Pop DNA

Rhonda Watts and Erin O'Loughlin

Pop DNA traces the roots of your favorite pop culture works. We're Erin and Rhonda, and we are big old nerds. We love dissecting our favorite movies, TV shows, and more, and we're really into how literature, history, and culture have impacted the works we consume. We explore connections across mediums, from the classic novels we see reflected in our favorite horror movies, to the politics in superhero franchises, to the influence of Shakespeare in, like, literally everything. There are also bad jokes. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram!

  1. 3 gg fa

    The Mount Rushmore of Public Domain Halloween Monsters | Vampire Summer

    We're getting further down the vampire funnel into allegory and metaphor--what do vampires MEEEEEAAANN??? We start with some historical medical cases that give insight into what people in the past thought of vampires, with the case of Mercy Brown, and an explainer on the vampire-adjacent Chinese mythological creature the Jiangshi. We also look at a few of our favorite (or at least most foundational) examples of vampires in literary or cultural works that are used to explore social and political commentary, including Dracula, Sinners, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Next episode we will look at vampire romance! Further Reading: More about the Jiangshi The case of Mercy Brown Edgar Allan Poe's tenuous connection to vampire lore A Colonial Reading of Bram Stoker's Dracula Psychology Today's analysis of Sinners The Take video on adolescence, adulthood, and vampires in Buffy The Psychology of Trauma in Interview with the Vampire Follow us on Instagram

    1h 12m

  2. 14 giu

    This Episode Sucks | Vampire Summer

    Stake it or leave it, this is our summer series! We decided to spend our summer deep diving into vampire lore and the ever evolving role of the undead in popular fiction. In our first installment, we define our terms and talk a little about the folklore origins of vampire stories. We also take a quick look at vampires in popular fiction, highlighting a few works and broader trends that we will delve into deeper in future episodes. Further Reading: Britannica entry on vampires Vampires on the mythos fandom wiki Vampire history The migration of paranormal romance The evolving role of vampires in literature Follow us on Instagram

    1h 8m

  3. 10 mag

    BONUS: Rhonda Wrote a Book and We Talked About It!

    Pop DNA scored an exclusive early interview with up-and-coming debut author Rhonda Watts for an intimate, no-holds-barred interview. Rhonda's debut cozy fantasy book, Spells & Sensibility, is currently on submission, so no spoilers or big news yet, but she wanted to talk about it with her friend Erin, and we recorded the conversation. We talk about Rhonda's writing process, how she got the idea for the book, making time to write with a full-time job, the importance of finding the right agent, and how to approach writing a Jane Austen retelling. Read Rhonda's blog post about the process here. Follow us on Instagram, and get ready for Vampire Summer starting in June!

    1h 10m

  4. 13 apr

    The Lord of the Rings (Revisited): Cute Y2K Hairstyles for Uruk Hai Warriors

    Rhonda is still in her Medievalist Era and making it everyone's problem, and Erin just wants to talk about some creatures, so you could say this is a typical Pop DNA episode. We continue our exploration of LOTR's relationship to medievalism in pop culture with a look at the beloved Medieval Y2K moment, exemplified in movies like A Knight's Tale, Ella Enchanted, Shrek, and of course the Jackson Lord of the Rings films. And the Star Wars prequels. This early 2000s interpretation of the middle ages is having a moment in current pop culture, and of course influencing the popular medievalism of today. After a brief dip into Tolkien's influence on Dungeons and Dragons, Erin finally gets to talk about all her favorite Tolkien creatures. Goblins, Orcs, Trolls, Balrogs, and other potential fantasy romance love interests. Follow us on Instagram to see things we talk about, and what Rhonda wore to the Hobbit Picnic. Further Reading: Y2K Medievalism and Camp by @zombiegirlzine on Substack Our current appreciation for Y2K medieval is nostalgia for nostalgia Ten Things D&D "borrowed" from Tolkien, but don't tell Wizards of the Coast A ranking of Middle-Earth creatures A little more about Balrogs in case you want to write that Balrog romance

    1h 10m

  5. 30 mar

    The Lord of the Rings (Revisited): A MODieval Middle Earth

    The Medieval Revival of the 1960s and '70s coincided and communicated closely with the LOTR books' surge in popularity at that time. Hippies and other sects of 1960s counterculture adopted the Shire and the Hobbits as their own, and produced expressions of art and culture that Tolkien was really kind of a curmudgeon about. In this episode we explore how medievalism (or MODievalism) permeated 1960s pop culture, in art, literature, media, and fashion. We also look at how different versions of Middle Earth were envisioned by various artists, from those influenced by the hippies' love for the books, to the artist Alan Lee, whose work reflected a reverence for Tolkien's particular preferences and went on to influence the aesthetics of the Peter Jackson films. See the images we reference on our Instagram. Further Reading: LitHub article on Alan Lee's illustrations American Cinematographer article on visualization in the Jackson films Collection of Tolkien's own drawings and paintings Sampling of LOTR book covers Hobbits and Hippies article from BBC Anti-War Adoption of The Lord of the Rings paper Medieval revival of the 1960s and 1970s blog post

    1h 3m

  6. 9 mar

    The Lord of the Rings (Revisited): Let's Do a Medievalism

    This episode is all about how the Victorian era's culture and politics shaped J. R. R. Tolkien and, by extension, the world of Middle Earth. We start with a look at the Grotesque vs. the Romantic Middle Ages as defined by medievalist David Matthews, and how each approach was at play in the late 19th century Medieval Revival. We use Matthews' work as a framework for analyzing the medievalism of The Lord of the Rings, and then take a closer look at the society and politics of the Shire in particular in light of this context. Next episode we'll move into the 1960s and talk about how much hippies loved The Hobbit, and there will probably be some Creature Talk. Further Reading: Setting and Medievalism in Jackson's Lord of the Rings Medievalism: a Critical History by David Matthews The Victorian Medieval Revival William Morris' influence on Tolkien Social hierarchies in Hobbiton Social advancement in Middle Earth societies

    1h 4m

  7. 23 feb

    The Lord of the Rings (Revisited): At Home in the Shire

    Remember when we tried to have a comprehensive discussion of The Lord of the Rings in one 55-minute episode? Turns out there's a lot more to it. In this introduction to our LOTR (Revisited) series, we take a quiz to find out which characters we are, get on a soapbox about how adaptations and their respective source materials are two separate entities, then highlight a few of the topics we plan to delve deeper into over the next few episodes. Inspirations from Norse mythology and medieval epicsLore and races of Middle Earth and their real-world rootsTolkien's Medievalism through the lens of the Victorian eraHippie culture's embrace of The Hobbit and the Medievalism revival of the 1960s and 1970sTolkien's impact in modern fantasy fiction and Medievalism in current popular cultureTolkien's work in context of conversations about race, gender, and power hierarchies in fantasy Hopefully we'll get to all of this. We'll see.

    1h 6m

  8. 18 gen

    BONUS: The Best of 2025!

    It's that time of year again! We came back from our long hiatus to talk about our favorite TV and movies of 2025, plus a few books, and a few things that were NOT our favorite. First we had to spend a good chunk of time talking about all our feelings on Wicked: For Good, or should we call it... Wicked: For Bad... We also talked about the different common themes or through lines we noticed in the media we were drawn to, before popcorning some of our personal best-of lists. Things we talked about (in order of mention): Wicked: For GoodHamnetSinnersHeart EyesThe DropWolfman The Summer I Turned PrettyHome for ChristmasThe PaperEternityMickey 17K-Pop Demon HuntersThe PittNobody Wants ThisOne of Them DaysMaterialistsThe Chair CompanyPluribusTusk LoveKatabasis Freakier FridayFrankensteinOther things we loved but didn't have time to talk about: Wake Up Dead ManCompanionThe HousemaidWe Bury the DeadSeveranceThe RosesFackham HallThe Wrong ParisMerrily We Roll AlongThe Four SeasonsSirens We'll have a brand new series starting in February revisiting The Lord of the Rings. Please join us!#wickedforgood #sinners #hamnet #bestof2025

    1h 52m
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Descrizione

Pop DNA traces the roots of your favorite pop culture works. We're Erin and Rhonda, and we are big old nerds. We love dissecting our favorite movies, TV shows, and more, and we're really into how literature, history, and culture have impacted the works we consume. We explore connections across mediums, from the classic novels we see reflected in our favorite horror movies, to the politics in superhero franchises, to the influence of Shakespeare in, like, literally everything. There are also bad jokes. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram!

Informazioni

  • Creatore
    Rhonda Watts and Erin O'Loughlin
  • Anni di attività
    2018 - 2026
  • Puntate
    211
  • Classificazione
    Contenuti espliciti
  • Copyright
    © Rhonda Watts and Erin O'Loughlin
  • Sito web del podcast
    Pop DNA

Altro da That's Not Canon Productions