Life Weekend Picks

Synopsis: The Straits Times examines the ins and outs of pop culture in the Asian entertainment and Hollywood scene.

In this episode, host Jan Lee runs down some of the 10 biggest stories covered by #PopVultures this year - from Harry and Meghan's explosive interview with Oprah about their exit from the royal family to the ongoing Chinese entertainment crackdown. She also names the best and worst stories of the year and includes an honourable mention - listen to find out who it is!

Produced by Jan Lee ([email protected]) and Penelope Lee

Edited by: Penelope Lee & Hadyu Rahim

Subscribe to #PopVultures Podcast series and rate us on your favourite audio apps:

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Discover more ST podcast series:

Asian Insider Podcast: https://str.sg/JWa7

Green Pulse Podcast: https://str.sg/JWaf

Health Check Podcast: https://str.sg/JWaN

ST Sports Talk Podcast: https://str.sg/JWRE

Life Weekend Picks Podcast: https://str.sg/JWa2

#PopVultures Podcast: https://str.sg/JWad

Bookmark This! Podcast: https://str.sg/JWas

Lunch With Sumiko Podcast: https://str.sg/J6hQ

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Synopsis: The Straits Times examines the ins and outs of pop culture in the Asian entertainment and Hollywood scene.

In this latest episode of #PopVultures, host Jan Lee discusses the gossip story of the week, month and possibly entire year - the expose of Taiwanese-American singer Wang Leehom and his various misdeeds during his marriage to ex-wife Lee Jinglei.

She runs down how the saga unfolded with a timeline detailing the war of words between Wang and Lee after Wang confirmed the two were divorcing last Wednesday (Dec 15). Lee dropped a bombshell, nine-page long expose about Wang, accusing him of infidelity, soliciting prostitutes and verbal bullying last Friday.

In response, Wang claims that Lee coerced him into marriage and that he lived under fear, threats and extortion while they were together. He also claims that Lee demanded a lot of money in the wake of their divorce. The back-and-forth ended with Wang apologising to his wife and taking a break from show business for the time being.

Jan discusses why this saga so captivated the public, what Wang represented as a public figure and the many public relations mistakes he made in his handling of this crisis.

Here is what she covers:

00:48 Who is Wang Leehom?

03:09 What went down? A timeline of the war of words that went down between Wang and Lee

21:32 Why did this ugly divorce capture the public's attention? And why is this even worse than the Show Lo takedown of 2020? Who were the other players involved in this story?

39:36 Discussing the mistakes Wang made in handling this image crisis - from his dad's open letter to the typos in his statement

49:19 What can the public, and celebrities as well, learn from this saga?

Produced by Jan Lee ([email protected]) and Penelope Lee

Edited by: Penelope Lee & Hadyu Rahim

Subscribe to #PopVultures Podcast series and rate us on your favourite audio apps:

Channel: https://str.sg/JWad

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Google Podcasts: https://str.sg/Ju47 

Spotify: https://str.sg/JWaP 

SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg/

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: [email protected]

Follow Jan Lee on Instagram: https://str.sg/Jbxc

Read Jan Lee's stories: https://str.sg/Jbxp

---

Discover more ST podcast series:

Asian Insider Podcast: https://str.sg/JWa7

Green Pulse Podcast: https://str.sg/JWaf

Health Check Podcast: https://str.sg/JWaN

ST Sports Talk Podcast: https://str.sg/JWRE

Life Weekend Picks Podcast: https://str.sg/JWa2

#PopVultures Podcast: https://str.sg/JWad

Bookmark This! Podcast: https://str.sg/JWas

Lunch With Sumiko Podcast: https://str.sg/J6hQ

Discover BT Podcasts: https://bt.sg/pcPL

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#PopVultures Ep 56: Chinese entertainment updates, divorces, marriages and BTS gets on Instagram

29:06 mins

Synopsis: The Straits Times examines the ins and outs of pop culture in the Asian entertainment and Hollywood scene.

This week, #PopVultures host Jan Lee runs down some of the news and happenings over the past month. This includes Chinese producer Li Xuezheng questioning the legality and transparency of the organisation China Association of Performing Arts, which recently released a list of blacklisted celebrities. The list includes previously cancelled Word Of Honor (2021) star Zhang Zhehan. 

She also runs down the flip-flop divorce of Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu and her businessman Chinese husband Wang Xiaofei, the marriages of local Mediacorp star Desmond Tan and Taiwanese movie Man In Love (2021) co-stars Tiffany Ann Hsu and Roy Chiu.

Finally, she talks about the drama surrounding BTS members starting their personal Instagram accounts. 

Here is what she covers:

00:48 Chinese entertainment/Zhang Zhehan update

10:00 Barbie Hsu's divorce

16:15 Marriage announcements from Desmond Tan as well as Tiffany Ann Hsu and Roy Chiu

23:26 BTS gets on the gram 

Produced by Jan Lee ([email protected]) and Penelope Lee

Edited by: Penelope Lee & Hadyu Rahim

Subscribe to #PopVultures Podcast series and rate us on your favourite audio apps:

Channel: https://str.sg/JWad

Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWaA

Google Podcasts: https://str.sg/Ju47 

Spotify: https://str.sg/JWaP 

SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg/

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: [email protected]

Follow Jan Lee on Instagram: https://str.sg/Jbxc

Read Jan Lee's stories: https://str.sg/Jbxp

---

Discover more ST podcast series:

Asian Insider Podcast: https://str.sg/JWa7

Green Pulse Podcast: https://str.sg/JWaf

Health Check Podcast: https://str.sg/JWaN

ST Sports Talk Podcast: https://str.sg/JWRE

Life Weekend Picks Podcast: https://str.sg/JWa2

#PopVultures Podcast: https://str.sg/JWad

Bookmark This! Podcast: https://str.sg/JWas

Lunch With Sumiko Podcast: https://str.sg/J6hQ

Discover BT Podcasts: https://bt.sg/pcPL

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Bookmark This! Ep 27: The 50 greatest SingLit books

34:21 mins

Synopsis: A monthly literary podcast by The Straits Times featuring titles in the headlines and sizzling reads.

In the latest episode of this literary podcast, The Straits Times journalists Olivia Ho and Toh Wen Li, along with a special guest, Senior Culture Correspondent Ong Sor Fern, discuss The 50 Greatest Works Of SingLit, a list published in The Sunday Times on Dec 12, and take listeners on a crash course through local literary history.

Read: 50 greatest works of Singapore literature written in or translated into English, from the 19th century to 2021 - https://www.straitstimes.com/life/arts/the-50-greatest-works-of-singlit

Produced by: Olivia Ho ([email protected]), Toh Wen Li ([email protected]), Ong Sor Fern ([email protected]) Penelope Lee and Hadyu Rahim

Edited by: Hadyu Rahim and Penelope Lee

Subscribe to Bookmark This! Podcast series and rate us on your favourite audio apps:

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Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: [email protected]

Read Olivia Ho's stories: https://str.sg/JbhW

Follow Olivia Ho on Instagram: @ohomatopoeia

Read Toh Wen Li's stories: https://str.sg/Jbhm

---

Discover more ST podcast series:

Asian Insider Podcast: https://str.sg/JWa7

Green Pulse Podcast: https://str.sg/JWaf

Health Check Podcast: https://str.sg/JWaN

ST Sports Talk Podcast: https://str.sg/JWRE

Life Weekend Picks Podcast: https://str.sg/JWa2

#PopVultures Podcast: https://str.sg/JWad

Lunch With Sumiko Podcast: https://str.sg/J6hQ

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#PopVultures Ep 55: Rebecca Lim gets engaged, Britney Spears is free and Taylor Swift revisits Red (and Jake Gyllenhaal)

28:37 mins

Synopsis: The Straits Times examines the ins and outs of pop culture in the Asian entertainment and Hollywood scene.

This week, #PopVultures host Jan Lee runs down note-worthy entertainment news for listeners. In local news, Mediacorp actress Rebecca Lim gets engaged to her mystery fiance. She announced the happy news on her Instagram and while she received congratulations and blessings from celebrities and fans alike, fellow actor Ian Fang did not seem as thrilled. Fang and Lim were linked for years but Fang and fellow Mediacorp actress Carrie Wong were caught exchanging sexually suggestive messages to each other in 2019.

Meanwhile in Hollywood, pop star Britney Spears is finally freed from her conservatorship after 13 years. She was previously placed under the conservatorship, which stripped her of her ability to make financial, medical and other personal decisions for herself, in 2008 after she suffered a highly publicised mental breakdown. Jan discusses how there's still more to the case, including Spears' allegations that her father, who was in charge of her conservatorship for years, exploited and surveilled her.

Finally, Jan goes into Taylor Swift's re-recording and releasing Red - an album first released in 2012. Swift added previously unpublished songs into the re-recorded album, including an extended ten-minute version of one of the album's most popular songs All Too Well. This album has reignited interest in Swift's brief relationship with actor Jake Gyllenhaal. Many of the album's breakup songs are said to be about Gyllenhaal. Jan also provides a primer on why Swift is re-recording her own music. 

Here's what she talked about:

Rebecca Lim's engagement and how Ian Fang's response has shifted the focus away from her happy news (0:49)

Britney is finally free and how the conservatorship system is ripe for abuse (12:15)

Taylor Swift's re-recording and releasing her album Red (19:05)

Produced by Jan Lee ([email protected]) and Penelope Lee

Edited by: Penelope Lee & Hadyu Rahim

Subscribe to #PopVultures Podcast series and rate us on your favourite audio apps:

Channel: https://str.sg/JWad

Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWaA

Google Podcasts: https://str.sg/Ju47 

Spotify: https://str.sg/JWaP 

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: [email protected]

Follow Jan Lee on Instagram: https://str.sg/Jbxc

Read Jan Lee's stories: https://str.sg/Jbxp

---

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Asian Insider Podcast: https://str.sg/JWa7

Green Pulse Podcast: https://str.sg/JWaf

Health Check Podcast: https://str.sg/JWaN

ST Sports Talk Podcast: https://str.sg/JWRE

Life Weekend Picks Podcast: https://str.sg/JWa2

#PopVultures Podcast: https://str.sg/JWad

Bookmark This! Podcast: https://str.sg/JWas

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Bookmark This! Ep 26: The worlds of Sally Rooney and Anne Carson

18:48 mins

Synopsis: A monthly literary podcast by The Straits Times featuring titles in the headlines and sizzling reads.

In the latest episode of this literary podcast, The Straits Times journalists Olivia Ho and Toh Wen Li talk about new and old in the latest works by Sally Rooney and Anne Carson, from the millennial crisis of Beautiful World, Where Are You to the reworking of Greek myth in H Of H Playbook.

Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney (0:54)

H Of H Playbook by Anne Carson (12:25)

Produced by: Olivia Ho ([email protected]), Toh Wen Li ([email protected]) and Penelope Lee

Edited by: Hadyu Rahim and Penelope Lee

Subscribe to Bookmark This! Podcast series and rate us on your favourite audio apps:

Channel: https://str.sg/JWas

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Google Podcasts: https://str.sg/Ju4n  

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Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: [email protected]

Read Olivia Ho's stories: https://str.sg/JbhW

Follow Olivia Ho on Instagram: @ohomatopoeia

Read Toh Wen Li's stories: https://str.sg/Jbhm

---

Discover more ST podcast series:

Asian Insider Podcast: https://str.sg/JWa7

Green Pulse Podcast: https://str.sg/JWaf

Health Check Podcast: https://str.sg/JWaN

ST Sports Talk Podcast: https://str.sg/JWRE

Life Weekend Picks Podcast: https://str.sg/JWa2

#PopVultures Podcast: https://str.sg/JWad

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#PopVultures Ep 54: Dissecting Singapore's Night Owl Cinematics influencer scandal

38:52 mins

Synopsis: The Straits Times examines the ins and outs of pop culture in the Asian entertainment and Hollywood scene.

This week, #PopVulture Jan Lee talks about the biggest influencer scandal in Singapore now - the expose related to media outfit Night Owl Cinematics (NOC) and its co-founder Sylvia Chan. All, complete with leaked audio and video recordings.

Be aware that this podcast episode contains discussions of mental health troubles and suicide.

The saga initially began as anonymous allegations of Chan, 33, being verbally abusive to her employees. It later evolved into more serious accusations of Chan misappropriating company funds and delaying payment to talents, among other allegations.

After influencer Xiaxue sat down with Chan for a nearly two-hour long interview, the issue has since grown to encompass private details of Chan's personal life, including the breakdown of her marriage with Ryan Tan - her ex-husband and fellow co-founder of NOC. 

Jan Lee briefly recaps the unfolding saga and examines what missteps were made in Chan's crisis management, why Xiaxue's interview with Chan left much to be desired and who truly emerged a winner from the scandal.

Here's what she covers:

'Condensed' recap of the complicated saga - everything from @sgcickenrice to that Xiaxue interview (3:12)

Jan's views of the counter-productive first statements from NOC and Chan (16:40)

Brief recap and review of Xiaxue's interview with Chan (24:54)

Ryan Tan's response to the saga and the initial overwhelming public support for him (33:00)

The real winners of the NOC fallout (36:53)

See new developments since the recording of this podcast:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CVhSYwCJGZG/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CVmeGV8vYIm/

Produced by Jan Lee ([email protected]) and Penelope Lee

Edited by: Penelope Lee & Hadyu Rahim

Subscribe to #PopVultures Podcast series and rate us on your favourite audio apps:

Channel: https://str.sg/JWad

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Google Podcasts: https://str.sg/Ju47 

Spotify: https://str.sg/JWaP 

Website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts

Feedback to: [email protected]

Follow Jan Lee on Instagram: https://str.sg/Jbxc

Read Jan Lee's stories: https://str.sg/Jbxp

---

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Green Pulse Podcast: https://str.sg/JWaf

Health Check Podcast: https://str.sg/JWaN

ST Sports Talk Podcast: https://str.sg/JWRE

Life Weekend Picks Podcast: https://str.sg/JWa2

#PopVultures Podcast: https://str.sg/JWad

Bookmark This! Podcast: https://str.sg/JWas

Lunch With Sumiko Podcast: https://str.sg/J6hQ

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Life Weekend Picks Ep 141: Indulge yourself with 'Guilty Pleasures' at Singapore Writers Festival

11:02 mins

Synopsis: Every Thursday, The Straits Times recommends lifestyle and food picks for the coming weekend in Singapore. 

In this week's Life Picks, assistant Life editor Olivia Ho shares more on the upcoming Singapore Writers Festival (0:46). With television personality Tan France and romance writer Julia Quinn included in this year's line-up, organisers are challenging the distinctions about high-brow and low-brow literature.

Journalist Jan Lee reviews K-drama Yumi's Cells and explains why it is so binge-worthy (3:49). 

STFood online editor Hedy Khoo gets your mouth watering by tucking into home-style Taiwanese food from Nan Tai Eating House (7:20).

Produced by: ST Life desk & ST Video team

Edited by: ST Video team & Penelope Lee

Subscribe to Life Weekend Picks Podcast for new episodes every Thursday and rate us:

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Singapore's War On Covid: https://str.sg/wsfD

The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia Embed: https://str.sg/ws76

Stop Scams: https://str.sg/wnBi

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In Your Opinion Podcast: https://str.sg/w7Qt

SG Extra Podcast: https://omny.fm/shows/st-bt/playlists/sg-extra

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Green Pulse Podcast: https://str.sg/JWaf

Health Check Podcast: https://str.sg/JWaN

#PopVultures Podcast: https://str.sg/JWad

ST Sports Talk Podcast: https://str.sg/JWRE

Bookmark This! Podcast: https://str.sg/JWas

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Bookmark This! Ep 25: Hooked on the Booker Prize? Not quite

25:13 mins

Synopsis: A monthly literary podcast by The Straits Times featuring titles in the headlines and sizzling reads.

In the latest episode of this literary podcast, The Straits Times journalists Olivia Ho and Toh Wen Li lay down what they loved (and didn’t) about the six books on this year’s Booker Prize for Fiction shortlist, from heavyweights such as Pulitzer Prize-winner Richard Powers and three-time Booker nominee Damon Galgut to shortlist debuts like Patricia Lockwood's social media-inflected No One Is Talking About This.

Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead (2:40)

The Fortune Men by Nadifa Mohamed (9:14)

A Passage North by Anuk Arudpragasam (10:34)

Bewilderment by Richard Powers (14:28)

The Promise by Damon Galgut (16:54)

No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood (18:45)

Produced by: Olivia Ho, Toh Wen Li and Muhammad Hadyu Abd Rahim

Edited by: Hadyu Rahim and Penelope Lee

Subscribe to Bookmark This! Podcast series and rate us on your favourite audio apps:

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Contact Olivia Ho: [email protected]

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Contact Toh Wen Li: [email protected]

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Green Pulse Podcast: https://str.sg/JWaf

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Life Weekend Picks Podcast: https://str.sg/JWa2

#PopVultures Podcast: https://str.sg/JWad

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Life Weekend Picks Ep 140: Singaporeans' top picks among countries on Vaccinated Travel scheme

7:53 mins

Synopsis: Every Thursday, The Straits Times recommends lifestyle and food picks for the coming weekend in Singapore. 

Deciding where to go to on one of Singapore's vaccinated travel lanes? Travel correspondent Clara Lock shares which countries Singaporeans are opting for in this week's episode. (0:49)

Food correspondent Eunice Quek takes us through the new bakeries in the Katong area (3:45), while journalist Jan Lee reviews Hacks, the binge-worthy, award-winning comedy series (4:52).

Produced by: ST Life desk & ST Video team

Edited by: ST Video team & Penelope Lee

Subscribe to Life Weekend Picks Podcast for new episodes every Thursday and rate us:

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Discover ST's special edition podcasts:

Singapore's War On Covid: https://str.sg/wsfD

The Unsolved Mysteries of South-east Asia Embed: https://str.sg/ws76

Stop Scams: https://str.sg/wnBi

Discover more ST podcast series:

In Your Opinion Podcast: https://str.sg/w7Qt

SG Extra Podcast: https://omny.fm/shows/st-bt/playlists/sg-extra

Asian Insider Podcast: https://str.sg/JWa7

Green Pulse Podcast: https://str.sg/JWaf

Health Check Podcast: https://str.sg/JWaN

#PopVultures Podcast: https://str.sg/JWad

ST Sports Talk Podcast: https://str.sg/JWRE

Bookmark This! Podcast: https://str.sg/JWas

Lunch With Sumiko Podcast: https://str.sg/J6hQ

Discover BT Podcasts: https://bt.sg/pcPL

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