Iron Girls (tvN)
Jeong Dana: “It’s a movie where four women are competing in a triathlon! The characters are set!” Jin Seo-yeon tells the other participants in the first episode of Iron Girls, a Korean variety show where woman celebrities challenge themselves to complete the grueling task ahead of them. “Finish the race no matter what!” Jin’s words make reaching the goal on Iron Girls seem like an out-of-this-world movie plot. The four actresses, who also include Uie, Seorina, and Juhyun Park, dream of completing a triathlon—an extreme sport comprising 1.5 km of swimming, 40 km of cycling, and 10 km of running for a total distance of 51.5 km. But before they can even tackle this challenge, they have to overcome their biggest obstacle: themselves. Jin, despite being at an advantage thanks to the muscular build she’s earned herself through regular training, has to best a fear of water she developed after a traumatic experience as a child; Uie has amazing physical stamina stemming from her background as a swimmer, but is afraid of riding a bike; Seorina, though a natural-born athlete who always excels at any form of exercise or training, struggles with frequent injuries and side stitches; and Park, once urged on by those around her to train as an athlete, has to deal with weak joints and a sun allergy.

But alive and well in the Iron Girls is the most important motivator in any sport: a competitive spirit. In the first episode, Park sizes up her competitors and judges herself to be “someone who’s never really stuck with anything,” which she seeks to rectify by completing a 5 km run. Moreover, the four Iron Girls go head to head in a CrossFit competition against a team of track athletes, a gang of “Hell’s Grannies” with a combined 30 years of fitness and an average age of 71.5, the national judo team of former national representatives, and a group of police officers, firefighters, and ex-military personnel. Even in the midst of the competition, everyone cheers on the Hell’s Grannies, who go on to take fifth place. The four Iron Girls also constantly root for each other, as in another event, when Park is falling behind on a 123-story vertical marathon, and Uie encourages her by sprinting down 10 flights of stairs in one go. Also by their sides is their leader, Dong Hyun Kim, who guides them on their path for personal growth with his sometimes tough, sometimes friendly advice. With such unbreakable camaraderie and unwavering commitment to each other, and four months of seemingly endless competition within each of their own hearts, all four of the Iron Girls ultimately succeed in the goal they set out to achieve at the beginning of the program: to complete the 2024 World Triathlon Cup Tongyeong. If you haven’t yet watched any of Iron Girls, your best bet is to watch every single episode and then go back to the beginning to revisit the moment Jin talks about the “movie.” It’s amazing to see how a dream that once seemed as improbable as a movie becomes reality.

Spotify Anniversaries series
Seo Seongdeok (music critic): There are numerous ways that significant moments in pop music are commemorated, including the tried and true expanded special edition albums as well as special performances. A recent intriguing discovery is how, despite the way streaming and social media have made listening to individual songs in isolation the norm, when it comes time to mark a special occasion, the album still reigns supreme. Spotify, for example, often releases anniversary EPs and YouTube videos for specific albums. This year, the streaming service celebrated the 10th anniversary of Isaiah Rashad’s mixtape Cilvia Demo, the 30th anniversary of the eponymous Weezer album commonly known as the Blue Album, and the 25th anniversary of Christina Aguilera’s self-titled debut album.

For these, the artists perform hit tracks off their albums live at Spotify’s LA studio. The videos uploaded to YouTube then continue the conversation with the artist and contributors to the album and each song. In Weezer’s case, Karl Koch, the band’s assistant and unofficial fifth member, makes an appearance. Christina Aguilera, meanwhile, reminisces with two of her biggest influences: producer Ron Fair and songwriter Heather Holley. These live performances are then made available as EPs exclusively on Spotify.

While the traditional expanded special edition focuses on remastered albums made longer by the addition of previously unreleased takes and contemporary live recordings, Spotify focuses instead on a smaller selection of the key tracks most revered by typical listeners. The songs are transformed into live performances in the spirit of the moment, and the artists are joined by friends who can tell stories from way back when. That’s not to say that the time-tested expanded album is the wrong choice—Weezer themselves also released a 30th-anniversary box set for the Blue Album—but when you can sit back and enjoy an all-new, 30-minute experience rather than an anniversary edition of a beloved album, clearly Spotify got something right.