Music Popcast

For today’s biggest artists, an album release isn’t just about the music. Guest: Ben Sisario.

Remembering Joe Diffie, Mona Foot and DJ Black N Mild. Guests: Hits' Holly Gleason; Jacob Bernstein; and Elena Bergeron.

How would Nashville be different if it hadn’t pushed the trio away? A conversation about “Gaslighter” and beyond. Guests: Jewly Hight and Salon's Carl Wilson.

Readers asked about Bon Iver, country music, Jack Antonoff and more. Guests: Northwestern University's Lauren Michele Jackson and Lindsay Zoladz.

On an album made entirely in quarantine, the singer and songwriter embarks in a fresh direction. Guests: Jon Pareles, Caryn Ganz and Joe Coscarelli.

His music was dynamic, bold and idiosyncratic, setting a high bar for composers connecting sound and vision. Guests: Jon Pareles and Joshua Rothkopf.

Killer Mike and El-P’s anti-government and pro-justice hip-hop feels like it anticipated the current moment. Guest: Pitchfork's Sheldon Pearce.

A subset of passionate listeners are asking for more of their heroes than simply music. Guest: Denisha Kuhlor.

His protest song “The Bigger Picture” marks a high point in his evolution from reluctant up-and-comer to one of hip-hop’s reliable superstars. Guest: Joe Coscarelli.

As the music industry reckons with racial inequality, one of the first old structures to fall has been a term that dates back to the 1970s. Guest: Nelson George.

Two former editors look back at the magazine’s on-the-ground reporting following the Rodney King verdict. Guests: James Bernard and Reginald Dennis.

Lana Del Rey, Doja Cat and how some in the limelight bristle at social media condemnation. Guest: The Ringer's Justin Charity.

The pop star took an extremely nonlinear path to No. 1, and continues to push the boundaries of online behavior. Guest: Lakin Starling.

Thousands of miles apart, and with radically different tools, both musicians were innovating. Guests: The New York Times's Jon Pareles; and Joseph Patel.

A conversation about everything “Fetch the Bolt Cutters” and beyond. Guests: Jenn Pelly and Lindsay Zoladz.

Children’s films lean heavily on pop, but the elementary school set has access to a whole universe of music now. Guests: The New York Times's Gilbert Cruz, Jeremy Egner, Dave Itzkoff and Dave Renard.

The English pop star has given fans an upbeat album at a very dark time. Guest: Caryn Ganz.

Both artists pulled Nashville in fresh directions, and gave the genre growing pains. Guests: Bill Friskics-Warren and Natalie Weiner.

The coronavirus pandemic has upended the world, and the arts are reeling. Pop music critics are asking (and facing) hard questions. Guests: The Ringer's Rob Harvilla, New York's Craig Jenkins and Lindsay Zoladz.

Pop critics from around the country recommend pick-me-ups: Pharrell, the Pointer Sisters, Helado Negro and more.

The ways the pandemic has already reshaped the year, and what might happen in pop next. Guests: The New York Times's Ben Sisario and Jon Pareles.

How has Kevin Parker built and sustained his successful psych-rock project — and where will he head next? Guests: The New York Times's Jon Pareles and Pitchfork's Jillian Mapes.

The 20-year-old rapper was poised to carry the scene’s sound to the world. Guest: Pitchfork's Alphonse Pierre.

One of pop’s biggest stars returns with an album that has unexpected kinship with new music from Harry Styles and Selena Gomez. Guest: Lindsay Zoladz.

The Popcast opens its mailbag in the second of two episodes devoted to our listeners. Guests: The New York Times’s Joe Coscarelli, Caryn Ganz and Jon Pareles.