Popcast

Summer is upon us, and it’s time for the semiannual Popcast mailbag, in which the most burning questions of viewers and listeners are answered, definitively. This round, the inquiries were sizzling, and on a wide range of topics: whether Geese is the Joe Biden of rock, Maroon 5 as a pop-rap gateway drug, what band had the most transformative decade-long run of albums, Adele’s (purported) laziness, the growing use of artificial intelligence in popular music, and whether a Swiftie and a Twizzy can ever truly understand each other.

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Slayyyter, who became one of the year's breakout stars with the release of her third studio album “Worst Girl in America” and a viral Coachella set, sat down with Joe and Jon to discuss her slow-simmer career arc, why preexisting pop-star formats didn’t hang well on her shoulders, and how mainstream pop classics and forgotten pop detritus can be equally influential.

- Watch the episode here.

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Two decades on from the ecstatic electronic pop and rap that made her one of the most significant, ear-opening stars in music, the Sri Lankan-British singer M.I.A. returned in April with “M.I.7,” her seventh album and first in four years, documenting her latest swerve, this time toward born-again Christianity. Last week, she sued Kid Cudi for breach of contract after being removed from his tour in May following her onstage comments about “illegal” immigrants. Before filing her lawsuit, she sat down with Joe and Jon to discuss whether her legacy of incitement has been an obstacle to her legacy of art, how she’s been both welcomed and rejected by either side of the American political spectrum and her recent spiritual awakenings.

 

- Watch the episode here

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Sam Levinson, the writer, director and creator of “Euphoria,” sat down with Joe and Jon to explain why he felt it was time to end HBO’s juggernaut series. With its third season in seven years, “Euphoria” concluded a thrilling, provocative and tumultuous run with a cast of the defining young actors of the 2020s: Zendaya, who won two Emmys for her portrayal of Rue, Sydney Sweeney, Jacob Elordi, Hunter Schafer and more. In this wide-ranging conversation, Levinson, himself a former addict, described staying true to his vision, his approach to shooting sensitive subject matter and the limits of empathy. 

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Olivia Rodrigo sat down with Joe and Jon for her first in-depth conversation about her new album, “you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love,” out June 12. She discussed the many ways her creative process intersects with the extracurricular noise of pop superstardom, whether its managing relationship drama; being targeted for the way she dresses; accusations of pilfering songwriting gestures from Taylor Swift, her onetime idol; or her willingness to speak up about political and social causes in a way many of her peers won’t.

- Watch the video episode here.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

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