The Best of 17 Carat K-Pop
A compilation of the best episodes of the podcast!
“That was a Remake?!”: On countless occasions, K-pop songs have interpolated, sampled, remixed, or otherwise drawn inspiration from other songs. This episode features the stories behind the most iconic, strangest, funniest, and most surprising examples!
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“The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION Study Guide”: The original story about “making a deal with the devil,” the adventures of a boy who could never grow up, and TXT’s music video storyline have MUCH more in common than it sounds! From specific symbols to abstract themes, these three stories share surprisingly similar messages about temptation, maturity, the messy process of finding oneself, struggling to see in shades of gray, and so much more. When all three stories combine, as they do for TXT’s “Name Chapter” era, the narrative power and resonance know no bounds! This deep dive not only clarifies what TXT’s musical world is really all about, but the profound reasons for incorporating folklore about the devil and Peter Pan into it.
Part one: a guide to Faust, Mephistopheles, and the variations in the tellings of the “selling one’s soul” story. Part two: a breakdown of the (unexpectedly dark) origin story of Peter Pan’s adventures and an explanation of Neverland’s true symbolism. Part three: an explainer as to how these stories relate to both each other and TXT’s music video universe.
Stream this episode on Spotify here!
Stream this episode on Apple Podcasts here!
Stream this episode on Anchor or another streaming service here!
Also try “TXT’s Neverland”!: While the episode called "The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION Study Guide" breaks down the Easter eggs in TXT's teaser content and sources of literary inspiration for their latest comeback, this episode analyzes the album itself. The most insightful lyrics in each song, the stories told by the album as a whole, hidden symbols in the "Sugar Rush Ride" music video, and much more is covered!
Stream this episode on Spotify here!
Stream this episode on Apple Podcasts here!
Stream this episode on Anchor or another streaming service here!
The “BTStudy Guides” Series: A series of episodes that explores the literary and cinematic sources of inspiration for BTS’s work!
Ep. 1: Demian: Hope breaks down the many ways BTS alludes to the characters, symbols, and themes in Demian by Herman Hesse throughout the “Wings” era music videos.
Ep. 2: Omelas: This episode compares and contrasts the messages told through BTS’s “Spring Day” music video with “The One Who Walks Away from Omelas” by Ursula K. Le Guin.
Ep. 3: Black Swan: This episode summarizes the characters and plot in the movie Black Swan, examines the film’s psychological and social commentary, and draws connections to the messages in BTS’s music and videos.
Ep. 4: Magic Shop: This episode explores the themes throughout both Into the Magic Shop by James R. Doty and his research on the mind-body connection. The song “Magic Shop” by BTS is used to further explain Dr. Doty’s thoughts on the power of kindness to heal and the importance of de-stigmatizing mental health.
Ep. 5: The Owl Service: This episode summarizes both The Owl Service by Alan Garner and the Welsh myth on which it is based. By making sense of both versions of this story, the meaning of the “I Need U” chapter in BTS’s story becomes clearer.
Ep. 6: Louder Than Bombs: Louder Than Bombs is a film about grief, love, lies, and selective memory. The questions this movie provokes are also the ones provoked by the song “Louder Than Bombs” by BTS, as well as some BTS music videos. By understanding the many parallels in the ways this film and BTS’s work tell stories of life and loss, it becomes clear how BTS takes the heavy emotions communicated by movies and applies them to their own lives in powerful ways.
Ep. 7: Haruki Murakami: In Kafka on the Shore, a 15-year-old runs away from home and meets a cast of quirky characters, including Colonel Sanders, a man who talks to cats, and a woman who at one point reverts back into her younger self. In 1Q84, an assassin's life is forever linked to a ghostwriter's life, as they both run and hide from a common enemy. These stories might sound starkly different, but they have more themes in common than one would expect: a distortion of the concept of time and fears surrounding the breakdown of social norms, just to name a few. After comparing and contrasting the plots of and characters in these two stories, Hope compares and contrasts their themes with those present in BTS's music video universe. Part book review and part philosophy lesson, this conclusion of the "BTStudy Guides" series of episodes explains what the works of both BTS and Haruki Murakami are ultimately trying to say.
Interviews
Singer, songwriter, and producer H. Kenneth breaks down the making of “MY TREASURE” by TREASURE and “Ready to love” by SEVENTEEN! Plus, he gives hints about an artist’s changing sound, shares a great Ed Sheeran quote about creativity, and lots more!
K-pop reporter Jeff Benjamin discusses behind-the-scenes stories from interviewing K-pop stars, the elements of fair and beneficial K-pop media coverage, the relatively new openness K-pop stars have about their mental health, and much more!
Songwriter and producer Tushar Apte shares the stories behind songs from BTS, BLACKPINK, Lu Han, and more K-pop and C-pop stars!
Rolling Stone India’s K-pop columnist, senior writer, and video producer Riddhi Chakraborty talks about the massive K-pop fan base in India, elements of K-pop reminiscent of Bollywood films, and much more.
Maria Sherman, author of Larger Than Life, explains the often-overlooked parts of boy band history, the factors that led to One Direction’s massive popularity, how BTS is breaking boy band stereotypes, and much more!
Journalist Kat Moon talks about everything from K-drama recommendations to how K-pop journalism can describe fans and their idols in the best, most accurate way.
The Taemin Trilogy
Taemin.: Reactions to and theories about Taemin’s songs and music videos!
Taemin’s Newest Act: Unpacking the layers of meaning within Never Gonna Dance Again : Act 2, explaining the philosophical theory that inspired the album, and proposing new theories about the Taemin Music Video Universe!
Taemin’s Encore: Building off of previous Taemin-dedicated episodes of the show, new theories are laid out about the dual roles Taemin plays in his music videos and where his characters’ stories go from here.
The Best MV Universe-Specific Episodes
aespa and KWANGYA Guide, Vol. 2: Given the new context and clarity provided by aespa's "Next Level" short film and "Girls" music video, this episode includes an updated, comprehensive glossary to all things KWANGYA and the SMCU, a revised character and setting guide, and new theories about the ways SM Entertainment artists' stories are intertwined!
Billlie’s World: A guide to all things Billlie: symbolism and themes in their short films, their music video storyline, the ways they draw inspiration from the book Matilda, and the ways Carl Jung’s psychoanalytic theories apply to their music video characters!
ENHYPEN’s Dual Worlds: 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 in their own story, and where ENHYPEN’s story goes from here!
minisode 2: Thursday’s Child Theories: In addition to Hope's reaction to and review of minisode 2: Thursday's Child, she shares her theories about the hidden messages in the "Good Boy Gone Bad" music video, in the album's song lyrics, and even in this comeback's promotional pictures!
Feel My Rhythm and Glitch Mode Theories: Hope shares the best lyrics in NCT DREAM’s new album, draws attention to hidden meanings in Red Velvet’s Feel My Rhythm and NCT DREAM’s Glitch Mode comeback content, and theorizes about the ways in which these groups’ roles in the SMCU are related!
ODDINARY and the Evolution of Stray Kids: This episode covers all things ODDINARY, from the best lyrics to the surprising ways the album and its corresponding videos nod back to previous Stray Kids releases!
Universe (NCT Talk, Vol. 12): From the poem Johnny is seen reading to the numbers that keep popping up, this episode is a thorough guide to all the meaningful details in NCT's Universe teaser images and videos! It also serves as a breakdown of the ways NCT's videos continue telling the story of the broader SM Entertainment Cinematic Universe!
Misc.
KCON LA 2022 Recap: Hope shares the highs and lows of her first-time KCON experience, the unique ways she experienced KCON as someone with crowd-related anxiety, advice for future KCON newbies, a review of day one’s concert, and more!
Guess the K-Pop Song: How this game works: Hope will read some English lyrics from a K-pop song. You can pause the game if you need more than the time allotted to think of your answer. Give yourself half of a point if you only guess the artist or the song correctly, and give yourself one point for that round if you guess both correctly. There are 50 rounds, and no K-pop artist shows up in more than one round. If playing with others, only the person who answers the correct answer the fastest gets the point or half-point for that round. Enjoy!
K-Pop x Artwork: ATEEZ, BTS, CLC, IZ*ONE, LOONA… so many K-pop artists have incorporated famous works of art into their song lyrics and/or music videos! This episode provides seventeen examples and tells the stories behind the sculptures, paintings, and art installations referenced in K-pop!
The Art of the K-Pop Music Video: In this episode, Hope makes the case for viewing K-pop music videos as exceptional examples of why music videos will never be irrelevant, lists her top 21 picks for K-pop artists with the most compelling and re-watchable music videos, and explores the parallels between how the human mind benefits from dreaming compared to watching music videos!
IT’z My Fave K-Pop Girl Groups: Hope lists 25 of the most underrated and/or unique K-pop girl groups of all time, breaks down the meanings in their music videos, and points out how female bands overall face excessive stereotyping.
BoA Fide Popstar: A look at each of the variables that combined to cause K-pop to dominate on YouTube and SM Entertainment’s marketing tactics to succeed beyond imagination. Historical, cultural, and social context is used to understand how the Hallyu wave swept the world, with a huge boost from SM Entertainment, and what makes K-pop videos so mesmerizing!
K-Pop Music Show History: A timeline of significant changes to the six main K-pop music shows, TRL's parallel evolution, and memorable moments in K-pop music show history- for better and for worse!
Almond (RM’s Recs, Ep. 3): 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 it difficult for him to interpret and express emotions and their associated behaviors. Yunjae is often the target of Gon’s rage, yet they manage to form an unlikely friendship. After Yunjae’s caretakers are stabbed by an unknown attacker, Gon is one of the main characters who fills their shoes, teaching Yunjae about the world and its many social norms. Their unique dynamics are further complicated as they endure public outbursts, a crush, “empathy training” that goes too far, brutal beatings, and a disappearance. Almond, by Won-pyung Sohn, tells a powerful, gripping story about neurodivergent people, the ways people cope with intense feelings, and what it truly means to be human and find a sense of connection. In this episode of “RM’s Recs,” Hope summarizes Almond, breaks down the main characters’ many layers, shares the most powerful quotes, and opens up about the power of seeing oneself represented in literature in such a refreshingly nuanced way.
Music and Mythology: 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.
Autism and Fandom: In honor of Autism Acceptance Month, Hope uses personal stories to describe five things allies to the autistic community should know, and she reflects on how being autistic shapes her feelings around and involvement in fandom culture.
The Global Impacts of K-Pop Fans: The power of K-pop fan mobilization is hard to overstate. K-pop fans have helped change the political tides in Chile, revived a dying facet of Thailand's tourism industry, organized flash mobs as a form of protest, founded grassroots organizations to work on all sorts of issues, lobbied for certain legislation, and even created some of the first-ever fan-run sites. This power to make tangible change has been used for bad as well as good: K-pop "anti-fans" have mobilized to manufacture conspiratorial theories, attack members of different fandoms, and spread misinformation, all of which have caused "real-world" harm. The bottom line: the power of K-pop fans extends well beyond the internet. This episode covers stories from the nineties up to the present day, from countries all over the world, that are prime examples of K-pop fans' concrete impacts- the good, the bad, and the ugly.