Asian Pop Nation is a radio show that airs every Saturday 12 - 2 pm on SYN in Melbourne, Australia. You can find a podcast version of our weekly shows here. Asian Pop Nation is a SYN Media Podcast.
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Wen Pei is a singer-songwriter and artist (and fellow SYN host on The Hoist!) whose soft and enchanting melodies sung in Hokkien and Mandarin, will have you feeling the windy breeze and warm sun on your face no matter where you are listening from. While the APN team first learnt of her through the opening night of Limitless Play at No Vacancy Gallery last year, she most recently opened for…
APN had the pleasure of interviewing Cupnoodle - a Thai German independent singer-songwriter based in Bangkok, Thailand. She has been releasing the most delicious soul and jazz infused pop music since 2020 - writing from an in-between space fusing Asian and Western music styles, singing in English and Thai, and she is unafraid to be playful in her lyrics and music. Her latest single "A.I. CAN'T…
Coincidentally, the APN team had a lot to say about Japan this episode beginning with maid cafes, One Piece Live Action - and ending with a discussion on how Japan is romanticised online, with people on TikTok romanticising their hometowns by pretending it is 'Tokyo, Japan' 🇯🇵🌸 ... We had so much to say about BTS last episode that we continued that discussion here as well! We had a full…
A jam packed episode filled with throwbacks to some iconic K-pop debuts and one of the team's most favourite rhythm games they were obsessed with (arguably still) Project Sekai!! As well as more recent happenings in the Asian pop world - most importantly the long awaited comeback of BTS post-military service, with the album, 'ARIRANG'. Listen to hear our initial thoughts and opinions of this…
In this episode APN revisit an...altercation between Knetz and SEA Kpop fans over concert etiquette, as well as report on a very recent (at the time of recording) shock departure of Heeseung from ENHYPEN. More topics include a segment on older genres of Asian pop as well as, your favourite, an anime attack!! (0:04) Intro (2:13) Anime Attack: Sentenced to Be Absolute Trash (15:31) K-Pop Wars:…
Last week APN had the pleasure of sitting down with comedian Harry Jun, who was visiting Melbourne for his run of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. His show titled "Inside Jokes, Outside Voice" actually sold out its entire Naarm run (we are so proud 🥹), and our team who luckily snagged tickets can absolutely see why. So if you missed out on seeing his set, this interview is a…
HOW WE FEELIN OUT THERE? APN, PRESENT!!! 🫡 Not me quoting songs two podcast episode captions back to back. This week Denise and Annabella talk about their experience at the In Your Fantasy tour at Rod Laver arena and give you a quick run down on the iconic group, ATEEZ. They also both gush over the representation in Bridgerton S4 🏰 and the adorable new starters in the upcoming Pokemon: Wind and…
This week APN dropped it like hot, hot, hot, oh jigeum feeling so hot. No we did not play HOT by SEVENTEEN but we did talk all things Heated Rivalry - the hot new show generating lots of discussion and love, and Hotpot Bomb - the hot new food product that claimed to be the 'first' of its kind...generating lots of discussion and hate. And finally, Annabella again makes the most of her solo time in…
Hello and welcome back to Asian Pop Nation! The very first show of 2026, and the first of the Year of the Fire Horse 🐴🔥. Episode one meant only one person in the studio, your Executive Producer for 2026 - Annabella! She took many liberties this solo show to talk all things ZEROBASEONE before they d*sbanded and how much she loves member, Seok Matthew - who somehow healed her inner cultural…
L!FE is a Melbourne-based Filipino songwriter and producer, whose music combines hip-hop, rock and pop styles, with honest lyrics about, well, life! All its highs, all its lows and what it is like to be a human and alive. A week prior, APN attended L!FE's release party for his new EP 'I'm a Human Being' and fell in love with his energetic hip-hop beats you couldn't resist head bopping to, and…
Apart from our interview with L!FE and watching him perform his banger single 'Show Me What You Got', the APN team came together to discuss the unfortunate racism Golden Bachelor winner, Sunny had been receiving following the show. As well as some upcoming anime releases and a certain badly drawn angle of one of our most beloved characters... (0:07) Golden Bachelor winner Sunny and racist comments…
This week the APN team talk all about their experience at L!FE's EP release party and seeing JXCKY as an opener as well as the GRAMMY nominations having an Asian representation moment with some names nominated such as KATSEYE, Ros , Bruno Mars and HUNTR/X. Finally, we end the show with Ashly's experience visiting her homeland in China and why if you are a fan of all things pop-culture, you should…
In the week leading up this show, the team at APN had been out and about completing various side-quests! The local scene for Asian art was truly thriving that week! Jessica, Annabella and Denise saw the 2005 Japanese film 'Linda Linda Linda' that was remastered and brought to Melbourne by the Asian Cinema Collective. They also went to see four incredible local Asian Australian musicians at…
For the very first time on Asian Pop Nation, our ears were graced with a live performance by Lemes - an up-and-coming Indonesian student band based in Melbourne. Joining us in the studio was Deo, Julian, Theo, Rama, and Chelsea, who performed two wonderful Indonesian songs: 'Pandangan Pertama' and 'Cinta dan Rahasia'. We had the chance to talk to Lemes about their hopes, dreams, and goals as one…
In this jam-packed episode of Asian Pop Nation, Jessica, Annabella, Denise, and Takee address two infamous battles happening in Asian media: the Newjeans legal dispute and the appeal of sports competitions in animes like Haikyu!! and Free! For the first time ever, Melbourne-based Indonesian student-band, Lemes, joins us in the studio for a live performance and a short chat. (4:17) The appeal of…
What would you do if your favorite K-Pop idol landed in a controversy - with a bunch of your other faves in the mix too? In this fifth episode of Asian Pop Nation, Annabella, Denise, Jessica, and Ashly discuss the various moral and cultural controversies that have surrounded K-Pop and Pop spaces in recent weeks. We also get nitty gritty talking about the newly released Chainsaw Man movie! When all…
Welcome back to another episode of Asian Pop Nation, but this time, everything's a little spoooooky!! 👻 Join us for our Halloween special where we talk about many spooky things, such as Indonesia's love for horror movies, anime recommendations to put you into that scary mood, and Halloween video games and K-Pop! 🎃 Tune in to Spooky Pop Nation... if you dare... 🧟 (0:04) Intro (2:38) Indonesia…
In this third episode, the APN team explores all things that makes our love of Asian media SOCIAL; we recap the recent PAX convention, bring back bittersweet memories of watching K-Dramas, and address the 'parasocial' phenomenon happening throughout K-Pop. Listen more to find out the best and trendiest Asian collabs of the year! (3:00) Jessie and Ashly recap the PAX convention (12:40) K-Drama Sad…
APN has taken off and landed on a planet...a BOYS II PLANET! 🪐 This episode Jessica and Annabella complain- I mean, discuss the the sequel to the hit survival show BOYS PLANET. Listen to hear their thoughts on voting controversies, classic Mnet riggory, and the unfortunate final group name. Our frustrations continue as we discuss how recent protests against corruption in Southeast Asia are using…
Did you miss us?? Asian Pop Nation is finally back, after a (almost!) one year long hiatus! And for the first time in many many moons, we are recording LIVE in the studio 📻. So the APN podcast may sound a little bit different! Not only this, but we have some new voices on the show 🤩! You may recognise Jessie and Annabella from previous shows, but joining them are Takee, Jessica, Denise, and…
An APN episode in 2025?! It's more likely than you think... Enjoy a little blast from the past moment as some of our team members gather around our metaphorical campfire to revive Asian Pop Nation for just one night only in honour of SYN's 2025 Radiothon. If you ever wanted to know what we have been up to post-APN plus also some of our itching thoughts about the latest Asian content taking over…
After 31 episodes provided by a team of 10 young Asian folks who loved popping in every Tuesday to yap about everything under the sun, we have officially reached the end of Asian Pop Nation 2024 (and potentially forever) ! Come join us one last time to not only talk about a concert that feels very on-brand for us to end our show on, but to also reflect on the year and the evolution of APN with…
Before we officially rip the band-aid off when it comes to reaching the end of APN 2024, our team members wanted to focus on more light-hearted moments that happened back in November (with an October sneak entry) , such as the trio of concerts we got to see from girl groups' ARTMS & (G)I-DLE as well as from solo artist, tiffi. The fun times however do come to an end as we also say our early…
As the title of this episode suggest, we are doing a massive recap session on all of the major headlines that took the world by storm... maybe a while back, but we couldn't end off the year just yet without covering these topics at all! So tune in to the APN team discussing all of the chaos from the past while also switching the spotlight to our EP, Tracy, making her official return to the mic…
Entering the month of November reminds us of the fact that we have to start our countdown to the end of our 2024 APN run! 😢 But before we start delving into the sadness revolving around this particular month, we are time travelling back to happier times in October to not only hear Annabella & Jessie's thoughts of the most recent Stray Kids's stadium concert in Melbourne but also welcoming Le back…
In a similar vein of bringing back a classic APN special that has been neglected for far too long, we are welcoming our Member Mixtape back to this year's APN rotation! If this is your first time seeing these words thrown around, it is an annual tradition in which each of our team members will have the spotlight to chat & play whatever they want; all rules are off the table! From casual catchup…
Call this episode a little throwback to a topic that hasn't been getting as much love as usual here at APN, aka all things anime/manga related! Given how much talk there has been about a series of long-running manga's reaching their end in 2024, we wanted to take a look back at a large variety of endings that didn't really hit the mark for us personally. We will also take a slight detour this…
If you are looking far and wide for an incredible Asian artist who was able to look at a real life ceramic bear, and make it the inspiration for one of our favourite new tracks of the week, look no further than the LA-based Singaporean singer-songwriter, Linying! She joins Tracy & Annabella in dissecting through the behind-of-scenes creation process of her latest single, "Donovan" , as well as the…
And the ball doesn't stop rolling here at APN as we have another exciting interview, this time from Los Angeles-based Singaporean artist, Linying, joining us for a chat about her latest single, "Donovan" ! But if you also love to fall into deep rabbit holes into certain niche, but well-loved films & music, you are going to love the many movie retrospectives that are all occurring at once in little…
After releasing a joint collaboration album back in July titled, "AAA" , indie powerhouses HYUKOH & Sunset Rollercoaster are ready to bring their album to life with their upcoming November tour across Australia! In preparation for an once-in-a-lifetime concert experience, Tracy sat down with frontmen Oh Hyuk from HYUKOH and Kuo Kuo from Sunset Rollercoaster to chat all about the work that went…
A brand new month also comes with a brand new season of APN! With the power of uploading episodes back to back, it probably doesn't feel like a big break for you, dear listeners, but over here in APN, we have been cooking up a bunch of surprises behind the scenes & are finally ready to reveal it now! Starting with our very special interview with both HYUKOH & Sunset Rollercoaster in the lead up to…
Once upon a time, the APN team sat all together in the SYN studios, to record the final episode of Season 3 back in September... and now you get to hear exactly what we chatted about on that faithful night! There will be plenty of tales about the concert experiences to come from both the Laufey & aespa shows last month, and for the anime enthusiasts out there, you will also get to hear our…
Have you ever wanted all of the behind-the-scenes tea from being in a televised documentary about becoming a manga creator or maybe you wanted to relish the past "joyful" memories of being an Asian kid going to your daily Kumon class? Well, this episode of APN will have some special guests here & there, who are ready to spill on their personal experiences going through these core memories of their…
Some unfortunate technical issues in the past couple of weeks has led APN to have a few miscellaneous topics that might seem old news now as we reach the end of August. But please bare with us as we take a trip down memory lane to APN's collective first reactions to seeing the hit Thai film, 'How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies' in Australian cinemas, while also hearing some insane tales to…
In classic APN fashion, we will be returning to our good old friend aka the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF for short), to highlight some of the films in their 2024 line-up that were done by Asian filmmakers across the globe! 📽️ For some bonus shenanigans, the team decide to interrogate Ethan on his trip to Jakarta & Singapore whilst also looking into the Hatsune Miku Australian…
There has been an influx of shows, movies, books & pop culture events that each of our team members have wanted to yap about on APN for AGES but it all kept being put into the backburner until now! So listen in to hear all about it, from some of our general thoughts about hit TV series, Shogun & The Sympathizer to books such as Yellowface by R.F. Kuang and even the phenomena of K-pop entering the…
After a tiny little hibernation period of us here at APN, we are officially back for Season 3! 🥳 Just like everyone else in the year of 2024, whenever there is any sort of break time, Japan seems to be the top destination for people across the globe to travel straight to and... we were definitely no different as one of our team members, Jessie, visited this buzzing country for the very first…
In honour of our last episode for Season 2, we are going to look back into some of the most memorable music videos that shaped us! From the ones that made us cry when we were kids to the ones that made us scratch our heads a bit, we will be taking a trip down memory lane to revisit some of our personal faves and maybe some of yours as well! (01:09) Angsty 2nd-gen K-pop MV's (K.Will, Big Bang, JYJ…
With the weather getting colder every single day, you might need a little remedy for the sickness you might have caught and what's a better cure than the brand new single titled 'cold medicine' released by the Western Sydney bedroom pop artist herself, tiffi! She joins Le & Lisha to chat all about the inspiration behind her latest tracks as well digging into what made tiffi the young musical gem…
I wonder what has been the talk of the town lately? Would it be our full interview with the Australian singer-songwriter, tiffi or Tokyo's local government creating their own dating app or Chinese video games that has recently piqued the interest of some of our team members aka JP & Le? Guess you have to listen to this episode to hear all of the goss... (01:56) APN's interview with tiffi! (38:32)…
There seems to be two very specific topics that the APN team can't seem to stop thinking about these last couple of weeks: sports anime and why Haikyuu reigns supreme (allegedly) & the first studio album release to come from South Korean girl group, aespa. So, it only makes sense that we yap all about it on this episode! (01:46) Mini deep dive into the genre of sports anime (22:24) Aespa title…
Have you been feeling like there are a million concerts happening in Australia all at once? Well the APN team can definitely relate heavily to this sentiment as this week, we will be going through the long list of Asian acts heading down under very shortly and who you should keep tabs on! Sticking to things locally happening in our part of town, Jessie & Ethan gives us all the details from this…
If this seems like we are slightly late to the game when it comes to chatting all about the Asian celebrities who attended this year's Met Gala... you would be right as this week, we are bringing you an episode that was semi-late to the party! 😅 But hopefully you will forgive our poor timing since we also brought some fun local topics revolving around a throwback television series, a more…
Are you looking for the insider scoop into the latest feud between the Korean entertainment companies, HYBE & ADOR or what might have happened during this year's DreamHack? Or maybe you just wanted to hear the APN team chat about an old but beloved topic aka Asian food? Well, this episode will definitely serve up all of those dishes straight to you! (01:43) The HYBE vs. ADOR controversy (24:01)…
It's time to relive the sadness that certain anime fans might have experienced in the month of April, especially if you were a fan of shows such as, Yuri!!! On Ice and Jujutsu Kaisen . But if you are someone who is looking for a humorous cure to this devastating blow, maybe APN's review of the latest ABC TV series, White Fever , might just help you out. 😉 (01:52) Yuri!!! On Ice the Movie: Ice…
Coming to you semi-live from the SYN studios, the APN team has returned with an all new season alongside an all new member! Not only will you meet Annabella, but you also get to hear us go bananas over Dev Patel's directorial debut film, Monkey Man , the madness of Coachella 2024 and the Melbourne pop-up shop takeover. (02:08) Hi Annabella! 👋 (06:50) Monkey Man (33:12) Coachella 2024 Weekend 1 -…
And just like that, we have reached the end of our first season of APN 2024! 🎉 Join us as we take a trip down memory lane to the plethora of live events we attended such as the new Souled Out Fest, Thuy's solo show & the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Speaking of reflecting on the past, Le & Lisha also take us through some of their personal faves from the first quarter of the year! P.S:…
If you want to hear our thoughts about the latest Netflix show, based on an award-winning Chinese novel, called 3 Body Problem , the ITZY concert in Melbourne & us revisiting an old friend known as the 2024 live-action Avatar series... you better listen to this episode! (01:42) 3 Body Problem (28:40) Revisiting Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender (39:50) ITZY "Born To Be" Tour in Melbourne Follow…
Before we officially say goodbye to the month of March, the APN team gather around to pay our respects to Akira Toriyama, the iconic creator behind Dragon Ball , while also highlighting some of the small Asian wins from this year's Oscars ceremony & some of our favourite recent music! (01:30) Asian wins at the 2024 Oscars (10:54) Current music faves - Atarashii Gakko!, Jude Chiu, NMIXX (20:03)…
We are diving deep into all things fictional-related on this episode of APN as we not only chat about 3 shows ( Marry My Husband , A Sign of Affection & Frieren ) all in one go but also take a look into all the fictional/real people that we might have accidentally thought were Asian when we were younger... (01:46) Marry My Husband (11:37) A Sign of Affection (24:16) Frieren (32:28) Fictional…
