Why Is Katy Perry So Embarrassing?
Summary
Hosts Anne Helen Petersen and Zach Stafford delve into the reasons behind the recent public criticism surrounding Katy Perry, discussing her career trajectory from pop superstar to a figure often seen as out of touch. They analyze her contradictory public image, failed attempts at satire, collaborations, and actions like her space trip and monastery lawsuit, contrasting her struggles with contemporaries like Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga. The conversation also touches on the changing pop music landscape, the rise of "worship pop," and how Katy Perry's perceived inauthenticity and inability to age gracefully contribute to her current struggles, linking it to broader cultural shifts towards authenticity and away from frictionless online performance.Episode description
At some point in late April, near the apex of the memes and jokes and ridicule of Katy Perry’s recent “women’s empowerment” trip to space, Melody and I wondered: is it even worth doing a Katy Perry episode? Do we have anything to say, other than wow, all of this — the new album, the tour visuals, the trip to SPACE, is hilariously bad? But then we asked Zach Stafford if he had anything to say, and when his response was an immediate YES, we decided to turn the episode over to your (as always, very insightful) questions and probe deeper. Yes, all of this recent promotional tour is cringe, and the album is not good — but cringey people with bad albums still get their singles played on the radio.
So what is it about Perry that makes her such a target in this moment? Join Zach and me as we try to figure it out (and decipher what’s happening with those Lifetimes costumes).
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One of the many SpaceX Instagram posts that made people want to bang their heads against their desks
Just another shot from the Lifetimes Tour for good measure
Zach mentions the episode he and I recorded with Sam Sanders re: the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders
The satire that fell flat for “Women’s World”
“‘I created this character called Katy Perry. I didn’t want to be Katheryn Hudson. It was too scary’”
Before we taped Melody had me watch this pretty heartbreaking clip of Katy breaking down backstage and having to go on with the show
The very messy and complicated fight with the nuns over the Los Angeles monastery
Katy Perry at Gaga’s show in Mexico City
The evolution of internet slang (and how it’s affected how you speak offline, too)
The intersection of technology and parenting (especially how mothers are surveilled)
REGIONAL ACCENTS!!!! (We have a accent/dialect expert as co-host!)
Sabrina Carpenter????
Book trends right now
Fiction concierge!! Much like our old movies episode, let us know a few books you read and loved as well as whatever other parameters you want to put in place, and Maris Kreizman and I will make some recs!
Anything you need advice or want musings on for the AAA segment. You can ask about anything, it’s literally the name of the segment!
As always, you can submit them (and ideas for future eps) here
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