Pop Junction

This one’s worth listening to for the episode title payoff alone. Steve Sanders, we see you. We may throw around the word “formative” a lot on this pod, but damn if this show wasn’t formative as hell. From 50s/60s nostalgia to early 90s beauty standards, this is the OG Beverly Hills 90210.  *cue bodaciously dramatic guitar riff* We talk at length about Brandon Walsh being the WORST, and we finally...

If you watch Jersey Shore ironically, please skip this episode altogether.  Thank you. EDITED BY Sophia Betz 🎧

Ruh roh, we’re getting scholarly again! What makes a 90s teen movie? We dive into a *hard* definition and the tropes of the genre–and try to anoint a 90s teen movie MVP 🏅 Plus: the gorgeous campiness of She’s All That, Kids (1995) being a horror film, Taylor Vaughan being #gayorigins, the parallels between Stifler and Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, and the underrated comedic stylings of Marley...

Let us take you on a journey, a wide sweeping journey of the top things in pop culture that made us feel gay. From Denise Huxtable to Rayanne Graff, these are the people, the characters, and the moments that were sexually formative for us.  Word to the wise: you don’t marry your number one.  Also: who knew Ferris Bueller’s Day Off would make both of our lists–FOR DIFFERENT REASONS?? Feast your eye...

Join us as we find the points of connection between these two wackadoodle rap comedies from the early aughts. Has anyone ever talked about either of these films in such an elevated way? Welcome to Poppers J, y’all.  EDITED BY Sophia Betz 🎧

Welcome to our Eras tour! Professor Mia Howard takes us through the seven distinct eras of Saved by the Bell.    That’s it. That’s the episode.    EDITED BY Sophia Betz 🎧

SURPRISE, beetches! After two and a half years, we're back for another round of episodes -- because we just couldn't quit without addressing some of our all-time faves. ✨ Welcome to one of the BEST romcoms of all time, the blueprint for enemies-to-lovers fan fiction, the one we've quoted in damn near every episode of this pod: The Cutting Edge. We lament how this movie gave us the most unrealisti...

THIS IS IT. OUR FINAL EPISODE. You might even say, “This afternoon is my final skate.” And we did. Which led us to a 10-15 minute discussion of The Cutting Edge, which we somehow missed covering in this podcast despite it being mentioned nearly every other episode.  Then it’s onto the main event: the downright bonkerstown high camp child actor superthriller The Good Son. Which begs the inevitable...

For our penultimate ep, we are all over the map, bro. Join us in our journey back to the most hormonal era of our lives as we rewatch the Karate Kid/Home Alone mash-up that was 3 Ninjas. Colt gives major Atreyu vibes, and Grandpa’s name is MAURY? ...No wait, it’s Mori.   But before we talk 3 Ninjas, we talk about sunsetting this here pod, how the children don’t know yet but they’ll know eventually...

In 1997, Mia went on the local news and stated her intention to be the mother of Leonardo DiCaprio’s children. This is where it all started. 

This may be our most delightful lookback of the season. Mia’s been a Little Rascals fan since waaaaay back in the day, and even though this was Caitlin’s first time seeing the 1994 reboot, she took it upon herself to go Full Film Nerd on its ass and do a deep dive into the history of this group of lil’ characters–which dates all the way back to the silent era!   The cameos of it all, the nightmari...

How could we have almost forgotten Shawn Hunter? We talk Shawn & Angela actually being a lesbian interracial couple, outdated Italian racial slurs, crush archetypes, the Christian values of 90s pop culture, and how Caitlin dated a RL Brooklyn Shawn Hunter in 6th grade. We also go into all these Twitter shenanigans, The Vow Season 2, and Leah Remini being our collective homegirl.

There is perhaps no other episode of Poppers J that screams #gayorigins more than this one (and we covered all six seasons of The L Word!). We explain why our Devon Sawa trilogy is now simply a duo, and explore (1) how Christina Ricci made a pig nose fashion in Penelope, (2) Gaby Hoffmann being Park Slope incarnate, and (3) the cleverness of Rosie O’Donnell’s “crush” on Tom Cruise in the 90s. @Rit...

Mia gives her review of Hocus Pocus 2 and shares her morbid fascination with Dahmer, and we talk Bros and the merits of ignoring straight moviegoers entirely. We also explore our own violent impulses and the concept of Wronged Rage.  And then it’s on to the main event, the first installment of our Unofficial Devon Sawa Trilogy: Little Giants. But what we come to realize is that maybe we weren’t ju...

We’re back with a list, baybee! We give you our top five TV theme songs by category: sitcom, drama, and animated. And we honor our forever number one, the most underrated TV theme song of all time (but that was also attached to a show that, see episode title)--that we were amazed to discover was also penned AND PERFORMED by an R&B legend.  BUT FIRST: we dreamcast Robyn in the new Whitney biopic, M...

COURT IS NOW IN SESSION. This might be the most serious episode we’ve ever done.  Welcome to our first court case: Mia arguing in favor of My Girl 2 v. Caitlin, on behalf of My Girl OG. Mia went to law school; Caitlin went to film school. It’s a battle for the ages! 

This week’s coming of age fave is Milk Money (aka 🥛💰), a movie that’s one part Stand By Me, one part Pretty Woman, and somehow also one part mobster thriller. It makes no gd sense, but Melanie Griffith is a g and we love her. Also, big shout-out to bisexual comic relief queen Anne Heche, who fully embraced the kook factor in this film. We also give a preview of the shade that’s to come in our 3...

Shockingly, neither of us was super excited about revisiting M-to-the-D–not even Mia, who has vowed to take out Joshua Jackson’s wife on numerous occasions. But our cold middle-aged hearts were won over by its wholesomeness. (And as a bonus, we excavated a lost crush from our childhoods!) Give it up for our short Staten Island king, Emilio Estevez.  Plus, get ready for us to reminisce about stalki...

It’s SEASON 3, BAYBEE! It’s the Season of Crushes. And we kick it off with the delightful Camp Nowhere. We reflect on the singular experience that was being dragged through Kings Plaza Mall by our mothers, and we relive our summer camp crushes.  Hey, Hollywood: Where is Christopher Lloyd’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and where is the prequel? Also, stop being cowards and just cast fat actors inste...

IT’S THE SEASON FINALE OF OUR POD, Y’ALL! Insecure ended the day after Christmas, and we’re still not over it. We have a rich discussion of the final season (with a heavy emphasis on that whiplash-inducing finale), the Molly of it all, and what the show meant to us on the whole.  Our *super* special guest this week is Chris Sewell! Chris has an Ed. D. in Educational Leadership & Policy and an illu...

We have our FIRST guest! Welcome to PJ our dear friend, junior high AND high school classmate, and renowned My So-Called Life expert, Logan Cooper. Logan comes to our discussion with Media Studies Professor-level incisiveness about this beloved cult classic and mid-90s time capsule. We throw fisticuffs over Rayanne Graff, discuss our own respective Catalanos (and Krakows!), and Logan explains why...

Nothing’s better than friends! The theme song told us so. In this ep, we cover the 1990 TV adaptation of the iconic Baby-Sitters Club YA book series–and Mia shares an embarrassing origin story of her pop culture addiction. We also check in on our current Insecure feelings (only four episodes left!) and Caitlin reports back on House of Gucci.  And of course, Mia gives us the latest on all things Ki...

If you’re an Xennial like us, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle was crucial viewing and probably shaped your sense of humor in college (well, that and the GI Joe PSAs). What starts as an ode to the genre-smashing Jersey road trip buddy stoner comedy (queer romance) quickly devolves into a John Cho hornfest. Can you blame us, though? We rank all three films in the H+K trilogy, we get into another...

Class is in session. Professor Mia Lynn Howard is here to teach you all about The Neve Campbell School of Acting and its origins during the filming of 90s drama Party of Five. Caitlin features as “Acting Expert” and (highly skeptical) Neve Campbell Doppelganger. Listeners, you will be quizzed next Friday.

SING IT: Wiiiiiiild horseeeeees!  We intended to do a full month of spooky eps, but life (and the culture) got in the way. Today we get into all things Chappelle‘s latest special from the unique perspective of two queer uber Chappelle fans (though that title may have to be revised). But our main event is the 1996 Seattle grunge monsterpiece, Fear--AKA Marky Mark fingerbangs Reese Witherspoon on a...