History Harpies: Pop Culture, Past and Present

Lauren Rebecca Sklaroff and Christine Caldwell Ames
  • 5.0 (7)
  • History
  • Updated Biweekly

Two professors who love pop culture discuss why everything old (in movies, tv, music, and fashion) is new again. PhDs in History, advanced training in sass. Don’t forget to read your footnotes!

  1. Yes, He Is Eddie Murphy, Dammit! (Ft. Boomerang, Bowfinger, and Dolemite Is My Name)

    Apr 25

    Yes, He Is Eddie Murphy, Dammit! (Ft. Boomerang, Bowfinger, and Dolemite Is My Name)

    In a fun-size episode, Lauren and Christine wear red leather suits and get out their diplomas from the Velvet Jones School of Technology while discussing the versatile career of genius Eddie Murphy.

    40 min
  2. Yes, Pop Culture Invented Friend Groups (Ft. Love is Blind, The Big Chill, and St Elmo’s Fire)

    Apr 2

    Yes, Pop Culture Invented Friend Groups (Ft. Love is Blind, The Big Chill, and St Elmo’s Fire)

    Lauren and Christine honor “girl code,” map out love triangles and quadrangles, and book a big table for brunch as they consider the recent-ish popularity of friend groups in pop culture. And they marvel at the size of Rob Lowe’s saxophone.

    1h 12m
  3. No, Cathy and Heathcliff Aren’t Hollywood’s First Mad Lovers (Ft. Wuthering Heights, Body Heat, & 9 1/2 Weeks)

    Mar 11

    No, Cathy and Heathcliff Aren’t Hollywood’s First Mad Lovers (Ft. Wuthering Heights, Body Heat, & 9 1/2 Weeks)

    Lauren and Christine sweat, sigh, and gasp as they consider passionate, obsessive, madly-in-love couples with unhappy endings. They make bad choices, but at least they look gorgeous!

    1h 10m
  4. No, Rob Reiner Didn’t Invent Rom-Coms, But He Perfected Them (Ft. When Harry Met Sally, The Sure Thing, and It Happened One Night)

    Feb 8

    No, Rob Reiner Didn’t Invent Rom-Coms, But He Perfected Them (Ft. When Harry Met Sally, The Sure Thing, and It Happened One Night)

    Lauren and Christine take a road trip, sing show tunes, and bicker as they revisit two classic rom-coms directed by Rob Reiner, and the one directed by Frank Capra that started it all. And we’ll have what she’s having.

    1h 9m
  5. Yes, Rebels Are Always On the Run (Ft. One Battle After Another, North By Northwest, and Running on Empty)

    Jan 14

    Yes, Rebels Are Always On the Run (Ft. One Battle After Another, North By Northwest, and Running on Empty)

    Lauren and Christine change their names, color their hair, and get fake IDs as they discuss Hollywood’s long love for mistaken identities, new identities, and criminals on the run. And they imagine the what-could-have-been of the remarkable River Phoenix (R.I.P.). Book recommendations: Natalie Zemon Davis, The Return of Martin Guerre Tom Engelhardt, The End of Victory Culture: Cold War America and the Disillusioning of a Generation

    1h 7m
  6. Yes, Hollywood Has Always Turned the Camera on Itself (Ft. The Studio, Jay Kelly, and The Player)

    12/08/2025

    Yes, Hollywood Has Always Turned the Camera on Itself (Ft. The Studio, Jay Kelly, and The Player)

    Lights, camera, and action as Lauren and Christine ask why Hollywood is so fascinated with making media about itself - a fascination that is as old as filmmaking. And what’s so terrible about twelve movies in an MK Ultra franchise, anyway? Book recommendations: Arthur Laurents, Original Story By: A Memoir of Broadway and Hollywood Peter Biskind, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-And-Rock n’ Roll Generation Saved Hollywood Michael Tolkin, The Player

    1h 21m
  7. Yes, Teachers and Students Are Always Complicated (Ft. After the Hunt, The Children’s Hour, & Tea and Sympathy)

    11/17/2025

    Yes, Teachers and Students Are Always Complicated (Ft. After the Hunt, The Children’s Hour, & Tea and Sympathy)

    Lauren and Christine pour the tea, button their cardigans, and worry about getting tenure as they discuss three films about complicated relationships between teachers (and teachers’ spouses) and their students. Amid suspicions, accusations, and counter-accusations, who has the power here? Book recommendations: Vito Russo, The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies Carrie N. Baker, The Women’s Movement Against Sexual Harrassment

    1h 11m
  8. No, Don't Let That Dashingly Handsome Vampire Inside (Ft. Sinners, Dracula, and Interview With the Vampire)

    10/29/2025

    No, Don't Let That Dashingly Handsome Vampire Inside (Ft. Sinners, Dracula, and Interview With the Vampire)

    In this Halloween episode, Lauren and Christine hunt vampires from Europe in the 19th century to the American South in the 21st. If vampires are metaphors for a society’s fears, why do they always look so good? Book recommendations: John Polidori, The Vampyre John Berendt, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

    1h 13m
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

Two professors who love pop culture discuss why everything old (in movies, tv, music, and fashion) is new again. PhDs in History, advanced training in sass. Don’t forget to read your footnotes!

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