Poppish

This week we’re talking great escapes. Men backed into a corner and forced to break the rules to get out. Anneliese tells us about the 1962 escape from Alcatraz, and Ellie reminisces on the golden age of Bachelor Nation, when Colton jumped the fence. Who are we rooting for? Where are these men now? How did they pull it off? We’ll get into all of it. Plus: Ellie gets some unexpected mail, the stres...

As any good self help book will tell you, “no” is a complete sentence. Today we tell the stories of two icons who said drew a boundary, said no, and walked away from the opportunity of a lifetime. Philip Benizi was offered the chance to be literal Pope and he fled to a cave until the election was over to avoid the title. America’s Next Top Model contestant Natalie (maybe) made it to the semifinals...

Every once in a while, a woman gives birth in a way that really makes people stop and stare. In 1978, that woman was Lesley Brown, who gave birth to the first baby conceived via IVF. In 2009, that woman was Nadya Suleman, also known as the Octomom, who gave birth to octuplets and became a media sensation. Why did these births draw such intense public reaction? How did the media attention affect th...

My boyfriend? You don’t know him, he goes to a different database. We’re talking scary, imaginary, soul sucking intimate relationships this week: the mythology of incubi and succubi and the troubling trend of AI partners. How did these phenomena come to be and what are we to make of them? Whether it’s a demon that comes creeping in the night or a chain of code designed to praise you endlessly, the...

This week, we explore two methods of communicating the things that matter most: the Voyager Golden Records and the Instagram Photo Dump. These carefully curated collections help convey our way of life, our values, and what we know. We can’t for the life of us figure out how the Golden Record works, but we’re hoping if aliens find it they can figure it out. And also there’s love triangle tea. On th...

Could this meeting have been an emoji? A picture is worth a thousand words, so we’re analyzing two languages made up entirely of images: Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphics and Emojis. How do these tiny images convey so much meaning? How do we as users define and evolve this meaning over time? And what is the difference between :), :-), and (: ? All this, plus a psychological look at Bravo’s “Love Over...

Childless cat ladies, rejoice! This episode celebrates two important roles cats have held in culture across millennia: the stone lion statues of Imperial China and the bodega cats of New York City. These cats serve important functions for the buildings they protect and are beloved symbols of the community. We unpack the history both and what they mean to us today. Plus: Ellie narrowly escapes immi...

Let’s examine two letters that exposed hidden truths, shifted alliances, and ultimately, started wars: the Zimmermann Telegram and the Jersey Shore Note. Secrets came to light in the harsh black and white of ink on paper, and it changed everything. We tried REALLY hard to understand what a telegram is for this one, but we just couldn’t get there. How did these letters make their way into the hands...

A truce can be a beautiful thing, but it can also be fleeting. We explore two cases of short-lived truces: the WWI Christmas Truce in December of 1914, and Jelena’s brief rekindling in late 2017 before Justin’s engagement to Hailey Baldwin. How do we find peace in the midst of so much pain? And God dammit, why can’t we stick to it? All this and more on this week’s Poppish. Plus: Anneliese’s Brookl...

To celebrate one full year of absolute nonsense, we’re reflecting on the origins of the pod, taking listener questions, and reacting to some of your hot takes. It’s been such a fun year and we’re so grateful to everyone who’s come along for the ride! Here’s to another year of Poppish to come!

I think you guys might be doing unto others as you would have others do unto yourselves too much… This week we explore two codes by which you live one’s life: The Ten Commandments and Jemima Kirke’s Instagram Q&As. Both texts, handed down by God, give us a path to follow in an otherwise disordered and meaningless life. This episode contains spoilers for the Old Testament of the Bible. Listener...

Let’s look at two inventors who would go on to be tormented by their own creations: J. Robert Oppenheimer, father of the atomic bomb, and Dong Nguyen, creator of Flappy Bird. Both men achieved great success and recognition in their field, only to regret bringing their ideas into the world. This would lead to Oppenheimer being banned from President Truman’s office and Nguyen pulling Flappy Bird fro...

Put on your spelunking boots: we’re going underground. We’re telling two classic “trapped inside the bowels of the earth” stories: Baby Jessica and the Thai Cave Rescue. How did these children end up under the ground, and how the HELL are we gonna get them out? Everyone shows up in this one: the guy with no collarbones, the Thai navy seals, even Elon Musk. Did someone say dream blunt rotation?? Pl...

What does a girl have to do to get sent to an island around here?? We unpack two stories we’re deeply jealous of: prominent individuals who were sent away from society to heal/build and army. We’re learning all about the exiles of Napoleon (both of them!) and Pre-Reputation Taylor Swift. One moment you’re placing a glorious crown on your head/Grammy in your hand, the next no one even fucks with yo...

What do Walt Disney and Tana Mongeau have in common? They both had a dream. One, to open a theme park that wasn’t gross and also had a fully functioning train, and the other, to introduce a competitor to VidCon with just weeks of planning and no frontal lobe. These projects varied in their success, but both experienced similarly chaotic first days. In the Anaheim heat, ticket holders showed up to...

This one product can change your whole life and fix everything you don’t like about yourself? Huge if true. This week we talk Patent Medicines (AKA: snake oil) and Peptides, the wellness craze that has teens mixing and injecting miracle elixirs in their bedrooms. What are the claims behind these phenomena, and do any of them actually work? Plus: Poppish speaks on Punch the Monkey and we reflect up...

This week, we trace two historic timeline shifts back to their inciting incidents. We unpack how the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand kicked off World War 1, and how the death of Harambe the Gorilla led to… whatever this is. We discuss the tragic demise of two dudes who were ultimately just doing their thing, and survey the events that played out in their aftermath. Plus: a New Orleans Ma...

This week we get into a little classic Hollywood drama, exploring the casting processes for both “Gone With the Wind” and “The Greatest Showman.” Learn how Vivien Leigh landed the role of Scarlett O’Hara and how Jeremy Jordan did NOT land the role of Philip Carlisle. Plus: A report on the TikTok vertical drama scene and how to spend a day drying your sheets. For two girls suffering from wifi issue...

This week on Poppish: two inspiring tales of humanity showing up for one another after disaster. We share the stories of RMS Carpathia, the ship that rescued survivors of Titanic, and the town of Gander, Newfoundland, which took in thousands of stranded passengers whose flights were grounded on 9/11. In times like these, it’s nice to look back on how people have shown up to help strangers in the p...

Reporting drunk from the great NYC snowstorm of 2026, it’s Ellie and Anneliese. We each mixed a Buzzball, Beatbox, and Cutwater and then we hit record. We are so sorry for what followed. We did our very best to explain and compare two revolutionary inventions: the Printing Press and the Glambot. We recited the facts we could, and we slur our way to the finish line. We also catch up on TikTok influ...

POPPISH’S 6 STEP RECIPE FOR SUCCESS: Step 1: Change your name. Step 2: Take on a transatlantic accent. Step 3: Record “Ocean Eyes” in your brother’s bedroom. Step 4: Share your testimony. Step 5: Cut costs. Step 6: Maximize profits. Listen for more detail.

Are volcanoes pop culture? That question lies at the center of this week’s episode, wherein we unpack the terrifying eruptions of Mount Vesuvius (79 AD) and Whaakari (2019 AD). Two stories of volcanic disaster, one igniting tourism to Pompeii and one stopping tourism to White Island. If there’s one thing we learned, it’s that no matter how hard man tries to exert his control over nature, volcanoes...

This week, EVERYONE comes into a little wealth. James Marshall finds gold at Sutter’s Mill, a mysterious figure named Satoshi Nakamoto founds Bitcoin, Ellie gets a diamond ring, and Anneliese goes on a date with the creator of a brand new meme coin. Before recounting the California Gold Rush from 4th grade memory (it doesn’t go as well as we hoped), Ellie tells the story of her recent engagement t...

It’s up to each generation of women to destigmatize a new piece of the female form. In the 1920s, it was the knee. In the 2010s, bathed in the glowing optimism of the Obama administration, we pushed all the way to the nipple. Whether or not the nipple has been truly freed is still up for debate. We unpack 1920s flapper fashion and the knee-painting fad that drew attention to shorter hemlines and d...

Buckle your seatbelt and do NOT take it off until the pilot has turned off the seatbelt light, because we’re embarking on a Golden Age of Travel through two lumberjack tall tales. Whether you’re 63 axe handles tall or just regular height with a talent for speed climbing 90 feet in the air, you’ll find something to love in this rockin and choppin episode of Poppish as we tell you about obvious pair...