Pop Literacy
Your biweekly pop culture book club.
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The Scoop on Black Country Music: Listening for Revolutions with Author and Professor Francesca T. Royster
01/11/2023
The Scoop on Black Country Music: Listening for Revolutions with Author and Professor Francesca T. Royster
Francesca T. Royster’s Black Country Music: Listening for Revolutions is a vital read that helps us to understand how country music got whitewashed, stripping it of its distinctly African American origins in slavery and its aftermath, and shows us how embracing that history will only enrich the form. Royster weaves Black, queer, and feminist scholarship into her analysis, but even more compellingly, she brings her own experiences as a Black, queer country fan to bear on her exploration of Black artists in country’s past and present. Through engaging essays, she explores Tina Turner’s country album, Darius Rucker’s Black bro image, Our Native Daughters’ history-steeped banjo music, and Lil’ Nas X’s fight to be considered country. The DePaul University English professor talks to Pop Literacy about what inspired her book, shares some of her favorite country music memories (like a set visit to Hee Haw!), and recommends some of her favorite country artists to add to your playlists. Read more: by Francesca T. Royster pop biographies on celebrities like Carol Burnett, Betty White, Beyonce, Dwayne Johnson, William Shatner, Taylor Swift, Lucille Ball, Simone Biles, Dolly Parton, Bob Ross, Julie Andrews, Tony Bennett, Rita Moreno, Willie Nelson, and Bruce Springsteen by Nick Hornby Pop Literacy is proudly sponsored by and .
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Michael Ausiello and the Making of Spoiler Alert
12/21/2022
Michael Ausiello and the Making of Spoiler Alert
TV journalist Michael Ausiello wrote a 2017 memoir called that detailed his 13-year relationship with his husband Kit Cowan, who, in a devastating turn, was diagnosed with terminal cancer and, as the title tells us, died. Not to sound jaded, but there are a lot of memoirs about cancer and death. This book, however, is special because it’s so specific and true and willing to get into the gory details—the goriest being the details of their living, breathing, changing relationship. The heartbreaking ending aside, it’s one of the best memoirs you’ll read about real adults trying to make a long-term relationship work. This book is so vulnerable, so raw, so specific, it just knocks you out. In this episode, we talk with Mike about this book and the movie adaptation that just came out starring Jim Parsons as Ausiello and Ben Aldridge as Kit. The movie lives up to the book, hitting just the right tone between dark humor and heartbreaking pathos. It’s wonderfully realized by director Michael Showalter and rendered for the screen judiciously by writers Marshall Grant and Dan Savage. We discuss how Ausiello came to share such a vulnerable story with the world, what it was like to see Parsons play a version of himself (in a word: weird), and how much we need more authentic stories about queer couples, and about adult people with relatable problems. Read more: by Michael Ausiello Pop Literacy is proudly sponsored by and .
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Life’s Work: A Memoir, from One of TV’s All-Time Greatest Writers
11/30/2022
Life’s Work: A Memoir, from One of TV’s All-Time Greatest Writers
Consider this a Pop Literacy year-end gift: the recommendation of a deeply engrossing read for the average book fan, an extra fantastic read for writers of all mediums and genres, and a round-up of some of the finest dramas to ever unfold on the small screen. All those things come courtesy of Life’s Work: A Memoir, the personal and professional autobiography – and unofficial writing how-to – from Emmy and Peabody Award-winning Deadwood creator and writer David Milch. Milch, also a former Yale professor and writer and producer of some of the most iconic episodes of seminal cop dramas like Hill Street Blues and NYPD Blues, shares delicious details behind the scenes of all his TV adventures … but is just as candid about life behind the camera, including a traumatic childhood that sparked many of his TV stories, a decades-long gambling addiction that cost him literally millions of dollars, and, finally, his current struggles with Alzheimer’s, prompting fellow legendary writer Susan Orlean to share of the book, “This is David Milch’s farewell, and it will rock you.” And, as always, we share what else has been topping our to-be-read piles. Read more: by David Milch by Matthew Perry by Rosalind Wiseman "" on Hulu "" on Hulu "" on HBO Max Pop Literacy is proudly sponsored by .
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And It All Started with The Big Bang (Theory)
11/17/2022
And It All Started with The Big Bang (Theory)
The Big Bang Theory ran for 12 seasons, 279 episodes, on CBS, and continues to be a pop culture presence with its frequent re-airings on cable, permanent home on HBO Max, and its spin-off life with the CBS hit Young Sheldon. With its spot in television history firmly secured, the series was due for a comprehensive chronicle of its success, and journalist and author Jessica Radloff’s New York Times bestseller is just what the Big Bang fan ordered. Radloff’s coverage of The Big Bang Theory as a Senior West Coast Editor at Glamour earned her the trust of the series cast and creators, which led to this fantastic, exhaustive account. From their memories of the multiple pilots and recastings that eventually brought together the stellar ensemble cast of iconic characters to their sometimes fond, sometimes controversial and divisive decisions as friends and co-workers, stars Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Johnny Galecki, Simon Helberg, Kunal Nayyar, Mayim Bialik, and Melissa Rauch, as well as series creators Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady and showrunner Steve Molaro are among the dozens of interviewees (and hundreds of hours of interviews) Radloff crafted into this tale of on-set romance, million-dollar contract negotiations, Emmy-winning performances, and the classic moments of TV comedy that still have viewers laughing. Read more: by Jessica Radloff by Leslie Jordan by Leslie Jordan by Paul Newman Pop Literacy is proudly sponsored by .
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Black Hollywood with Carell Augustus
11/02/2022
Black Hollywood with Carell Augustus
Carell Augustus’s brilliant and beautiful photography book Black Hollywood reimagines, and restages, iconic Hollywood moments from the likes of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Singin’ in the Rain, and Mission Impossible with Black entertainers at their center. The work allows Black people to see themselves as part of the fabric of Hollywood history and also inherently questions American entertainment’s shameful history of erasing and sidelining people of color. The photos include Vanessa L. Williams, Dulé Hill, Karamo Brown, and many others. The work is probably best summed up by this quote from Carell: "Black Hollywood is not just a book for Black people―it's a book for all people about Black people. About the dreams we were never told we could achieve. About the places we were never told we could go. And now, finally, about how we can get there." As for Carell himself: He is a Los Angeles-based photographer whose career has taken him around the world to shoot some of the biggest stars on the planet. His celebrity clients have included Viola Davis, Beverly Johnson, Mariah Carey, Elizabeth Banks, Pierce Bronson, Meghan Markle, Serena Williams, Snoop Dogg, and more. In this episode, we talk with Carell about the significance of writing Black stars into the narrative of Hollywood history. Read more: by Carell Augustus by Jann Wenner by Jennette McCurdy by Julia Whelan by Amy Odell by Jeff Fletcher by Glenn Frankel Pop Literacy is proudly sponsored by .
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The Tragedy and Triumph of George Michael, with James Gavin
10/18/2022
The Tragedy and Triumph of George Michael, with James Gavin
James Gavin’s stunning biography of pop star George Michael—simply entitled George Michael: A Life—dives deep into an enigmatic, charismatic figure who dominated pop music in the 1980s and ‘90s, but never seemed to find peace and happiness. James’s thorough and riveting account of Michael’s life traces how his battles with his own sexuality, his larger-than-life image, tabloid taunting, and his massive insecurities kept him from fully embracing his extraordinary talent and accomplishments. We talk with James about Michael’s struggle to be taken seriously, his heartbreaking battle with substance abuse, his formative friendship with Wham! partner Andrew Ridgeley, and his legacy—and we share some of our own personal connection to the singer. Read (and listen and watch!) more: by James Gavin “” by George Michael “” video “” by Deon Estus feat. George Michael “” video “” by George Michael “” video documentary Pop Literacy is proudly sponsored by .
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Summer Rerun | The ‘Jenny from the Block’ Video: A Historical Analysis
08/02/2022
Summer Rerun | The ‘Jenny from the Block’ Video: A Historical Analysis
The episode originally aired July 23, 2019. Jennifer Lopez turns 50 this month and is at the top of her game: dancing her way through an international tour, engaged to baseball superstar Alex Rodriguez, and managing to be one of the few massive pop stars with lots of loyal fans and relatively few haters. But it wasn’t always thus. Her career hit a precarious point in 2002—when, yes, she was churning out hits, but the tabloids were constantly on her tail and media coverage spewed vitriolic hatred at her very public relationship with actor Ben Affleck (and even blamed her for his career nosedive). This is all perfectly encapsulated in the historical artifact of the “Jenny from the Block” video, a very 2002 combination of tabloid culture, Bennifer at their most Bennifer, J Lo putting God first and staying real in a tiny fur coat, and an excellent use of a newsboy cap. In this episode, we pick through the wreckage of a pop star at the height of her powers, on the precipice of a precipitous fall; and we celebrate the graceful recovery she’s made over the past 17 years. Discussion points include:
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Summer Rerun | Will 1990s Nostalgia Always Be the Best Nostalgia?
07/19/2022
Summer Rerun | Will 1990s Nostalgia Always Be the Best Nostalgia?
This episode originally aired March 4, 2019. It was the decade of “The Macarena,” the O.J. Simpson trial, the teen pop boom, VHS tapes, and Nintendo. It was also before 9/11 and Columbine, a time when the nation hung on every lurid detail of the president’s sex life and the Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan feud. Though 2000s nostalgia is on the way——it’s hard to let go of our nostalgia for what looks like our last relatively innocent decade from here. Is there something extra special about the ‘90s? We discuss with guest host Sam Slaughter, author of the forthcoming .
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Summer Rerun | The State of the Boy Band
07/05/2022
Summer Rerun | The State of the Boy Band
This episode originally aired April 8, 2019 Boy bands as we know them have been around since New Edition got together in 1978—and now, they’re bigger than ever, thanks to online fandom. New Kids on the Block, Backstreet Boys, O-Town, 98 Degrees, and Boyz II Men are among the groups who have recently been on tour or recorded new music. And the boy band legacy is evident in two recent developments: An excellent new YouTube Originals documentary, “,” tells the cautionary tale of the impresario behind Backstreet Boys and NSYNC; and, on the lighter side, a New Kids on the Block song, “,” pays tribute to the form. This week, we dissect the documentary and song, fangirl over our faves, and wonder what exactly is going on with K-Pop phenomenon BTS, the new frontier in boy bandom (more on them next week!).
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Summer Rerun | 2000s Nostalgia: Yes, It’s Happening
06/21/2022
Summer Rerun | 2000s Nostalgia: Yes, It’s Happening
This episode originally aired February 19, 2019. AOL Instant Messenger, the first iPods, Paris Hilton, emo, Mean Girls, The O.C., low-rise jeans… Now that it’s 2019, it’s time to prepare for a wave of 2000s nostalgia. Pop Literacy host Jennifer Keishin Armstrong is joined by guest co-host Andrea Bartz, author of the forthcoming 2009 nostalgia novel , to discuss what we miss most about the 2000s, from MySpace to the very first memes, The Osbournes to the rise of the Brooklyn hipster. We also discuss the innocence of a time before 24/7 social media saturation and news alerts, even as the terror of 9/11 and the stock market crash changed our lives. And finally, we put together our ideal pop culture time capsule to show our alien overlords of the future what life was like in the 2000s. Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson are involved.
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Summer Rerun | BTS for Beginners
06/07/2022
Summer Rerun | BTS for Beginners
This episode originally aired April 16, 2019. After years of massive popularity around the world, Korean boy band BTS is breaking through to the top of mainstream American culture. They just dropped a new album (Map of the Soul: Persona), which includes the single “Boy with Luv,” featuring Halsey; and they played Saturday Night Live, a first for a Korean act. They also recently surpassed 5 billion streams on Spotify. All of this has many Americans wondering what, exactly, is going on with these seven boys with pastel-colored hair, Korean lyrics, impeccable stage production, and supernaturally synched dance moves. We walk through the BTS basics with Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly’s critic-at-large, .
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The Mystery of the Man Who Invented Movies, Then Disappeared, with Paul Fischer
05/03/2022
The Mystery of the Man Who Invented Movies, Then Disappeared, with Paul Fischer
Thomas Edison and the French Lumiere brothers have widely been credited with inventing motion pictures, but there’s another strong contender for the distinction: Louis LePrince, a driven inventor who dedicated every moment of his life and most of his money to making moving pictures not only possible but accessible enough to be widely available—and, in the process, to change the world. But he’s never been given proper credit for the feat because, like a character in a movie, he disappeared without a trace just before he announced his completed invention in 1890. Film producer and author Paul Fischer tells the riveting tale in his new book The Man Who Invented Motion Pictures, and in this episode, he talks to us about the worldwide race to invent and perfect motion picture technology, LePrince’s utopian vision of what film would do for the world, what might have happened to LePrince—and how Edison may or may not have been involved in his disappearance. Read more: by Paul Fischer by Chuck Klosterman by Selma Blair Pop Literacy is proudly sponsored by , and Daniel Paisner's upcoming novel .
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The History of Netflix and Bingewatching
04/19/2022
The History of Netflix and Bingewatching
Asking yourself how you ended up paying for half a dozen streaming entertainment subscriptions every month? There’s a book for that: Binge Times: Inside Hollywood's Furious Billion-Dollar Battle to Take Down Netflix, entertainment journalists Dade Hayes and Dawn Chmielewski’s insider history on how Netflix started the game with those little red envelopes of DVDs, and just a few short years had us all Netflixing and chilling – and bingeing entire TV series on the regular. As Hayes details, that was the alert to other entertainment brands to get their stream on ASAP, and here we are a decade and a half later, not only watching our favorite retro TV shows, but now most of all our original programming (not to mention a lot of reboots of those retro TV faves!) on several streaming networks. And Binge Times not only tells us how we got here, but clues us in on where the streaming business may be headed, including its impact on the rapidly changing movie industry. Read more: Pop Literacy is proudly sponsored by , and Daniel Paisner's upcoming novel .
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Rethinking the Epic Romance Between Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier, with Stephen Galloway
04/05/2022
Rethinking the Epic Romance Between Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier, with Stephen Galloway
In Truly, Madly, author Stephen Galloway explores the tumultuous relationship between two giants of Hollywood’s Golden Age, movie stars Vivian Leigh and Laurence Olivier, which he calls “the romance of the century.” The dual biography explores the lives of both of these huge personalities, which collided in 1934 when a Leigh’s friend brought her to see Theatre Royal, featuring Olivier—that night, Leigh swore she would marry him. But she was married at the time to someone else, and so was he. As their relationship developed anyway, their mystique as a couple was fueled by a growing media obsession with celebrity lives and the rise of television. Under this spotlight, the couple dealt with her undiagnosed mental illness through two world wars and the social unrest of the 1960s. In this episode, we talk to Galloway about the rise of the celebrity news complex, how our modern understanding of mental health issues helps us better understand Leigh and other “difficult” Hollywood women of the past, and how Leigh fueled the work of Olivier. Read more: by Stephen Galloway by Nancy Jo Sales by Harvey Fierstein Mark Eliot by Evan Ross Katz by Dennis Duncan Pop Literacy is proudly sponsored by and .
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Watching – and Reading – The Andy Warhol Diaries
03/23/2022
Watching – and Reading – The Andy Warhol Diaries
Many of the pop culture devoted among us sadly missed the chance to experience the New York City populated by pop artist and pop culture genius Andy Warhol, filled with brilliant work (solo and collaborations), and exploring the city surrounded by the world’s most famous and infamous and everyone in between. A read of Warhol’s classic posthumously-published book The Andy Warhol Diaries has been an oft-revisited taste of the Warholian experience, and now fans of the artist and his world have the opportunity to get to know him in an even deeper way via Netflix’s wonderful, engrossing six-part docuseries. This week, we get our Warhol obsession on with Josh Braun, executive producer on the documentary (with Ryan Murphy and writer Andrew Rossi), which takes us through the sweet and also heartbreaking romances and friendships that formed Warhol’s personal and professional lives, and moments of pure joy like Andy’s collaborations with Jean-Michel Basquiat and the night another genius – Steve Jobs – taught him how to draw on a computer at Sean Lennon’s ninth birthday party. Lifelong New Yorker Braun, a filmmaker and musician among his many creative pursuits, also shares with us the times his path crossed with Warhol’s … and how one of them involved his friend – and father’s tenant – Madonna. Read more: , edited by Pat Hackett Josh Braun at Pop Literacy is proudly sponsored by and .
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The Women of Jenji Kohan with Dani Bethea and Sydney Urbanek
03/08/2022
The Women of Jenji Kohan with Dani Bethea and Sydney Urbanek
The writer-producer Jenji Kohan has given us some of the best depictions of women on television. Nancy Botwin of Weeds followed a Breaking Bad-like path from suburban widow to druglord. The diverse cast of Orange Is the New Black revolutionized TV with not one, but dozens, of empathetic, flawed, fascinating characters. And GLOW, which followed a scrappy women’s wrestling operation, gave us a women’s sports show unlike any other. The essay collection The Women of Jenji Kohan, edited by Scarlett Harris, captures all of the complexity of Kohan’s work, with both admiration and warranted criticism. In this episode, we speak to two of the collection’s contributors: Dani Bethea, who wrote about Orange Is the New Black’s depictions of violence against Black women; and Sydney Urbanek, who wrote about Nancy Botwin’s inability to be “cured” of her demons on Weeds. Read more: , edited by Scarlett Harris Pop Literacy recommends: by Tom Beaujour and Richard Bienstock r by Molly Shannon Pop Literacy is proudly sponsored by and .
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Hollywood’s Cultural Battle with China
02/15/2022
Hollywood’s Cultural Battle with China
So, yeah, whatever did happen to Richard Gere’s career? The Golden Globe-winning actor was once everywhere on the big screen, but has been largely MIA for the last few years. Could it have something to do with his ongoing vocal support of Tibetan independence, a stance that has gotten him banned from China? Given China’s importance in Hollywood’s big picture, Wall Street Journal journalist Erich Schwartzel writes in his fascinating new book Red Carpet: Hollywood, China, and the Global Battle for Supremacy, Gere had become a liability for studio heads to hire. As China now boasts the world’s largest moviegoing audience – coinciding with the decline of moviegoing in the United States – and getting American movies into Chinese theaters requires approval from strict Chinese government censors, every single frame of a movie is examined before the censors sign off. Mission: Impossible III editors had to excise a scene depicting dirty laundry drying in Shanghai, because Chinese censors felt it didn’t portray the city as modern. In 2012’s Skyfall, a scene with James Bond killing a Chinese security guard was axed, because Chinese censors felt it suggested Chinese men were weak. With such scrutinizing the norm, it’s clear why casting Gere would be a non-starter for any major Hollywood release, Schwartzel writes in his exhaustively reported, entertaining, and informative read on a complicated subject that is only going to continue to expand its impact on American pop culture. Read more: Pop Literacy Recommends: “” by Amanda Chicago Lewis: “” by Jessica Pressler Pop Literacy is proudly sponsored by and .
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Jami Attenberg on the Rise of Brooklyn, the Creative Life, and Boundaries on the Internet
02/01/2022
Jami Attenberg on the Rise of Brooklyn, the Creative Life, and Boundaries on the Internet
Novelist Jami Attenberg’s new memoir I Came All This Way to Meet You takes readers behind the scenes of her creative life, from scraping by in Brooklyn before it became a cultural phenomenon and going on book tour in a station wagon to becoming a bestselling author and finding peace in New Orleans. In this episode, we talk to Jami about the rise of Brooklyn, the freedom of the early internet, the changing book business, and the best dysfunctional families in pop culture. Read more: by Jami Attenberg “” by Emily Gould, Harper’s Bazaar by Brian Cox Pop Literacy is proudly sponsored by and .
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Remembering Betty White
01/04/2022
Remembering Betty White
When Betty White died on New Year’s Eve, it was a shocker—even though she was 99 years, 11 months, and two weeks old. It seemed impossible to conceive of living in this world without White, who brought us so much joy via a television career that has spanned the entire length of the medium’s history. We talk about the heartrending outpouring of celebrity grief that accompanied the news—including an amazing story involving Steve Martin and Linda Ronstadt—and walk through the highlights of her career, from her pioneering days in early television, to her sitcom queen era on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Golden Girls, to her meme-friendly 2010s revival. Take a moment to stop and celebrate the extraordinary life of a true icon with us. Read more: by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong by Paula Bernstein by Ray Richmond by Deborah Hopkinson Pop Literacy is proudly sponsored by and .
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Celebrity Death Culture with Kirthana Ramisetti
12/21/2021
Celebrity Death Culture with Kirthana Ramisetti
The new novel Dava Shastri’s Last Day by Kirthana Ramisetti tells the story of an aging music mogul who plans her own assisted death after a devastating cancer diagnosis—but decides to let news of her passing leak a little early so she can read what she assumes will be her glowing obituaries. Instead, she witnesses the public revelation of some of her darkest secrets. In this episode, we talk to Kirthana about the celebrity death news cycle as well as the deep love of music that informs her book. Read more:
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Talkin’ the History of Rock Concerts with Marc Myers, the Rock Star of Music Journalists
12/07/2021
Talkin’ the History of Rock Concerts with Marc Myers, the Rock Star of Music Journalists
From radios to records and teens with allowances to teens with part-time jobs, the history of the American concert began in earnest with technological and cultural changes after World War II. That history may be shorter than a lot of music fans think. Rock journalist and author Marc Myers recalls that timeline in his unputdownable new book packed with nearly 100 interviews with the musicians, fans, sound engineers. roadies, and music executives who are part of helping all of us enjoy decades of important life moments via live music performances. From the Beatles and Dylan to the iconic Live Aid, Myers helps us remember some of our most favorite concerts, shares with us his personal memories, and offers a fascinating take on what could be a very exciting future of live music performances. - Marc Myers writes daily on jazz legends and legendary jazz recordings
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What Makes Samuel L. Jackson One Bad Motherfucker, with Gavin Edwards
11/09/2021
What Makes Samuel L. Jackson One Bad Motherfucker, with Gavin Edwards
It’s hard to imagine a time when Samuel L. Jackson wasn’t the unassailable pinnacle of Hollywood cool, but cool is made, not born. And that’s where Gavin Edwards’ new biography of the actor, Bad Motherfucker, comes in. Edwards charts Jackson’s rise from his southern upbringing to his radicalization at Morehouse College, through his struggles with addiction and, finally, his triumph as the highest-grossing actor of all time. In this episode, we talk to Gavin about the definition of cool, Jackson’s contentious relationship with frequent collaborator Spike Lee, and what Gavin discovered from watching all 140 of Jackson’s films. Read more:
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The History of 20th Century Fox … Before Disney
10/26/2021
The History of 20th Century Fox … Before Disney
Decades before it came under Disney control, 20th Century Fox was one of the most respected, innovative movie studios in Hollywood, under the leadership of legendary, complicated, producer Darryl F. Zanuck. The bad: he was a notorious and habitual user of the casting couch, and he was certainly never mistaken as one of Hollywood’s nice guys on any front. Zanuck did truly love movies, and finding the best ways to tell fantastic stories, and that led to early movie musicals featuring future icons like Betty Grable and Shirley Temple; the first CinemaScope production with The Robe; and classic cinema like The French Connection, part of that gritty, reality-based style of moviemaking of the 1970s. In this episode of Pop Literacy, we are thrilled to welcome bestselling author Scott Eyman, who talks to us about his terrific new book 20th Century Fox: Darryl F. Zanuck and the Creation of the Modern Film Studio. A chat with Scott is getting access to the incredible knowledge of a Hollywood historian and lifelong movie fan, and we promise, it will send you off to grab your own copy of this engrossing read. Read more: by Scott Eyman by Mark Seal by Paul Fischer
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Lynette Rice on the Backstage Drama at ‘Grey’s Anatomy’—and Why We Keep Watching
10/12/2021
Lynette Rice on the Backstage Drama at ‘Grey’s Anatomy’—and Why We Keep Watching
Lynette Rice has covered Grey’s Anatomy from the beginning: as it became a culture-defining phenomenon in the 2000s, as it faced cast meltdowns and blowups, as it cycled through stars, as it killed off McDreamy, and as it aged into an old reliable in an otherwise uncertain network television landscape (18 seasons and counting!). She delves into it all in her oral history How to Save a Life: The Inside Story of Grey’s Anatomy. In this episode we talk to Lynette about the show’s heady early days, Isaiah Washington and Katherine Heigl’s fraught departures, and how it’s kept going for this long. Read more: by Lynette Rice by Hayley Mills by Taylor Jenkins Reid
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Nichole Perkins on the Healing Power of ‘Frasier,’ the Exclusive Whiteness of Brat Pack Movies, and the Complications of Miss Piggy
09/28/2021
Nichole Perkins on the Healing Power of ‘Frasier,’ the Exclusive Whiteness of Brat Pack Movies, and the Complications of Miss Piggy
Nichole Perkins knows the power of pop culture: She has seen how Frasier’s Niles Crane inspired her to overcome her own professional hang-ups, how Prince taught her critical lessons about sex, and how Miss Piggy served as both a role model and a cautionary tale about modern femininity. She writes poetically about all of that and more in her essay collection Sometimes I Trip on How Happy We Could Be. Writer and poet Saeed Jones said of the collection: “Hear the dark liquor of her laughter rippling behind her sentences in this magnetic memoir as it explores a journalist’s obsession with pop culture and the difficulty of navigating relationships as a Black woman through fanfiction, feminism, and Southern mores.” In this episode we talk to Nichole about why we should take pop culture seriously, how it helps us discuss difficult issues, and why both Niles and Daphne and Kermit and Piggy are kinda messed up. Read more: by Nichole Perkins by Anderson Cooper and Katherine Howe by Elizabeth Gilbert by John Truby
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Chatting With Daniel Paisner, the Author Who the Stars Share All Their Secrets With
09/14/2021
Chatting With Daniel Paisner, the Author Who the Stars Share All Their Secrets With
Denzel Washington, Serena Williams, Shark Tank star Daymond John, Mets World Series champ Ron Darling…those are but a few famous names who have entrusted author Daniel Paisner to help tell their personal and professional stories via ghostwritten memoirs. There are few ghostwriters more prolific, and with a more eclectic lineup of subjects, than Paisner, in fact, and that’s one of the many topics we’re thrilled to discuss with him in this episode. We’re also proud to help introduce our Pop Literacy listeners to Daniel’s new podcast, , in which he talks with other ghostwriters and their projects and their experiences helping other people share their stories. It’s a fascinating, special kind of authoring, and we will certainly be adding As Told To to our regular list of podcasts, and hope you will, too! You can find Daniel and As Told To on the , the ever-growing suite of fine literary and pop culture podcasts…and we know, because that’s Pop Literacy’s home turf, too! For more information about Daniel Paisner: As Told To on , which include biographies, fiction, and narrative nonfiction Daniel on
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Kathleen Collins on Growing Up a TV Junkie in the ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s and Her Book ‘From Rabbit Ears to the Rabbit Hole’
08/17/2021
Kathleen Collins on Growing Up a TV Junkie in the ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s and Her Book ‘From Rabbit Ears to the Rabbit Hole’
TV scholar Kathleen Collins grew up loving television before it was cool—while others fancied themselves sophisticated for digging film and music, she was unapologetically obsessing over Square Pegs. In her book From Rabbit Ears to the Rabbit Hole, she shares her nostalgic journey as a kid growing up with a four-channel, cathode-ray set, to her choice to study television as an academic pursuit, and through our national obsession with streaming today. In this conversation, we travel back in time with her to discuss why Norman Lear’s 1970s shows stand the test of time, why the only way to do homework in the ‘80s was with MTV playing in the background, and how the shift to the Streaming Era’s infinite choices has made TV so much more stressful. Read more about it: by Anna Burns
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James Tate Hill on ‘Blind Man’s Bluff’ and How Tom Cruise Got Him Through the Hardest Times in His Life
08/03/2021
James Tate Hill on ‘Blind Man’s Bluff’ and How Tom Cruise Got Him Through the Hardest Times in His Life
James Tate Hill gradually began losing his sight while still in high school—and worked hard to hide this fact from the world well into adulthood. While he employed more practical tactics like filling his bookshelves with the selections he’d first read on tape or arriving to dates early so whoever he was meeting would have to find him, he also discovered the great conversational—and distracting—possibilities of pop culture. Throw a Tom Cruise, Prince, Golden Girls, or Breakfast Club reference into a conversation, and often your acquaintances will stop asking probing questions that might lead to uncomfortable revelations. In this conversation, we talk to Hill about the wisdom of Michael Chabon, why Bea Arthur is the ideal Golden Girl to be your optic nerve specialist, and how books on tape and Rain Man changed his life. Read more about it: by Louise Erdrich by Andrew McCarthy by Nick de Semlyen
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‘Clueless’ Star Elisa Donovan on Grief, Loss, and Life in Hollywood
07/20/2021
‘Clueless’ Star Elisa Donovan on Grief, Loss, and Life in Hollywood
You know her from roles on Sabrina the Teenage Witch and particularly in Clueless as Cher’s nemesis Amber. Elisa Donovan thought she had her life and career all figured out until her father was diagnosed with cancer at the same time that Sabrina was canceled. In her book Wake Me When You Leave: Love and Encouragement from the Other Side, she tells the story of how, after her father’s death, she began a relationship redemption with him that she never thought possible, via dreams, visitations, and signs. In this conversation, she tells us about her path to the iconic role of Amber, how her dad’s death changed her ideas about success, ways she’s communicated with her father since his passing, and her plans to develop her memoir into a film that will be her directorial debut. Read more about it: by Elisa Donovan by Tina Fey by Amy Poehler by Nell Scovell
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Getting the Real Scoop on the Real Housewives with Bestselling Author Brian Moylan
07/06/2021
Getting the Real Scoop on the Real Housewives with Bestselling Author Brian Moylan
From his clever Vulture.com Real Housewives recaps to his newly launched “The Housewives Institute Bulletin” newsletter, Brian Moylan has certainly earned the nickname bestowed upon him by Kirkus: “The Bard of Real Housewives Drama.” Moylan is with Pop Literacy this episode for a super fun chat about the project that cinched his reality TV literary moniker: The Housewives: The Real Story Behind The Real Housewives, his New York Times bestseller that unfolds Housewives history, and answers all those behind-the-scenes questions every Housewives fan – including Moylan himself – has always had about the Bravo series. Read more about it:
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