How much is the university entrance stuff "real" vs cultural high demand on kids/students? Like can people generally get into a college and get a good education but it just isn't the super "prestigious" schools?

Given that every western media source I have seen on this is saying this is just a move to strengthen a dictatorship we will see.

It looks like a (potential) dog whistle, and a lot of people here not hearing it, with how they zoomed in and framed the "he/him" pride flag. Given that hexbear requires pronouns it makes sense that is missed

I listened to one episode a year or two ago, coming in with pretty low expectations, and was very disappointed. It felt very phoned in/lazy, not much chemistry, not really informative, or entertaining. Maybe I just came into a bad episode but I suspect they are just coasting off the good years(if there were ever any) and habit from listeners. I guess it wouldn't hurt to listen to an episode yourself, but that was my experience

Meanwhile in DPRK minor news segment: "Imperialist pigs are so propagandized they believe it is treason to eat hotdogs in DPRK"

If there is even a kernel of truth, and not totally made up, it is probably twisting something like "It would be patriotic to ration in case things turn hot with SK and the dictator Yoon Suk Yeol and shouldn't be relying on/importing imperialist food" then have a laugh at SK obsession with cheese and corn dogs(I have heard they are popular, not sure if that is true)

It is probably doable, but I think you would be susceptible to burn-out (depending on your other job and general mental health too). Lots of phds areas in the US it is pretty common to have "duties"(teaching,TA,grading,tutoring), for a stipend and cover tuition, but in my experience that was generally less than 4 hrs a day. It will probably depend a lot on how quick and demanding the phd program is at your school. Maybe see if there is a way to get less hours or just do research while at work (if you think you can get away with it)? Waiting to see how the workload is doesn't seem like a bad idea but I don't know how inconvenient it would be for you to wait a few months. 6hrs of productive research sounds like a stretch anyways no matter what you are doing, but I don't really know what your CS research "looks" like.

If you currently have this workload at a job plus doing a master's I am not sure how much more work comparatively you would have compared to PhD(again this depends on a lot of specifics), and if that is comfortable you might do just fine(also generally research can be "easier" to do since it is more fun and you are motivated, hopefully, than basic class work in a masters etc. This also depends on specifics).