Backstreet Boys. Nsync. It’s hard to overstate how larger than life these groups were in the late ‘90s and ‘00s. While millions of girls screamed over these boy bands, though, the guys in the groups were getting royally screwed by the guy who built them: Lou Pearlman. The fraud goes so deep, and gets so weird. Writer and podcaster Dave Holmes @daveholmes of the Homophilia, Who Killed the Video Star, and Waiting for Impact podcasts joins journalist and pop culture junkie Tess Barker for a dive into this strange and shocking story.
Looking for video docs about Lou Pearlman? Check out “The Boy Band Con” and “Dirty Pop.”
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Pop Mystery Pod is written and produced by Tess Barker @tesstifybarker. Produced by Tyler Hill.
Theme song by Rick Wood @Rickw00d.
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Follow Tess’s other podcasts Lady to Lady and Toxic: The Britney Spears Story wherever you get your pods.
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