Can “professor” Charlie Puth pass our qualifying exam?
Charlie Puth breaks down his new single "Changes," a maximalist eighties production hiding a melancholy story about drifting friendships. As he prepares for fatherhood, the singer-songwriter reflects on how relationships evolve from deep conversations to small talk, why he listens to lyrics last, and his belief that music should offer a three-minute escape from life's exhaustion. Between demonstrating vocal techniques, championing forgotten producer Rod Temperton, and turning "You Are My Sunshine" into a minor-key lullaby, Puth makes his case for earning the title "Professor," with one simple lesson: stop overthinking and just feel the music.
Songs Discussed
Wiz Khalifa feat. Charlie Puth "See You Again"Charlie Puth "Attention"Charlie Puth "Changes"Charlie Puth "Hero"The Weeknd "Blinding Lights"Dua Lipa "Physical"Olivia Newton-John "Physical"Phil Collins "In the Air Tonight"Tears for Fears "Everybody Wants to Rule the World"Heatwave "The Groove Line"Tamia "You Put a Move on My Heart"Heatwave "All You Do Is Dial"Michael Jackson "Thriller"Traditional "You Are My Sunshine"
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38:27
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38:27
How D'Angelo changed music, in three songs
On October 14th, the visionary musician D’Angelo passed away at 51 years old. Only releasing three albums during his lifetime, he synthesized influences from gospel, jazz, rock, and hip-hop to create a singular and transcendent sound artists still try – and fail – to emulate today.
On this special episode of Switched On Pop, Charlie and Nate are joined by producer Reanna and engineer Brandon to celebrate D’Angelo through his music, discussing one song from each of his albums and highlighting his musical genius.
Songs Discussed
D’Angelo – Untitled (How Does It Feel)
D’Angelo – Brown Sugar
The Hawkins Family – What Is This?
D’Angelo – Feel Like Makin’ Love
Roberta Flack – Feel Like Makin’ Love
Parliament – Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)
D’Angelo – Cruisin’
Smokey Robinson – Cruisin’
D’Angelo – The Charade
Curtis Mayfield – (Don’t Worry) If There Is A Hell Below, We’re All Going to Go
Jimi Hendrix – All Along The Watchtower
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37:05
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37:05
What do John C. Reilly and Taylor Swift have in common? The Great American Songbook
John C. Reilly joins to discuss Mr. Romantic, his theatrical tribute to the Great American Songbook that treats Irving Berlin and Tom Waits as equals in the canon of timeless American song. Reilly recorded live in one room with his band using vintage ribbon microphones, embracing the squeaks and imperfections while layering in cinematic sound effects—crickets outside a lover's window, a collect call from prison—to transform each standard into an immersive scene. But what makes a song from the 1920s feel eternal? Music data scientist Chris Dalla Riva, author of the forthcoming Uncharted Territory and the newsletter Can't Get Much Higher, breaks down how composers like the Gershwins wrote for amateur musicians playing sheet music at home, creating universal lyrics and AABA structures where the hook comes first. That accessibility is precisely what draws Reilly to this repertoire. He sees himself in the lineage of interpreters like Sinatra, not selling his own story but passing along music that already belongs to all of us, like holding up a seashell and saying, "Isn't this one beautiful?"
More
Get Chris Dalla Riva's book Uncharted Territory: What Numbers Tell Us about the Biggest Hit Songs and Ourselves
Subscribe to Chris Dalla Riva's Can't Get Much Higher
Songs Discussed
Taylor Swift "The Last Great American Dynasty"
George Gershwin "I Got Rhythm"
Village People "Y.M.C.A."
Billie Eilish "Bad Guy"
Frank Sinatra "On the Sunny Side of the Street"
Judy Garland "Over the Rainbow"
Ella Fitzgerald "My Romance"
George Gershwin "But Not for Me"
Elvis Presley "Are You Lonesome Tonight"
The Beatles "We Can Work It Out"
The Beatles "Get Back"
The Beatles "Yesterday"
John C. Reilly "Moonlight Serenade"
John C. Reilly "Dreams"
John C. Reilly "Johnsburg, Illinois"
John C. Reilly "Falling in Love Again"
John C. Reilly "What'll I Do"
John C. Reilly "Picture in a Frame"
John C. Reilly "Just Another Sucker on the Vine"
Randy Newman "Ragtime"
John C. Reilly & David Garza "What's Not To Love"
Harry Nilsson "Coconut"
Judy Garland "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"
Dooley Wilson "As Time Goes By"
The New Vaudeville Band "Winchester Cathedral"
Andy Williams "The Days of Wine and Roses"
Nat King Cole "The Frim Fram Sauce"
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57:12
Taylor Swift’s Showgirl Sound: How to actually listen to the album
Taylor Swift's twelfth album has sparked endless speculation about who each song is "really about," but that might be the wrong question entirely. The Life of a Showgirl isn’t biography, it’s polyphonic auto-fiction, where Swift writes from multiple character perspectives while blurring the lines between autobiography and theatrical performance. The album's "showgirl sound" traces from Shakespearean tragedy (Ophelia's drowning rewritten as salvation) through Golden Age Hollywood orchestration to contemporary pop production with Max Martin and Shellback. Unusual musical choices like the jarring five-measure phrase in "Fate of Ophelia" reinforce the album's central theme: the tension between public performance and private reality. By treating the album as a theatrical show rather than a celebrity tell-all, listeners can finally hear what Swift is actually saying… or can they?
Vote for Switched On Pop in this year's Signal Awards! We're nominated for Best Music Podcast and Best Original Score/Music, linked here. Thank you!
Songs Discussed
Taylor Swift "Love Story"
Taylor Swift "Blank Space"
Taylor Swift "The Fate of Ophelia"
Taylor Swift "Elizabeth Taylor"
Irving Berlin "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody"
Fred Astaire "Puttin' on the Ritz"
Taylor Swift "Opalite"
George Michael "Father Figure"
Taylor Swift "Father Figure"
Taylor Swift "Eldest Daughter"
Taylor Swift "Tim McGraw"
Taylor Swift "Ruined the Friendship"
Weezer "Beverly Hills"
Pixies "Where Is My Mind"
Charli XCX "Sympathy Is a Knife"
Charli XCX "Everything Is Romantic"
Taylor Swift "Actually Romantic"
Mean Girls "Meet the Plastics"
Taylor Swift "Wi$h Li$t"
Stevie Wonder "Superstition"
The Jackson 5 "I Want You Back"
Taylor Swift "Wood"
Nirvana "Lithium"
Nirvana "Something in the Way"
Taylor Swift "Canceled"
Taylor Swift "Honey"
Taylor Swift feat. Sabrina Carpenter "Life of a Showgirl"
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1:09:28
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1:09:28
The Power of the Trio (ft. Trousdale live at USC)
There's no lead singer in Trousdale. The trio of Quinn D'Andrea, Georgia Greene, and Lauren Jones, has shared vocal duties equally since they started singing together as students at the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music. Since then, they've touring the world and released a sophomore album, Growing Pains, that features the trio's impeccable harmonies over 70s-inflected country-rock grooves. In this episode, Trousdale returns to their alma mater to play acoustic versions of "Growing Pains" and "Secondhand Smoke" and then speak to Professor Nate (plus an audience of music students) about how they forged their indivisible sound.
Songs Discussed
Trousdale - Growing Pains, Over and Over, Lonely Nights, Movie Star
Jackson Browne - Doctor My Eyes
MIKA - Grace Kelly
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Listen closer to pop music — hear how it moves us. Hosted by musicologist Nate Sloan & songwriter Charlie Harding. From Vulture and the Vox Media Podcast Network.
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