On Pretty Much Pop, a philosopher, an actor, and a sci-fi writer (often with entertainment industry guests) talk about media and how we consume it: TV, film, music, novels, games, comics, comedy, theater, podcasts, and more. Most of what (other) people like is pretty weird when you think about it, so thinking about it is what we do.
The tech genius has become the go-to bad guy in recent films: They're our modern mad scientists with all imaginable resources and science at their command, able to release dystopic technology to surveil, control, and possibly murder us. Even Lex Luthor was made into a "tech bro" in Batman v. Superman. Mark, Erica, and Brian discuss the HBO Max series Made for Love starring Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #92: Collectibles and Collecting w/ Matt Young
What drives someone to collect Star Wars figures or Transformers or LEGOs or whatever else? Mark, Erica, and Brian are joined by guest Matt Young of the Hello from the Magic Tavern and Improvised Star Trek podcasts to talk about this potentially expensive and life-eating habit. Must we use the word “kidulting“? No, in fact we mustn’t. For a little extra Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #91: Pet Culture w/ Trainer Hannah Branigan
What is with the weird relationship we Americans have with our pets? Many of us treat them as our babies, yet of course they're our captives. Dog trainer Hannah Branigan joins Mark, Erica, and Brian to talk about pets as entertainment, as hobby, and as pandemic companions. How can we make this relationship as beneficial as possible for all involved, and how can learning to be a Continue Reading …
PMP#88: Indie Animation w/ Benjamin Goldman
In the perennial conflict between art and our corporate entertainment machine, animation seems designed to be mechanized, given how labor-intensive it is, and yes, most of our animation comes aimed at children (or naughty adults) from a few behemoths (like, say, Disney). Mark, Erica, and Brian are joined by animator Benjamin Goldman to discuss doing animation on your own, Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #86: What Irish Means w/ Black 47’s Larry Kirwan
Another St. Patrick’s Day has passed, and this one probably without a lot of green-beer-at-the-pub-action. Let’s talk about what sort of representation of Ireland we were supposed to get out of all that merriment, as it’s certainly not akin to the stern, very religious ceremonies that we the growing-up experience of our guest Larry, who’s written books, plays and many songs Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #84: Musician Memoirs w/ Laura Davis-Chanin
There's been an explosion of rock and roll autobiographies in recent years, with pretty much every music legend (and many others) being invited by some publisher or other to write or dictate their story. What's the particular appeal of this kind of recounting, what's the connection between writing and reading these books on the one hand and producing and listening to the actual Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #83: Disabled and Other-Abled Representation w/ Kayla Dryesse
At least 20% of us have some sort of disability, yet such conditions are reflected by only tiny portion of TV and film characterizations, and what characters are portrayed typically get played by non-disabled actors. Depictions often focus on what it's like to live with the condition. This can of course be socially beneficial, but we don't want to essentialize people as their Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #82: Cobra Kai and the Karate Kids
Did anyone suspect that the beloved 1984 “Kid Rocky” karate film (and its decreasingly beloved sequels) would now be not just remade but revived as the YouTube-Red-turned-Netflix hit Cobra Kai? Is this new show actually good, or just living unhealthily on nostalgia and the fascination of watching teens and middle aged people fistfight and fall in love. Mark-san, Erica-san, and Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #81: Radio vs. Podcasting w/ Jason Bentley
Jason was music director at KRCW, the LA NPR station, is also a DJ with a lot of experienced interviewing musicians, and now hosts a new podcast, The Backstory. He joins Mark and Erica to discuss the creative and business possibilities of podcasting in comparison to radio, what their futures may hold, and his own journey between the two media. Follow Jason @thejasonbentley. Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #80: Reliving Groundhog Day (and Palm Springs, Russian Doll, etc.)
Time looping, where a character is doomed to repeat the same day (or hour, or longer period) is a sci-fi trope dating back more than a century, but really entered American consciousness with the 1993 Bill Murray film Groundhog Day. Since then, and especially in the last five years, there have been numerous iterations of this idea in various genres from racial police-shooting Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #79: The Fargo Formula w/ Tamler Sommers (Very Bad Wizards Crossover)
On the Coen Brothers' 1996 film and Noah Hawley's 4-season TV show, an enterprise that has evolved from darkly comic morality tale to sprawling organized crime drama. Mark, Erica, Brian, and guest Tamler from the Very Bad Wizards podcast explore the plaudits and criticisms of the show, covering its elaborate style, "tundra western" setting, dry humor, speechifying, gender Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #78: Chess Is Having a Moment w/ J.J. Lang
The high level of interest in The Queen’s Gambit has brought this most popular game back to the forefront of pop culture. Chess expert/teacher J.J. (who’s also a grad student in philosophy) joins Mark, Erica, and Brian to consider chess culture, what gives this game its edge on other contenders (why not Terra Mystica?), player personality characteristics, and the effect of Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #77: The Big Screen Experience
Plague has kept us out of the movie theaters, forcing new streaming practices so that films can be released at all, but as these restrictions end in 2021, do we want things to go back just to the way they were? Your hosts Mark, Erica, and Brian reviewed many articles where filmmakers fretted about the future of cinema, but we pretty much ignored all that (at least for our Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #76: Wonder Women (84 and Others) w/ Vi Burlew
The holiday film release season has passed us with only one real blockbuster, which is the return of Wonder Woman, and we likewise have a returning hero: Our college-going young guest from ep. 33 on heroine journeys has now grown into a grad student just studying comics and brings her deep WW knowledge to consider the new film in context with Erica, Mark, and Brian. Part of Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #75: Our Great British Baking Show w/ Stephen Carlile
What explains the immense quarantine-time popularity in America of this quaint British reality cooking show? What do we get out of watching talented amateurs bake things? Stephen, who is famous for playing Scar in The Lion King on Broadway (and is VERY British himself), joins Erica, Brian, and Mark to consider the format, context, and appeal of the show. A few articles we Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #74: Micro Comedy w/ Tiffany Topol
What has the Internet done to comedy? Does removing gatekeepers mean a more distributed comic landscape, or does it inevitably end with a small number of comics dominating the world? The Internet means that people can and do judge comics based on very short clips, but also makes it easy to follow the activities of someone you discover that you like. Tiffany comes not from Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #73: Beloved Bad Films w/ Manos’ Jackey Neyman Jones
What makes a film transcendently, fascinatingly bad, as opposed to merely unwatchable? A number of turkeys have become cult classics whose surviving cast members are lauded at conventions and bear witness in loving documentaries exploring how and why such movie monstrosities could have been made. Jackey Neyman Jones was six years old in 1966 when she appeared (just her body; Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #72: Comic Book Supremacy w/ Fred Van Lente
As scribe for Marvel and his own Evil Twin Comics, Fred has a lot of ideas to bring to Mark, Erica, and Brian about both non-fiction comics and what people normally think of. Adding pictures helps readers retain information, and the low budgets involved with comics mean that there's really no whimsicality limit. We discuss playing in the Marvel sandbox, the role of humor, Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #71: Rap Battles w/ Sacrifice (Tyler Hislop)
Mark, Erica, and Brian are rejoined by our audio editor Tyler to discuss a form of entertainment close to his heart: Priming the rhymes to deliver the crimes: an attack on the character, caring not what-you-wear, anywhere, hug-a-bear... man, battle rap is difficult! So what are the rules? How does modern battle rap compare to free-styling and the beefs aired on rap Continue Reading …
Pretty Much Pop #70: RISKy Confessional Comedy w/ Kevin Allison
Kevin was in the infamous sketch comedy group The State but has since channeled his energies into giving, curating, and coaching personal stories via his stage show and podcast RISK! He joins your hosts Mark, Erica, and Brian to discuss this idiosyncratic form: Do the stories have to be funny? Can you change things? What’s the relation to autobiographical, humorous essays a la Continue Reading …