Mary in America
Min Jin Lee on Education, Grudges, and Her Current and Future Novels
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About this episode
When novelist Min Jin Lee writes a book, she goes deep. She spends years researching, interviewing relevant people whose experiences and jobs will comprise her characters and plot. In her new book American Hagwon, she threw herself into the intense schooling and education systems, and extracted lessons that are sincerely useful, which she unpacks in this episode, including: a focus on achievement obscures the point of learning; community is how to survive; karma is real, just be patient; and how – unprompted! – it all goes back to bond markets. Further reading/listening: Min Jin Lee: American Hagwon Min Jin Lee: Pachinko Planet Money: Economic fact in literary fiction Subscribe to the show! YouTube Instagram TikTok Website