Switched on Pop

Nov 18 2024 438 ep. 38 mins 17.7k

Switched on Pop Podcast artwork

A podcast all about the making and meaning of popular music. Musicologist Nate Sloan & songwriter Charlie Harding pull back the curtain on how pop hits work magic on our ears & our culture. From Vulture and the Vox Media Podcast Network.

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Fleetwood Mac perfected turning drama into hits

Nov 18 2024 52 mins

In 1973, before their ascent to rock superstardom with Fleetwood Mac, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks were just two young lovers making music in Los Angeles. Their debut album, Buckingham Nicks, though commercially unsuccessful at the time, would prove to be the catalyst that changed their lives. When Mick Fleetwood happened to walk into Sound City Studios and overheard Bucking

Still Freaky After All These Years: Gaga, Tyler, The Cure

Nov 12 2024 33 mins

A musical "freak," to us here at Switched On Pop, is an artist who is unique, non-conforming, and always manages to surprise. We're living in some freaky times right now, so there's no better way to honor that than to listen to pop's freakiest artists. The past few weeks have seen new releases from Lady Gaga, Tyler, the Creator, and The Cure – the latter releasing their first new

Did Kendrick Lamar kill hip-hop?

Nov 04 2024 58 mins

Over the summer, the culture was shaken by the biggest rap beef this decade, between Drake and Kendrick Lamar. From “First Person Shooter” to “Not Like Us,” hip-hop listeners hung on each rapper’s every word and rebuttal, and for the first time in years, the genre felt exciting. Months after the beef had “ended,” Lamar released a track on Instagram dubbed “Watch the

Where are all the scary songs?

Oct 29 2024 32 mins

It’s the spookiest time of the year; Halloween is right around the corner. But unlike the winter holidays like Christmas and Hanukkah, Halloween seems to lack a defining canon of scary music. There’s, of course, “Monster Mash,” and “Ghostbusters,” but those songs aren’t actually bone-chilling. Is there a way to make music scary? In a live show from The Dalton School i

The virtuosity of Stevie Wonder

Oct 21 2024 67 mins

Stevie Wonder may be our modern day Mozart. A child prodigy, he joined Motown as a preadolescent where he was marketed as “Little” Stevie Wonder. He wowed audiences with his virtuosic command of the piano, harmonica, drums and of course, vocals. At just 13, he had his first number one hit “Fingertips Part II.” It was an unusual chart topper, featuring a live recording of mo

The last decade of pop explained

Oct 14 2024 54 mins

We celebrate Switched On Pop's 10th anniversary by taking a deep dive into the last decade of pop music. From bubblegum pop to EDM, trap, and K-pop, we explore how the sound of pop has continually evolved—even when it feels like it’s all the same. Plus, we pull back the curtain on the show with a special interview: Sean Rameswaram, host of Vox's Today Explained, puts Nate and C

Learning to love: Coldplay

Oct 07 2024 49 mins

Coldplay is one of the biggest musical acts in the world, ranking #6 on Spotify and boasting one of the highest-grossing tours of all time. Yet, despite their global success, they've often been a critical punching bag. The New York Times once branded them “the most insufferable band of the decade.” The Independent described them as “pompous, mawkish, and unbearably smug.” B

Fall Out Boy and the worst earworm ever

Oct 01 2024 41 mins

Marianne Eloise has had the same Fall Out Boy song stuck in her head for over three years. "It’s Hard to Say 'I Do,' When I Don’t," an relatively obscure cut from the band's 2007 album Infinity on High has taken up permanent residence in her brain as the ultimate earworm. Everybody has had a riff or a melody stuck in their head, but not at this . Eloise, a journalist and music

Mexican pop is bigger than you think

Sep 24 2024 44 mins

Last month, our producer Reanna Cruz had the opportunity to attend Baja Beach Fest in Rosarito, Mexico, a three-day Latin music festival set on the Mexican coastline. While they were there, they got the chance to tap into what's happening in the world of Mexican music – from romantic tumbados and lovesick R&B to multi-language crossovers and genre experimentation. This episode, R

How Megan Thee Stallion brought Japanese hip hop to the Hot 100

Sep 17 2024 42 mins

"Mamushi," the fourth single from Megan the Stallion’s album Megan, was not supposed to be a huge hit. But thanks to a viral dance, the song has become the first song on the Billboard Hot 100 to feature Japanese lyrics since 1963. With a feature from rapper Yuki Chiba and a beat from producer Koshy, "Mamushi" creates the kind of cross-cultural musical collaboration that helps cor