Pop Cartography

I learn how to eat Vegemite properly and where rugby got its name with high school friend Amy Keeble. I try my hand at an awful Australian accent, and we quiz each other on Down Under vocabulary. Grab your Billabong board shorts and a chockie-bickie and get comfy. You'll be DEVO if you miss out on this one. When in doubt, just remember: Hugh Jackman = GOOD.

Pop culture recommendations:

Amy: "The Office" and "Parks and Recreation"

Becca: "Dime Store Cowgirl" by Kacey Musgraves, "Veep" and "Silicon Valley"

Housekeeping:

Follow me: @BeccaPattonSays

Follow the show: @pop_cartography

Email me: [email protected]

Theme song: "How it Goes" by Lauren Mann

Podcast artwork by Molly Hoy

Fellow New Yorkers Jason Chang and Diana Park (or, the Charks) sit down with me in my sweltering Astoria apartment to discuss growing up Korean-American. They help shed light on my most burning questions, like: what's with PSY's music videos? Is he cool? Which K-Dramas are worth my time ("Signal") and which are best left alone ("Boys Over Flowers")? Why does Korean girls' skin look so good? And what is up with the demasculinization of Asian men in American culture? All this, plus why Diana loves natural disaster movies.

College bud Isaac Archer and I talk about his growing up years in Argentina. Topics of discussion include our emotional weddings, Argentine boy bands (there is only one, according to Google), the FIFA scandal, Rammstein (DU HAST! DU HAST!), mate vs. matcha tea, Archer's sweet new tat and more. Also, listen in to hear his cat, Crumb, wreak some cute havoc in the background.

Joyce Chu talks with me about growing up in Hong Kong, then moving to the U.S. as an exchange student. We discuss tea restaurants, Hong Kong-style macaroni breakfasts, karaoke, C-Pop, Korean beauty products and the difference between Mandarin and Cantonese. Joyce also tells me about watching "She's the Man" and "Mean Girls" to learn English, her Chinese name and how she started liking avocados. Also, you know that feeling where you walk into someone's messy dorm, and you're like, "Oh no"? Joyce can relate because that was my room freshman year. But don't worry — she powered through and found a place to sit. And the rest, as they say, is HERstory.

My college friend Natalie Hamilton (a.k.a., Natalie Portman) and I talk about her childhood in South America and her summers in the States, where she thought life was a constant pool party. Learn how to pronounce Uber in Spanish, and find out whether or not Uruguay is in Africa (or is it Russia?). We also discuss our weird musical tastes as children, including that time in college when Natalie discovered Christina Aguilera sang in English. Also, spoiler alert: Natalie is weirdly good at remembering all of Brangelina's children and also their birth countries??

Well, bless your heart for listening to "Pop Cartography." I talk with my husband Luke, a native Alabamian, about his beloved home state. We discuss college football, the Gaither Brothers, spaceships, BBQ, Luke's love for Batman and his latest hobby, bread. All that, plus our pop culture recommendations. It's fun as all get out!

In which my best friend and I wax eloquent about our childhoods in Papua New Guinea, the concept of fika and what Swedes think of Americans. If you've ever wanted to hear someone pronounce Swedish words badly (me), you've come to the right place. If you've ever wanted to hear a bona fide Swede pronounce Swedish words well (Elin), you've also come to the right place. Speak friend and enter. Or, as Google Translate tells me, tala vän och ange. Go grab yourself some kanelbulle and kaffe and settle in.