Discover your newest binge and get to know our staff a little better with the Asia Society Texas Center's team favorite ways to stay entertained indoors! Each week, we'll share our picks for what to read, watch, listen to, and more.

Science Fiction: Readymade Bodhisattva: The Kaya Anthology of South Korean Science Fiction

Recommended by Jennifer Kapral, Director of Education and Outreach

"The first book-length English-language translation of science fiction from Korea, this anthology includes renowned literary figures, as well as some of the most exciting writers of the new millennium, making for a diverse collection that includes detailed introductions and annotations to help guide the reader through an immersive journey, taking us to a Buddhist temple to debate a robot on ethics, to a woman playing a cosmic game of Go as she dreams of working on a moon base, or to a dystopian cyberpunk world set in megacorporate Asia."

Find it on: Kaya Press (with links to purchase)

Game: The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening

Recommended by Stephanie Todd Wong, Director of Performing Arts and Culture

"With the pandemic keeping the family at home more than usual, our Nintendo Switch is seeing a lot more use. Like most parents, I have concern about the amount of screen time happening in our household, but it has been so much fun exposing our kids to the Zelda series for the first time. This reimagined version of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening focuses on a quest to rouse the legendary Wind Fish. Like most puzzle games, the next step isn't always obvious, but allows for a lot of fun trial and error, exploration, and excitement as you attempt to defeat increasingly difficult dungeon levels. With a tween and teenager in the house, there aren't many games that bring our whole family together these days, but Zelda is the exception. And who doesn't want to stay up until 2 a.m. playing games with their kids?"

Find it on: Nintendo (with links to purchase)

Film: The Wandering Earth

Recommended by Janey Jiao, Accountant

Based on the Hugo Award-winning novel The Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin, The Wandering Earth is a sci-fi interstellar thriller following the story of a group of astronauts on a mission to save the Earth as the sun expands into a red giant and threatens to engulf the planet. According to Janey, "the film represents the thoughts of humanity by Chinese people, and how they can sacrifice for their loves."

Find it on: Netflix | YouTube (trailer)

TV Show: Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj

Recommended by Mei Qi, Business and Policy Manager

"Thirty-minute episodes that explore modern politics, culture, and more, served with Hasan Minhaj's comedic delivery and myriad references to growing up (Indian) American. There are helpful graphics and animation and the occasional man-on-the-street interview that help break down the information in a digestible, entertaining way. It is always educational and always funny, but I love best the casual way Hasan's Asian American identity serves as a baseline for the show's worldview."

Find it on: Netflix | YouTube

YouTube Channel: Bilingirl Chika

Recommended by Nina Shimaguchi, Japan Outreach Initiative Coordinator

"Chika shows a lot of food and cultural aspects on her channel. She was born in Japan, moved and lived in the U.S. for 16 years, and returned back to Japan after exploring Malaysia and Australia. Through her channel, the audience explores places all over the world!" Topics covered on Chika's channel include language, culture, travel, and parenting.

Find it on: YouTube

YouTube Channel: Dianxi Xiaoge

Recommended by Chris Dunn, Marketing and Communications Manager

"Dianxi Xiaoge's cooking videos are to be savored. From her childhood home in Yunnan province, she creates family recipes using processes, tools, and ingredients that show the resourcefulness and inventiveness of countryside life, whether her family is butchering a pig for dozens of different uses or whether she's foraging spices to be harvested, dried, and stored for future use. Beautiful cinematography, admirable knife skills, and gorgeous Chinese basketry and ceramics abound!"

Find it on: YouTube

Artist: Raveena

Recommended by Kaitlyn Ellison, Performing Arts and Culture Manager

"Raveena's music and visual style are wonderfully complex. Mixing a mellow vintage-style R&B with lyrics exploring cultural identity, sexuality, and spirituality all expressed with an ethereal visual style, I find her work totally engaging but also soothing. She just released her first full-length album, Lucid, in 2019, but my favorite tracks are "Honey," released in 2018, and "Headaches," from a 2020 Moonstone EP."

Find it on: Moonstone EP (with links to purchase) | YouTube | NPR Tiny Desk Concert

Business and Policy programs are endowed by Huffington Foundation. We give special thanks to Bank of America, Muffet Blake, Anne and Albert Chao, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Nancy Pollok Guinee, United Airlines, and Wells Fargo, Presenting Sponsors of Business and Policy programs; Nancy C. Allen, Chinhui Juhn and Eddie Allen, and Leslie and Brad Bucher, Presenting Sponsors of Exhibitions; Dr. Ellen R. Gritz and Milton D. Rosenau and Wells Fargo, Presenting Sponsors of Performing Arts and Culture; and Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas), Presenting Sponsor of the Japan Series. General support of programs and exhibitions is provided by The Brown Foundation, Inc., The Hearts Foundation, Inc., Houston Endowment, Inc., the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance, McKinsey & Company, Inc., National Endowment for the Arts, Texas Commission on the Arts, Vinson & Elkins LLP, and Mary Lawrence Porter, as well as Friends of Asia Society.

About Asia Society at Home

Though Asia Society is temporarily closed, we are dedicated to continuing our mission of building cross-cultural understanding and uplifting human connectivity. Using digital tools, we bring you content for all ages and conversations that matter, in order to spark curiosity about Asia and to foster empathy.

About Asia Society Texas Center

With 13 locations throughout the world, Asia Society is the leading educational organization promoting mutual understanding and strengthening partnerships among the peoples, leaders, and institutions of Asia and West. Asia Society Texas Center executes the global mission with a local focus, enriching and engaging the vast diversity of Houston through innovative, relevant programs in arts and culture, business and policy, education, and community outreach.