Pretty Much Pop: A Culture Podcast

Mark, Erica, and Brian delve into this 8-film horror franchise started by James Wan in 2013 through The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. Do their demons scare us, and do their Catholic defenses provide a convincing antidote? Is it OK to valorize the Warrens, the supernatural detectives who were most likely hucksters in real life? For more, visit prettymuchpop.com . Hear bonus content for this e...

Director/writer/sound operator Heather Fink joins Mark, Erica, and Brian to discuss the role of the director in making a good comedy, covering TV vs. film, sex scenes, not telling actors how to read their lines, editing, and more. For more, visit prettymuchpop.com . Hear bonus content for this episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop . Sponsor : Get a loan to lower your monthly payments at Upstart.com...

To what degree to our childhood favorites persist into adulthood? Are we doomed to love the songs of our generation best? What causes the generation gap in musical tastes? Mark, Erica, Brian, plus Jon, the host of The Hustle Podcast share their nostalgia and discuss "guilty pleasures," the different pre-critical stages at which songs burrow themselves into our brains, aging pop stars, film soundtr...

What is it for a super-hero to represent America? Recent Captain America media includes racial critique, and Mark, Erica, Brian and Anthony discuss The Falcon and the Winter Soldier , Truth: Red, White & Black , comic runs by Ta-Nehishi Coates and Nick Spencer, and more. For more, visit prettymuchpop.com . Hear bonus content for this episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop .

What distinguishes this small-town Pennsylvania murder mystery from the many other crime dramas on TV? Mark, Erica, and Brian discuss the plot structure, casting, and other creative choices and try to figure out how the show relates to Broadchurch , The Undoing , etc. For more, visit prettymuchpop.com . Hear bonus content for this episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop . Sponsor : Visit hellofresh.c...

What's the status of Dungeons & Dragons and other table-top role-playing games in pop culture? Fantasy settings are no longer just for the ultra-geeky, but role-playing may still seem foreign. Mark, Erica, and Brian are joined by the host of Join the Party to discuss acting out your fantasy, RPG basics, real-play podcasts, racism ("kill all orcs!"), and more. For more, visit prettymuchpop.com . He...

Mark, Erica, and Brian discuss the HBO Max show out Victorian-era super-powered feminine outcasts, helmed and now abandoned by the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer , Firefly, etc. Does this reduced-by-the-pandemic show still work? Does knowing the complaints about Joss Whedon affect our consumption? For more, visit prettymuchpop.com . Hear bonus content for this episode at patreon.com/prettymuc...

Why do people play video games, and what keeps them playing? Mark, Erica, and Brian are joined by the host of the Psychology of Video Games podcast to discuss player types, motivation vs. engagement, incentives and feedback, as well as the gamification of work or school environments. We touch on Donkey Kong , Dark Souls , It Takes Two , Returnal , Hades , Subnautica , Fortnite , and Age of Z . For...

Thinking about the tech genius as villain trope in TV shows like Made for Love , Devs , Silicon Valley , and the documentary WeWork . They're our modern mad scientists, able to unleash science to surveil, control, and possibly kill us. Mark, Erica, and Brian consider how it works in comedy vs. serious media, how it relates to real-life tech billionaires, and the feminist angle. For more, visit pre...

After our collectibles discussion , Matt sticks around to talk with Mark, Erica, and Brian about his podcast , memorabilia left by his father, Deep Space Nine , Susanna Clark, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier , Dexter , and more. For more aftertalks, subscribe at patreon.com/prettymuchpop . For more Pretty Much Pop, visit prettymuchpop.com .

What drives someone to collect Star Wars figures or Transformers or LEGOs or whatever else? Mark, Erica, and Brian are joined by guest Matt Young of the Hello from the Magic Tavern and Improvised Star Trek podcasts to talk about this potentially expensive and life-eating habit. For more, visit prettymuchpop.com . Hear bonus content for this episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop . Sponsor : Get a lo...

What is with the weird relationship we Americans have with our pets? Many of us treat them as our babies, yet of course they're our captives. Dog trainer Hannah Branigan , host of Drinking from the Toilet , joins Mark, Erica, and Brian to talk about pets as entertainment, as hobby, and as pandemic companions. How can we make this relationship as beneficial as possible for all involved, and how can...

Is TV rotting our minds? Mark, Brian, and the full PEL gang discuss this 1985 book that tweaks Marshall McLuhan's "the medium is the message" idea to say that the form and conventions of TV give us the expectation that everything must be entertaining, with disastrous consequences. How might this critique apply to the modern streaming and the Internet? For more, visit prettymuchpop.com . Hear bonus...

Are giant monsters stomping on cities just stupid fun, or do they channel deep fears of helplessness? Do we care at all about the humans in these films? Are they legit sci-fi or political commentary? Mark, Erica, and Brian reflect on the MonsterVerse films, plus the filmic histories of Godzilla and King Kong, Pacific Rim , Colossal , The Host , Cloverfield , and more. For more, visit prettymuchpop...

Brian, Erica, and Mark consider one of this year's Oscar-nominated films, The Trial of the Chicago 7 , and the film and TV career of its writer/director Aaron Sorkin. We get into The West Wing , The Social Network , Steve Jobs , The Newsroom , and more, focusing on his recurring characters, plots based on true stories, and whether his speechifying is manipulative in the ways that we enjoy or not....

Animation is so labor-intensive that it seems designed for corporate domination a la Disney. Mark, Erica, and Brian are joined by animator Benjamin Goldman to discuss doing animation on your own. What qualifies as "indie?" What are we as adult viewers looking from this medium? How do images relate to narration? How realistic should the animation look? You may want to watch Benjamin's short film (c...

On Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar , and how inserting women into the buddy comedy format might lead to deeper exploration of friendships. Two sets of long-time friends--Erica and Micah, and Mark and Brian--look at tropes and character dynamics, touching on Booksmart , Bridesmaids , Sisters , et al.  For more, visit prettymuchpop.com . Hear bonus content for this episode at patreon.com/prettymuchp...

St. Patrick's Day has passed: What sort of representation of Ireland has made it to the U.S. through such celebrations? Who gets to decide what's authentically Irish? Mark, Erica, and Brian are joined by writer and musician Larry to talk about his immigrant experience, covering history, music, humor, language, slurs, stereotypes, and his new book Rockaway Blue . For more, visit prettymuchpop.com ....

More discussion yanked from behind our paywall for your amusement: Your hosts and Rolando touch on some of what his Remakes, Reboots, and Revivals podcast handles, like Tom and Jerry , Sonic the Hedgehog , Walker , Space Jam , and Borat 2. Then sans Rolando your hosts keep going on D.B. Cooper, The Head , Plebs , Keenan , and Aaron Sorkin, and more. We do this kind of thing after every episode! Ge...

The debut Disney+ Marvel series is... a tribute to classic sit-coms? Mark, Erica, Brian, and guest Rolando try to figure out whether this experiment was successful, whether you have to be a die-hard to get it, and the potential for future oddball superhero outings.. For more, visit prettymuchpop.com . Hear bonus content for this episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop . Sponsors : Get 15% off wireles...

Mark, Erica, Brian, and guest memoir author Laura talk about the appeal of this type of book whose production has exploded in recent years. We each read a book, covering Elvis Costello , Carrie Brownstein , Ozzy Osbourne , and Debby Harry respectively. How are these better than a film depiction or documentary biography? For more, visit prettymuchpop.com . Hear bonus content for this episode at pat...

Media representation of disability needs improvement, as does inclusion of disabled actors and writers. Playwright Kayla joins Mark, Erica, and Brian to talk about hurdles, disability culture, negative stereotypes, and how disability relates to comedy and horror. For more, visit prettymuchpop.com . Hear bonus content for this episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop . Sponsor : Get 50% off your custom...

Mark-san, Erica-san, and Brian-san survey the new Karate Kid revival show Cobra Kai and all the original films starting with the 1984 classic for nonsensical plotting, villain motivation, questionable acting, and more. For more, visit prettymuchpop.com . Hear bonus content for this episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop .

Jason was music director at KRCW, the LA NPR station, is also a DJ with a lot of experienced interviewing musicians, and now hosts a new podcast, The Backstory . He joins Mark and Erica to discuss the creative and business possibilities of podcasting in comparison to radio, what their futures may hold, and his own journey between the two media. For more, visit prettymuchpop.com . Hear bonus conten...

Happy Groundhog Day! The '93 film has had dozens of imitators spanning various genres in recent years, but the idea goes back more than a century. Mark, Erica, Brian, and guest Ken Gerber touch on popular and obscure examples examples from film and TV to explore the philosophical themes and storytelling techniques.  For more, visit prettymuchpop.com . Hear bonus content for this episode at patreon...