Pop Pantheon

Time 's Taylor Crumpton returns to Pop Pantheon to explore the deeply personal and trenchantly political R&B of neo-soul earth mother Erykah Badu. Taylor and Louie discuss Erykah’s upbringing in Dallas, her early work as part of a rap duo, and her early collaborations with the Roots and D'Angelo. From there they break down her legendary 1997 album Baduizm , her follow up Live , which included...

In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, Louie and Russ discuss buzzy new albums from three very different pop girlies: Zara Larsson's Midnight Sun , Audrey Hobert's Who's The Clown?, and Olivia Dean's The Art of Loving. 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...

Louie & Russ play a game of Step Up, Step Down where they look at recent career moves by Justin Bieber, Sabrina Carpenter, Doja Cat, Cardi B, and Lorde and decide if they are currently on an upward or downward slope in the Pop Pantheon. Grab tix to Gorgeous Gorgeous Halloween in NYC and LA Join Pop Pantheon: All Access, Our Patreon Channel, for Exclusive Content and More Shop Merch in Pop Pant...

In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, Louie is joined by friend of the pod, Pot Psychology 's Rich Juzwiak, to break down Mariah Carey's 16th studio album, Here For It All , which dropped a few weeks ago. The two dig into the record's mix of '70s soul and contemporary R&B, how Mimi deploys her more limited vocal range, and how Here attempts to solve for the problems of...

Louie and Russ are answering all of your questions about Season One of our Taylor Swift series which covered her early era and first three albums, 2006's debut, 2008's Fearless , and 2010's  Speak Now.  Listen to Pop Pantheon's Early Taylor Swift Essentials Playlist Grab tix to Gorgeous Gorgeous Halloween in NYC and LA Join Pop Pantheon: All Access, Our Patreon Channel, for Exclusive Content and M...

In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, what else could it be? Louie and Russ go extra long on Taylor Swift's 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, consider each track, and ask the big questions about what it all means in the career trajectory of the biggest pop star of them all.  To hear the rest of the this episode plus receive weekly bonus episodes of Pop Pantheon, ga...

The Guardian 's deputy music editor Laura Snapes makes her Pop Pantheon debut for the conclusion of season one of our epic Taylor Swift super-series. Louie and Laura revisit the marquee music event of autumn 2010, the release of Taylor’s third album, Speak Now . They discuss the album's six platinum hits, how it revitalized the record industry in a moment of peril and the way Taylor used Speak Now...

In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, Louie and Russ talk the announcement of Bad Bunny as next year's Super Bowl halftime show performer, Russ' experience at Lorde's Ultrasound World Tour, and take bets on the first week sales for Taylor Swift's Life of a Showgirl before digging into Doja Cat's '80s pastiche on her new album, Vie , released last week.  To hear the rest of...

Stereogum senior editor Tom Breihan returns to Pop Pantheon for the second episode of season one of Pop Pantheon’s epic Taylor Swift super-series. Louie and Tom touch down on Taylor as she lands her first big pop hit, the pop-rock anthem “Love Story.” From there, they tackle Taylor’s graduation from country ingenue to global superstardom with her number one Grammy-winning sophomore album, 2008’s F...

In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, Louie and Russ talk their predictions for who will be next year's Super Bowl halftime performer and talk there experiences seeing Katy Perry's Lifetimes Tour before digging into Cardi B's long-awaited sophomore album, Am I the Drama? , which dropped on Friday. To hear the rest of the this episode plus receive weekly bonus episodes of Po...

Rolling Stone ’s Rob Sheffield returns to Pop Pantheon to kick off the first season of our sprawling, multi-year super series about the biggest pop star phenomenon of the 21st century, Taylor Swift. Louie and Rob, author of Heartbreak Is the National Anthem: How Taylor Swift Reinvented Pop Music , dig into Taylor’s origins in suburban Philadelphia, the famed Christmas tree farm she grew up on and...

In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, Louie and Russ get together to share their experiences of seeing Lady Gaga's epic Mayhem Ball World Tour, before diving into their thoughts on new albums from Justin Bieber and Jade.  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...

Louie, Russ, and returning champ Reanna Cruz discuss the year in main pop girls before each sharing their personal top five Main Pop Girl Power Ranking for 2025 and putting their heads together for a collective top ten. Gaga? Addison? Doechii? Sabrina? PinkPantheress? Who will win?!?! Grab tix to Main Pop Girls on Oct. 3 at Parkside Lounge Grab tix to Gorgeous Gorgeous on Sept. 12 at The Sultan Ro...

In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, With performances from everyone from Doja Cat to Mariah Carey, and Lady Gaga and major awards for Ariana Grande and Sabrina Carpenter, Louie and Russ reflect on the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards, the first to air on CBS. It was a show loaded with a lot of stuff but very little that felt essential. The two try to parse apart the purpose an...

Louie and Russ look back on 2025's wonky summer of pop music, discuss whether there was any true song of summer this year, and look at Billboard's definitive rankings before sifting back through their bets from this spring to see who got the most right about Song of Summer 2025. Grab tix to Main Pop Girls on Oct. 3 at Parkside Lounge Grab tix to Gorgeous Gorgeous on Sept. 12 at The Sultan Room Joi...

In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, Louie and Russ talk briefly about the engagement news of the century before digging into Sabrina Carpenter's 7th (!!)— although for all intents and purposes, sophomore— studio album, Man's Best Friend , which dropped on Friday. To hear the rest of the this episode plus receive weekly bonus episodes of Pop Pantheon, gain access to our Di...

Pop Pantheon will return with new episodes next week! In the meantime, enjoy a taste of our Patreon channel, Pop Pantheon: All Access, with this live show about Taylor Swfit's The Tortured Poets Department from back in April of '24. If you enjoy this and want to receive weekly bonus episodes of Pop Pantheon, gain access to our Discord channel and so much more, subscribe to Pop Pantheon: All Access...

In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, The Wall Street Journal's Myles Tanzer returns to Pop Pantheon ahead of the 10-year anniversary of Justin Bieber's fourth studio album, Purpose, to unpack the blockbuster record. Louie and Myles touch down on Justin's recent album Swag, discuss Purpose's trio of number one hits, "Love Yourself," "Sorry" and "What Do You Mean?," and talk...

Pop Pantheon is off until September but we didn't want to leave you high and dry! This episode on Cyndi Lauper from back in January 2022 is one of Louie's favorites. If you missed it or are new to the pod, this is great gem from the back catalog. If you've heard it before, we hope you enjoy revisiting the career, work, and legacy of this early MTV era icon.  Join Pop Pantheon: All Access, Our Patr...

In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, Louie and Russ revisit Miley Cyrus' divisive 2013 blockbuster Bangerz , her most successful pop star era but one loaded to the brim with controversy and worse. To do so, they go track-by-track on the album but skip it's three enduring hits— "We Can't Stop," "Wrecking Ball," and "Adore You"— to decide if this explosive, chaotic record ma...

In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, it's a true Pop Emergency! Earlier this week, Taylor Swift announced her forthcoming 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl , due out October 3rd, so Louie and Russ had to gather for a little bonus pod to discuss everything we know about the album so far and what to expect from a whole new Taylor era. To hear the rest of the this epi...

To conclude our epic four-parter, the time has come to rank Kylie Minogue in the official Pop Pantheon! Louie and Russ convene an international gay summit with friends of the pod Owen Myers and Sam Murphy to break down one of the toughest tier rankings in Pop Pantheon history. Do we rank Kylie differently in different territories? Try to come up with a global ranking? How do we make sense of such...

In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, writer and producer Lakin Imani Starling joins Pop Pantheon ahead of the first anniversary of Doechii's mixtape Alligator Bites Never Heal to talk about how the project turned Doechii into a breakout star. Lakin and Russ dig into Doechii's origins in Florida, her early years as a rapper and musician and early hits like "Yucky Blucky Fru...

We have recently received a number of takedown notices from Spotify on behalf of an organization representing songwriters and publishers and indications that Spotify could, at some point, remove Pop Pantheon from their platform. In light of that and while our current plan is to continue publishing on Spotify for the the time being, we're highly suggesting that our Spotify listeners subscribe to PP...

Katherine St. Asaph makes her Pop Pantheon debut for the third in our four-part series on Kylie Minogue. Louie and Katherine discuss Kylie's life-changing cancer diagnosis and the celebratory record that followed her public battle with the disease 2007's X . Then they tackle Kylie’s later era run of records, from 2010’s Aphrodite through to 2020's Disco , when led into her third moment in the Amer...