Pop Culture Confidential

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Episode 19: ‘The Leftovers’ Carrie Coon & the Science of Good TV Nov 06, 2015

Show notes

Carrie Coon burst onto the scene in 2014 with two remarkable performances in David Fincher’s Gone Girl and HBO’s The Leftovers. We are honored to speak with her! How would you react if 2% of the world’s population suddenly disappeared, including your husband and two children? This is the premise for Carrie Coon’s character Nora Durst on the hit HBO show The Leftovers, now in its second season. The show is co-created by Lost’s Damon Lindelof and the author of the novel, Tom Perrotta. We speak to actress Carrie Coon about her work on The Leftovers and what season two will bring for her character, what it was like to work with David Fincher on the psychological thriller Gone Girl and how the roles for women on television are evolving. Then we ask the question – can watching television increase your emotional intelligence? New research shows that watching award-winning television shows, such as Mad Men, Lost, The Good Wife or The West Wing, can increase our ability to read emotion and to empathize. We speak to Professor of Psychology Jennifer L. Barnes to find out what this research means for avid viewers like us.

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Episode 18: Behind the Scenes of Narcos - Escobar and the Blow Business Oct 29, 2015

Show notes

By 1982, cocaine made up 30% of all Colombian export, surpassing coffee, with much help by cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar. The new hit Netflix series “Narcos” traces his rise as one of the leaders of the Meddellín Cartel, the flow of cocaine from Colombia into the United States and the DEA’s attempts to bring down Escobar and the cartel. Brazilian actor Wagner Moura has received high praise for his portrayal of Escobar, who is a complex character – to say the least. He is one of the worlds most notorious criminals, reportedly responsible for over 4,000 murders and terrorizing many more, but to some he is also a hero, a Robin Hood like character who gave money to poor comminutes in Colombia, built soccer stadiums and even ran for office. At the time of his death, he was reportedly worth an estimated $25 billion dollars – making him also the wealthiest criminal in history. “Narcos” is filmed on location in Colombia with some real archival footage mixed in, and many of the real-life protagonists are consultants on the show. The result is equal parts drama and fascinating history lesson. We speak to producer Paul Eckstein about the extensive research that went into developing the project, the amazing cast and crew who have brought the scripts to life, and what is next for him and the team. We also ask him about his experience acting on Star Trek and why he thinks the show is a hotbed for talented writers.

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Episode 17: From Friday Night Lights to Cailtin Jenner - Buzz Bissinger Oct 29, 2015

Show notes

Twenty-five years ago Buzz Bissinger went in search of the Friday night lights – to chronicle the high school football ritual that can bring together a small American town. The result of this journey that took him to Odessa, Texas became the New York Times bestseller “Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream”, a book that would later be adapted into both a movie and TV show of the same name. The book shows America’s love of football while exposing its racism and greed, which is just as prevalent today but often overlooked. Since then Bissinger has not shied away from controversial subjects, including his own life. He has written about his struggle as a shopaholic which has included spending over $500,000 on high-fashion clothing in just two years, as well as his love of wearing women’s clothing. In his very touching book “Father’s Day: Across America with an Unusual Dad and His Extraordinary Son” he explores his relationship with his son Zach, who is savant challenged by serious intellectual deficits, as they take a road trip across the U.S.. As a contributor for Vanity Fair he has written very revealing profiles - of the disgraced journalist Stephen Glass, post scandal Tiger Woods, Oscar nominated Bradley Cooper and maybe his most memorable - Caitlyn Jenner in which he chronicles “the fears and doubts, love and courage, and tensions and traumas involved in the transition”.

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Episode 16: Priyanka Chopra - From Bollywood Superstar to Hollywood Rising Star Oct 20, 2015

Show notes

Guest: Priyanka Chopra This week we interview one of the world’s biggest movie stars. She acts, she sings, she dances, and as an FBI agent in the new ABC drama “Quantico” she kicks some serious butt! Priyanka Chopra, the Bollywood superstar has over 50 films on her resume, and is now taking Hollywood by storm – and making history by being the first South Asian woman to headline a US network drama. Priyanka Chopra was born in Jamshedpur India, but as a teenager she lived for some years with her aunt in the United States. She returned to India in her late teens and at 18 she won the Miss World Title, an event that helped start her film career. Today Chopra is one of Bollywood's highest-paid actresses and a vocal advocate for women’s rights. She has shown herself to be extremely versatile by playing a range of unconventional characters, including a serial killer, a glamorous femme fatal, India’s real-life boxing champion Mary Kom and an autistic woman in the internationally acclaimed romantic comedy Barfi!. In “Quantico”, helmed by Joshua Safran of Gossip Girl fame, Chopra plays Alex Parrish, a new FBI recruit in training who is accused of a terrorist attack as the series begins. The series premiered in September on ABC and airs on Sundays. In Sweden it premieres October 19th on Kanal 5.

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Episode 15: Making the Impossible Possible – The Visual Effects of The Walk Oct 20, 2015

Show notes

Guest: Kevin Baillie Even a death-defying high-wire artist has to start somewhere. As a boy, Philippe Petit dreamt of performing daring feats for dazzled crowds. As an adult, his life’s ambition came true when on August 7, 1974, he successfully walked between the Twin Towers, 110 floors up with no harness or net! Our guest Kevin Baillie’s journey also reads much like a film script. By the age of seven, after being inspired by films like Back to the Future, he had already chosen his career path and was best friends with Ryan Tudhope, with whom he would later co-found the visual effects studio Atomic Fiction. With his dream, much determinacy and hard work, Baillie was working at Skywalker Ranch at just 18 years old! Flash forward; Baillie is the Visual Effects Supervisor on The Walk, and along with the team at Atomic Fiction, worked with legendary director Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump, Flight) to bring Petit’s seemingly impossible stunt to life in The Walk. In this highly anticipated film staring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, it is the absolutely stunning visuals that make this vertigo-inducing journey so believable, a feat that meant recreating the twin towers and New York in the 70s. Baillie has worked with Zemeckis on multiple films. Remember the gut-wrenching plane crash in Flight? That was his work! His resume also includes work on Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace, Hellboy, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Sin CIty and Star Trek Into Darkness.

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Episode 14: Superagent Sue Mengers & the Groundbreaking Showrunners of TV and their heirs. Sep 28, 2015

Show notes

In the 1970s, there wasn’t a Hollywood agent more successful than Sue Mengers. Her client roster read like a who’s who of the hottest actors and directors of the time: Barbra Streisand, Gene Hackman, Ryan O’Neal, Ali MacGraw, Diana Ross, Michael Caine, Candice Bergen, Jacqueline Bisset, Mike Nichols, Peter Bogdanovich, and a glittering marquee of many other high- profile performers. Author Brian Kellow interviewed over 200 people, to collect all of wonderful moments in her often loud and abrasive life and career for his recently released biography Can I Go Now?: The Life of Sue Mengers, Hollywood’s First Superagent. The last twenty years has been referred to as the second golden age of television. Shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Freaks and Geeks, and The Wire were breeding grounds for the showrunners who are now bringing us smash hits like Empire, Girls, Madmen, Unreal and many more. Tara Bennett, who interviewed showrunners Joss Whedon, Ronald D. Moore, Damon Lindelof, Terence Winter, and many more for her book Showrunners: The Art of Running a TV Show, joins us to shine the light on the people making this golden era come to life.

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Episode 13: Spotlight on Boston with Black Mass & The Oscar Race Continues Sep 28, 2015

Show notes

Black Mass, starring Johnny Depp and directed by Scott Cooper, tells the terrifying story of real-life Boston crime boss Whitey Bulger who kept Boston in his grip for decades. After 16 years on the run he was finally arrested in 2011 and found guilty of federal racketeering, extortion, conspiracy and involvement in 11 murders. Former Boston Globe reporter Dick Lehr was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in investigative reporting. He spent decades reporting on Whitey Bulger and his unholy alliance with the FBI. Together with Gerard O'Neill, Lehr wrote the critically acclaimed, NY Times bestselling book Black Mass, which the film is based on, as well as the book, Whitey: The Life of America's Most Notorious Mob Boss. We also follow up with Awards Daily Sasha Stone, arguably the best Oscar tracker in the industry, who we last spoke to after the Cannes Film Festival. We get all the buzz from the Telluride Film Festival – a hotbed for Best Picture winners. One film getting buzz is Spotlight about The Boston Globe’s investigative reporting unit, or "Spotlight" team, and their coverage of the Massachusetts Catholic sex abuse scandal.

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Episode 12: The Pop Culture Confidential Emmy Special Sep 11, 2015

Show notes

Guest: Debra Birnbaum, Variety With the Emmy’s just over a week away, we share our thoughts on the nominations, the gala, the snubs, surprises and of course – PREDICTIONS! Our expert guide is Debra Birnbaum who is the executive editor, TV for Variety! She also covers the Emmy Awards, producing 13 special issues highlighting the Emmy contenders. She knows her Emmys!

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Episode 11: Project UROK – Destigmatizing mental illness through comedy and community. Sep 11, 2015

Show notes

Guest: Jenny Jaffe Funny, fearless and passionate are just a few of the words that describe Jenny Jaffe, comedy writer and founder of Project UROK - a nonprofit organization that is creating honest and frank videos for teenagers who are struggling with mental health issues, made by people who have been there before.Their message - You are not alone, you are okay! These include actor and writer Wil Wheaton (Stand by Me, Star Trek, The Big Bang Theory) who shares his struggles with mental illness and depression, Mara Wilson who came to fame as a child actress in Matilda and Mrs. Doubtfire shares her struggle with anxiety, as well as gossip reporter Perez Hilton who struggled with panic attacks.

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Episode 10: Goodfellas to Forrest Gump - Legendary Casting by Ellen Lewis Sep 11, 2015

Show notes

Guest: Ellen Lewis The iconic performances in Goodfellas, Scent of a Woman, Forrest Gump, The Devil Wears Prada, Wolf of Wall Street and close to 70 other films have one thing in common - renowned casting director Ellen Lewis. While the director and screenwriter create a films world, it is the casting directors job to fill this world with just the right mix of actors to create exhilarating onscreen chemistry. Lewis has been doing just that for directors such as Mike Nichols, Jim Jarmusch, and Martin Scorsese. In fact her IMDB page looks like a list of the best films from the past two decades. In this exclusive interview with Ellen Lewis we discuss her career changing films, tricks of the trade, why there is still no Oscar given for casting, and her recent work which includes the upcoming Steven Spielberg feature Bridge of Spies, and highly anticipated new HBO series Vinyl, produced by Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger.

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