Fatima Bhutto's new book on pop culture from the Global South: Culture is not innocent - entertainment is coded with political messaging and agendas

'New Kings of the World: Dispatches from Bollywood, Dizi, and K-pop' by Pakistani writer Fatima Bhutto investigates the burgeoning cultural movements from India (Bollywood movies), Turkey (dizi series), and South Korea (K-pop). Not that the author likes these much, as she says in a PopMatters interview, it's just that she acknowledges its popularity and influence - "K-pop is fun, dance-y music and I'd be lying if I said I didn't still listen to it at the gym. I think K-pop takes standard pop music and does something innovative with it". A short, well-researched, and engaging book - PM concludes.