About Joanna, Sung Hee and Jen

We're Joanna Pineda, Sung Hee Lee, and Jen McWhorter. We're Asian-American moms who love K Dramas. We love K Dramas so much that we decided to create a podcast to talk about them in great detail and share our love of these amazing show!

Here's a little about Joanna:

I'm mom to two amazing boys
I was born in the Philippines and moved to the US when I was 14.
I went to high school and college in the San Francisco Bay Area and have been living in the DC area since grad school.
My husband and I run Matrix Group International, Inc., an interactive agency based in Arlington, VA.
In addition to K Dramas, I'm passionate about cooking and martial arts. I'm a black belt in TaeKwonDo, and a black belt in HapKiDo.

Here's a little about Sung Hee:

I'm mom to two amazing children, a boy and a girl. One is out of college and the other is just starting college.
I'm a doctor specializing in anesthesiology.
I live in the Providence, RI with my family.
I was born in the US and am learning Korean.
I've been to Korea a couple of times

Here's a little about Jen:

I'm mom to two amazing girls
I enjoy K Dramas, but also love reality tv shows. Real Housewives is my guilty pleasure.
The first K Drama show I watched/binged was "My Lovely Sam Soon" and I became addicted ever since.
I enjoy traveling and I studied abroad in Germany. I hope to visit Korea soon; I still have relatives there.
I love my peloton - Robin is my favorite instructor.

Joanna and Jen were hosts of K Drama Chat in the first two seasons. Life has gotten in the way of podcasting for Jen, so now Joanna and Sung Hee are the regular K Drama Chat hosts.

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11.10 - Podcast Review of Episode 10 of When Life Gives You Tangerines

Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 10 of When Life Gives You Tangerines , the hit K Drama on Netflix starring IU as Oh Ae-sun and Park Bo-gum as Yang Gwan-sik as young adults, then Moon So-ri as Oh Ae-sun and Park Hae-joon as Yang Gwan-sik as older adults. We discuss: The featured song during the recap: “Theme of Ae-sun” by Park Sung-il, the musician who also wrote “Theme of Gwan-sik,” “Spring in a Heartbeat,” and “Two Faced Summer” from this OST. The Baeksang Awards wins for this show—Best Drama, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Supporting Actor—and how validating it feels to have picked a gem for Season 11 of our podcast! How this episode focuses on three mothers and their powerful love for their children: Ae-sun, Yeong-ran, and Chung-seop’s mom. The symbolic and cultural significance of white rice, and how Bu Sang-gil uses it as a weapon in his drunken tirade. Oh Seong’s boiling anger against his father and sister, and his tragic learned behavior from witnessin...

12.17 - Special Episode About the Art and Science of Screenwriting with Ellen Sullivan

Today, we have a special episode of K Drama Chat where we’re joined by longtime listener, friend, and screenwriter, Ellen Sullivan . We talk about the art and science of screenwriting and how the best K Dramas follow—or creatively depart from—dramatic structure to deliver compelling, emotional stories. In this episode, we discuss: The shows that are heavily spoiled in this episode: Crash Landing On You , Mr. Queen , Mr. Sunshine , When the Phone Rings , and Captivating the King . Ellen’s background as a screenwriter and technical writer, and how her passion for K Dramas began with My Mister. The Western three-act structure versus the Korean four-act structure (gi-seung-jeon-gyeol), and how each style approaches storytelling and character development. Detailed examples of setup, midpoint, and conclusion in Crash Landing On You , Mr. Queen , and Mr. Sunshine . What makes these shows work: believable character arcs, clear motivations, strong midpoint turns, and emotional payof...

5.4 - Review of Episode 4 of Mr. Queen

Today, we’ll be discussing Episode 4 of Mr. Queen, the hit K Drama on Netflix starring Shin Hye-sun as Kim So-yong, Kim Jung-hyun as King Cheojong, Seol In-ah as Jo Hwa-jin, Na In-woo as Kim Byeong-in, and Choi Jin-hyuk as Jang Bong-hwan. We discuss: Then songs we played during the recap: Conspiracyby Kim Deuk-su and Lost Memory by Howl. Last week’s episode was so funny, while this episode is really dark and there are bad guys everywhere. The Queen has figured out that it was the King who tried to kill her in the alleyway. The King is still desperately trying to figure out what the Queen knows. The many plots to frame someone for the Queen falling into the lake. The Queen accuses the King of going after her because she’s weak; this makes him wonder if the Queen is plotting against him or if she really is someone different. Jo Hwa-jin goes to Grand Dowager Queen to confess they she pushed the Queen into the lake When the King tries to defend Jo H...

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