Great Pop Culture Debate

Great Pop Culture Debate host Eric Rezsnyak explains how we created the bracket for our Patreon-sponsored episode devoted to our favorite quotes and exchanges from the original "Naked Gun" film trilogy. Walk through the Round 1 match-ups and see which lines made the cut. The main episode will release on Tuesday, February 10, wherever you listen to podcasts. And if you love pop culture, ⁠⁠⁠sign up...

Originating in France in 1924, the Winter Olympic Games offer a chillier, more slippery, and significantly more clothed alternative to the iconic Summer Olympic Games. With the 2026 Winter Olympic Games set to take place in Milano-Cortina, Italy, February 6-22, the Great Pop Culture Debate wanted to take the ski lift and take in the whole competition as we attempt to name the Best Winter Olympic S...

Great Pop Culture Debate host Eric Rezsnyak explains how we created the bracket for our 2026 Winter Special episode devoted to the best sporting events at the Winter Olympics games, returning February 6-22 in Milano-Cortina, Italy. Walk through the Round 1 match-ups and see which sports made the cut (spoiler: there are only 16, so they all did). The main episode will release on Tuesday, February 3...

Annie Lennox burst onto the international stage in the early 1980s as part of Eurythmics. The British synth-pop duo, also featuring Dave Stewart, was at the forefront of pop music’s New Wave, and Lennox’s appearance in the “Sweet Dreams” video – close cropped, bright orange hair in a bold man’s suit and tie – created a captivating image that, when paired with her astonishing, soulful voice – was i...

Great Pop Culture Debate host Eric Rezsnyak explains how we created the bracket for our Patreon-sponsored episode devoted to the best songs from Annie Lennox and Eurythmics. Walk through the Round 1 match-ups and see which songs made the cut. The main episode will release on Tuesday, January 27, wherever you listen to podcasts. And if you love pop culture, ⁠⁠⁠sign up for our  weekly newslette...

Jonathan Larson’s Rent premiered at the New York Theatre Workshop on January 26, 1996. The modern rock-opera take on Puccini’s La Boheme instantly captivated critics and audiences alike, bringing much-needed attention to the devastating AIDS crisis, inner-city class warfare, drug addition, and featuring bold and unabashed queer characters and storylines. While Larson tragically died the night befo...

Great Pop Culture Debate host Eric Rezsnyak explains how we created the bracket for our Winter 2026 special devoted to the best songs from the award-winning Broadway musical, "Rent," will will celebrate its 30th anniversary this week. Walk through the Round 1 match-ups and see which songs made the cut. The main episode will release on Tuesday, January 20, wherever you listen to podcasts. And if yo...

While many reality TV competitions become stale as the years go on, “RuPaul’s Drag Race” has continually reinvented itself and raised the bar on next-level drag. That’s especially true of its lipync battles, which often determine which queen stays and which sashays away. Since 2020 there have been, conservatively, more than 100 lipsyncs between “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Original Recipe seasons 12 throu...

Great Pop Culture Debate host Eric Rezsnyak explains how we created the bracket for our episode devoted to the best RuPaul's Drag Race lipsync that aired between 2020 and 2025, covering U.S. seasons 12-17 and U.S. All Stars seasons 5-10. Walk through the Round 1 match-ups and see which battles made the cut. The main episode will release on Tuesday, January 13, wherever you listen to podcasts. And...

Since 1944, the Golden Globes have offered an alternative to the Oscars and the Emmys. Giving us a boozier, looser take on the best in both TV and movies, the Globes have at their best championed less-obvious projects, and given early wins to actors and creators who would go on to be some of the entertainment industry’s biggest stars. Of particular interest is the Best Film Musical or Comedy categ...

Great Pop Culture Debate host Eric Rezsnyak explains how we created the bracket for our episode devoted to the best Golden Globe-winning films in the comedy/musical category, and walks you through the Round 1 match-ups. The main episode will release on Tuesday, January 6, wherever you listen to podcasts. And if you love pop culture, ⁠⁠⁠sign up for our  weekly newsletter⁠⁠⁠  to keep up on...

We’re off this week to ring in the new year, but we still wanted to drop something on your feed. Check out THIS Hot Take argument from our Season 7 episode, 100th Episode Spectacular, in which host Eric Rezsnyak and panelist Kate Racculia revisit some of our earlier, controversial decisions. Want to hear more from this episode (originally released in September 4, 2023)?  ⁠Click here to listen...

While we’re nestled snug in our beds for the Christmas holiday this week, we didn’t want to leave your podcast queue as empty as Santa’s cookie plate. So we’ve joined our friends at one of our sister podcasts,  Podcasters Assemble   to stuff an episode of their show down your chimney — and trust us, it  definitely  works for this holly-jolly occasion! That's right, this week we...

We’re taking a short break from new episodes this week, but we still wanted to spread a little holiday cheer. Did you know our podcast has more than a dozen Christmas-related episodes in our Holidays Collection ? Check out THIS Hot Take argument from our Season 2 episode, Best Holiday Pop Song (1980-2020). Want to hear more form this episode (originally released in December 3, 2020)?  ⁠ Click...

While Christmas is typically the time to snuggle up with friends and family to watch beloved the same corny, nostalgic favorites we return to every year, for filmmakers the holiday season is a surprisingly fertile ground for a very different form of entertainment: horror films. There are literally dozen of Christmas horror films currently in existence, and seemingly more every year. They use the C...

Great Pop Culture Debate host Eric Rezsnyak explains how we created the bracket for our 2025 Holiday Special devoted to the best Christmas horror film -- this one is NOT for the kids! -- and walks you through the Round 1 match-ups. The main episode will release on Tuesday, December 9, wherever you listen to podcasts. And if you love pop culture, ⁠⁠⁠sign up for our  weekly newsletter⁠⁠⁠  to keep up...

Christmas carols are, likely, some of the earliest songs most Americans learn, and at the same time, are probably among the earliest music still performed in popular American culture. Many of the familiar songs of the season date back hundreds of years, and the origins and lyrics of the songs have been lost or changed over time. We sing along every year, tapping into those familiar nostalgic feeli...

Great Pop Culture Debate host Eric Rezsnyak explains how we created the bracket for our 2025 Holiday Special devoted to the best traditional Christmas carol, and walks you through the Round 1 match-ups. The main episode will release on Tuesday, December 2, wherever you listen to podcasts. And if you love pop culture, ⁠⁠⁠sign up for our weekly newsletter⁠⁠⁠ to keep up on all the new movies, music,...

Nintendo reignited the home video-game market with the Nintendo Entertainment System in the 1980s, but by the early 90s the Japanese game company found itself in an unexpected position: Player 2. The 1989 arrival of both Sega Genesis and Turbo Graphx 16 – more powerful machines, with aggressive marketing campaigns positioning themselves as the “radical” upstarts – officially kicked off the first w...

Great Pop Culture Debate host Eric Rezsnyak explains how we created the bracket for our episode devoted to the best video games released on Nintendo's 1990s Super Nintendo system, and walks you through the Round 1 match-ups. The main episode will release on Tuesday, November 25, wherever you listen to podcasts. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Make sure to subscribe to the podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ so you don't miss any upcoming episod...

For the past 50 years, composer John Williams has arguably been the defining sound of cinema. Although he began composing music for TV and film in the 1950s, it wouldn’t be until the 1970s that he broke big, thanks to that iconic soundtrack to Stephen Spielberg’s Jaws. From there he would go on to provide the music for a slew of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters, and most poignant films, as well as...

Great Pop Culture Debate host Eric Rezsnyak explains how we created the bracket for our episode devoted to the best cinematic score by American composer and legend John Williams, and walks you through the Round 1 match-ups. The main episode will release on Tuesday, November 18, wherever you listen to podcasts. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Make sure to subscribe to the podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ so you don't miss any upcoming episode...

1965 may feel like an entirely different lifetime, but even if you’re Gen X or a Millennial, chances are you know the songs and the icons from that incredible year. Cher! The Beatles! The Rolling Stones! The Supremes! Legends in their prime whose music continues to hold cultural cache 60 years after its release. So join the Great Pop Culture Debate as we do the time warp and try to determine the B...

Great Pop Culture Debate host Eric Rezsnyak explains how we created the bracket for our episode devoted to the best American popular-music songs from 1965, and walks you through the Round 1 match-ups. The main episode will release on Tuesday, November 11, wherever you listen to podcasts. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Make sure to subscribe to the podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ so you don't miss any upcoming episodes. And ⁠⁠subscribe to o...

From 2009 to 2015, “Glee” burst into song on the Fox network. The musical TV series about group of outsiders in an Ohio high school finding a purpose and community through song pulled in millions of viewers and produced numerous musical singles that charted on radio, iTunes, and beyond, with a collective 36 million singles purchased digitally and 11 million albums sold worldwide. While the show’s...