Pop Pantheon

Rolling Stone staff writer Larisha Paul returns to Pop Pantheon to discuss the best pop songs you might have missed so far in 2025. Larisha and Russ talk about what it takes to break through in today's over-saturated pop market and what's happening on the outskirts of the mainstream pop world, then they each share some of their favorite bubbling under and over-looked songs from the first half of 2025.

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Listen to a playlist of Russ + Larisha's selections

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Read Larisha's column on why every song sounds like an audition for The Voice now

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In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, Louie and Russ get together to talk Louie's night at Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter show in New Jersey, Taylor Swift buying back her masters and how it impacts the legacy of the re-recording project, and Miley Cyrus' latest opus, Something Beautiful, which dropped on Friday. Plus, Louie tries Selena Gomez's Oreos live on air!

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Host of the Legends Only podcast Bradley Stern returns to Pop Pantheon to discuss the best pop songs of 2025 so far. First, Louie and Bradley discuss the broader trends— or perhaps the broader lack of trends— happening in pop music so far this year, before each sharing their list of favorites from the first half of 2025.

Listen to Louie and Bradley's Favorite Pop Songs of 2025 So Far

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In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, Louie and Russ dive deep into the trenches of the Hot 100 to figure out what the hell is going on with mainstream pop music these days, parsing the songs of alleged popular artists such as "Alex Warren," "BigXThaPlug," "Myles Smith," "Benson Boone," and so many more.

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Louie and Russ answer listener questions about the current 2026 Grammy Album of the Year Frontrunners, why Chappell Roan's "The Giver" underperformed, Max Martin's trajectory as a collaborator, whether Gaga directly ripped Taylor off on "How Bad Do U Want Me," and more!

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In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, on the cusp of Lorde's forthcoming fourth studio album Virgin, due next month, Louie and Russ revisit her last album, 2021's divisive paean to the natural world, Solar Power. Neither loved this record on impact but how has it aged? Does it land differently out of the context of its moment? And what do it's successes and failures portend for the next round of Lorde music?

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Writer and editor Ilana Kaplan joins Pop Pantheon to discuss one of pop’s criminally under-appreciated secrets, Haim. Louie and Ilana unpack the sister trio’s origins in Southern California, including their family band Rockinhaim and Este and Danielle’s short-lived teen pop band The Valli Girls. From there, they dig into 2013’s Days are Gone, a record that paid virtuosic homage to pop radio of yore, Haim’s friendship with Taylor Swift and 2017’s Something to Tell You. Finally, they discuss Haim’s most recent album, 2020’s personal and more organic sounding Women in Music Pt. III and rank Haim in The Official Pop Pantheon. 

Listen to Pop Pantheon's Haim Essentials

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After debating the current chart fortunes of everyone from Kendrick Lamar to Benson Boone, Chappell Roan, Lady Gaga and a bevy of current-charting Tik Tok stars they've never heard of, Louie and Russ throw down cash in a high stakes betting game in which they attempt to figure out what will be the official Song of Summer 2025! Come back this fall to find out who won.

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In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, Taylor Swift's eleventh studio album The Tortured Poets Department— a sprawling, 31 song, two disc, two+ hour melange of music from the superstar— arrived last April amidst peak Taylor cultural overload: her landmark Eras Tour had been globe-trotting for a year, she'd just recently dominated the Grammys winning her record-breaking fourth Album of the Year trophy for previous album Midnights, her non-stop fountain of re-releases of previous works seemed ceaseless, and her new relationship with football star Travis Kelce was plastered all over our TVs and social media feeds constantly. 

All of that made the album a lot to stomach for many outside of the artist's (massive) core fan base and Poets, though hugely commercially successful, was broadly seen as one of the pop icon's weaker efforts, including by the makers of the podcast. 

But with the power of hindsight, how does Tortured Poets hold up removed from all of that context? 

Louie, Russ, and friend of the pod Shaad D'Souza gather to discuss just that, plus each share their... um.. "tailored" versions which help prune the massive tracklist into something more manageable, and maybe good?

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In the wake of our epic Britney series, critic and writer of the Substack In the Zine Alim Kheraj joins Louie and Russ to answer all your burning follow up questions: What are our favorite Britney deep cuts? What do we make of the anti-Britneys like Avril? Who would we cast in a proper remake of the Britney, Beyoncé, and Pink Pepsi commercial? And so much more!

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In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, late last week, Lorde ushered in her much-anticipated new era by dropping her latest single, "What Was That," amidst a surprise live pop-up show in New York City's Washington Square Park, before releasing the song's music video soon after. So how is it? And what does it tell us about the possibility of an impending Lorde-aissance? Louie and Russ discuss that, along with the recently announced Lena Dunham and Carly Rae Jepsen-helmed 10 Things I Hate About You Musical and the viral mess of Katy Perry's Lifetimes Tour, before playing a game that tests Louie's Spotify numbers knowledge.

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Reanna Cruz joins Pop Pantheon to break down the rise of Mr. Worldwide himself, Pitbull. Reanna and Louie explore Pitbull's genesis in the cultural hub of Miami and his breakthrough with 2004's dancehall-cum-reggaeton banger “Culo.” They then tackle his early work in both Spanish and English and his pivot towards big dance anthems and cross-cultural superstardom, resulting in albums like 2009’s Pitbull Starring in Rebelution and 2011’s Planet Pit, his massive run of hit guest verses and clever branding, catchphrases, and signature swaggering, fun-loving on-record presence, all of which made him one of the key voices of the EDM era. Finally, they discuss his later era work and rank Pitbull in the official Pop Pantheon.

Listen to Pop Pantheon's Pitbull Essentials on Spotify

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In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, NPR's Isabella Gomez Sarmiento joins Russ to discuss the expansive world of latin pop, including Bad Bunny's latest album, Debí Tirar Más Fotos, plus new songs from Nathy Peluso, Bb trickz & more.

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Queer men are the backbone of modern pop fandom. And yet so few, even in 2025, get to the top of the mainstream pop star heap. Why is that? And how have queer male artists existed in the pop music firmament over the last hundred years? Dean of USC's Thornton School of Music Jason King is here to help unpack all these questions and more.

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In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, The Ringer’s Nora Princiotti joins Russ to talk about Lady Gaga’s extraordinary Coachella performance. They also play a New Music Speed Round with new songs from Lana Del Rey, Miley Cyrus, Ed Sheeran & more.

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Pre-order Nora’s new book, Hit Girls: Britney, Taylor, Beyoncé, and the Women Who Built Pop's Shiniest Decade HERE, listen to Every Single Album HERE & sign up for updates about Louie’s upcoming book HERE.

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In a game of "Step Up, Step Down," Louie and Russ discuss recent career developments from Lady Gaga, Drake, Selena Gomez, Tate McRae, & Bruno Mars and whether they are currently trending up or down in the official Pop Pantheon.

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In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, Louie and Russ are answering your burning questions regarding Mayhem, the tour, and so much more on Lady Gaga. They're also talking about seeing Kylie Minogue's North American arena tour and Louie's recently announced book!

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As a sequel to a recent episode recapping The Best Albums of the 2020s So Far, critic Shaad D'Souza, The Ringer's Rob Harvilla, and writer and editor Puja Patel are here to count down each of our top five pop songs of the 2020s so far.

Check out a playlist of our top pop songs of the 2020s so far on Spotify

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In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, this past Friday, just over a year after the release of her 7th studio album, Eternal Sunshine, Ariana Grande released a deluxe version, Brighter Days Ahead. Louie and Russ reflect on how their feelings about the original record have evolved since it first dropped and how the new songs— and the short film she put out alongside them— add to the Eternal Sunshine Universe and era. 

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We've finally arrived! After four episodes and nearly ten hours of discussion and dissection, Pop Pantheon's Britney Spears Mega Series concludes with the big question: Is Britney Spears in Tier 1 of the Pantheon?

To parse that out, Louie and Russ are joined by friend of the pod Molly Mary O'Brien to pull at this debate from every possible angle. Throughout the nearly two-hour (!!!) debate, they also hear from Dean of USC's Thornton School of Music's Jason King regarding his thoughts on Britney, her legacy, her ranking, and the Pantheon in general, along with ranking opinions from every past guest of the series including The New Yorker's Doreen St. Félix, NPR's Ann Powers, The New York Times' Caryn Ganz and Beyond the Blinds' Troy McEady.

Finally, Louie ranks Britney Spears in the official Pop Pantheon.

Check out Pop Pantheon's Britney Spears Essentials Playlist

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For the fourth episode in our five-part series on Britney Spears, Beyond The Blinds’ Troy McEady returns to Pop Pantheon to discuss late period Britney, an unnerving decade+ period where Britney's pop stardom often felt forced upon her and yet produced some of her most beloved and successful music. Troy and Louie start with her EDM reimagining on 2011’s chart-topping Femme Fatale, her first and only album to produce three top ten singles. From there, they unpack Britney’s brief, odd The X Factor tenure, 2013’s derided nadir Britney Jean, her massively lucrative but sometimes bizarre Vegas residency, Piece of Me, and Britney’s final album to date, 2016’s fan-favorite Glory. Finally, they discuss the #FreeBritney movement, the end of conservatorship, Britney’s life beyond the music business, whether this story has any semblance of a happy ending, and her enduring impact on pop. 

Join us next week for Part 5, in which we’ll rank Britney Spears in the Official Pop Pantheon.

Check out Pop Pantheon's Britney Spears Essentials Playlist

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In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, on Friday, Chappell Roan finally dropped her long-awaited country single "The Giver," first teased on SNL back in November, plus Lil Nas released his Neptunes-nodding "Hot Box," Haim shared their treatise on "Relationships," and Lizzo gave it another whirl. Louie and Russ discuss all these songs, plus take a question about their British pop canon. 

To hear the rest of the this episode plus receive weekly bonus episodes of Pop Pantheon, gain access to our Discord channel and so much more, subscribe to Pop Pantheon: All Access at the Icon Tier. You can also subscribe for the audio only directly in the Apple Podcasts app.

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For the third episode in our five-part series on Britney Spears, The New York Times pop music editor Caryn Ganz makes her Pop Pantheon debut to parse through a period in which tabloids covered Britney’s every move like a national news story. Caryn and Louie discuss how a turbulent time in Britney’s personal life led to what’s now considered a pop classic and one of the most prescient and influential albums of the period, 2007’s Blackout. From there, they tackle the start of Britney’s conservatorship and the album that brought her back to number one under perhaps dubious behind-the-scenes circumstances, 2008’s Circus.

Join us next week for Part 4, in which we’ll discuss Femme Fatale (2011), Britney Jean (2013), Glory (2016), #FreeBritney, the end of the conservatorship, The Woman in Me, as well as Britney's enduring legacy in pop.

Check out Pop Pantheon's Britney Spears Essentials Playlist

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In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, Lady Gaga just dropped her hotly anticipated 7th studio album, Mayhem, this past Friday. Monster braintrust Louie, Russ and Who? Weekly's Bobby Finger and Lindsey Weber got together to queen on the new record, which indexes past Gaga styles through a decidedly distilled, adult framework and is perhaps her best solo album in over a decade.

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For the second in our five-part series on Britney Spears, NPR’s Ann Powers joins Pop Pantheon to discuss Britney’s first attempts to transition from teen queen to grown-up pop star. Ann and Louie tackle Britney's iconic “I’m a Slave 4 U” VMA performance, work with The Neptunes and play at maturity on 2001’s Britney, relationship and breakup with Justin Timberlake, and her one and only starring film role in the teen road comedy Crossroads. Finally, they dive into Britney and Madonna’s VMA kiss, the duo's generational pop baton passing on the single “Me Against The Music” and Britney’s most adventurous record up to that point, 2003’s In the Zone.

Join us next week for Part 3, in which we’ll discuss and Britney's infamous mid-aughts along with 2007's Blackout and 2008's Circus

Check out Pop Pantheon's Britney Spears Essentials Playlist

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For the first in our five-part series on Britney Spears, The New Yorker’s Doreen St. Felix returns to Pop Pantheon to chart the birth of a pop princess. Doreen and Louie dig into Britney’s origin story, from Star Search and The New Mickey Mouse Club to her Jive deal and development in Sweden with Max Martin. Then, they tackle her legendary breakout smash and music video, “...Baby One More Time," and her 1999 album of the same name, which shot her to the front of the teen pop pack. Next, they parse 2000’s hit-packed Oops!... I Did It Again, which solidified Britney’s spot as the most important pop star of the new Millennium.

Join us next week for Part 2, in which we’ll discuss 2001’s Britney and 2003’s In The Zone.

Check out Pop Pantheon's Britney Spears Essentials Playlist

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In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, is pop music stuck in a nostalgia loop? Pop starlet Tate McRae's new album is highly referential to the last twenty years of pop from Britney to the Pussycat Dolls to Halsey and beyond. But on her new album So Close to What, which dropped last week, does she form her own identity? Or do she and her murderer's row of collaborators just do good karaoke? Louie, Russ, and Variety's Steven J. Horowitz discuss.

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Lady Gaga's seventh studio album Mayhem drops on March 7 and in anticipation of the big day, Carey O'Donnell, Kristen S. Hé, and Naomi Zeichner join DJ Louie to break down their thoughts, hope and dreams on the upcoming record before each sharing their ranking of Gaga's albums to this point.

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In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, Katy Perry's second studio album Teenage Dream  is deemed a classic "pop bible" by many pop fans. The album produced five number one singles and spun off a deluxe version with another couple top tens. But what about the other seven tracks from the TD era? If you listen to this record without its classic hits, does it hold together as a complete body of work? Louie and Russ dive into every one of Teenage Dream's non-singles to get answers and decide if the album is a bonafide classic, or just a great collection of smashes paired with some less great filler. 

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Louie and Russ are answering your questions about whether pop stars like Cher can still exist, what Olivia Rodrigo should do next, how they listen to music for the show, why gay men have trouble embracing gay male pop stars, and so much more.

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In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, Louie and Russ break down Kendrick Lamar's explosive Super Bowl halftime performance before getting into new songs from Tate McRae, Sexxy Redd & Bruno Mars, Rose Gray & Doechii.

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Critic Stephen Kearse joins Pop Pantheon for the conclusion of our two-part series on Kendrick Lamar ahead of his Super Bowl halftime show this Sunday. Stephen and Louie tackle Kendrick’s string of hit-making guest appearances in the mid-2010s, his first solo number one, “Humble,” and 2017’s critically adored Damn. Then they discuss Black Panther and Kendrick’s final album with Top Dawg, 2022’s sprawling Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers. Finally, they unpack the Kendrick/Drake beef, his recent hot streak and 2024’s GNX, before ranking Kendrick Lamar in the Official Pop Pantheon.

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In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, last night's Grammys featured show-stopping performances from Doechii, Chappell Roan and others, plus wins from Roan, Kendrick Lamar and, finally, a long-awaited crowning for Beyoncé in Album of the Year. Louie and Russ share their reactions before going deep on Lady Gaga's newest single, "Abracadabra", the third from her forthcoming album Mayhem and the video for which dropped during the awards ceremony.

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Rolling Stone’s Mankaprr Conteh returns to Pop Pantheon for part one of our two-part series on Kendrick Lamar ahead of his Super Bowl performance. Louie and Mankaprr dig into Kendrick’s origins in Compton, his teenaged mixtapes under the alias K. Dot and his independently released studio debut, 2011’s Section.80. From there, they tackle 2012's Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, a mainstream pop breakthrough immediately hailed as a masterpiece. Finally, they walk through how Kendrick weaved together musical traditions from across the Black diaspora on 2015’s To Pimp a Butterfly.

Tune in next week for Part 2, covering Damn, Kendrick’s beef with Drake and Kendrick’s induction into the Official Pop Pantheon.

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In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, Ultimate Friend of the Pod Rich Juzwiak returns to the show to make predictions in the top 4 categories for this Sunday's Grammys with Louie and Russ, before the three break down FKA Twigs' latest album, Eusexua, which Rich reviewed in Pitchfork.

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Somehow, we're halfway through the 2020s, which makes it the perfect time to take stock: what have been the best pop albums of this decade so far and what do they tell us about the state of both the album and music more broadly in 2025? The New York Times' Joe Coscarelli, NPR's Aisha Harris and YouTuber Mic The Snare join DJ Louie to discuss all of that, before each sharing their top 5 albums of the 2020s so far.

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In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, Madonna's thirteenth studio album, 2015's Rebel Heart, was released ten years ago in a flurry of leaks and unprecedented chaos for the famously controlled diva. On impact, it became her least successful album to date, producing no hit songs in the US. A decade later, removed from the harsh glare of its' moment, how has this very long collection of latter period Madonna music aged?

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Chris Molanphy returns to Pop Pantheon for the second and final part in our Cher series. Chris and Louie pick up on Cher’s career just as she scored a hit in 1979 with “Take Me Home” during the disco craze. Then they track her string of failures through the early eighties before her massively successful pivot to acting, including her Best Actress Oscar win for 1987’s Moonstruck. Next they dig into her best-selling album to date, 1989’s Heart of Stone, her infomercial era in the nineties and Sonny Bono's tragic death in 1998 which paved the way for yet another comeback with 1998’s Believe. Finally, they discuss contemporary Cher, her formidable staying power and lasting legacy and rank Cher in the Official Pop Pantheon.

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Chris Molanphy returns to Pop Pantheon for part one of our special two-part series on the Goddess of Pop herself, Cher. Chris and Louie dig into the origins of Cher’s mythology, her early work with Sonny Bonno and Phil Spector and Sonny and Cher’s breakout hit, “I Got You Babe.” From there, they dive into Cher’s iconic looks, her first solo hits and Sonny and Cher’s reinvention as television variety stars. Then they tackle the couple’s split, Cher’s second run of hits, including “Gypsys, Tramps and Thieves” and “Dark Lady,” and the commercial slump she found herself at the end of the seventies. 

Tune in next week for part two, covering Cher’s disco reinvention, Hollywood success, late career hits like "If I Could Turn Back Time" and “Believe” and her ranking in the Official Pop Pantheon.

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In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, pop music stops for no man, even Santa Claus. Louie and Russ got together with Dazed contributor Conor Garel to get into it about two of the most talked about pop events that happened over this holiday season: Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter Christmas extravaganza from a football game on Netflix and the long-awaited release of the deluxe version of Sza's 2022 masterpiece SOS.

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Happy New Year! Before we get back to new episodes and our regularly scheduled programming next, we're unlocking one of our favorite All Access episodes from this past year in which Russ and Louie dig into Sabrina Carpenter's surprisingly awesome 6th studio album, Short 'n Sweet, released last summer.

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In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, we hope everyone is having a lovely holiday! For our last All Access episode of 2024, Russ and Louie got together to react to more of your unpopular opinions about Ava Max, Katy Perry, Dua Lipa, Mariah Carey, live pop shows & more.

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In anticipation of Beyoncé's much anticipated return to the stage at tomorrow's halftime show for some football game, we're republishing an episode from our Beyoncé series which originally aired back in August of 2022 in the ramp up to that year's Renaissance. This episode features Yale University's Dr. Daphne Brooks, discusses Queen B's work from her 2013 self-titled visual album through just before Renny dropped and is one of the most moving in PP's history.

If you haven't listened to the whole series, check out Parts One, Two and Four. If you have, we hope you enjoy this trip down memory lane. Happy Beyoncmas!

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Clover Hope, journalist and author of The Motherlode: 100+ Women Who Made Hip-Hop, joins Pop Pantheon All Access to discuss the state of the female rap game in 2024. Clover and Russ revisit Meg Thee Stallion and Nicki Minaj’s beef, discuss Doechii’s recent string of breakthrough performances, and dig into Alligator Bites Never Heal, Megan, GloRilla’s Glorious and more.

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For our final main episode of 2024, Louie and Russ look back at all the artists ranked in the Pop Pantheon this year— from Demi Lovato to Frank Ocean to Adele, Tina Turner, Pink and so many more— and, with the help of calls from our dedicated and very passionate listeners, assess whether any tier adjustments need to be made. Did Brat Summer make us overzealous on Charli XCX? Was it cruel to put Hillary Duff in Tier 5? With the blockbuster success of Wicked, has Ari finally made it to Tier 2? All that and more!

We'll be publishing a couple little treats on 12/24 and 1/2 and will be back to our regularly scheduled programming on 1/9 with new weekly episodes!

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In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, Russ saw over 20 (!!!) live concerts in 2024. Louie saw a few too. Today, they're getting together to rank them all— from Charli & Troye to Missy Elliott to Tate McRae to Usher to Madonna— from worst to best.

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Last week, Louie, Nora Princiotti, Jason P. Frank & Julianne Escobedo Shepherd counted down their favorite pop songs of 2024 before duking it out to settle on Pop Pantheon's definitive pop songs of the year. This week, Louie is joined by Nora once again along with Rolling Stone's Larisha Paul and Sam Murphy to discuss their favorite albums of the last twelve months and land on Pop Pantheon's Top 5 Albums of 2024.

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In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, over on the main feed, we're rolling out our best songs and albums of 2024 by some of the premier pop acts in the world. But what about some of the pop girlies who got.... less attention from mainstream audiences and critics? For our 2nd Annual Top of the Flops, Friend of the Pod Omri Rolan is back to count down the biggest and best flops of 2024 with Russ and Louie. 

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Live from Parkside Lounge in New York City, DJ Louie is joined by Hearing Things' Julianne Escobedo Shepherd, Vulture's Jason P. Frank and The Ringer's Nora Princiotti to countdown each of their favorite top ten pop songs of the year, before hashing out the definitive Pop Pantheon Top Ten Pop Songs of 2024.

Check out a Spotify Playlist of Louie, Julianne, Jason & Nora's Favorite Pop Songs of 2024

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In a preview of this week's Pop Pantheon: All Access episode, Tom Breihan is here to talk about Kendrick Lamar's surprise 6th album, GNX, which surprise dropped last week in the wake of his triumph over Drake in their highly publicized battle from this summer. But Tom and Louie also get caught in the broader GNX Nexus, going off on tangents about Drake's future, Taylor and Jack Antonoff's creative collaboration and more.

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