Seeking podcasts, etc. for pop culture critical analysis

January 1, 2024 9:39 PM

I've realized that deep dives and critical analysis of TV, music, movies, and books really light my fire--looking for the latest and/or greatest podcasts, blogs, discussion forums etc. to give me lots to chew on through the new year. Examples below the fold.

I really enjoy media that examines other media--I've always been a big reader of TV recaps (think Entertainment Weekly's coverage of LOST back in the day, especially with all the speculation and theorizing that would happen in the comments section). I have always loved "prestige TV" like Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Barry, Fargo, etc. that has very thoughtful, deliberate writing with a ton of subtext, callbacks, easter eggs, etc. and so I've been obsessed with poring over the discussions and analysis around them in their respective subreddits and here on FanFare.

I've also gotten really into podcasts like "One Song" and "Switched on Pop" (breakdowns of/background on pop songs where they'll stop and analyze each little component of a song, talk about what inspired it, who worked on it, etc.), "They Coined It" (Mad Men episode discussion), "What Went Wrong" (behind the scenes on movie making) and "The Rewatchables" (another movie-focused one with a ton of great, lesser-known trivia), and "If Books Could Kill" (mainstream "airport" books and why they're mostly terrible). I'm not into "You Must Remember This" (too slow/broad, and the narration is not for me).

I think the common factor in all of this is closely looking at different areas of pop culture in an almost academic way, so I'm looking for more of that. Podcasts are my first choice but also open to books (Alan Sepinwall's "The Revolution Will be Televised" is one of my favorites) and blogs/discussion forums ("Sopranos Autopsy" was brilliant and one of my all-time favorite things on the internet). Thanks in advance.

posted by lovableiago to Media & Arts (24 answers total)

May by even more nitpicking than you can take, but check out moviesbyminutes.com, a genre of podcast started by Star Wars Minute that analyzes a film one minute per episode. Self promo warning: I do two of these, Ghibli Minute and Akira Minute.

I have really been enjoying Unclear and Present Danger and the political analysis they bring to each film. In my quest to find similar podacts so far I've also found Michael and Us.
posted by dunhamrc at 10:05 PM on January 1

Marooned on Mars is a lengthy read-along discussion of Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars trilogy
posted by billsaysthis at 10:15 PM on January 1

Song Exploder is a really wonderful podcast if you haven’t already heard of it! Along the lines of Switched on Pop, each episode focuses on a single song (usually but not always recent) and features the artist explaining various aspects of the writing, recording, or mixing process, interspersed with isolated tracks and clips from the song to illustrate what the artist is talking about. And then at the end they play the song in its entirety. It’s exceptionally well-edited. The episodes are also a pretty bite-size 20-30min length.
posted by mekily at 10:20 PM on January 1 [2 favorites]

I swear I say this in every podcast thread, but I bet you’d like A History of Rock Music in 500 songs. It is exactly what it says on the tin, but with an expansive definition of “rock,” incredible attention to detail, and great effort made to challenge other histories of the genre that center white men.

I’d suggest starting at the beginning, even if you’re unfamiliar with or not interested in some of the earlier artists, because it really pays to listen to the episodes in order and watch the narrative threads come together.
posted by ActionPopulated at 10:33 PM on January 1 [2 favorites]

Just King Things is a monthly podcast of two academics working through the works of Stephen King in publication order. I've only read some of the books and don't consider myself a huge Stephen King fan necessarily, but I feel like I've learned a lot from the way they approach it.
posted by jameaterblues at 10:35 PM on January 1 [1 favorite]

The Watch and The Prestige TV podcasts are by the same organisation as The Rewatchables and are both of this I'll.
posted by jojobobo at 10:42 PM on January 1

Our Opinions Are Correct by writers Analie Newitz and Charlie Jane Anders looks at Science Fiction in popular culture through all kinds of lenses. They define Science Fiction very broadly and frankly it's more like genre fiction in general. So they'll discuss anything from Twilight, Game of Thrones, to Becky Chambers.

Imaginary Worlds podcast by Erik Malinsky examines all kinds of imaginary worlds from books, movies, and TV shows to role playing games. Big archive of excellent episodes, favourites are the one on Dune and Islam, and the one on EVE online.

A collection of Unmitigated Pedantry is a blog that writes interesting things about genre fiction, like this collection of essays about myths about war using Dune as a lense. He also writes about Game of Thrones and The Lord of the Rings movies. Some of these are available as audio posts from the blog as well.
posted by Zumbador at 12:58 AM on January 2 [1 favorite]

You might like 60 Songs That Explain The 90s. Each episode is an essay that connects the host's memories of the decade, the broader cultural context of the song, genres within popular music, the artist's history, and the production of the song itself.
posted by knile at 6:22 AM on January 2

Material Girls: A scholarly podcast about pop culture hosted by Hannah McGregor and Marcelle Kosman, produced by Witch, Please Productions.
posted by spamandkimchi at 7:08 AM on January 2

The majority of the podcasts I like are about horror, so if you like that genre, read on!

Faculty of Horror, monthly in-depth discussions of (usually) individual movies or series with a feminist and sociological bent
Gaylords of Darkness, sadly defunct but truly insightful, funny, and the sweet spot of being very smart about stupid shit and vice versa. Lots of explorations of queer themes in horror movies and casual revelations of deep knowledge in service of jokes and sidebars, and 200 episodes of backlog to enjoy
Evolution of Horror, follows a theme or genre per season and goes deep into discussions of individual exemplars with a rotating cast of guests
Random Number Generator Horror Podcast No. 9, discussions of quasirandomly-chosen movies between a horror enthusiast and a newcomer to the genre (after years of episodes, the latter is obviously much more informed but the show still has lots of fruitful and fun discussions)
Talking Scared, this one's about books! Discussions with authors of horror about their (usually new or current) works, the conversations are always fun, even if I didn't like the book!
posted by quatsch at 7:14 AM on January 2 [1 favorite]

You Are Good
How Did This Get Made?
posted by ohneat at 7:53 AM on January 2

You Are Good, +1000. Sarah Marshall is a podcasting icon - she gets terrific guest hosts from the genre, too: bouie, weber-smith, blair braverman...and she made her mark with co-host journo and podcaster Michael Hobbes (maintenance phase with Aubrey Gordon, and the aforementioned if books could kill) on you're wrong about.
posted by j_curiouser at 10:01 AM on January 2

On the "almost academic" end of the spectrum, you might enjoy "Critics at Large" (a New Yorker podcast). Sample episode: "The Year of the Doll".
posted by baseballpajamas at 10:03 AM on January 2 [1 favorite]

The Ringer is who produces The Rewatchables. Many of the same people who show up in that feed also produce other Ringer podcasts:

The Watch which is outwardly about TV but also covers books and music to a lesser extent. The hosts are childhood friends and former music critics and one of them turned in their day-to-day journalist card to become a screenwriter/showrunner. His insider comments during the recent strikes was interesting. The episodes vary between general news and episode-by-episode discussions.

Prestige TV Podcast covers well, prestige tv. Recent shows covered include Fargo, The Crown and The Curse. There is usually episode by episode discussions about shows.

The Ringer-Verse is the same as the above but covering superhero and video game content.

The House of R the same but for Game of Thrones and related shows. The regular hosts of these shows are extraordinarily knowledgeable about all the books and shows and can provide very detailed discussions of the shows.
posted by mmascolino at 10:58 AM on January 2 [1 favorite]

You might enjoy Philosophers in Space, which focuses on sci fi and philosophy topics
posted by jeoc at 11:00 AM on January 2

Another vote for Andrew Hickey's A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs... it's not only the best podcast I've ever heard about music (and I listen to a ton of them), it's quite possibly my favorite podcast ever.

I've gone through it chronologically myself (he's currently up to "Hey Jude," which comes in at #171), but if you want to dip in without starting at the very beginning, I think the episodes have intentionally been written to function as stand-alones whenever possible. To get a sense of how skillfully he integrates political, historical, and social context into his analysis, check out the (frankly mind-blowing) episode on The Lion Sleeps Tonight.
posted by paper scissors sock at 12:36 PM on January 2

Dissect is an amazing series that does deep dives into each song of whole albums. Their analysis of Beyonce's visual album Lemonade was phenomenal and brought so much more meaning to watching it. Worth a look to see if they covered any of your favorite albums, or can help introduce you to something new.

And I'll def be following this thread, since I also love thoughtful, almost academic dives into media and pop culture. So thanks for the ask!
posted by Molasses808 at 12:58 PM on January 2

Oh, I just thought of another great music podcast: Wind of Change, an 8-part series by journalist Patrick Radden Keefe dedicated to unraveling the mystery of whether or not the Scorpions' Cold War-era power ballad was actually written by the CIA.
posted by paper scissors sock at 1:41 PM on January 2

I listen to a ton of movie podcasts, with varying levels of deep-dive to friends-talking vibes.

Blank Check: Actor/movie buff Griffin Newman and The Atlantic film critic David Sims (along with a panoply of knowledgable guests from the film and TV world) talk about director filmographies, recently covering the complete works of David Fincher, Park Chan-wook, Hayao Miyazaki, Sam Raimi, Elaine May, and many others. Episodes are very informal, often rambling, but there's always a ton of insight about the movies and the people who make them.

You Must Remember This: Film historian Karina Longworth talks about the forgotten histories of Hollywood's golden age, showing the connections between the comings and goings of classic movie stars, auteurs, and moguls and what was happening in the culture at large. Like Blank Check, it's divided into multiple long and short mini-series focusing on particular eras or subjects, so it's worth scrolling through to find an episode or run that catches your fancy. I strongly suggest the "Charles Manson's Hollywood" miniseries, which details the surprising connections between the Manson cult and the 1960s film and pop music community.

The Flop House: Looks at both recent critical and box-office flops with a precise but generally easygoing critical eye. I prefer them to a certain other "bad-movie" podcasts because the hosts (including two former Daily Show writers) approach their subjects with certain amount of good humor and affection, and also provide suggestions of good/great films that you can watch instead of (or along with!) the turkey they cover in depth.

Kill By Kill: A terrific and often humorous horror podcast where hosts Patrick and Gena talk in-depth about the characters (and how they meet their ends) in horror movies, which gets into analysis of some of the tropes and finer points of the movies covered. They started off doing standard formula slashers of the Jason & Freddy variety, but in recent years have branched out to cover the Scream, Alien, and Evil Dead series, with occasional one-offs and miniseries focusing on individual films, TV series, and even the occasional music video.
posted by Strange Interlude at 2:05 PM on January 2

Another vote for History of Rock Music in 500 Songs. I too would start at the beginning, but if you want to check out one episode I would go with the 90-minute exploration of the Byrds' "Eight Miles High". It's not 90 minutes about the one song. About half an hour covers music theory, with an explanation of how Indian music fundamentally differs from the western canon. And a half hour on John Coltrane. Finally you the listener are prepared for a snippet of the featured song.

I found the four-hour exploration of the Grateful Dead's Dark Star fascinating, and I've never been a Deadhead. Rick Rubin didn't get it, which might be because I was on usenet in the 90s and saw some of he developments Hickey covers in that episode unfold in real time.

Hickey is currently on a covid-caused hiatus, giving you a chance to catch up... maybe 200 hours of main episodes there, + another 100 or so bonus episodes.
posted by morspin at 3:04 PM on January 2

I am a fan of the Strong Songs podcast and linked some of my favorite episodes in my Music: it's good FPP a couple of years ago.

You probably already know about the wealth of commentary tracks available on DVDs, but if not - please go seek some DVDs, if you have a player - your library probably has a bunch. Here's a list of Roger Ebert commentary tracks, and most Criterion Collection discs have extensive and amazing commentary and analysis features. If you DON'T have access to a DVD or Blu-ray drive, you can still see lots of Criterion commentary on their streaming service.
posted by kristi at 5:10 PM on January 2

Not so much academic, but an interesting exploration of popular culture: Running From Cops. About the many problems with the TV shows Cops and Live PD.
posted by catquas at 7:27 PM on January 2

Sentimental Garbage & Vibe Check should both fit the bill.
posted by panther of the pyrenees at 8:04 PM on January 2

This request basically sounds like the raison d'etre of Pretty Much Pop! This is their self-written description: "Pretty Much Pop brings together philosophers, artists, comedians, and other smart folks to talk about media and how we consume it: TV, film, music, novels, games, comics, comedy, theater, podcasts, and more. Most of what (other) people like is pretty weird when you think about it, so thinking about it is what we do."
posted by fire, water, earth, air at 11:29 PM on January 5