Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
“We went to Venice, we went to the Dolomites and we went to Rome, because [my husband] Anthony’s family is in Rome,” said the Korean Vegan, Joan ne Lee Molinaro. “We did that trip, which was absolutely sensational. The Dolomites are like nothing I’ve ever seen in my entire life.”
“‘What Kind of Asian Are You?’ is what I wished I could do when that question has come up,” said actress and dancer Stella Choe. “But most of the time I’m just in shock and so annoyed [that] I don’t know what to say. The video version of myself is a lot more witty and sassy. I wish I was that quick to clap back!”
The Netflix film “BTS: The Return” offers insight into the pressures faced by the superstar group as they came back from military service to make their new album, “Arirang.” My latest review for Rolling Stone magazine.
The Korean group TWS is making waves with their “Boyhood Pop” music and their inventive choreography. My profile of the group is featured online and in print in Rolling Stone magazine’s Future 25 issue.
“During some weekends I drive from Zagreb to my grandfather’s house, ” said filmmaker Neb Chupin.” “The town is called Vodice and I converted his original house into an Airbnb called Dida Boza House, [which] has a cafe and a gift shop. When I worked and studied in Boston, my getaways were always Cape Cod.”
A college student asked me what made K-pop, well, K-pop. The gist of what I said was that K-pop has to maintain a Korean element. In my latest newsletter, I dig deeper into this with a K-pop expert.
“I’ve always said my ultimate dream would be a headline show at Red Rocks in Colorado,” said singer-songwriter Chloe Qisha. “There’s something about that amphitheatre that’s really legendary. At night, especially with how it’s lit, it looks beautiful. I also like venues where there’s staggered seating or standing because you can see everything clearly. It’s somewhere I’d love to see a show, but also somewhere I’d love to play.”
“Railay Beach in Thailand is a stunning car-free peninsula in the Krabi region in the south of Thailand,” said “Virgin River” actor Marco Grazzini. “Turquoise water, white sand, towering limestone cliffs – it’s the usual breathtaking landscape that Thai beaches have to offer, and that would drop jaws on film. I’ve been in and around Thailand numerous times over the past 20 years and Railay really stuck out to me for the serenity that it has.”
“In many ways, the internet has poisoned our minds and drained the lifeblood required for making music, but it has also granted listeners access to so many ideas and creative expressions that it’s possible our understanding of one another has been deepened and amplified,” said professor Alan Williams, who’s also a singer-songwriter. “Seeing my students listening to K-pop, Congolese street bands playing heavily distorted metallophones and Cambodian pop from the golden age before the Khmer Rouge gives me hope for the future.”