Pop Pantheon

In a preview of this week's  Pop Pantheon: All Access  episode, From Sabrina and Justin to Addison, Pink Pantheress, Slayyyter, & Katseye, Louie and Russ talk some of the buzziest performances from Coachella weekend. They also dig into Lady Gaga and Doechii's "Runway" and Russ' experience seeing Lily Allen perform West End Girl live. To hear the rest of the this episode plus rec...

Louie is joined by Vulture 's Jason P. Frank, Pitchfork 's Walden Green, and critic Lauren Michele Jackson to draft the 20 best Lana Del Rey songs of all time. Check out a playlist of our best Lana songs of all time Gorgeous Gorgeous LA 4/2 Gorgeous Gorgeous NYC 4/8 Join Pop Pantheon: All Access, Our Patreon Channel, for Exclusive Content and More Shop Merch in Pop Pantheon's Store Follow Pop Pant...

In a preview of this week's  Pop Pantheon: All Access  episode, Louie and Russ are joined by The Fader's Steffanee Wang to break down new albums from Raye and Slayyyter. To hear the rest of the this episode plus receive weekly bonus episodes of Pop Pantheon, gain access to our Discord channel and so much more, subscribe to  Pop Pantheon: All Access  at the Icon Tier. You c...

Mic The Snare returns to Pop Pantheon to unpack the career of one of the most successful bands of the century, Maroon 5. Louie and Nick dig into the M5's beginnings as a high school band called Kara’s Flowers, their pivot to funky pop rock on their 2002 blockbuster debut Songs About Jane , and the softer reception to their second and third records— as well as the start of lead singer Adam Levine’s...

In a preview of this week's  Pop Pantheon: All Access  episode, Louie and Russ talk about their experiences seeing Zara Larsson's Midnight Sun Tour before breaking down new albums from Charlie Puth and Robyn To hear the rest of the this episode plus receive weekly bonus episodes of Pop Pantheon, gain access to our Discord channel and so much more, subscribe to  Pop Pantheon: Al...

Louie is joined by Shaad D'Souza and Reanna Cruz to count down their favorite pop albums of the century so far. Join Pop Pantheon: All Access, Our Patreon Channel, for Exclusive Content and More Shop Merch in Pop Pantheon's Store Follow Pop Pantheon on Instagram Follow DJ Louie XIV on Instagram Follow Russ on Instagram Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Journalist and editor Crystal Bell joins Russ from Seoul, South Korea to break down BTS' big comeback. Last week, the K-pop boy band released their first studio album in six years, Arirang , following each member of the group completing South Korea's mandatory military service. Crystal and Russ break down the album, BTS' live performance comeback and their new Netflix documentary BTS: The Return ....

Friend of the Pod Sam Murphy recently posted a TikTok positing an interesting question about whether Hot 100 #1s have the same salience as they used to have. To parse this question out further, Louie is joined by Sam and Chris to talk about the state of the #1 single, the Billboard charts, and what it all says about the music listen functions in 2026. Join Pop Pantheon: All Access, Our Patreon Cha...

In a preview of this week's  Pop Pantheon: All Access  episode, Happy Oscars! To celebrate the big day and our fav prolific Oscars also-ran, we're dropping All Access early and drafting the 20 best Diane Warren songs of all time with our pals Bobby Finger and Lindsey Weber of Who? Weekly. Tell us your Diane favs in the comments and enjoy this wild ride through one of the best songwr...

For the conclusion of our Whitney Houston Series, Louie and Russ play clips from all three guests— Emily Lordi, Jason King, & Gerrick Kennedy— plus take listener calls to finally determine if Whitney Houston is in Tier 1 of the Pop Pantheon. Whitney Houston Essentials Playlist Buy tickets to Gorgeous Gorgeous NYC on 3/20 Join Pop Pantheon: All Access, Our Patreon Channel, for Exclusive Content...

In a preview of this week's  Pop Pantheon: All Access  episode, Two of the biggest male pop stars of the day, Harry Styles and Bruno Mars, just returned with new albums after relatively long absences. What's new with these two and what do they have to say after years out of the spotlight? On this episode, Louie and Russ unpack Bruno Mars' The Romantic and Harry Styles' Kiss All The...

Gerrick Kennedy, author of Didn't We Almost Have It All: In Defense of Whitney Houston , joins Pop Pantheon for the third in our four-part series on the pop supernova Whitney Houston. Louie and Gerrick discuss Whitney’s most consistent and idiosyncratic album, 1998’s My Love Is Your Love, and its follow-up, the defensive flop, 2002’s Just Whitney, her only without Clive Davis at the helm. They unp...

In a preview of this week's  Pop Pantheon: All Access  episode, Lady Gaga's 7th studio album, Mayhem , turns one year old this week. To celebrate, Louie and Russ look back on the Grammy winner, going track-by-track on the record that had Gaga proclaiming, "my nachos are mine, I invented them, and I’m proud of them!" To hear the rest of the this episode plus receive weekly bonus epis...

Dean of the USC Thornton School of Music Jason King returns to Pop Pantheon for the second in our four-part series on the late, great pop Whitney Houston. Louie and Jason dissect Whitney’s unprecedented run of cultural dominance through the '90s, from her iconic Super Bowl 1991 performance to 1992's The Bodyguard, the best-selling soundtrack of all time. They then discuss Whitney’s troubled marria...

In a preview of this week's  Pop Pantheon: All Access  episode, Rihanna's 8th (and last?????) studio album Anti dropped a decade (!!) ago. To celebrate ten years, Louie and Russ look back on the record, going track-by-track on RiRi's loosest, most internal, and adventurous album, both a crowning achievement and frustrating cornucopia of unfulfilled potential. To hear the rest of the...

Author of the forthcoming book Holding Lightning: The Life, Loves, and Art of Whitney Houston Emily Lordi returns to Pop Pantheon to kick off our special four-part on a pop star known as “The Voice” – perhaps the single greatest singer to ever grace the charts— Whitney Houston. Louie and Emily dig into Whitney’s origins in New Jersey, her musical family and first taste of the industry as a teenage...

In a preview of this week's  Pop Pantheon: All Access  episode, Louie and Russ take more listener questions on Grimes, the best solo singles from former boy banders and girl groupers, who's on their Niche Legend Mount Rushmore, and more! To hear the rest of the this episode plus receive weekly bonus episodes of Pop Pantheon, gain access to our Discord channel and so much more, subsc...

Louie and Russ crack open the mailbag and answer listener questions about everything from the lack of buzz for Lorde post Virgin to what videos we like to put on at Gay Guy Music Video Night, our Letterboxd Top 4 and more. Buy tickets for Main Pop Girls on 2/27 in NYC Buy tickets to Gorgeous Gorgeous LA 2/13 Join Pop Pantheon: All Access, Our Patreon Channel, for Exclusive Content and More Shop Me...

In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, Friend of the Pod Reanna Cruz joins Louie and Russ to break down Bad Bunny's historic Super Bowl halftime show performance and Charli XCX's.... less historic new film, The Moment . To hear the rest of the this episode plus receive weekly bonus episodes of Pop Pantheon, gain access to our Discord channel and so much more, subscribe to Po...

This Sunday, Bad Bunny will make history as the first Puerto Rican born and the first Latin male artist to headline the Super Bowl Halftime Show. Ahead of the big game, Russ is joined by Hearing Things co-founder Julianne Escobedo Shepherd and Alana Casanova-Burgess, co-creator + host of La Brega: Stories of the Puerto Rican Experience, to dig into the history of Latin performers at the Halftime S...

In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, Louie and Russ dissect last night's Grammy Awards, from the very right (Bad Bunny takes Album of the Year :-)) to the very wrong (Billie Eilish wins Record of the Year!?!?! :-(). To hear the rest of the this episode plus receive weekly bonus episodes of Pop Pantheon, gain access to our Discord channel and so much more, subscribe to Pop...

From Beyoncé to Sophie, Jai Paul, Kelly Clarkson, Aaliyah, Nelly, Carly Rae Jepsen, and more, Brittany Spanos and Jason P. Frank join DJ Louie to countdown each of their Top 20 pop songs of the last quarter century . Listen to a playlist of our picks here ( Apple Music link here !) Get tickets to Main Pop Girls on 2/27 at Parkside Lounge Get tickets to Gorgeous Gorgeous NYC on 1/31 Get tickets to...

In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, Louie and Russ make their final predictions about who will take home hardware on Sunday night at the 68th Annual Grammy Awards.  To hear the rest of the this episode plus receive weekly episodes of Pop Pantheon: All Access, gain access to our Discord channel and so much more, subscribe to Pop Pantheon: All Access at the Icon Tier. You c...

Before Bad Bunny takes the stage at the Super Bowl, Pop Pantheon is exploring the career and work of another trailblazing Puerto Rican superstar, Ricky Martin. Nuria Net joins Louie to dig into Ricky’s origins as a boy bander turned soap star. The two discuss the music Ricky made with Menudo, his solo debut, and his global breakthrough with 1995's “Maria.” From there, they break down how an explos...

In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, Superstar Harry Styles just announced that his fourth studio album, Kiss Me All The Time. Disco, Occasionally, will drop on March 6. To prep, Louie and Russ returned to his last record, 2022's Harry's House, to parse out their feelings on that Grammy Winner for Album of the Year, track by track. To hear the rest of the this episode plus...