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Luke Cage Season 2, Won’t You Be My Neighbor – IP 128

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We’re heading straight to Harlem for this special Luke Cage edition of Inside Pop. We’ve seen the second season of Marvel’s Luke Cage and we’re bringing you an exclusive preview of the first two episodes. We’ll also provide some fascinating behind the scenes info about the show’s music and production crew and theorize why vocal fans of the first season may have inspired the more volatile Season 2 Luke Cage. Plus, we question why we’re anti-shipping Mariah and Shades.

Then, Amita reviews the new documentary, Won’t You Be My Neighbor, about legendary children’s TV host Fred Rogers.

Plus, we have a brand new Big Sell that tackles one of the ugliest, and sadly most prevalent problems in Hollywood.

Fans of Luke Cage will want to check out our interview with showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker.

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Queer Eye Season 2, LGBTQ Pop Culture – IP 127

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We’re celebrating Pride Month in this episode by highlighting some of our favorite queer pop culture.

First up, we’ve had an advanced look at the second season of Queer Eye on Netflix and we’re giving you an exclusive preview of the series that consistently gives everyone the feels. We’ll tell you how the series is breaking even more new ground than ever before.

And then we bring you a special rainbow colored Big Sell in which we recommend some under the radar pop culture with an LGBTQ focus that you will definitely want to put on your must watch/must listen list.

Big Sells:

Bronski Beat – The Age of Consent

A Time to Leave – Trailer

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Pose, Kanye West, Roseanne Cancellation – IP 126

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This week, we are serving all sorts of pop culture realness – starting with our first impressions of the new Ryan Murphy series, Pose, on FX. Amita shares how Viceland’s My House influenced her viewing experience of Pose and Sean comments on why both shows are helping bring a piece of LGBTQ culture to the masses.

Then, Amita shares her thoughts and honest critique about Kanye West’s new 7 song album, Ye, and revealing that he is bipolar.

Plus, we discuss if the idea of a Roseanne spinoff is smart or problematic.

And Sean gives a rare high rating to Amita’s big sell from last week- a TED Talk by Tracee Ellis Ross.

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Queen Sugar Season 3 Premiere – IP 125

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We’ve been waiting for months and it’s finally here! The Queen Sugar Season 3 Premiere aired on Tuesday night and we have an exclusive interview with the director of the hit OWN series- DeMane Davis.

We had the privilege of watching the Season Premiere in advance of our interview with DeMane so be warned, there will be spoilers in this podcast! We chatted with DeMane about the unique way she connected with Ava DuVernay to get the opportunity to work on the series, her approach to directing the premiere episode, being the newly appointed Producing Director and learned about the many hats she has to wear in that role. And of course, we talked about how she shot the paternity test reveal scene that everyone is talking about!

Plus, Amita gives her rating and review of Sean’s Big Sell from last week- Angelique Kidjo’s cover of the Talking Heads hit- “Once in a Lifetime” and sells a powerful TED Talk from Tracee Ellis Ross in the midst of the #MeToo movement.

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Deadpool 2, Janet Jackson at the Billboard Awards, Vulture Festival – IP 124

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We have an embarrassment of pop culture riches this week!

First up, Amita provides a spoiler free review of the box office record breaking Deadpool 2. Sean hasn’t seen the film yet, but it doesn’t stop him from asking deep probing questions (you guessed it – Josh Brolin’s physique is a point of discussion!).

Then, Sean and Amita discuss Janet Jackson’s appearance at the Billboard Music Awards. They rate her red carpet look and give what may be considered a surprisingly objective review of her performance.

The Pop Insiders also discuss their time at the two-day pop culture celebration in New York City known as Vulture Festival. They share the inside info they heard at panels featuring the stars of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Younger, Queer Eye and Queen Sugar.

And in The Big Sell, Sean rates Madison McFerrin’s song, “Insane,” and sells a new cover song by the one and only Angelique Kidjo.

Plus – a surprise announcement about an appearance the Pop Insiders are making this summer!

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TV Cancellations, Andre 3000, Florence + The Machine, Aggretsuko – IP 123

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This week, we’re talking about the recent announcement of TV cancellations and renewals– which shows were chopped (Quantico, Rise) and which ones were surprisingly revived by another network (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Last Man Standing?!) and the one show that Sean may just start a Twitter campaign to save.

Then, we discuss the two unique songs that Andre 3000 recently released that are dedicated to his late mother and father and what we think of his new sound.

And Sean shares his experience at a recent Florence + The Machine concert.

Plus, Amita reviews and rates last week’s Big Sell, the Japanese Anime series on Netflix, Aggretsuko and sells Sean a new R&B acapella artist, Madison McFerrin.

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Links:

The Andre 3K interview Sean mentioned.

Childish Gambino’s “This Is America”, Big Screen vs Living Room films – IP 122

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From the visceral imagery to our initial reactions- we discuss and try to decode the video that everyone is talking about- Childish Gambino’s “This Is America”. We give our thoughts and praise to Donald Glover’s latest music video/artistic statement.

Then, we discuss what films are big screen worthy and which films you can watch at home. Amita shares her thought process on how she determines which films pass the big screen test.

And finally, Sean gets brutally honest about last week’s Big Sell and suggests a new Netflix Japanese anime series, Agretsuko.

Links:
5 Things to know about ‘This Is America”

The Swimmer trailer

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Avengers: Infinity War, Janelle Monae’s Dirty Computer, Tribeca Film Festival, Kanye West- IP 121

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We’ve witnessed (and survived) a huge week in pop culture and are here to tell the tale!

First, we share our SPOILER FREE thoughts about the latest chapter in Marvel’s Avengers series- Avengers: Infinity War, and find out if the superhero filled sequel succeeded in meeting our expectations

Then, we’re all about Janelle Monae’s latest album, Dirty Computer, and the accompanying emotion picture.  We predict the songs we want to be the next single and chat about her musical evolution from her first album to this new offering.

Plus, we had the privilege to see a Tribeca Talk featuring Oscar winning screenwriter & director Alexander Payne and legendary talk show host Dick Cavett and share some of the tidbits from their conversation.

And Sean gives his thoughts on Kanye’s latest public statements.

And of course, The Big Sell. Amita shares the musical journey she went on with Sean’s three tiered Prince video project and shares an EP from a young jazz/soul/pop singer from New Zealand named Wallace.

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Westworld Season 2, My House on Viceland, Tribeca Film Festival 2018, Rhye – IP 120

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On this episode, Sean discusses his thoughts and predictions about Westworld Season 2 and shares a helpful NYTimes Season 1 recap to refresh Amita’s memory on the sci-fi fantasy series. Then, Amita has an exclusive sit down with Sean about his latest project, the new Viceland follow doc series, My House which chronicles the lives of performers in the NYC vogue ballroom scene.

And the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival has started and we had the privilege to watch a couple of music focused documentaries- Howard and Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes.

Plus, Sean gives his 2 cents and rates last week’s Big Sell, an intimate NPR Tiny Desk Concert from the R&B/pop group, Rhye.

And join Amita in Sean’s Big Sell project. Listen to these three very different versions of Nothing Compares 2 U and tell us what you think of each version:

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Beyonce at Coachella, Kendrick Lamar wins the Pulitzer, Scandal Signs Off – IP 119

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This week it’s all about Black (Overachieving) Excellence!

Beyonce Knowles Carter descended from the uppermost level of Heaven and bestowed us with the gift of her life changing performance at Coachella – or as it shall now be forever known . . .  BEYCHELLA.  We’ll share our reactions to the performance and our reactions to the reactions of her performance.

Kendrick Lamar made history this week by becoming the first Hip Hop artist to win the Pulitzer Prize. We’ll discuss why this is a huge deal for hip hop and the culture at large.

Shonda Rhimes and Kerry Washington end the sensational and soapy groundbreaking series, Scandal this week. We’ll discuss the relevancy of one of television’s most diverse and jaw dropping shows.

And the Big Sell shines a light on an amazing music/video/fashion collaboration featuring singers Karen O and Michael Kiwanuka; director Ana Lily Amirpour and fashion house Kenzo.

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