Today is the first class of your new four class set. We will begin class with a casual conversation. Our reading today is about learning Korean and our listening is about mukbang. Please follow the transcript and listen to the audio.
Click HERE for the reading.
HU: We're back. You're listening to IT'S BEEN A MINUTE from NPR. I'm Elise Hu, in for Sam Sanders - going to pivot now to talk about food because my next guest eats copious amounts of it, and she records herself eating...
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STEPHANIE SOO: I love it. Usually I hate beans, but that's just cheese and rice and sour cream.
HU: ...While she talks about gruesome cases of true crime.
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SOO: So she left her shoes. She left her purse. There's no signs of forced entry.
HU: That's Stephanie Soo. In that video, she's eating the entire Taco Bell menu, a hundred dollars' worth.
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SOO: We've got soft tacos. We've got nacho cheese.
HU: Three types of nachos, Taco Bell fries - did you know Taco Bell had fries? - quesadillas...
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SOO: Potato taco.
HU: ...Different types of burritos, and all while intently retelling the story of an actual murder.
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SOO: We're just going to jump right in.
HU: All her episodes are like this. It might sound crazy, but Stephanie Soo is an icon in the mukbang world, an online trend that started in South Korea and features people eating tons of messy food in front of a live virtual audience. Stephanie's YouTube show devoted to her mukbang - it now has more than 2 million subscribers. We caught up recently, and she told me why she decided to make a show marrying her two loves, true crime and food.
SOO: So it started with me, like, talking about my day. And then I was like, oh, my God. I watched this true crime mystery, and, like, the husband killed his wife for life insurance money. And I was like, what do you guys think about that? And then it just evolved into, like, this thing. And now everyone's like, we don't want to see your face unless you're talking about murder.
HU: Oh, my God.
SOO: So now it's - yeah.
HU: Can you (laughter) - can you talk a little bit about, like, the first episode or first time you feel like it really turned, like, which murder story or which particular crime story it was that then got a big reaction and it kind of took off for you?
SOO: It was probably the Ted Bundy one.
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SOO: So this is the story of Ted Bundy.
OK, that one was - it was a very questionable video in an interesting way.
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SOO: You've been questioned before, and yet you were not arrested.
HU: Say more.
SOO: Like, I ate the last foods that Ted Bundy ate before he was executed (laughter). I'm laughing because I'm uncomfortable, not because I think execution's funny. Yeah.
HU: Well, it's his last meal, right? It was essentially, you ate Ted Bundy's last meal as kind of the hook...
SOO: Exactly.
HU: ...For why to talk about Ted Bundy.
SOO: Yeah. So I was like, you know, this is a good segue because I can't just be like, hey, guys, so I'm eating Chick-fil-A, but, like, Ted Bundy.
HU: (Laughter).
SOO: So I ate his last meal, and then I talked about him.
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SOO: Just a rage of murders. People knew the murderer's name was Ted. They had a sketch about him.
And people just really started responding. And it was just - it was fascinating, yeah (laughter).
HU: And I just want to, like, address the segment of the audience that might not be familiar with mukbang and how big a genre it is. But why do mukbang in the first place? Like, did you say in your mind, I really want to be a YouTuber and have something take off? What was your motivation?
SOO: Ok. So I worked retail. So I moved to Los Angeles, and then I started working retail, which was a - that was a whole trip. Oh, my gosh. Retail's insane in LA. And so a lot happened at work. And I was just taking some time off. I was like, OK. This is - I'm just going to take, like, a couple weeks off, and then I'm going to get back into it. And I started watching YouTube mukbang videos. And at first, I had probably the initial reaction of everyone that has never seen a mukbang video, which is, oh, my gosh. Like, I'm on the weird side of YouTube. Like, what is this? This kind of disgusting but also so entertaining, and I can't stop watching (laughter).
HU: Right.
SOO: Yeah, and I would text all of my friends and, like, my mom who - because I'm from Georgia, so I would text her, and I'd be like, look; I'm on the weird side of YouTube. And I would just link her videos to other mukbangers. And eventually I was like, OK, maybe I should - maybe I should try one. Now, here's the thing. I had a really good intentions, really bad execution because my first mukbang video I was like, you know, everyone is eating just delicious In-N-Out burgers. They're eating Korean spicy rice cakes. Why don't I...
HU: Lot of jajangmyeon.
SOO: Yeah, lots of jajangmyeon. Why don't I go get a frozen burrito from Whole Foods, like, just one burrito? And that was my first mukbang. Like, just a literally - a silver platter with, like, one burrito on there.
HU: Oh, I can't wait to find this archive tape.
SOO: (Laughter) Oh, my God. And I was like, why did I ever think that this was a good idea? And so I didn't tell anyone about it after I filmed it and posted it. I was like, OK. Like, no one is going to watch this. It was just for shirts and giggles (laughter). And so I posted. And then I woke up, and I had, like, 42 views. And I was like, dang. Wow. I'm a star.
HU: Forty two people watched you eat a frozen burrito from Whole Foods.
SOO: Yeah, and...
HU: But it - was it validating? Did it say to you, OK, now I feel like I want to get more viewers?
SOO: Yeah because, like, I didn't tell 42 people. So I was like, wow. I need to give the people what they want. I need to give these 42 people more videos (laughter).
HU: Yeah. So it seems like such a dream just to be able to talk about something you're passionate about and then eat delicious foods. But there is that other side of sort of you're feeling like you're responsible to the audience and their preferences. So I want to ask, are you dealing with greater pressures now and how because you've become a mukbang celebrity?
SOO: I think the sense of I feel like everything I think I have to say out loud is kind of - I feel like almost - I feel like sometimes, I don't have the time to, like, process things by myself and then to share what I've processed.
HU: I feel this way, too. I'm sure Sam Sanders does as well.
SOO: Yeah. And it's just, like, woah. Like, let me think about this real quick, and then I'll get back to you. But they're like, tell me right now about this very complicated thing, how you feel. And I'm like, wait. I need to process this.
HU: OK. I want to talk a little bit about the times that we're in in this global pandemic because it's one of the reasons I can't - I don't get to join you for...
SOO: Yeah.
HU: ...Mukbang anytime soon. How does the fact that we can't go indoors to eat at restaurants together with our friends had an impact on mukbang broadcasts? That is, does our quarantining and our pandemic lifestyle affect your viewership in any way or affect what the audience says in terms of how they relate to you?
SOO: Yeah. So I actually did see, like, a small spike of viewership and views. And also, watch time was a lot longer after the pandemic started. So it does seem like people are like, OK. I'm stuck at home, and maybe I'll just eat with you.
HU: And that actually ties into the explanations for why mukbang is so popular - right? - because when it was first a thing in Korea, a lot of people talked about how maybe it was a response to how society had really fractured, and people were really lonely and disconnected from one another. And we're all on screens with each other. And that's even more so now...
SOO: Yeah.
HU: ...Right? - during this pandemic. So do you think that's why mukbang is popular?
SOO: I think so. I feel like there's something about eating while watching something that is not someone eating, if that makes any sense. So I think that's why I was so fascinated with watching mukbang before I even started. There's just a difference of eating food by yourself and then watching - I don't know - let's say a vlog of someone, like, traveling to Italy. It just - you kind of almost are like, oh, wow. And I'm just, like, eating mac and cheese, and you're just, like, in Italy, right? So I think when you watch someone who is also eating and just having, like, a normal conversation with you, there's something just so intimate about it that I really, really enjoy.
HU: Mukbanger Stephanie Soo - so excited we're talking.
SOO: No, thank you for having me.
HU: Time for a break. When we come back, we're going to have some fun and play Who Said That. Stick around. We'll be back.