e207. The Voice of the Crowd is Close to Madness!

“Nec audiendi qui solent dicere, Vox populi, vox Dei, quum tumultuositas vulgi semper insaniae proxima sit.” The Latin quote (a letter from Alcuin of York to Charlemagne the Great) we named our show after roughly translates to “and those people should not be listened to who keep saying the voice of the people is the…

e206. Return of the Oscars Preview – 2022

If you’re a movie fan then you might know that the Oscars are coming up next weekend. In fact, you probably even know if you’re not a movie fan. The Oscars are weird. Every year they’re a big deal for Hollywood… except really, does anyone care? The Oscars have been bleeding viewers lately, with last…

e205. Why Do We Love Batman?

If you’re a regular listener of this show then you no doubt are aware that the Batman was released in cinemas last week. At the current moment, it is in fact the number one movie at the box office worldwide. And of course, that was to be expected. Everyone knew that it would be a…

e204. Viral Grammar: Rhetoric, Semiotics, and Emoji

It’s the episode you’ve been waiting for! The one where we talk about The Emoji Movie! 😝 Ok… maybe not… well, a little, but for good reason. One aspect of popular culture we probably don’t think about very often is communication. Communication is the cornerstone of culture, on the internet or otherwise. In today’s world…

e203. Consumption, Capitalism, and the Culture of Luxury Fashion

Can you tell the difference between Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Gucci, and Versace? What about Michael Kors, Tom Ford, Alexander McQueen and Jimmy Choo? Do you even know who these people are? In all likelihood you read that list and knew that those are some of the biggest brands in luxury fashion. Or, if you…

e202. To Kill a Mockingbird… and a Maus — Censorship & Book Banning

Every once in a while the world of weekly pop culture and the world of literary academia collide so totally that the world notices even outside of our show. Last week was one of those weeks. A school board in Tennessee voted to remove Maus, the critically acclaimed, Pulitzer Prize winning Holocaust memoir graphic novel,…

e201. The Romance Show: (Hannah wouldn’t let us call) Love In The Time Of COVID

Despite the fact that it is perennially one of the best selling genres in literature, Romance is often looked down upon. Part of this is simple misogyny; as a culture we look down upon things that are seen as “for women.” However, not only are romance novels dominant best sellers, romance as a concept essentially…

e200. Secret Origins Starring VoxPopcast: Special Anniversary Edition

It’s unbelievable, but somehow we’ve been doing this for 200 episodes! It’s time to celebrate. One today’s episode we look back on nearly four years of podcasting AND we discuss the secret origins of every host of the show and how we got into pop culture academia. PLUS, a two bonus secret origins of how…

e198. STEM vs Humanities: the Clatter in the Classroom

If you’ve been or known any kid who has gone to an American school in the last 50 years or so you’ve probably heard the advice to “get into STEM” because that’s where the future is. It’s an odd bit of advice really, because essentially all it means is “Hey kids! Pay attention in school…

e197. Serialization II: Electric Boogaloo (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Franchise)

Way back on episode 170 we did a show talking about Serialization. As is often the case on our show… we resolved nothing. But we did note that there was so much to talk about that the conversation needed to be continued on a future show. Well this is that show. It’s time for Serialization…