17 Carat K-Pop

Some big revelations about the SM Entertainment Music Video Universe and NCT 127's role in it! Plus: an overview of each chapter in "The Story of Favorite"!

This episode points out the many ways SEVENTEEN reference past albums and music videos in their new album, Attacca, and their new music video, "Rock with you." In addition to an initial reaction and review of this comeback, this episode also connects their new music to their previous musical eras. With a focus on lyrical storytelling, this episode covers the themes in SEVENTEEN's songs from 17 Car...

A theory for why BLACKPINK recently stopped accepting fan gifts, the Korean words just added to the Oxford English Dictionary, what went wrong with the BTS LA ticket presale, and more on the latest K-pop news.

Gon has a tremendous amount of animosity towards Yunjae. First of all, Yunjae essentially takes Gon’s place during a family tragedy, adding even more strain to a tense relationship between Gon and his parents. Secondly, Gon is very in touch with his emotions and will do anything to mask them. He strives for the perceived toughness and apathy of Yunjae, who has a neurological condition that makes i...

This new and improved guide to ENHYPEN’s music video universe shows how each of their intros, outros, and interludes come together to tell an intriguing story, how the mythological characters the band draws inspiration from fit perfectly with this comeback’s theme, and where ENHYPEN’s story goes from here!

Redone ratings for various K-pop albums, upcoming online and offline concerts, the best and worst of the Fact Music Awards, surprising statistics regarding the latest KCON:TACT viewership, and more of the latest K-pop news!

What would it look like to live in a utopia? Would it be a place where no one has to make any sacrifices or compromises? If so, how would it be possible for its inhabitants to coexist peacefully? Can there ever be a perfect balancing of individual and communal wants and needs? This episode covers the plots and themes in several books that consider these questions and envision the "ideal" society....

A ranking and review of September's twenty best K-pop, J-pop, and C-pop releases!

The future of LOONA, the underlying causes of ARMY’s disappointment with James Corden, China’s new restrictions on cartoons, behind-the-scenes details about the making of SEVENTEEN’s dance routines, and more!

Why does it seem like so many artists nowadays are getting sued for copyright infringement? Why are more artists than ever adding writers to song credits after a song’s release? Is there a legal distinction between sampling and interpolating an artist’s work? The first half of this episode addresses these questions, with context from landmark lawsuits and experiments on the psychology of copying....

There are infinite reasons why people can be drawn to the true crime genre. The horror element excites and intrigues some people. The feeling of becoming a detective galvanizes online communities, sometimes to the detriment and other times to the betterment of investigations. The stories of victims can hit close to home in ways that allow people to process their own traumas. The list of reasons go...

After arguing for and against certain additions to Rolling Stone’s new “500 Greatest Songs of All Time” list, Hope shares the best excerpts from BTS’s UN speech, information about some IN-PERSON K-pop events coming up (!), and more of the latest K-pop news!

Hope reacts to and reviews NCT 127’s new album, STICKER, gives an overview of The Matrix, lists the reasons to believe The Matrix served as a massive source of inspiration for NCT’s concept, and dissects the many ways one of the band’s “Resonance” monologues can be interpreted, especially in light of the new additions to the NCT Music Video Universe!

This is the first episode in a five-part series of guides to books RM from BTS has recommended! This episode focuses on his more popular book recommendations: The Catcher in the Rye, 1984, and The Stranger. In addition to plot and character summaries, the symbols and themes in the books are discussed, and parallels are drawn to the symbols and themes in BTS’s songs and music videos. Both these sto...

After an abridged history of C-rock and C-pop that adds context to the current wave of restrictions on creative expression in China, Hope shares some of the best details in TXT’s series of PAPER magazine interviews, the latest on TS Entertainment’s closure, and more of the latest K-pop news.

How did Stephen Colbert change the perception of the place where politics and fan culture intersect? What kind of impact has this merging of the personal and political had on society? And what ultimately makes someone a member of the "Colbert Nation"? Through both prior research on the nature of television and celebrity and examples of times Colbert's segments had real-world impacts, this episode...

A ranking and review of the twenty best K-pop and J-pop releases of the past month!

Today’s episode begins with an overview of all the major headlines in China’s music and entertainment scene lately: the disbandment of a band after just four days, the disappearance of a famous billionaire, the banning of celebrity rankings, and more. Sociological and historical context is used to better understand why all these events are happening and what they all have in common. Part two of to...

Countless times, K-pop, J-pop, and C-pop artists have drawn inspiration from Greek mythology. This episode features seventeen examples, and it tells the corresponding origin stories of the gods, goddesses, and symbols they reference in their work.

The first-ever legislation that regulates the use of CGI social media stars, the company making medical equipment that replaces annoying beeping sounds with pleasant ones, a new reality show for Gen Z songwriters, and more of the latest headlines in the worlds of music and technology! 

The reasons behind the shortest debut-to-disbandment period ever, a new Netflix film worth checking out, some updates on romances, and more of the latest K-pop and J-pop news!

Decoding the details in the first round of STICKER Era teasers!

A countdown of the ten best episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants! These episodes make the list for being great examples of how the characters and storylines in SpongeBob contain more layers and social commentary than people remember.

From revenge-themed horror stories to adorable romances, mandopop icon Jolin Tsai’s music videos are as varied as they come. This variation applies to her sound as well, which ranges from gothic to upbeat, industrial to electronic. Yet there is a core element in Tsai’s work that remains consistent: each release is another testament to the power of storytelling. Beneath the colorful and elaborately...

On today’s news roundup episode, Hope predicts the futures of (G)I-DLE and CLC members, shares her VMAs dream scenarios, reveals the most interesting excerpts from a new set of Weverse magazine interviews, and much more!