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Switched on Pop
30 episodes
A piano lesson that will change how you listen (ft. Lang Lang)
Aug 11, 2026 · 37 min
For many people – including Charlie and Nate – studying classical piano as a child always felt like a chore. Now, as adults, there’s a newfound appreciation for classical music, but the art form isn’t always accessible. One of the people trying to change that is the world-renowned pianist Lang Lang, classical piano’s greatest interpreter. On this episode of Switched on Pop, Charlie sits down with Lang Lang at the Steinway showroom in New York City to see how taste changes over time, the differen…
IV. Take It to the Bridge (ft. Tayla Parx)
Aug 4, 2026 · 42 min
Bridges open up the world of a song: they're a breath of fresh air and a point of contrast, typically delivered right before the final chorus. But sometimes they accomplish even more, changing the whole meaning of a song by introducing a note of doubt, or even defiance. This is what the best artists do, from Beyoncé to the Beatles to Taylor Swift, but some critics are concerned that the bridge is in danger of being demolished. On this episode, Charlie and Nate speak to songwriter and artist Tayl…
III. Preaching to the Chorus (ft. Cypress Hill and Trevor Horn)
Jul 28, 2026 · 50 min
The chorus was once the part of the song that brought us together, the place we gathered to sing. Now it's the most engineered thirty seconds in music. Legendary producer Trevor Horn and hip-hop icon B-Real of Cypress Hill help Charlie and Nate answer the question on their minds: when everything's a hook, is anything a chorus? CREDITS Reanna Cruz: Producer Iris Gottlieb: Illustrator Charlie Harding: Host, Executive Producer Dion Lee: Art Director Brandon McFarland:…
II. Justice for the verse (ft. Audrey Hobert)
Jul 21, 2026 · 34 min
Everybody sings the chorus, but superfans quote the verse. On this episode of Switched on Pop, Charlie and Nate trace the verse from Shakespeare through opera to TikTok, and songwriter Audrey Hobert shares her philosophy of specific verses and anthemic choruses: you can't have the payoff without the setup. CREDITS Reanna Cruz: Producer Iris Gottlieb: Illustrator Charlie Harding: Host, Executive Producer Dion Lee: Art Director Brandon McFarland: Audio Engineer Nick Ripps: Video Editor Nate Sloan:…
I. Let's get it started (ft. Aaron Dessner)
Jul 14, 2026 · 41 min
Research says you judge a song in under half a second. So why write an intro at all? On this episode of Switched on Pop, Charlie and Nate kick off their Netflix launch and probe what an intro means in today's musical landscape, alongside special guests like Aaron Dessner (Taylor Swift, The National, Gracie Adams), who helps build the case for intros and reveals the surprising sources that form the opening sounds of Taylor Swift's “cardigan.” CREDITSReanna Cruz: ProducerIris Gottlieb: Illustrator…
Switched On Pop on Netflix July 14th
Jul 14, 2026 · 1 min
We're coming to the big screen with a four part mini series starting July 14th. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Music only the World Cup could make
Jun 30, 2026 · 38 min
The quadrennial soccer (or fútbol, depending who you talk to) competition is upon us again: it's the FIFA World Cup! And while the World Cup is a sporting event, it's still relevant to the folks at Switched On Pop, because every four years a new crop of songs gets commissioned to drum up excitement for the games. This year, the official song is by Shakira and Burna Boy, but offerings from IShowSpeed and a madcap collaboration between Andrea Bocelli, David Guetta, EJAE, and Megan Thee Stallion al…
Why we can't resist Swedish pop (ft. Zara Larsson) ICYMI
Jun 23, 2026 · 44 min
In case you missed it: How does a country of 10 million people dominate the global pop charts? From ABBA's Eurovision breakthrough to Max Martin's methodical hit-making, Sweden has quietly engineered a kind of musical Stockholm Syndrome: we've all become captives to their sound without realizing it. Listen to the crystalline vocal production and deceptively simple chord progressions in tracks by Lisa, Childish Gambino, and Addison Rae, and you're hearing Sweden's sonic fingerprint so embedded in…
2hollis is the underground’s genre-hopping vampire
Jun 18, 2026 · 32 min
In the last episode of our feral pop miniseries, we take a look at the 22 year old rapper primed to take over the world: 2hollis. Splitting the difference between hardstyle and hip-hop while emanating an aura best described as “vampiric,” he’s been one of the most hyped musicians coming out of the underground. His music is distorted, chaotic, and over the top – literally – but he reflects a larger sentiment from younger audiences: the more sonic chaos the better. Links: Newsletter, …
Pop music for an internet-pilled generation
Jun 17, 2026 · 25 min
This week on Switched On Pop, we’re looking at all things feral pop, the microgenre that takes pop music to its most wild extremes. And no feral pop artist is more tapped into that ethos than underscores. Her music synthesizes dubstep, trance, and Timbaland with ease, and her latest album ‘U’ is filled with boundless energy. She’s already opened up for 100 gecs, PinkPantheress, and Porter Robinson; this fall, she’ll open up for Charli XCX on her upcoming Music, Fashion, Film tour. She said it be…
The new wave of pop is here, and it’s feral
Jun 16, 2026 · 32 min
What would it sound like if pop music was reverted to its most wild state of being? It would sound hyper-digital, influenced by the electronic vanguard of the 2010s, and speak to a post-genre audience. And while the charts have been stagnant, Gen-Z has been crafting this exact sound: one that is exciting, unpredictable, and above all else, feral. After bubbling underground for the past few years, the subgenre we’ve coined “feral pop” is finally poised to have a breakout, best exemplified by the…
Olivia Rodrigo has The Cure for sadness
Jun 15, 2026 · 43 min
Olivia Rodrigo is back with her third studio album, you seem pretty sad for a girl in love. As the title might suggest, it’s a deeply personal affair, with moody soundscapes supporting hyper-detailed lyrics of soul-wrenching depth. This album is a meditation on desire, and intriguingly, the letdown that can occur when desire is fulfilled. Each track is haunted by a band that basically invented the idea of unfulfilled longing, The Cure, who receive multiple direct shout-outs and numerous subtle r…
Paul McCartney went back to Liverpool for something new to say
Jun 9, 2026 · 42 min
Boys of Dungeon Lane, McCartney's collaboration with producer Andrew Watt, arrived when McCartney was 83 and and he came out swinging: the opening track greets listeners with a dissonant, unresolved guitar chord that sets the album's tone. Harmonic instability runs through the entire record: chromatic mediants, deceptive cadences, and persistent pedal tones prevent even the most nostalgic songs from settling into comfort. The album's lyrics focus on McCartney's pre-Beatles Liverpool youth, terri…
How a sci-fi dystopia became a personal utopia (ft. Arc Iris)
Jun 5, 2026 · 13 min
A sci-fi ballet imagined a 2080 where AI strips people of purpose, and the day before its New York premiere, an actual dystopia arrived. Arc Iris, the trio of Jocie Adams, Zach Tenorio and Ray Belli, built iTMRW as a concept record set in a future ruled by a mega-corporation that shares its name. In its world, AI has taken most jobs and even the thinking left inside them, so the corporation offers pods where anyone can live any dream in virtual reality. The piece premiered in Cambridge in Januar…
Why bands give us purpose (ft. MUNA)
Jun 2, 2026 · 52 min
A culture that rewards easily consumable individual identities produces plenty of pop stars and almost no bands. A significant exception: MUNA, the trio of Katie Gavin, Josette Maskin, and Naomi McPherson. MUNA treats the band as a structure that grounds identity beyond the ego and makes any success feel shared among the three. Their new album, Dancing on the Wall, wraps that conviction in blaring, unapologetic '80s production: slap bass, brightness pushed to the front, and everything connected…
Drake's Slop Era
May 26, 2026 · 56 min
Canada’s favorite export Drake is back! This month, the Toronto singer-rapper extraordinaire released three albums simultaneously: the long-anticipated return to form Iceman, the sultry, R&B Habibti and the pop-focused, clubby Maid of Honour. All three albums have much different vibes, and are Drake’s first official solo efforts since his seismic beef with Kendrick Lamar back in 2024. There’s a lot of music to talk about. As a result, Reanna argues that we are living in an era of “Drake Slop” –…
Kacey Musgraves walks country’s borderlands
May 19, 2026 · 39 min
Kacey Musgraves' album Middle of Nowhere finds the country outlaw taking a break from exploring her inner life to look outward, back to her roots: the regional stylings of Texas. She says the album was inspired by a sign in her hometown that read “Golden, TX: Somewhere in the middle of nowhere.” The album’s sounds probe this same borderland mentality, encapsulating desert noir, Norteño, tejano, and soft rock. Plus, Willie Nelson. The result is a collection of songs that are funny, moving, and re…
Rostam reimagines American music
May 15, 2026 · 54 min
The pedal steel and the saz both live in the spaces between equal-tempered notes, and that gap is where Rostam built American Stories. Rostam joined Vampire Weekend at Columbia in 2006, produced the band's first three albums, and after leaving in 2016 made records with Clairo and Haim you can identify as his within a few bars. His solo album, American Stories, reflects his experience as an American whose family is from Iran. He came into the studio this past March, just after the United States l…
Eurovision is back – but not without controversy
May 12, 2026 · 55 min
The flowers are blooming and the calendar says May. That can only mean one thing: the Eurovision Song Contest is upon us once again. This year, thirty-five countries face off to determine the best song that Europe and adjacent continents have to offer. However, the competition comes with a big asterisk: while Eurovision prides themselves on being “apolitical,” the inclusion of Israel in the competition has led to a massive boycott, and the nations of Ireland, Spain, Iceland, Slovenia, and the Ne…
Samara Cyn is rap's best new writer
May 8, 2026 · 38 min
How do you write a rap verse that's clever without saying so? Samara Cyn, one of the sharpest young writers in hip-hop, joins us to talk about Detour, her new EP about going analog. We get into wordplay versus narrative, the Missy Elliott blueprint behind "oooshxt!", and why she takes a knee in the vocal booth when a line won't come out. Songs Discussed Samara Cyn — "Sinner" Samara Cyn "BUSHWICK" Samara Cyn — "FREE" Samara Cyn — "Highest" Samara Cyn — "oooshxt!" Samara Cyn — "summer's turning" S…
Olivia Rodrigo and the second verse massacre
May 5, 2026 · 44 min
Olivia Rodrigo's chart-topping new single "drop dead," the lead single from her forthcoming third album you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love, breaks one of pop's oldest rules by abandoning the traditional second verse and replacing it with something entirely new. From Mariah Carey's "Fantasy" to Sabrina Carpenter's "Manchild" and Chappell Roan's "Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl," a growing wave of today's biggest pop stars are ditching the verse-chorus formula listeners have been trained to…
Hrishikesh Hirway made an album about running out of time — in no time
Apr 28, 2026 · 43 min
Hrishikesh Hirway, host of Song Exploder, returns with his first album in fifteen years, In the Last Hour of Light, made under a premise that's almost contradictory for a podcaster built around isolated stems: session players who had never heard the songs, vocals tracked live in the room, no click track, and no overdubs. The layered style that defines current pop production is itself a relatively recent development. Hirway's record reaches back to the older live-tracking tradition that shaped th…
BTS is back. But K Pop is not the same.
Apr 21, 2026 · 48 min
BTS is back. The best selling K Pop group of all time has been on hiatus for four years. They haven’t released an album in six. They were once the biggest band in the world. Can they regain their throne? Or has the world moved on. Leaning on traditional Korean sounds and a bevy of international producers, from Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker to JPEGMafia, is their album Arirang the future or the past of K Pop? Hye Jin Lee, communications professor at USC and K Pop scholar, joins to break down the alb…
Maggie Rogers: going viral is a trap
Apr 17, 2026 · 38 min
Ten years ago, Maggie Rogers was a senior at NYU, scrambling to finish a song for a music production class she was close to failing. The guest critic that week happened to be Pharrell Williams. She played him "Alaska," a track she'd written in about fifteen minutes. It is a bit of folk songwriting crossed with the electronic music she'd fallen for studying abroad. Pharrell told her he'd never heard anything that sounded like it. Someone was filming. The clip went viral, and it launched Maggie in…
Learning to Love Train: "Drops of Jupiter" is back in the atmosphere
Apr 14, 2026 · 47 min
Train is the kind of band that some people love to hate. Songs like "Meet Virginia" and "Hey Soul Sister" gave the band huge hits, and no small amount of snark. And then there's "Drops of Jupiter." Released in 2001, the song is almost impossible not to love, no matter how many lyrics about soy lattes and Tae Bo it includes. "Drops of Jupiter" was released 25 years ago, so there's no more perfect time to plumb the secrets of this celestial smash, and there's no more perfect guest than Train's lea…
Slayyyter might actually be the 'Worst Girl in America'
Apr 7, 2026 · 38 min
Going for broke turned out to be the most honest thing Slayyyter ever made. After financial losses and a depressive episode that left her ready to quit music entirely, Slayyyter entered the studio planning to make one final album. In this conversation, she traces how that desperation shaped every decision on Worst Girl in America. This conversation will leave you feeling Daddy AF. SONGS DISCUSSED Slayyyter – "Daddy AF" Slayyyter – "Brittany Murphy" Slayyyter – "Dance" Slayyyter – "Crank" Slayyyt…
How Charlie Puth honored Whitney Houston for 125 million people (live at Berklee NYC)
Apr 3, 2026 · 56 min
Charlie Puth joins Switched On Pop in Studio A at Power Station at Berklee NYC, live before a room of current students, ten days after performing the national anthem at Super Bowl 60 and weeks before releasing his fourth album, Whatever's Clever. The conversation is grounded in one question: how do you absorb the music you love and turn it into something that actually sounds like you? Puth traces his national anthem arrangement through a lineage running from Jose Feliciano's 1968 World Series pe…
RAYE’s maximalist masterpiece is the hope we need
Mar 31, 2026 · 43 min
RAYE names Amy Winehouse and Edith Piaf as her artistic predecessors on the opening tracks of new album This Music May Contain Hope. Both died young, undone by the same darkness they sang about, and placing them there reads as a dare to herself. The album that follows is her attempt to find a different ending: a 17-track, 75-minute work featuring Al Green, Hans Zimmer, the London Symphony Orchestra, and over 80 collaborators, structured around the four seasons as a journey from autumn despair to…
Where have all the white rappers gone?
Mar 24, 2026 · 51 min
On a recent podcast interview, Kentucky rapper Jack Harlow said that, to craft his new album Monica, he “got blacker.” The problem is… Jack Harlow is white. The statement, while extremely tone-deaf, speaks to his intentions with this musical pivot: musically, Monica turns to the historically Black genres of R&B and neo-soul to craft a new image designed to shed the stigma of being a “white rapper.” The pivot is more costume than culture, but in doing so, Harlow seems to be following in the foots…
Jacob Collier can make anyone sing
Mar 17, 2026 · 55 min
Jacob Collier is a rare musician: an expert in so many musical languages (western harmony, negative harmony, microtonalism) and a phenomenal communicator about music. He's something like an Ambassador for Music, traveling the world and getting thousands of people, musicians and non-musicians alike, to sing in his audience choirs. Live at On Air Fest, this conversation, catches Jacob between projects. Last year he released The Light for Days, a comparatively minimalist collection of songs written…
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