Hello subscribers to The Pudding, as well as our special supporters on Patreon.
We’ve got 3 new stories coming at you:
Growing up with K-pop… I love BTS, please don’t hurt my family
Similes… I’m as excited as a Pudding Newsletter Reader to show you this one
In Vitro Fertilization… A deeply moving, dual-perspective personal narrative
Hot dog, let’s read some essays!
K-pop & Friendship
In 2012, when I was just a super popular, cool-jock senior in high school, a cultural phenomenon swept the nation. That’s right: I’m talking about Mitt Romney fever Gangnam Style, the first YouTube video to hit 1 billion views. For many in the Western world, Gangnam Style was an introduction to K-pop.
But not for Eunice and Minji, who are lifelong friends and lifelong fans. In this story, they trace their personal histories with the development of K-pop from a niche interest to a global powerhouse.
As Eunice puts it, “K-pop changed so much over the years, but so did we.”
If you like this story, check out our other music stories: love songs, best year in music, skating music
Similes: An Exegesis
Everyone loves to read. It’s 2026 and books are as cool as my dad’s tone of voice when he says that he loves me.
Whoa, did you catch that literary device I just deployed? That’s called a “simile,” and, when it comes to fiction books, similes are as plentiful as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s tumbles. (Jan snuck this one in because she lives in San Antonio.)
Leaning on a corpus of popular literature, Russell analyzed 200,000 similes in order to understand how we use comparative language. With illustrations by Shelly Tan, this story is about as fun as making a huge bet on Polymarket that Jimmy Fallon will say “tariff” on tonight’s Late Show and knowing that if he says it, all your financial problems will be solved, and your dad will finally be proud of you.
If you liked this article, check out our other literature stories: gendered descriptions, the canon, book covers
A Journey Through Infertility
Contributor Lam Thuy Vo wrote this personal story about the arduous process of in vitro fertilization (IVF). With illustrations by Rose Wong, Lam recounts her history going through the IVF process.
In this piece, Lam leads us down two parallel paths: one from her perspective, and the other a scientific account of what is happening inside the body during IVF.
Read the essay… and leave Lam a tip!
If you liked this article, check out our other personal narratives: AI heartbreak, same-gender song lyrics, walkachussets
From the archive — A Brief History of the Last 100 Years
Conflict with Iran? Impending recession? Everyone’s singing Michael Jackson? Tom Cruise is starring in Top Gun?
Take a trip down memory lane with Ilia and Jan’s story from 2018 summarizing a century of US history through New York Times headlines.
Quick asides
Have a cool essay idea that you want to make? Check out our pitch guidelines.
Want to hire our team to create data-driven, visual stories? Visit our sister studio, Polygraph.
#stuff-we-love at The Pudding
Here are some special links shared on our Friends of The Pudding Slack (get access via Patreon)!
Seniors caring for seniors, The Straits Times
Who is Brian Moore?, Brian Moore
Infinite Digest, Christian Swineheart
Thanks for reading!
Kevin & The Pudding team
You just read issue #47 of The Pudding. You can also browse the full archives of this newsletter.