Switched on Pop

Musicologist analysis of pop songs and their emotional impact AI summary

Vulture Visit website › Music · EN · 561 episodes · latest 2026-11-10

Rank 2860

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What it is about

Listen closer to pop music, and hear how it moves us. Hosted by musicologist Nate Sloan & songwriter Charlie Harding. From Vulture and the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Publisher’s own description, taken unchanged from the podcast feed.
2021 Vox Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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Latest episodes

The Gen-Z writing style (with Bella Kay)

2026-11-10 · 44 min

Bella Kay almost shelved the song "iloveitiloveitiloveit." Instead she posted the song to TikTok and it changed her life. The song became a top 20 hit and launched her music career. Bella Kay joins host Charlie Harding…
A unified popstar theory from Tinashe

2026-11-03 · 47 min

On her eighth studio album Popstar, the criminally underrated multihyphenate Tinashe finally asserts herself as a Main Pop Girl, crafting a record about what it means to be a celebrity in the modern era. For her, it’s…
The 'bummer hope' of midwest emo (ft. Yvette Young and Mike Kinsella)

2026-10-27 · 30 min

A few months ago, Nate came across a glittering guitar riff unlike anything he had ever heard before; it managed to perfectly balance careful optimism with plaintive melancholy, stirring the spirit. That melody, played…
The rise of surrealist pop: KATSEYE and ADÉLA

2026-10-20 · 49 min

The music of global girl group KATSEYE might be confusing on first listen. A less-generous read might consider their songs to be rudimentary: the lyrics are mostly nonsense, the instrumentals evoke lesser 2010s pop…
Why we need bad music

2026-10-14 · 1 hr 2 min

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…
Has Taylor Swift jumped the shark?

2026-10-06 · 48 min

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…
Carly Rae Jepsen’s pop pedagogy

2026-09-29 · 49 min

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 –…
Tove Lo wants her music to sound out of control (ft. Tove Lo)

2026-09-22 · 38 min

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,…
Lizzy McAlpine summons Nick Drake & Joni Mitchell

2026-09-18 · 58 min

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…
The power of singing together (ft. Tiny Habits)

2026-09-15 · 41 min

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…

Episode details from the publisher’s feed. Playback happens at the publisher.

Publisher details

Owner: Vox Media Podcast Network
Oldest episode in feed: 10/2014 · over 12 years
Typical length: 39 min
Format: Episodic Newest first, episodes stand alone

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