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Pretty Much Pop: A Culture Podcast

A philosopher, an actor, and a sci-fi writer talk about media and how we consume it.

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NOT PMP#21: Mark’s Thanksgiving Fireside Chat

November 26, 2019 by Mark Leave a Comment

After 20 weeks of regularly scheduled, reliable programming, we are taking a week off to eat some mashed potatoes and things. We will not be taken for granted! What can you do during this absence? Go check out Wes Alwan's talk at the Boston Graduate School of Analysis on The Joker, featuring Dr. William Sharp. I believe this is being converted to podcast-friendly audio … [Read more...] about NOT PMP#21: Mark’s Thanksgiving Fireside Chat

PMP#21: Role-Playing Video Games

December 3, 2019 by Mark 1 Comment

What constitutes a video RPG? Is there any actual role-playing involved?  Our editor Tyler Hislop rejoins Mark, Erica, and Brian to discuss those video games that are supposed to make you feel like you're contributing to the story, that your choices matter, in which you can maybe, you know, choose to wear a funny hat or just craft potions all day instead of advancing … [Read more...] about PMP#21: Role-Playing Video Games

PMP#22: Untangling Time Travel

December 10, 2019 by Mark 5 Comments

Time-travel rules in The Terminator franchise are notoriously inconsistent. Is it possible for someone from the future to travel backwards to change events, given the paradox that with a changed future, the traveler wouldn't then have had the problem to try to come back and fix? Neither the closed-loop series of events in the first film nor the changed (postponed) future in the … [Read more...] about PMP#22: Untangling Time Travel

PMP#23: The Singer Not the Song w/ Ken Stringfellow

December 17, 2019 by Mark 2 Comments

What's your relationship to music? Do you just embrace the pure sound, or do you care about who made that sound? One way of seeing where you fall on this issue is whether you care more for singles or to whole albums or careers by artists. Ken Stringfellow, who co-fronts The Posies and was a member of R.E.M. and Big Star, joins Mark, Erica, and Brian to talk about what … [Read more...] about PMP#23: The Singer Not the Song w/ Ken Stringfellow

PMP#24: Christmas Viewing: What’s Canon?

December 21, 2019 by Mark 3 Comments

Join Mark, Erica, and Brian for a special "snake draft," where we take turns picking the holiday films and TV specials that we think are (or should be) part of America's yearly viewing traditions. Were I to list all the shows and films we mention, that would give away our picks now, wouldn't it? Compare your intuitions about what is classic or seminal or over-rated with … [Read more...] about PMP#24: Christmas Viewing: What’s Canon?

PMP#25: Sports as Pop w/ Sportscaster Dave Revsine

January 2, 2020 by Mark 3 Comments

How is spectator sports different from other types of entertainment? Dave Revsine (lead studio host for the Big Ten Network and former ESPN anchor) joins Mark, Erica, and Brian to discuss the various sources of appeal, team identification, existing in a sports-filled world as a non-fan, watching vs. playing, human interest stories, sports films, and more. Some of the … [Read more...] about PMP#25: Sports as Pop w/ Sportscaster Dave Revsine

PMP#26: We Watch “Watchmen” w/ David Pizarro

January 8, 2020 by Mark 3 Comments

Perhaps the most lauded graphic novel has been sequelized for HBO, and amazingly, it turned out pretty darn well (with a 96% Rotten Tomatoes rating!).  Mark, Erica, and Brian are joined by the Cornell psych prof who hosts the Very Bad Wizards podcast. We consider Alan Moore's 1986 graphic novel, the 2009 Zack Snyder film, and of course mostly the recently completed (we … [Read more...] about PMP#26: We Watch “Watchmen” w/ David Pizarro

PMP#27: For the Love of Star Wars

January 15, 2020 by Mark Leave a Comment

Mark, Erica, and Brian grasp the low-hanging fruit in pop culture to talk about Star Wars: The unique place that these films have in the brains of people of a certain age, how we grappled with the prequels, and why we feel the need to fill in and argue about the details.  We primarily focus on the two most recent emanations of this beast, The Mandalorian and Rise of … [Read more...] about PMP#27: For the Love of Star Wars

PMP#28: The Alpha Female Trope w/ Margaret Colin

January 22, 2020 by Mark Leave a Comment

What's the deal with images of powerful women in media? The trope of the tough-as-nails boss-lady who may or may not have a heart of gold has evolved a lot over the years, but it's difficult to portray such a character unobjectionably, probably due to those all-too-familiar double standards about wanting women in authority (or, say, running for office) to be assertive but not … [Read more...] about PMP#28: The Alpha Female Trope w/ Margaret Colin

PMP#29: Martin Scorsese the Auteur w/ Colin Marshall

January 29, 2020 by Mark 4 Comments

We consider the highly lauded 2019 film The Irishman in the context of Scorsese's body of work and the styles and themes that his films tend to exhibit. Writer/podcaster Colin Marshall joins Mark, Erica, and Brian to talk about what we do and don't connect with in Scorsese's work and how these films qualify as "art films" despite their watchability, not to mention the big … [Read more...] about PMP#29: Martin Scorsese the Auteur w/ Colin Marshall

PMP#30: Why Every Film Will Win the Oscar! (A Debate)

February 5, 2020 by Mark Leave a Comment

The 2020 Oscars are almost up on us! (OK, realistically, most of you will find this episode well after they've already passed, but seriously, that's fine.) Your intrepid non-film-critic hosts have each been randomly assigned three of the best picture nominees to argue for either for why it should with the Oscar, or if we really don't like it, why we think it will win anyway. … [Read more...] about PMP#30: Why Every Film Will Win the Oscar! (A Debate)

PMP#31: Robin Williams’ Celebrity Struggles w/ Dave Itzkoff

February 12, 2020 by Mark Leave a Comment

Dave the New York Times culture reporter joins Mark, Erica, and Brian to consider issues raised by his 2018 biography Robin: What is with our f'ed up relation to celebrity, and what are strategies that celebrities use to deal with that asymmetric relationship to the world? While Robin Williams tried, in gratitude, to share himself with random fans, and was very anxious about … [Read more...] about PMP#31: Robin Williams’ Celebrity Struggles w/ Dave Itzkoff

PMP#32: Judging “The Good Place”

February 19, 2020 by Mark 2 Comments

Mark, Erica, and Brian discuss Michael Schur's NBC TV show. Is it good? (Yes, or we wouldn't be covering it?) Is it actually a sit-com? Does it effectively teach philosophy? What did having actual philosophers on the staff (after season one) contribute, and was that enough? We talk TV finales, the dramatic impact of the show's convoluted structure, the puzzle of heaven being … [Read more...] about PMP#32: Judging “The Good Place”

PMP#33: The Heroine’s Journey w/ Vi Burlew

February 27, 2020 by Mark 4 Comments

Pretty Much Pop taps in to what today's youth are talking about... or at least what they're writing their term papers on. Our guest Vi Burlew has arisen, a shining figure clad in mail, carrying aloft a shimmering broadsword (...and presumably a trapper keeper; the kids today still use those, right? Damn, we are old.) to bring your hosts Mark, Erica, and Brian this topic about … [Read more...] about PMP#33: The Heroine’s Journey w/ Vi Burlew

PMP#34: Escape Rooms and Other Puzzlers w/ Adal Rifai

March 4, 2020 by Mark 3 Comments

The comic and the tragic are well-established modes within entertainment, but what about the puzzling? Riddles may have been a chief pastime in days of yore (well, they're featured in Oedipus and The Hobbit, anyway), but does this way of being entertained have a place in today's age of mass media? Improviser and podcaster Adal Rifai joins Mark, Erica, and Brian to discuss … [Read more...] about PMP#34: Escape Rooms and Other Puzzlers w/ Adal Rifai

Bonus-PMP#34 Part 2 w/ Adal Rifai: Escape Rooms & Podcasting

March 10, 2020 by Mark 1 Comment

For nearly every episode, Mark, Erica, and Brian continue to talk after the public discussion for the entertainment of our supporters. In this case, following our "escape rooms and other puzzlers" encounter, our guest Adal Rifai also stuck around, and the result was too fun not to share with you. After a little more talk of escape rooms (can they puzzle all five senses?), we … [Read more...] about Bonus-PMP#34 Part 2 w/ Adal Rifai: Escape Rooms & Podcasting

PMP#35: Video Game Storytelling w/ Donald Marshall

March 17, 2020 by Mark 2 Comments

Do you play video games for the plot? Given that most people don't actually finish most games, it would be unexpected if storytelling were the most important element. Mark, Erica, and Brian are joined by former video game professional (current TV development exec) Donald E. Marshall to talk through types of plots (linear, "string-of-pearls," and branching), ways of weaving … [Read more...] about PMP#35: Video Game Storytelling w/ Donald Marshall

PMP#36: Criticism w/ Noah Berlatsky

March 25, 2020 by Mark 6 Comments

Do we need professional critics regulating our entertainment intake? Noah has written for numerous publications including The Washington Post, The Atlantic, NBC News, The Guardian, Slate, and Vox, and his work has come up for us in multiple past episodes. He was invited to join Mark, Erica, and Brian in spelling out the functions of criticism, the idea of criticism as art, and … [Read more...] about PMP#36: Criticism w/ Noah Berlatsky

PMP#37: Everything is LEGO

April 1, 2020 by Mark 2 Comments

Why has a children's toy become a brand attached to virtually every media type, partnering with the most ubiquitous franchises, and serving as a pastime for many adult hobbyists who will gut you if you call LEGO a "children's toy." Brian Hirt (our resident AFOL, i.e. adult fan of LEGO) talks with co-hosts Erica Spyres and Mark Linsenmayer about creative play vs. following … [Read more...] about PMP#37: Everything is LEGO

PMP#38: Costuming w/ Whitney Anne Adams

April 8, 2020 by Mark 7 Comments

How does clothing mesh with set design, cinematography, sound design, etc. to create the mood in a film? Whitney designed for and dressed leads and crowds on The Great Gatsby, the Happy Death Day films and several indie flicks. She joins Erica, Mark and Brian to discuss how clothes on screen relate to clothes in life, designing vs. curating, historic vs. modern vs. genre, when … [Read more...] about PMP#38: Costuming w/ Whitney Anne Adams

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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.

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