Kate Powers, 35, is a Korean adoptee who has been reunited with her Korean biological family for 12 years. Adopted as an infant by a couple in Missouri, Kate talks about navigating her relationship with her Korean family after decades of being apart, and about coming to the decision to make peace with her adoption and of the past.

Music Credits:
Jahzzar “Schmaltz”
Blue Dot Sessions “Dolly and Pad”
Blue Dot Sessions “The Envelope”
Blue Dot Sessions “Heliotrope”
Blue Dot Sessions “Relay”
Blue Dot Sessions “Shade Ways”
Drake Stafford “Small Town”
Drake Stafford “Chi11”
Drake Stafford “In the Lap”
Drake Stafford “Glimpse”
Drake Stafford “Sleep Walker”
Logo: Rusty Detty

Korean adoptee and New York City-based actor Brian McCormick talks about playing the romantic lead in “A Korean Drama Addict’s Guide to Losing Your Virginity,” a play by Hmong-American playwright May Lee-Yang, that recently had a sold-out run in the Twin Cities. Now in his 30s, McCormick’s story includes a circuitous route to acting despite a path in front him all along, how being a transracial adoptee influences how he approaches roles and casting calls, and his take on the current movement towards more Asian-American representation in Hollywood. There’s late-night run-ins with Prince and he reveals how he and his high school friends first learned about dating and women.

Music Credits:
Jahzzar “Schmaltz”
Blue Dot Sessions “Fifteen Street”
Blue Dot Sessions “Inessential”
Blue Dot Sessions “Dolly and Pad”
Blue Dot Sessions “Waltz for Zacaria”
Drake Stafford “Devil Man”
Drake Stafford “Only Love”
Drake Stafford “Her”
Jonathan Cain “Faithfully” (Columbia Records)
Kim André Arnesen “Flight Song” (St. Olaf Choir, 2015)
Logo: Rusty Detty

Joy Alessi, 52, is a Korean adoptee who never received her U.S. citizenship via the adoption process. A resident of Houston, Texas, Alessi is now working with the Adoptee Rights Campaign to advocate for citizenship for intercountry adoptees amidst a tough political climate. She also details her adoption story, which exposes an old loophole in U.S. immigration law, and the resiliency she’s developed to keep moving forward.

Logo Credit: Rusty Detty
Music Credits:
Jahzzar “Schmaltz”
Blue Dot Sessions “Lochley Falls”
Blue Dot Sessions “Cast in Wicker”
Blue Dot Sessions “The Envelope”
Blue Dot Sessions “Celestial Navigation”
Blue Dot Sessions “Surly Bonds”
Blue Dot Sessions “Slow Dial”
Blue Dot Sessions “Come as You Are”
Blue Dot Sessions “Come as You Were”

Kim Thompson, 42, is an adopted Korean who spent eight years living in Korea in her 30s. She talks about that experience including covering topics like white privilege, Western privilege, navigating her queer identity in Korea, tattoos, and on her post-reunion relationship with her biological mother. Raised in South Florida, Thompson also reflects returning to the United States and making sense of the transition to life in Minneapolis, and what lasting effect Korea has had on her.

Music Credits:
Blue Dot Sessions “Sals Piano”
Blue Dot Sessions “La Costilla”
Blue Dot Sessions “El Tajo”
Blue Dot Sessions “August Moon”
Blue Dot Sessions “Slow Lane Lover”
Blue Dot Sessions “Mineral Still”
Blue Dot Sessions “Alum Drum Solo”
Blue Dot Sessions “Lumber Down”
Jahzzar “Schmaltz”

Logo: Rusty Detty

Matt Fetzer, 43, first tasted food of his native country – Korea – less than a year ago. Fetzer is a Korean-American adoptee. To understand why it took four decades for this milestone is to understand what can often be the impact of transracial, transnational adoption; many adoptees experience a disassociation from their biological origins and culture. Fetzer is on a journey to discover and re-connect with his origins and with other adoptees. Listen as he takes you along his recent first trip back to Korea since his adoption and on what he’s discovering about himself in the process.

Credits:
Logo: Rusty Detty

Jahzzar “Schmaltz”
Blue Dot Sessions “Sals Piano Solo”
Blue Dot Sessions “Building the Sled”
Blue Dot Sessions “Purple Light”
Blue Dot Sessions “Low Coal Camper”
Blue Dot Sessions “Closet Interlude”
Blue Dot Sessions “Our Digital Compass”
Blue Dot Sessions “Rate Sheet”
Blue Dot Sessions “The Basket”

Robin Anderson, 45, is a Korean-American adoptee who has been living in Korea for the past three years. He talks about his decision to return and of his path to landing a teaching position at arguably the most prestigious university there, Seoul National University. Anderson is also frank about discussions he’s had with his parents about his decision to make Seoul home, for more or less the rest of his life. He also talks about what he’d like his students and Koreans, in general, to know about adoptees; and what he’s learned about trying to become more Korean since he’s made Korea home again.

Music Credits:
Jahzarr “Schmaltz”
Blue Dot Sessions “Greyleaf Willow”
Blue Dot Sessions “Tumblehome”
Blue Dot Sessions “Shade Ways”
Blue Dot Sessions “Roundpine”
Blue Dot Sessions “Even Dreams of Beaches”

Logo: Rusty Detty

Michael Mullen, 48, president of Also Known As (AKA), a New York City-based transnational adoption group, raises a thoughtful take on his identity as a Korean-American adoptee; that being an ethnic Korean, an American and an adoptee are three separate identifiers that are equally important. Mullen recalls moving to Korea after watching the ’88 Summer Olympics and how that and a second relocation to Korea and the years after helped him realize that just focusing on reclaiming his Korean heritage to compensate for not being raised in a Korean family wasn’t fully who he is. Mullen is also a father of two and discusses about what passing on his adoption experience to his kids looks like.

Music Credits:
Jahzzar “Schmaltz”
Audiobinger “Walking on Clouds”
Audiobinger “Memory Lane”
Audioginger “My Downfall”
Audiobinger “The Wake Up”
Audiobinger “Cooling”
Audiobinger “In the Hearts of Men”
Blue Dot Sessions “Greyleaf Willow”
Blue Dot Sessions “Roundpipe”
Blue Dot Sessions “Tumblehome”

Logo Credit:
Rusty Detty

Author and Korean-American adoptee Julayne Lee talks about her new collection of poems, “Not My White Savior,” and of the importance of maintaining an authentic voice. Now in her 40s, she currently lives in California and is active within the vibrant literary scene. Lee also discusses her thoughts on identity and of how she hopes the work will impact the larger adoptee community. 

From Not My White Savior, by Julayne Lee, Copyright 2018. With the permission of the publisher, Rare Bird Lit.

Morgan Pearson, 27, is a Korean adoptee who grew up in the Twin Cities suburbs and talks candidly about her struggles with race and identity, alienation, sexual abuse and addiction, and mental health. Part of her personal exploration involves participating in a short-term study program in Korea, during her first trip back to her native Korea. A budding comic and podcaster, Pearson talks about how she is finally able to look towards a healthy future after shedding many of her demons.

Music Credits:
Jahzzar “Schmaltz”
Jahzzar “Siesta”
Cellophane Sam “Awestruck”
Computer Music All-stars “May the Chords be With You”
Audiobinger “Cabin Fever”
Audiobinger “China Town”

Alex Hamel, 31, is about to move back to her native country, Korea, for a third time. A Korean adoptee who grew up in Minnesota, she talks critically and honestly about her adoption experience and describes the evolution of her own identity and relationship with Korea.

Music Credits:
Jahzzar “Schmaltz”
Jahzzar “Reunion”
Knit Your Own Sweater “Agur”
Knit Your Own Sweater “Bilbao”
Makaih Beats “Cool”