Pop Culture Junkie®

The Junkies reveal their pop culture nemeses, and decide that some of them just need to be tripped. (Watch where you walk, Scott Baio.) Nicole is enjoying how The Bachelorette is not taking any BS from her dudes, Alex discovers Manifest almost too late (#SaveManifest!) and Shauna wishes Venom had been just a little more violent. In pop culture news, the Junkies discuss the incredibly unfair conser...

It’s officially summer, even though here in Arizona it has been scorching hot for months. This week the Junkies celebrate the solstice by talking about terrible vacations, terrific summer binge-watching and of course, sports. Nicole and Alex each promote their favorite Sox, while Shauna reps the hometown favorite, the Phoenix Suns, who are burning up the NBA. The Junkies discuss Victoria’s Secret...

How to play the Pop Culture Junkie™ Drinking Game: drink every time Shauna has to censor herself, Hayley talks about Law and Order, Nicole mentions Billie Eilish, or Alex references Kanye West. Not to be played while driving. We’ve got all the bodily fluid news you want (and then some) this week. You’re welcome. The Junkies dish on Batman as a selfish lover, giant Lamar Odom, YouTubers vs TikToker...

The Junkies met in real life for Friends trivia night at the Alamo Drafthouse (thanks, Alamo Drafthouse!) How did they do? Find out by listening! Speaking of friends, the Junkies welcome their new friend, John Pyka, The Prophet of Pop Culture and host of the Back of the Cereal Box podcast, who does a mean Kermit impression. (Links below!) This week, the Junkies (who may or may not be naked from th...

Which Junkie has the moves? They all do, unless you count tap dancing. It’s metaphorically hot as Hell here in Phoenix, so we are all about the summer music playlist this week. Each Junkie discloses their summer soundtracks, 2021-style, and we’re posting them below so you can rock out at your poolside barbecue or on your vacay road trip. Nicole’s has a country flair, Hayley’s is a little bit rock...

Another Junkie is MIA! This time it is Hayley, who was somehow misplaced by the other Junkies. They pledge to find her by next week. This week, however, is all about Friends. Could we BE any more excited? No. The Junkies discuss the landmark sitcom, which will be celebrated with a reunion show on HBO Max on the same day this episode drops. Nicole and Shauna talk about their favorite characters and...

Nicole is back! The Junkies welcome her return with a big discussion of Law and Order: SVU, and whether she really was auditioning to play a cadaver. Hayley describes her solo snowboarding honeymoon in Purgatory and the junky (not Junkie!) beaches in California, but everyone wants to vacation there anyway. Shauna delves into Jupiter’s Legacy and how it ranks next to The Boys and Invincible. Alex r...

We are one Junkie short this week, so as Alex, Hayley and Shauna soldier on without Nicole, they decide to do a deep dive into Marvel content past and yet to come in the year 2021. After speculating on Nicole’s whereabouts, we learn Shauna finally got into Invincible, Alex is digging superhero comedy The Neighbor (El Vecino), and Hayley is all over the Lost spoof Wrecked this week. Speaking of shi...

For an episode dropping close to Mother’s Day, there are so many mentions of, um, Daddies, this week. Alex talks about growing up sheltered from pop music, but not from lewd WWE gestures, and Shauna recounts re-enacting naughty Spice Girls videos as a youngster. Nicole remembers the drive to save horses by riding cowboys while young Hayley unknowingly channeled Christina Aguilera in a less-than-wh...

Embrace the nostalgia as the Junkies look back on the ’90s on this week’s episode. Remember the Spice Girls, Beanie Babies, high-waisted jeans and…lava lamps? Anyway, the Junkies reminisce about the decade that brought us chat rooms and All That and Law & Order (even Nicole, who wasn’t born until the decade was nearly over.) Alex compares the new Mortal Kombat to the classic ’95 version, and Hayle...

This episode was recorded on 4.20. Just saying. Shauna does a bollocks Posh Spice impersonation, but Nicole rocks her Chicago accent. Hayley and Alex dish on everything good from Falcon and the Winter Soldier (and that special guest – spoilers!) and speaking of spoilers, Shauna brings you the mind-blowing truth about The Matrix (1999.) Nicole can’t place Mark McGrath from The Masked Singer but she...

Which Junkie sat at the emo kids’ table in high school? Which one ate with the teachers? And which one got to skip class to go to Red Sox games? This episode reveals all. The Junkies give a shout out to the fans who are making us Big in Egypt (hey!), and propose their own musical version of The Breakfast Club. And an OnlyFans swimsuit edition. Nicole (and her dad) are digging Law and Order: Organi...

The Junkies are back on their regular beat this week, bringing you not one but two pop culture stories involving the Prince of Darkness. But first, they break down the emotional Benson-Stabler reunion in the long-running Law and Order SVU, a show that’s almost as old as Nicole. Then it’s on to the ethical questions about Falcon and the Winter Soldier and the questionable dance moves of Baron Zemo....

It’s official: pop culture is dead. R.I.P. Over a year of Covid-related cancellations, postponements and Zoom call-themed episodes have put the kibosh on entertainment in 2021. So this week, the Junkies are turning to a subject of endless fascination: conspiracy theories. Where is Naked Celebrity Island, and which Elvis (hot movie star Elvis or chubby Vegas edition) greets every new resident? Why...

The Junkies imagine the perfect private club, one with killer tunes and consensual groping only. Stay tuned for details on the opening of an exclusive PCJ Club near you*. Nicole confesses her love of those adorable porkers (and bacon) and Shauna discloses her past as a hip hop diva. Hayley dives into the Justice League Snyder Cut, separating the good from the unnecessary exposition, and Alex gives...

Thimble, Shoe, Dog, Racecar… the Junkies disclose which Monopoly piece best represents them, and who is willing to flip the board when the game isn’t going their way. Shauna the Sebastian Stan stan talks about prepping for Falcon and the Winter Soldier with a massive Marvel rewatch. Alex and Hayley voice concerns about a CW version of the Powerpuff Girls, and imagine if the network made other rebo...

It’s our second season premiere, and this episode is bigger and badder than ever, and we mean bad as in good. First we meet our two brand spanking new Junkies, Hayley the Brave and Alexander Castillo-Nuñez. Hayley was a guest Junkie on our Cobra Kai episode, and Alex is making his ‘kind of surreal’ debut on the show. The Junkies celebrate Women’s History Month by giving snaps to important women in...

You picked the categories. You picked the nominees. And you voted on the winners. Now it’s finally time to find out the best and worst of Pop Culture from the year that wasn’t, 2020. Shauna and Nicole announce the winners of the First Annual Junkies’ Choice Awards in an elaborate ceremony, live on tape at the Pop Culture Junkie Pavilion. Really! Find out who is the Best Chris, the Worst Chris, the...

Nicole and Shauna welcome guest Junkie and fellow Sun Devil Karla Hernandez from Live 101.5's Morning Mess in Phoenix, to talk about villains like Ashlee Simpson, Cruella, Rachael from The Bachelor and Justin Timberlake. Nicole confesses to becoming a Belieber, and Shauna and Karla discuss calling out your exes on the air without regrets. The Junkies make juice out of Bachelor rumors and throw dow...

Shauna and Nicole welcome actor Sam Primack, a Broadway and touring company actor, who has appeared in Dear Evan Hansen and The Addams Family to talk singing, dancing, and barbecue. After settling the crucial issue of whether pineapple belongs on pizza (to be eaten only under duress, apparently,) the Junkies move on to who was canceled this week and how much they deserved it. Shauna approves of Aa...

It’s Galentine’s Day, so there are no boys allowed in the Pop Culture Junkie clubhouse this week. Shauna and Nicole debate whether to give stealth Valentine cards to their neighbors and discuss which celeb couples will have a happy V-Day and which will not. (Sorry, J-Lo.) The Golden Globe nominations are out, but so are the Junkies’ Choice Award noms, which is just as important. Then Nicole and Sh...

Nicole and Shauna welcome guest Junkie Adam Corcovilos of the Cinemadness podcast to talk about cinema...and madness. Nicole is all about the Anistons, while Shauna wants to print holographic Lady Gaga bucks. The Junkies do their best to figure out what the heck is happening in WandaVision and decide who to root for in the "big game." Then it's time to look back on the best movies of 2020 - the on...

The Karens are back in full force, so the Junkies consider telling their bosses to take that job and shove it. Then it's all about WandaVision, the gateway drug to the MCU for Nicole. Shauna spoils the ending of the Presidential Inauguration for Montae, who hasn't seen it yet. The Junkies talk sports (of course, from a pop culture perspective,) and try to figure out why the best sports movies are...

This week's episode has everything! The Junkies talk cereal and we discover how much influence The Flintstones had on Montae's childhood, Nicole salutes Captain Crunch and Shauna speaks in defense of the Trix Rabbit and it's all part of this complete breakfast. Staying on the topic of food, the Junkies talk leftovers: the good, the bad and the stiff biscuits. There's a mono alert on The Bachelor (...

It's our 13th episode, but the Junkies don't believe in superstition...unless you count stepping on cracks, black cats and splitting the pole. A catastrophic news week put an end to dry January for Shauna. Will she listen to her better angel (Montae) and get back on the wagon or the devilish Nicole urging her to give up? The Bachelor started this week so the Junkies dive into the shallow end of th...