BigSell30

Stranger Things 2 premieres, 2 Years of Inside Pop, Produced By NY, BigSell30 Wraps – IP 98

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We’ve come along way, baby! This week Inside Pop celebrates two years of weekly pop culture podcasting!

We start with a round-up of the Producers Guild of America’s Produced By NY conference. We attended this event along with 100s of other television and film producers and gathered information about some major upcoming projects including Black Panther, Mudbound, Marshall, The Post, Call Me By Your Name, The Shape of Water and more! And we share some great stories with you!

Then we review the first few episodes of Stranger Things 2. One of us is as happy as Dustin playing Dig Dug to be back with the gang from Hawkins. The other is worried the series may be in danger of repeating itself.

Finally we wrap our #BigSell30 day challenge and discuss some of the pop culture we consumed over the past 30 days. And Sean rates Amita’s Big Sell from last week (a photo project from Stefan Draschan) and Big Sells her on a new documentary about George Michael.

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Best Fall Movies, Big Sell 30 – IP 97

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The falling leaves, the crisp chill in the air, the smell of a distant fireplace burning – all of those signs of Fall compel us to do one thing – head into a dark theater and watch as many movies as possible!

This week we discuss four new movies we’ve seen that we want you to know all about. Hear our thoughts on Call Me By Your Name, Wonderstruck, The Florida Project and Suburbicon. Within our discussion Sean reveals why you’re not going to hear him use the ‘O’ word (Oscar) until 2018 and Amita shares why she’s planning to limit her movie trailer consumption.

Also, we have a special guest #BigSell30 from Zara Findlay-Shirras who double Big Sells us her new travel site Half Moon Guides and her podcast Totes Faves   (last year we big sold Zara’s fab instagram feed – @DanaScullyStyle ).

And Amita Big Sells Seanon a favorite new photographer, Stefan Draschan.

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Cover Songs, Fall TV Mid-Season Check, #BigSell30 – IP 96

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Why not take a break from re-watching the Black Panther trailer and listen to this brand new episode of Inside Pop!

First up, we discuss some of our favorite cover songs. What makes a great cover song and what are some of the best? We discuss covers and originals performed by Prince, Adele, Joni Mitchell, Johnny Cash, Bob Marley, Whitney Houston, Annie Lennox and more!

Remember the sense of optimism you felt at the beginning of the TV season? That belief that you’d be bowled over by a ton of new amazing shows and that all of your favorite returning shows would continue to be your favorites? Well, we felt that way too and now it’s time to face the music (or the should we say ‘the flat screen’). We’re doing a mid-season check in to see which shows are must-see and which are about to be deleted from the DVR. We discuss This is Us, The Deuce, Queen Sugar, The Defenders, The Exorcist, Wisdom of the Crowd and more!

And we’ll also check in on the #BigSell30 Challenge and discuss how our lives have improved while experiencing one new piece of pop culture every day this month.

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Favorite Pop Culture Families, Queen Sugar Interview Part 2, Tom Petty, Big Sell 30 – IP 94

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It’s a family Affair this week on Inside Pop!

We start off with a discussion of our favorite pop culture families – both real and fictional including The Jacksons, The Fischers, The Pearsons and The Knowles Sisters (Beyonce AND Solange).

Then we bring you the second part of our interview with Kat Candler, the producing director of Queen Sugar. We dive into the mid season premiere and illuminate the character development, storylines and memorable scenes from the episode which was directed by film legend Julie Dash (Daughters of the Dust).

Then Amita shares her favorite Tom Petty songs in tribute to the recently deceased singer.

And finally we check in on the Big Sell 30 Day Challenge and discuss how our daily intake of new pop culture is changing our lives for the better. And Sean shares the Big Sell Day 4 of 30 – Middle of Nowhere by Ava DuVernay!

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The Big Sell 30 Day Challenge 2017!

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Each week on Inside Pop, hosts Amita Patel and Sean David Johnson take turns recommending something new in the world of pop culture for the other to check out in a segment called “The Big Sell”.

During the month of October, join Sean and Amita in their commitment to try one new piece of pop culture every day, for 30 days with the Big Sell 30 Day Challenge- a new song, TV episode, movie, viral video, app – anything goes!

Follow Inside Pop on Twitter (@PopInsiders) and Facebook for daily big sells and share your suggestions using #BigSell30

And of course listen to Inside Pop every Wednesday for some special Big Sells from some very special guests.

**Participation in the Big Sell 30 Day Challenge guarantees increased muscle tone, a shinier aura and a head jam packed with the very best pop culture.

Star Trek: Discovery premiere, Battle of the Sexes, Queen Sugar Interview – IP 93

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The Fall season is already delivering on its promise of bringing us prestige, platinum perfect pop culture and we’re all over it!

First up, Sean reviews the premiere of Star Trek: Discovery while teaching Amita some Trek etiquette in the process.

Then, Amita talks about the special screening of Battle of the Sexes she attended, which has made her a huge fan of one of the legends of tennis (Billie Jean IS her girl!).

Plus, we’re ecstatic to share our interview with Queen Sugar Producing Director, Kat Candler about her work on Ava DuVernay’s acclaimed series. Kat discusses the experience of working with an all female directing crew; the job of helping multiple creative visions coalesce into one consistent series; and the indie film vibe that  permeates the set. Sadly, Kat refused our pleas to reassure us that Aunt Vi is going to be okay. This is an illuminating discussion on what goes into creating one of the great shows on TV right now and the perfect thing to listen to for Queen Sugar fans (like ourselves) who are excited for the show’s mid season premiere on Tuesday, October 3rd. But have no fear  – – our discussion is spoiler free!

Sean also shares details about seeing Queen Sugar on the big screen and the Bordelon siblings in the flesh at the Tribeca TV Festival.

Also, the Big Sell 30 Day Challenge – #BigSell30 –  begins October 1st. Listen to hear how you can participate in the pop culture event guaranteed to fill your brain with the very best TV, music, film, comics and more!

And in this week’s Big Sell, Amita rates Haaz Sleiman’s coming out video. For weeks Sean has been unendingly intrigued by the unconventional way the actor (Nurse Jackie, The Visitor) announced his sexuality to the world. But how does Amita feel?

And finally, in the spirit of paying tribute –  Amita Big Sells Sean an album by the recently deceased musician Charles Bradley.

Best New Music, Emmy Awards Recap, Big Sell 30 Announcement – IP 92

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We’re donning our imaginary capes to bring you the very best of a very busy Pop Culture week!

First, we chat new music from Sam Smith, Miguel and Mavis Staples.

Then, the Emmy Awards were awarded on Sunday night and we discuss how overwhelmed and overjoyed we were by how many of our favorite shows and actors won! Amita gives her Red Carpet Fashion Slay or Nay and we discuss all of the ‘firsts’ of the evening. Were we rooting for the Black and Brown people? Listen to find out!

Plus, we announce the return of The Big Sell 30 Day Challenge! Find out what #BigSell30 is all about, why we need you to be part of it and hear about some of our favorite Big Sells from last year’s challenge.

And in this week’s Big Sell, Sean reviews the Glamour article written by Reese Witherspoon about ambition and sells Amita on an interesting coming out video by actor Haaz Sleiman.

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @PopInsiders

You can also find us at MaximumFun.org

Favorite Fictional Presidents, Atlanta, Luke Cage creator Cheo Hodari Coker – IP 51

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us-presidential-sealWe are witnessing history with this latest episode of Inside Pop! This is the last episode we’ll release before our country elects a new president. In honor of this historic moment, we each countdown our top 3 favorite FICTIONAL pop culture presidents; from President Whitmore of  Independence Day to President Palmer of  24 to President Shepherd of The American President and many more.

luke-cage-showrunner-cheo-hodari-coker-and-star-mike-colterWe also share our experience attending the Producers Guild of America’s Produced By NY conference. The event was a who’s who of producers in film, television and digital programming. We’ll give you the inside scoop of on everything from what Chris Rock thinks of Donald Glover’s Atlanta to our exclusive interview with the creator and showrunner of Marvel’s Luke Cage, Cheo Hodari Coker.

We also take a moment to wrap up the biggest project Inside Pop has ever tackled – The Big Sell 30 Day Challenge! We discuss the highlights, shout out all of our collaborators and let you know where to go to find all of the Big Sells in one place.

And we return to our regular Big Sell format allowing Amita to sell Sean on a song he’s never heard of, written by one of her favorite singer/songwriters and sung by one of his favorite vocalists.

All of that plus Sean performs one of the worst Morgan Freeman impressions ever recorded!

 Pop Culture Presidential MOMENTS

Battlestar Galactica

Independence Day

Deep Impact

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me

Additional Links

Nathaniel Zablan of The Tone Podcast Writes About Ben Folds

Leslie Odom, Jr. Sings President Obama’s imagined thoughts written by Sara Bareilles

Big Sell 30 Day 30: Trick Baby

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We made it to the FINAL BIG SELL of #BigSell30! Amita here to finish up this incredible month filled with so much pop culture. I’m creating a new phrase- Peak Pop Culture y’all!

I felt a ton of pressure to give you guys the last Big Sell and realized that sometimes you have to go back to the beginning to figure out the end. The Big Sell has been a part of our podcast since the first episode and has evolved into one of our favorite segments because of all of the new pop culture we both have been able to experience. When we went to Podcast Movement in Chicago this year, we had the privilege to learn from one of the best in the podcast community- Pat Flynn, host of the Smart Passive Income Podcast. He suggested ways to change up your format to gain listeners and one of his tips was to do some type of challenge. That session was where the Big Sell 30 Day Challenge was born.

Also at Podcast Movement, we took the Big Sell to the next level and got a couple of guest Big Sells- one of which was a multiple big sell from the fun and fabulous ladies of the Sistah Speak Podcast Network. We connected with them immediately and if you are a loyal listener, you may recall that we got 4 Big Sells from them and only featured 3 in our podcasts in September. It only seems appropriate to bring everything full circle on this final big sell of #BigSell30.  So the final Big Sell comes from that incredible weekend meeting some amazing ladies and where the Big Sell 30 was born- we’d like to share that episode and Big Sell with all of you!

trick-baby-images-5be8a1ff-888a-4a85-b9f0-4c131c1857dThe lively and hilarious Sistah J wanted to challenge our listeners and gave us a Big Sell of the 1972 Blaxploitation film, Trick Baby. It’s a throwback big sell! So put on some polyester pants, pick out your afro and enjoy this bad ass movie!

Thanks for being part of our 30 Day Challenge. It was fun, enlightening, inspiring and also pretty challenging as well! We loved all of the response on Twitter @PopInsiders and we’re looking forward to doing it again in 2017!

Big Sell 30 Day 29: Foodstand

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Hey everyone- just two more days left for #BigSell30! Amita here with your penultimate Big Sell.

I had the opportunity to chat with Rachna Govani, food lover and co-founder of Foodstand to get a Big Sell from her. Foodstand is a free app to help you build good eating habits- which comes at the perfect time since we are entering the food focused holiday season. Between the celebration of Diwali, candy filled Halloween and the celebratory feasts of Thanksgiving, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah and Christmas, Americans are known to pack on the pounds over the next few months.

foodstandFoodstand is spearheading a movement to be more conscious about what you eat, how you eat and has created multiple challenges to help you achieve those goals.

I could honestly listen to Rachna talk about food for days because her passion for good food and creating a food community is so energizing. She’s extremely smart and as I mentioned in our interview, Rachna is also a good friend and I couldn’t be prouder of her. I also wasn’t kidding about her being a rockstar in the food world- she recently attended SXSL- the South By South Lawn event at the White House and had the opportunity to speak with Russell Simmons about his efforts to make affordable healthy food accessible for the community in Flint, MI. You can find out more about Russell’s non-profit efforts here and read more about Rachna in this interview with her on Forbes.com.

As you will hear in our interview, I decided to Big Sell the Foodstand app to all of you and Rachna graciously gave us a Big Sell of another app- the free meditation app Insight Timer.

Enjoy our conversation and leave a comment below or tweet us @PopInsiders and let us know what you thought this conversation or any of the other Big Sells from #BigSell30.