Pop Culture Confidential

It’s the film event of the year! Thirty-four days before she’s sent to prison, Elizabeth Holmes invites Nathan Fielder to move in with her. The result is  You Can See Everything , Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s masterful, riveting, mind-bending documentary about the Theranos founder. Christina Birro and Ryan McQuade dig into Holmes’s elusive nature, the filmmaking, the film’s potential to make Osca...

Freelance critic Jorge Tenreiro joins Christina to dig into  The Social Reckoning , Aaron Sorkin’s follow-up to  The Social Network . The film stars Mikey Madison as Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen and Jeremy Allen White as Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz, with Jeremy Strong as Mark Zuckerberg. Jorge, who is a litigator, also weighs in on some of the interesting legal questions at...

In this dispatch from the New York Film Festival 2026, Christina and Ryan McQuade (AwardsWatch) dig into the festival's Centerpiece film, Tony Gilroy's  Behemoth! , starring Pedro Pascal. Plus, Digger  talk!

A special episode of Pop Culture Confidential! Christina had the honor of interviewing Cristian Mungiu, director of the Palme d'Or film Fjord. In a wide-ranging conversation, they discuss the film, the themes that run through his body of work, the conversations  Fjord  has sparked, and much more. Recorded live on stage following a screening in Stockholm, Sweden, September 2026.

Toronto just wrapped, closing out the fall festival trio of Venice, Telluride, and TIFF, and the Oscar picture is starting to come into focus. This week, Christopher Rosen (deputy editor at The Ankler, co-host of the Prestige Junkie podcast) joins the show to break it all down. We dig into TIFF winner La Bola Negra, the sensation that had the festival buzzing, plus Martin McDonagh's Wild Horse...

Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim's documentary "You Can See Everything" about Elizabeth Holmes blew the roof off the Telluride Film Festival at its secret screening. Christina sat down with Jay Ledbetter and Ryan McQuade of the Director Watch podcast (AwardsWatch) to process the experience!

High above Telluride, Christina hops aboard a gondola with Jorge Tenreiro and Sophia Ciminello of AwardsWatch to talk about  La Bola Negra , the new film from Los Javis. From the Telluride Film Festival.

Christina and Ryan McQuade of AwardsWatch.com discuss two of Telluride's most talked-about films: Martin McDonagh's Wild Horse Nine and Andrew Haigh's A Long Winter .

Emmy time! Eoin Daly is back for our final Emmy predictions ahead of the 78th Emmy Awards, hosted by Mariska Hargitay, (airing September 14th). Who will take home the gold? Tune in! Follow Eoin on instgram @eoin_daily

This week Christina has the honor of talking to actor, comedian, writer and activist Steve Way about his incredible performance as Alden on  Furious, creator Liz Meriwether's riveting crime thriller. (Furious was just renewed for a second season!) In a wide-ranging conversation, they talk about what drew Way to the role of Alden, what sets Furious apart from other police procedurals, Meriwethe...

Christina joins the AwardsWatch podcast for a special episode! We’re less than two weeks before the 53nd Telluride Film Festival kicks off on Labor Day weekend and we have a packed show. On episode 360 AwardsWatch Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by Editor-In-chief Erik Anderson Associate Editor Sophia Ciminello, contributors Jay Ledbetter, Mark Johnson, and Jorge Tenreiro, and Christina Bi...

Summer's winding down but the watchlist isn't. Ryan McQuade (AwardsWatch) is back on Pop Culture Confidential to review and discuss The End of Oak Street and The Invite, plus a couple of TV picks worth your time, Furious and Lanterns.

Christina is joined by director Brian L. Tan and co-producer Tara McNamara to talk about their new film  Bandit  & their filmmaking journey! Tan describes the film as "The White Lotus from the perspective of the help." Set in Indonesia,  Bandit  follows two childhood friends, desperate for cash, whose theft goes horribly wrong. The film is already making serious festival waves: it wo...

Christina talks to creator and showrunner George Kay. Kay is one of the most versatile and prolific creators working in television. His work spans genres and continents, with global hits like  Lupin ,  The Long Shadow , and  Hijack . George Kay is seemingly the busiest man in television, with two shows premiering soon: first his upcoming Swedish crime drama  Blood Sacrifice , starring Jakob Oftebr...

It's been an incredible first part of the year at the movies! Ryan McQuade (AwardsWatch.com) joins Christina to talk about their 10 best movies of the year so far (not an easy task!) Plus, they talk about the Venice Film Festival 2026 lineup that just dropped, the steep decline of women directors in competition, and less studio and streamer films on the Lido.

Guest Ryan McQuade (AwardsWatch.com) and Christina journey into Christopher Nolan's  The Odyssey ! Join us as we review, discuss, and dissect Nolan's latest epic.

He was Player of the Year for Norwich City Football Club in the 1970s. Then he vanished, for decades. Directors Ramiel Petros & Nicholas Freeman found him hiding in plain sight, managing a motel in Los Angeles that was about to close for good. His name is Tony Powell, and his story became the heart of their doc, The Last Guest of the Holloway Motel . In this episode, Ramiel and Nicholas join m...

We are thrilled and honored to be joined by Widow's Bay's own Ruth, the incredible K Callan (Widow's Bay just got 19 Emmy nominations!!!). At 90 years old, K Callan is a LEGEND , over 7 decades working in TV, from Norman Lear shows to Bosom Buddies with Tom Hanks, Martha Kent in ABC's Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Dawson's Creek, Veep, Great Nana in Knives O...

Film critic and journalist John Bleasdale joins Christina to discuss the news that Luca Guadagnino's film about OpenAI CEO Sam Altman,  Artificial , has been dropped by Amazon, which just happens to have a partnership with OpenAI... Also in the mix: the many partnerships forming between creators and tech. A24 has announced a $75 million research partnership with Google DeepMind. Steven Soderbe...

TV time! Emmy nominations drop on July 8th. Christina and guest Eoin Daly make their boldest nom predictions. From The Pitt to Hacks, Widows Bay, Pluribus, and a lot of surprises. Who's getting in? Who's getting snubbed? The Emmys ceremony is on September 14th. Eoin Daly on Instagram. @eoin_daily

It's Disclosure Day! Christina is joined by Ryan McQuade of AwardsWatch to discuss and review Steven Spielberg's latest film. They dig into how it fits into the director's filmography as well as his biography, exploring where his mastery shines through, where the film falls short, and how it all comes together. Includes spoilers!

Backrooms is the record-breaking horror phenomenon of the summer. Christina sat down with brilliant production designer Danny Vermette and VFX supervisor Edward J. Douglas to talk about their work on the film and their collaboration with 20-year-old YouTube creator Kane Parsons , A24's youngest-ever director. We dig into the 30,000-square-foot build that brought Parsons's Backrooms YouTube...

Actor Brittany Allen ( The Boys ,  Dexter: Original Sin,   Jigsaw ) joins the show to discuss her Emmy-buzzed performance as Roxie Hamler, a terminal cancer patient on HBO’s  The Pitt . We dive into the research behind her role, her collaboration with Noah Wyle and the cast and crew of the medical drama, the emotional weight of the storylines, how the team unwinds after intense days on set, and so...

Ryan McQuade of AwardsWatch.com joins Christina to discuss the mega-hits  Obsession  (directed by 26-year-old Curry Barker) and  Backrooms  (by 20-year-old Kane Parsons), the rise of YouTube content creators in cinema and more! Plus they talk basketball! :) Don’t miss it

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