All I want to do is talk about Madonna

S7, E20: REBEL HEART (w/ Special Guest Nick Rufca) Kenny and Mark embark on the home stretch of Season Seven (!!) with a deep dive discussion of the title track from  Rebel Heart.   Plus, a late Christmas gift arrives for super-fan Nick Rufca, who picks up up the phone to talk about SUPER deluxe editions, emotional honesty, lyrical affirmations, tempting fate, Peter, Paul & Mary...

Mark and Kenny rejoice over this beautiful surprise at the tail end of the deluxe edition of  Rebel Heart  with acclaimed actor Tony Corrales, who picks up the phone to discuss his particular devotion to this album and who precisely IS the “Messiah.”  Topics include Mercy James’ piano scales, candlelight mysticism, lyrical previews, the balance of vulnerability and power, Madonna as...

Mark and Kenny are taking a breather this week to recover from PHYSICAL ATTRACTION: LIVE @ IRON | FEATHER (were you there?) with a small request and assignment for the listening fans Down Under and in Miami.  Can you guess?  See you next week. 

Kenny and Mark critique/celebrate this lesson in sexology while Madonna resurrects and re-embraces Dita Parlo.  Topics include being Game & Giving, Sniffies, blatant innuendo, the Summer of Spitting, licorice, golden showers, breaking the beds, raw meat recipes with mayonnaise, grillz, a phenomenal demo bridge, Samantha’s hand-rolled sushi, masks, the 1994 version of S.E.X., and having a...

ark and Kenny investigate who the culprit of this lost, sassy demo.  Topics include dissing friends, BOMBOCLAT, taking to twitter, Guy Oseary, “appreciating” Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga, recipes, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, Paula Abdul, Cyndi Lauper, Sabrina Carpenter, teaching the children, starting a feud with YouTubers, imitators, the power of community, Lola Lourdes as Betty Rizzo, t...

Mark and Kenny grapple with a feeling that they cannot explain while discussing the meaning (and mythology) behind this would-be anthem.  Topics include  Julius Caesar,  perception, the value of the underdog, generational education, Nas, divorcing Kelis, and Madonna (finally) embracing the title of QUEEN.  Plus electronic pop artist Afro Sensei picks up the phone and joins the...

Kenny and Mark head back into the shadows of Hollywood noir and portraiture on this slinky gem that opens the deluxe edition of Rebel Heart.   Topics include the M Experience, the fucking GRILLZ, nom de plumes, Art of Noise, Vangelis, champagne and big cigars, remembering “Justify My Love”, sex tapes, a license to chill, and the Madonna song that everyone walks down the wedding aisle to.&nbsp...

WASH ALL OVER ME (w/ Special Guest Jeff Vincente) Mark and Kenny wrap up the standard edition of  Rebel Heart  with this intense and beautiful ballad (and its THREE versions!) with events guru Jeff Vincente.  Topics include operatic rock, Elizabeth Taylor, kikis, Good Music, Charlie Heat, Avicii, The Cure, other surprising water songs, theatrical strings, spiritual revelations on th...

Kenny and Mark grapple with the proper arrival of producer Mike Dean on this miss of an anthem from Rebel Heart .  Topics include patchwork songwriting, sweatpants energy, loving the scars, lazy strings, switching “tactics”, spontaneous looping, another reconsideration of the RH track list, and a “BREATH” requirement.  Plus Kenny stalks the wigs of Madame X and Mark makes a case for re-e...

Mark and Kenny get down to the nitty-gritty (and steamy) throw back to 1992’s Erotica.  Topics include game-changing weather, cunnilingus, vitamins and filth, Kanye West and Yeezus, baseline and hand claps, gold star gays, pole dancing, the physical challenges of sexual positioning and particular turn-ons, multiple leaking demos, and when is the right time to return to “Vogue.”  Plus Mar...

Kenny and Mark pop up the hood and take this romantic romp of a song out for a spin with Madonna Get Together podcast host Wayne Parker! Topics include vehicular high jinks, having fun, over-thinking and staying out of the way, electro-shock, Sabrina Carpenter, sequels to songs from True Blue and Madonna, role-playing, driving stick shift, car CD players, snacks, Lady Gaga, Aston Martins, Nikki Su...

Mark and Kenny amp up the drama (and military drums) with special guest Jess Rothschild (host of Hot Takes & Deep Dives and Finding Fire Island) to discuss one of the most vulnerable songs in the entire canon.  Topics include piano deliciousness, public humiliation, ten songwriters, Sean Penn, cinema demos, terrible waiters, Joe’s Pub, and Madonna’s last private relationship.  Plus J...

Kenny and Mark explore the part that no one sees in the soaring (and strange) anthem from Rebel Heart .  Topics include being in an “era”, current slang, mite bites, Mike Tyson Mysteries, Head of the Class, Mohammed Ali, Robin Givens, Jay-Z, Amy Schumer, Chance the Rapper, Save Money, icons and gods as examples, Avicii’s cinematic choices, and a deep dive into the endurance and character of M...

Mark and Kenny unsheathe their swords to discuss this powerful and beautiful ballad about mortality, battle, inspiration, and the pulsating humanity that lies beneath it all.  Special Guest Jesse Factor joins the conversation to discuss remixing Martha Graham & Madonna together in his thrilling dance show  The Marthaodyssey  and the many muses found in his work as both a dancer...

Kenny and Mark pick up the story of this anthemic, enduring tracks from Rebel Heart .  Topics include: the haunting MNEK, Ryan Tedder, apocalyptic lyrics, Joan Rivers, survival techniques, alternative melodies, drumming, and the power of a solo Madonna producer credit.  Plus, another alternative release concept for Rebel Heart to consider and the priority of reaching out, making time, an...

Mark and Kenny conclude the Season of the Bitch by twerking their way through this maximalist third single from Rebel Heart .  Topic include Diplo, finales, taking the day, the return of Nicki Minaj, colorful pop art synths, boundaries, plantar fasciitis, pale ale beers, the Standard Hotel, Wicked Part 2, pools in Westchester, neighbors Barry and Fran, Lil B, Charli xcx, celebrity cameos (Bey...

Kenny and Mark hide from the all-seeing eye to wrestle with this polarizing track from Rebel Heart .  Topic include the golden calf, the arrival of Mike Dean, stoners, the true definition of the illuminati, the potential to dance, a reckoning with Kanye West (past & present), Claire Dederer’s Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma, iconography, the TIDAL signing, and the desire (and danger) of channel...

Mark and Kenny continue the Season of the Bitch w/ this bratty lost demo from the Rebel Heart era.  Topics include Natalia Kills, Rosalind Shays, STDs, Anne Sexton, Brahim Zaibat, Nicole Winhoffer, the allure of vindictive cleverness, hooking up in a sauna, knowledge as power, Orville Peck, Khloe Kardashian’s podcast, Paul Mescal, French theatergoers and Tennessee Williams, not applauding Cat...

Mark and Kenny get their Reggaeton swagger going to discuss the sassy shoulda-been-a-single from Rebel Heart .  Topics include Toby Gad, Garcia & Teenwolf, the primal urge to get up and go out post-break-up, Justin Bieber, ex-boyfriend group texts, shooting weekends with Guy Ritchie, Kieran Culkin, The Weekend, tsunami alarms, Bette Davis, James Baldwin, and a surprise encounter with a fa...

Kenny and Mark celebrate the return of the power ballad with Boy Culture himself (and author of the essential Encyclopedia Madonnica) Matthew Rettenmund!  Topics include: nepo babies, Celine Dion, potential cover albums, illegal downloads, the value of spite, Jason Derulo, My Two Dads , vocal “edging”, lyrical warnings and promises, bringing a golf club to an apocalypse, Stevie Nicks, Terrenc...

Mark and Kenny break out the guitars, the oracles (and the glue) to examine the folky, funky - even freaky - second track on  Rebel Heart .  Topics include the arrival of Aviccii, the Animals’ “House of the Rising Sun”, The Rake and Appalachian folk tunes becoming global anthems, the Madonna rhythm, walking as inspiration, getting high, karaoke voice memos, Emily Witt, higher consciousne...

Kenny and Mark welcome Billboard Magazine’s Keith Caulfield (co-host of the Billboard Pop Shop podcast) to discuss the vibrant - yet troublesome - first song and lead single from  Rebel Heart .  Topics include THE LEAK and technology foibles, demos on hard drives, launching a “leak lead” hotline, multiple album versions (and covers), Sebastien Tellier, unending teasers, unusual suspects,...

Mark and Kenny begin Season Seven: Defending the Crown with a detailed discussion of Madonna’s most politically urgent (and last - for now!) film project, in collaboration with Steven Klein as well as the debut of a now oft-covered Elliott Smith song.  Topics include channeling the source and upping security, Instagram, VICE and BitTorrent, cutting edge lingerie, Danny Tull, troublesome rollo...

Join Kenny and Mark for an ultra-thick FOUR HOUR conversation about the Mount L’Olympia of Madonna tours - 2012’s MDNA Tour.  Topics include the legacy of Christopher Ciccone, trading recipes, the first selection for the Alain Delon Film Club, new faces on tour, fighting (already) with Interscope, transgression, FREEDOM, Australia, Zoey Bartlett and The West Wing , cosplay, the return of the...

Mark and Kenny decode the restlessly bold and confessional final track on the deluxe edition of MDNA.   Topics include the final return of the Benassi Brothers, the slender difference between friendship and romantic love, Sheridan Smith, Alex Rodriguez, the vocal pushing away and the pulling in, the specters of 2012, confessions and celebrations, lyrical bread crumbs and evolutions, Bjork’s “...