VOX ATL Teen Journalism Fellow Rachael Harris interviews teens about the cultural impact of mukbangs. Originally a trend in South Korea, mukbangs have taken off on social media in the past few years, with content creators from all over the globe posting themselves eating massive quantities of food.
Editor’s Note: (Content Warning) This podcast discusses disordered eating and the death of a one mukbanger. Please exercise caution if those topics could cause you distress. Additionally, our journalist opted to leave out the name of the content creator who passed, out of respect.
Included in this Episode:
What are Mukbangs? Originating in South Korea, mukbangs are videos, especially ones that are live-streamed, featuring a person eating a large quantity of food and addressing the audience
Teens React to how Mukbangs Make Them Feel: Rachael Harris hosts several teen guests, most of whom do not enjoy watching these videos, but often see them as they are scrolling Instagram or TikTok.
What Mukbangs Say About Our Culture: While mukbangs may seem to merely reflect American teen culture’s fascination with food, it may have more to do with the desire for parasocial relationships and to be noticed, or outraged, online.