Pop Literacy

Francesca T. Royster’s Black Country Music: Listening for Revolutions is a vital read that helps us to understand how country music got whitewashed, …

TV journalist Michael Ausiello wrote a 2017 memoir called Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies that detailed his 13-year relationship with his husband Kit Cowan, who, in a devastating turn, was diagnosed with terminal cancer …

Consider this a Pop Literacy year-end gift: the recommendation of a deeply engrossing read for the average book fan, an extra fantastic read for writers of all mediums and genres, and a round-up of some of the finest …

The Big Bang Theory ran for 12 seasons, 279 episodes, on CBS, and continues to be a pop culture presence with its frequent re-airings on cable, …

Carell Augustus’s brilliant and beautiful photography book Black Hollywood reimagines, and restages, iconic Hollywood moments from the likes of …

James Gavin’s stunning biography of pop star George Michael—simply entitled George Michael: A Life—dives deep into an enigmatic, charismatic figure who dominated pop music in the 1980s and ‘90s, but never seemed to find …

The episode originally aired July 23, 2019.

Jennifer Lopez turns 50 this month and is at the top of her game: dancing her way through an …

This episode originally aired March 4, 2019.

It was the decade of “The Macarena,” the O.J. Simpson trial, the teen pop boom, VHS tapes, and Nintendo. …

This episode originally aired April 8, 2019

Boy bands as we know them have been around since New Edition got together in 1978—and now, they’re bigger than ever, thanks to online fandom. New Kids on the Block, Backstreet …

This episode originally aired February 19, 2019.

AOL Instant Messenger, the first iPods, Paris Hilton, emo, Mean Girls, The O.C., low-rise jeans… Now that it’s 2019, it’s time to prepare for a wave of 2000s nostalgia. …

After years of massive popularity around the world, Korean boy band BTS is breaking through to the top …

Thomas Edison and the French Lumiere brothers have widely been credited with inventing motion pictures, but there’s another strong contender for the distinction: Louis LePrince, a driven inventor who dedicated every …

Asking yourself how you ended up paying for half a dozen streaming entertainment subscriptions every month? There’s a book for that: Binge Times: …

In Truly, Madly, author Stephen Galloway explores the tumultuous relationship between two giants of Hollywood’s Golden Age, movie stars Vivian Leigh …

Many of the pop culture devoted among us sadly missed the chance to experience the New York City populated by pop artist and pop culture genius Andy …

The writer-producer Jenji Kohan has given us some of the best depictions of women on television. Nancy Botwin of Weeds followed a Breaking Bad-like …

So, yeah, whatever did happen to Richard Gere’s career? The Golden Globe-winning actor was once everywhere on the big screen, but has been largely …

Novelist Jami Attenberg’s new memoir I Came All This Way to Meet You takes readers behind the scenes of her creative life, from scraping by in …

When Betty White died on New Year’s Eve, it was a shocker—even though she was 99 years, 11 months, and two weeks old. It seemed impossible to …

The new novel Dava Shastri’s Last Day by Kirthana Ramisetti tells the story of an aging music mogul who plans her own assisted death after a …

From radios to records and teens with allowances to teens with part-time jobs, the history of the American concert began in earnest with …

It’s hard to imagine a time when Samuel L. Jackson wasn’t the unassailable pinnacle of Hollywood cool, but cool is made, not born. And that’s where …

Decades before it came under Disney control, 20th Century Fox was one of the most respected, innovative movie studios in Hollywood, under the …

Lynette Rice has covered Grey’s Anatomy from the beginning: as it became a culture-defining phenomenon in the 2000s, as it faced cast meltdowns and …

Nichole Perkins knows the power of pop culture: She has seen how Frasier’s Niles Crane inspired her to overcome her own professional hang-ups, how …

Denzel Washington, Serena Williams, Shark Tank star Daymond John, Mets World Series champ Ron Darling…those are but a few famous names who have entrusted author Daniel Paisner to help tell their personal and …

TV scholar Kathleen Collins grew up loving television before it was cool—while others fancied themselves sophisticated for digging film and music, …

James Tate Hill gradually began losing his sight while still in high school—and worked hard to hide this fact from the world well into adulthood. …

You know her from roles on Sabrina the Teenage Witch and particularly in Clueless as Cher’s nemesis Amber. Elisa Donovan thought she had her life and …

From his clever Vulture.com Real Housewives recaps to his newly launched “The Housewives Institute Bulletin” newsletter, Brian Moylan has certainly …

His books and lectures on storytelling are so iconic that he was portrayed by Brian Cox in the Oscar-winning film Adaptation, and guest starred as himself in an episode of The Simpsons. This week we’re thrilled to chat …

Jeff Goldblum’s career is a unique reflection of our times: He’s a character actor who eschews attention outside of his films, yet he’s more popular …

Prepare to be entertained, enlightened, and entranced in this week’s episode of Pop Literacy, as we welcome Tony and Emmy-nominated actress and singer Tovah Feldshuh, who talks to us about her engrossing new book …

Dawnie Walton’s debut novel The Final Revival of Opal & Nev is getting terrific reviews: “Feels truer and more mesmerizing than some true …

She’s a Pop Literacy returning guest. And though fans of her delicious, Netflix drama-inspiring thriller series of books about handsome stalker Joe …

In 1974, Los Angeles crackled with astonishing creative output: movies such as Chinatown, The Godfather Part II, Shampoo, and Nashville; seminal albums from Joni Mitchell, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, and the Eagles; …

We all know Betty White from her years on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Golden Girls. But decades before she was making us laugh in primetime, …

Director Mike Nichols lived an extraordinary life: He immigrated from Berlin to America as a young boy in 1939, lost his father at age 12, and was …

“Video Killed the Radio Star,” as the song and video that launched MTV in 1981 told us, and Millennials, among other pop culture deaths they have …

“To be a women’s wrestling fan, particularly one who patronizes WWE … is to be constantly disappointed,” Scarlett Harris writes in her book-length …

“The narrative of the NBA’s rise to become arguably the world’s second-most popular sport is frequently summed up as a rapid-fire afterthought: …

Bingewatching every TV show ever produced isn’t the only way we’ve survived 2020. We’ve also read a whole mess of books, and among our favorites have …

The Back to the Future films were among the most popular choices on Netflix this year, and for good reason: We can all use a few extra doses of …

Would any of us being surviving the pandemic without binge-watching comforting old TV and finding some new favorites along the way, too? We certainly …

In a very special return episode, we talk about the fantastic, and oh-so-perfectly timed new book Pop Star Goddesses, by Pop Literacy co-host …

The Brady Bunch never got higher than No. 31 on the ratings charts, and it was far from a critical favorite or a television masterpiece. But it's celebrating its 50th anniversary this year with loving tributes to its …

She was the child of a Hollywood couple notorious for their public breakup, an iconic sci-fi princess, the wife of a great singer-songwriter, a …

The cardigan, the sneakers, the voice so soothing it should be its own brand of stress therapy. We speak, of course, about Mister Rogers, and we …

It’s the smallest of the three generations currently ruling the world—sandwiched between Boomers and Millennials—but Gen X is not skimping on its …

She was already a writer, producer, and director, a mom of five, and the personal and professional partner of her husband, comedian Jim Gaffigan. Then Jeannie Gaffigan found out she had a tumor the size of a pear in her …

She’s been nominated for a record 21 Oscars (and won three). She can sing, she can dance, she can whip up an accent like nobody’s business. She can make you laugh, cry, quake in your stilettos with a mere two-word …

We talk with author Saul Austerlitz about his excellent new book Generation Friends: An Inside Look at the Show That Defined a Television Era. …

Christine Elise is the greatest revelation of the mind-bending, meta reboot-about-a-reboot BH90210: The actress who once played bad girl Emily Valentine on the original 90210 returned to play a version of “herself” as a …

Maureen Ryan has been a TV critic for the Chicago Tribune and Variety through the medium’s seismic changes over the last two decades and continues to write about it for basically every high-profile outlet that …

Liz Astrof is a “stay-at-work mom,” by her own admission—and for her, “work” means writing sitcoms such as Two Broke Girls, King of Queens, and the …

From its hashtag-friendly title to its celebreality-meets-where are they now character throwback premise, Fox’s BH90210 gave viewers all the feels during its premiere last week: joy at seeing these ‘90s teen pin-ups …

Summer vacation means heading out on the highway for a lot of travelers, and if you’re a TV fan looking for some primetime inspiration for a New York City road trip, author Marion Miclet has written the perfect road map …

Jennifer Lopez turns 50 this month and is at the top of her game: dancing her way through an international tour, engaged to baseball superstar Alex Rodriguez, and managing to be one of the few massive pop stars with …

The Muppet Movie is celebrating its 40th anniversary (with special screenings in movie theaters July 25 and 30) and Sesame Street is celebrating its …

Pop Literacy producer Daniel Ford’s short story collection Black Coffee inspired us to talk about our favorite legal stimulant and its role in …

Seinfeld celebrates its 30th anniversary this month, and that show about “nothing” still gives us plenty to talk about. We pay tribute by sharing behind-the-Seinfeld-reporting tidbits from throughout our careers, some …

The song of the summer, “Old Town Road,” is as 2019 as it gets: It’s a bop, but it’s a hit that rose to popularity thanks to online platforms and …

Elton John burst onto the music scene in 1970 with his self-titled album, dominated the charts in the 1970s and ‘80s, gave us enduring songs like …

It was the 1980s, and John DeLorean was livin’ large: a supermodel wife, two children, and a swanky New York City apartment he’d bought from pal Johnny Carson. DeLorean’s lifelong dream was coming true, too, as his …

Summer’s the perfect time to relax with some new tunes in your earbuds … but with so many options, finding stuff you haven’t heard before can feel overwhelming.

On this week’s Pop Literacy, we get help from Billboard’s …

This week ABC airs a throwback stunt that thrills us TV history nerds: On Wednesday May 22, star-filled casts will perform old All in the Family and …

To cord cut or not to cord cut; that is the question. Or rather, one of the many questions that overwhelm TV watchers, as the amount of television …

Between the exhausting news cycle and the endless selection of complicated TV dramas to watch, we can all use a shot of lighter pop culture …

Even some of the most devoted of Marx Brothers fans don’t know about this project: a wild, fantastical movie script that Surrealist artist Salvador Dali wrote for the comedy icons, after forging a fast friendship with …

After years of massive popularity around the world, Korean boy band BTS is breaking through to the top of mainstream American culture. They just …

Boy bands as we know them have been around since New Edition got together in 1978—and now, they’re bigger than ever, thanks to online fandom. New Kids on the Block, Backstreet Boys, O-Town, 98 Degrees, and Boyz II Men …

Luke Perry had a solid 30-year acting career, but he became an instant ‘90s icon with one of his first roles: dreamy “bad boy” Dylan McKay on Beverly …

It was the decade of “The Macarena,” the O.J. Simpson trial, the teen pop boom, VHS tapes, and Nintendo. It was also before 9/11 and Columbine, a …

"Graceland," "America," "You Can Call Me Al," "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover," "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard," "Diamonds on the Soles of Her …

AOL Instant Messenger, the first iPods, Paris Hilton, emo, Mean Girls, The O.C., low-rise jeans… Now that it’s 2019, it’s time to prepare for a wave of 2000s nostalgia. Pop Literacy host Jennifer Keishin Armstrong is …

Welcome to our insanely experimental pretend backdoor pilot for It’s It’s Britney Bitch, Bitch!, “a podcast for stans of stans, by stans of stans.” …

In the first of an occasional series on fandom, we dive into one of the most loyal, long-running followings in pop music: that of the humble legend …

Last week, we talked about this year’s Super Bowl halftime show, and the collective lack of enthusiasm for it. Could this year’s SB commercials and …

Everyone’s talking about who isn’t playing the Super Bowl halftime show this year: Rihanna, Cardi B, and most anyone else who isn’t Maroon 5. Could …

With anti-Semitism on an astonishing rise and the recent mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue, it suddenly seems more important than ever that Jews are depicted sympathetically on television. Luckily, Jewish TV …

It’s been five years since Jesse Pinkman took off like a bat out of a drug-making hell in the final episode of Breaking Bad. It’s been more than a decade since Tony Soprano may or may not have been whacked by that dude …

2018 has brought a few glimmers of hope for disaffected moviegoers sick of superheroes, explosions, and special effects: A Star Is Born, Crazy Rich Asians, Eighth Grade, Boy Erased. But many of us (your hosts included) …

Orange Is the New Black, The Night Of, Oz, Rectify… they’re the finest examples of what TV has offered viewers in depictions of prison life. Add in …

The Office owns TV Christmas episodes, the Friends own TV Thanksgivings, and Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts gang have been serving up leftovers, er, repeats, of their beloved classic specials for both …

John Mayer has been releasing new pop tunes this year and even did something that looked suspiciously like a comeback interview. It didn’t go so well; even though it was for his own Instagram show, he sparked a flurry …

Or: What is Dave Chappelle doing in A Star Is Born? We were intrigued when Chappelle showed up in the middle of that delirious fever dream of a trailer for A Star Is Born, so we investigated. Turns out he’s friends …

In a culture where every day we’re afraid to look at the news, lest we hear of yet another public figure who’s caught up in an appalling scandal, …

Women have been battling their way through Hollywood sexism behind the scenes for decades to get us to the point where more women than ever are now …

We’re certainly at Peak Reboot, with this fall’s Magnum P.I., Charmed, and Murphy Brown reimaginings hitting the air, and talk of rebooting everything from Frasier and Mad About You to Alf and The Twilight Zone. Few …

Many of this year’s biggest shows are dark, twisted, complicated, and angry. And many of them come from books written by women—The Handmaid’s Tale, Sharp Objects, Big Little Lies, Dietland, and You among them.

In this …

In Episode 1, Pop Literacy investigates: Why the hell is BET’s new biographical miniseries about Bobby Brown so extraordinary?

The short answer is that it was written by the same guy who scripted BET’s last ingenious …

We find smart things to say about pop culture so you don’t have to. We’ll take you into the writers’ rooms, songwriters’ heads, and novelists’ …