Stay Soft, Stay Open

An audio journal of my day on Thursday, August 17, 2023. What it's like to take care of my dad who has stage 4 lung cancer (Non-Small Cell Lung Adenocarcinoma) with Leptomeningeal Disease, with Brain, Spine, and Cerebrospinal Fluid Metastases.

Patreon: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/jieunandgreg⁠

The Ko Family's Cancer Gofundme: ⁠https://www.gofundme.com/f/emergency-funds-for-mr-and-mrs-ko⁠

Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/jieunandgreg/

Get full access to Stay Soft, Stay Open at staysoftstayopen.substack.com/subscribe

An audio journal of my day on August 16, 2023. What it's like to take care of my dad who has stage 4 lung cancer (Non-Small Cell Lung Adenocarcinoma) with Leptomeningeal Disease, with Brain, Spine, and Cerebrospinal Fluid Metastases.

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/jieunandgreg

The Ko Family's Cancer Gofundme: https://www.gofundme.com/f/emergency-funds-for-mr-and-mrs-ko

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jieunandgreg/

Get full access to Stay Soft, Stay Open at staysoftstayopen.substack.com/subscribe

For our January episode of Gajok, Greg and I had originally planned on talking about our hopes and dreams for 2023. But in light of the two mass shootings that devastated our community last week, we decided to make a shift. For this episode, Greg and I have an incredibly raw and honest conversation about the Monterey Park & Half Moon Bay Mass Shootings. We invited my best friend, Jingyi Wei, to have this difficult conversation with us. The three of us talk about the complex emotions that came up for us throughout the week following both mass shootings, our church community's disproportional response to the tragedies and how that impacted us, and the helpful things we've been doing to grieve, process, and heal.

Jingyi is a Chinese American woman, she is a high school science teacher in Brooklyn, she was born in Taiyuan, in the Shanxi province in Northern China, and she spent most of her childhood and adolescence in Northern California.

To our Asian American listeners, we hope this episode can be a balm and a safe space for you.

• Support Gajok on Patreon: patreon.com/jieunandgreg


• Learn more about us on our website: jieunandgreg.com


• Connect with us on social media: instagram.com/jieunandgreg & instagram.com/wearegajok


• Send us your thoughts and feedback: [email protected]


• Learn more about Asian Mental Health Project: asianmentalhealthproject.com

Host & Producer: Jieun Ko | Host, Producer, & Audio Engineer: Gregory Ko | Photo Credit: Mark Abramson, The New York Times

Get full access to Stay Soft, Stay Open at staysoftstayopen.substack.com/subscribe

Happy New Year's Eve, friends! It's our final episode of the year. In this episode, Greg and I reflect back on 2022 — our greatest moments, our hardest moments, and our most memorable moments. We talk about my name reclamation from Chi to Jieun, meeting my best friend, Jingyi Wei, meeting my Asian American heroes, suffering through my dad's stage 4 cancer, facial paralysis, and hearing loss, losing many of my friends, playing shows again, and Greg's continuing battle with Borderline Personality Disorder. This episode is a beautiful, difficult, and honest conversation.

• Support Gajok on Patreon: patreon.com/jieunandgreg


• Learn more about us on our website: jieunandgreg.com


• Connect with us on social media: instagram.com/jieunandgreg & instagram.com/wearegajok


• Send us your thoughts and feedback: [email protected]

Host & Producer: Jieun Ko | Host, Producer, & Audio Engineer: Gregory Ko

Get full access to Stay Soft, Stay Open at staysoftstayopen.substack.com/subscribe

This episode is a special one. It's about me, music, and all the ways that music has impacted me throughout my life. We go from the age of 3, all the way to 23, which is when I met Greg. This is the first episode of a multi-part series, where Greg and I tell our stories of how we became Jieun & Greg.

Support Gajok on Patreon: patreon.com/jieunandgreg
Learn more about us on our website: jieunandgreg.com
Connect with us on social media: instagram.com/jieunandgreg & instagram.com/wearegajok
Send us your thoughts and feedback: [email protected]

The photo used in the album art of this episode was likely taken by my mother. I think I was proud of my pterodactyl painting on the wall. I also am missing two bottom teeth. I was probably four years old, given my Lincolnia shirt, which is where I went to preschool.
Host & Producer: Jieun Ko | Host, Producer, & Audio Engineer: Gregory Ko

Get full access to Stay Soft, Stay Open at staysoftstayopen.substack.com/subscribe

This episode is in memory of the eight victims who lost their lives in the Atlanta Spa Shootings last year, on March 16, 2021. I open the episode by reading a piece I wrote the day after the Atlanta Spa Shootings. Then Greg and I have a conversation about how we felt that day, all the days that followed, how we feel about it today, and how the Atlanta Spa Shooting changed everything for us. We then read and discuss an excerpt of a Vanity Fair article written by May Jeong, called, “How the Atlanta Spa Shootings — The Victims, The Survivors — Tell A Story of America.” We end with a poem I wrote the day after the Atlanta Spa Shootings called, “We Are Still Here.”

• Support Gajok on Patreon: patreon.com/jieunandgreg


• Learn more about us on our website: jieunandgreg.com


• Connect with us on social media: instagram.com/jieunandgreg & instagram.com/wearegajok


• Send us your thoughts and feedback: [email protected]

The photo used in the album art of this episode was taken by Philadelphia-based photojournalist photographer, Hannah Yoon, shortly after the Atlanta Spa Shootings. This is a photo of Gold Spa, taken on a rainy Friday, four days after the Atlanta Spa Shootings. You can find Hannah and her work on her website: hannahyoon.com

Co-host & Producer: Jieun Ko | Co-host, Producer, & Audio Engineer: Gregory Ko

Get full access to Stay Soft, Stay Open at staysoftstayopen.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to our first official episode of Gajok! We are Jieun & Greg, a Brooklyn-based, folk-soul duo, and the two hosts of this podcast. In this episode, I share my story of reclaiming my name. On December 31, 2021 — New Year's Eve — I decided to officially reclaim my birth name, Jieun, and surrender my anglicized name, Chi.

I open this episode by reading a letter I wrote called, “My Name is Jieun.” In the second half of this episode, I talk about what it was like to grow up as one of the only Asian Americans in my extremely white communities in Northern Virginia, how that affected the way I viewed myself, and how the last two years of extreme anti-Asian racism and violence has led me to an Asian American awakening, and ultimately, the decision to reclaim my birth name.

• Support Gajok on Patreon: patreon.com/jieunandgreg


• Learn more about us on our website: jieunandgreg.com


• Connect with us on social media: instagram.com/jieunandgreg & instagram.com/wearegajok


• Send us your thoughts and feedback: [email protected]

Co-host + Producer: Jieun Ko | Co-host, Producer, + Audio Engineer: Gregory Ko

Get full access to Stay Soft, Stay Open at staysoftstayopen.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to the introductory episode of Gajok! We are Jieun & Greg, a Brooklyn-based, singer-songwriter duo, and the two hosts of this podcast. During this episode, Jieun and I discuss what Gajok is, what it means, and our inspiration for starting this podcast. Jieun also shares about her life after her father was diagnosed with lung cancer in the summer of 2020.

• Support Gajok on Patreon: patreon.com/jieunandgreg


• Learn more about us on our website: jieunandgreg.com


• Connect with us on social media: instagram.com/jieunandgreg & instagram.com/wearegajok


• Send us your thoughts and feedback: [email protected]

Co-host + Producer: Jieun Ko | Co-host, Producer + Audio Engineer: Gregory Ko

Get full access to Stay Soft, Stay Open at staysoftstayopen.substack.com/subscribe