Episode 11: Barbenheimer

The blockbuster films "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" caused a global sensation -- but the double bill proved to be a more complicated issue in Japan.

Three Kyodo News journalists -- Yamaguchi-san, Peter and Rei -- discuss a petition last month by some activists in Japan who asked that the "Barbenheimer" hashtag be banned amid a spate of memes involving atomic bomb images. They talk about how atomic bombs are discussed in Japan versus other countries, and the complexities regarding nuclear weapons in the current state of international affairs.

Article mentioned in the podcast:

Japan petition urges "Barbenheimer" hashtag ban over A-bomb memes

Kyodo News presents a bilingual podcast for English learners about the ins and outs of news writing and how to translate tricky Japanese phrases into English. Have fun listening to journalists discuss recent articles as they occasionally go off on unrelated tangents.


More podcast episodes:

Podcast [English World] Episode 10: Summer spending

Podcast [English World] Episode 9: Cubic watermelons

Podcast [English World] Episode 8: Bullet climbing Mt. Fuji


Photo taken on Aug. 2, 2023, shows the online petition from Japan demanding action from the distributors of "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" films, and one of the fan-made images (R) combining the two films in which an official social media account for the Barbie movie responded positively to. (Kyodo)