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How do you show love to parents who escaped war but struggle to verbalize affection?
For many children of refugees, these questions aren’t abstract. They’re daily life. Some chase approval from people who struggle to give it. Others reject traditions they don’t fully understand. Some find another way: honoring heritage while changing it.
Like a former lawyer who left her partnership to decode her parents’ silence through food. Her mother was nearly thrown overboard as a baby during their escape from North Korea. Her grandfather thought drowning was better than starvation.
My guest today is Joanne Molinaro, aka The Korean Vegan, returning after our 2021 conversation (ep. 632). Since then, she’s left her law firm, moved to Los Angeles, won a James Beard Award, launched a beauty business, and become a legal commentator. Her new cookbook Homemade explores these themes, but this conversation goes deeper: how food helps us understand generational silence and turn inherited trauma into creation.
“We are a composition of our choices. Identity isn’t some projection where you say, ‘I’m going to draw a picture of who I think I am.’ We are our choices from day to day, hour to hour.”
- JOANNE MOLINARO
Today, we discuss:
- Leaving Law for Creative Freedom
- Healing Generational Refugee Trauma
- Why Wellness Culture “Lost the plot”
- Building a Korean Vegan Beauty Empire
- Food as Language When Words Fail
Before we wrap: Rivian’s giving away a wellness weekend in West Palm Beach—two Eudēmonia Summit passes (Nov 13-16), a recovery session with me, three nights at a hotel, plus a Rivian for the weekend. Enter October 6-17 at events.rivian.com/rivianxeudemoniarecharge. Winner announced October 20.
For those who prefer a visual experience, the conversation is available on YouTube. As always, the audio version streams wild and free on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
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Peace + Plants,
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- Connect with Joanne: Website | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Facebook
- New Cookbook Pre-order: Homemade: Recipes and Stories from My Kitchen
- Cookbook: The Korean Vegan Cookbook: Reflections and Recipes from Omma’s Kitchen
- Podcast: The Korean Vegan with Joanne Molinaro
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Thank The Team: I do not do this alone. Send your love to Jason Camiolo for audio engineering, production, show notes and interstitial music; with additional audio engineering by Cale Curtis and additional music by Moby; Blake Curtis & Dan Drake for video, & editing; graphics by Jessica Miranda & Daniel Solis; portraits by Davy Greenberg, Grayson Wilder & Gizelle Peters; copywriting by Ben Pryor; and theme music by Tyler Piatt, Trapper Piatt & Hari Mathis.
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