Pop Culture Confidential

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Episode 98: The 2018 Oscar Special Mar 01, 2018

Show notes

On Oscar Sunday, Jimmy Kimmel will take the stage to host the 90th Academy Awards and Pop Culture Confidential has you covered. Senior Editor at New York Magazine/Vulture, Kyle Buchanan guides us through this particularly exciting and difficult to predict Oscar year!

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Episode 97: Karamo Brown, Queer Eye Feb 22, 2018

Show notes

He's one of the stars of the "Queer Eye" reboot on Netflix, as part of the new Fab Five - Karamo Brown is making the audience laugh, cry and contemplate some very important topics. The original "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" premiered on Bravo in 2003, a makeover show that delivered a whole new format. Five gay men brought their expertise to help straight men find their best selves. The show and the original cast broke barriers and the show was a runaway hit! The new cast are taking the show one step further, and by moving the show from New York to the South, where interesting encounters ensue. They are not just changing wardrobes - they are opening up conversations about race, LGBTQ rights and much more. Host Christina Jeurling Birro speaks to Brown about his experience making the show, what it means to be the first black "Queer Eye" star, and much more.

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Episode 96: Doug Jones, The Shape of Water Feb 13, 2018

Show notes

This year's Oscar frontrunner, with 13 nominations including Best Director (Guillermo del Toro) and Best Picture, is The Shape of Water. This week's guest, Doug Jones, is an integral part of the film, playing a nameless amphibian fish man captured at a military lab in Cold War era Baltimore. He becomes the love interest of a mute cleaning lady Elisa, played by Sally Hawkins. It's a romance like nothing we've seen before! Jones is an actor, former mime, and contortionist, with over 160 acting credits to his name. His twenty-year collaboration with director Guillermo del Toro has resulted in six films, one TV show, and twelve characters, including the films Hellboy and Pan's Labyrinth. Host Christina Jeurling Birro speaks to Jones about his long relationship with Guillermo del Toro, the emotional connection to playing creatures and monsters, the challenges of prosthetic costumes, and much more! The Shape of Water will premiere in Sweden February 14th 2018 and has premiered in the US and around the world.

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Episode 95: Mac Quayle, Composer Feb 04, 2018

Show notes

From his Emmy award-winning electronic score for "Mr. Robot", to the old Hollywood feel of the FX show "Feud: Bette and Joan", to "The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story". On this week's show - genre defying composer Mac Quayle. From his early career as a producer and music re-mixer, Quayle worked with Madonna, Whitney Houston, Depeche Mode, Beyoncé, and many more. After moving to Los Angeles, his work expanded to composing for television and film and in 2015 he became the composer for Sam Esmail's new series "Mr. Robot". Host Christina Jeurling Birro speaks to Quayle about his process working with showrunners to create the soundtracks, his latest work, and much more!

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Episode 94: Oscar Nominations With Sasha Stone Awards Daily Jan 23, 2018

Show notes

Episode 94: Oscar nominations with Sasha Stone, Awards Daily Awards expert, founder and editor of Awards Daily Sasha Stone joins us to discuss this years Oscar nominations: surprises, upsets and predictions ahead of the Academy Awards on March 4th, 2018!

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Episode 93: Ellen Lewis on casting 'The Post' Jan 18, 2018

Show notes

Our guest Ellen Lewis is the legendary casting director behind movies such as Goodfellas, Forrest Gump and The Wolf of Wall Street. She joins host Christina Jeurling Birro to share the unique process that went into casting Steven Spielberg’s acclaimed film The Post. With Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks already attached, Lewis set about to cast the large cast to play the real-life journalists and political figures in the script. The stellar ensemble includes Sarah Paulson, Bob Odenkirk, Tracy Letts, Bradley Whitford, Carrie Coon, David Cross, and so many more! We were honored to be joined by Lewis in our first season, a real portrait of her amazing career. This interview is included here as a postscript and is not to be missed!

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Episode 92: James ‘Fitz’ Fitzgerald - Manhunt: Unabomber Jan 09, 2018

Show notes

Our guest, former FBI agent and criminal profiler, James "Fitz" Fitzgerald was one of the agents who brought down Ted Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber. The critically acclaimed Discovery series “Manhunt: Unabomber” captures the gripping true story of mail-bomber Ted Kaczynski, his ability to elude the FBI for 18 years, and efforts made to bring him to justice. The series, now available on Netflix, stars Paul Bettany as Ted Kaczynski and Sam Worthington as our guest, FBI profiler James ‘Fitz’ Fitzgerald. The story focuses on the ongoing Unabomber investigation in 1995 and 1996, as well as the build-up to his trial, where the role of linguistics in the investigation was pivotal in his arrest and conviction. Host Christina Jeurling Birro speaks to Fitzgerald about his twenty years with the FBI, how they broke the UNABOM case, his investigation of other high-profile cases and much more!

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Awards Season: Sterling K. Brown Dec 29, 2017

Show notes

Award’s season is upon us and the Golden Globes nominees have been announced, including our guest from this Fall - Sterling K. Brown for his role on 'This Is Us'. Brown has had a long acting career with success on both stage and television but his role as Randall on 'This Is Us' seems to have propelled him to the next level. His characters’ emotional journey and struggles have had audiences really connecting with the universal themes of family, joy and loss. The show ended the Spring season as the highest rated new network series among adults 18 to 49 with an impressive 12,8 million viewers watching the season 1 finale. The second season concluded this Fall. Brown can be seen in the recent release 'Marshall', alongside Chadwick Boseman, Josh Gad and Kate Hudson. His upcoming feature films include Marvel’s 'Black Panther', Fox’s 'The Predator', and 'Hotel Artemis', alongside Jodie Foster.

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Oscar Race: Cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema, Dunkirk Dec 21, 2017

Show notes

As the Oscar race heats up, we look back over our guests of 2017 to see which fan favorites are in the running, including cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema for his work on the epic film Dunkirk. Shot on large format film, Hoytema and his team worked with director Christopher Nolan to create the stunning camera shots – from the visually stunning dogfights to the challenging water shots. We speak to Hoytema about the creative technical solutions his team used on Dunkirk, the industries’ return to using large format film, his reflections on working with so many great directors and much more!

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Episode 91: The Oscar Race with Mark Johnson Dec 11, 2017

Show notes

With awards season in full swing – we speak to Senior Contributor at Awardscircuit.com – Mark Johnson, to get all of his insights as we head into the Oscar race. We spoke to Mr Johnson in September about what he had seen at Telluride – an early award season predictor. On this episode, host Christina Jeurling Birro asks about the films we have discussed before, such as Dunkirk – but also the less talked about films like Lady Bird, Get Out, The Florida Project and many more. We speak to Mr Johnson to find out his Oscar Predictions, the hits and misses – and much more!

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