Amy S. Choi & Rebecca Lehrer
Amy S. Choi and Rebecca Lehrer are creators and executive producers of the new show Love and Noraebang. They are also the founders of The Mash-Up Americans. Follow Amy on Twitter here. Follow The Mash-Up Americans on Twitter here.
How did you two meet and start The Mash-Up Americans?
Rebecca: Amy went to high school with my husband Neil! We met through Neil in 2008 and over the years as our friendship was growing, we were also growing into new phases of our adult lives both professionally and personally. I wrapped up business school at Yale and was working in public radio and Amy was a staff writer at BusinessWeek.
Amy: Then the economy exploded and I got laid off as a staff writer! Always fun. So yes, major transformative periods for both of us — I backpacked around the world, Rebecca was helping test and launch new strategies at WNYC, and we had ongoing, years-long conversations about the families we were building, the traditions and cultures we were carrying with us, and how we could incorporate that into all of the aspects of our lives, including our work.
Rebecca: Eventually those conversations led to Mash-Up. We started The Mash-Up Americans in 2013 - it was a tumblr and a newsletter! Our newsletter, where we curate news with a Mash-Up lens, has come out every Saturday since then. Over the next couple years we launched a website, honed in on our voice, and developed our creative studio and consulting practice, then we launched the podcast with KPCC/APM in 2015. It’s continued to evolve since then.
What is a Mash-Up American and what does it mean about the way they inhabit the world?
A Mash-Up American is a person navigating multiple cultures. We are rooted in traditions while creating the future. We are first generation and married/partnered with people from other cultures. We are living in a culture different than the ones are parents are from. And the Mash-Up community includes the culturally curious community we live in - the rich and beautiful fabric of a multiracial democracy. The Mash-Up Americans is a creative studio and media company. We have a newsletter, podcast, and website.
How has the audio world changed since you started The Mash-Up Americans?
Rebecca: That’s a big question! Before starting The Mash-Up Americans I was the very first Director of Business Development at WNYC / NY Public Radio from 2009-2013. Looking back on it, iPhones had JUST come out and WNYC was really thinking through a robust digital strategy. Obviously the landscape has changed dramatically, but what remains the same is that it is still a very relationships-driven business and that there is still SO much room for innovation and independent creators. It’s still a baby industry! We’re excited to be part of making more space for more creators in all parts of the business.
How has The Mash-Up Americans changed since you started The Mash-Up Americans?
Rebecca: Our mission at Mash-Up — to define a new demographic, demonstrate a new perspective on who and how to tell stories, and prove the power of a diverse audience that blurs demographic verticals — has been remarkably consistent. What’s changed nine years down the line is the world is much more ready for us! So we can take on bigger, more expansive projects and experiment with form and audiences. We like to think we had a small part in making that change happen.
What does the podcasting industry need to get better at?
Discovery and Rewarding engagement - how deep an audience is engaged - rather than only volume of listeners. There are many many many medium sized independent creators who are overlooked despite having thousands of engaged listeners.
Which project are you most proud of?
Amy: Us! The Mash-Up Americans is a project in progress that we breathe life into every day and that we have been breathing life into for 9 years! Sometimes forcefully pump life into, if I’m being honest. But seriously, this company, our leadership, how we work with our team, and each one of our stories is an act of imagination that we are revising and building on every day. It’s critical for us to remind ourselves that our organization is itself a project that we choose every day.
Describe Love and Noraebang in 10 words or less.
The k-drama telenovela romcom LA love letter of our dreams.
What’s different about Love and Noraebang? Why will people like it?
We redefine the who and the how of a classic romcom. Where else are Spanish, Korean, English, salsa, jimjilbang, pozole, and noraebang the tentpoles of a love story? Only in a Mash-Up universe. Also, if you need a place to be happy for a few hours — and who doesn’t — we got you.
Fill in the blank: you will love Love and Noraebang if you like ______.
Kimchi tacos! Scream singing in your car! Kai Ryssdal! Mexico City! Seoul! LA! And love, of course.
How did Love and Noraebang change from the moment it was envisioned to the final result?
We originally conceived the show to have more conflict, more drama, more kimchi slaps and classic telenovela nemeses battling it out. Ultimately we decided the world we wanted to inhabit was a little bit softer and less tense. Jaesun and Ana face some very real world challenges – eviction, military enlistment, miscommunication and poor communication – but we needed more joy in our lives, and that’s the story we created.
What was the most fun thing about making the show?
There were so many, including collaborating and laughing with folks in multiple countries and three different languages, but directing Justin and Francia and Randall in drunken karaoke renditions of “Under the lights,” our theme song, was really an experience we’ll never forget.
What was the most frustrating thing about making the show?
We made the show entirely in the pandemic — we started developing it in January of 2021. I don’t think it’ll surprise anyone if we say that doing major collaborations almost entirely over Zoom is not ideal.
What do you hope the show does for people?
Amy: I hope the show makes you cry and smile and squeal. And inspire you to travel to Mexico City and Seoul and eat all the things.
Rebecca: I hope you smile ear-to-ear and have that spark of joy and hope and wonder that we all need. And remember how interconnected we all are! Let’s travel the world together!!!
What’s a podcast you love that everybody already knows about?
Dolly Parton’s America. It was a limited series. The storytelling and curiosity and kindness of it all was so inspiring.
What’s a podcast you love that not enough people know about?
Self Evident - our friends at Self Evident are telling gorgeous stories about Asian America.
What’s something nobody asks you but you wish they would?
We have opinions about everything. Just try us.
Thanks, Amy and Rebecca!