How Spotify hacked our ears (and our data)
Behind Spotify's promise of infinite music lies a carefully engineered system that shapes not just what we hear, but how music itself gets made. Journalist Liz Pelly's explosive new book "Mood Machine...
4 Feb 202551min
25 Predictions for 2025: Grammys, J-pop, kazoos and more
2024 was an unpredictable year, and 2025 seems to be cut from the same cloth. So for this episode of Switched On Pop, Nate, Charlie, and Reanna look into the crystal ball of pop music to create a (pla...
28 Jan 202555min
Bad Bunny's love letter to Puerto Rico
The first great release of 2025 is already here: Bad Bunny's newest album, DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS. Over the course of its 17 tracks, the Puerto Rican reggaetonero crafts an intertextual, anti-colonial t...
21 Jan 202546min
The biggest theme song fail
What happens when your podcast’s theme song—cobbled together from GarageBand loops—gets called “game show music” and likened to a cereal commercial? You rewrite it. In this episode, we take you behind...
14 Jan 202539min
Have Disney musicals lost their edge?
Critics are not feeling the love tonight when it comes to Disney's latest sequels, Mufasa and Moana 2. They've called the animated films "lifeless and bland." But save some sympathy for the composers ...
7 Jan 202539min
Going Off Book
On this very special episode, we join forces with the hilarious podcast OFF BOOK. When our powers combine, Zach and Jess of Off Book, plus their killer backing band of Scott, Dana and Brett create an ...
31 Dec 20241h 31min
Auto-Tune always and forever
Popular music changes all the time, but there’s been one consistent element in practically everything released in the last two decades: Auto-Tune is everywhere. What started as a simple audio processi...
24 Dec 20241h 2min
Santa Claus is coming to town and stalking America
The first time you hear "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," it probably registers as just another cheery holiday standard. But hiding within this seemingly simple song is a remarkable story of American t...
20 Dec 202433min
