Switched on Pop

Latest Episodes:

Why we need bad music Oct 14, 2026

Show notes

For the 500th(!) episode of Switched on Pop, Charlie and Nate try to answer the question that has stumped critics and philosophers since the dawn of sound: does bad music exist? Their quest to answer something so nebulous leads them through the annals of taste, and in the process, they recruit several other critics and journalists to give their two cents on the topic. Can things actually be bad, and if so, how do we define them?

CREDITS

Reanna Cruz: Producer
Iris Gottlieb: Illustrator
Charlie Harding: Host, Executive Producer
Dion Lee: Art Director
Brandon McFarland: Audio Engineer
Nick Ripps: Video Editor
Nate Sloan: Host
Lissa Soep: Editor
Zach Tenorio & Jocie Adams: Theme Composers

Switched On Pop is a co-production of Vox Media Podcast Network, Vulture, and Rock Ridge Productions.

Links: ⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠

Songs discussed:

Kristin Chenoweth, “Taylor the Latte Boy”
Komar and Melamid & Dave Soldier, “The Most Unwanted Song"
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, "Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35: III. Finale. Allegro vivacissimo"
Johann Strauss II, The Blue Danube"
Johann Sebastian Bach, "The Well-Tempered Clavier No. 2: Prelude and Fugue in C minor"
Pete Rock & CL Smooth, "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)"
Lil Yachty, "1 Night"
Sam Laxton, Lonskii, “Adagio For Strings”
Daft Punk, Pharrell Williams, Nile Rodgers, “Get Lucky”
Florence Foster Jenkins, "Queen of the Night’s Aria"
BB King, Eric Clapton, “Riding With the King”
Paul McCartney, "Temporary Secretary"
The Beatles, "Here Comes the Sun"
Paul McCartney, "Wonderful Christmastime"
Lou Reed, "Who Am I? (Tripitena’s Song)"
Insane Clown Posse, "Miracles"
Primus, "DMV"
Iggy Azalea ft. Charli xcx, "Fancy"
The Killers, "Human"

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Has Taylor Swift jumped the shark? Oct 06, 2026

Show notes

One year after the release of her twelfth studio album The Life of a Showgirl, Taylor Swift is back with an encore. Specifically, The Encore, four tracks that have polarized critics and Swifties alike, from the country-esque number one hit “Patient Zero” to her ode to married Ohioan bliss, “Cleveland!” For some, the new songs lean into Swift’s worst writing impulses. But for others, including our hosts (and resident Swiftologists) Charlie and Nate, the tracks call back to earlier eras of Swift’s songwriting, and perhaps evoke more nuanced discussion about what it means to release music as the biggest artist in the world. The question is: are we ready for it?

CREDITS

Reanna Cruz: Producer
Iris Gottlieb: Illustrator
Charlie Harding: Host, Executive Producer
Dion Lee: Art Director
Brandon McFarland: Audio Engineer
Nick Ripps: Video Editor
Nate Sloan: Host
Lissa Soep: Editor
Zach Tenorio & Jocie Adams: Theme Composers

Switched On Pop is a co-production of Vox Media Podcast Network, Vulture, and Rock Ridge Productions.

Links: ⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠

Songs discussed:

Taylor Swift, “Patient Zero”
Taylor Swift, “Cleveland!”
Taylor Swift, “Pink Clouding”
Taylor Swift, “Babylon”
Taylor Swift, “Red”

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Carly Rae Jepsen’s pop pedagogy Sep 29, 2026

Show notes

Five years after her first appearance on Switched on Pop, Carly Rae Jepsen returns to the podcast to talk all things Day and Night, her latest album. Born out of Swedish disco, big emotion, and substantive life change – including becoming a wife and a mother – the double album is a tour through the organic and the synthetic, both in equal measure. For Charlie and Nate, this is a full circle moment, and along with discussing the record, the two talk to Jepsen about the origins of the show, her songwriting process, and what it means to be such an important champion of pop music.

CREDITS

Reanna Cruz: Producer
Iris Gottlieb: Illustrator
Charlie Harding: Host, Executive Producer
Dion Lee: Art Director
Brandon McFarland: Audio Engineer
Nick Ripps: Video Editor
Nate Sloan: Host
Lissa Soep: Editor
Zach Tenorio & Jocie Adams: Theme Composers

Switched On Pop is a co-production of Vox Media Podcast Network, Vulture, and Rock Ridge Productions.

Links: ⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠

Songs discussed:

Carly Rae Jepsen, “After All”
Carly Rae Jepsen, “Versailles”
Carly Rae Jepsen, “Don’t Leave Me on the Dance Floor”
Carly Rae Jepsen, “Near or Far”
Carly Rae Jepsen, “Motivation”

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Tove Lo wants her music to sound out of control (ft. Tove Lo) Sep 22, 2026

Show notes

Swedish singer-songwriter Tove Lo’s new album ESTRUS can be summarized in the opening lyrics of the album’s closing track, “source of life”: “Feral, fragile, numb, ecstatic / sad, euphoric, catatonic / Horny, repulsed, proud and shameful / Good, demonic, contradictions.”

A songwriter with a string of multi-platinum hits in the 2010s, Tove Lo has crafted a career founded on musical contradiction, with songs that straddle the line between messy and controlled. Her lyrics tend to skew both horny and sensitive, and her latest record features both of those vibes in equal measure. On this episode of Switched on Pop, Charlie and Nate sit down with her to talk all things ESTRUS.

CREDITS

Reanna Cruz: Producer
Iris Gottlieb: Illustrator
Charlie Harding: Host, Executive Producer
Dion Lee: Art Director
Brandon McFarland: Audio Engineer
Nick Ripps: Video Editor
Nate Sloan: Host
Lissa Soep: Editor
Zach Tenorio & Jocie Adams: Theme Composers

Switched On Pop is a co-production of Vox Media Podcast Network, Vulture, and Rock Ridge Productions.

Links: ⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠

Songs discussed:

Tove Lo, “a lot of feelings, no solutions”
Tove Lo, “I’m your girl right?”
Stromae, “Alors on danse”
Tove Lo, “des fleurs x Stromae”
Tove Lo, “DNH”
Tove Lo, “F.A.M.T”
Tove Lo, “are we on a break”
Tove Lo, “idiot”
Tove Lo, “source of life”

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Lizzy McAlpine summons Nick Drake & Joni Mitchell Sep 18, 2026

Show notes

Lizzy McAlpine opens up about her 4th album Angel alongside collaborators Mason Stoops and Taylor Mackall. Recorded live at Power Station at Berklee NYC.

Songs Discussed

Lizzy McAlpine "Anybody's Fool"

Lizzy McAlpine "A Car Wash and a New Pair of Pants"

Nick Drake "One of These Things First"

Lizzy McAlpine "Two Elevens"

Adam Guettel "Through the Mountain"

Lizzy McAlpine "Our Strange Ways"

Joni Mitchell "Hejira"

Lizzy McAlpine "Soldier of the Road"

Lizzy McAlpine "Peach"

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The power of singing together (ft. Tiny Habits) Sep 15, 2026

Show notes

Throughout pop history, groups from The Ink Spots to the Beach Boys to Fleetwood Mac all forged their sound in the alchemy of vocal harmonies, harnessing the magic that happens when different voices join as one. Then suddenly, right around the 1980s, vocal harmonies started to wane in pop. Whether it was Michael Jackson creating a new model of the solo star, music technology making the voice more like an instrument, or simply audiences wanting a new sound, today the art of vocal harmony is hard to find on the charts. But bands like Tiny Habits, whose originals and covers showcase intricate and delicate harmonies, are bringing the sound back to the people, with a message that everyone needs to sing more, and to sing together.

CREDITS

Reanna Cruz: Producer
Iris Gottlieb: Illustrator
Charlie Harding: Host, Executive Producer
Dion Lee: Art Director
Brandon McFarland: Audio Engineer
Nick Ripps: Video Editor
Nate Sloan: Host
Lissa Soep: Editor
Zach Tenorio & Jocie Adams: Theme Composers

Switched On Pop is a co-production of Vox Media Podcast Network, Vulture, and Rock Ridge Productions.

Links: ⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠

Songs discussed:

Fleetwood Mac – The Chain
The Roches – Hammond Song
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – Suite: Judy Blue Eyes
Pérotin, The Hilliard Ensemble – Viderunt omnes
Mbuti men – Elephant Hunting Song
Bulgarian State Television Female Choir – Pilentze Pee
The Golden Gate Quartet – Stormy Weather
The Jackson 5 – Who’s Lovin’ You
Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons – C’mon Marianne
The Beach Boys – Barbara Ann
Michael Jackson – Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough
Tiny Habits – Right In Front Of Me
Tiny Habits – Anything He Was
Tiny Habits – one more (live acoustic)

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Questionably Country Sep 01, 2026

Show notes

For the first time in history, five country songs were at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. Ella Langley, Morgan Wallen, Taylor Swift and Stella Lefty all have songs that range from two-stepping hits to borderline Americana: what do these songs say about the state of country music?

CREDITS

Reanna Cruz: Producer
Iris Gottlieb: Illustrator
Charlie Harding: Host, Executive Producer
Dion Lee: Art Director
Brandon McFarland: Audio Engineer
Nick Ripps: Video Editor
Nate Sloan: Host
Lissa Soep: Editor
Zach Tenorio & Jocie Adams: Theme Composers

Switched On Pop is a co-production of Vox Media Podcast Network, Vulture, and Rock Ridge Productions.

Links: ⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠

Songs discussed:

Dolly Parton, “9 to 5”
Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers, “Islands In the Stream”
Dolly Parton, “Rockstar”
Ella Langley, “Choosin’ Texas”
Ronnie Milsap, “Smoky Mountain Rain”
George Strait, “Amarillo By Morning”
Johnny Cash, “Folsom Prison Blues”
Brad Paisley, “Cluster Pluck (feat. James Burton, Vince Gill, Albert Lee, John Jorgenson, Brent Mason, Redd Volkaert & Steve Wariner)”
Buddy Holly, “That’ll Be The Day”
Stevie Ray Vaughan, “Texas Flood”
George Strait, “All My Ex’s Live In Texas”
The Pointer Sisters, “Slow Hand”
Conway Twitty, “Slow Hand”
Morgan Wallen, “Been By Now”
Ella Langley & Morgan Wallen, “I Can’t Love You Anymore”
Taylor Swift, “I Knew It, I Knew You (From ‘Toy Story 5’)”
Squeeze, “Tempted”
The Velvet Underground, “Sweet Jane”
Taylor Swift, “I Knew You Were Trouble.”
Taylor Swift, “cardigan”
Stella Lefty, “Boston”
Noah Kahan, “Stick Season”

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Phoebe Bridgers opens her Moleskine Aug 25, 2026

Show notes

Many of us keep a journal, but few of us are able to turn our unvarnished thoughts into cultural moments touching on love, death, and guitars quite like Phoebe Bridgers. Her new album Lost Weekend isn’t just throwing the pages of her personal life into song, it’s much more than that: A beguiling, hyper-compositional meditation on the last six years of her life.

The genres range from bluegrass to electronic, and collaborators pepper the record – from her boygenius bandmates Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker, to Americana outfit Nickel Creek, to a mysterious presence who may or may not be Geese singer Cameron Winter. The end result is one of the most immersive and heartbreaking albums of the year thus far, transforming the specificity of one person’s story and observations into a universal reflection on life’s fragility.

CREDITS

Reanna Cruz: Producer
Iris Gottlieb: Illustrator
Charlie Harding: Host, Executive Producer
Dion Lee: Art Director
Brandon McFarland: Audio Engineer
Nick Ripps: Video Editor
Nate Sloan: Host
Lissa Soep: Editor
Zach Tenorio & Jocie Adams: Theme Composers

Switched On Pop is a co-production of Vox Media Podcast Network, Vulture, and Rock Ridge Productions.

Links: ⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠

Songs discussed:

Phoebe Bridgers – The Outside
Phoebe Bridgers – Lost Boys
Phoebe Bridgers – Kill Me
Phoebe Bridgers – The Governor’s Waltz
Phoebe Bridgers – Lost Weekend
Phoebe Bridgers – Haunted
Phoebe Bridgers – Still Standing
Phoebe Bridgers – Never Going Back!
Phoebe Bridgers – I Can’t Wait
Phoebe Bridgers – Lost Weekend (Reprise)
Paul Lansky and Hannah MacKay – Notjustmoreidlechatter
Phoebe Bridgers – I Know The End
Phoebe Bridgers – Motion Sickness

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We have Confessions to make... Aug 18, 2026

Show notes

Madonna has returned this summer with Confessions II: an album full of huge hooks, pounding bass, and sincere emotion. It’s the queen of pop's first record in seven years, and serves as a sequel to her 2005 smash hit, Confessions on a Dance Floor. The record ties together threads that have existed throughout Madonna’s entire discography, but it also serves a greater purpose. Confessions II is Madonna’s biopic, allowing her to tell her story on her own terms. On this episode of Switched on Pop, producer (and Madonna superfan) Reanna Cruz walks Charlie and Nate through the record, and makes the case for it being the best Madonna record of the last twenty years.

CREDITS

Reanna Cruz: Producer
Iris Gottlieb: Illustrator
Charlie Harding: Host, Executive Producer
Dion Lee: Art Director
Brandon McFarland: Audio Engineer
Nick Ripps: Video Editor
Nate Sloan: Host
Lissa Soep: Editor
Zach Tenorio & Jocie Adams: Theme Composers

Switched On Pop is a co-production of Vox Media Podcast Network, Vulture, and Rock Ridge Productions.

Links: ⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠

Songs discussed:

Madonna, Sabrina Carpenter – Bring Your Love
Madonna – Express Yourself
Madonna – Hung Up
Madonna – Danceteria
Madonna – Vogue
Lou Reed – Walk On the Wild Side
Madonna – Get Together
Madonna – I Feel So Free
Donna Summer – I Feel Love
Madonna – One Step Away
Madonna – Nothing Fails
Madonna – Everything
Madonna – Fragile
Madonna – Frozen

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A piano lesson that will change how you listen (ft. Lang Lang) Aug 11, 2026

Show notes

For many people – including Charlie and Nate – studying classical piano as a child always felt like a chore. Now, as adults, there’s a newfound appreciation for classical music, but the art form isn’t always accessible. One of the people trying to change that is the world-renowned pianist Lang Lang, classical piano’s greatest interpreter. On this episode of Switched on Pop, Charlie sits down with Lang Lang at the Steinway showroom in New York City to see how taste changes over time, the different ways a master pianist can interpret a work, and ultimately, why classical music is still important.

CREDITS