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    Does Lorde Still Want to Be a Star?

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    Subscribe to Popcast!Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTubeLorde’s fourth album, “Virgin,” recently debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard album chart, a reflection of the fan enthusiasm she’s held tight to for the decade-plus since she shook up pop’s insider-outsider balance with her breakthrough single, “Royals.”But on this album — and really, each album since her debut — she’s implicitly pondered whether being famous is all it’s cracked up to be, in terms of what the musical and personal expectations are. “Virgin” is maybe the most musically scattered of her albums, but in moments, she accesses an emotional directness that manages to turn this sometimes confused music into something direct and appealing.On this week’s Popcast, a conversation about how “Virgin” figures into the Lorde lore; whether making hits is a worthwhile endeavor; and whether knowing the circumstances of an album’s creation can enhance someone’s listening experience of it.Guests:Joe Coscarelli, The New York Times’s pop music reporterHazel Cills, an editor at NPR MusicConnect With Popcast. Become a part of the Popcast community: Join the show’s Facebook group and Discord channel. We want to hear from you! Tune in, and tell us what you think at popcast@nytimes.com. Follow our host, Jon Caramanica, on Twitter: @joncaramanica.Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. More

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      Reacting to the Sean Combs Verdict

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      Subscribe to Popcast!Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicOn Wednesday, the eight-week trial of Sean Combs came to a close with a mixed verdict. Mr. Combs was found guilty on two counts of transporting people for prostitution and was acquitted of the remaining charges of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.The result was widely seen as a victory for the music mogul, who was facing the possibility of life in prison if convicted on all charges.On this week’s Popcast, a conversation about the strategies of the prosecution and the defense throughout the trial; how Mr. Combs has molded tragedy into tales of triumphing over personal adversity throughout his career; and about what avenues of public rehabilitation might now be available to him. Guests:Joe Coscarelli, New York Times music reporterConnect With Popcast. Become a part of the Popcast community: Join the show’s Facebook group and Discord channel. We want to hear from you! Tune in, and tell us what you think at popcast@nytimes.com. Follow our host, Jon Caramanica, on Twitter: @joncaramanica. Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. More

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      Remembering Sly Stone and Brian Wilson

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      Subscribe to Popcast!Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTubeThis week, pop music lost a pair of world builders: Sly Stone, who created visionary psychedelic rock, soul and pop that helped integrate popular music and captured harsh social realities under the guise of big-tent cheer; and Brian Wilson, the macher of the Beach Boys, whose ear for elevated harmony helped create some of the defining sounds of the 1960s. Both men were 82.Wilson and Stone excelled in a moment in which the country was shaking off the staidness of the 1950s. Wilson’s work with the Beach Boys initially took on themes of American freedom before evolving into a more complex outfit on “Pet Sounds.” After that album, Wilson descended into mental instability, and remained largely out of view for decades. Stone had his commercial peak in the early 1970s with up-tempo funk numbers riven deep with social meaning. But he, too, lost his grip on his career, and was heard from only intermittently in subsequent years.On this week’s Popcast, a conversation about Stone’s improvisational genius, how he channeled his social moment through music, and what it took to turn the life stories of Stone and Wilson into books and film.Guests:Ben Greenman, a longtime journalist who collaborated with Stone on “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin): A Memoir” and Wilson on “I Am Brian Wilson”Joseph Patel, a producer of the documentary “Sly Lives! (aka the Burden of Black Genius)”Vernon Reid, a rock musician who was the founder of Living Colour and a co-founder of the Black Rock CoalitionConnect With Popcast. Become a part of the Popcast community: Join the show’s Facebook group and Discord channel. We want to hear from you! Tune in, and tell us what you think at popcast@nytimes.com. Follow our host, Jon Caramanica, on Twitter: @joncaramanica.Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. More

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      What It’s Like on the Ground at the Sean Combs Trial

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      Subscribe to Popcast!Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTubeThe trial of Sean Combs, the rap mogul best known as Puff Daddy or Diddy, has entered its third week, as federal prosecutors attempt to prove charges of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy in a Manhattan courtroom.Centering so far on the testimony of Casandra Ventura, a former girlfriend who performs as Cassie, the trial has also included time on the witness stand by Ms. Ventura’s family and friends; a former boyfriend, the rapper Kid Cudi; male escorts who were involved in her sexual relationship with Mr. Combs; and multiple employees of Mr. Combs, who witnessed his behavior over the years. (Mr. Combs has pleaded not guilty to all charges, with his lawyers arguing that any sex was consensual.)Yet while many headline-grabbing cases tend to be broadcast online these days, the rules at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse prohibit video or audio recording, meaning only those present can experience the proceedings directly.Present each day for The New York Times has been a team of reporters, led by Julia Jacobs and Ben Sisario, who have covered the story since even before Mr. Combs was under criminal investigation. (Ms. Ventura filed a lawsuit against Mr. Combs in November 2023, which was settled a day later for $20 million; that account helped put into motion a series of events that led to Mr. Combs’s indictment last year.)This week on Popcast, the host Joe Coscarelli, who has also been covering the trial, was joined by Ms. Jacobs and Mr. Sisario to discuss the intricate charges against Mr. Combs; how the testimony so far has played in court versus how it is consumed online later; the effect of the trial on the reputations of Mr. Combs and Ms. Ventura; and what is still to come in the weeks that remain.Connect With Popcast. Become a part of the Popcast community: Join the show’s Facebook group and Discord channel. We want to hear from you! Tune in, and tell us what you think at popcast@nytimes.com. Follow our host, Jon Caramanica, on Twitter: @joncaramanica.Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. More

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      Theo Von, Andrew Schulz, Joe Rogan: A ‘Manosphere’ Just Asking Questions

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      Subscribe to Popcast!Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTubeSo long Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert? The next generation of celebrity interviewers has emerged, auguring their eventual replacement. On YouTube, a wave of comedians-turned-podcasters, many of them immature verging on boorish, have created a new media mainstream, where actors, musicians and crucially, politicians, sit for loose, extended conversations that are quickly becoming the new norm.Some of the best known of these new chatters are Theo Von, Andrew Schulz and Joe Rogan. Loosely, they’re part of the so-called “manosphere,” a set of social media figures who tilt rightward. But really, they’re a more diverse lot, with varying strengths, interests and politics.On this week’s Popcast, a conversation about the generation of male comedians who have remade themselves as the interlocutors of the day, how politicians have weaponized them for their purposes, and how they’re reshaping how celebrity is approaching the post-monoculture landscape.Guest:Dan Adler, a staff writer at Vanity FairConnect With Popcast. Become a part of the Popcast community: Join the show’s Facebook group and Discord channel. We want to hear from you! Tune in, and tell us what you think at popcast@nytimes.com. Follow our host, Jon Caramanica, on Twitter: @joncaramanica.Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. More

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      ‘Sinners,’ the Blues and Fighting for Artistic Control

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      Subscribe to Popcast!Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTubeFor the second weekend in a row, the box office was dominated by “Sinners,” Ryan Coogler’s horror-drama musical about the tension between the ground-level cultural revolution of the blues and the parasitic music industry, depicted here as literal vampires.For Coogler, it’s a return to original content following a long detour making extremely lucrative intellectual property films. “Sinners” reunites him with Michael B. Jordan, who plays a pair of twins, known as Smoke and Stack, whose creative, emotional and instinctual tugs lead them down deeply fraught and unclear pathways.On this week’s Popcast, hosted by Jon Caramanica and Joe Coscarelli, a conversation about the box office success of “Sinners,” and the ways in which its treatment of the music of a century ago is firmly connected to the present.Guests:Wesley Morris, a culture critic at The New York TimesReggie Ugwu, a culture reporter at The Times, who interviewed Coogler and Jordan about “Sinners”James Thomas, a software engineer at The Times, who created a blues playlist inspired by the film for the Amplifier newsletterConnect With Popcast. Become a part of the Popcast community: Join the show’s Facebook group and Discord channel. We want to hear from you! Tune in, and tell us what you think at popcast@nytimes.com. Follow our host, Jon Caramanica, on Twitter: @joncaramanica.Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. More

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      13 Songs You Didn’t Know Were Big Hits Right Now

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      Subscribe to Popcast!Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTubeThe Billboard Hot 100 chart is a weekly measurement of success that draws upon various reporting sources — radio play, streaming, paid downloads — in hopes of capturing what music is truly popular in a given week.Looking at the chart dated April 19, 2025, there are the obvious heavy hitters: Morgan Wallen, Drake, Sabrina Carpenter, Kendrick Lamar, Billie Eilish, Bruno Mars and so on. But there are also plenty of songs and artists who function outside of the usual fame apparatuses.Take Locash, the long-running country band. Or Brandon Lake, the Christian worship singer. Or Sleep Token, the alternative metal band. There are songs that are popular on TikTok, and songs used on reality television. And there are some songs that are so popular that they’re practically invisible.On this week’s Popcast, a deep listen to the songs on the current Hot 100 that might surprise you, along with a conversation on how fame is built (or invented) in the modern era and the discovery of some sleeper gems.Connect With Popcast. Become a part of the Popcast community: Join the show’s Facebook group and Discord channel. We want to hear from you! Tune in, and tell us what you think at popcast@nytimes.com. Follow our host, Jon Caramanica, on Twitter: @joncaramanica. Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. More

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      Doechii! NewJeans! Ye! Answering Your Pop Music Questions

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      Subscribe to Popcast!Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicIt’s Popcast mailbag time, in which we field listener and reader questions about all of the most pressing topics in popular music.On this week’s episode, the hosts — including The New York Times pop critic Jon Caramanica and the pop reporter Joe Coscarelli, plus the pop music editor Caryn Ganz — address your thoughts and concerns about:The rise of Doechii, the young rap star turning viral fame into pop successOlivia Rodrigo’s role as a spirit guide for the eccentric pop stars of the day, like Chappell Roan and Sabrina CarpenterThe coherence of Lady Gaga’s latest album, “Mayhem”The ongoing legal situation between NewJeans and HybeThe latest provocations and music from Ye, formerly Kanye WestAnd whether great pain is inextricable from great art, per a recent interview with Bon IverConnect With Popcast. Become a part of the Popcast community: Join the show’s Facebook group and Discord channel. We want to hear from you! Tune in, and tell us what you think at popcast@nytimes.com. Follow our host, Jon Caramanica, on Twitter: @joncaramanica.Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. More

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      Is Playboi Carti Rap’s Next — or Last — Superstar?

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      Subscribe to Popcast!Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTubeIn the almost five years since the release of “Whole Lotta Red,” Playboi Carti’s second studio album, the Atlanta rapper graduated from a potentially influential internet curio to a full-blown, era-defining headliner.Still, even while closing festivals with his brand of mosh pit mayhem and helping to lead songs like “Fein” by Travis Scott and “Carnival” by Ye (formerly Kanye West) into the Billboard Top 5, Carti has maintained the edge and mystique of an underground cult hero. That is, in part, thanks to absence: canceled concerts, blown appearances and repeated, yearslong delays for his increasingly hyped follow-up to “Whole Lotta Red,” with a growing legion of obsessive fans sating themselves instead by chasing every Carti-flavored online morsel, official and unofficial.Then, last week, it finally arrived: “Music,” a 30-song album lasting more than 75 minutes, with appearances by a who’s who of modern rap stars, including Kendrick Lamar, Future and Travis Scott. A streaming blockbuster already, “Music” has confounded and satisfied in equal measure, likely raising more questions than it answers: Is this what mainstream hip-hop sounds like now? Could anything Carti put out have lived up to the anticipation? And what role do toxic masculinity and obscure internet rabble-rousers play in this fandom?To discuss these Playboi Carti conundrums and many more on Popcast, the hosts Jon Caramanica and Joe Coscarelli of The New York Times were joined by Kieran Press-Reynolds, a columnist for Pitchfork and a contributor to The Times and other publications.Connect With Popcast. Become a part of the Popcast community: Join the show’s Facebook group and Discord channel. We want to hear from you! Tune in, and tell us what you think at popcast@nytimes.com. Follow our host, Jon Caramanica, on Twitter: @joncaramanica. Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. More