Pop Pantheon

For part two of our Gwen Stefani series, NPR Music editor Hazel Cills returns to Pop Pantheon to tackle Gwen's solo career. Louie and Hazel discuss Gwen striking out on her own via collaborations with Moby and Eve, then parse through her certifiably bonkers, extraordinarily controversial, hit-stacked solo debut, 2004’s Love Angel Music Baby – undoubtedly one of the mid 2000’s biggest blockbusters....

And Introducing host Molly Mary O’Brien joins the show for part one of a double-header on Gwen Stefani! This week, Molly and Louie discuss No Doubt, a local SoCal ska band that improbably morphed into one of the world’s biggest pop rock bands and then served as a launching pad Gwen’s solo career as one of the important big-tent dance pop stars of her generation. The two dig into what made Gwen a i...

In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode , Who? Weekly 's Bobby Finger joins Pop Pantheon: All Access to revisit Robyn's most recent album, 2018's long-awaited Honey . Bobby and Louie dig into the album's central themes of grief and loss, how it pivots from the catharsis and gratification of classic Robyn songs towards something more amorphous and even frustrating, its deconstr...

Louie and Russ are answering listener questions about what's next for Charli XCX, how Dua Lipa fits into the broader trend of cult-of-personality pop stars, whether The Idol will tank The Weeknd's career, why Luke Comb's "Fast Car" is such a hit, how a Canadian Pop Pantheon might differ from the American one, a slew of Niche Legends, how they make the show and so much more. Join Pop Pantheon: All...

Hit Parade host Chris Molanphy returns to discuss one of the defining pop stars of the late 1980s, Paula Abdul. Louie and Chris discuss the virtuosic choreography that snatched Paula a ticket to pop superstardom, her three year run of signature hits beginning with 1988’s blockbuster Forever Your Girl through 1991's Spellbound, her contributions to the MTV music video boom, why her final album, 199...

In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode , Host of the Ringer's Every Single Album podcast Nora Princiotti is back on the show to talk all things Speak Now ! Taylor Swift released the third in her series of album re-recordings, Speak Now (Taylor's Version), last Friday, so Louie and Nora are deep-diving on the album, its major themes and aesthetics, where it sits in the narrati...

We’re planning a mailbag episode that's dropping very (and we mean mean VERY) soon + we want your questions! Curious what Louie thinks of a recent trend in pop? Want to know what he thinks is coming next for a certain pop star? Or what goes on behind the scenes at Pop Pantheon? Have burning questions about upcoming album rollouts, historical pop quandaries or Louie + Russ’s personal lives? Hit us...

On the eve of the third installment of Taylor Swift's re-recording project of her first seven studio albums, Speak Now (Taylor's Version) , Switched on Pop 's Charlie Harding, Rolling Stone' s Larisha Paul and Every Single Album 's Nora Princiotti join DJ Louie to break down how this singularly ambitious endeavor has gone so far. Has it achieved its commercial goals? What about its aesthetic ones?...

Steven J. Horowitz returns to Pop Pantheon to discuss the career of contemporary pop’s sexiest studio rat, Charlie Puth. Louie and Steven tackle Charlie’s oddball career in pop music, from his rocket into mainstream consciousness singing the saccharine hook on “See You Again” to his personality-less debut album, 2016’s 9 Track Mind . They examine the critical reevaluation he received following his...

In a preview of this week's Patreon episode, Vulture 's Jason P Frank joins PP:AA to discuss Kim Petras' first major label studio album, Feed the Beast , which dropped Friday. Louie and Jason address the album's shortcomings as it attempts to find a broader audience for Kim, the few things that work on the record, how Kim's music has ended up in this disappointing place, and what they hope the fai...

In the final installment of our pride series, Assistant Professor of English at Toronto Metropolitan University and author of the journal article "Diva Worship and the Sonic Search for Queer Utopia" Dr. Craig Jennex joins the show to unpack the relationship between queer men and pop divas. Louie and Craig discuss how this relationship developed over the last hundred years, from the time of opera s...

Incoming Dean of the Thornton School of Music at USC Jason King returns to Pop Pantheon to discuss the life and career of the architect of rock ‘n roll, Little Richard. Louie and Jason unpack Little Richard’s breakthrough “Tutti Frutti,” which is widely credited as the genesis of rock n’ roll music, and his string of hits through the 1950s; perhaps one of the first imperial phases in modern music...

In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, entertainment writer Matt Jacobs, who penned a piece for Vulture called "The Never-ending Story of Glitter, 20 Years On" , joins DJ Louie to chronicle the twisting tale of Mariah Carey's infamous 2001 flop film and soundtrack album. Louie and Matt detail Glitter 's '80s pastiche conceit, what works on the record, what doesn't, all of th...

Winner of Season One of Canada's Drag Race Priyanka joins Pop Pantheon to chop it up about what makes the ideal pride anthem. First, Louie and Priyanka discuss Pri's new music, whether there's a difference between a drag pop song and mainstream pop song, and some of barriers between drag queens and the pop charts. Then, they break down the ingredients for the perfect pride anthem and each share a...

In preparation for her major label debut, Feed The Beast , dropping later this month, Vulture ’s Jason P. Frank joins Pop Pantheon to discuss a star who is perhaps the first out trans woman to be in the running as a mainstream pop aspirant, Kim Petras. Jason and Louie’s conversation, which kicks off Pop Pantheon’s Pride series, covers Kim’s career, her early attempts to break into the music busine...

Aretha Franklin: The Queen of Soul author Mark Bego joins Pop Pantheon to unpack the life and career of the greatest singer in American history, Aretha Franklin. Louie and Mark follow Aretha’s story from her upbringing as a reverend's daughter to her early gospel recordings and how her cover of Otis Redding’s ‘Respect’ rocketed her to superstardom. From there, they tackle Aretha’s fabled run throu...

Editor at The Wall Street Journal Myles Tanzer joins DJ Louie to break down 2023 in pop music so far. The two debate the broader state of pop this year, both aesthetically and commercially, and discuss which stars have experienced significant up-levels before each sharing their lists of their three favorite albums and five favorite songs of 2023 (so far). Listen to a Spotify Playlist of Louie &amp...

In a preview of this week's episode of Pop Pantheon: All Access , Fluxblog's Matthew Perpetua & host of the And Introducing podcast Molly Mary O'Brien join DJ Louie to look back on three years of Chromatica : How they absorbed it when it dropped in the context of May 2020, how it sounds to them now, what's happening aesthetically and thematically on the songs, where it stacks up against in Gag...

Senior Music Editor at Rolling Stone Julyssa Lopez joins Pop Pantheon to discuss chameleonic hit-maker and international pop force, Shakira. Louie and Julyssa unpack Shakira’s early success throughout Latin America with 1995's Pies Descalzos and 1998's Dónde Están los Ladrones? , her international break-through, Laundry Service (2001), her market-conquering Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 and Oral Fixation,...

In a preview of this week's episode of Pop Pantheon: All Access , Louie and Russ gather to discuss British pop star Jessie Ware's fifth studio album, the disco-homaging That! Feels Good! , which dropped a couple weeks ago and where it fits into the broader disco revival which began in 2020 with Dua Lipa's Future Nostalgia . To hear the rest of this episode plus all of our bonus content, access to...

Beyoncé's massive Renaissance World Tour kicks off next week in Stockholm, Sweden so DJ Louie got a veritable Beyhive of all stars— writer of the substack Hung Up Hunter Harris, Keep It! Host Ira Madison III and Pitchfork Editor-in-Chief Puja Patel— in formation to reflect on (almost) one year of the stadium trek's namesake Renaissance , Queen B's seventh album which dropped last July. First, the...

The New Yorker 's John Seabrook joins Pop Pantheon to discuss his recent exhaustive piece, " So You Want To Be a Tik Tok Star" . John and Louie discuss how the social media vlogging app rose to dominance in the music space, why it's so well-suited to the pop music ecosystem, how artists both existing and new are utilizing it and rebelling against it, how the music industry is weaponizing it and ho...

In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode , Pop Pantheon's first guest ever (!!) Steven J. Horowitz is back to revisit the first artist ever featured on the show, Ariana Grande. Since Louie and Steven last spoke in early 2021, Ariana has done... not much. But since they didn't really get to dig into it back then, the two go long on her latest album, 2020's sex-fest Positions, a...

In the third episode of our girl group trilogy, US Editor and Culture Director of Service 95 Brennan Carley joins the show to discuss the (very) brief rise and fall of the last major American girl group of note , Fifth Harmony. Louie and Brennan discuss 5H's assembly by Simon Cowell on the reality singing competition show X-Factor , how they discovered their signature brand of 2010s female empower...

The New Yorker’s Doreen St. Félix returns to Pop Pantheon for the second episode in our new girl group trilogy, digging into the crazy, sexy and cool career of one of the best-selling girl groups of all time, TLC. Doreen and DJ Louie discuss the album that made TLC instant stars, 1992’s raucous Oooh, on the TLC Tip! , their pivot to slinky R&B on their classic blockbuster sophomore album Crazy...