Pop Culture Boner

We're back for 2022! Season 3 of Pop Culture Boner: The Podcast Edition starts on the 30th of March , with new episodes every 2 weeks. Hope you enjoy the fresh, fortnightly format. Make sure you’re subscribed on your favourite platform so you don’t miss out. You can also follow us on Instagram , Twitter and YouTube , if you’re into that.  Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcr...

We said we’d take a break, but we do work hard for the money here at Pop Culture Boner , so actually we’ve done a very special little Christmas bonus episode. People love to re-visit Love Actually as a Christmas classic but in reality it’s such a deeply weird film. Why’s it a little bit about 9/11?  Thanks again to The Jimmy C for providing the music for the Christmas theme song. You should add hi...

In our final episode for this season of Pop Culture Boner we're looking at the wonderful world of Spotify Wrapped. How did it come about, and how has the mysterious algorithmic work of the Spotify platform influenced how we listen to music? Is it the devil, or just a nice way to share with your friends? Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com Visit t...

This week on Pop Culture Boner we’re taking a look at the enduring popularity of police procedurals and their recent reckoning with systemic racism and violence. Can the genre overcome its copaganda origins to become more thoughtful, or should we just give it a rest? You can donate to Sisters Inside here . Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com Visit the...

This week on Pop Culture Boner we’re taking a deep dive into our long-held belief that the release of the Harry Potter movies signalled the downfall of contemporary cinema. The split in the final instalment of the series set a precedent that would tank many movies to come. Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com Visit the website for episode notes and a f...

This week on Pop Culture Boner we’re taking a look at the career of Ryan Reynolds, and the infinite loops it keeps doing. Is everything just Deadpool ? Or does it go back even further than that. We watched just oh-so-many Ryan Reynolds movies to find out. Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: ww...

This week on Pop Culture Boner we’re looking at the the global phenomenon that is Squid Game. We’re examining the comparisons between Battle Royale and The Hunger Games , and what it is about murder for fun and recreation that makes it such an enduring sub-genre. Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com Visit the website for episode notes and a full transc...

This week on Pop Culture Boner , we’re taking a look at the recently released Cinderella , the weird girl boss feminism it’s trying to shoehorn into its plot, and whether or not they should have cast Camila Cabello next to people who can actually sing. It’s a ride. Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com Visit the website for episode notes and a full tran...

This week on Pop Culture Boner we’re taking a look at the 1999 teen classic She’s All That , and it’s unfortunate 2021 remake, He’s All That . We take a deep dive on the motivation behind remaking nostalgic classics, gender swapped roles, performances for Tik Tok and whether or not there’s actually any way to make one of these remakes good. Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript...

This week on Pop Culture Boner , we’re checking in on the outrage mill because Lil Nas X has released a new album and I’m certain someone somewhere is mad about it. We’re wading through the depths online yelling to take a look at identity, genre and the lost art of music videos. What does Lil Nas X want, exactly? (Someone to love him.) Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www...

This week on Pop Culture Boner , we’re bravely going where frankly too many people have gone before, to look at the recent tabloid fodder of John Mulaney’s divorce. We’re tackling only the biggest and most unanswerable questions, like ‘why doe we all love celebrity divorce?’; ‘how is the nature of fame and celebrity changing?’; and of course, the old classic ‘can you separate the art from the arti...

This week’s episode of Pop Culture Boner features a very special guest - Ngozi Ukazu is the New York Times best-selling author of Check, Please! , a web comic about ice hockey, college and baking. We talk creating your own fandom, the rules of the sandbox and the sweet spot where maximum joy is produced. We also bring up the Onceler incident. Sorry in advance. You can read all of Check, Please! fo...

We’ve been avoiding writing about a certain pandemic situation here at Pop Culture Boner to give ourselves a little break. But it turns out, the pandemic just keeps going and going. So we’re looking at Doomsday Preppers and Bo Burnham’s Inside . Two seemingly disparate things that are kind of both about the end of the world.  If you would like to join us in supporting the Australian Unemployed Wor...

This week on Pop Culture Boner we’re looking at the Fast and Furious saga, something we talk about literally constantly but have never dedicated a full episode to. What could we be covering? Homoeroticism? Big sexy punching men? Cars? Nope! We’re talking about Han Lue AKA Han Seoul-Oh AKA the best bit of that franchise, baby! Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultur...

On this week’s Pop Culture Boner takes a look at Nicolas Cage’s performance in the 1997 classic Con Air ? Why does John Cusack put all the baddies on one plane? Why is John Malkovich there? Can you redeem yourself by deciding to not murder a small girl in the desert? So many questions. So few answers. Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com To donate to B...

We’re blessed to have our favourite guest back this week. Jamie Preisz is joining us to plumb the depths of our teenage shame, by asking why we still have a deep abiding love for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and are maybe a little bit horny for Anthony Kiedis. We said we didn’t have guilty pleasures. We lied, OK? We’re liars. But you love us anyway.  Visit the website for episode notes and a full tr...

This week on Pop Culture Boner we’re discussing the 16-season run of History Channel-stalwart Ancient Aliens , which follows the ancient astronaut theory. We’re taking a look at archaeology, pseudo-archaeology and whether or not aliens built the pyramids (they did not). Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com Visit the website for episode notes and a full...

This week on Pop Culture Boner we’re taking a look at our big teenage feelings though the lens of emo music. What did all those sensitive boys in eyeliner really have to say about the world? Was it revolutionary or just more misogyny? Were they really smooching? Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcr...

This week on Pop Culture Boner , we’re taking a deep dive on zombies. We trace their origin from Haiti to Hollywood and take a look a why we have so many different types. How did we go from shuffling corpse to rage fuelled meatsack to organised corpse syndicate? Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcr...

Here on Pop Culture Boner , we love a good conspiracy theory. Which is why this week we’ve decided to delve into the wonderful world of Industry Plants - what are they? Why are people mad about them? Who are the Tramp Stamps and why is the internet bullying them so much? It’s a jam-packed episode this week. Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com Visit th...

Normally for a 13th episode, we’d look at something spooky - like a horror movie franchise or something. But someone wrote something mean about the 1991 cult classic Point Break , and so naturally we altered all our plans. This week we’re looking at the greatest love story every told, and asking “Will our hair ever be as good as Patrick Swayze’s?” Visit the website for episode notes and a full tra...

This week’s Pop Culture Boner is getting all theoretical, as we tackle the concept of guilty pleasures themselves, with friend of the pod, Dr. Grace Sharkey. What makes us feel guilty about liking stuff? What does someone who loves all things Bad feel guilty about enjoying.  Grace has got a literal PhD in thinking about this sort of stuff. Needless to say, everything goes off the rails pretty quic...

We’re getting spicy on Pop Culture Boner this week as we take a look James Bond’s nether-regions, and try to work out why so many bad guys keep trying to crush them. What is it about Bond villains and BDSM? Are Bond’s privates so perilously perfect that they must be part of your plan for world domination? And more importantly, do bad guys have more fun? Visit the website for episode notes and a fu...

On the 10th episode of Pop Culture Boner we’re taking a long hard look at Rebecca Black’s 2011 smash Friday. What is it about the pop stylings of a tween that inspired such rage in the internet? And what kind of digital life has she built for herself in the wake of viral fame? It’s going to be fun, fun, fun, fun. Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com Vi...

This week on Pop Culture Boner , we’re asking the very important question - just what the hell is wrong with Steven Seagal? The answer is a lot of of things - largely an over-inflated sense of his own importance. So today, we’re talking a fun look at kung fu movies, American action cinema, Buddhism and the peaceful art of aikido. Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcu...