Popcast
The Popcast is hosted by Jon Caramanica, a pop music critic for The New York Times. It covers the latest in popular music criticism, trends and news.
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Where Is Jazz Most at Home?
The genre has long been filled with tension between mainstream outlets and the spaces in which the music is most likely to grow. Guests: Giovanni Russonello and WBGO's Nate Chinen.
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Drake Hits the Nightclub
How did the rapper arrive on the dance floor? And what subcultures and expectations might he experiment with next? Guests: Joe Coscarelli and The Baltimore Banner's Lawrence Burney.
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Digging Into Bob Dylan and Lou Reed’s Archives
Attempting to uncover unknown things about very well known people. Guest: Ben Sisario.
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Mailbag Madness: Adele, Jack Harlow, the State of Rock’s Return
The team answers your questions about Chance the Rapper, how the critics consider extramusical concerns and more. Guests: Joe Coscarelli, Caryn Ganz and Jon Pareles.
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Can Harry Styles’s Music Catch Up to His Fame?
How his time in One Direction and a powerful online fan base have shaped the pop star’s career. Guests: The Atlantic's Kaitlyn Tiffany, and Lindsay Zoladz.
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Kendrick Lamar’s Anxiety Era
During his five-year pause between albums, the rapper has been reckoning — with his own evolution, and the narrative that’s been constructed for him. Guests: Rolling Stone's Jeff Ihaza; New York magazine and Vulture's Craig Jenkins; and The Nation's Stephen Kearse.
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How Gossip Is Remaking Online Hip-Hop Media
Actual music can seem like an afterthought as digital coverage of the genre has tilted toward tabloidism. Are there other paths forward? Guests: HipHopDX's Jerry Barrow; Complex's Andre Gee; and Genius's Rob Markman.
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Why We Collect
A conversation about the urge to accumulate treasured items and the stories objects can hold. Guest: The New Yorker's Hua Hsu.
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A Decade of Drill Rap
Pop Smoke, Lil Durk, Fivio Foreign and more have taken the sound that emerged in Chicago in different directions. What might come next? Guests: Joe Coscarelli and David Drake.
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Machine Gun Kelly’s Pop-Punk Pivot
After decreasing returns in the hip-hop world, the musician and actor stepped into a revival that had roots in SoundCloud rap, and a champion in Travis Barker. Guests: Meaghan Garvey and Arielle Gordon.
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Will Smith, Before the Slap
Plenty has been said about Oscars night. But what about the rapper-turned-actor’s remarkable journey up to that point? Guest: Andscape's Soraya Nadia McDonald.
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The 2022 Grammys: Let’s Discuss
What are the awards at this point, and who benefits from them? Guests: Jon Pareles, Wesley Morris and Lindsay Zoladz.
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Charli XCX’s Ever-Evolving Pop
The singer and songwriter’s career has inspired dance parties as well as spirited conversations about her ambitions and aesthetic innovations. Guests: Hazel Cills and Shaad D’Souza.
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The Many Worlds of Rosalía
The Spanish phenom’s music takes in a host of global influences, making her one of the most sonically ambitious and critically dissected pop artists today. Guest: Joe Coscarelli.
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The Sounds of Ukrainian Pop
A conversation about some of the country’s stars, the musical traditions they work within and how they have grappled with the war. Guest: Vogue's Liana Satenstein.
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Reggaeton’s Global Expansion and Wide-Open Future
As the genre grows in worldwide popularity, it is engaging with the pop music mainstream and stratifying into subsets, introducing new opportunities and dilemmas. Guests: Isabelia Herrera and Katelina Eccleston.
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The Enigma of Big Thief
A conversation about the space the breakout Brooklyn band occupies in contemporary indie-rock circles, and its latest album. Guests: Rolling Stone's Jon Dolan and Pitchfork's Sam Sodomsky.
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Remembering Betty Davis, a Futuristic Funk Force
A conversation about her unique music, her short career and the path that led to her rediscovery. Guests: Jon Pareles, Maureen Mahon and Oliver Wang.
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Mitski, In and Out of the Spotlight
The indie-rock musician’s albums inspire deep feelings and attract ever-bigger audiences, but in many ways she remains a mystery. Guests: New York's E. Alex Jung and Pitchfork's Cat Zhang.
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Spotify’s Ongoing Joe Rogan Problem
The controversy over the star podcaster and misinformation raised thorny questions about the streaming service’s role as a platform, and exacerbated its conflicts with musicians. Guests: Ben Sisario and New York's Nick Quah.
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Remembering Greg Tate, Critic and Catalyst
Conversations with two of his contemporaries about the fertile scenes he covered, and the indelible impression he left. Guests: Michael A. Gonzales and Joan Morgan.
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A Killing Jolts Sweden’s Rap Scene
A conversation about hip-hop’s evolution in the country, and how a high-profile shooting thrust the music into the spotlight. Guests: Joe Coscarelli, Petter Hallen and Alex Marshall.
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What’s Left for the Weeknd to Conquer?
“Dawn FM” suggests at least one future direction for the pop powerhouse, who’s spent a decade making careful moves. Guest: The Ringer's Rob Harvilla.
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2021 in Jazz: Intimacy and Conversation
Throughout the pandemic, the music’s flexibility has become an asset. Where will artists take it next? Guests: Giovanni Russonello and Marcus J. Moore.
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Bonus Episode: Lana Del Rey’s American Fever Dreams
As a New Year's treat, we've recovered an old episode sidelined by technical issues (thank you, Pedro!): a discussion of Lana Del Rey’s “Chemtrails Over the Country Club” and the long arc of her career. Guests: Mina Tavakoli and Lindsay Zoladz.
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What We Forgot to Talk About in 2021
A catch-up round table on a host of topics: Maneskin, Jazmine Sullivan, Kelly Clarkson, a Real Housewife’s music career and much more. Guests: Joe Coscarelli and Caryn Ganz.
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TikTok’s Music Critics Reflect on 2021
Four of the app’s voices on pop name their favorite releases of the year and discuss developing taste in the age of the algorithm. Guests: Margeaux Labat, Eric Morris, Cam Sullivan-Brown and Hunter White.
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The Best Albums of 2021? Let’s Discuss.
Our critics spar over their year-end lists (and agree on Olivia Rodrigo and Tyler, the Creator) in a wrap-up of the year in LPs. Guests: Jon Pareles and Lindsay Zoladz.
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Remembering Stephen Sondheim, Musical Theater Visionary
A conversation about his legacy, his engagements with pop music and whether he has any true inheritors. Guests: Jesse Green and Elisabeth Vincentelli.
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Adele Returns, From Beyond Space and Time
Will we ever see a star who unites audiences like this British musician again? Guests: Jon Pareles and Pitchfork's Jillian Mapes.
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The Emotional and Financial Business of Taylor Swift’s ‘All Too Well’
What does the rerecorded song from “Red” say about how power and the past have shaped her career? Guests: Joe Coscarelli, Caryn Ganz and Lindsay Zoladz.
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Remembering the Velvet Underground Through the Mirror of Film
A conversation about how the band was experienced in its time, and how Todd Haynes’s new documentary explores the world that birthed it. Guests: Jon Pareles and A.O. Scott.
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How the Mosh Pit and ‘Raging’ Came to Hip-Hop
The tragedy at Travis Scott’s Astroworld turned attention to how rap festival performances are increasingly oriented toward the rowdy. Guest: Masked Gorilla and Masked Records' Roger Gengo.
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Popcast Mailbag! Halsey, Nicki, TikTok and, of Course, Taylor
Answering your questions about pop’s big names, the state of the music video and more. Guests: Joe Coscarelli and Caryn Ganz.
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glaive and Hyperpop’s Breakthrough Moment
A conversation about one teen’s rapid ascent, and what the future might hold for a singer and sound evolving in real time. Guest: The Fader's Alex Robert Ross.
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The Music Lost to Coronavirus, Part 3
Remembering Jacob Desvarieux, John Davis and Chucky Thompson. Guests: The New Yorker's Doreen St. Felix; Billboard's Gil Kaufman; Jeff Mao.
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The Reporters Who Covered R. Kelly on His Trial and Conviction
A conversation about the testimony, the meaning of the verdict and the long quest for proper recompense for the singer’s victims. Guests: Troy Closson and Jim DeRogatis.
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Bringing Aaliyah Into the Streaming Era
A conversation about the tug of war over her musical legacy, and how her songs — even without a digital presence — impacted the evolution of contemporary R&B. Guests: Naima Cochrane; Billboard's Gail Mitchell and Dan Rys.
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Kacey Musgraves, Country Music Chameleon
The singer and songwriter’s “Star-Crossed” documents the end of her marriage. But reports of her divorce from Nashville have been greatly exaggerated. Guests: Amanda Hess and The Guardian's Laura Snapes.
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Is Drake Tired of Drake?
“Certified Lover Boy” dominated the charts, but something seems to have shifted in the most influential pop star of the past decade. Guests: The Ringer's Charles Holmes and Rolling Stone's Jeff Ihaza.
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Miss the Old Kanye? Try the New Kanye.
West has always been dreaming big, speaking loudly, courting controversy and channeling all of that into music. But one thing has changed. Guests: Vibe's Datwon Thomas and The Ringer's Justin Charity.
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Lorde Steals Her Sunshine Back
How successful is a sunny new phase of her career, and what does it mean to choose to move away from the expectations of superstardom? Guests: Joe Coscarelli and Lindsay Zoladz.
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The Style of Kanye West’s ‘Donda’ Era
How West has used fashion to signify musical evolution, how he’s been regarded by the fashion industry and how other musicians are following in his footsteps. Guests: GQ's Rachel Tashjian and Vogue's Steff Yotka.
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The Lox, Triumphant at Verzuz
A conversation about New York hip-hop in the 1990s and early 2000s, and a night that brought the spirit of battle back to the pandemic-era staple. Guests: Jayson Rodriguez and Jayson Buford.
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Billie Eilish’s New Pop Perspective
How has the teenage phenomenon’s songwriting, and her relationship to the larger music machine, evolved between albums? Guests: Joe Coscarelli and Lindsay Zoladz.
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Lil Nas X in the Pop Stratosphere
A conversation about his unconventional path to success, his unconventional methods of maintaining it and his possible futures beyond it. Guest: Jazmine Hughes.
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When Pop Music Trolls Grow Up
New albums from Doja Cat and Tyler, the Creator place their makers — children of the internet with a taste for friction — in a new light. Guest: The Ringer's Justin Charity.
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The (Not So?) Tentative Return of Live Music
A look at the challenges touring musicians faced over the last year, and how the industry is adjusting to the new normal. Guest: Ben Sisario.
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Britney Spears Takes On Her Conservatorship
An exploration of how the arrangement has intersected with her work, the latest legal updates and what might come next. Guests: Joe Coscarelli, Liz Day and Samantha Stark.
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In the Weeds of ‘In the Heights’
A conversation about bringing musicals to the big screen, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s artistic choices and the critical blowback to the film’s casting. Guests: Sandra Garcia, Isabelia Herrera and Lena Wilson.
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