Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
Podcast link here Lisa Ling began her career at Channel One News, a news program broadcast to junior high and high school students across America. She then changed careers and joined the cast of daytime TV talk show, The View. Soon after, she went back into hard journalism and hosted National Geographic Explorer and now, on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) she hosts an hour long news show, Our America. Ling has travelled around the world reporting from the front lines of wars, went undercover in North Korea and reported on drug lords. Our America focuses on interesting stories on Americans ranging from Sex Offenders to Nuns. Some stories reveal a darker underbelly and some are stories about people finding happiness. We talk about some of the inner workings of her new show, now it’s in third season, and the changes in her career. Ling resides in Santa Monica, California, and I visited her new eco-home shared with her husband, Paul Song. The podcast began and stopped a couple of times from a visit from Ling’s mother, sister Laura and her new baby. Lisa Ling is a pop culture fan and a long time supporter of Giant Robot.
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Here’s the Podcast Player. Here’s the link for you non flash capable folks.
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David Horvath and his wife, Sun-min Kim created Uglydoll on a whim. It did begin at Giant Robot store in LA as the story is told, out of love letters back and forth across the Pacific. After they met at art school in NY, David stayed in the US and moved back to Southern California, while Sun-min moved back to Korea after 9/11. She handmade a doll from one of his tiny drawings on the sides of his letters and now over 10 years later, Uglydoll is a massive enterprise with a feature animated film movie deal. David frequents Giant Robot in LA and is a long time friend and collaborator. We’ve covered Uglydoll over the years and watched it grow – even working on events such as Uglycon – a convention based on Uglydoll. In this podcast with David, we cover topics such as Uglydoll’s growth, character creation, the film, what’s next, and more. It’s a podcast that’s over 45 minutes in length and if you’re into creating anything, this is a must listen. That’s David Horvath below with his art piece for Game Over. That’s Sun-min Kim on the left.
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You saw her for too short of a moment as Psylocke. She was the jilted “Hello Moto” bride. Recently she was Jamie Chen on The L Word. In numerous commercials and assorted roles alongside of her modeling career, I catch up with Mei Melancon at Giant Robot 2 on a recent morning for a podcast. We cover topics that begin with her appearances in high profile commercials, X-Men, L-Word, relationships, and her little known upbringing in a commune in Japan. Mei’s days are busy: ranging from modeling, acting, auditions and she’s even producing a film project. Listen to her podcast. The link is here.
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Luke Rook has always been a friend to Giant Robot. He began his recent career in toys by opening Lulubell Toy Bodega in Arizona and soon moved to Japan where his career turned. From being a “toy buyer” he’s now a toy maker. In this podcast, Luke Rook explains some of the mysteries of the Japanese toy making scene. In a matter of a few years after moving, he’s unlocked the “system” of striking up vinyl figures from serious mom and pops factories. One of the greatest facets of Luke is his sheer honesty and frankness which is shaping a new sub genre of “kaiju”. He still calls himself an apprentice, but that’ll change soon enough. Here’s a link to the podcast.
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