We recount our experiences seeing BTS in Toronto and Chicago. Listen for stories of navigating concert day storms, lost glasses, death defying bicycle taxi rides and a concert night without tickets. All with so, so much love for BTS and ARMY. 💜

Thank you so much to all of the creative and talented ARMY who gave us freebies including: 

@borabuddie on TiKToK and X

and 

And @pjiminie_1995 on Instagram 

Want to get in touch? 

Email us at [email protected]

Follow us on Instagram 

@k_popping_around_town

https://www.instagram.com/k_popping_around_town?igsh=OXdpMGNra3Q0cHNr&utm_source=qr 

And YouTube 

https://youtube.com/@k-poppingaroundtown?si=QiXmEUWMhwNTHMXT

Raw, unedited bonus episode where Leilani recounts her experience seeing BTS in Arlington.

And ::insert heavy sigh:: we discuss our feelings on the recent RM and j-jope controversy.

Follow Us On Instagram @K_Popping_Around_Town

We had so much fun exploring newly debuted groups with our listener community during Rookie Week 2026! Even if we did take a little unexpected detour with AI idols...

Rookie Week Friday Recap Playlist - 1 song from each of our K-Pop rookies

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3qwxeaNafTHDllalttQ2d2?si=-HeI6gC5SCy6f3wS-9nCZw&utm_source=copy-link&pi=grajKxtOTXSax

Learn more about our rookie group TUNEXX on episode 3 of the Bias Bites podcast! Timestamp is 42.51 

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0s1cFq27ICDhdAH1ngJsUc?si=TCY5WfoKR3OSoqT9-_UQbA&utm_source=copy-link

Want to learn to speak Korean? Try some bite sized lessons with our Community Corner feature, Learn Korean With Woojin! @woojin.korean on Instagram 

https://www.instagram.com/woojin.korean?igsh=OW56c3phYWIzcmwx

Need more K-Popping Around Town? Get in touch with us in between episodes! Follow us on Instagram @k_popping_around_town

https://www.instagram.com/k_popping_around_town?igsh=OXdpMGNra3Q0cHNr&utm_source=qr 

Email us at [email protected]

K Profiles for the groups that we'll be following for the next year!

AmbiO

https://kprofiles.com/ambio-members-profile/

AxMxP

https://kprofiles.com/axmxp-members-profile/

HEART OF WOMAN (H.O.W) 

https://kprofiles.com/heart-of-woman-members-profile/

H//PE Princess

https://kprofiles.com/h-pe-princess-members-profile/

STRITZ

https://kprofiles.com/stritz-members-profile/

Email us for the full guide to all the groups we covered!

This is how we do game night, K-Pop style!

Check out our guests Megan, Morgan and Traci on their very own pod, Bias Bites!

https://linktr.ee/biasbitespod?fbclid=PAVERFWASw4AdleHRuA2FlbQIxMABzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA8xMjQwMjQ1NzQyODc0MTQAAadulKq8qlk5Zsd-9bNXS6zWaRKkNtCE7IshCkX52tzCOEAyrtVUYKT4NCpSMw_aem_5FVBb3A2CkjZHXwhDd-PJg

Listen to the songs and artists we talk about during our games!

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7cARS1QlL6NQPLIFQU9KfJ?si=wr_BHCgsQIuIg3Tye4xxbg&pi=SQehPk5cTwKYR

Thank you Kathy and Laura of MIA2K for the K-pop drinking game drinking game which we’ve adapted for our own podcast purposes!

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mia2k-a-kpop-podcast/id1602148898

Since we can’t let an episode go by without talking about the way Taemin communicates with cats, here’s his Kitten Interview

https://youtu.be/yHByBt9-e40?si=t8AoZI6b1rr2Q757

Want to get in touch with us? Good, we want to hear from  you! 

Find us on Instagram!

@k_popping_around_town

https://www.instagram.com/k_popping_around_town?igsh=OXdpMGNra3Q0cHNr&utm_source=qr 

Email us at [email protected]

A super fun discussion where we each share things that we would NEVER tolerate people in our real lives saying or doing. But when Ten from WayV says it...

Main topic starts at 8:30 because first we have to gush about our reactions to BTS Arirang live from Busan!

YouTube playlist with some moments mentioned here:

https://youtu.be/cRFWo5vWrcw?si=5dUx9ULWa5pxbDQh

A continuation of our discussion on parasocial relationships in K-pop.

Time Stamps:

2:57 Parasocial relationships in the K-pop business model 

10:10 Does it go too far?

31:37 Finding balance 

39:00 Fun delulu stories

42:00 Fake goodbye

43:35 Mental health resources 

44:55 Community corner

46:33 Call for Lee Know videos

47:00 Real goodbye

References:

BBC

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgmv877746o 

Cambridge Dictionary 

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/parasocial

Stuff You Should Know (podcast)

https://stuffyoushouldknow.com/episode/parasocial-relationships-that-podcaster-is-your-friend/

The Trauma & Mental Health Report Podcast 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-trauma-mental-health-report-podcast/id1509291842?i=1000760524251

Wikipedia 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasocial_interaction

Resources:

12 South Recovery 

https://12southrecovery.com/articles/understanding-obsessive-addictive-disorder/

Celebrity Attitude Scale 

https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Ft04928-000

Celebrity Worship Syndrome 

https://psychcentral.com/blog/the-psychology-of-celebrity-worship

Psychology Today (Find a Therapist) 

https://www.psychologytoday.com/

Community Corner

The Trevor Project

https://www.thetrevorproject.org/

Find us on Instagram!

@k_popping_around_town

https://www.instagram.com/k_popping_around_town?igsh=OXdpMGNra3Q0cHNr&utm_source=qr 

Email us at [email protected]

Time Stamps:

Shout Outs: 1:13

Story Behind The Title: 3:55

Defining Parasocial Relationship: 8:22

Related Vocab: 13:40

Benefits of Parasocial Relationships: 17:30

References:

BBC

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgmv877746o 

Cambridge Dictionary 

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/parasocial

Stuff You Should Know (podcast)

https://stuffyoushouldknow.com/episode/parasocial-relationships-that-podcaster-is-your-friend/

The Trauma & Mental Health Report Podcast 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-trauma-mental-health-report-podcast/id1509291842?i=1000760524251

Wikipedia 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasocial_interaction

Resources:

12 South Recovery 

https://12southrecovery.com/articles/understanding-obsessive-addictive-disorder/

Celebrity Attitude Scale 

https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Ft04928-000

Celebrity Worship Syndrome 

https://psychcentral.com/blog/the-psychology-of-celebrity-worship

Psychology Today (Find a Therapist) 

https://www.psychologytoday.com/

Find us on Instagram!

@k_popping_around_town

https://www.instagram.com/k_popping_around_town?igsh=OXdpMGNra3Q0cHNr&utm_source=qr 

Email us at [email protected]

8 makes 1 team - today we’re talking about ATEEZ!

TIME STAMPS

1:17 Happy AAPI Month

2:29 Today’s episode and podcast growth

4:32 Diving into ATEEZ

29:15 A few of our favorite things

01:01:50 Community Corner

Watch The Our YouTube playlist to see all the super duper great videos we referenced!

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLH9p4Guu5GWLxbWLXWxEfVw9e4RmeMYo0&si=eCrlE4khfWWiPq6U

ATEEZ Variety Shows 

https://mydramalist.com/list/1R8kDAb3

A Babytiny’s Journey Through the ATEEZ Storyline 

https://www.ateezstoryline.com/

The Polished Man 

https://polishedman.com/about

Learn Korean With Jin @jinkorean

https://www.instagram.com/jinkorean?igsh=MTlmbzNkMWk4anNkZw==

Follow us on Instagram!

@k_popping_around_town 

https://www.instagram.com/k_popping_around_town?igsh=OXdpMGNra3Q0cHNr&utm_source=qr

Join Leilani and Cassie (that’s us!) as we each share our 3 favorite k-pop groups, how we got into them and what we love most about them. 

TIME STAMPS

Our favorite groups:

BTS:  2:15

BoyNextDoor: 25:00

SHINee: 31:42 CONTENT ADVISORY: This section of the episode includes discussion of loss of life, grief, and suicide. Please listen with care.

TXT: 43:32

BamBam: 50:55

Games: 57:00

Community and Culture Corner: 1:10:30

REFERENCES 

Check out the videos we referenced here! 

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLH9p4Guu5GWKzOQTCAw9vtRRgN7xKXpNP&si=f-nWD9ufWM7ny2WT

Our community highlight is tk.insights 

https://youtube.com/@tk.insights?si=rJbWNIPm5fqHfsoR

Have you ever wondered if it’s OK to wear a hanbok to a concert if you are not Korean? tk gives her insight here:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DUAR_rSjaBZ/?igsh=Nm56cWt4MDRhNmc1

Stay connected with us on Instagram!

@k_popping_around_town 

https://www.instagram.com/k_popping_around_town?igsh=OXdpMGNra3Q0cHNr&utm_source=qr

Everybody loves Taemin! Listen to find out why in our o-dorable second episode. 

You’re going to want to watch the Taemin videos we reference. Find them on our YouTube playlist:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLH9p4Guu5GWKzOQTCAw9vtRRgN7xKXpNP&si=hqU1ir0y5ctOSqEB

Follow us on Instagram!

@k_popping_around_town

https://www.instagram.com/k_popping_around_town?igsh=OXdpMGNra3Q0cHNr&utm_source=qr 

Community and Culture Corner

This episode we highlighted a group called Indivisible. Check out the links below.

https://indivisible.org/ 

What’s The Plan with Leah and Ezra 

https://indivisible.org/events/whats-the-plan-with-leah-and-ezra/