American Hustle Life. The notorious hip hop bootcamp show before BTS hit the big time. For ARMY, it's practically required viewing. As an essential part of the BTS canon and as a rich source of intercultural triumph and tragedy, we felt it deserved some serious scrutiny. This is the first in an ongoing series of episode by episode commentaries of the show. Come along and ride on a fantastic voyage with us!



































Why we wanted to talk about American Hustle Life

From the anthropological toolkit...introducing indexicality

The van, the kidnapping, and all of the tropes

"Let's gloss toxic masculinity" + a plug for Everyday Feminism

BTS, class struggle, youth/lost innocence, intersectional analysis

Coolio's Shaka Zulu stuff and indexical chains

Episode 4 On The Hustle 2A

Inspired by the Korean drama fandom phenomenon of a side character who comes to take center stage, Second Lead Syndrome unites Kay and Emily, two doctoral students with a burning desire to discuss both k-pop and anthropology. To challenge the idea that academics should only be devoted to their research subjects, Second Lead Syndrome takes an ethically non-monogamous approach to combine smart talk with fervent fangirling. Our main squeeze is anthropology, but we believe an academic vocation is compatible with our undeniable attraction to k-pop and k-dramas. Each enhances the appreciation and understanding of the other. We ditch the notion of a guilty pleasure and turn it into true love.