Charlie Harding 6/14/22 Charlie Harding 6/14/22

Kate Bush, Stranger Things, and a hit song four decades in the making

Why "Running Up That Hill" is doing better in 2022 than 1985

Charlie Harding 6/7/22 Charlie Harding 6/7/22

So your song went viral on TikTok. What’s next?

1500 songs went viral on TikTok in 2020, did the platform really change what we listen to?

Nate Sloan 5/31/22 Nate Sloan 5/31/22

The 1980s jam that gave Latto and Mariah Carey Big D*** Energy

How Tom Tom Club's "Genius of Love" powered decades of pop hits

Charlie Harding 5/24/22 Charlie Harding 5/24/22

Kendrick Lamar and the big samples

The samples on Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers aren’t used just for their sound, in many cases they unlock the song’s meaning.

Charlie Harding 5/17/22 Charlie Harding 5/17/22

Modern Classics: PJ Morton made Nas’s Stevie Wonder dream come true

Revered keyboardist and songwriter PJ Morton spoke with Switched On Pop about what it's like to work with his heroes and to share overlooked modern classics from Stevie and NAS catalogue.

Charlie Harding 5/10/22 Charlie Harding 5/10/22

Will Ukraine win Eurovision 2022?

Greece, Spain, U.K., Sweden, Italy and Ukraine are the frontrunners in the 2022 Eurovision competition

Charlie Harding 5/3/22 Charlie Harding 5/3/22

Belle and Sebastian on the value of staying "young and stupid"

Stuart Murdoch on why the Glasgow band has "no themes, schemes, or plans" when making new music

Charlie Harding 4/26/22 Charlie Harding 4/26/22

The New Alternative

The overwhelming success of artists like Olivia Rodrigo and Willow, whose music borrows meaningfully from 90s alternative, has set the stage for an alternative music comeback.

Charlie Harding 4/19/22 Charlie Harding 4/19/22

Jump-starting the creative process with Allison Ponthier

“I have a process because I'm more creative and more daring if I have the tools that help me wrangle my thoughts and feelings.”

Charlie Harding 4/12/22 Charlie Harding 4/12/22

A Higher Power Ballad

There was something different about Justin Bieber’s performance of his hit song “Peaches” at the 2022 Grammy Awards.

Charlie Harding 3/29/22 Charlie Harding 3/29/22

Listening 2 Britney: Gimme More

Leave Britney’s (voice) alone

Nate Sloan 3/22/22 Nate Sloan 3/22/22

Listening 2 Britney: Toxic

How Bollywood strings, surf guitar, and Britney’s ethereal vocals add up to pop perfection

Nate Sloan 3/15/22 Nate Sloan 3/15/22

Listening 2 Britney: I’m A Slave 4 U

Enter The Neptunes – Britney’s Virginia Beach Era

Nate Sloan 3/8/22 Nate Sloan 3/8/22

Listening 2 Britney: ...Baby One More Time

Breaking down the unmistakeable voice of Britney Spears

Nate Sloan 3/1/22 Nate Sloan 3/1/22

Chartbreakers! (ft. Megan Thee Stallion and the Red Hot Chili Peppers)

Breaking Down the Billboard Charts, From Nashville to Nigeria

Nate Sloan 2/15/22 Nate Sloan 2/15/22

Leon Bridges and Khruangbin Sing a Song of Texas

The soul singer and the psychedelic trio join forces for the second time on Texas Moon

Nate Sloan 2/8/22 Nate Sloan 2/8/22

Shaking Out the Numb with Sylvan Esso

How Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn compose their cinematic dance-pop

Charlie Harding 2/1/22 Charlie Harding 2/1/22

We do talk about Bruno

“We Don’t Talk About Bruno” is the unlikely hit from Disney’s sleeper animated musical Encanto, and it is a bit of a mystery.

Nate Sloan 1/25/22 Nate Sloan 1/25/22

32 Albums in, Elvis Costello is Just Getting Started

The rock legend on Olivia Rodrigo, Adele, and his latest album

Charlie Harding 1/19/22 Charlie Harding 1/19/22

Accidental K-pop star Eric Nam risks it all to go his own way

Eric Nam Really Has Been There and Back Again

Mini Series

Featured

Listening 2 Madonna: Ray of Light

The third essential aspect of Madonna's holy trinity is her ever-shifting spirituality.

Listening 2 Madonna: Spanish Eyes

To understand Madonna is to see her music as a cultural melting pot.

Listening 2 Madonna: Who's That Girl?

The way Madonna communicates gender is integral to understanding her and her music.

Featured

Newcomers: Porter Robinson

The new sound of Porter Robinson

Newcomers: Jhayco

Jhayco moves from the background to the foreground

Newcomers: Magdalena Bay

Few pop groups are making music as imaginative as Magdalena Bay.

Featured

Listening 2 Daft Punk: Random Access Memories

The robots gain a heart and soul - and self-destruct in the process

Listening 2 Daft Punk: Human After All / Alive 2007

The French duo’s anti-utopian disco-rock record makes us question, are they robot, or are they human?

Listening 2 Daft Punk: Discovery

On their second album Discovery, Daft Punk fully lean into the artificial – singing through robotic vocoders that correspond with their now-iconic robot helmets.

Listening 2 Daft Punk: Homework

On their first album, Homework, Daft Punk stretched the boundaries of electronic music and began wiring the circuits that would become their robot alter-egos, asking a fundamental question: where does the human end and the machine begin?

Featured

Listening 2 Britney: Gimme More

Leave Britney’s (voice) alone

Listening 2 Britney: Toxic

How Bollywood strings, surf guitar, and Britney’s ethereal vocals add up to pop perfection

Listening 2 Britney: I’m A Slave 4 U

Enter The Neptunes – Britney’s Virginia Beach Era

Listening 2 Britney: ...Baby One More Time

Breaking down the unmistakeable voice of Britney Spears

Featured

Modern Classics: Carina del Valle Schorske on Cat Power's "Manhattan"

Why every song about Manhattan is a pop song

Modern Classics: Mark Ronson on Ginuwine's "Pony"

The "Uptown Funk" hitmaker breaks down the innovations behind pop's biggest smashes

Modern Classics: Yola on Childish Gambino’s “Redbone” and the Longevity of Soul

“I realized that Classic Soul can exist with everything and somehow not lose its potency.”

Modern Classics: Labrinth's "Sexy MF" (with Sam Sanders)

“They're all these little secrets and surprises that pop up...it's like bespoke, maximalist, power pop.”

Featured

THE 5TH — MOVEMENT IV, What Beethoven Would Have Wanted

When we listen closely to the Fifth, we hear that's it more than a museum piece, it’s a living testament to self-expression and determination.

THE 5TH — MOVEMENT III, Putting the Classism in Classical

Before Beethoven’s time, classical music culture looked and sounded quite different. In episode III we explore how Beethoven’s symphony was used to generate the strict culture of classical music — and the politics that undergird those norms of behavior.

THE 5TH — MOVEMENT II, From Struggle to Victory

In movements II , III and IV, Beethoven keeps trying to overcome his dark fate with bright major melodies, and keeps getting defeated.

THE 5TH — MOVEMENT I, A Battle Brewing

The first four notes of the piece are more than a modern meme, they’re the main character in a drama life and death.

Featured

ANTHEMS: Missy Elliott — Work It

Cultural critic Ivie Ani breaks down how Missy Elliott broke into the pantheon of anthems, and how she changed the scope of who could belong.

ANTHEMS: Smash Mouth - All Star

How “All Star” became an anthem played in sports arenas, soundtracked by Hollywood, and embedded into seemingly every internet meme.

ANTHEMS: Jock Jams — Get Ready For This

n 1995, ESPN launched Jock Jams Volume 1, a compilation record that would define the sound of sports for the next quarter century.

ANTHEMS: Queen — We Are The Champions

Cory Henry & The Funk Apostles’ album “Something To Say” makes you want to get up and dance as much as it makes you want to take action.