Pop Culture Confidential

The newly released best selling book 'Her Again: Becoming Meryl Streep’, tells the origin story of arguably the most talented actor of her generation! Author, journalist and biographer Michael Schulman joins us on Pop Culture Confidential. Meryl Streep has 19 oscar nominations and 3 wins for her truly iconic performances that range from movies such as ‘Kramer vs Kramer’, ‘Sophie's Choice’, ‘The De...

What movie will take the summer box office this year? Will it be “The Legend of Tarzan”? “Captain America: Civil War”? Or will it be “Finding Dory”? In the summer of 1975, Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws” broke all kinds of records and the Summer Blockbuster was established. May marks the start of Hollywood’s busiest season – so grab your popcorn as Pop Culture Confidential takes a look at the Summer Mov...

The lie detector test, bondage, feminism and superpowers – welcome to the fascinating world of Wonder Woman and her creator William M. Marston, a Harvard educated psychologist, lawyer, inventor and comic book creator. With the recent release of ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’ we get a first glimpse of Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman before her own upcoming blockbuster is released in 2017. The chara...

Never has there been such a talked about pop culture phenomena that the least amount of people have actually been able to see! The Broadway smash hit ‘Hamilton’ has taken the US by storm and on this weeks episode we speak to one of its stars – actor and singer Anthony Ramos. The musical has found the impossible recipe for success – mixing rap, R&B, and pop culture references to tell the story...

Race, sexism, class and fame were all at the heart of how the OJ Simpson trial unfolded, themes that still resonate two decades later. The new hit series on FX ‘The People vs OJ Simpson: American Crime Story’ follows the 1994-95 trial of OJ Simpson for the horrific murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. On this episode we are joined by showrunners Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski to...

Miss L has taken the internet by storm. The anonymous actress based in the UK has been sharing every sexist casting call and audition notice she encounters – and it’s quite a collection! She started the Tumblr blog ‘Casting Call Woe’ four years ago to show the unusual and sometimes bizarre casting calls posted online, but quickly realized how prevalent sexism was in the industry. “It all started o...

Alternative histories, conspiracy theories and a race against time - these are all at the heart of the gripping new Hulu series 11.22.63. The sci-fi series has an all-star team – it’s adapted from the best selling novel by Stephen King, J.J. Abrams is Executive Producer and it stars James Franco! On this week’s episode we speak to the woman behind it all – veteran writer (Friday Night Lights, Pare...

Sander’s playlist highlights his revolution, Clinton roars with Katy Perry, and Trump is rocking in the free world - even though Neil Young may hate it. This week on Pop Culture Confidential - the candidates and their music! Since the birth of the United States there has been a continued tradition of presidential candidates using music to express their campaign messages. We speak to Dr Eric Kasper...

Race, sexism, class and fame were all at the heart of how the OJ Simpson trial unfolded, themes that still resonate two decades later. The new hit series on FX ‘The People vs OJ Simpson: American Crime Story’ follows the 1994-95 trial of OJ Simpson for the horrific murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. On this episode we are joined by showrunners Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski to...

On this weeks Pop Culture Confidential: Jenni Konner, executive producer, writer and co-showrunner of HBO's "Girls", alongside show creator and star Lena Dunham. Jenni Konner started her career as a writer on Judd Apatow’s Undeclared and went on to become co-exec producer, with Apatow, on the groundbreaking series Girls. We talk about the cultural impact of the series, her close collaboration and...

This week’s guest Kevin Avery is a writer on HBO’s ‘Last Week Tonight’ and co-host of the very funny podcast ‘Denzel Washington is the Greatest Actor of All Time Period’ with fellow comedian W. Kamau Bell. His credits also include head writer on the critically acclaimed FX series ‘Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell’ which was created by Chris Rock, and writer on VH1’s ‘Best Week Ever’. From more se...

More than a music supervisor Mary Ramos is a detective, a negotiator and a fixer when it comes to suggesting and securing the perfect music for her directors. If you have been to the cinema in the last twenty years - you already know her work! Her credits include over 100 films from Reality Bites to Spotlight, and the many iconic Quentin Tarantino soundtracks. At this year’s Göteborg Film Festival...

Welcome to this very special episode of Pop Culture Confidential that we recorded live in London where we interviewed several of the greats, in and around, this year’s most talk about films – ‘Spotlight’. The film won ‘Best Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture” at the SAG Awards, and is a definite Oscar contender for Best Picture. We sit down with Mark Ruffalo and the Pulitzer Prize journalis...

On this weeks episode we are honored to talk to Susan Sarandon - Oscar winning actress, producer, Ping-Pong enthusiast, social and political activist, and passionately committed to human rights. Together with her production company Reframed Pictures; Susan Sarandon now embarks on a documentary project about one of her real inspirations, actress Hedy Lamarr! Lamarr was a Hollywood superstar know as...

The King’s Speech, Juno, American Hustle, Argo, and now Spotlight and The Revenant – these are just some of the scripts featured on The Black List that have gone onto receive Oscar nominations and Oscar gold! Our guest Franklin Leonard is the founder of The Black List and it’s podcast compliment The Black List Table Reads. And this week we check back in with our favorite TV critic June Thomas, Sla...

This weeks guests Moira Demos and Laura Ricciardi spent ten years of their lives documenting the Avery case which became the Netflix docu-series “Making a Murderer”. If you have not watched the complete series, please know that this episode and the text below contain spoilers. Was Steven Avery setup by the local authorities as payback for the lawsuit? Is an innocent man in jail the second time? Wa...

full frenzy and what better way to start the year than to predict the nominees for this year’s Oscars. We last spoke to awards expert Sasha Stone, Awards Daily, after Telluride in September. Now we check in with Sasha and ask the big questions: Who are the frontrunners? What happened to the early buzz for Steve Jobs? Will Alicia Vikander receive two nominations? And much more! Learn more about you...

Steinem has been an outspoken champion of women’s rights since the 1970s and has just released her new memoir ‘My Life of The Road’. Her work has been an inspiration to us personally and to a whole generation of women in pop culture – from comedian Amy Schumer to actress Lena Dunham, both of who are highlighting how society looks at women today with their work. As a columnist for New York magazine...

Gorgeous, moving and subtle – ‘Carol’ is a beautifully crafted tale of forbidden love that has wowed critics and audiences alike. And it’s no wonder – director Todd Haynes (Far from Heaven, I’m Not There) along with the films stars Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara have delivered Oscar worthy performances. ‘Carol’ follows two women from very different backgrounds that find themselves in an unexpected...

From Citizen Kane, All The Presidents Men, Anchorman, and Newsroom to this years much buzzed about films Truth and Spotlight – Hollywood has had a long, adoring, but complicated relationship portraying journalism. The iconic 1976 film Network staring Faye Dunaway and Robert Duvall will soon celebrate its fortieth anniversary. In both television and film, journalism is still a hot topic today with...

We are thrilled to speak with Roger Christian who won Best Art Direction - Set Decoration for 'Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope' in 1977. Along with his team, he is responsible for the iconic interior of the Millennium Falcon, the first lightsaber, R2D2, and much more. And we talk to Entertainment Weekly senior writer Anthony Breznican about everything you need to know about Star War: The Force...

This weeks guests have created some of the most iconic looks for superstars like Britney Spears, Pink, David Bowie, Ozzy Osbourne, and Marilyn Manson. They are behind the wonderful costumes in the Oscar winning film Dallas Buyers Club, and most recently they designed the costumes for Mockingjay Pt 1 & 2 of the Hunger Games franchise. Kurt Swanson and Bart Mueller, who make up the New York-base...

Marlon Brando was one of the most acclaimed and influential actors of all time. He also was one of the most elusive and enigmatic. In the new documentary Listen to Me Marlon, written, directed and edited by Stevan Riley, we get a powerfully absorbing portrait that dives into the inner space of Brando’s mind. The film features exclusive access to Brando's previously unseen and unheard personal arch...

Carrie Coon burst onto the scene in 2014 with two remarkable performances in David Fincher’s Gone Girl and HBO’s The Leftovers. We are honored to speak with her! How would you react if 2% of the world’s population suddenly disappeared, including your husband and two children? This is the premise for Carrie Coon’s character Nora Durst on the hit HBO show The Leftovers, now in its second season. The...

By 1982, cocaine made up 30% of all Colombian export, surpassing coffee, with much help by cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar. The new hit Netflix series “Narcos” traces his rise as one of the leaders of the Meddellín Cartel, the flow of cocaine from Colombia into the United States and the DEA’s attempts to bring down Escobar and the cartel. Brazilian actor Wagner Moura has received high praise for his...