Nothing's Ever New with Ryan Shaw

2020 was a fever dream, but the pop culture? Unfortunately iconic.

In this episode, I’m kicking off the first-ever Nothing’s Ever New Pop Culture Bracket, and we’re starting with the year that somehow lasted 700 days and five minutes at the same time.

We’re throwing 16 of the biggest 2020 pop culture moments into the bracket: Tiger King, the rise of TikTok, WAP, Red Table Talk, Love Is Blind, sourdough bread, The Queen’s Gambit, election week memes, the cranberry juice guy, Savage, and several other things you probably haven’t thought about since you were wiping down your groceries.

Then we start the head-to-heads.

WAP vs. Red Table Talk.
The Queen’s Gambit vs. the rise of TikTok.

Some decisions are difficult. Some are absolutely not.

Plus, we get into Hilary Duff reclaiming that choreography, whether people are still getting iced in 2026, and why celebrities doing literally anything on Zoom was somehow considered entertainment.

Come back next episode when we finish the bracket and officially crown the pop culture champion of 2020.

And obviously, tell me what I missed. Fight me in the comments.

Remember when you could walk into work, school, literally anywhere, mention one TV show and everybody knew exactly what you were talking about?

Yeah. What happened to that?

This week, I’m getting into the rise and fall of the TV monoculture—the shows that basically had America in a chokehold and why I’m not sure that kind of TV exists anymore.

We’re going from Seinfeld, ER, Friends and Sex and the City to The Sopranos, Lost, The Office, Grey’s Anatomy, Game of Thrones, Succession, Tiger King and Squid Game. And before you yell at me about what I left off the list: good. That’s what the comments are for.

Because somewhere between cable disappearing, 900 streaming platforms showing up and algorithms deciding exactly what little corner of culture each of us belongs in, we stopped watching the same stuff.

There are more shows than ever. Probably more great shows than ever. But when was the last time you felt like EVERYBODY was watching the same thing?

Was Squid Game really the last one?

We’re getting into it.

PLUS: Keke Palmer can do no wrong, fandom is not a personality, and some of you need to stop demanding personal information from strangers on the internet.

Like, subscribe and tell me what I got wrong—because I know you will.

What does your parents’ music taste say about you? Apparently, in my case… a lot.

This week on Nothing’s Ever New, I’m ranking the top 10 albums and artists my parents introduced me to—and basically tracing the musical pipeline that turned me into the person I am today.

We’re talking Lauryn Hill. Alanis Morissette. Fleetwood Mac. Nirvana. TLC. Smashing Pumpkins. Boyz II Men. Garth Brooks. The Who. Barenaked Ladies. And yes, I have opinions.

We get into the albums that were constantly playing in my house, my first concert, why Friends in Low Places in a packed Midwest bar is a borderline spiritual experience, the music-discovery rabbit holes we used to go down before Spotify did it for us, and why some of these records just refuse to leave pop culture.

Plus: the lack of a true summer festival MOMENT, the songs and artists suddenly having another cultural resurgence, and why I need keyboard warriors bullying children in Instagram comments to please go find a hobby.

Basically: your parents gave you trauma, traditions…and apparently your Spotify algorithm.

Watch the episode, then tell me in the comments: What album or artist did your parents introduce you to that still has you in a chokehold?

Ten years later, 2016 still feels like it’s running the playlist in your head and picking your comfort watches when you’re tired. We’re marking the 10-year anniversary by building 2016 Pop Culture Mount Rushmores, the kind of friend-group argument that instantly turns into receipts, hot takes, and “wait, that was THAT year?” energy. 

We start with the best movies of 2016 and chase both craft and cultural gravity: Rogue One as the Star Wars outlier that stays grounded, Arrival as sci-fi that hits like a human drama, and the Moonlight and La La Land pairing that can’t be separated from the Oscars moment that made history. From there we jump to the best TV shows of 2016, back when streaming was simpler, and make the case for Stranger Things season 1 as a nostalgia engine, Atlanta as a singular masterpiece, Veep as political satire that keeps aging uncomfortably well, and Insecure as the breakout that turned Issa Rae into a force. 

Then it’s time for the best albums of 2016: Beyoncé’s Lemonade as a full-on cultural event, Frank Ocean’s Blonde as the record people still beg to be followed up, Solange’s A Seat at the Table as a statement with real staying power, and Rihanna’s Anti as the era we’re still waiting to get back. We close with what we’re loving in pop culture right now and what we want to disappear forever. If you’ve got your own 2016 Mount Rushmore, hit play, then subscribe, share the show, and leave a review so we can keep the nostalgia debates going.

Buckle the f*ck in. We’re going back to 2012.

A year when One Direction was a full-blown cult, Instagram filters made every photo look vaguely haunted, Taylor Swift started going pop, and everyone thought the world might actually end.

In the first episode of Nothing’s Ever New, I’m handing out high school superlatives to the songs, memes, movies and cultural chaos that defined my senior year.

We’re talking “Call Me Maybe,” Kony 2012, Honey Boo Boo, the Cup Song, Frank Ocean, The Hunger Games, overly attached girlfriends, sepia filters and five British guys in impossibly tight jeans.

Some of it aged beautifully. Some of it should have stayed buried. And some of it proves the whole point of this show: the names change, the platforms change, but the chokehold is basically the same.

Class is officially in session.