Popcast - Podcast Rankings and reviews

Enjoyed listening to Joshunda Sanders - so poised, articulate, intelligent & kind in her commentary. I thank the podcast for bringing her to my attention. I will be on the lookout for whatever she writes/speaks.

We need to get a sociologist on popcast to talk about AI. Every conversation is coming from an industry or creative perspective but feels like the angle we’re missing is one that considers what it does to humans—both on an individual and collective level—to engage with technologically mediated art. AI-created music is not a new genre or mode or form. It’s an ethical line we’re being asked to cross.

Overall great content, smart commentators. John’s ideas although articulated brilliantly are not always that interesting. Joe needs more air time- he deserves to not be constantly interrupted by John to mature this pod.

Pop culture should focus squarely on pop, not random tangents like the AI episode.

Glad you’re back—

Been listening to this podcast since 2016 and can tell you right now that the majority of the one stars are all from BTS stans after an episode about Jung Kook’s solo career. LET ME BE CLEAR that Jung Kook IS my bias but I can at least handle critique and criticism of my fave without losing my mind.

Anyway, there are episodes from before 2020 on BTS and K-pop as a genre that John and Joe both have glowing opinions about.

The most recent episode of this show was shockingly racist and xenophobic. The host invited on a white American k-pop stan, with no actual musical knowledge or expertise, to serve as a so-called “expert” on k-pop. This person is literally just a typical biased fan pretending to be some kind of journalist and she has a long history on social media of vile attacks on the K-pop artists she is NOT a fan of as well as a history of fetishizing and exoticizing Asians. The guest and host proceeded to trash a Korean artist for singing in English and accused him of losing his Korean roots, as though these two white Americans are somehow the arbiters of Korean musical or cultural authenticity. The guest also made racist comparisons between Korean and white artists, literally stating “why would I listen to a Korean sing like Justin Timberlake when I can listen to Justin Timberlake” while the host laughed. It’s horrifying that this was published under the auspices of the New York Times. You need to do a better job of vetting your guests and take down this vile racist garbage.

I don’t think this podcast is for people who actually love music. It exemplifies the tiresome white American Gen X desire to be contrarian and to not embrace what’s popular and mainstream, which is ironic for a podcast about pop music.

The episode about Jung Kook of BTS’ solo album and BTS’ chart-topping English songs was racist and xenophobic, under the guise of claiming that their English-language songs are not “forward-thinking pop” or not keeping their “uniqueness as k-pop” or are “a business decision masquerading as a pop hit.”

BTS and Jung Kook showed that they can top the American and global pop music charts on their own terms. Why would a pop music podcast disparage that instead of praise it? Not to mention the host mocking Coldplay and disparaging Steve Aoki? I don’t get it.

If you’re not familiar with their music, I highly recommend listening to Jung Kook and BTS directly. They are in the top tier of musicians, period, as are the other members of BTS with solo projects (RM, J-Hope, Agust D/SUGA, Jin, Jimin, and V).

And K-pop groups like NewJeans, Ive, TXT, Epik High, Black Pink, and Seventeen are excellent, too.