In our final game of "Into It/Not Into It," comedians Naomi Ekperigin and Andy Beckerman, hosts of the Couples Therapy podcast, put their marriage on the line... for the sake of culture. Sam asks if they're into Michelle Williams' narration of the Britney Spears memoir The Woman in Me (thus completing our Holy Trinity run of Britney-themed episodes), strike-approved Halloween costumes, and a new study that shows Gen Z wants to see less sex on screen. We also hear about the culture that's hauntin...
Oct 27, 2023•36 min
Britney Spears' memoir The Woman in Me is out today. But we're taking this moment instead to revisit the songs we never stopped listening to — and what she was trying to tell us all along, through the music. Sam talks with writer and critic Maura Johnston about what Britney gave to her body of work, and how her voice and sound — augmented, auto-tuned, yet authentic — ushered in a new era of pop music and pop stardom. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 24, 2023•35 min
Britney Spears’ memoir comes out next week, but details are already emerging. From snake-handling to Justin Timberlake (redundant?), Sam is processing it all with Into It’s BFF, comic and writer Jay Jurden. Speaking of problems, the actors still have one: their strike keeps going, and now George Clooney and Tyler Perry are putting on pressure to resolve it. Plus, are we Into or Not Into Netflix’s brick-and-mortar ambitions? And at the very end, Sam has some important news to share. Learn more ab...
Oct 20, 2023•29 min
Long movies have often been associated with prestige, so it makes sense that Killers of the Flower Moon is three hours and 26 minutes. But Avengers: End Game clocking in at more than three hours? Come on. Vanity Fair’s Natalie Jarvey and Sam talk through all the factors skewing movies longer, from bidding wars between streamers that give directors more power and control, to IP franchises demonstrating that audiences will tolerate longer movies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.f...
Oct 17, 2023•28 min
News came out this week that Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith have actually been separated since 2016... and we have so many questions. Did Will ruin his career for a roommate? What was the Red Table Talk for? Who is this family's live-in producer? Traci Thomas, host of The Stacks podcast, and Chelsea Devantez, writer, comedian, and host of Glamorous Trash, help break down the week in culture with Sam. We also ask if they're into a possible reboot of Seinfeld and dissect what is going on with D...
Oct 13, 2023•33 min
Whether you’ve filmed your awkward apology video from the comfort of your own kitchen or a corner of your palatial backyard, you can bet Molly McPherson, aka “PR Lady,” will be analyzing it on TikTok. She brings her PR industry bona fides to the world of celebrity scandals, and there’s been a lot for her to talk about lately. She and Sam discuss Lizzo’s response to allegations she mistreated her dancers, Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis’s character letter about Danny Masterson, Drew Barrymore’s pot...
Oct 10, 2023•48 min
Bed bugs in Paris? Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom entangled in yet another real estate lawsuit? U2 at The Sphere? Sam wraps up the week in culture with comedians Dylan Adler and Sam Oh. Also, we're bringing back our culturegeist segment at the end of the month. Do you have a thing in the culture that's been haunting you? Tell us about it. Record a short voice memo and send it to intoit@vulture.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 06, 2023•33 min
The story of social media has usually been told from the perspective of tech bros, set to a soundtrack by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Washington Post columnist Taylor Lorenz argues in her new book, Extremely Online, that the real protagonists of the story are actually the users, who figured out what these platforms were best at before the people who invented them did. “Venture capitalists act like Mr. Beast invented it all,” Taylor says. “It was mothers, women, marginalized people, LGBTQ peop...
Oct 03, 2023•39 min
After a contentious five months, the writers' strike is officially over. What does that actually mean for the writers themselves, the studios, and the future of TV and film? Sam digs into the aftermath with Vulture editor Josef Adalian and TV critic Kathryn VanArendonk, including the wins for the WGA and the smaller post-Peak TV market its members will be walking back into. We also hear from Into It producer Travis Larchuk, fondly remembering the Star Wars-themed Galactic Starcruise hotel at Dis...
Sep 29, 2023•39 min
So much of the coverage of hip-hop’s 50th birthday has been fawning. Congratulatory. Devoid of meaningful critique. All that despite the fact that the art form has been soaked through with misogyny and homophobia from day one. So how do you celebrate hip-hop’s accomplishments while asking it to do better? Sam talks to journalist Kiana Fitzgerald, author of Ode to Hip-Hop, on how the women of hip-hop are leading the way today… but at what cost? And he catches up with hip-hop scholar Jason England...
Sep 26, 2023•46 min
Comedian Hasan Minhaj admitted to making up biographical stories involving racism and Islamophobia in his standup specials. Sam asks our BFF, comedian Jay Jurden, what the line is between comedic embellishment and lying, and how the revelations will affect other marginalized performers. Also this week, will one more teacup ride stem Disney’s streaming losses? Sam and Jay discuss Disney’s $60 billion bet on its theme parks, whether Taylor Swift’s latest puzzle stunt shows us that Swifties are get...
Sep 22, 2023•40 min
Is it just us or has the Billboard Hot 100 felt... weird this year? It's the same chart that's seen Doja Cat's "Paint the Town Red" hit No. 1 — the first rap song to rise to the top spot in more than a year — as well as Oliver Anthony Music's controversial "Rich Men North of Richmond" and a remix of an old song by The Weeknd. Is the Billboard Hot 100 actually measuring what people are listening to these days? Can we trust it to tell us about the most popular music? Sam talks with Switched on Pop...
Sep 19, 2023•40 min
This week, Drew Barrymore announced her daytime TV talk show would return despite the ongoing Hollywood strikes. That prompted a public outcry and a rescinded invitation to host the National Book Awards. Drew seems to be getting the most flack, but she isn't the only TV host coming back this fall. Sam checks in with Vox's Alex Abad-Santos and Rebecca Jennings about the latest on the writers' and actors' strikes and where the celebrities are turning now that the red carpets are off-limits. We als...
Sep 15, 2023•34 min
Rotten Tomatoes is the place you go when you want to figure out whether or not to see a movie. It aggregates reviews on its “Tomatometer” and tells you whether a film is “fresh” or “rotten.” But its math formula sucks, and it’s easily manipulated. New York Magazine’s Lane Brown did a deep investigation into how Rotten Tomatoes works and tells Sam all the ways studios game the ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, how Hollywood publicity now revolves around the site, and highlights how the whole system has...
Sep 12, 2023•30 min
As Olivia Rodrigo releases Guts, we take stock of the singer-songwriter who seemed to come out of nowhere, fully realized as an artist, back in 2021. How did Olivia surprise us so much before, and can she repeat her success a second time? Sam chats with Lindsay Zoladz, pop music critic at The New York Times, about the dualities of Olivia Rodrigo: She's an artist who is both quiet and loud, young and old at heart, and a former Disney child star whose lyrics are a gut punch. We also trace her insp...
Sep 08, 2023•43 min
Allegations and complaints about working conditions, fair pay, and even covering up acts of sexual violence could force a reality TV reckoning. OG Housewife Bethenny Frankel is calling on her fellow colleagues to unionize, and last month NBCUniversal — home to such reality heavy hitters as The Real Housewives empire, and Vanderpump Rules — was sent a letter from two very high-powered attorneys investigating the "grotesque and depraved mistreatment" of its reality stars. How did we get here? sam ...
Sep 05, 2023•32 min
Yes, the writers’ and actors’ strikes mean a lot of reality on TV and delayed releases for movies this fall. But there are some standouts. Sam talks with Vulture’s Jen Chaney and Chris Lee and learns that with shows like Lessons In Chemistry, starring Brie Larson, and films like May December, starring Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman, you could want for nothing. Sam also gets recommendations of things you might have missed this summer from Sam Fragoso, host of the Talk Easy podcast, who explai...
Sep 01, 2023•40 min
For our first Into It Book Club pick, Sam talks to Brandon Taylor about his latest novel The Late Americans. Set in Iowa City, the book follows a group of lovers and friends who are navigating the world of art, love, sex... and graduate school. We also ask about the broader discourse around books today: In the age of #BookTok and Goodreads, what should readers expect from writers? And —for Brandon, in particular — what's the line between reviewing an author's published work and the author himsel...
Aug 29, 2023•42 min
Justin Bieber. Demi Levato. Ariana Grande. Idina Menzel. All are reportedly dropping their manager, Scooter Braun. He’s one of the biggest players in the music industry, and Taylor Swift apparently hates him enough for owning her masters to be rerecording all her old music. Sam Sanders talks it over with comedian and TV writer Jay Jurden. Also, Jay and Sam decide if they’re into the Suits renaissance and marvel at the return of the Fyre Festival. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone...
Aug 25, 2023•33 min
"A rap game Ferris Bueller." "Fun and life affirming." That's what Pitchfork called the buzziest mixtape of 2013: Chance the Rapper's Acid Rap. The mixtape launched Chance's career and put him alongside some of the biggest artists in hip-hop. To commemorate Acid Rap's 10-year anniversary, Sam chats with Chance about his time touring with Mac Miller, Donald Glover, Eminem, and Macklemore after the mixtape's release; his relationship with Kanye West; and how hip-hop — and his own view of politics ...
Aug 22, 2023•50 min
Forget Trump’s most recent indictment. We’re discussing three other big controversies this week: allegations that the white folks behind The Blind Side story were crooks rather than saviors, the lack of protections for reality stars (just see the recent episodes of Below Deck Down Under for an illustration), and the debate over whether Bradley Cooper’s prosthetic nose in an upcoming movie is antisemitic. Sam gets into all of it with writer R. Eric Thomas. They also discuss Eric’s new memoir, Con...
Aug 18, 2023•45 min
The CBS reality show Big Brother just entered its 25th season, making it one of the longest-running reality TV shows in history. But it's also one of the genre's weirdest: There are the edited episodes that air on CBS proper, but viewers are encouraged to creep on contestants via 24/7 live feeds; seasons almost always involve racism or misogyny (or both!); and the show often features games involving... slime? And yet the show gets killer ratings. To pin down the enduring appeal of Big Brother, S...
Aug 15, 2023•43 min
A classic piece of American film dropped recently. It has everything: an epic battle, a giant boat, lawn furniture repurposed as weapons... and everyone's talking about it, including our guests this week Jonquilyn Hill, host of Vox's The Weeds podcast, and Alex Abad-Santos, culture writer at Vox. They debate with Sam about who should direct an actual big screen version of the brawl. They also check in on how Jeopardy is dealing with the writers' strike (What is: The show is using old questions d...
Aug 11, 2023•34 min
We've been hearing a lot about artificial intelligence in TV and movies from both sides of the Hollywood strikes. Some actors and writers are afraid AI could replace them entirely. But how does AI work in the industry right now? And to what extent? Sam chats with VFX artist Ryan Laney about his work digitally replacing human faces — in the name of good. Then, Josh Glick, who studies AI and film at Bard College, lays out the fundamental truth many of us seem to forget: AI is already an integral p...
Aug 08, 2023•39 min
Three of Lizzo’s former dancers sued her for alleged sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment. How does this change how we feel about Lizzo — especially those inspired by her joyful, unapologetic persona and empowerment of plus-sized women of color? Sam welcomes his Vibe Check co-hosts Saeed Jones and Zach Stafford to talk it out. Then, as a palette cleanser: A game of Into It / Not Into It where they break down Cardi B’s mic throw, Justin Trudeau’s separation, and the resurrect...
Aug 04, 2023•41 min
At the end of Britney Spears’s conservatorship in November of 2021, most of her fans rejoiced. But conspiracy theories have a subset of #FreeBritney fans convinced she’s still not really free. They focus on what they see as oddities or glitches in some of her Instagram posts. Vox reporter Rebecca Jennings says there are even theories that Britney has been replaced with AI or a body double. Rebecca and Sam talk about her current piece for New York Magazine and get into the TikTok sleuthing of thi...
Aug 01, 2023•44 min
What is up right now with country music and race? There’s the controversy over Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town,” Morgan Wallen topping the charts despite previously being canceled for saying the n-word, and Luke Combs’ country cover of Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car – which is doing better than the original. Sam talks with writer, sociologist, and country fan Tressie McMillan Cottom. Tressie unpacks why mainstream country music is so, so white, how Black artists built the genre, and the gulf ...
Jul 28, 2023•53 min
Bravo replaced the whole cast for the 14th season of The Real Housewives of New York City, but it almost doesn’t matter. “It’s about the franchise,” says Brian Moylan, who writes Vulture’s Housewives Institute Bulletin. There are, however, a handful of housewives that have had a lasting impact. A Housewives Mount Rushmore, if you will. Brian tells Sam why Teresa Giudice, Bethenny Frankel, NeNe Leakes, and Kyle Richards are the four faces on the mountaintop and why we owe so much of what we see o...
Jul 25, 2023•48 min
It's Barbenheimer weekend and Sam is joined by none other than Who? Weekly hosts Bobby Finger and Lindsey Weber for our own doubleheader — of games. First, we break down the long list of Barbie merch collabs from Burger King to Progressive to Uno. Then, we discuss ABC's The Golden Bachelor and why it's never too late for love; social media influencers joining the Hollywood strikes; and the confusing yet popular TikTok trend of NPC livestreams. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm...
Jul 21, 2023•35 min
Barbie (the doll) is more than 60 years old. But Barbie (the idea, the aesthetic, the cultural artifact) feels more current than ever. And yes, the highly anticipated Barbie movie is definitely a big part of that, but Barbiecore has been around way before the film was even a sparkle in Greta Gerwig's eye. Sam chats with The Cut's Danya Issawi about her first Barbie memories and the inescapable way that blonde hair, blue eyes, and pink outfits could define American girlhood. And we learn about th...
Jul 18, 2023•33 min
