Afternoona Asks

It's already been a half year of dramas for 2025 - Sarah is joined by Patreon guests Kalena and Shannon to chat through the second quarter of Korean dramas so far. Join us on our quick run through of our favourite dramas, performances as well as the ones who could have done better and ones we dropped entirely. If you've not managed to watch some dramas yet you can also check out how we found these...

Sarah and Grace had a lovely time chatting through what makes K-dramas special in this short primer geared toward new and curious potential viewers. We discuss what a K-drama is, the genres that K-dramas do well, and give a brief overview of K-drama history. We also give recommendations for viewers who are just starting out, as well as those who have already dipped their toes in the water and are...

Sarah is joined by fellow Patreon guests Katie & Charlotte for a deep dive of the 2025 drama, The Art of Negotiation . This drama stars Lee Jehoon and was a bit of of a niche drama for Western audiences - but we think it needs much greater love. It's available on Viki. All three of us love this director, Ahn Pan Seok - who also directed Something in the Rain, One Spring Night and Secret Love A...

We were delighted to chat about Culinary Class Wars with returning guest Lisa. We discussed what made the 2024 Netflix food competition so entertaining and unique, who our favorites were among the chefs battling it out to make their names known, what foods we most wanted to eat, and how we would like to refine the next season (hopefully it's not derailed by Chef Paik's ongoing business and legal t...

We discuss the 2024 Korean Drama The Atypical Family with guest Lindsay. All three of us love this quirky fantasy drama and enjoyed deep diving what made it such a compelling watch for us. Listen to find out why we receommend this drama, discuss how we think it handled time travel and what stood out for us. To listen to Lindsay's first episode with us check out our  Learning Korean with Lindsay ep...

Grace had a wonderful time chatting with friend and guest Robert about their respective trips to South Korea earlier this year. They discussed highlights and let downs, yummy and interesting food and drinks they tried, and the virtues and pitfalls of intensive planning versus flying by the seat of your pants. They reflected on the changes they have noticed over several visits to South Korea and ta...

Introducing our first Chinese Drama Deep Dive on Afternoona Asks, wher we cover the 2025 romance drama The First Frost. Sarah is delighted to be joined by Afternoona Delight Patreon guests Tania and Kortney to discuss this popular drama. We give a spoiler-free intro to the drama so if you're interested in hearing what we liked and recommend about The First Frost check this section out. After a sho...

Join Sarah and special Patreon guests Erin and Cate as they discuss the drama year so far in 2025. What Korean and Chinese dramas have they been watching and which dramas have they enjoyed, which have been dropped and who have had the standout performances so far? We do touch on spoilers for some of the dramas that we discuss, so please see below for the timestamps of each drama so you can skip ah...

We're back with part two of our Introduction to Korean Food! Sarah, Grace, and guest Susan continue to discuss favorite foods, including what we want to eat when we go to Korea, what we like to make at home, non-spicy options, and favorite ramyeons. We also discuss Korean food creators we enjoy and make recommendations about possible easy points of entry for listeners who want to try their own han...

Sarah and Grace were thrilled to have fellow Afternoona Delight Patreon member Susan on as a guest to discuss a favorite topic: Korean food. We chat about how we were each introduced to Korean food, what it consists of and its signature characteristics, how we have seen its popularity and influence grow, for better or worse, and how accurately it is portrayed in Korean dramas. This ended up being...

Sarah and Grace had fun discussing the Confucian elements found in Mr. Plankton, Grace's favorite Kdrama of 2024. We talked about the symbolism of traditional Korean wedding clothes, the importance of bloodlines in Confucianism, and why there is a stigma attached to being an orphan. Grace goes through the different meanings/word play found in the characters' names in the language section.

Sarah and Grace had a fascinating conversation with Professor Charles Kim about the history and culture of South Korean protest. We touched on ancient and modern stories of Korean resistance viewed as precursors to South Korean protest, the student protests that ousted the first South Korean president in 1960, the evolution of mass protest in South Korea over the 1970s and 1980s, and characteristi...

We asked and the Patreon replied - who won our Afternoona Awards for 2024. Join our sister podcast co-hosts Sarah and Grace from Afternoona Asks as they run through the categories and the winners of our Year End poll. Sarah and Grace also discuss what Lunar New Year means for them and other Korean and Chinese people. Find out who was the outstanding performance of 2024, who were the best couple, a...

Sarah and Grace discuss the cultural context and nuances of Love Next Door in this episode, as part of our ongoing Confucian series. We first mark some milestones in our podcasting journey and reflect on how much hallyu has continued to sweep the globe. We talk about Confucian familial expectations and pressures, how age-based hierarchy has influenced our relationships with our parents, and the ki...

Sarah and Grace had a lovely time chatting with special guest and fellow Afternoona Delight Patreon member, Krista, for Part 2 of their Year End Review. Krista and Grace each discuss how 2024 was for drama-viewing overall, their picks for best performances, underrated dramas, and top dramas of the year, as well as special awards and dream dramas for 2025.  Other podcast episodes mentioned: Year En...

Sarah and Grace are excited to close out the year with a two-part Year End Review. For part one, Sarah and special guest Claudia, a fellow member of the Afternoona Delight Patreon, chat through their 2024 drama year. Claudia and Sarah each discuss how 2024 was for drama-viewing overall, their picks for best performances, their favorite underrated dramas, and their top dramas of the year. They also...

Sarah is delighted to be joined by Liliana from Tea and Soju Podcase to review the year in Chinese Dramas. Join us as we discuss what CDramas Sarah has watched this year, what were Liliana's faves for the year and hear some more of her recommendations. We also briefly discuss what's coming up in CDrama-land in 2025. Links for Liliana's: Tea and Soju Podcast and Instagram To listen to Liliana’s pre...

Sarah and Grace are excited to welcome fellow Afternoona Delight Patreon member Jasmine on the pod to talk fan events for Korean actors. We discuss the different kinds of events K-stars put on for their fans, how difficult it is to get into the events, and what features of the events may differ actor-to-actor. We also talk a bit more in depth about events put on by one of Sarah's and Jasmine's fav...

Grace welcomes guest Ryan Estrada, co-author of the critically acclaimed graphic novel Banned Book Club to the show. We discuss Ryan's work and the history and culture of protest in South Korea. We also get a sneak peek behind the scenes of a Kdrama on which Ryan was an extra. And, in the language section, we talk about how easy it is (for some) to learn the Korean alphabet. Find Ryan online at: w...

Sarah, Grace, and guests Megan (from Afternoona Delight podcast) and Kalena (from AD Patreon) chat about the Fallen for Seo In Guk fan meetings in Los Angeles and Washington DC. We discuss Seo In Guk's filmography and fandom, his beautiful live singing, and the hilarious and endearing games and fan service prepared for the event. We also talk about the perks and pitfalls of VIP tickets and the ama...

Grace welcomes fellow Korean American, Lisa, as a guest this episode to talk about Park Chan-wook's 2000 film Joint Security Area and compare notes on our personal experiences of Hallyu. We discuss the standing of the film as an early Hallyu success, its moving and humanizing portrayal of soldiers from both sides of the armistice line, the impact of Korea's division on the psyche of its people bot...

We are delighed to be joined by Dr Seo Hyojin, who is a gender and labour market sociologist and an international and interdisciplinary scholar. Hyojin currently work as Post-doctoral Researcher for a Horizon Europe project EqualHouse at the Department of Sociology, Tilburg University (NL). She joins us to chat about women in the South Korean workforce and which Korean Dramas portray different ele...

We had so much fun diving deep into one of Grace's top comfort dramas, the 2010 sageuk Sungkyunkwan Scandal. We were excited to have Gavin join us again to discuss the historical backdrop, queer-coded characters, and surprisingly liberal version of Confucianism we find in this "Joseon Coffee Prince." Join us to discuss this gender swap historical drama, in Park Min Young's breakout role. We start...

We're back with another episode to discuss travelling to Seoul - Sarah was lucky to return for another work trip this summer! This time she had some time to go for some experiences: a hair spa, a facial and some kimchi making. She also tried soy marinated crab and met 2 Korean Instagram influencers! Check out the episode to hear about more things to do in Seoul. Show Notes: Hair spa : Sarah went t...

We are delighted to be joined this episode by Emma from EmmaB Videos, a fan video editor and fellow Asian drama fangirl. We get to know Emma and her tastes in drama - both Asian and Western - and we speak to her about where she gets her inspiration from for her fab video edits. Check out our show and then enjoy Emma's amazing video edits via her socials below. Please check out the shownotes below...