The Anna Jinja Show
The Anna Jinja show focuses on the stories, issues, and questions connected to adoption and foster care experiences.
The host is an international adoptee with biological roots in Korea and adopted roots in the United States. As you can imagine, her journey and experiences as a transracial adoptee are multifaceted. Her experiences have been with the pain of discrimination and rejection as well as the joys of self-discovery and learning to embrace all aspects of her identity.
Along the way, she has discovered that she is not alone. We’re all – in some ways – adopted into or out of homes, cultures, communities, and relationships as we grow and evolve. This show illuminates the theme of adoption, in all ways, in our lives. And how those experiences create who we are and who we are yet to be.
Her hope is that through engaging with the guests and creative content, we are welcomed home in this world, cradled in the belief that we belong, that we are worthy, and that we are loved.
So stay tuned, and you may discover your own adoption story.
The Anna Jinja Show
Linda Pevac & Rev Dr Rob Martin
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Some conversations don't just move you. They find you.
On this episode of The Anna Jinja Show, host Anna Jinja sits down with Linda Pevac — known to readers by her author pen name, Emma Stevens — a domestic adoptee from the baby scoop era, and the author of three unflinching memoirs: The Gathering Place, A Fire Is Coming, and Choosing to Breathe.
Linda describes growing up in a household where adoption was taboo — where speaking of it meant she was "bad," and performing who her parents wanted her to be meant she was "good."
For decades, she was what she calls a dualistic thinker. Then, slowly, tenaciously, she pulled that apart. Joining her is Rev. Dr. Rob Martin — pastor, poet, and regular voice at Athens's Words on Wednesday open mic — who was the featured artist selected to read Linda's memoir Choosing to Breathe and and write a poem inspired by her story.
He called it "For Emma." He reads it aloud in this episode. And the moment Linda heard it — the nickname her father gave her woven into the verses — it brought tears to her eyes.
One line Rob wrote says it all: "The universe wanted me. Life wants life."
Those are Linda’s words. Rob gave them back to her in verse. And now they belong to all of us.
This episode is for anyone who has ever felt like they were performing a version of themselves. Anyone who grew up not knowing they had permission to ask who they really were. Anyone sitting in the rubble of something broken, wondering if it can ever be beautiful again.
Spoiler: it can. That's what kintsugi is all about.