Pop Culture Persephone

In 2007, American exchange student Amanda Knox found herself - along with Rafaelle Sollecito, her Italian boyfriend of one week  - embroiled in the grisly murder case of her roommate, English exchange student Meredith Kercher.  After two trials, Knox and Sollecito were fully exonerated in 2015 on grounds of insufficent and shoddy evidence, but the blight of this devastating case has continued to follow them around, especially Knox.  Tune in today to learn more about the Amanda Knox case, the lack of justice for the Kercher family and all the books, documentaries, podcasts and movies that have been inspired from this case.

On this very musical episode of the PCP, Persephone is joined by return guest Kate Atherton as we unpack Apple TV’s hilarious send-up to classic musical theatre in Schmigadoon!  Yes, we are about to spoil this whole series for you so be forewarned!

It’s a solo PCP this week as Persephone dives (sorta) deep into the Dark Web and the tale of Ross Ulbricht, the young mastermind behind Silk Road, an online illegal drug marketplace where users could anonymously purchase everything from mesculin to heroin using bitcoin as their non-traceable currency.  Lauded by many as a folk hero for his Libertarian ideologies and a free and open marketplace, Ulbricht’s meteroic rise and fall lasted barely three years until his arrest and subsequent double life sentence.  Persephone discusses the recent bio-pic Silk Road and Alex Winter’s Deep Web documentary and their treatment of this perplexing case.  Stay tuned at the end of the episode for the Ask Persephone! segment!

We never knew how hungry we were to revisit the troubles of wealthy upper east side teens until HBO Max decided to relaunch Gossip Girl this July!  This time around, the literal white-washed world of Serena, Blair and Dan are replaced with the more diverse Generation Z counterparts of Julien, Monet, Zoya, and Aki.  Additionally, our Gossip Girl isn’t one person, but a collection of angry Constance Billard teachers aimed at punishing these privileged trust funders into submission. Persephone, alongside first time guests Sarah Hess and Alexa Jones, examine the legacy of Gossip Girl, the changes to the reboot, the most captivating characters, and some predictions.  Yes, we might go on a bit of a tangent related to other teen shows but that’s to be expected. You know you love us!  XOXO

It’s been one hell of a week for Britney Jean Spears, the Free Britney movement, the state of her conservatorship and more!  After the “leaked” audio of Britney’s day in court hit the internet last week, it became abundantly clear that her 13 year conservatorship has been far more restrictive than anyone could have imagined.  While Britney and boyfriend Sam decompress in Hawaii, what are the next steps for our favorite pop star?  Will the court grant her petition to end this conservatorship or did her passionate pleas cause more damage?  Joined by return guest and Britney expert Susan Sandberg, we discuss the background of this saga and our predictions on what might be next.  In addition, on this week’s Ask Persephone! it’s all about musical theatre queen and legend Rita Moreno!

Persephone is joined by guest favorite Roger Conners as we have a very unfocused discussion on all things pop culture during our June PCP Purge!  This is a wild ride this week and there is really a little bit of something for everyone including discussions on Meg Ryan’s face, Taryn Manning’s next move in Karen, submarine-phobia, an unauthorized Celine Dion film along with some of our personal entertainment recommendations!  Due to the length of episode, Ask Persephone! will return next week.

After a tumultuous year for the Bachelor franchise culminating in the recent departure of perennial host and average white dude Chris Harrison, Season 17 of The Bachelorette has arrived and its business as usual. On this episode of the PCP, Persephone is joined by guest host - and romance expert - Rachel Drotar to discuss the myriad issues with this franchise, if this crop of men are here for “the right reasons”, and if gimmicks and manufactured romance might be the wrong way to begin love’s journey.   Stay tuned at the end of the episode for a timely Friends-related question for the Ask Persephone! segment!

In it’s 20th season and 14th year, the juggernaut Keeping Up With The Kardashians is coming to an end. What started out as a fascinating peek into the Calabasas, CA lifestyle of a blended family with very familiar last names, would quickly morph into a launching pad to mega-fame (not to mention multiple product lines) for each sister until the world was referring to them by first name only: Kim, Kourtney, Khloe, Kendall, Kylie and mom-ager Kris. Joined by first time guest and resident Kardashian expert Roxy Reminick, we examine the genesis of the series, the romances, marriages, fights, meltdowns, spinoffs, and family dynamics that is family Kardashian.