Music Popcast

The Popcast opens its mailbag in the first of two episodes devoted to our listeners. Guests: The New York Times's Joe Coscarelli and Caryn Ganz.

A conversation about how its meaning has evolved over the last two decades. Guests: The New York Times's Elena Bergeron and The Undefeated's Soraya Nadia McDonald.

Did the deserving artists win? Was Aerosmith terrible? The debates rage on our post-awards show. Guests: Joe Coscarelli, Caryn Ganz, Wesley Morris and Jon Pareles.

Songs that work in 15-second bursts are different from tracks that succeed on the FM dial. Guests: The writer Aimee Cliff and GodMode's Nick Sylvester.

A conversation about the best jazz albums of the year, and what they tell us about the genre’s future. Guests: Martin Johnson and Giovanni Russonello.

A revealing (and hilarious) look back at our year-end lists from the past decade. Guests: The New York Times's Jon Pareles and Joe Coscarelli.

How do you measure a year in pop? Guests: The New York Times's Jon Pareles, Joe Coscarelli and Caryn Ganz.

Success is coming faster than ever for a new generation of musicians. But at what price? Guests: David Turner; the directors Ramez Silyan and Sebastian Jones.

A memoir and a deluxe edition of “1999” offer a new perspective on the meticulous artist. Guests: Jon Pareles, Naima Cochrane, Keith Murphy and Jay Smooth.

Lizzo, Billie Eilish and Lil Nas X lead the way. But has the Recording Academy’s relationship to pop changed? Guests: The full New York Times pop music team.

Are artists responsible when their fan armies can be weaponized? Guests: Joe Coscarelli and Lindsay Zoladz.

Netflix’s “Rhythm + Flow” is the most recent example of the reality-TV business trying to get into the hip-hop business. Guests: Complex's Frazier Tharpe and Stereogum's Tom Breihan.

Gospel music insiders on the rapper’s turn to religious music and how his album relates to contemporary holy hip-hop. Guests: Root's Hasan James and The Journal of Gospel Music's Robert Marovich.

The year’s most consistent new hip-hop star combines intense rhymes with online savvy. Guest: Joe Coscarelli.

Nashville has long marginalized female performers, songwriters and producers. But a wave of artists is fighting back. Guests: Jada Watson and Natalie Weiner.

One of the year’s most unlikely breakthroughs is a duo that makes disorienting, genre-jumbling music. Guests: Eli Enis and The Fader's Larry Fitzmaurice.

Collaborations have flourished in the wake of “Despacito,” some sounding natural, some sounding forced. Guest: Remezcla's Eduardo Cepeda.

A conversation about his rapid rise and the questions — about genre and race — glossed over along the way. Guests: Pitchfork's Jayson Greene and The New York Times Magazine's Jonah Weiner.

One of the decade’s most copied rappers finally reached No. 1 on the album chart, years after his aesthetic rubbed off on hip-hop. Guest: Andrew Nosnitsky.

What was once a large canvas for grand statements is now a tiny digital mark. Guest: Chips's Teddy Blanks.

Breaking down the sounds, the themes, the obscure (and not-so-hidden) messages and more on her seventh album. Guests: Joe Coscarelli, Caryn Ganz and Jon Pareles.

Conversations about his songwriting, his struggles and his striking sweetness outside of music. Guests: Jeff Johnson; The New Yorker's Amanda Petrusich; and Nick Wiedenfeld.

The Hot 97 D.J. and the hip-hop disrupter shared the wildest interview of the year. Guests: Rolling Stone's Charles Holmes and Pitchfork's Alphonse Pierre.

There’s more data about music consumption than ever before. That doesn’t mean we understand who’s the most popular. Guests: The New York Times's Joe Coscarelli and Ben Sisario.

A look back at the Brazilian musician’s innovations as one of the genre’s primary architects. Guest: Ben Ratliff