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
Put your headphones on for TikTok's Addison Rae
How does one translate TikTok celebrity into pop success?
53 min
27
Generation Taylor: Gracie, Maisie, Phoebe (with...
63 min
28
Music's New Success Model
45 min
29
Miley Cyrus goes avant-garde
36 min
30
Chappell Roan is giving country... and hair metal?
29 min
31
Writing The Who’s ‘My Generation' With Pete Tow...
49 min
32
Lady Gaga's Monster Return
Gaga's newest album, MAYHEM, is a self-referential return to Gaga's musical roots
51 min
33
How Missy Elliott and Timbaland Freaked the World
"Get Ur Freak On" pushed pop into the future
34 min
34
Playing "Hide and Seek" with Imogen Heap
How a late night studio improvisation created a surprise hit
30 min
35
The Umbrella Effect: How Rihanna’s Breakout Hit...
Modern Classics: "Umbrella"
32 min
36
Learning to love: Tate McRae
Simple Pop and the pop music B-Team
41 min
37
Does It Trance? The Weeknd & FKA Twigs
Trance music used to dominate the clubs. Can we hear it in 2025?
42 min
38
How Spotify hacked our ears (and our data)
Liz Pelly's Mood Machine says the playlist isn't the product — you are
49 min
39
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
40
Bad Bunny's love letter to Puerto Rico
Debí Tirar Más Fotos is an intertextual, anti-colonial opus
45 min
41
The biggest theme song fail
From game show sleaze to PBS prestige
37 min
42
Have Disney musicals lost their edge?
What Mufasa and Moana 2 tell us about the future of your favorite animated musical franchises
37 min
43
Going Off Book
Pop Analysis Gone Musical Gone Wild
90 min
44
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
45
Santa Claus is coming to town and stalking America
The Christmas song that holds a mirror to American society
31 min
46
Breaking Through: Doechii, Mk.gee, Rosé
The Algorithm is Lying (But These Artists Are Telling the Truth)
38 min
47
The best (and worst) of holiday music in 2024
Doling out sleigh bells and coal to pop stars’ seasonal offerings
35 min
48
Kendrick Lamar: from Pulitzer to pop
On GNX, Kendrick Lamar balances artistic complexity with mainstream accessibility.
36 min
49
We're off to see the "Wicked"
Defying gravity, one riff at a time
36 min
50
Listening 2 Madonna: Ray of Light
The third essential aspect of Madonna's holy trinity is her ever-shifting spirituality.
39 min