Pop Culture Boner

Because time is a flat circle, every now and then our episodes become relevant again.Recently, Netflix released a documentary, Best of Robbie Williams, to mixed but mostly positive reviews. Anyway, all the way back in 2020, on the third ever episode of Pop Culture Boner - The Podcast Edition, Alex explored how Robbie's career evolved from boy band member to stadium sized solo artist, and how he paved the way for Harry Styles to do the same 20 years later. Basically, it was Robbie's House...

Hello friends! Another busy fortnight here at HQ. Once again we’ve decided to take a dive into the archives to bring you some classic Pop Culture Boner content. Anyway, it's November so that means your Spotify Wrapped is already in the oven - nothing else you listen to will count for this years edition. It might also be a good time to mention, Wesley's band Lava Fangs have new music out soon...Anyway, two years ago Alex thought a lot about Spotify Wrapped, and we're still thinking about it. S...

This week on Pop Culture we’re taking a closer look at the Sphere at the Venetian. As Las Vegas’ newest and most expensive concert venue, the Sphere is promising concert-goers that it will be the “future of entertainment”. But now that they’re $2.3billion in the hole, have invented a new camera and booked U2 for a residency, what does that actually mean?Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com

Here at Pop Culture Boner we sometimes like to consult the experts. Or at least, someone who is expert adjacent. This week we’re talking to Isobel, an actual lawyer, about Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas’ divorce and custody proceedings. While Isobel is keen to emphasise that she is not actually a family lawyer, she does know more about the Hague Convention than anyone else involved in this podcast, and she has an opinion, so we’re counting her an authority. (This podcast, and Isobel’s stat...

Hello friends! A lot’s been happening here at Pop Culture Boner Headquarters. Ask Alex about it next time you see her at the pub. Under the circumstances, we haven’t been able to put together a fresh episode for you this week. Instead, we’ve decided to take a dive into the archives and share something from the early days of Pop Culture Boner. I thought we could just have some fun this week and revisit Alex’s feelings about Harry Potter, and how the film franchise ruined modern cinema.Vis...

In the wake of the arrest of Utah-based ‘mommy blogger’ Ruby Franke and her offsider Jodi Hildebrandt on 6 counts of felony child abuse, we take a look at child stars of the YouTube age. How have social channels like YouTube pushed the format of family vlogging into unsafe territory? Why aren’t child influencers subject to the same labour laws as child actors? What protections are in place to prevent acts of serious harm? Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.pop...

This week on Pop Culture Boner, we’re finding joy in talking about horror. Specifically, Talk to Me, the directorial debut of Australian YouTube duo, RackaRacka AKA Michael and Danny Philippou. We take a look at grief, genre and the never-ending joy of watching ratbag teens make bad choices. Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com

This week on Pop Culture Boner, we’re looking at the movie event of the year. Barbie. Oppenheimer. Boppenheimer. Barbenheimer. Margot Robbie. Cillian Murphy. Ryan Gosling. Fun, frivolity, atomic bombs. We’re looking at the limits of representation in storytelling. What gets included, what doesn’t and why? Visit the website for episode notes and a full transcript: www.popcultureboner.com

This week on Pop Culture Boner we look at the history of book banning and the recent rise in right-wing hate groups using libraries and public schools as battle grounds for anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. We also chat to Ngozi Ukazu, whose book Check, Please! is banned in Texas, about what it’s like to be an author on Moms For Liberty’s hit list. You can find Ngozi on Twitter, Instagram and the grout of the internet. You can pre-order Bunt! here, or keep an eye out for Barda, available fo...

This week’s episode of Pop Culture Boner looks at the OceanGate submersible tragedy through the lens of the online discourse that sprung up around it. Between the wreck of the Titanic, missing billionaires, lax safety regulations, international waters, video game controllers and James Cameron, it was 5 days of unbridled digital chaos. We take a look at the timeline to examine why it held our collective attention for so long, and why exactly James Cameron yearns for the deep. Visit the we...