Bread Unnie
Song Hooryeong: When volleyball player Kim Yeon Koung decided to announce her retirement last April, she posted a heartfelt message on social media. “Although I’m stepping away from my role as a player,” she wrote, “I want to find something new that I can do involving volleyball.” Twenty years after beginning her volleyball career, Kim went out on the highest of high notes by leading the Pink Spiders to win both the regular season and the championship. And now, as seen on her YouTube channel Bread Unnie, she’s turning her dreams from last spring into reality. Back in October, Kim posted a video announcing a reboot of Bread Unnie, and since then, the channel’s undergone a number of changes. Just by seeking out a new path for herself, she’s already managed to push out a ton of great content. The former champ has held presentations explaining the basic rules of volleyball, invited Stray Kids on for lessons, and learned to skate from short track speed skater Seo Yira. Kim is exploring a variety of roles that fall within the volleyball framework that’s shaped who she is—coach, YouTuber, advisor, vice chairperson of an international committee, chairperson of a foundation, and more—and in a video where she gives life advice, Kim says her goal for 2026 is “to find out what truly excites” her among “all these things” she’s involved with. Even after you reach the very top of your field, the question of what to do with your life remains something to ponder.
On January 22, Bread Unnie put out an episode to mark the 25th Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, with Kim Yeon Koung meeting up with retired figure skating legend Yuna Kim. The video is a perfect encapsulation of the connection between life and sports that the channel Bread Unnie is aiming for. Kim Yeon Koung, a relatively recent retiree, and Yuna Kim, now more than 10 years retired, couldn’t be living their lives any more differently. While Yuna Kim places a great deal of importance on letting go of the burden of the sporting life and ensuring she lives a peaceful life in the now, Kim Yeon Koung spends her busy days thinking about how to use her influence for good. Despite previously vowing she’d quit working out once retired, Kim Yeon Koung hated to “feel iffy” and ended up with a regular workout regimen, whereas Yuna Kim says she loves that she no longer has to push herself to exercise and rarely works out. Even so, rooted in the common denominator of coming from the sports world, the two open up about the superstitions they held and show sincere admiration for one another’s sports and accomplishments. Talking about the MBC variety show “The Wonder Coach,” which follows Kim Yeon Koung’s entry into the world of coaching, Yuna Kim, as an athlete, supports her strict approach, saying that “it looked cooler” when Kim Yeon Koung does it, but that “we all learned … like that.” Most people form the foundations of their lives by fighting their way through the most intense periods of time they endure. That explains why it still feels most fitting to call Kim Yeon Koung and Yuna Kim athletes, even now that they live noticeably different lives. And so, the sport we call life goes on, each person playing by their own rules and at their own pace.
“PUNK ROCKY” (A$AP Rocky with Danny Elfman) live on “Saturday Night Live (SNL)”
Kang Ilkwon (Music Critic): A$AP Rocky is a hip hop star, but he’s never stayed long within its confines. He walks the fashion runway, creates aesthetically engaging videos, and smashes musical boundaries. Rocky is a rapper, an art curator, and a designer who engineers moods. His new album “Don’t Be Dumb” is the most artistically ambitious work of his career to date. Among all the genre-bending moments and mischievous experiments on the album, the best and most striking part is his collaboration with film composer Danny Elfman.
Just who is Danny Elfman, you ask? He’s the one who gave Batman his darkness, Edward Scissorhands his loneliness, and the Simpsons their mischief—an elegant eccentric of the movie music world who made the hearts of both Tim Burton’s bizarre fairy tales and Hollywood blockbusters beat faster. Elfman’s scores have always been the final piece of the dreamy nightmare puzzle that is a Burton film. (For reference, Burton also did the cover art for “Don’t Be Dumb.”)
Rocky’s been working with Elfman both inside and outside the studio. Elfman appears in the “PUNK ROCKY” music video—alongside Winona Ryder, Burton’s early-era muse—and the two of them performed together on “Saturday Night Live (SNL).” Elfman’s on drums. Psychedelic rock blares out as Rocky, megaphone in hand, moves back and forth between rapping and singing. Behind him, a pack of men turn the set into utter chaos. And there, off to one side, is Elfman, leisurely playing the drums.
When you stop to think about it, their music has something in common: Both of them twist reality just enough to create worlds that feel unfamiliar and dreamlike, which is why watching them play and sing together feels both odd and oddly fitting. The sight of a Harlem-born rap star and the master of the Hollywood gothic sound sharing drums and mic together on the same stage will go down as one of the most memorable moments in pop music this year.
“The Inmate” (Freida McFadden)
Kim Boksung (Writer): A decade after escaping her hometown with her 10-year-old son, single mother Brooke Sullivan returns to live in her deceased parents’ home and takes the only job she can find—a nurse at a high-security prison. The problem? One of the worst offenders there is her ex-boyfriend, who tried to murder her after they started dating in high school—and landed himself in jail after Brooke went to the authorities. The unexpected reunion is as confusing for Brooke as it is frightening, and all this renewed face time with her dangerous old flame has her revisiting, and newly questioning, key events of her tragic past.
“The Inmate” is a fast-paced thriller to the letter. Treat it like a rollercoaster ride and let all the twists and turns take you where they will. Don’t stress over Brooke’s poor decision-making skills, just enjoy the ride without taking it too seriously. It’s the summer blockbuster of books—but for winter, when you’re shut in (safely) at home.