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Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia

Slate Podcasts
  • 4.8 (2K)
  • MUSIC
  • UPDATED MONTHLY

What makes a song a smash? Talent? Luck? Timing? All that—and more. Chris Molanphy, pop-chart analyst and author of Slate’s “Why Is This Song No. 1?” series, tells tales from a half-century of chart history. Through storytelling, trivia and song snippets, Chris dissects how that song you love—or hate—dominated the airwaves, made its way to the top of the charts and shaped your memories forever.Get more Hit Parade with Slate Plus! Join for monthly early-access episodes, bonus episodes of "The Bridge," and ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe directly from the Hit Parade show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. 12/26/2025

    The Bridge: Slate’s Music Club 2025

    The Slate Music Club returns, in this special year-end edition of Hit Parade’s The Bridge! Host Chris Molanphy joins New York Times pop music critic Lindsay Zoladz, and Julianne Escobedo Shepherd of Hearing Things in a critics’ roundtable led by Slate’s own Carl Wilson. They discuss their favorite albums and singles, as well as the trends that shaped music in 2025. Among this year’s big musical questions: Have we reached peak Bad Bunny yet? Did those animated Demon Hunters reinvent K-pop? Are Geese the saviors of rock, or just muppets with guitars? Is hip-hop ready to move on from Kendrick and Drake? Plus: Rosalia, Water for Your Eyes, Gaga, Wednesday—and of course, Taylor Swift. Note: Slate Plus members can hear this special episode in full. Ad-supported listeners will hear the first half. Want to hear the whole discussion? Sign up for Slate Plus! Unlock monthly early-access episodes, bonus episodes of “The Bridge,” and ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Kevin Bendis. Don’t miss the rest of this year’s Slate Music Club episode! Become a Slate Plus member! Join for monthly early-access episodes, bonus episodes of "The Bridge," and ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe directly from the Hit Parade show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    40 min

  2. 12/26/2025

    Hooked to the Silver Screen Edition Part 2

    If you need confirmation of Hollywood’s vast influence on mass culture, look no further than the pop charts. From the 1937 classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs through this year’s KPop Demon Hunters, soundtracks have launched hits, defined genres—and sometimes even eclipsed the films that inspired them in the first place. Rock classics, funk jams, rap bangers, even Christmas standards: all became hits because we heard them first at the cinema. Join Chris Molanphy as he unspools nearly a century of hit movie music, from Simon & Garfunkel’s groundbreaking ode to “Mrs. Robinson,” to the, ahem, titanic tin whistle of “My Heart Will Go On.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    53 min

  3. 12/12/2025

    Hooked to the Silver Screen Edition Part 1

    If you need confirmation of Hollywood’s vast influence on mass culture, look no further than the pop charts. From the 1937 classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs through this year’s KPop Demon Hunters, soundtracks have launched hits, defined genres—and sometimes even eclipsed the films that inspired them in the first place. Rock classics, funk jams, rap bangers, even Christmas standards: all became hits because we heard them first at the cinema. Join Chris Molanphy as he unspools nearly a century of hit movie music, from Simon & Garfunkel’s groundbreaking ode to “Mrs. Robinson,” to the, ahem, titanic tin whistle of “My Heart Will Go On.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 6m

  4. 11/28/2025

    Pour Some Sugar on Me Edition Part 2

    When you hear the term “superproducer,” names like George Martin, Quincy Jones, Max Martin, Pharrell Williams or Missy Elliott might come to mind. But … Robert “Mutt” Lange? Probably not. Yet Lange was by some measures the biggest hitmaker—the producer of more top-selling albums than any of those better-known producers. The South African studio wiz crafted the arena-rock sound of AC/DC and Def Leppard. Then, Lange transformed the Cars, Billy Ocean, Bryan Adams, and Shania Twain into fist-pumping stadium-fillers, too. Join Chris Molanphy as he traces Mutt Lange’s legacy of loud—and his uncanny success on the pop charts. He poured sugar on every hit. Podcast production by Kevin Bendis. Get more Hit Parade with Slate Plus! Join for monthly early-access episodes, bonus episodes of "The Bridge," and ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe directly from the Hit Parade show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    53 min

  5. 11/28/2025 · BONUS • SLATE PLUS ONLY

    The Bridge: Any Mutt of Mine

    In this Slate Plus exclusive, host Chris Molanphy welcomes country music journalist and historian Brian Mansfield, who explains how superproducer Robert John “Mutt” Lange and superstar Shania Twain reshaped Nashville in the 1990s. In her partnership with the studio mastermind, Twain pivoted from her largely overlooked debut album to an arena-rock sound that proved so popular, it altered the sonic signature of country music and compelled other artists to emulate her approach. Mansfield also unpacks some of the politics behind Nashville songwriting and production, and how Twain’s legacy continues to be felt today. Also: Chris tests a Slate Plus listener’s music knowledge, gives him a chance to turn the tables with a question of his own, and offers a sneak peek at the next episode of Hit Parade. Slate Plus members can sign up for a chance to be our trivia contestant on a future episode here. Podcast production by Kevin Bendis. This episode is for Slate Plus members only. Join for monthly early-access episodes, bonus episodes of "The Bridge," and ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe directly from the Hit Parade show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen

    36 min

  6. 11/15/2025

    Pour Some Sugar on Me Edition Part 1

    When you hear the term “superproducer,” names like George Martin, Quincy Jones, Max Martin, Pharrell Williams or Missy Elliott might come to mind. But … Robert “Mutt” Lange? Probably not. Yet Lange was by some measures the biggest hitmaker—the producer of more top-selling albums than any of those better-known producers. The South African studio wiz crafted the arena-rock sound of AC/DC and Def Leppard. Then, Lange transformed the Cars, Billy Ocean, Bryan Adams, and Shania Twain into fist-pumping stadium-fillers, too. Join Chris Molanphy as he traces Mutt Lange’s legacy of loud—and his uncanny success on the pop charts. He poured sugar on every hit. Podcast production by Kevin Bendis. Get more Hit Parade with Slate Plus! Join for monthly early-access episodes, bonus episodes of "The Bridge," and ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe directly from the Hit Parade show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1 hr

  7. 11/12/2025

    The Slate Culture Gift Guide

    Hark, the holiday season is upon us—and with it, the most solemn of festive traditions: a gift guide! In this video and podcast special, Slate hosts Dana Stevens, Chris Molanphy, and Willa Paskin beam in from their collective hearths to deliver unto the internet their favorite gifts for culture lovers. In addition to sharing gifts, they also discuss the cultural artifact that is the “holiday gift guide,” and its history going back to the early 20th century, up to the modern day. See the entirety of the 1910 gift guide Our Special Holiday Gift-Book from Greenhut-Siegel Cooper, and Esquire’s ultra-mod gift guide from 1961.  Check out our gift recommendations below:  Dana Stevens’ Cozy Movie Night-In:  The Salbree Collapsible Silicone Microwave Popcorn Popper & Amish Country Popcorn L'agraty Chunky Knit Blanket Throw The Adventures of Antoine Doinel, The Criterion Collection Box Set Chris Molanphy’s Hit Parade Collection:  The Beatles’ Revolver CD Box Set Mad Men Blu-Ray Box Set  Can't Slow Down: How 1984 Became Pop's Blockbuster Year, by Michaelangelo Matos Willa Paskin’s Fruit-Themed Trompe-l'œil Housewares: Cantaloupe-shaped bowls in the style of Bordallo Pinheiro 4-Pack Orange-Shaped Candle Stocking Stuffer Cherry-Shaped Toilet Brush The Slate Culture Gift Guide is produced for Slate Studios by Benjamin Frisch and Micah Phillips, with Meryl Bezrutczyk and Andrew Harding. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    48 min

  8. 11/01/2025 • SLATE PLUS ONLY

    The Bridge: Every Little Thing They Did Was Magic

    In this Slate Plus exclusive, host Chris Molanphy sits down with author and music journalist Geoff Edgers to discuss his upcoming book on the Police—their meteoric rise and inevitable implosion. Drawing on lengthy interviews with each member and his own lifelong fandom, Edgers reveals how the power trio’s chemistry fueled both their chart-topping hits and their internal clashes. And while a recent lawsuit among the band members may have raised provocative questions about authorship, Edgers argues there’s no denying the brilliance of Sting’s singular and often misunderstood creative vision. Also: Chris tests a Slate Plus listener’s music knowledge, gives him a chance to turn the tables with a question of his own, and offers a sneak peek at the next episode of Hit Parade. Slate Plus members can sign up for a chance to be our trivia contestant on a future episode here. Podcast production by Kevin Bendis.

    37 min
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About

What makes a song a smash? Talent? Luck? Timing? All that—and more. Chris Molanphy, pop-chart analyst and author of Slate’s “Why Is This Song No. 1?” series, tells tales from a half-century of chart history. Through storytelling, trivia and song snippets, Chris dissects how that song you love—or hate—dominated the airwaves, made its way to the top of the charts and shaped your memories forever.Get more Hit Parade with Slate Plus! Join for monthly early-access episodes, bonus episodes of "The Bridge," and ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe directly from the Hit Parade show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/hitparadeplus to get access wherever you listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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