalism from Columbia University, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Warren Wilson College, where she was the recipient of the Larry Levis Fellowship in Fiction.

Paula is the author of many published children’s books and YA novels. Her latest Young Adult narrative non-fiction book, FROM A WHISPER TO A RALLYING CRY: The Killing of Vincent Chin and the Trial that Galvanized the Asian American Movement is from Norton Young Readers (W.W. Norton & Company). Her books have won many awards, including IRA Notables, Junior Guild Library Selections, and starred reviews from Kirkus. Her debut YA novel Good Enough (HarperCollins 2008) was one of the winners of the Asian Pacific American Awards for Youth Literature.

Paula's TV credits include Freeform’s Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists, The CW’s Supergirl, SyFy’s Defiance and Eureka, Amazon’s Mozart in the Jungle, and NBC’s The West Wing. She has also sold TV pilots and feature scripts.

Paula is also a professional violinist, having played with the Southeast Symphony, Vicente Chamber Orchestra, Torrance Symphony, Glendale Philharmonic and Detroit Civic Symphony Orchestra, toured and recorded with bands including Il Divo, No Doubt, Fun, Arthur Lee, Love Revisited and Spiritualized, and appeared on national TV shows and commercial spots, including A&E’s The Two Coreys reality show and a United Airlines commercial. When she’s not writing or playing her violin, Paula loves hanging out with her family and cats in Los Angeles, California.

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Read The Book That Inspires The Show

Paul Samuel Dolman, author, podcaster, and speaker, presents What Matters Most (the book!) a series of interview transcriptions from more than twenty inspirational Nashville and Tennessee residents, including special guest the journalist and author Bill Moyers.

Nashville Mayor Megan Barry, former Governor Don Sundquist,