My October 2022 Releases
My October 2022 Releases
All the podcast episodes and writing I released last month!
On 17 Carat K-Pop
RM’s Favorite Art: This episode covers both specific artists and specific works of art RM of BTS (aka Kim Namjoon) has praised on social media and/or in interviews. From sculptures to paintings to video installations, RM has recommended a vast array of art, and each piece has a fascinating creator and unique story behind it!
ENHYPEN “MANIFESTO” Tour Review: After describing some standout moments from ENHYPEN’s recent Chicago concert, Hope walks through how ENHYPEN’s music video storyline parallels the story they brought to life on stage! The setlist order allowed for the core themes in ENHYPEN’s world-building to come into focus to a new and exciting extent!
Boot KAMP: What happened at KAMP, BTS’s enlistment news, some sudden tour cancellations, Jessi’s frustrating time in Europe, a unique trademark battle, and more coverage of and commentary on the latest K-pop headlines! Also, in a new “Shoutout of the Week” segment, Hope breaks down the meaning of JUN’s “LIMBO” and its music video!
MAXIDENT Thoughts and Theories: A track-by-track review of MAXIDENT, a list of seventeen hidden details in the album's track videos, and a new, big-picture theory about how the latest additions to the Stray Kids Music Video Universe keep a past storyline going!
Best New K-Pop, J-Pop, & More: September 2022: A ranking and review of the best new music from the worlds of K-pop, J-pop, J-rock, C-pop, and T-pop!
On How to Stan
The History of “Satanic Panic”: Go Ask Alice told the harrowing story of a teenage girl’s spiral into drug addiction. Jay’s Journal told the story of a young boy’s fixation on satanic rituals and dark magic. VOICES told four stories about teenagers experiencing their own identity and mental health crises. What fierce critics and passionate fans of these books alike did not know: they were all fiction. The “real diaries” and case files of which these books consisted were all from the mind of one woman: Beatrice Sparks, a fame-hungry author who used genuine concerns to perpetuate conspiracy theories about dark influences on teens. This series of episodes covers the impact of Sparks’ books and other media on the American psyche. Sparks’ books triggered a ripple effect of paranoia in parents, but so did many other pieces of pop culture without even trying, from Dungeons & Dragons to rock music. The story of the “Satanic Panic” is one of how both innocent creators got swept up in conspiratorial allegations and how bad actors used this moment of mass hysteria to exploit parental concerns and confusion about “kids these days.” The “Satanic Panic” speaks volumes about how certain people can get away with bald-faced lies and conspiratorial beliefs for so long, how the power of suggestion can lead parents to genuinely believe satanic forces are to blame for teens’ crises, and how just a few books can redefine popular opinion.
Part one: Sparks’ upbringing, the true elements of Go Ask Alice and Jay’s Journal, and the early days of censorship campaigns.
Part two: how so many innocent people were deemed “satanists” and had their lives turned upside-down because of it, how Beatrice Sparks’ books were able to keep their credibility despite her growing brazenness about lying in them, and how the “Satanic Panic” still impacts society today.
Part three: a conversation with Rick Emerson about Unmask Alice: LSD, Satanic Panic, and the Imposter Behind the World's Most Notorious Diaries. His book covers the life of Beatrice Sparks and the roles her books, particularly Go Ask Alice and Jay's Journal, played in furthering the “Satanic Panic.”
My Writing
The Ten Best Things About ENHYPEN’s Chicago Show
ENHYPEN’s “MANIFESTO in U.S.” Tour: Concert Review
TRI.BE Give Advice to Their Younger Selves, Send Love to Fans, and More!
YOUHA on the Meaning of love you more,
SUDI Teases New Music, Shares Her Aspirations, and More
The Best New Music: September 2022
A Guide to MAXIDENT (paywalled)
Billlie’s Music Video Universe (Part 3) (paywalled)
Billlie’s Music Video Universe (Part 4) (paywalled)
Sources and Further Reading
Related to “RM’s Favorite Art”
Some articles about RM’s art collection and passion for art
Camille Pissarro, the artist whose work was deemed “vulgar” and “ugly” for going against the unwritten rules of the art world
Chang Uc-chin, the artist who took the “childlike” description of his work as a compliment
Gustave Courbet, the self-proclaimed “most arrogant man in France”
Georges Seurat, one of the first painters RM became a fan of
Do Ho Suh, an artist focused on two broad themes: space and home
Hyong-Keun Yun, the artist who became famous for using just two colors
Nam June Paik, the “Father of Video Art”
Lee Seung Jio, aka “The Pipe Artist”
The fascinating life and work of Roni Horn
Félix González-Torres and Roni Horn’s joint exhibition
Ugo Rondinone’s Seven Magic Mountains
Ugo Rondinone’s nuns + monks
The Tree by Alexander Calder
More about Alexander Calder
Speaking of Calder, this is probably my favorite project out of every work of art I discussed on the show!
Another personal favorite of mine, Park Ko-suk
The Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh
Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami (the inspiration for some works of art)
Édouard Manet’s Luncheon on the Grass
Louise Bourgeois’s massive spiders
Isamu Noguchi’s light sculptures
About Donald Judd
“Picasso’s First Love,” El Greco
Border Barriers Typology by Francis Alÿs
Painter Alex Katz
Painter Claude Monet
Painter Zao Wou-Ki
Sculptor Antoine Bourdelle
Sculptor Alberto Giacommetti
More on Giacommetti
Sculptor Kwon Jin-Kyu
Related to the “Satanic Panic” miniseries
The new form “Satanic Panic” is taking
The unfounded claims upon which “Satanic Panic” was based
Unmask Alice by Rick Emerson