Korean Studies

Korean Studies

episodes

Interviews with scholars of Korea about their new books.

Paige Towers, "What They Stole: A Familicide Rooted in Intercountry Adoption" (U Iowa Press, 2026)

May 28, 2026

What They Stole

Paige Towers
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In 1955, following the devastation of the Korean War, Bertha and Harry Holt made headlines for adopting eight Korean children. Driven by evangelical c…

Hannah Shepherd, "The Narrowing Sea: Fukuoka, Pusan, and the Rise and Fall of an Imperial Region" (U California Press, 2025)

May 27, 2026

The Narrowing Sea

Hannah Shepherd
Hosted by Samee Siddiqui

In The Narrowing Sea: Fukuoka, Pusan, and the Rise and Fall of an Imperial Region (U California Press, 2025), Hannah Shepherd examines the shared hist…

Gregg A. Brazinsky, "Cold War Comrades: An Emotional History of the Sino-North Korean Alliance" (Cambridge UP, 2026)

May 16, 2026

Cold War Comrades

Gregg A. Brazinsky
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In this major new interpretation of Sino-North Korean relations, Dr. Gregg A. Brazinsky argues that neither the PRC nor the DPRK would have survived a…

Fyodor Tertitskiy, "Pyongyang on the Brink: Sixteen Crises That Shaped North Korea" (Hurst, 2026)

May 14, 2026

Pyongyang on the Brink

Fyodor Tertitskiy
Hosted by Nicholas Gordon

North Korea has survived wars, sanctions, and isolation—to the point where it now seems that the continuation of the Kim dynasty, and a starkly divide…

David Krolikoski, "Lyrical Translation: The Creation of Modern Poetry in Colonial Korea" (U Hawai'i Press, 2026)

May 2, 2026

Lyrical Translation

David Krolikoski
Hosted by Leslie Hickman

Lyrical Translation: The Creation of Modern Poetry in Colonial Korea (U Hawai'i Press, 2026)is a literary history of modern Korean poetry's origins an…

Han Jin-myung with Nicolas Levi, "I Was a North Korean Diplomat: Inside the Secret World of Pyongyang's Foreign Service" (Independently Published, 2026)

April 18, 2026

I Was a North Korean Diplomat

Myung-jin Han with Nicolas Levi
Hosted by Anthony Kao

Nicolas Levi is a researcher at the Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures of the Polish Academy of Sciences. He has authored numerous books…

Sidra Hamidi, "After Fission: Recognition and Contestation in the Atomic Age" (Cambridge UP, 2026)

March 21, 2026

After Fission

Sidra Hamidi
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Nuclear status is typically treated as a stable feature of a state's capacity to possess, use, or build nuclear weapons. Challenging this view, After …

Patrick Chung, "Standardizing Empire: The US Military, Korea, and the Origins of Military-Industrial Capitalism" (U Pennsylvania Press, 2026)

March 6, 2026

Standardizing Empire

Patrick Chung
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Standardizing Empire: The US Military, Korea, and the Origins of Military-Industrial Capitalism (U Pennsylvania Press, 2026) by Dr. Patrick Chung trac…

Jie-Hyun Lim, "Victimhood Nationalism: History and Memory in a Global Age" (Columbia UP, 2025)

February 21, 2026

Victimhood Nationalism

Jie-Hyun Lim
Hosted by Leslie Hickman

Nationalism today depends on the perception of victimhood. The historical memory of past suffering endows nationalist movements with political legitim…

Areum Jeong, "K-Pop Fandom: Performing Deokhu from the 1990s to Today" (U Michigan Press, 2026)

February 10, 2026

K-Pop Fandom

Areum Jeong
Hosted by Rebekah Buchanan

K-Pop Fandom: Performing Deokhu from the 1990s to Today (U Michigan Press, 2026) insists that K-pop fan practices and activities constitute a central …

Min Joo Lee, "Finding Mr. Perfect: K-Drama, Pop Culture, Romance, and Race" (Rutgers UP, 2025)

January 18, 2026

Finding Mr. Perfect

Min Joo Lee
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

Finding Mr. Perfect: K-Drama, Pop Culture, Romance, and Race (Rutgers UP, 2025) by Dr. Min Joo Lee explores the romantic relationships between Korean …

Re-examining the Women’s Movement in Cold War South Korea and Beyond

January 9, 2026

Re-examining the Women’s Movement in Cold War South Korea and Beyond

Katri Kauhanen

In the past decade, feminism has become one of the heated topics in public debate in South Korea. Feminism is embraced by activists, attacked in elect…

Serk-Bae Suh, "Against the Chains of Utility: Sacrifice and Literature in 1970s and 1980s South Korea" (U Hawaii Press, 2025)

January 7, 2026

Against the Chains of Utility

Serk-Bae Suh
Hosted by Leslie Hickman

Against the Chains of Utility: Sacrifice and Literature in 1970s and 1980s South Korea (University of Hawaii Press, 2025) explores literary texts that…

Andrea Gevurtz Arai ed., "Spaces of Creative Resistance: Social Change Projects in Twenty-First-Century East Asia" (Rutgers UP, 2025)

December 27, 2025

Spaces of Creative Resistance

Andrea Gevurtz Arai
Hosted by Yadong Li

An exciting collection of stories of change that most people don’t usually hear from the bottom up, from the grassroots, about what’s happening in Eas…

Joel S. Wit, "Fallout: The Inside Story of America's Failure to Disarm North Korea" (Yale UP, 2025)

December 26, 2025

Fallout

Joel S. Wit
Hosted by Andrew Pace

After nearly four decades of negotiations, sanctions, summits, threats, and backdoor channels, the United States has failed to stop North Korea's nucl…

Yong-Shik Lee, "Sustainable Peace in Northeast Asia" (Anthem Press, 2023)

October 22, 2025

Sustainable Peace in Northeast Asia

Yong-Shik Lee
Hosted by Keith Krueger

In the long run, countries in Northeast Asia will have to see the need for collective defense. Otherwise, you won’t be able to stop rivalry between po…

Todd A. Henry ed., "Queer Korea" (Duke UP, 2025)

September 27, 2025

Queer Korea

Todd A. Henry
Hosted by Bing Wang

Edited by Todd A. Henry, Queer Korea (Duke UP, 2020) offers a vital and long-overdue examination of this subject. More than an academic text, it is a…

Stephanie K. Kim, "Constructing Student Mobility: How Universities Recruit Students and Shape Pathways between Berkeley and Seoul" (MIT Press, 2023)

September 8, 2025

Constructing Student Mobility

Stephanie K. Kim
Hosted by Leslie Hickman

Constructing Student Mobility: How Universities Recruit Students and Shape Pathways between Berkeley and Seoul (MIT Press, 2023) challenges the popul…

Benoit Berthelier and Immanuel Kim, "Hidden Heros: Anthology of North Korean FIction" (Anthem, 2025)

July 29, 2025

Hidden Heros

Benoit Berthelier and Immanuel Kim
Hosted by Leslie Hickman

Hidden Heroes (Anthem Press, 2025) offers a rare and intimate glimpse into the lives of ordinary North Koreans through a collection of short stories b…

Zev Handel, "Chinese Characters Across Asia: How the Chinese Script Came to Write Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese" (U Washington Press, 2025)

July 3, 2025

Chinese Characters Across Asia

Zev Handel
Hosted by Nicholas Gordon

For centuries, scribes across East Asia used Chinese characters to write things down–even in languages based on very different foundations than Chines…