Pop Culture Boner started as a blog in 2012. But no one has read a blog in a while, so now we're making a podcast. Thinking a little too hard about pop culture, once a week.
Because time is a flat circle, every now and then our episodes become relevant again.Recently, Netflix released a documentary, Best of Robbie Williams, to mixed but mostly positive reviews. Anyway, all the way back in 2020, on the third ever episode of Pop Culture Boner - The Podcast Edition, Alex explored how Robbie's career evolved from boy band member to stadium sized solo artist, and how he paved the way for Harry Styles to do the same 20 years later. Basically, it was Robbie's House first. And Harry's inherited it.So come on, let Alex entertain you...Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
Hello friends! Another busy fortnight here at HQ. Once again we've decided to take a dive into the archives to bring you some classic Pop Culture Boner content. Anyway, it's November so that means your Spotify Wrapped is already in the oven - nothing else you listen to will count for this years edition. It might also be a good time to mention, Wesley's band Lava Fangs have new music out soon...Anyway, two years ago Alex thought a lot about Spotify Wrapped, and we're still thinking about it. So here it is again!Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
This week on Pop Culture we're taking a closer look at the Sphere at the Venetian. As Las Vegas' newest and most expensive concert venue, the Sphere is promising concert-goers that it will be the “future of entertainment”. But now that they're $2.3billion in the hole, have invented a new camera and booked U2 for a residency, what does that actually mean?Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
Here at Pop Culture Boner we sometimes like to consult the experts. Or at least, someone who is expert adjacent. This week we're talking to Isobel, an actual lawyer, about Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas' divorce and custody proceedings. While Isobel is keen to emphasise that she is not actually a family lawyer, she does know more about the Hague Convention than anyone else involved in this podcast, and she has an opinion, so we're counting her an authority. (This podcast, and Isobel's statements on it, do not count as legal advice.) Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
Hello friends! A lot's been happening here at Pop Culture Boner Headquarters. Ask Alex about it next time you see her at the pub. Under the circumstances, we haven't been able to put together a fresh episode for you this week. Instead, we've decided to take a dive into the archives and share something from the early days of Pop Culture Boner. I thought we could just have some fun this week and revisit Alex's feelings about Harry Potter, and how the film franchise ruined modern cinema.Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
In the wake of the arrest of Utah-based ‘mommy blogger' Ruby Franke and her offsider Jodi Hildebrandt on 6 counts of felony child abuse, we take a look at child stars of the YouTube age. How have social channels like YouTube pushed the format of family vlogging into unsafe territory? Why aren't child influencers subject to the same labour laws as child actors? What protections are in place to prevent acts of serious harm? Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
This week on Pop Culture Boner, we're finding joy in talking about horror. Specifically, Talk to Me, the directorial debut of Australian YouTube duo, RackaRacka AKA Michael and Danny Philippou. We take a look at grief, genre and the never-ending joy of watching ratbag teens make bad choices. Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
This week on Pop Culture Boner, we're looking at the movie event of the year. Barbie. Oppenheimer. Boppenheimer. Barbenheimer. Margot Robbie. Cillian Murphy. Ryan Gosling. Fun, frivolity, atomic bombs. We're looking at the limits of representation in storytelling. What gets included, what doesn't and why? Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
This week on Pop Culture Boner we look at the history of book banning and the recent rise in right-wing hate groups using libraries and public schools as battle grounds for anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. We also chat to Ngozi Ukazu, whose book Check, Please! is banned in Texas, about what it's like to be an author on Moms For Liberty's hit list. You can find Ngozi on Twitter, Instagram and the grout of the internet. You can pre-order Bunt! here, or keep an eye out for Barda, available for pre-order soon. Or if you want to annoy a concerned parents group somewhere in rural Texas, you can also purchase Check, Please! right now. If you already own a copy, you should buy another and donate it to your local library. Please note the interview has been edited for clarity, content and timing.Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
This week's episode of Pop Culture Boner looks at the OceanGate submersible tragedy through the lens of the online discourse that sprung up around it. Between the wreck of the Titanic, missing billionaires, lax safety regulations, international waters, video game controllers and James Cameron, it was 5 days of unbridled digital chaos. We take a look at the timeline to examine why it held our collective attention for so long, and why exactly James Cameron yearns for the deep. Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
This week on Pop Culture Boner we're looking at what exactly Mark Wahlberg means when he tells us to “stay prayed up”. We look at Catholic app Hallow, its social media strategy and follow the money trail to find out how they got Marky Mark money.Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
The alternative title for this episode of Pop Culture Boner was “Pay your writers or Jesse Plemons will kill again”, after the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike turned the beloved Friday Night Lights star into a murderer. But we didn't want people to miss the joke, so it does what it says on the tin! The WGA is on strike, so we're talking entertainment unions, solidarity and why management is never your friend. Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
This week on Pop Culture Boner we're revisiting perrenial topic of the podcast, Matthew McConaughey. We finally read his 2020 autobiography, Greenlights. Did we learn something? Did we talk ourselves in circles? Are we catching greenlights? So many questions. So few answers. Note: This episode does contain a very brief content warning for family and sexual violence. You can skip between 14.50 and 17.13 if you want to dodge it. Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
This week on Pop Culture Boner we look at Bones and All and Fresh, two cannibal horror films that were released months apart and used romance as an angle for their protagonists. If horror reflects what we're afraid of, what do cannibals mean in 2022? We float some ideas about digital identity, performance and the mortifying ordeal of being known. Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
This week on Pop Culture Boner, we're looking into Gwyneth Paltrow's weird couple of weeks on the internet. From bone broth and early 2000s diet culture, straight into ski-field accidents at luxury resorts - we deep dive on why Gwyneth has been all up in our algorithms. Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
A very hearty “whoop whoop” to all the Juggalos out there. This week on Pop Culture Boner, we're looking at the Insane Clown Posse and the long arm of the law. How do FBI gang classifications work, why have Juggalos been targeted and why does everyone have such strong feelings on dudes in greasepaint?Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
Why do some wellness practitioners end up as vaccine hesitant and others end up as Neo-Nazi extremists? This week on Pop Culture Boner we're looking at the conspirituality and the wellness to white supremacy pipeline.Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
It's our first episode back after our little wellness break and we thought we'd share our hot tips for being your most mindful self this week… Just kidding! But this week's Pop Culture Boner is looking at the wellness industry and social isolation. Why are there so many wellness grifts out there, and why do so many of them want you to cut off all your friends and family?Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
This week on Pop Culture Boner, we've accidentally ended up doing another Kardashian based episode following her controversial wearing of Marilyn Monroe's iconic Happy Birthday, Mr President dress. We did get a little weird with it though - we're looking at museums, “odditoriums” and the policies that govern the collection and cataloguing of human remains in public institutions. Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
This week on Pop Culture Boner, we're thinking about the recent release of queer Jane Austen adaptation, Fire Island, the Bechdel Test, and why people insist on using a pretty simple litmus test as the basis of all their genuinely terrible film opinions.Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
We're back after a little break, and this week on Pop Culture Boner we're taking a look at Netflix's hot new queer romance, Heartstopper. The show has been almost universally praised for its joyful wholesomeness, while apparently simultaneously hurting the feelings of every gay over the age of 25. So we're digging into that.Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
This week on Pop Culture Boner we're diving into a bit of a niche topic - the single-season Dawson's Creek spin off, Young Americans. This show has everything - weird secret sibling relationships, Shakespearean-level gender play, a Coca Cola sponsorship. Join us on a fun jaunt down the garden path as we examine how Coke accidentally created a gothic horror wrapped in a commercial.Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
This week on Pop Culture Boner we're looking into the life and times of one Brad Pitt. Well, specifically we're looking into his career and how hard it must be to be taken seriously when you have the face of an angel and the washboard abs of a marble statue. Oh, it's difficult to be so talented and so striking looking that women fall at your feet.Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
This week on Pop Culture Boner we're looking at Jackass… again. Look, we weren't lying when we said that we are almost always thinking about Jackass. Luckily, they've released a new film - we're looking ageing, pain and love as expressed through rickety middle-aged bodies. Jackass forever and ever, amen.Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
Welcome back! We missed you! This week's Pop Culture Boner is diving right back in with a look at the narrative surrounding Kim Kardashian, Kanye West and their on-going divorce proceedings. We're tackling all the big questions: At what point does reality TV stop being entertainment? Is social media slowly eating our brains? What is it about Pete Davidson exactly?This episode does contain discussion of domestic violence and mental illness, so if you need to sit this one out, that's OK. We've linked some resources below. In Australia:National Helpline - 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) Women's Crisis Line - 1800 811 811 or you can visit their site DV Connect (site has quick exit options if you need it)Lifeline - 131 114Or if you're anywhere else in the world, Hot Peach Pages has a list of global resources.
We're back for 2022!Season 3 of Pop Culture Boner: The Podcast Edition starts on the 30th of March, with new episodes every 2 weeks. Hope you enjoy the fresh, fortnightly format.Make sure you're subscribed on your favourite platform so you don't miss out.You can also follow us on Instagram, Twitter and YouTube, if you're into that.
We said we'd take a break, but we do work hard for the money here at Pop Culture Boner, so actually we've done a very special little Christmas bonus episode. People love to re-visit Love Actually as a Christmas classic but in reality it's such a deeply weird film. Why's it a little bit about 9/11? Thanks again to The Jimmy C for providing the music for the Christmas theme song. You should add his Christmas single to your holiday playlists on Spotify.Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
In our final episode for this season of Pop Culture Boner we're looking at the wonderful world of Spotify Wrapped. How did it come about, and how has the mysterious algorithmic work of the Spotify platform influenced how we listen to music? Is it the devil, or just a nice way to share with your friends?Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
This week on Pop Culture Boner we're taking a look at the enduring popularity of police procedurals and their recent reckoning with systemic racism and violence. Can the genre overcome its copaganda origins to become more thoughtful, or should we just give it a rest?You can donate to Sisters Inside here. Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
This week on Pop Culture Boner we're taking a deep dive into our long-held belief that the release of the Harry Potter movies signalled the downfall of contemporary cinema. The split in the final instalment of the series set a precedent that would tank many movies to come.Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
This week on Pop Culture Boner we're taking a look at the career of Ryan Reynolds, and the infinite loops it keeps doing. Is everything just Deadpool? Or does it go back even further than that. We watched just oh-so-many Ryan Reynolds movies to find out.Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
This week on Pop Culture Boner we're looking at the the global phenomenon that is Squid Game. We're examining the comparisons between Battle Royale and The Hunger Games, and what it is about murder for fun and recreation that makes it such an enduring sub-genre.Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
This week on Pop Culture Boner, we're taking a look at the recently released Cinderella, the weird girl boss feminism it's trying to shoehorn into its plot, and whether or not they should have cast Camila Cabello next to people who can actually sing. It's a ride. Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
This week on Pop Culture Boner we're taking a look at the 1999 teen classic She's All That, and it's unfortunate 2021 remake, He's All That. We take a deep dive on the motivation behind remaking nostalgic classics, gender swapped roles, performances for Tik Tok and whether or not there's actually any way to make one of these remakes good.Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
This week on Pop Culture Boner, we're checking in on the outrage mill because Lil Nas X has released a new album and I'm certain someone somewhere is mad about it. We're wading through the depths online yelling to take a look at identity, genre and the lost art of music videos. What does Lil Nas X want, exactly? (Someone to love him.)Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
This week on Pop Culture Boner, we're bravely going where frankly too many people have gone before, to look at the recent tabloid fodder of John Mulaney's divorce. We're tackling only the biggest and most unanswerable questions, like ‘why doe we all love celebrity divorce?'; ‘how is the nature of fame and celebrity changing?'; and of course, the old classic ‘can you separate the art from the artist?' We only bring you the most jam-packed 20-ish minutes we possibly can. Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
This week's episode of Pop Culture Boner features a very special guest - Ngozi Ukazu is the New York Times best-selling author of Check, Please!, a web comic about ice hockey, college and baking. We talk creating your own fandom, the rules of the sandbox and the sweet spot where maximum joy is produced. We also bring up the Onceler incident. Sorry in advance.You can read all of Check, Please! for free online. You can keep up with Ngozi's work via her website, Twitter and Instagram. Visit the website for episode notes: www.popcultureboner.com
We've been avoiding writing about a certain pandemic situation here at Pop Culture Boner to give ourselves a little break. But it turns out, the pandemic just keeps going and going. So we're looking at Doomsday Preppers and Bo Burnham's Inside. Two seemingly disparate things that are kind of both about the end of the world. If you would like to join us in supporting the Australian Unemployed Worker's Union, you can do so here. Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com---Additional Music: Local Forecast - Slower by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3988-local-forecast---slowerLicense: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
This week on Pop Culture Boner we're looking at the Fast and Furious saga, something we talk about literally constantly but have never dedicated a full episode to. What could we be covering? Homoeroticism? Big sexy punching men? Cars? Nope! We're talking about Han Lue AKA Han Seoul-Oh AKA the best bit of that franchise, baby!Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
On this week's Pop Culture Boner takes a look at Nicolas Cage's performance in the 1997 classic Con Air? Why does John Cusack put all the baddies on one plane? Why is John Malkovich there? Can you redeem yourself by deciding to not murder a small girl in the desert? So many questions. So few answers. Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.comTo donate to Beyond Bricks & Bars: Trans Gender Diverse Decarceration Project, you can click here.
We're blessed to have our favourite guest back this week. Jamie Preisz is joining us to plumb the depths of our teenage shame, by asking why we still have a deep abiding love for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and are maybe a little bit horny for Anthony Kiedis. We said we didn't have guilty pleasures. We lied, OK? We're liars. But you love us anyway. Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
This week on Pop Culture Boner we're discussing the 16-season run of History Channel-stalwart Ancient Aliens, which follows the ancient astronaut theory. We're taking a look at archaeology, pseudo-archaeology and whether or not aliens built the pyramids (they did not). Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
This week on Pop Culture Boner we're taking a look at our big teenage feelings though the lens of emo music. What did all those sensitive boys in eyeliner really have to say about the world? Was it revolutionary or just more misogyny? Were they really smooching?Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
This week on Pop Culture Boner, we're taking a deep dive on zombies. We trace their origin from Haiti to Hollywood and take a look a why we have so many different types. How did we go from shuffling corpse to rage fuelled meatsack to organised corpse syndicate?Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
Here on Pop Culture Boner, we love a good conspiracy theory. Which is why this week we've decided to delve into the wonderful world of Industry Plants - what are they? Why are people mad about them? Who are the Tramp Stamps and why is the internet bullying them so much? It's a jam-packed episode this week.Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
Normally for a 13th episode, we'd look at something spooky - like a horror movie franchise or something. But someone wrote something mean about the 1991 cult classic Point Break, and so naturally we altered all our plans. This week we're looking at the greatest love story every told, and asking “Will our hair ever be as good as Patrick Swayze's?”Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
This week's Pop Culture Boner is getting all theoretical, as we tackle the concept of guilty pleasures themselves, with friend of the pod, Dr. Grace Sharkey. What makes us feel guilty about liking stuff? What does someone who loves all things Bad feel guilty about enjoying. Grace has got a literal PhD in thinking about this sort of stuff. Needless to say, everything goes off the rails pretty quickly.Visit the website for episode notes: www.popcultureboner.com
We're getting spicy on Pop Culture Boner this week as we take a look James Bond's nether-regions, and try to work out why so many bad guys keep trying to crush them. What is it about Bond villains and BDSM? Are Bond's privates so perilously perfect that they must be part of your plan for world domination? And more importantly, do bad guys have more fun?Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
On the 10th episode of Pop Culture Boner we're taking a long hard look at Rebecca Black's 2011 smash Friday. What is it about the pop stylings of a tween that inspired such rage in the internet? And what kind of digital life has she built for herself in the wake of viral fame? It's going to be fun, fun, fun, fun. Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
This week on Pop Culture Boner, we're asking the very important question - just what the hell is wrong with Steven Seagal? The answer is a lot of of things - largely an over-inflated sense of his own importance. So today, we're talking a fun look at kung fu movies, American action cinema, Buddhism and the peaceful art of aikido. Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
This week on Pop Culture we're getting a little gloomy. We're talking celebrity deaths, the phenomenon of public grieving and the surreal nature of fame and immortality. Why does it feel so strange when famous people die? Why don't friends and family get it? How are you supposed to grieve? It's much less depressing than it sounds, we promise. Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com
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