Switched on Pop
A podcast all about the making and meaning of popular music. Musicologist Nate Sloan & songwriter Charlie Harding pull back the curtain on how pop hits work magic on our ears & our culture. From Vulture and the Vox Media Podcast Network.
26
How Missy Elliott and Timbaland Freaked the World
"Get Ur Freak On" pushed pop into the future
34 min
27
Playing "Hide and Seek" with Imogen Heap
How a late night studio improvisation created a surprise hit
30 min
28
The Umbrella Effect: How Rihanna’s Breakout Hit...
Modern Classics: "Umbrella"
32 min
29
Learning to love: Tate McRae
Simple Pop and the pop music B-Team
41 min
30
Does It Trance? The Weeknd & FKA Twigs
Trance music used to dominate the clubs. Can we hear it in 2025?
42 min
31
How Spotify hacked our ears (and our data)
Liz Pelly's Mood Machine says the playlist isn't the product — you are
49 min
32
25 Predictions for 2025: Grammys, J-pop, kazoos...
Playing bingo for the coming year in pop, and predicting Grammy for Album of the Year.
53 min
33
Bad Bunny's love letter to Puerto Rico
Debí Tirar Más Fotos is an intertextual, anti-colonial opus
45 min
34
The biggest theme song fail
From game show sleaze to PBS prestige
37 min
35
Have Disney musicals lost their edge?
What Mufasa and Moana 2 tell us about the future of your favorite animated musical franchises
37 min
36
Going Off Book
Pop Analysis Gone Musical Gone Wild
90 min
37
Auto-Tune always and forever
On The Vergecast: how a simple pitch-correction plugin became a dominant sound in music, and how the next technical revolution might follow its lead.
61 min
38
Santa Claus is coming to town and stalking America
The Christmas song that holds a mirror to American society
31 min
39
Breaking Through: Doechii, Mk.gee, Rosé
The Algorithm is Lying (But These Artists Are Telling the Truth)
38 min
40
The best (and worst) of holiday music in 2024
Doling out sleigh bells and coal to pop stars’ seasonal offerings
35 min
41
Kendrick Lamar: from Pulitzer to pop
On GNX, Kendrick Lamar balances artistic complexity with mainstream accessibility.
36 min
42
We're off to see the "Wicked"
Defying gravity, one riff at a time
36 min
43
Listening 2 Madonna: Ray of Light
The third essential aspect of Madonna's holy trinity is her ever-shifting spirituality.
39 min
44
Listening 2 Madonna: Spanish Eyes
To understand Madonna is to see her music as a cultural melting pot.
40 min
45
Listening 2 Madonna: Who's That Girl?
The way Madonna communicates gender is integral to understanding her and her music.
44 min
46
Fleetwood Mac perfected turning drama into hits
Madison Cunningham and Andrew Bird revive Buckingham Nicks on Cunningham Bird
51 min
47
Still Freaky After All These Years: Gaga, Tyler...
Pop music's freakiest artists have all returned with new music
31 min
48
Did Kendrick Lamar kill hip-hop?
This summer saw the biggest rap beef in decades. But what does that mean for the future of hip-hop?
53 min
49
Where are all the scary songs?
Nate and Charlie take this spooky opportunity to explore the Halloween canon.
27 min
50
The virtuosity of Stevie Wonder
Wesley Morris shows us the Wonder of Stevie
62 min