Today’s theme: Big Eating

Opinion is split over the Korean government's recent move to set up guidelines against what it deems "unhealthy eating habits," primarily targeting "먹방," binge-eating shows that are available online. Supporters of the move say regulations are needed to raise awareness about mindless overeating and the consequent health risks. Others claim the move also infringes upon individual freedom of choice. We look into different aspects of big eating and even extreme eating with competitive eater/youtube stars.

The Conversationalist

with

Randy Santel

- Professional eater from St Louis, Missouri and founder and owner of FoodChallenges.com

Can you share some of the tips of how to eat a lot in a short period of time? You also posted many ‘how-to’ videos for people trying to break into the competitive eating.

One of the biggest events, Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest has even been aired on ESPN for the past eight years. Do you think competitive eating can be considered a sport?

&

Raina Huang

- Competitive eater based in local Southern California

People say it’s getting harder to make money by becoming a Youtuber as the market is getting more and more competitive. What’s it like for the eating Youtubers? How easy would you say it is to start now and get successful?

You try out food from different cultures and even took a trip to Spain to explore the food there. Is this an aspect do you think that differentiate your channel from others?

Media Monster

Next week: Space Force

Today’s theme: 북캉스(Boocance)

Hot weather created new trends this year such as 호캉스(Hotel + vacance), 몰캉스 (Mall + vacance), 백캉스 (Department store + vacance), and 북캉스(Book + vacance). These are new compound words created to describe the trend of people enjoying indoor activities to escape from hot, grilling sun rays. All these words end with 캉스, which comes from vacance, the French word of vacation. The prefix in the front refers to places or activities people enjoy indoors. For today’s show, we focus on Boocance, or summer reading with special recommendations for young listeners enjoying the last bit of summer vacation left.

The Conversationalist

with

Sora Kim-Russell

- English translator of 편혜영 Pyun Hye-young’s , the best-selling thriller novel in Korea which received this year’s Shirley Jackson awards in the U.S.

- teaches courses in translation at Ewha Womans University and Literature Translation Institute of Korea

It’s the first time for a Korean novel to win the award, and the writer said that she feels excited to see her work being accepted in the U.S. How do you think was able to gain success in the U.S., where there is a market for genre fiction but doesn’t welcome translated fiction?

&

John Curran

- award-winning expert and archivist who’s been a longtime literary adviser to Agatha Christie's estate

- author of the book

Agatha Christie jotted down plots and ideas on notebooks and journalist Francis Wyndham famously called Christie's plots "animated algebra" - how do you think she was able to come up with such complex, original plots?

Media Monster

Next week: 소확행 (Small but Definite Happiness)

Today’s theme: Game Addiction

The World Health Organization recently announced that the agency is adding “gaming disorder” to its globally recognized compendium of medical conditions and diagnoses. However, there are also objections of the video game industry and researchers who have studied the issue, and believe the scientific evidence for the classification is weak at best. We look into the definition of gaming disorder as well as ways to cope with game addiction with expert guests.

The Conversationalist

with

Dr. Doh Min-jung

- from You & Me Psychological & Consultation Services

- a lecturer at Soongsil University and SookMyung University

- a licensed psychologist in the New York State.

According to a government survey, 15% of Korean elementary and middle schoolers are addicted to either the internet or smartphones. Do you think teenagers are more vulnerable to addictions?

World Health Organization’s 11th International Classification of Diseases will include the condition "gaming disorder" from next year. Do you agree that game addiction should be classified as a mental disorder?

&

Tarik Jašarević

- spokesperson for the World Health Organization

Some researchers say that your organization’s been under enormous pressure from some Asian countries where prevalence of gaming disorder among young people is estimated to be 10-15% and because it takes them away from family and educational duties gaming is pathologized. Would you say this is true?

I understand you’re getting some backlash from the entertainment and gaming industry due to the recent decision. What do you think about their response?

Media Monster

Next week: Bookance (북캉스)

Today’s theme: Espionage

In time for Mission: Impossible – Fallout release earlier in the week, we look into spies and espionage. Espionage or spying, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information without the permission of the holder of the information. Spies help agencies uncover secret information. Like many others, the field is facing more and more privatization and nowadays intelligence gathering is not only done by secret agents for governments but also by private detectives in many countries. We look into the history as well as morality issues associated with espionage with different experts from around the world.

The Conversationalist

with

Troy Whitford

government-licensed investigator in Australia

lecturer in Intelligence and Security Studies at Charles Sturt University

You wrote that gathering political intelligence has been a significant part of the repertoire of government based intelligence agencies and law enforcement personnel, but in the 21st century, there has been an increase of interest from the private sector wanting to access to political intelligence. Why is this?

What’s your thought on the increased scrutiny and criticism towards government intelligence agencies and their wrongdoings, ranging from privacy invasion to political interference in many countries? Do you think private investigation can be an answer to this problem?

&

Tim Lister

Terrorism analyst with CNN and Co-Author of a nonfiction book/autobiography of Mortern Storm, a.k.a Agent Storm, who is an Islamist-turned double agent from Denmark.

How common is it for intelligence agencies to recruit double-agents like him, or have source inside terrorist organizations?

Much of the recent terrorism activities seem to be focused on soft target terrors against civilians. For example, ISIS is claiming responsibility for many recent soft-target terrors in Europe. What do you think is the reason behind this?

Media Monster

Next week: Economic trade war

Today’s theme: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

The Korean government recently implemented a measure to drastically reduce work hours from 68 to 52 hours a week to help people find balance in work and life. Question is, is it really going to alleviate the five major physical or psychological illnesses among workers, including Chronic fatigue syndrome, along with VDT syndrome,mental or emotional disorder, depression and neurological gastrointestinal disorder. These illnesses are often associated with consequences of long work hours. Or do these have direct correlation with overworking hours? These are some of the questions we explore with expert guests under the theme of chronic fatigue.

The Conversationalist

with

Dr. Ronald Davis

- director of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Research Center at Stanford University

It seems like there are different degrees of the disease and there are people who manage to maintain normal life having it, but on the other hand you have people who are bed-ridden - unable to move or speak due to this disease. Your own son suffers from a serious case of the disease - can you tell us more about how this brought you closer to the issue and made you more passionate about solving the problem?

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is very hard to diagnose let alone to cure. There are a number of challenges facing the patients and their families and friends, from finding the right doctor to facing some stereotypes. Can you tell us more about these challenges?

&

Professor Wei Wang

- at School of Medical and Health Sciences at Edith Cowan University in Perth

- the Director of the Beijing Municipal Key Laboratory-Centre of Excellence on Clinical Epidemiology in China.

In many of the cases involving chronic disease, it’s hard for patients or even doctors pin down specific name of the disease or symptoms. Can you describe the challenge of having ambiguous health complaints?

How do we draw a line between Chronic Fatigue Disease and just regular fatigue?

Media Monster

Next week: Spys

(in time for Mission Impossible release)