Emma Choi is the host of the NPR weekly short-form comedy podcast Everyone & Their Mom. She is the youngest host at NPR and currently in her final year at Harvard University. In January of 2021, she was an intern for the NPR show Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me!

Initially she was told that she couldn’t be hired since she was a college student but apparently her PowerPoint prowess led to her working with the Wait Wait team to create Everyone & Their Mom, which began airing in February 2022. She’s a second generation Korean American. Emma is definitely a trailblazer with a quirky sense of humor. I especially enjoyed the episodes of Everyone & Their Mom that she did about the job of a grizzly bear conflict manager, and the one about how her grandmother’s kimchi could be improved. She spoke to me about what it’s been like working at NPR and why she did a satanic Tickle Me Elmo impression during her internship interview.

This episode of Talking Taiwan has been sponsored by NATWA, the North America Taiwanese Women’s Association.

NATWA was founded in 1988, and its mission is:

1. to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women’s dignity,

2. to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality,

3. to fully develop women’s potential and encourage their participation in public affairs,

4. to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan,

5. to reach out and work with women’s organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

To learn more about NATWA visit their website: www.natwa.com

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

• What it’s like being NPR’s youngest host

• Her keynote speech at the Asian American Journalists Association

• Who would be her dream guest

• Where Emma’s sense of humor comes from

• How her family has been on her podcast Everyone & Their Mom

• How Emma did an episode about how her grandma’s kimchi is missing something

• What goes into producing an episode

• What Emma has learned from Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!host Peter Sagal

• How Emma wrote a 400-page bookspanning three generations of Korean women

• Emma’s experience with the Harvard Lampoon

• Emma’s interest in writing in the future

• What Emma’s experience working at NPR has been like

• How Emma’s experience with the Harvard Lampoon has made her appreciate the diverse writing team she works with at NPR

• If Emma has thought about what she wants to do next

Related Links:

Emma Eun-joo Choi on Twitter: https://twitter.com/emmaeunjoo

Emma Eun-joo Choi on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emmaeunjoo/

Emma Eun-joo Choi – NPR: https://www.npr.org/people/1080863784/emma-eun-joo-choi

NPR Launches Everyone & Their Mom from Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!: https://www.npr.org/about-npr/1081797234/npr-launches-everyone-their-mom-from-wait-wait-dont-tell-me

Behind the scenes of ‘Wait Wait’ with Peter Sagal and Emma Choi: https://www.npr.org/2022/10/07/1127600905/wait-wait-dont-tell-me-peter-sagal-emma-choi

Meet Emma Eun-joo Choi, NPR’s newest (and youngest) host (an article from the Boston Globe): https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/03/01/lifestyle/meet-emma-eun-joo-choi-nprs-newest-youngest-host/

The Establishment of Emma Eun-joo Choi (an article from Vanity Fair): https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2022/03/emma-eun-joo-choi-power-lunch

Wait Wait … It’s Emma Choi! (an article from The Crimson): https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2022/3/3/emma-choi-npr-host/

LISTEN to Episode 210: Emma Choi: Youngest NPR Host Talks About Her Comedy Podcast “Everyone and Their Mom” HERE

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