Is This Working?!

Jin Ha (Hamilton, Only Murders In The Building): Stop Performing and Start Breathing

February 25, 2026·50 min
Episode Description from the Publisher

"Are you breathing?" Jin Ha's acting teacher used to interrupt class with that one question. It became a running joke among the students. It also changed how Jin Ha moves through the world. Jin Ha is a Korean American actor currently playing Aaron Burr in Hamilton on Broadway. He's also starred in Apple TV's Pachinko, worked opposite Steve Martin and Martin Short in Only Murders in the Building, with Nick Offerman on Devs, originated a role in one of Stephen Sondheim's final musicals, just wrapped season two of Apple TV's Sugar alongside Colin Farrell, and opens next in the Broadway revival of Proof this spring.  Before all of that, he was at Columbia talking himself out of a banking career after his mom gently asked if he actually wanted to work at a bank. Smart mom. This conversation is packed with ideas that have nothing to do with acting and everything to do with how we work. Jin Ha breaks down why imposter syndrome hits your best people hardest (and what to do about it), shares the "instant expert" mindset his teacher used to unlock fearlessness in impossible situations, and tells a Nick Offerman story that quietly redefines what real leadership looks like. Connor and Jin also go somewhere most work podcasts won't: mortality, ego, and what happens when you stop performing your identity and just show up. Funny, grounded, and full of things you can actually use on Monday morning.

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