Soo Hugh on Family, Korean History and Finding Home
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We speak with showrunner Soo Hugh, creator of the Peabody Award-winning series Pachinko. Across space, time, and language, across decades and countries, the bold and beautiful storytelling of Pachinko asks the universal question, “What is home?”
Episode Description
Gabe González is joined by Soo Hugh, showrunner of the Peabody Award-winning series Pachinko, Apple TV’s trilingual series set in Japan and Korea. Pachinko is an epic family drama spanning more than sixty years of history, during and after the Japanese occupation of Korea. Through the eyes of protagonist Sunja, who moves to Japan with her husband and raises her children and grandchildren there, the series asks the question, “What is home?” We also talk to comedian and author Youngmi Mayer. In her memoir I’m Laughing Because I’m Crying, she brilliantly balances tragedy and humor as she recounts her life in Korea, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. in the wake of her family’s traumatic experiences under Japanese colonialism.