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© 2026 It's a K-pop Thing
Description
A podcast by two journalists and K-pop fans who love to bring a little nuance to the fan experience. Hosted by Theresa Avila and Alexis Hodoyán-Gastélum, two journalists, friends, and fellow K-pop multi-stans, each episode of It's a K-pop Thing explores the fan culture and the stories behind the people who've helped grow K-pop into a global phenomenon.
In each episode you can expect analysis and commentary on trending K-pop news stories with the right amount of background and context for new and old fans alike. It's a K-pop Thing is, "the show where we talk about all the things that make K-pop distinctly K-pop." Follow the Show: @IKPTpod on Instagram
29 Episodes
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ZEROBASEONE's time as a 9-member group has come to a close after more than two and half years. What started as a temporary, project group from the survival show BOYS PLANET (Season 1) will now continue as a 5-member boy group managed under WAKEONE Entertainment, a subsidiary of CJ ENM. The group will continue as a quintent consisting of Sung Han-bin, Kim Ji-woong, Seok Matthew, Kim Tae-rae, and Park Gun-wook. The remaining four members, Zhang Hao, Ricky, Kim Gyu-vin, and Han Yu-jin will...
The start of 2026 had seemingly everyone online reminiscing about what life was life back in 2016. Back when times were simpler, more fun and, dare we say, when K-pop music was ... better? Before you come for our necks, let us take a trip down memory lane as we reminisce about how great K-pop was in the 2010s. In this episode, Alexis and Theresa ask themselves: Did K-pop already peak or is nostalgia giving us rose-tinted glasses? (Er, ears?) Tune in as we discuss: What we consider the "Golden...
Put simply: We have big and complex feelings about EXO's highly anticipated comeback following the return of all members from their military enlistment. When news of an EXO reunion first broke, we were just as excited as any diehard EXO-L. Unfortunately, as time went on and it became evident that CBX would NOT be included in the comeback due to their ongoing legal troubles with SM Entertainment ... well, our enthusiasm waned. What happened to the OT9 EXO reunion much of the fandom eager...
After analyzing all of the year-in-review K-pop content over the holidays, we've come to one conclusion: 2025 was *rough* and left us wanting a lot more. So, as we kick off the brand new year in 2026, we're hoping our collective positive thinking can help us manifest the best possible year yet in K-pop! Tune in as we chit chat about: Our standout releases from 2025What we're each manifesting for K-popWhat changes we're hoping to see in the industryWhat's next for the podcastLet us know what K...
We're kicking off 2026 with an episode we recorded at the tail end of last year that's all about Santos Bravos! Following HYBE's big experiment with KATSEYE, HYBE Latin America focused its efforts in 2025 on debuting a Latino pop boy group using the K-pop industry model. Though the group is most definitely NOT K-pop sonically (more on that later), its creation via a music survival show, its trainee model and its obvious connection to HYBE mean it carries the DNA or building blocks of th...
Kpop Demon Hunters arguably gave us not just the song of the summer, but the soundtrack of the year. Sound like hyperbole? It's been months since the animated musical was released this summer and it shows no signs of slowing down. Thanks to word-of-mouth and some early guerrilla-style marketing, viewership for the film snowballed so unexpectedly and so quickly that it now holds the distinction of being Netflix's most-watched original title ... EVER, with more than 236 million views as of late...
We are back after our summer break for a brand new season of It's a K-pop Thing! In this episode, we catch up and discuss what it was like traveling to Mexico this summer to see NCT Dream and Cha Eun Woo. Then, you don't want our advice and tips in the second half of the show! If you've ever thought about traveling to see a K-pop show in Mexico (or maybe greater Latin America), this is the episode for you. We give you the real, honest advice we would give our closest friends about what you ...
In this edition of Play This! we bring you a previously unreleased episode that almost didn't air. Shortly after recording our discussion about ILLIT's debut hit single, "Magnetic," news broke of the corporate turmoil and fallout going on at HYBE and ADOR regarding allegations of plagiarism. In this episode—recorded prior to the allegations surfaced by ADOR's CEO Min Hee Jin—Alexis and Theresa discuss the similarities and differences between NewJeans and ILLIT, the evolution of girl g...
We have a special concert recap episode that's ALL about our recent K-pop travels, concerts experiences and even a special run-in with some K-pop idols after a concert! (No spoilers: You'll have to tune in to hear who it was!) In this episode we cover how Alexis recently traveled to Tokyo to catch NCT 127 before military enlistments for the members began and Theresa talks about how she flew to Las Vegas to catch TWICE on the last stop of their world tour. We get into the nitty gritty a...
Lately, the general consensus seems to be: K-pop is bigger than ever before —and that's to be celebrated— but it's also ... different. The music trends are changing and, depending on who you ask, it's not always for the better. Especially among multi-stans, there seems to be a newfound sense of overwhelm and fatigue due to the relentless amount of content churned out by K-pop. All of this has us thinking: Are we entering a new era of K-pop? Is K-pop's rapid growth stalling? Dare we ask: Ha...
This episode is PART 2 of our two-episode discussion on the latest K-pop and Latin music collab, "Amigos" by BIBI and Becky G. If you haven't checked out PART 1, go back to the feed and listen! In this portion of the discussion, we dive into our top K-pop and Latine song recommendations! We focus on K-pop songs that cater to a Latine audience, by either featuring a Latine artist, they're sung in Spanish or..they simply have a Latin vibe. EPISODE RUNDOWN: Intro to the discussionSong Re...
Hey everyone! We're back in 2024 with an episode we recorded at the tail end of last year when BIBI and Becky G had just released their collab track, "Amigos." It's a chill, fun song that also serves as a good introduction to K-R&B and Latin music. Given this song bridges the broader worlds of K-pop and Latin music—two of our fav genres—we naturally have have a LOT of thoughts on the song! This episode is PART 1 of our two-episode discussion on the latest K-pop and Latin music collab, "A...
For this edition of Play This! we’re discussing “Gento,” a song by Filipino-boy-group SB19. While it’s not K-pop, per se, the song has been making its way around the industry’s boy groups, thanks to numerous idols doing the “Gento” dance challenge. But, what is it about this song that has male idols flocking to it? Is the popularity of SB19’s “Gento," maybe due to changes in concepts for K-pop boy groups? Are male idols simply missing the hard-hitting choreography we once associated with “Bea...
If you're a K-pop multi-stan like us in the USA, you might have noticed something lately: The number of K-pop acts on tour has grown by a LOT! But with that growth, we've also seen an increase in tour dates overlapping and fans ultimately having to choose between which of their favorite artists to support. We have to ask: Are we finally in the era of too many K-pop concerts? To help us talk through this dilemma, we invited our friends Carolina and Kat, each one-fourth of the women behind th...
We're back with another edition of Play This! where we give you some song recommendations inspired by recent K-pop releases. On this episode, we discuss the latest collaboration between a K-pop group with a Western artist: "Do It Like That," by TOMORROW X TOGETHER and Jonas Brothers. "Do It Like That" is a bouncy, fun pop song that's perfect for summer and it got us thinking about how rare and special it is to have a collab happen between a K-pop group and a Western artist. Tune in as we tr...
Today's episode features a special interview with K-pop idol and artist, AleXa! Recently we chatted with her about her latest digital-single, "Juliet," and the 6(!) different versions of the song, which include a bachata remix sung entirely in Spanish. In other episodes, we’ve touched on the globalization of K-pop and how artists have branched out to other markets to gain traction beyond Korea. But, AleXa is the latest K-pop idol to turn to the massive fandom in Latin America and recogn...
We're back with more K-pop song recommendations! For this episode of Play This! we take a very *serious* look at a very UN-serious song: (G)I-DLE's latest comeback and hit, "Queencard." Sometimes in K-pop we get wacky concepts, nonsensical lyrics and unserious music—but who cares if it WORKS? And "Queencard" works fantastically, thanks to the plenty of camp elements throughout. Tune in for our discussion on all things camp in K-pop (Hint: It's everywhere; you just have to know wh...
FIFTY FIFTY's "Cupid" is still going strong on the charts, thanks to the popularity of its English "Twin" version. But where do you from there? What other K-pop songs do you queue up on your playlist? After all, you need at least a few good songs to get the algorithm to do its thing! Lucky for you, we've got four K-pop songs for you that are in the same vein as FIFTY FIFTY's "Cupid." Tune in to hear us break down what's helping "Cupid" chart so well plus our personal song recs for you to pla...
We're back with Part 2 of our mini-series examining the state of Girl Groups in K-pop today! We have a lot to discuss in this episode, including new releases by plenty of 4th-gen acts as well as our theories on why the spotlight is shining so brightly on girl groups. PLUS!! We share our TOP 10+ GIRL GROUPS (atm): With so many girl groups charting at the moment, we made our own list of the girl groups that have us excited for the rest of 2023! Plus, you'll hear which groups we're crossing our ...
Something major happened in K-pop last year: For the first time since the aughts, girl groups outshone their male group counterparts. Not only did girl groups deliver hit after hit, but 2022 also saw 4th generation girl groups consistently vie for the top spot in K-pop music charts and award shows. And if “Ditto” and “OMG” are any indication of how this year’s gonna pan out, it’s looking like girl groups are gonna have another winning season. ABOUT THIS EPISODE: This is PART ONE of a mini-se...
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