AfterNoona Delight: KDrama Dishing and Deep Dives

2026 might be just beginning, but your Afternoona's are looking at endings. In particular endings that didn't quite land for us so we took a stab at rewriting them. See if you agree :) And warning: Lia almost WAS ended the morning she recorded. Seriously. Amy doesn't need to use the "Amy Button" to shut down the story, but fair warning it's pretty gross. Ready to download your first audiobook? Don...

Happy New Year, everyone! Today, we're taking a look back at 2025 to see (for us) which K-Dramas were hits, which were misses, and what scenes from our favorite dramas of the year still live rent free in our minds. K-Pop Recs of the Year: "What it Sounds Like" by Huntrix (Ejae, Rei Ami, & Audrey Nuna) "Background" by Jin "Killin' It Girl" by J-Hope (feat. GloRilla) "CHEST" by JUST B Ready to d...

Get in Babes, We're Going to the Cottage. Amy, Lia, and Megan take a departure from Seoul and dive headfirst in Canada to talk about our new obsession, the queer hockey romance TV series, Heated Rivalry, based on the Game Changers book series by Rachel Reid. This isn't a deep dive, and instead we discuss all the ways that the show's creator Jacob Tierney nails the romance novel conventions and giv...

What makes us fall in love with a character in the first five minutes? Amy, Megan, and Lia explain "Save the Cat" moments—the scenes that instantly make us root for someone before we even know their story. From unexpected acts of kindness to revealing vulnerabilities, they dissect how the best dramas hook us emotionally and why some characters stay with us. Whether you're a casual viewer or a stor...

In today's episode, Megan and Sarah (from AfterNoona Asks) discuss Black Out, an unforgettable 2024 drama with more twists than a pretzel. Just a note, we recorded this podcast in July of 2025. Sorry for the delay in getting it out! Ready to download your first audiobook? Don't forget to click HERE for your free Audible trial. *Audible is a sponsor of Afternoona Delight Podcast* Are your family an...

There's an unspoken hierarchy in TV here where romance is tolerated as a subplot but rarely trusted to carry a series. Why do you think American platforms are comfortable betting hundreds of millions on crime, fantasy, and superheroes but get nervous about a straightforward love story? This week, your noonas tackle this very questions and are making a plea to the streaming channels. We know romanc...

For this month's uncensored, Lia put together a few winter themed K-drama games for the group to play. Join us for some "Hear me out..." snowball, some naughty or nice K-drama superlatives, and what K-Drama moments/experiences have been our highlights of 2025. *Spoiler warning...Amy accidentally spoils the end of My Dearest without warning at 19:45 when she reads a Patreon "Hear me out..." If you...

Lia and Megan go full English class today as we discuss the parallels between Guillermo Del Toro's Frankenstein and the 2023 Kdrama Mask Girl. Sound wild? Well, it kind of is, but here us out... Ready to download your first audiobook? Don't forget to click HERE for your free Audible trial. *Audible is a sponsor of Afternoona Delight Podcast* Are your family and friends sick of you talking about K-...

This week Lia, Megan and Amy get into The Bechdel Test in Korean dramas. How does a piece of media pass The Bechdel Test? It has to meet three criteria: it must feature at least two women, the two women must have a conversation with each other, and the conversation must not be about a man. This should not be a high bar...and yet? And...yet. K-Pop Rec of the Week: Spaghetti by La Sserafim (featurin...

This week Amy and Megan unpack why quiet, low stakes dramas are just what they need right now. We discuss the comfort of predictability, the joy of getting to just hang out with good characters, and what it's like to finally feel the Song Joong-ki effect. Join us for overalls, floppy hats, and moving plants from here to there in My Youth. Ready to download your first audiobook? Don't forget to cli...

In today's episode, we chat about what we're currently watching, and how we grapple with navigating fandom spaces when faced with moral dilemmas. We get deep and vulnerable, but end with hope, as we always try to do. Vulgar History Podcast Passion: A Novel of Romantic Poets by Jude Morgan Ready to download your first audiobook? Don't forget to click HERE for your free Audible trial. *Audible is a...

It's almost October 31st so join your Afternoonas Megan, Amy and Lia for a conversation on all that frights and delights with Korean Dramas. What hair gave you a jump scare? Best villain? Ideas for future scary dramas? Also, Lia fights her yearly (lonely) battle demanding justice for Almond Joys. Ready to download your first audiobook? Don't forget to click HERE for your free Audible trial. *Audib...

This week we're framing our Uncensored episode around the ideas of escape and comfort. What dramas help us escape? What dramas bring us comfort? And how do the two idea overlap? Amy and Megan also offer their reactions to Genie Make a Wish, episode 1 to see if their thoughts sell Lia on the drama. Book Recommendation: Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury Ready to download your first audiobook? Don't f...

In this week's episode, we discuss time travel in all its forms, from our experiences writing it, to our enjoyment of watching it in Kdramas. Books mentioned: Puck and Prejudice by Lia Riley I Love you Like It's 1999 by A.J. Pine The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger The Husbands by Holly Gramazio Ready to downl...

Before Parasite made him a household name, Bong Joon-ho crafted a haunting masterpiece. Memories of Murder (released in 2003) tells the story of two detectives in 1980s rural South Korea hunting the country's first known serial killer...a case that would remain unsolved for over 30 years. Based on the true story of the Hwaseong serial murders, the film is a devastating exploration of incompetence,...

To celebrate this week's release of a NEW Taylor Swift album, Lia and Megan indulged their Swiftie, Amy, in a fun little exercise. The game? Assigning TS song titles--one from each album--to the K-Drama we think it embodies. That's it! Mouse crypt and true crime stories are just the icing on the cake. We hope you'll play along! Spotify Playlist for this Episode "I Did Something Bad" from Reputatio...

This week, we discuss a hotly debated topic in both romance novels and Kdramas: The Third Act Breakup. We get into what we love about it, what we don't, when we think it's done right, and when it makes us rage. We are eager to here your thoughts! Ready to download your first audiobook? Don't forget to click HERE for your free Audible trial. *Audible is a sponsor of Afternoona Delight Podcast* Are...

This uncensored was a doozie! Today we reflect on our K-Drama watching tastes and how they've changed in the almost FOUR YEARS of the Afternoona Delight Podcast. We discuss how we keep our dramas we watch for the pod from feeling like homework. And we dive into our feelings on K-Dramas as adaptations of source material. And we touch on the age old question of how many open browsers and tabs is TOO...

Piggybacking off an earlier episode about sexual tension, this week Megan and Lia delve into attraction in Kdramas. What makes a character attractive? Do we fall in love with emotionally available characters or swoon for the tortured hero... or both? Ready to download your first audiobook? Don't forget to click HERE for your free Audible trial. *Audible is a sponsor of Afternoona Delight Podcast*...

It's just two of your noonas this week. Amy and Megan are here to discuss the Amazon Prime drama, Head Over Heels. This drama has some of our favorite tropes, a great blend of comedy and drama, and--yes--a bit of a messy ending. But guess what? We still loved it. Also, maybe you can help settle an argument. Does Megan actually like high school dramas now? K-Pop Rec: MONSTA X, 'Do What I Want' Read...

We pull from our romance writer roots in today's episode, and discuss everything from writing sexual tension in our own books to some of our favorite couples with the best sexual tension in Kdramas. K-Pop Rec of the Week: Smeraldo Garden Marching Band by Jimin Ready to download your first audiobook? Don't forget to click HERE for your free Audible trial. *Audible is a sponsor of Afternoona Delight...

It's finally time to share our thoughts on the wildly popular Korean dating show, Better Late Than Single. We loved the concept and thought it had great promise in the early episodes. But we have some thoughts on how it all played out as well as some suggestions for the next season. Harper's Bazaar Singapore - Your Guide to Better Late Than Single K-Pop Rec of the Week: Jin "Another Level" Live Pe...

It's been a while since we reviewed a drama where we all don't agree, so thanks Dear Hongrang, for making Lia and Amy want to fight Megan. Just kidding, it's not that bad... or is it? Ready to download your first audiobook? Don't forget to click HERE for your free Audible trial. *Audible is a sponsor of Afternoona Delight Podcast* Are your family and friends sick of you talking about K-drama? We g...

Join Lia Riley and her guest Un as they reflect on their summer journeys through Korea, sharing the quiet moments and unexpected discoveries that made their trips memorable. From BTS concerts, to witnessing a Squid Game parade in Seoul to wandering through Jeonju’s peaceful hanok villages, they talk about the experiences that lingered long after they returned home. Along the way, they'll share the...

The Squid Games are finished, and we're here to unpack it all with you -- the baby, the VIPs, the ending, and everything in between. Ready to download your first audiobook? Don't forget to click HERE for your free Audible trial. *Audible is a sponsor of Afternoona Delight Podcast* Are your family and friends sick of you talking about K-drama? We get it...and have an answer. Join our AfterNoona Del...