Podcast Episodes

Weapons

Episode 1776

 A true dark comedy, Zach Cregger’s Weapons (2025) combines a satire of suburbia, a study of addiction, and the satisfaction of a fairy tale. The fil…

3 weeks, 3 days ago

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Our Common Life: Folksong from the Front Porch to the Concert Hall with Stephen Wade

Episode 1775

Our Common Life: Folk Song from the Front Porch to the Concert Hall (U Illinois Press, 2026) by Stephen Wade is part memoir, part meditation on Ameri…

3 weeks, 4 days ago

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Treasures on Earth: Buried Wealth in Landscape and Legend with Jeremy Harte (Reaktion, 2026)

Episode 1774

Jeremy Harte, President of the Folklore Society, joins Jana Byars to talk about his new book Treasures on Earth: Buried Wealth in Landscape and Legen…

3 weeks, 5 days ago

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The Best 100 TV Shows of the 21st Century

Episode 1773

It’s the Pop Culture Professors, and the New York Times has published its list of the best 100 television shows of the 21st Century. We react to this…

3 weeks, 6 days ago

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Cool Heat: Anita O'Day and Her Dangerous Jazz Life with James Gavin (Equinox, 2026)

Episode 1772

How did Anita O'Day-the legendary jazz singer who, along with Chet Baker, Miles Davis, Gerry Mulligan, and Stan Getz, led the so-called "cool school"…

4 weeks ago

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Power Surge: Conglomerate Hollywood and the Studio System's Last Hurrah with Thomas Schatz (U California Press, 2026)

Episode 1771

Thomas Schatz returns us to an era when a newly enriched movie industry rediscovered its creative energy, and indie went mainstream without losing it…

1 month ago

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Wave Makers and the Rise of #MeToo in Taiwan: Media, Empathy, and Digital Testimony with Xinling Li (Anthem Press, 2026)

Episode 1770

When the Taiwanese political drama Wave Makers appeared in April 2023, few anticipated its impact beyond the screen. Within weeks, survivors in polit…

1 month ago

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Ru Marshall, "American Trickster: The Hidden Lives of Carlos Castaneda" (OR Books, 2026)

Episode 1769

A gripping exposé of deception, cult power, and the long shadow of Carlos Castaneda, the man behind the biggest literary hoax of the twentieth centur…

1 month ago

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Sarah Trad, "A House in the Lebanese Mountains: Recipes & Stories from Beit Trad" (Thames & Hudson, 2026)

Episode 1768

High in the Lebanese mountains above Beirut sits Beit Trad, an eighteenth-century family home that Sarah Trad transformed into a guesthouse devoted t…

1 month, 1 week ago

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Revisiting The Leftovers

Episode 1767

The Pop Culture Professors revisit the pilot of The Leftovers, which ran on HBO from 2014-2017. How does this grief-drenched story about a world in …

1 month, 1 week ago

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