Charlie Harding 3/28/23 Charlie Harding 3/28/23

Reinventing Bach

Dan Tepfer turns to Bach to unlock the heroe’s journey in free improv

Guest User 3/21/23 Guest User 3/21/23

100 gecs and the new sound of hyperpop

Unpacking the eclectic scuzz-rock of the duo’s latest record

Charlie Harding 3/17/23 Charlie Harding 3/17/23

Switches Brew

Switched On Pop's top listening picks

Nate Sloan 3/14/23 Nate Sloan 3/14/23

Modern Classics: Seal - Kiss From a Rose

Why Seal's masterstroke resonates almost thirty years later

Charlie Harding 3/7/23 Charlie Harding 3/7/23

How John Denver Got Huge In Asia

The globalization of “Take Me Home, Country Roads”

Charlie Harding 2/28/23 Charlie Harding 2/28/23

Chartbreakers: Jersey Club, Complicated Country, and 50s Crooners

Triumphs, fumbles, and oddities on the Hot 100

Nate Sloan 2/21/23 Nate Sloan 2/21/23

Five years later, the legacy of Nipsey Hussle's "Victory Lap"

Journalist Justin Tinsley joins to consider Nipsey Hussle's legacy

Guest User 2/14/23 Guest User 2/14/23

“Flowers” and the art of the response song

“Flowers” by Miley Cyrus is a disco-country track has gotten people talking for a few reasons, but most notably, Cyrus invokes Bruno Mars’ classic “When I Was Your Man” in both lyrical and melodic allusions.

Charlie Harding 2/7/23 Charlie Harding 2/7/23

The L.A. guitar shop that reinvented indie folk

This sound, and the mythos of the rubber bridge guitar, has turned Reuben Cox into a local celebrity and put Old Style at the center of Los Angeles’s indie music scene.

Nate Sloan 1/31/23 Nate Sloan 1/31/23

Wonders: Bobby McFerrin

“Don’t Worry Be Happy” and why all of his work brings us joy

Guest User 1/24/23 Guest User 1/24/23

The New Wave of Paramore

Paramore is back – with a new sound and a new wave sheen.

Nate Sloan 1/18/23 Nate Sloan 1/18/23

SZA's Endless Melody

Why SZA's latest album SOS hits different

Guest User 1/10/23 Guest User 1/10/23

Too Fast? We’re Curious: The sped-up remix phenomenon

You’re not alone: the phenomenon of the “sped-up” remix has taken over social media, with everyone from Lady Gaga to Thundercat getting the tempo treatment.

Guest User 12/20/22 Guest User 12/20/22

Anitta & Rosalía on the borders of Latin pop

When it comes to distinguishing what exactly Latin music is, what makes the cut?

Charlie Harding 12/13/22 Charlie Harding 12/13/22

How Bad Bunny won 2022

Un Verano Sin Ti is a textbook to the sounds of Latin America

Charlie Harding 12/6/22 Charlie Harding 12/6/22

The soft sounds of Kali Uchis (live from Vulture Fest)

Live in Los Angeles, Kali Uchis talks with host Charlie Harding about select songs from her career, highlighting her unique cross-cultural approach to songcraft.

Charlie Harding 11/22/22 Charlie Harding 11/22/22

The Art of Flow

Exploring what DJ Jazzy Jeff calls the "body clock" of our favorite rappers

Charlie Harding 11/15/22 Charlie Harding 11/15/22

Willow Smith rocks harder

Charlie and Willow chat about the making of the new record and the many multitudes of rock music.

Guest User 11/8/22 Guest User 11/8/22

The Sound of Sapphism

There’s a new emerging scene in “sapphic pop” – what is it and how do artists feel about it?

Nate Sloan 11/1/22 Nate Sloan 11/1/22

Scary Pockets funkify pop classics (with Lizzy McAlpine)

The viral funk outfit breathes new life into a Bee Gees classic

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.