Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
In her latest role in the second season of “Beef,” Youn Yuh-jung, portrays the powerful billionaire of a South Korean chaebol conglomerate, who buys an expensive California country club as an investment property. A ruthless businesswoman, her one weakness is her much-younger and inept plastic-surgeon husband (played by Song Kang-ho), who she dotes on.
True story: When I was in college, we didn’t have access to The Internets like all you young whipper snappers today. So, instead of drooling over all the photos of food on Pinterest and Instagram, I used to look at recipe books and imagine that I could be eating that instead of the dorm food my parents had paid for.
When Youn Yuh-jung won an Academy Award for her role in “Minari,” she made history as the first Korean actor to be honored with an Oscar. Already a legend in her homeland, Youn – who is repped by the Creative Artists Agency – added more U.S. productions like “Pachinko” and “The Wedding Banquet” to her expansive resume. In the second season of “Beef” – currently streaming on Netflix – Youn portrays a billionaire South Korean businesswoman who will do whatever it takes to protect her bumbling boy-toyish husband.
Why Suga’s Korean-language book “MIND Problem” excites me more than the pop group’s worldwide tour.
“[Travel] is one of the great perks of working in tennis,” said Patrick McEnroe. “You build relationships all over the world and get to experience different cultures in a really meaningful way. The global tennis community is pretty special in that sense. I’ve made lifelong friends in all different parts of the world, and it’s been fascinating to see how places evolve over time. I like to keep it simple – walking, hiking, exploring and finding great local food. I always try to avoid the American chains when we’re overseas, and really experience wherever we are.”
“I play Francesca, the funniest sister-cousin you wish you had,” said Stella Pecollo, who is one of the stars of the film “You, Me & Tuscany.” “She is a sassy, confident, fun, loving woman who adores Michael, played by Regé-Jean Page, and becomes close to Anna, played by Halle Bailey, whom she confides all the family gossip to.”
“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.”
Accusing a Korean adoptee of ‘not being Korean enough’ isn’t the slam dunk losers think it is.
“So far I’ve shot in Turino, Northern Italy, Israel, Colombia, the United States and across Canada,” said “Palm Royale” actress Claudia Ferri. “I would love to have an opportunity to shoot in Newfoundland in the winter. I’m curious to see how people live in that kind of cold!”
“When a country experiences such fast economic growth, it doesn’t give generations enough time to adapt to modern realities. You end up thrusting people into modernity without changing the structures around them. In South Korea, gender roles within households remain stuck in the past.” — Nobel Prize-winning economist Claudia Goldin
Arianna Davis portrays a college cheerleader on the NBC series “Stumble.” As someone who started dance lessons at the age of two, Davis – who is also a singer-songwriter – is a perfect fit for this mockumentary sitcom, which delves into the intense and cut-throat world of competitive cheerleading.
David Bowie, Keanu Reeves, Britney Spears, PSY, Idris Elba, BTS, Matt Damon, Justin Timberlake, Venus Williams… Just a few of the notable folks I’ve interviewed. Click on the photo or the title to read my profiles. Enjoy!