Pop Culture Confidential

Ryan McQuade of AwardsWatch joins Christina to recap last night’s 2026 Academy Awards (and cap off a long season!) One Battle After Another ’s biggest wins,  Sinner s' successes, the surprises, emotional highlights, and so much more Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us as we dive into the 2026 Oscar predictions! Christina is thrilled to be joined by Erik Anderson of AwardsWatch.com. This year has brought us outstanding films, incredible performances, and one of the most unpredictable awards seasons we’ve seen in a long time. Listen as we discuss our predictions on who will take home the gold this year Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/...

The race is alive! We’re just about ten days away from the Oscars, and things are heating up on the precursor front. The BAFTAs were last weekend, and this weekend brought the PGAs and the Actor Awards (the awards formerly known as the SAG Awards). Ryan McQuade of AwardsWatch joins Christina to break down what it all means for Oscar night! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adcho...

Christina is joined by 2026 Oscar nominated costume designer Malgosia Turzanska, celebrated for her extraordinary work on Chloé Zhao’s  Hamnet . Known for her unforgettable costumes in  Train Dreams ,  Stranger Things ,  The Green Knight ,  X ,  Pearl , and more, Malgosia takes us deep into her art and the creative journey behind one of the year’s most talked-about films. They discuss the rich res...

Writer and director Clint Bentley joins Christina to discuss his acclaimed film Train Dreams , one of the most beautiful and celebrated films of the season! Nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture, the film recently earned Bentley Best Director and Best Feature at the Film Independent Spirit Awards. The conversation explores how  Train Dreams  came tog...

The endlessly inspiring Arian Moayed is back on the show and it is, as always, an absolute blast. The actor, director, and producer joins Christina to talk about his exciting new Marvel series  Wonder Man  and co-producing the documentary  Champions of the Golden Valley  with Malala Yousafzai. They also talk NYC Mayor Mamdani and keeping up with his “Succession family.” Who really wins the  Succes...

Encore episode! Alexander Skarsgård talks  Pillion , career, and more. With  Pillion now premiering widely (the wonderful, warm, and emotional BDSM rom-com co starring Harry Melling) we revisit Christina’s wide ranging conversation with Alexander Skarsgård, recorded at the Stockholm International Film Festival in November 2026. They talk  Pillion , the research behind the role, highlights from his...

Awards season 2026 continues to steamroll ahead. Just days after the Oscar nominations, the BAFTA and WGA nominations have arrived. To help break it all down, Christina is joined by Eoin Daly, co-host of the  Shhh, My Stories Are On!  podcast, as they discuss the biggest talking points, surprises, and what these nominations could mean for the rest of the awards season. Learn more about your ad cho...

Christina & Ryan McQuade (of  AwardsWatch.com ) break down the 2026 Oscar nominations, diving into the biggest surprises, snubs, historic milestones, and what it all means for the race ahead! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2026 is shaping up to be an incredible year for cinema, from visionary auteurs to indie gems and everything in between. Christina is joined by Jay Ledbetter and Ryan McQuade from the  Director Watch Podcast  for a  massive  breakdown of the movies they can’t wait to see in 2026. Plus a special appearance by Sophia Ciminello of AwardsWatch.com! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/a...

In this episode of  Pop Culture Confidential , Christina sits down with prize-winning production designer  Fiona Crombie , whose work has shaped some of the most visually striking films of recent years. They talk in depth about Crombie’s breathtaking production design for  Chloé Zhao’s  Hamnet , starring  Paul Mescal   and  Jessie Buckley as William and Agnes Shakespeare. From intimate domestic sp...

Christina is joined by Ryan McQuade (AwardsWatch.com) to break down the Golden Globes 2026! The winners, the losers, the speeches, the cringe... and what it all means for the Oscars race. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the first episode of the year, Christina is joined by Ryan McQuade (AwardsWatch.com) to recap the Critics Choice Awards 2026, the first televised awards show of the season! Fresh off attending the ceremony, they break down what it was like on the ground, the night’s biggest wins, standout moments, and the industry buzz coming out of the show. It was a huge night for  One Battle After Another ,...

It’s a huge episode! Ryan McQuade ( Executive Editor, AwardsWatch) joins Christina as they countdown their 20 best movies of 2025. What a year of cinema it has been! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Awards season is officially in full swing! Prizes and nominations are rolling in from critics groups, the Critics Choice Awards, the Golden Globes, and more. It’s been one announcement after another and we’re breaking it all down. Christina is joined by  Ryan McQuade  (AwardsWatch) to recap and dig into the surprises, the snubs, and the contenders gaining momentum. From PTA and  Sinners  to  Senti...

This week’s episode is a special one: Christina’s interview with actor/producer Alexander Skarsgård! The interview was recorded live at the Stockholm International Film Festival (Nov 2025), where he received the 2025 Stockholm Achievement Award. The audience was packed and about to see Alexander’s fantastic new film  Pillion . In this wide-ranging conversation they talk about the movie, the resear...

2025 was a year in pop culture like no other! Celebrities “went to space,” Kendrick blew our minds at the Super Bowl, demons were hunted, SNL turned 50, and kiss cams caused chaos. It was a massive year for film and TV, packed with moments that had everyone talking. We also said goodbye to some of the biggest names in the industry. Ryan McQuade of AwardsWatch joins Christina as they each count dow...

As we head into the final weeks of the year, we couldn’t resist diving into the incredible performances that have already defined 2025. It’s been an extraordinary year at the movies, full of bold artistic swings, deeply emotional turns, and career-making work across the board. In this episode, Christina is thrilled to be joined by Erik Anderson, editor-in-chief of AwardsWatch, to breakdown the Top...

Christina talks with writer/actor/comedian Michael Strassner about his new film The Baltimorons, directed by Jay Duplass, a story shaped by the spirit of Baltimore and the most personal chapters of Strassner’s own life. They talk about blending humor and drama, how Strassner channels his personal history, including struggles with addiction, recovery, and self-reinvention, into the story. He also d...

This week’s episode is a special one: Christina’s interview with writer and director  Benny Safdie  at the  Stockholm International Film Festival  (Nov 2025), where he was also honored with the  Stockholm Visionary Award . They discuss his filmmaking process, his obsessive characters,  The Smashing Machine , working with Paul Thomas Anderson and Christopher Nolan, and much more. Learn more about y...

It’s preview time! Christina is once again joined by critic Ryan McQuade (AwardsWatch.com) to preview the most exciting movie titles coming to theaters and streaming for the rest of the year! From awards hopefuls like Hamnet and Marty Supreme, to blockbuster titles like Wicked: For Good and Avatar: Fire and Ash, to Train Dreams, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, and much more! Learn more abo...

Filmmaker  Rebecca Miller  joins Christina to talk about her remarkable new series  Mr. Scorsese  , a five-part portrait of  Martin Scorsese , now streaming on Apple TV+. The series offers a rare and intimate look at the legendary director’s creative process, his lifelong relationship with cinema, and the people and experiences that have shaped his extraordinary career. Learn more about your ad ch...

In this episode, Christina talks with actor Gustaf Skarsgård, who is powerful in the historical crime drama  To Cook a Bear (Hulu/Disney+), based on the bestselling novel by Mikael Niemi. They discuss embodying the Pastor, a fascinating, paradoxical character inspired by the real Lars Levi Laestadius, a man caught between faith, science, and survival in 1850s Sweden. The story weaves together them...

We’re diving into the state of the awards season race! Ryan McQuade of AwardsWatch.com joins us to break down the latest contenders and predictions. Then, a discussion on Rebecca Miller’s  Mr. Scorsese  (Apple TV+), a new five-part docuseries about the legendary filmmaker himself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From One Battle After Another, Jay Kelly, Hamnet, and Weapons, to Sentimental Value and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You and more, filmmakers this year can’t seem to escape one theme: parents. Guilt, loss, and legacy are everywhere on screen this year. Are directors today reckoning with themselves as parents rather than with their own parents? We dive into all of it — and more. Christina is joined by fi...