The Monday Media Diet with Youngna Park

On Dog Man, Memory Piece by Lisa Ko, and Perfectly Imperfect

Youngna Park (YP) is a friend of WITI. She’s currently VP of product at Matter, but also wears other hats consulting with startups and writing a parenting newsletter called Making it Work. Have a great week. -Colin (CJN)

Tell us about yourself.

I work in a combination of tech, media, and the arts, depending on the day of the week, the season, and the year. I’ve led product teams at startups for over 15 years, including building STEM apps for kids at Tinybop, starting/launching NYT Parenting (RIP), and am now the VP of product at a biotech company, Matter. I also consult with other startups on strategy, research, and product management, and try and mentor other women in the space. Most of my clients work with kids in some capacity, because tech needs to do better for the kids.  

I also write a Substack newsletter called Making it Work that’s broadly about parenting, but definitely not the advice part. Sometimes I write for The Strategist about kids’ stuff, and run an Instagram side project called @kidsbookrecs, where I recommend my favorite children’s books. 

I live in Brooklyn with my husband and two kids, who are 6 and 8, and also spend a lot of time in the Hudson Valley.

Describe your media diet. 

I’ve really shifted away from lots of news to a lot of newsletters and podcasts. On the newsletter front, favorites include Anne Helen Petersen’s Culture Study, Maybe Baby by Haley Nahman, Gloria, After School by Casey Lewis, Perfectly Imperfect, Emma Straub’s newsletter, Embedded, Big Salad, and lots more. A lot of these newsletters recommend longer essays and articles at The Atlantic or New Yorker or whatnot, so I read a lot of those. (Shoutout to The Cut for revitalizing the personal essay.) 

On the food-front, The Grub Street Diet is my favorite ongoing column. Christina Chaey’s Gentle Foods, The Best Bit by Clare de Boer, The Green Spoon by Fanny Singer and Greta Caruso, and Keep Calm & Cook On by Julia Turshen are also great newsletters. 

I also listen to a huge volume of podcasts. My favorites are long form interviews with artists, but I love a deep dive into almost any topic. Some that I listen to as often as they come out: Talk Easy, Time Sensitive, Dialogues: The David Zwirner podcast, Otherppl with Brad Listi, On Being, Ezra Klein, and the A24 podcast. 

For book-related stuff, I listen to Poured Over (from Barnes & Noble), LARB radio hour from the Los Angeles Review of Books, and a bunch of others. Other greats: This is Uncomfortable, Normal Gossip, Broken Record, Decoder Ring. My kids also love this ethics podcast (for kids) called Short & Curly, so that’s a fun family listen. 

For news news I listen to NPR in the morning—though we shut it off half the time because there’s some grim story and the kids are listening. I check in on the NYT and WaPo throughout the day and listen to Vox's Today, Explained and Up First from NPR at least a few times a week. 

What’s the last great book you read?

I really loved Memory Piece by Lisa Ko, about three Asian-American childhood friends whose friendships ebb and flow in complex ways over 40 years and gets a little dystopian at the end. 

I also really loved Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton, which so many people recommended to me and now I’m recommending to everyone. Catherine Newman’s heartbreaking and hilarious, We All Want Impossible Things, about best friends in their forties, one of whom is in hospice, is so good. That sounds SO sad, but it’s really an incredible story about adult friendship. I’m excited about her new book, Sandwich. 

What are you reading now?

I just got a copy of Miranda July’s new book about perimenopause, All Fours, after seeing her in conversation with Jia Tolentino for the book launch. Every friend group chat I’m on, and the book club I'm in are all talking about this book. It’s a wild ride. 

I’m also reading Autobiography of X by Catherine Lacey, and just got a copy of Priyanka Mattoo’s forthcoming memoir, Bird Milk & Mosquitos Bones. Usually, I'm not a person who reads multiple books at a time, but you only live once. 

What’s your reading strategy when you pick up a print copy of your favorite publication?

I have no strategy other than to savor it and ideally read it away from my children with a beverage of choice in hand. 

Who should everyone be reading that they’re not?

Kathryn Jezer-Morton’s parenting column in The Cut, Brooding. Hilarious, insightful, not at all pedantic, and just well-written. 

What is the best non-famous app you love on your phone? 

The Brooklyn Public Library app. Is that non-famous? It should be more famous! There’s nothing I love more than to wander a bookstore while simultaneously putting all the books I want to read on hold from the library. I check how many holds are on a book to decide what to buy. If it’s like >100 and I have to wait seven years to actually read it, I will let myself buy the book. Also Libby, the library’s audio book app. 

Plane or train?

Train, but not like the G-train. Like a half empty Amtrak going up the Hudson River, or better yet a European sleeper style train with giant windows and ample leg room. 

What is one place everyone should visit? 

Kauai. Tunnels Beach, specifically. I was a Hawaii skeptic but Kauai is legit the most beautiful place. We spent a month there during one summer of the pandemic and it was magical. 

Tell us the story of a rabbit hole you fell deep into. 

I recently wrote a newsletter about the very polarizing and extremely popular graphic novel series, Dog Man, by Dav Pilkey, and wow: there is a lot going on there. Dog Man touches on a LOT of things, including but not limited to: potty humor, lots of police, a non-verbal protagonist who is half dog / half man, learning disabilities, misspellings, lots of butts, family, and more. This is the gateway series for many kids learning to read and also a chronic bestseller, so there is a lot to think about. (YP)

—

Thanks for reading,

Noah (NRB) & Colin (CJN) & Youngna (YP)

—

Why is this interesting? is a daily email from Noah Brier & Colin Nagy (and friends!) with editing help from Louis Cheslaw about interesting things. If you’ve enjoyed this edition, please consider forwarding it to a friend. If you’re reading it for the first time, consider subscribing.