We talk to the PD and writer of #TheFirstNightwiththeDuke about the challenges and pleasures of adaptation, why we’ve fallen in love with isekai stories lately, and what it’s like to work with stars Taecyeon and Seohyun: open.substack.com/pub/dramasov...

Highlights of the #KpopDemonHunters interview: 😈 👩‍🎤 Insight into Korean folklore that informed #SajaBoys & #Huntrix ⚔️🔪✨ A breakdown of Huntr/x's weapons and characters (yes, there was more Mira & Zoey backstory) 🚦Lorde's song that inspired "What It Sounds Like" 💞The inspiration for Romance Saja

I think I'm probably in the minority of really liking the third and final season of SQUID GAME, partially because I'm a sucker for the "Battle Royale" genre and partially because Lee Jung-jae's whole run as Gi-hun is one of the all-time great TV performances. decider.com/2025/06/27/s...

‘My journey to get aid in Gaza was like Squid Game’ - https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/my-journey-aid-gaza-like-squid-game

If we were living in a better timeline, Hwang Dong-hyuk would have had less inspiration for the final seasons of Squid Game: time.com/7298235/squi...

if you need me this weekend, i'll be listening to the lost in starlight ost. www.denofgeek.com/movies/netfl...

anyway here's the email I sent to jim bankoff last week. i'm still heartbroken. I have been insanely, destructively angry for weeks, and I think I will be for a long time.

I've really been getting a lot out of these exit interviews Pete has been doing with the laid-off Polygon staff, including this piece, in which copy editor Kallie talks about the immense work and skill that goes into games/entertainment journalism.

Here's the extremely delayed fifth and final week of my blog series on Naoko Yamada, covering her latest film The Colors Within (2024). The upside of this being so late is that the movie is now on demand and I highly recommend you watch it, it's so good!

my final piece for Polygon is now live: part two of my interview with Chad Stahelski about Lazarus www.polygon.com/anime/552380...

I was part of the team who helped draft NWU's statement following Vox Media's sale of Polygon to Valnet, and the subsequent gutting of the site's staff. This decision, made by the corporate leadership at Vox Media, is a gut punch. I am angry & upset—for my editors, for myself, for this industry.

We condemn Vox Media’s May Day decision to lay off a majority of @polygon.com staff w/o warning as part of the sale to known media-brand-destroyer Valnet. We stand in solidarity with the staff who were laid off, and with @voxmediaunion.bsky.social in their ongoing contract negotiations.

Our GoFundMe to assist our former colleagues at @polygon.com is now live! Please support them if you can, and share widely even if you can't! Thank you all for the kindness and care you've shared with Polygon and the union over the last 2 days — it means the world to us all. gofund.me/a21cbbdc

Vox has a successor clause in its 2022-25 WGAE contract, meaning any buyer would need to abide by the contract [https://www.wgaeast.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2022/10/Vox-Editorial-WGAE-CBA-2022-2024.pdf]. Rather than do that, Valnet liquidated everyone represented by WGAE. Hideous villain shit.

One of the best shows "on TV" right now.

If you're in NYC this Thursday, I am hosting a casual @fspnwu.bsky.social meetup to take part in the rate-sharing challenge. It will be from 4-6pm at Spring Cafe Aspen. Bring your laptop to enter rates into the challenge's Google form, and get to know fellow freelance workers! RSVP: bit.ly/41OXdjg

And even more 🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠 If you want to help your fellow freelancer friends (& any ex-VF enemies) understand what the actual freelance media worker $$ landscape is these days, come add YOUR rates to WPW & the @fspnwu.bsky.social Rate Sharing Database! freelancesolidarity.org/actions-camp...

Prism is looking for a freelance reporter to cover inequities affecting marginalized students in public education in Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maine, and Connecticut. Prism pays $0.50/word within 2 weeks. You can learn more about us here: prismreports.org

Joy as an Act of Resistance: Feb 4: worked on this design idea in my sketchbook (quote from @chappellroanbr.bsky.social at The Grammys) & had some very good & affirming chats with sweet folks in my community—including the wonderful @kaytiburt.bsky.social! Love how small this city feels sometimes.

If you need proof of how great an actor Go Min-si is, I recommend watching Netflix's The Frog and Prime's Jinny Kitchen S2 back to back.

For Rolling Stone, I spoke with anime filmmaker Naoko Yamada. Her latest film, The Colors Within, follows three teens who start a band. It's soothingly low-stakes in its narrative construction. Yamada told me: “I wanted anxious audiences to see this movie and think, ‘It's going to be OK.'"

A very thoughtfully approached article and exploration of (ex) fan perspectives from @kaytiburt.bsky.social I had never been a fan really-recent article v triggering and nauseating for me,no wish to engage with their work.But I appreciate it can be a difficult processing journey for others.

Asked @kaytiburt.bsky.social to dig into online response after Vulture's huge Neil Gaiman feature. She came back with a thoughtful, in-depth portrait of a fandom struggling to process, adapt, respond — and express their feelings of betrayal.

You know what would be a good New Year's Resolution? Telling more people when you appreciate and love their stuff. Tell artists, tell writers, tell everyone. Everyone loves a compliment, spend less time focusing on the negatives and put some love out there instead. Happy New Year, people!

Year-end lists are here! For @thewrap.com, I wrote about the best international dramas of 2024, for @time-magazine.bsky.social, I wrote about the best K-dramas of 2024, and for @pastemagazine.bsky.social, I wrote about the best K-pop songs of 2024. Links below...

More than three years ago, I wrote this review of Squid Game based on screeners I had gotten for the first two episodes—aka only the beginning of the nine-episode season. www.denofgeek.com/tv/squid-gam...