Kpop Bookshelf

Mina rambles on about ATEEZ's newest song BAD from Golden Hour Part 5 Online Atiny's reactions to BAD Latin/US Fusion Pop Music from the 1990s K-Pop/Latin Fusion Music from the late 2010s Super Junior's Lo Siento KARD (RIP) Getting into music genres Drumming and the perception of rhythm in different cultures The chase and pure male idol Racism and Classism among kpop fans Chase Infiniti for the wi...

Mina is joined by K^2 after 4 years to discuss LGBTQIA+ representation in Kpop today. LINKS : DDing Dong Dding Dong - Donate K-Pop Star Holland Explains Why He Had To Come Out [British Vogue] K-pop singer Bain of Just B comes out during US concert [BBC] 25 years apart, one fight: Queer icons on shattering Korea's closet [Korea Times] 2AM's Jo Kwon Shares Thoughts On Gender And More [Soompi] Landma...

A fangirl yap about T.O.P., formerly of BIGBANG, and his new, independent album, Another Dimension! Mina goes through her fangirl journey of spending ten years wondering what the heck T.O.P. was up to after he enlisted (hint: he was in a little, obscure TV show). And a mini-review of BIGBANG at Coachella! Their set charmed newbies and left fans emotional. LINKS : Full set of links at www.kpopbooks...

Mina & Ru look at the spate of deep fake photo and video sexual crimes that took over Korean middle schools, high schools, and universities in late 2024. The progression of online sex crimes in Korea over the last decade is discussed alongside the secondary victimization that occurs when the plight of victims is minimized or dismissed due to the images being faked. Celebrities, including K-pop...

Kathy from @mia2k podcast joined Mina back in 2023 to discuss the book Y/N by Esther Yi. They did NOT anticipate the way this book would make them feel (spoiler alert - not great)! Kathy and Mina are clueless about fan fiction, apologies for their deep lack of knowledge! Some topics explored in this episode: The line between a fan's infatuation with their idol and actual love and affection Ageism...

Mina explains where the K-Pop Bookshelf podcast has been after an absence of over a year! Hint: Fangirling got in the way! New episodes begin dropping soon!! https://www.kpopbookshelf.com/ Instagram: @kpopbookshelf

Bonus Episode! My ATINY friend, Ru, and I reminisce about our trip to Coachella to see the first kpop boy group to play there, ATEEZ! We discuss our planning, our adventures in surviving people who don't know how to mosh, ATEEZ's career and their set on Weekend 1. We then go off on a tangent about ATEEZ's Towards the Light: Will to Power tour stop in NYC at Citi Field and our thoughts on Seonghwa'...

Season 6 Episode 6 We look at the latest news surrounding Korean inter-country adoption, including the preliminary findings from Korea's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The commission is investigating whether certain Korean inter-country adoptions were handled appropriately in response to questions filed by Korean adoptees. LINKS : South Korea's Adoption Reckoning (full documentary) | FRONTLI...

Season 6 Episode 5 We cover the book Many Lives Intertwined by Hyun Sook Han Mrs. Han was a strong-willed, very honest social worker in both Korea and the United States as well as an adoptive mother. We will learn more about the Korean adoption process in the 1950s-1960s, including the adoption of mixed race Korean children, from the social worker perspective. LINKS Hyun Sook Han, Korean Social Wo...

Season 6 Episode 4 We cover the book A WAR BORN FAMILY: African American Adoption in the Wake of the Korean War by Kori A. Graves Dr. Graves explores the unique issues surrounding the adoption of Korean Black mixed race children during 1950s-60s from Korea to African American adoptive parents in pre-Civil Rights Era United States. We also take a brief look at the story of Milton Washington. Check...

Season 6 Episode 3 In this episode, we discuss the book Palimpsest: Documents From a Korean Adoption by Lisa Wool-Rim Sjöblom. Lisa Wool-Rim Sjöblom is a Korean-Swedish adoptee who discovers some shocking truths about the circumstances surrounding her adoption. We explore some of the secrets of the Korean intercountry adoption and learn about why some adoptees and adoptee advocates are accusing th...

Season 6 Episode 2 We discuss the book From Orphan to Adoptee: US Empire and Genealogies of Korean Adoption by SooJin Pate This book gives some background on how Korea came to be one of the countries to adopted out the most children to other countries. Learn about how the US government and Americans played a big part in this practice, which continues to this day. There is so much more to this book...

Season 6 Episode 1 This season will be about Adoption from Korea. In this first episode, we discuss the book ALL YOU CAN EVER KNOW: A MEMOIR by Nicole Chung. We are joined by special guest and Korean American adoptee, Kim! LINKS: Kim’s Instagram Adapted Podcast

Bonus Episode with Teeny and JoJo where we talk about our experience at KCON LA 2023! Find out what ticketing was like, what interacting with artists was like, whether anyone actually experienced a black ocean, and how we dealt with natural disasters during a major Kpop convention!

Presenting Idol Book Club: A Little Bit Biased - a spinoff of our Idol Book Club series! This time, instead of focusing on books read by kpop idols, my friend, Ash, and I explore the act of being a fan through reading a Japanese book about a Jpop fan, IDOL, BURNING by Rin Usami. LINKS:  Dictionary . com definition of Parasocial Relationship In Defense of Parasocial Relationships [TIME] Friend or F...

For this bonus episode, I give you my initial impressions and first reaction to the book Beyond the Story: 10-Year Record of BTS by BTS and Myeongseok Kang. I have some thoughts about the structure of the book, a few random bones to pick with some of the topics, some newer things I learned, and what I see as parallels between The Beatles and BTS!

Season 5 Episode 2 In our second episode about the book Flowers of Fire by Hawon Jung, we explore how the bodies of women and girls were used to build up the nation of South Korea. The government needed the physical labor in the form of factory girls to help gain economic strength, which helped usher in the "Miracle on the Han River." Comfort women were used not only during WWII, but after, as wel...

Season 5 Episode 1 - CONTENT NOTE: Discussions of sexual harrassment and assault This season we discuss the book Flowers of Fire by Hawon Jung Episode 1 is about the #MeToo cases in Korea of Seo Ji Hyun and Kim Ji Eun. We also discuss the concepts of Hoesik and Flower Snakes. Links: Hawon Jung: Bio [BenBella Books] KBS World Interview w/ Author Hawon Jung [KBS World] Anthony Rapp Opens Up About Ke...

One of the representative kpop groups of the Hallyu Wave, Super Junior, had a documentary come out about them called Super Junior: The Last Man Standing! In this bonus episode, my friend, Ash, and I recap and talk about our impressions of the documentary as well as some of our own personal memories.

My friend Emma and I discuss my recent experience at an ATEEZ fansign! Not only do we go into entering both video call fansigns and in-person fansigns, but we discuss meeting celebs in general and how the year 2019 in kpop really shook my faith in celebrities.  Some quick corrections from the episode: I say "area code" when I meant to say "country code." The country code for Korea is +82, not...

Our second Idol Book Club pick is I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokbokki by Baek Sehee! This book was read by RM from BTS, who is my cousin Teeny's ultimate bias! Teeny and I discuss our thoughts on this breakout bestselling book about mental health. We reference an interview with the author, Baek Sehee, done by the Korea Society, which you can check out here .

If you're finally about to attend your first kpop concert, but you have some questions and don't know what to expect, check out this episode! My cousins and I will be answering questions about kpop concerts from first time kpop concert goers that I saw on the internet! JoJo and Teeny (no relation to Atiny), will join me in sharing some information, advice, and impressions of our time at the ATEEZ...

Today's Idol Book Club pick was recommended by kpop idols RM and Suga of BTS!  Almond by Won-Pyung Sohn Our guest is Jess from ATC Presents: Daebak K Rambles Podcast! Find her @atcdaebakpod on Instagram and Twitter. Listen to the end to find out who we would cast in a fantasy casting of a K drama version of this book (to date, we don't know if there will be a K drama based on this book!). ABO...

Ever wanted to read a book you saw your idol reading? Ever wanted to join a low-pressure book club? Now you can join me with a new sub-podcast, Idol Book Club with KPop Bookshelf! Find out which book we'll be reading and who recommended it by listening to this episode! Next month, I'll be joined by Jess from ATC Presents Daebak K Rambles podcast and we'll discuss the book! Idol Book Club episodes...

Season 4 Episode 5 Radhika and K^2 from the Gogo Gayo! Podcast join us to discuss the book STRAIGHT KOREAN FEMALE FANS AND THEIR GAY FANTASIES by Jungmin Kwon. Whether or not a K-pop idol is actually gay, there is no shortage of fan content where they are imagined to be gay, and many straight women love this! Be it fan fiction, fan art, fan service, or eyebrow-raising choreo, straight women love t...