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Netflix’s No.1 survival thriller returns with its final chapter after accumulating nearly 600 million global views across its first two seasons.

456 players and 45.6 billion won or 33 million US dollars had the entire world thinking about a single question, how far would you go for money?

Three years ago, the Netflix show Squid Game became a global phenomenon after the release of its very first season that featured 9 episodes. The Korean survival drama’s deadly, yet nostalgic aura made Squid Game Netflix’s most-watched series ever with over 1.65 billion hours viewed in just 28 days. 

All 456 players are handpicked as they are drowning with debt when offered a very unique opportunity to compete in a series of childhood games for a chance to win the grand cash prize. 

But here’s the twist. Losing one of the games also means losing your life. With classics like Red Light, Green Light, tug of war, and marbles, players’ physical and mental strength is tested, as well as their morals. 

Throughout the show, we get to learn more about the contestants and watch their strategies while alliances are formed and broken and everyone is forced to confront how far they’re willing to go to survive. 

And the most disturbing part of the story are the people running the games - a group of wealthy, powerful VIPs who are watching the players lose their lives purely for entertainment. 

Squid Game mirrors modern day class inequality and depicts real-world desperation with the rich controlling the system and the poor playing by the rules. 

Not only did the show break Netflix records, it also won 6 of its 14 nominations at the 2022 Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Lead Actor which was taken home by Lee Jung-jae who was the first Asian actor to win the category. 

Squid Game continued with a second season that aired over two years later in December 2024. Within the first three weeks, it reached 152 million views which solidified the show’s place in pop culture. Both seasons have been viewed nearly 600 million times worldwide. 

People began to dress up as the Squid Game guards for Halloween, the Dalgona candy from one of the first games in the series made an appearance in Costco, and the show’s soundtrack went viral on TikTok. 

Now the long awaited third and last season has finally been released after the audience was left on a heart tugging cliff hanger. This past Friday June 25, 2025 familiar faces have returned and the show is bringing back the chaos and emotional wreckage, two things Squid Game captures best. 

The first two seasons were intense and now we get to see how it all ends, but there’s one thing we know for sure, only survivors come out victorious in this game.

A Chinese platform that sounds like a children's game has become the platform Gen Z can't live without. We grilled a longtime devotee to find out how and why, exactly.

Tom Kagy (00:00)

Kelli Luu (00:16)

Tom Kagy (00:18)

Kelli Luu (00:29)

I definitely think it's targeted towards Gen Z, a Gen Z audience. I think our attention span is definitely a lot shorter. So the TikTok gives us a quick peek into the video rather than, whereas on YouTube, there's a much longer, people who are watching on YouTube, they have a much longer attention span. a lot of people, millennials, they grew up with YouTube and…

They grew up watching these longer videos, but as time shifted, a lot of the newer generation is kind of hopping onto TikTok, because you can just learn things really fast. In a minute, you can learn the whole recipe, or in 30 seconds, you can learn a whole recipe. So I definitely think it's targeted definitely more towards Gen Z.

Tom Kagy (01:26)

But you're suggesting that there's actually a lot of how-to.

Kelli Luu (01:44)

the video's not going to be that long. on TikTok, longer videos actually do worse than shorter, faster clips. with these how-to videos, they're like super fast. They're 30 seconds or a minute, and you can learn basically whatever task it is you need to learn within that time.

Tom Kagy (02:26)

Kelli Luu (02:34)

learn something really fast on TikTok, whereas on YouTube it'll be like a 10 minute video.

Tom Kagy (03:03)

Kelli Luu (03:08)

Sometimes maybe you can't show all the tips and tricks in a TikTok video, so they'll move their platform, they'll move videos onto YouTube so they have more time to really sit down and explain everything that they're doing.

Tom Kagy (03:45)

Kelli Luu (03:49)

Tom Kagy (03:59)

Kelli Luu (04:06)

Tom Kagy (04:21)

Kelli Luu (04:25)

YouTube, you're expecting a long video, so you're more likely to just to actually watch the whole video on YouTube than you are on TikTok.

Tom Kagy (05:00)

Kelli Luu (05:03)

well right now, definitely with TikTok shop booming, I think that is a big thing that has been attracting a lot of people to TikTok shop. It's like basically a shopping app now, or it's basically, I would even say it's almost like a review app where you can go see people's real,

real reactions to a certain product and how much they like it or how people are using it in their everyday life. So I think that kind of draws people into it, the fact that you can shop on it. And then just the relatability on TikTok as well. You have so many people who are posting videos every day and there's so much content that's relatable. Somebody can post a video and they're just ranting about something and it could be something that you completely agree with.

Just seeing that things like that on TikTok, I think really builds kind of like a community. There's a bunch of different communities on TikTok. So that is a big aspect of it too, of why it's so popular.

Tom Kagy (06:11)

Kelli Luu (06:22)

Tom Kagy (06:33)

Kelli Luu (06:39)

younger girls are being influenced by certain products and they are more likely to purchase if they're watching a video on TikTok than if they were just have to look it up on Amazon. they're drawing this audience that they don't have to leave TikTok to go and look for another platform to shop for this item. So these people, these influencers, they're posting a video of this skincare product and you don't have to

go somewhere else to go look for it. can be linked right there in that video. And it's social media, so people are already just already on the app and it makes it just 10 times easier. I think people really like that idea. And then also just the interaction, think a lot of a big part about TikTok is interacting with your followers and interacting with whoever is commenting on your videos and stuff. So all of that too.

plays a part into the whole TikTok shop thing because people are trying to get their videos seen and social media is the perfect way to get your products seen.

Tom Kagy (08:04)

Kelli Luu (08:15)

Tom Kagy (08:21)

Kelli Luu (08:37)

Tom Kagy (08:56)

Kelli Luu (08:58)

Tom Kagy (09:24)

Kelli Luu (09:35)

And then after that, sales you generate from that video, then you receive that commission percentage.

Tom Kagy (10:05)

Kelli Luu (10:15)

you might get 30 % and you're gonna make more money because you're selling a higher priced item.

Tom Kagy (10:50)

Kelli Luu (10:56)

Yeah, exactly. So the more more content you create, the more chances that people will see and purchase the product. So whoever buys from you, whoever sees your video and clicks purchase, you will get the commission off.

Tom Kagy (11:08)

Kelli Luu (11:19)

Tom Kagy (11:41)

Kelli Luu (11:48)

Tom Kagy (11:58)

Kelli Luu (12:05)

Tom Kagy (12:23)

Kelli Luu (12:29)

Tom Kagy (12:42)

Kelli Luu (12:56)

Tom Kagy (13:05)

Kelli Luu (13:17)

Yeah, a lot of people would disagree with his decision to do that for sure if he does.

Tom Kagy (13:38)

have any sense? I mean, I'm not sure if it's possible to glean that from simply visiting TikTok. Do you have any sense what the political leanings are of TikTokers?

Kelli Luu (13:48)

Tom Kagy (14:11)

So would you say that the TikTok algorithm is more sophisticated or more responsive than what we see on YouTube or some of the other social platforms?

Kelli Luu (14:22)

something specific like a dog one dog video you've never watched a dog video before and Next thing you know that your for you page will show you dog videos after just watching that singular one Or even looking something up even if you just search for something it'll start showing you Divide videos of that certain product

Tom Kagy (14:57)

Kelli Luu (15:12)

Tom Kagy (15:16)

Kelli Luu (15:19)

Tom Kagy (15:34)

Kelli Luu (15:45)

Tom Kagy (15:50)

Kelli Luu (16:10)

Tom Kagy (16:11)

of the way content is presented or the perspective or maybe the formality or informality with which it's, you know what I mean? Things sort of stylistic, I guess, type of aspects of content.

Kelli Luu (16:27)

So really, but then again, like certain things can't be fully explained. Certain things can't be fully explained within a 10 second, 30 second video. So I just really think it depends on the content of what people are making. It's really your niche for each creator. think then your niche really just what's important. So if you know your followers will watch a longer video, then.

It's okay to post a long, I think you could post up to 10 minute video on TikTok. That's the longest, but that's very rare. I rarely see a 10 minute video on TikTok. But it really just depends on your audience. I think that's a a bigger picture to look at is the audience.

Tom Kagy (17:29)

but I guess what I'm getting at is, I mean, I'm sure you've been on YouTube as well as TikTok. So do you perceive any difference in sensibility? Like the way people present their content on TikTok, the tone of their language, their voice, attitude, versus…

Kelli Luu (17:46)

on YouTube, it's more serious, I would say. It's a much more serious tone because if you're like going, let's say again for like a tutorial, if you're going to YouTube for the tutorial, you're going to want to look for like the expert. You might want to look for somebody who you're familiar with on TikTok. I feel like it's a lot more casual even with

people, even with brands, if they're asking you to make content and they provide a script for you for a short TikTok video, they will tell you to act like you're talking to a friend. So all like if you're selling on TikTok and you're creating videos, like you want it to seem as authentic and genuine as possible. And then on YouTube, I feel like it's much more educational.

Tom Kagy (18:30)

Kelli Luu (18:34)

Tom Kagy (18:52)

Kelli Luu (19:13)

So again, I say the attention span is a lot shorter. I've noticed with millennials and Gen Zers because we're mostly on TikTok, so we're not always going to the YouTube videos to search for anything. And then I feel like a lot of the Gen Zers, they know that everything can be found on TikTok too, and they can find stuff within seconds. So they will go to TikTok and try to look for that rather than just searching on Google.

And then now even with just how good technology is with AI, you can just ask a question on chat, GPT or anything and get the exact answer. There's no need for research or there's no need for going out of your way to look for anything. So we expect very immediate answers. And I think that's something that might negatively affect the future generation because

Tom Kagy (20:20)

Kelli Luu (20:30)

Tom Kagy (20:36)

Kelli Luu (20:48)

in real life so they need it in real life. they're seeing, they're copying what they're seeing online. And when it comes to things online, not everything is for kids. And it's usually they're seeing things that back in the day when we didn't have TikTok or Instagram or anything like that, we kind of had to like build our own personality and figure out things on our own and figure out who we are on our own. Whereas now with TikTok and…

all of these social media platforms, it's kind of like these kids are trying to be somebody else they're seeing online rather than just themselves.

Tom Kagy (21:43)

Kelli Luu (21:44)

Tom Kagy (22:02)

Kelli Luu (22:03)

Tom Kagy (22:25)

let's say, siphon off personal data over to China for use for whatever nefarious purposes they might use. I can't imagine many, but that's the alleged reason for their security concern. But aside from that, which I think is highly questionable, but aside from that, do you see any signs that

Kelli Luu (22:44)

Tom Kagy (23:03)

Kelli Luu (23:18)

on like China, I don't think it has make us have a different perspective, but I think as a creator, it is important to know that a lot of the trends that we're seeing are coming from China. that again, that might be why like the US government is afraid of having TikTok not unbanned here. So I think China is deciding a lot of the different crazes.

The algorithm, like you said, think it is because it is controlled by Chinese government. That is why the trends on TikTok are able to go so viral and like certain ones are able to go so viral. I don't know if it makes me feel some, a different kind of way towards the country as a whole, but I think it is important to just have to realize that because I don't think a lot of people, that's not something a lot of people are thinking about where the trends are actually coming from.

Tom Kagy (24:18)

Kelli Luu (24:29)

Tom Kagy (24:48)

it's did, I mean, I don't want to get too deeply into this because I know you're working on a video on that topic specifically, but just to touch on it, do you think in that particular case that TikTok played a role in making the booboo popular in the US?

Kelli Luu (24:54)

for sure, yes, 100%. The amount of videos that are on TikTok about it now, the amount of people that are talking about it, the amount of people lining up to go and buy them is ridiculous and a big part of it is because of the TikTok craze.

Tom Kagy (25:20)

Kelli Luu (25:32)

Tom Kagy (25:41)

Kelli Luu (25:58)

Tom Kagy (26:07)

Kelli Luu (26:09)

Tom Kagy (26:35)

like what kind of things, I don't want to go into too much because we're running out of time, but what kind of things on Twitch?

Kelli Luu (26:43)

Tom Kagy (27:05)

Kelli Luu (27:07)

Tom Kagy (27:08)

Kelli Luu (27:20)

Tom Kagy (27:24)

Kelli Luu (27:27)

The complex network of identifications with people, places and events that make up identity takes a novel to capture. And here's the first chapter of mine, The Summerset, written when I was in my third year at UCLA.

Hello, this is Tom Kagy with Unconventional Wisdom.

Today I'd like to talk about something I've been wanting to talk about but which is very difficult to prioritize because it's a somewhat amorphous concept that we don't think about all the time, but is sort of central to our lives. And by that I mean identity.

Over the years, I've come to see identity as sort of the operating system by which each of us operates. So in other words, it's not just an issue or topic for Asian Americans or an ethnic minority. It's really a topic for every single human being.

Of course, at the core of identity is all of our human qualities. But as you get toward the surface, I'd say the coloring would come from our more superficial but still very important ethnic, family, and various other types of identifications.

Identity is one of those topics that when you're a very ambitious young person, you don't really think about it. You're focused more on getting into college, you know, doing well in school, graduating. So it wasn't really until I was in college that I began to think about my identity.

And when I tried to sort of simplify my concept of my identity, I found that it wasn't really possible to do that in one or two sentences. In fact, I think it actually takes a novel for anyone to actually elucidate their particular identity. So that's what I did. I started writing chapters of a novel while I was in, I think in my second or third year of college.

And I was writing it because I actually had to produce something for my creative writing seminar, for my sort of the sub major of my English literature major. So I wrote a number of chapters during the, over the course of three separate creative writing seminars, which I had to qualify for and pass through in order to get a sort of a notation in my BA saying that I had majored in creative writing.

Since it's really not possible for me to share my identity in great detail in a few sentences, I've decided it's easier just to read from that novel. That novel is titled The Summerset. The words summer set are combined to be one word.

And here is Chapter One of The Summerset.

A voice announced to the jumbo jet load of sleeping passengers that we were crossing the international date line and that it was now the 21st of June, the first day of summer. The old man next to me stirred, blinked irritably and went back to sleep, probably deciding it was a hell of a thing to be awakened, just to be told today had become yesterday and tomorrow today.

Staring through the double layer of plexiglass since takeoff, I had been seeing Kimberley as I had left her at LAX. Now I saw the stars, sublime against the black stratosphere. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep.

Having been born into, for all practical purposes, an expatriate family, I was doomed to ply the Pacific like the trade winds, heading west come summer and back east to the states in the fall. Whenever an acquaintance would ask, so what have you been up to all summer? I would answer, I was in Korea. And the conversation would take an autobiographical turn while I explained that my family lived there because my father worked there for the US Army, that I was born there and had attended the American base schools there before starting high school stateside.

The acquaintance would go away misunderstanding, and I would come away feeling as if I had been withholding embarrassing truths about myself.

I had been determined to break precedent and spend that summer with Kimberly until, just as I was closing the textbooks of my sophomore year at UCLA, my mother called long distance with the news of my Korean grandmother's death. I had agreed without hesitation to return for the funeral, though I knew that once there I would have to stay out the summer.

My grandmother and I once had great affection for each other, and past affection was sacred to me. Still, I had been saddened by the prospect of a summer separation, and in a reckless moment of grief, I had promised faithfulness to Kimberly, despite having caroused and hoarded nearly every night of every summer from the age of 15.

But after all, I loved Susan Kimberly Bradley. Or as I like to think of it, I was moved by her the way some people can be moved by old glory streaming against clear autumn skies. These may or may not be facets of the same emotion, but move seemed to describe best what the sight of Kimberly's light brown page boy, sprinkling of freckles, and grey eyes that went clear to heaven did to me from the very first.

But after some consideration — I move you well, it's pretty clear I don't move you to the three simple words that mean anything! — I made a reluctant concession to convention and settled for love, a much inferior word and entirely overworked. At the airport, I had used that word for the second time to stem the flow from those eyes melting clear and of course it had the opposite effect.

The tears were to be savored, if not for the fact that more than a few drops were shed out of that unreasoning jealousy provoked by an unseen rival, particularly if that rival, like Beth, was once her lover's lover.

It was a relief to get out and stretch at Haneda.

In one of those ubiquitous duty-free shops, I bought half a dozen postcards and filled them with portions of my message of love and longing, smiling at the thought of Kimberly's pleasure at finding them in her mailbox one morning. The announcement was made for my flight for its final leg to Seoul, and I dropped the card into a mailbox feeling as if I were again taking leave of Kimberley.

Compared to the Trans-Pacific crossing, the flight from Honshu to Korea across the Sea of Japan, the East Sea to the Koreans, was only a hop. With my first glimpse of the peninsula, my heart quickened as it had each of the half-dozen times in summer's past.

Sighting the California coast was as different from this as a handshake is from a kiss. Korea was for me the affection of mother, the indulgent, the past, and America, the example of father, the ambitious, the future. As the 747 crossed the eastern coastline and flew over the blue-green mountains toward Kimpo International, the rose tint of dawn faded leaving the blue sky of a dreary winter's daydream.

Gazing down at the moving landscape, I felt it might awaken from its eons of repose and throb with the life force it had absorbed from the eastern sun. The jet banked in prelude to the landing ritual, and the yellow rays stretched across the rushing azure to warm my face.

With every swoop and bank, the ever-changing panorama of green hills and greener rice paddies blurred into the never-changing scene of childhood summers. The Boeing met the landing strip with a screech and a jerk, and I remembered to take a deep breath. A

fter the rigmarole of customs, I went to the domestic terminal for the flight to Taegu.

Having suffered for a dozen hours a scream of jet engines, I relished the cocktail of human voices. Groups of men talked with adolescent boisterousness, stamping their feet and clapping to accent the more notable repartee. Most were gray-suited businessmen with austerely trimmed hair gleaming with aromatic oils and glossy black shoes. Were it a few hours later, their breaths would have been sweet with alcohol. The few laboring class men didn't speak as loudly, perhaps in deference to wealth. They wore drab, short-sleeved shirts and pants that were invariably ankle-length, as if their legs had just experienced a late growth. Their lean, limber bodies were burnt red-brown, and the compact muscles of their arms flexed visibly when they moved.

A stately family of four sat down across from me. The precocious-looking younger daughter, with a spirited ponytail, ogled me as if I had been provided by KAL for the amusement of waiting passengers. Pretending unwary nonchalance, I settled down to enjoy her reactions.

I knew that I was so fascinating because she couldn't reconcile my apparently Korean face with my American clothing and collar-length hair. Strict Korean laws allowed male citizens only very short haircuts in those days. Wanting to share her discovery, Ponytail tugged at her sister's arm.

The older girl was striking. She looked to be about 20 or 21. Her pale as lilac lips stayed parted in a vaguely dissatisfied pout. She tried to ignore her sister by staring straight ahead, as straight ahead as possible without staring at me, since I happened to be sitting directly opposite her. When I caught her eyeing me, Palelips made it clear that actually she had been engrossed in something fascinating that happened to be directly behind my head, even craning her neck slightly to let me know that my big fat head was blocking her view.

Hauteur was the intended attitude, but the quick curiosity of her sultry eyes and the manicured toes wiggling in her white high-heeled slippers compromised it into something more charming. I caught myself thinking unfaithful thoughts.

"Look how his hair hangs down," said Ponytail. "He can't be American because his hair is black. I bet he's a Jap."

"Stop staring at that man," said her mother. I looked away to one side only to catch a small group of people studying me speculatively. When I turned back around, Palelips was giving her sister a fierce look and whispered I made out to be, "I'll kill you, you little brat.

"Don't worry," said Ponytail, no longer bothering to whisper. "He can't understand Korean."

Palelips suddenly remembered that she had neglected to look through her purse for quite some time.

"Look, look!" said Ponytail, keeping her black mist of his eyes on me. "He's looking at you!"

Pulling herself closer to her sister with an impish smile, she said, "He thinks you're pretty.

Palelips leaned forward and appealed to her father. He blew out a mangled toothpick and burst into a low, throaty laugh. Seeing that she would get no help from him, Palelips got up and went to stand by the window.

The one-hour flight was aboard a remodeled four-engine propjob that had once served as a military transport. At times we flew along flocks of cumulus clouds whose shadows appeared to be small lakes riddling the dark mountains below, until the illusion was destroyed by some real lakes. Since most of the country was covered by mountains worn uniformly smooth with age,

I anticipated Taegu behind every range. Instead were nameless hamlets nestled in the shadowy V's of the foothills like insects clinging to some tolerant beasts for their precarious existence, so different than their sprawling California towns. I wished Kimberly were with me. Her idea of Korea had been gleaned from old documentaries about the war.

Each time I tried to chip away at Kimberly's prejudices with an apparently impromptu lesson in Korean culture, she had listened politely and even asked a few questions, giving me the hope that perhaps this time I had gotten through. Until the next time she asked if there were elevators in Korea or if Koreans rode on ox carts.

Once, while preparing for another assault on her undiminishable stockpile of misinformation, I had run across a series of publications released by Imperial Japan. In one issue was a large photograph with the caption, "Koreans drinking beef blood."

The maple-lined streets of Camp Walker Base were quiet and empty except for a few GIs dressed in summer khakis. I passed the row of ugly pea-green barracks, the small white chapel, and the pool where I had worked as a lifeguard the past summer. Some younger kids on bicycles waved as they rode past as if they had seen me just yesterday.

No doubt the teenagers were at work loafing at their summer jobs. I cut across the golf course to the neat rectangular arrangement of pastel duplexes bordered by impeccable lawns kept that way by a small army of Korean houseboys.

Only the maid was at home. She told me that my mother and brother had gone to make funeral arrangements.

"Where's Grandma?"

She led me to what was nominally my room and left me at the door. The only light in the room was the three candles at the head of the gray coffin, which had been left open. As I approached it, my mind kept returning to the past September when Grandma had cried as I was going back to college. Tears had trickled down her wrinkled brown cheeks, many more tears than I had thought the old woman could shed. And she had said she would not live to see me again.

I hesitated a moment before continuing toward the coffin. I had never seen death. The white Korean dress seemed to give off a pale light of its own. Grandma's snow-white hair was pulled back severely and held by a silver pin at the back. To create the illusion of health, eternal health, they had powdered her hollow cheeks. Grandma's eyelids were irresolutely closed as if she were only resting her eyes, and I half expected her to open them and smile, a slow joyous smile, at seeing me again.

With his fine line art and stunning sketch tattoos, Brian Woo goes far beyond needlework toward building a global brand.

You’ve seen his work on A-list celebrities, but you’ve probably never seen the face behind the art. His fans call him Dr. Woo and he’s become a cultural icon turning fine tattooing into unbelievable art. 

Taiwanese American Brian Woo was born and raised in Los Angeles. At just 11 years old, he began experimenting with his talent doing DIY stick and poke tattoos after school then got his first professional tattoo at 14.

As he got older he worked as a fashion buyer developing his own clothing brand. During this time, he was constantly competing with his friends to see who had the most tattoos. 

Dr. Woo and his friends spent a lot of time being tattooed by Mark Mahoney, one of the world’s most respected tattoo artists. After many years of hanging out at the Shamrock Social Club, Mahoney’s Los Angeles tattoo studio, he offered Brian an apprenticeship which he happily accepted. 

Brian worked as Mahoney’s apprentice for three years learning techniques and cleaning up workstations before tattooing his first customer. Since then he has been known for his ultra fine lines and pieces that look like drawn sketches. 

By 2013, his minimalist aesthetic went mainstream and had clients waiting months for a session. Celebrities like Drake and Zoe Kravitz were making sure to book with Dr. Woo, adding to the buzz around his work. 

In 2017 he opened his own tattoo studio, Hideaway at Suite X, inside the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and in 2020 he launched a line of skincare products, including body moisturizer and tattoo aftercare treatments. 

His most recent endeavors are a collaboration with D’usse XO for a limited edition glassware, being a father to his two sons, and entertaining his 1.6 million Instagram followers. 

From a rebellious teen to a renowned artist who learned to master his style leaving a lasting impression on his clients.

Monday June 23, reality star Zak Srakaew entered Love Island’s Casa Amor villa as a very memorable bombshell looking to find love. 

If you have been keeping up with this summer’s number one show, then you already know about the new bombshell that everyone’s talking about. 

He’s over 6 feet, he has a ton of tattoos, and he’s making Love Island history as one of the very first Asian men to walk through the villa. 

Zak is coming on the show’s 7th season with more than 500 thousand TikTok followers as he has already made a career for himself modeling for big brands like Burberry, ASOS and BooHooMan. 

Zak’s very first reality TV appearance was on the 20th season of Big Brother UK, so his familiar face had his fans ready to learn more about him. 

This Manchester model who spent most of his childhood in Thailand is bringing culture, energy and confidence to Fiji this summer, finally giving the audience much-needed Asian representation. 

The 6 week social experiment that Love Island is challenges individuals who are all living in the same villa, trying to find love. Their journeys are often stumped by “bombshells” entering the villa, looking to break up certain couples with hopes of pairing up with someone themselves. 

Following its June 3rd premiere, Nielsen data has locked in Love Island USA as the number 1 reality series, reaching over 1 billion views across the first nine episodes. 

This past Monday’s airing just broke records becoming the most watched episode of the season so far. Why? It’s Casa Amor week, where new male and female bombshells enter the villa to test the already established connections. 

Zak, being one of the Casa Amor bombshells, instantly grasped the attention of fans, turning heads and shifting the narrative on one of the hottest shows of the year. 

He has already told the islanders that he is not afraid of going after what he wants, making a strong impression on the girls in the villa and also the millions of viewers. 

Whether he is just there to stir the pot or actually find a real connection, Zak Srakaew is representing the Asian community as the new “hot boy” on this season of Love Island and we are excited to see how he leaves his mark in the villa.

Filipino American Dylan Harper looks forward to a pro career as distinguished as his basketball lineage.

Rutgers’ combo guard Dylan Harper is the consensus number two pick for the 2025 NBA Draft, behind only Duke’s Cooper Flagg.

The second pick is held by the San Antonio Spurs.  That means Harper will likely play alongside 7’4” All-Star Center Victor Wembanyama – one of the NBA’s most exciting players and its back-to-back blocking leader.

Drafting 19-year-old Harper would also create an exciting backcourt pairing with point guard Stephon Castle who in April succeeded Wembanyama as Rookie of the Year.  Harper and Castle both stand 6-6, providing excellent size at the guard positions.

During his single season at Rutgers Harper averaged 19.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.  In 29 games he was a solid defender, picking up 1.4 steals and over half a block per game.  He was teammates with another shoo-in lottery pick, Ace Bailey.  But the Scarlet Knights struggled, ending the season with a 15-17 record.  Both were true freshman but both earned Third-team All-Big Ten honors.  

Both Harper and Bailey had been 5-Star McDonald’s All-Americans coming out of high school and were part the highest-ranked recruiting class in Rutgers history.

A native of Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, Harper averaged over 22 points and 5 rebounds per game his senior year at Don Bosco Prep where his mother Maria is an assistant coach.  He represented USA Basketball at the 2023 FIBA U19 World Cup, averaging 5.3 points and 3 assists per game against top global competition. 

His father Ron Harper had a 15-season NBA career with five championships – three with the Chicago Bulls and two with the Los Angeles Lakers.  Older brother Ron Harper Jr. also played at Rutgers before entering the NBA where he currently plays for the Detroit Pistons after going undrafted in 2022. Dylan’s mother Maria played college basketball for the University of New Orleans after immigrating to the U.S. from Bataan, Philippines at the age of 7.  Harper’s grandfather Manuel Pizarro represented the Philippines in jai alai at the 1968 Summer Olympics.

Viral beauty products aren’t always fit for young, sensitive skin so Kimberley Ho built her own brand to change skincare for the next generation.

Kimberley Ho ditched her Wall Street hustle to become a skincare CEO making clean beauty products for families. 

Children and tweens are trying to keep up with the beauty scene they are seeing on social media, but some products are not always safe for their skin. When Kimberley became a mom, she had a vision to give Generation A non toxic formulas that will not harmfully affect young and sensitive skin. 

After graduating from Stanford with a bachelor’s in economics, Kimberley started her career as a banking analyst with Goldman Sachs. 

2 years later, she began working at Oaktree Capital Management and in 2017, she decided to leave finance behind to develop Evereden, a family skincare brand made by moms in medicine. 

Coming from finance backgrounds Kimberley and her husband who is also a co-founder had zero knowledge in dermatology so they brought on Dr. Joyce Teng, Stanford Medical School’s head of paediatrics dermatology. 

Together, the trio looked to put out products that were effective and beneficial. 

Evereden launched in 2018 and quickly became a household go-to. The brand went from just a few products to now offering over 30 different products that are even safe for infants. 

Between 2018 and 2021, Kimberley and her husband were able to raise $40 million in venture capital funding. This has allowed them to expand their formulas to serums and haircare and even market towards preteens and pregnant mothers. 

Within a few months, Evereden landed on shelves at Sephora and their haircare products became number one in Amazon’s kids’ hair category. 

For Kimberley, each of these products reflect her as a mother and her commitment to helping the next generation. She is building trust in a world where children are exposed to social media much sooner and she has found a way to slow things down, leading the charge with care and science. 

In 2019, she was a part of Forbes 30 Under 30 List for Retail and E-Commerce as Evereden generated $100 million in sales that year. 

Kimberley is proof that background experience is not needed to make a difference in an already established industry, it just takes a vision, the right team, and a whole lot of passion.

Dr. Linda Liau transformed brain cancer treatment through groundbreaking work in immunotherapy and neurosurgery.

Revolutionary work in brain cancer immunotherapy has made Dr. Linda Liau a distinguished figure in neurosurgery.

In the late 1990s Liau pioneered one of the first personalized vaccines to treat glioblastoma, the most aggressive form of brain cancer. This approach uses a patient’s own tumor and white blood cells to boost immune response.  The method has continued to evolve through numerous clinical trials and is now credited with doubling the 5-year survival rate.

The 2,000 brain tumor surgeries she has performed has made Liau an eminent figure who attracts patients from around the world.  In 2013 she was elected to the Society of Neurological Surgeons, and in 2018, to the prestigious National Academy of Medicine.

Liau became the second woman in the U.S. and the first Asian American woman to head a university neurosurgical department in 2017 when she was appointed to chair UCLA’s department of neurosurgery.  Her total annual compensation for the 23-year UCLA Health veteran is listed at over $1.3 million.

Liau’s research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health for over two decades, resulting in over 230 published articles and the 2000 textbook Brain Tumor Immunotherapy.

She is listed as an inventor on 4 U.S. patents related to methods to detect and treat neural cancers, including the individually tailored glioblastoma vaccine.

Further demonstrating her commitment to advancing the field of neuro-oncology, Liau served as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Neuro-Oncology from 2007 to 2017.

Linda was raised in Los Angeles by parents who emigrated from Taiwan.  At age 16 she enrolled at Brown University where she earned bachelor’s degrees in biochemistry and political science in 1987.  After completing medical school in 1991 at Stanford she completed her residency at UCLA Medical School in six years before joining its faculty in 1998.  Since then her academic pursuits at UCLA earned her a 1999 PhD in neuroscience and an MBA in 2016. Liau, 58, is married to fellow UCLA neurosurgeon Marvin Bergsneider. They have two children who are currently in medical school.

With viral skits and hilarious parodies, Lilly Singh, Ryan Higa, and Wassabi Productions were iconic names in YouTube’s golden age.

YouTube has always been the most popular online video sharing platform and back in the 2010s, Asian creators were dominating. 

These three Asian YouTubers were a part of the golden era of YouTube. 

Number 1: Lilly Singh

You may know her better as Superwoman. Singh was a groundbreaking force on YouTube with her comedic skits and relatable South Asian humor. 

Whether it was her impersonating her parents or just breaking down every day moments we all share, Lilly Singh had the ability to make her viewers laugh and feel seen. 

With over 14 million subscribers and more than 3 billion views on YouTube, Lilly secured herself a spot on Forbes’ Top 10 Highest Paid YouTubers list,  as well as a People’s Choice Award, a Teen Choice Award, and a Streamy Award. 

Beyond being Superwoman on YouTube, she became the first person of Indian and South Asian descent to host a light night talk show in the United States and is now a full-blown mogul filling her time with acting, writing, and running her own production company, Unicorn Island. 

Number 2: Ryan Higa

One of the first Asian creators on YouTube who was able to take the platform to a whole new level. In 2006, Ryan began uploading hilarious comedy skits from his home in Hilo, Hawaii  not knowing how viral they would get. 

Videos like “How to Be Ninja” and "Nice Guys” were bringing in millions of views during a time where Asian Americans were nearly invisible in pop culture. 

For 677 consecutive days, Ryan was the #1 most subscribed YouTuber in the world. Today he has over 21 million subscribers and more than 4.4 billion views, which accounts for the loyalty of an entire generation. 

He is still collaborating with big creators on his podcast Off the Pill, but has stepped away from his regular uploads to pursue other passion projects and prioritize his mental health. 

Number 3: Wassabi Productions

When the world was living for sketch comedy on YouTube, Roi Fabito and Alex Burriss had everyone waiting for their next upload. 

The duo blew up because of their parody videos that were fun, chaotic, and purely entertaining. Their parody of Carly Rae Jepson’s “Call Me Maybe” currently has 148 million views and was one of the most viral videos of 2012, leaving the channel with more than 11 million subscribers. 

Wassabi Productions underwent some changes in 2016 as Roi left the duo to focus on his own YouTube channel, Guava Juice, which currently has over 16 million subscribers. 

While the two are still close friends, they both are separately showing the world their authentic selves and proving that Asian creators have played a huge role in making YouTube feel fun and carefree.

The quarterback who broke college passing records now leads his alma mater’s football program toward a new era of success.

As a young man Timmy Chang put the University of Hawaii football on the map with an NCAA record-setting career as a quarterback.  In 2022 he returned to the Rainbow Warriors as head coach with the goal of restoring the team’s unique identity.

From 2000 to 2004 Chang put himself into the record books with 17,072 career passing yards, a record that stood until 2011.  His dynamic run-and-gun playing style helped Chang complete 117 touchdown passes, putting him behind only Ty Detmer at the time.  In 2002, his best season, Chang led Hawaii to a 10-4 record, throwing for over 4,400 yards and lifting the Warriors to 24th in the Coaches poll.

Throwing for 4,000 yards in each of three seasons made Chang a finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award in 2004.  He was also two-time Hawaii Bowl MVP in 2003 and 2004, and a four-time All-WAC selection.  His best single-game performances include throwing for 534 yards against Louisiana Tech in 2003 and six touchdown passes against Idaho in 2004.

Chang’s collegiate success earned him stints in the NFL with the Arizona Cardinals, Detroit Lions, and Philadelphia Eagles.  Yet he failed to make a final roster and never played a regular season game though he did see pro action in the Canadian Football League and NFL Europe from 2006 to 2008.  

Timmy Chang began his coaching career in 2012 at SMU as a graduate assistant before serving in a variety of assistant coaching roles from 2014 to 2021 at Jackson State, Emory & Henry, and the University of Nevada.

In January 2022 Chang signed a 4-year contract with the Rainbow Warriors for $2.5 million plus incentive bonuses.  As head coach Chang’s record has been 3-10 in 2022, 5-8 in 2023, and 5-7 in 2024.  His biggest coaching challenge has been recruiting talent, averaging out to 118th place nationally, and worse if transfers out are included.

UH’s recruiting efforts are hurt by conference realignment, a remote location that subjects recruits to exhausting travel from hometowns as well as to regular season games, and the lack of financial resources.  Yet Chang’s winning percentage is trending in the right direction and a new stadium set to open in 2028 may help inspire a new era for Hawaii football. Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, the 44-year-old Chang attended Saint Louis School, a powerhouse in Hawaiian high school football. During his high school career, he completed 464 passes for 8,001 yards and 113 touchdowns. The institution later produced Heisman-winning quarterback Marcus Mariota and Pro Bowl quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Timmy Chang is primarily of Chinese descent blended with Caucasian, Polynesian, Japanese, and Filipino heritages.