Switched on Pop
The making and the meaning of pop music
Vulture · Vox Media Podcast Network
Show overview
Switched on Pop has been publishing since 2014, and across the 12 years since has built a catalogue of 541 episodes, alongside 4 trailers or bonus episodes. That works out to roughly 350 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a weekly cadence.
Episodes typically run thirty-five to sixty minutes — most land between 32 min and 45 min — though episode length varies meaningfully from one episode to the next. It is catalogued as a EN-language Music show.
The show is actively publishing — the most recent episode landed 6 days ago, with 33 episodes already out so far this year. The busiest year was 2024, with 69 episodes published. Published by Vox Media Podcast Network.
From the publisher
Listen closer to pop music — hear how it moves us. Hosted by musicologist Nate Sloan & songwriter Charlie Harding. From Vulture and the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Latest Episodes
View all 541 episodesWhy we can't resist Swedish pop (ft. Zara Larsson) ICYMI
2hollis is the underground’s genre-hopping vampire
Pop music for an internet-pilled generation
The new wave of pop is here, and it’s feral
Olivia Rodrigo has The Cure for sadness
Paul McCartney went back to Liverpool for something new to say
How a sci-fi dystopia became a personal utopia (ft. Arc Iris)
Why bands give us purpose (ft. MUNA)
Drake's Slop Era
Kacey Musgraves walks country’s borderlands
Two countries at war. Rostam’s 'American Stories' belongs to both.
Eurovision is back – but not without controversy
Samara Cyn is rap's best new writer
Olivia Rodrigo and the second verse massacre
Hrishikesh Hirway made an album “the old-fashioned way.” He nearly exploded.
BTS is back. But K Pop is not the same.
Maggie Rogers: going viral is a trap
Learning to Love Train: "Drops of Jupiter" is back in the atmosphere
Slayyyter might actually be the 'Worst Girl in America'
How Charlie Puth honored Whitney Houston for 125 million people (live at Berklee NYC)
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 performance to Marvin Gaye's 808-driven 1983 All-Star Game version to Whitney Houston's 1991 Super Bowl rendition. The through-line: citation is letting your influences dissolve into your hands until they become unrecognizable. That principle runs throughout the new record, from the Quincy Jones guitar tone on "Cry" to the Chick Corea quotation buried in "Boy" that Puth didn't realize was there until after writing it. Songs Discussed Bruce Springsteen – "Born in the USA" Madonna – "Like a Virgin" David Bowie – "Let's Dance" Charlie Puth ft. Wiz Khalifa – "See You Again" Charlie Puth – "We Don't Talk Anymore" Charlie Puth – "Attention" Charlie Puth – "Light Switch" Whitney Houston – "The Star-Spangled Banner" Babyface – "Whip Appeal" Jose Feliciano – "The Star-Spangled Banner" Jimi Hendrix – "The Star-Spangled Banner" Marvin Gaye – "The Star-Spangled Banner" Marvin Gaye – "Sexual Healing" Soulja Boy – "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" DeBarge – "Who's Holding Donna Now" Charlie Puth ft. Jeff Goldblum – "Until It Happens to You" Charlie Puth – "Changes" Charlie Puth – "Cry" Kenny G – "Lullaby" SOPHIE – "It's Okay to Cry" Michael Jackson – "Human Nature" Johnny Hates Jazz – "Shattered Dreams" Madonna – "Into the Groove" Joshua Redman – "St. Thomas" Charlie Puth – "Boy" Chick Corea – "Spain" Charlie Puth – "How Long (Has This Been Going On)" Bell Biv DeVoe – "Poison" Elton John – "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" Prince – "When Doves Cry" Schoolly D – "PSK What Does It Mean" Rick Astley – "Never Gonna Give You Up" Charlie Puth – "Beat Yourself Up" Britney Spears – "Lucky" George Benson – "Give Me the Night" No Doubt – "Hella Good" Michael Jackson – "Beat It" Michael Jackson – "Billie Jean" Charlie Puth – "Washed Up" Charlie Puth – "I Used to Be Cringe" Richard Smallwood – "Center of My Joy" Richard Smallwood – "Total Praise" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices