The Big Hit Show

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SOCIETY & CULTURE
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Journalist Alex Pappademas takes us on an epic journey that spans genres, mediums, and generations to explore what happens when a wildly successful piece of pop culture gets so big that it changes the world. This show is about how big hits get dreamed up, how they get made, and what happens when we make them our own. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

3 OCT

Fulfillingness’ First Finale, from The Wonder of Stevie

Hey Big Hit Show fans. We’re sharing a preview of a new podcast from Higher Ground called The Wonder of Stevie. It's hosted by Wesley Morris and this episode features Alex Pappademas. Host Wesley Morris is taking you on a deep-dive through Stevie's Classic Period. In this episode, Wesley talks with Alex about the fourth album in Stevie’s streak: Fulfillingness’ First Finale. It was made following an unexpected and life-changing event, and shows Stevie’s different, moodier, more reflective side. Hear why the album is Wesley and Alex’s favorite (and why not everyone agrees). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

46 min
23/11/2022

Pokémon | E5: Evolution

The battle is over, and Pokémon has won. Almost twenty-five years after it arrived on these shores, Pokémon hasn’t just survived— it’s become the kind of pop-cultural phenomenon that parents share with their kids. But what does that say about Pokémon, and what does our yearning for an ever-more-immersive pocket-monster-catching experience say about us? TRANSCRIPT: HERE CREDITS: Writer and Host: Alex Pappademas Showrunner: Colin McNulty Producers: Taylor Jones and Sabrina Fang, with help from Tyler Hill. Production Assistant: Stella Hartmann Fact Checker: Savannah Wright Composer/Sound Designer/Mix Engineer: Alex MacInnis Theme Music by: Dan Leone Executive Producer for Western Sound: Ben Adair Editor: Jamie York Executive Producers for Higher Ground: Dan Fierman, Anna Holmes, Mukta Mohan, and Janae Marable. Editorial Assistant for Higher Ground: Jenna Levin Executive Producers for Spotify: Daniel Ek, Dawn Ostroff, Julie McNamara and Corinne Gilliard. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

41 min
16/11/2022

Pokémon | E4: Sparkly Cardboard

Thanks to nostalgic fans and influential new collectors, the value of vintage Pokémon trading cards is through the roof. But you don’t have to find and flip a million-dollar Charizard to have your life changed by Pokémon. An episode about collecting, connecting, and a podcast producer who lands in Las Vegas with a binder full of holos and a dream. TRANSCRIPT: HERE CREDITS: Writer and Host: Alex Pappademas Showrunner: Colin McNulty Producers: Taylor Jones and Sabrina Fang, with help from Tyler Hill. Production Assistant: Stella Hartmann Fact Checker: Savannah Wright Composer/Sound Designer/Mix Engineer: Alex MacInnis Theme Music by: Dan Leone Executive Producer for Western Sound: Ben Adair Editor: Jamie York Executive Producers for Higher Ground: Dan Fierman, Anna Holmes, Mukta Mohan, and Janae Marable. Editorial Assistant for Higher Ground: Jenna Levin Executive Producers for Spotify: Daniel Ek, Dawn Ostroff, Julie McNamara and Corinne Gilliard. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

49 min
09/11/2022

Pokémon | E3: Satanic Consumption

At the end of the ‘90s, after blowing up in Japan, Pokémon came to America. And it became so ubiquitous so fast that critics saw it as a plot to turn U.S. children into hypnotized consumers— or even devil-worshippers. But the version of Pokemon that conquered America was very much an American creation; in this episode we’ll look at how Pokemon became an international brand, and how its success brought out the worst in more than a few American parents. TRANSCRIPT: HERE CREDITS: Writer and Host: Alex Pappademas Showrunner: Colin McNulty Producers: Taylor Jones and Sabrina Fang, with help from Tyler Hill. Production Assistant: Stella Hartmann Fact Checker: Savannah Wright Composer/Sound Designer/Mix Engineer: Alex MacInnis Theme Music by: Dan Leone Executive Producer for Western Sound: Ben Adair Editor: Jamie York Executive Producers for Higher Ground: Dan Fierman, Anna Holmes, Mukta Mohan, and Janae Marable. Editorial Assistant for Higher Ground: Jenna Levin Executive Producers for Spotify: Daniel Ek, Dawn Ostroff, Julie McNamara and Corinne Gilliard. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

52 min
02/11/2022

Pokémon | E2: Red Versus Blue

In which a red-hot video game company crashes and burns, with a little help from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. The decline of Atari paved the way for a gaming renaissance— think Donkey Kong, Mario and eventually Pikachu. But as Japan took the upper-hand in the console business and taught a generation of American kids how to play, some Americans grew paranoid about a resurgent foreign power beating us at our own game. TRANSCRIPT: HERE CREDITS: Writer and Host: Alex Pappademas Showrunner: Colin McNulty Producers: Taylor Jones and Sabrina Fang, with help from Tyler Hill. Production Assistant: Stella Hartmann Fact Checker: Savannah Wright Composer/Sound Designer/Mix Engineer: Alex MacInnis Theme Music by: Dan Leone Executive Producer for Western Sound: Ben Adair Editor: Jamie York Executive Producers for Higher Ground: Dan Fierman, Anna Holmes, Mukta Mohan, and Janae Marable. Editorial Assistant for Higher Ground: Jenna Levin Executive Producers for Spotify: Daniel Ek, Dawn Ostroff, Julie McNamara and Corinne Gilliard. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

46 min
26/10/2022

Pokémon | E1: Get Outside

There are big hits, and there are really big hits— and then there’s Pokémon, a kids’ game from Japan that evolved into the biggest multimedia entertainment franchise of all time. In this episode we’re time-traveling from ‘90s Tokyo— where a bug collector turned game designer first dreamed of catching pocket-sized monsters— to 2016, when an addictive mobile game helped Pokemon re-conquer the world. TRANSCRIPT: HERE CREDITS: Writer and Host: Alex Pappademas Showrunner: Colin McNulty Producers: Taylor Jones and Sabrina Fang, with help from Tyler Hill. Production Assistant: Stella Hartmann Fact Checker: Savannah Wright Composer/Sound Designer/Mix Engineer: Alex MacInnis Theme Music by: Dan Leone Executive Producer for Western Sound: Ben Adair Editor: Jamie York Executive Producers for Higher Ground: Dan Fierman, Anna Holmes, Mukta Mohan, and Janae Marable. Editorial Assistant for Higher Ground: Jenna Levin Executive Producers for Spotify: Daniel Ek, Dawn Ostroff, Julie McNamara and Corinne Gilliard. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

48 min
19/10/2022

Season 4: Pokémon

The Big Hit Show Season 4 debuts on August 17th. How did a Japanese video game from the 1990’s become the single highest grossing franchise in history - bigger than Star Wars and Harry Potter combined? This season on The Big Hit Show, we’re exploring the biggest hit of all time, Pokémon, and how these adorable pocket monsters evolved into a media supernova unlike any the world has ever seen. TRANSCRIPT: HERE CREDITS: Writer and Host: Alex Pappademas Showrunner: Colin McNulty Producers: Taylor Jones and Sabrina Fang, with help from Tyler Hill. Production Assistant: Stella Hartmann Fact Checker: Savannah Wright Composer/Sound Designer/Mix Engineer: Alex MacInnis Theme Music by: Dan Leone Executive Producer for Western Sound: Ben Adair Editor: Jamie York Executive Producers for Higher Ground: Dan Fierman, Anna Holmes, Mukta Mohan, and Janae Marable. Editorial Assistant for Higher Ground: Jenna Levin Executive Producers for Spotify: Daniel Ek, Dawn Ostroff, Julie McNamara and Corinne Gilliard. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2 min
12/10/2022

Fight Club | E5: The Blueprint

“Masculinity is a lot like Fight Club. The first rule is that you don't talk about it.” In this episode, we’re breaking that rule, examining what Fight Club has to say about the emotional lives of men, the links between masculinity and extremist violence, and the path out of the darkness. TRANSCRIPT: HERE CREDITS: Host, Writer: Alex Pappademas Showrunner: Colin McNulty Producers: Sabrina Fang and Taylor Jones Production Assistant and Fact Checker: Stella Hartman Composer, Sound Designer, Mix Engineer: Alex MacInnis Studio Direction and Theme Music: Dan Leone Executive Producer for Western Sound: Ben Adair Editor: Jamie York Executive Producers for Higher Ground: Dan Fierman, Anna Holmes, Mukta Mohan, Janae Marable Editorial Assistant for Higher Ground: Jenna Levin Executive Producers for Spotify: Daniel Ek, Dawn Ostroff, Julie McNamara, Corinne Gilliard Special Thanks: Joe Paulsen and Eric Spiegelman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

47 min

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Journalist Alex Pappademas takes us on an epic journey that spans genres, mediums, and generations to explore what happens when a wildly successful piece of pop culture gets so big that it changes the world. This show is about how big hits get dreamed up, how they get made, and what happens when we make them our own. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.