Podcast: Pop Culture Favorites of 2024

Julian Spivey: All right, welcome back to The Word on Pop Culture podcast. I'm Julian Spivey, the creator and editor of The Word on Pop Culture. You can find us online at thewordonpopculture.com.
Just a little reminder to like and subscribe to the show wherever you're listening from. So tonight, I'm joined by frequent contributors to The Word on Pop Culture and The Word on Pop Culture podcast Aprille Hanson-Spivey and Tyler Glover. So welcome back to the show, guys.

​Aprille Hanson-Spivey: Thank you. Thank you.

Tyler Glover: Thank you. Happy to be here.

JS: And we're going to do what we do at the end of every year. We're going to discuss our favorite things in pop culture from 2024. What I've asked Aprille and Tyler to do, and I'm going to do myself, is I've asked us to all compile our favorite song, album, TV show, and movie of 2024.

We're just going to go around one at a time and basically tell each other and y'all what they are. So, let's get started with our favorite movie of 2024. Aprille, what's number one on your list?

AHS: Okay. So, number one on my list for this year is the sequel, well, Inside Out 2. So, it was the sequel to 2015's Inside Out, which was an amazing cartoon. You know, Disney Pixar, it was awesome.

Inside Out 2 featured more emotions as Riley, the main character, gets older and enters puberty. So there's that familiar cast of characters like Amy Poehler's joy and Phyllis Smith's sadness. But really the breakout emotion in this movie this time around was Maya Hawke, which is, I believe, Ethan Hawke's daughter, correct, Julian?

JS: Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman's daughter, yes.

AHS: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that was Maya Hawke's. And of course, she's, well, I know her best from Stranger Things.

But she played Anxiety. And for me, as someone who struggles with anxiety, it was really interesting to watch this character who is kind of a villain for a bit. I know, Julian, you kind of thought she was a villain.

If an emotion could be a villain. I mean, I know she definitely does some shady things when she shuts out the emotions to try and help Riley fit in. You know, hopefully, yeah.

So, at her core, anxiety is really just trying to help, but it makes Riley act unlike herself, which is hard for people who struggle with anxiety because they know in those moments, it's not truly who they are. So I think the movie did a great job showing that. You know, emotions are not good or bad overall, but altogether, they make up who we are.

And I think that's just a really positive message to send to kids, especially, you know, just as a culture, we just tend to be more anxious. And, you know, there are times where we're just talking about our emotions more and everything. So I just, I thought it was a great film.

JS: Yeah, Tyler, you want to say anything about Inside Out 2? I know it's probably one of your favorites of the year as well.

TG: Oh, yes, it was definitely high on my list as well. I just always get so nervous when it comes to sequels, to movies that I love especially. And Inside Out was definitely one that I loved so much.

And so I was very scared that they were going to mess it up. And it is, it was just so great to like leave that movie theater and be like, oh my gosh, like somehow they made something so, you know, about as close to good as the original. Like I actually had a hard time deciding because the quality level was pretty much the same.

Like I had a hard time determining which one I thought was the best, honestly. I still don't even know that I would know because it was like that good.

Yeah, absolutely. You're totally on point with that because that is a struggle, right? Especially for kids' movies too.

I feel like the sequel, it's, I mean, the big shoes to fill with this one. And I think they did great with it.

JS: All right, Tyler, what's your pick for the best movie of 2024?

TG: OK, so my favorite film of 2024 was the long-anticipated movie to the Broadway musical Wicked. I have looked forward to this movie for years. I know that there's been reports of it being worked on a long time, like with three different directors and different stars attached at certain points.

It's definitely taken some years to get here, but I'm always nervous when it's something I love as much as I love Wicked. Yeah, I got to see the Broadway musical when it was touring.

I saw one of the touring productions when I came here to Little Rock in, I believe 2012, and just fell absolutely in love with this story. You know, for those who don't know it, it tells the story of the events between the Wicked Witch of the West and Glenda before the events of Dorothy and even kind of goes in the second one. We'll kind of get to where Dorothy is involved too.

So we'll kind of see like the whole story that might not have, you know, you might not know. You know, basically things weren't as they seem, you know, just as they never are. But, you know, I was just worried that they, I was so worried, just like we were talking about with Inside Out 2, you were always kind of a little nervous inside because you don't want it to be messed up.

And like, I just, I remember leaving the movie theater and being like, oh my gosh, like, I wouldn't change a single thing. Like, I wouldn't change, you know, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande were pitch-perfect. And like, every casting choice to me was perfect.

Like, the set was perfect. Like, I mean, just, and I remember, like, you know, there was a lot of criticism a few months ago when they were, it was told that it was being split into two parts. And even I was like, oh, this is such a cast grab, like such an obvious cast grab.

And while that could be the overall goal of it, you know, it could be, I don't know. But I just know that I definitely see why, because this movie was two and a half hours and only went to the end of act one. And I wouldn't have taken a single scene out of it.

So I definitely think that it was, I mean, we'll kind of see, I think we'll be able to know more if it was the right decision after we see part two. But as far as right now, where I'm sitting at the end of the first one, I feel like it was the right decision, because I feel like we got some more background into some characters where, you know, in the Broadway musical, I feel like there were some things that weren't fleshed out as much, it was kind of inferred more. And here, it was kind of given out a little more.

So, I just loved everything about it. I'm very excited for Oscar Prospects for it.

JS: Yeah, as am I for my choice. And who knew a movie about Catholic cardinals choosing a new pope could be so deliciously fraught with political infighting, backstabbing, and mysterious intrigue. But that's precisely what you get from Edward Berger's Conclave, based on a novel by Robert Harris.

Screenwriter Peter Straughan's script is thrilling and taut, coming in at two hours, which is nice in a world where movies are ballooning in runtime, like Wicked. The performances of the entire cast...

AHS: Don't even! You haven't seen it yet. You cannot judge that.

JS: Can I get to the finish of my movie, please?
 
AHS: Yes!

JS: The performances of the entire cast are exquisite from known character actors like Ralph Fiennes, who will undoubtedly receive an Oscar nomination, Stanley Tucci and John Lithgow, to unknowns like Sergio Castellito, Lucien Msamati and Carlos Diehz. It also has a wild shock ending that I enjoyed quite a bit, but others might find off-putting. And honestly, if that's the case, those folks deserve that feeling.
I know you also saw Conclave this year, April, what did you think about it?

AHS: You know, it was so interesting to me. I really did enjoy it. I thought it moved along very well.

I mean, I'm a cradle Catholic, so it was definitely a process that I was interested in. I didn't love the ending, and not because of any controversy surrounding it, because I know that there are some people that hated the ending because of that, which is kind of insane. I just think that it wasn't very plausible.
But, you know, I still think it was a brilliant film, and I think that it did a great... I mean, the acting was just unmatched in that movie. It really was.

I mean, when you have that kind of cast, it just... it was great. But yeah, you liked it more than I did, for sure.

JS: Yeah, it'll definitely... I don't think it's going to be a front runner of the Oscars, but it's definitely going to be a film that gets a handful of nominations. Let's move on to our favorite television shows of 2024.

Tyler, you can take it away with this one first.

TG: OK. So, my favorite television show of this year is the Max show Hacks. I feel like this is kind of a theme going in our podcast today, is I love the consistency of this show.

Season 1, season 2, and season 3 have all been just pitch-perfect. I was even looking, the Rotten Tomatoes scores were 100 percent for season 1, 100 percent for season 2, and 98 percent for season 3. Even Rotten Tomatoes agrees, they're pretty much right there as far as being perfect.

And I remember one of my favorite, you know, we were, you know, my favorite win at the Emmys this past September was the surprise win by Hacks for Outstanding Comedy Series. It was actually like probably one of my wishful thinking, I was thinking it was such a wishful thinking win because, you know, the bear went into the nominations with the most nominations for a comedy ever, and it even beat 30 Rock's record, and 30 Rock won that year that it had the record at the time. So, I just felt like the bear would easily win.

So, I was beyond excited, and I actually do like the bear too, but I do like Hacks more. So, I was really excited for that. I swear, as far as the Emmy love with Hacks, if they could just give Hannah Einbinder an Emmy, all my Emmy hopes for this show has been fulfilled.

So, if they can just do that next year, like as far as Hacks and the Emmys were good, you know. But I just think it's an incredible show and how they've been able to keep every season to tell a compelling story to keep us interested. And the twist in the end of season three was great.

I loved it.

JS: Yeah, I want to know who the idiot two percent of people on Rotten Tomatoes who didn't think Hacks was perfect.

TG: I know I was shocked. I thought it would be 100, 100, 100. But I was like, OK, well, there was, yeah, random people.

JS: Aprille, what do you have tops on your list for TV shows this year?

AHS: So, what's topped my list? I absolutely love this show. It is Shrinking.

So, Apple TV+ premiered Shrinking 2023. And I still think it's one of the best. And, you know, maybe I just haven't been hearing about it, but I think it's one of the most underrated shows out there right now.

And I don't know if it's just because I think that maybe it's critically acclaimed. I just don't know a whole lot of people that watch it, which is crazy to me, because it's phenomenal. It's, you know, the series follows Jimmy Jason Segel, who plays a therapist who goes above and beyond the, really the lines of patient therapist to help his patients cope with whatever they struggle with.

And really the backdrop to all of that is him dealing with his own grief, the loss of his wife, Tia, who was killed by a drunk driver. And so, in the second season, we see this amazing cast of characters, all kind of facing their own baggage in life. You know, the first season, I feel like really focused on Jimmy and just how all of these characters came into his world and how that all

And it was really focused on him. But in the second season, I really feel like they're, you know, all the characters are really coming into their own. So they're dealing with relationship issues, infidelity, illness, struggling with their own demons.

And it's truly the cast that makes this show worth watching. You've got Jason Segel. You've got Harrison Ford. The brilliant Harrison Ford is Paul, his boss. Jessica Williams as the wildly funny Gabby, who's also out there in the show. Luke Tennie as his patient Sean. Michael Urie as Jimmy's best friend Brian. And then you've got Lukita Maxwell as daughter Alice. And then Christa Miller and Ted McGinley as neighbors Liz and Derek.

And they're just also developed in their characters. I really feel like they're comedic timing while also leaning into the dark humor of it all makes them just masterful at this show. And I will say the big thing this year, especially, or in this season was Brett Goldstein, who is actually a co-creator and writer on this show, known mostly for his role as Roy Kent and Ted Lasso.

He plays Lewis, the drunk driver who killed Tia. He made an appearance in this season, and it was just wonderful. Kudos to the writers for giving them phenomenal storylines that make them grow.

My really only complaint, I wanted more from the Jimmy Gabby storyline, but I'm sure we'll come back to that at some point.

JS: I'm not so sure we will.

AHS: I really hope we do.

JS: I hope we do too.

AHS: Maybe it might be a down the line a bit. I mean, I feel like each of them are going to have their own relationships for a while. And then when they're both in a better place, I think they are going to come back to that at some point.

JS: I hope so, too. Honestly, truthfully, Hacks was my favorite show of 2024. But because I knew Tyler had chosen it I wanted to showcase a show that not many people saw when it originally aired on AMC earlier this year, and that's Monsieur Spade.

Monsieur Spade sees Dashiell Hammett's hero detective Sam Spade, 20 years following the events of The Maltese Falcon, in a small town in southern France where he's retired and living the good life until the return of an old adversary throws him back into the game. Having been a big fan of director John Huston's film noir classic The Maltese Falcon from 1941, I had a hard time believing that anyone could portray Sam Spade but Humphrey Bogart. But I will tell you that Clive Owen absolutely inhabits the character.

It's one of the TV's best performances of the entire year. Monsieur Spade, it's a slow burn, and I realize it won't be for everyone, especially as it's a collaboration between AMC and France’s Canal+. And it's told at least partially in French with subtitles.

But I think if you stick with it, you'll be entertained. And now it is actually streaming on Netflix, so more people will hopefully have a chance to check it out. So that is Monsieur Spade, originally on AMC and France’s Canal+, can now be streamed on Netflix.
 
So let's go on to some of our music categories, and we'll start with Album of the Year. So Tyler, what was your favorite album of 2024?

TG: So, for me, there were so many good ones this year. For me, like pop, women just dominated this year for me. I thought they had so many great albums this year.

And honestly, it really is hard to pick. The one that I'm picking is really by my favorite artist of all time. And also, it was one that grew on me because I remember when I first, I had went to a listening party when The Tortured Poets Department, by Taylor Swift, was announced.

And I remember sitting at the listening party and I remember just being like, oh, like there were some of them I loved from the get go. But I was very kind of not sure of this album at all when it first came out. And then more tracks were released at, you know, at 2 a.m. that night.

I'm bringing the total of 31 tracks and I became even more skeptical of those. But the thing of it is, is that this album really, really grows on you the more you listen to it and the more you think about the lyrics. And I will tell you, you know, I've learned listening to Taylor over the years. 

It's like sometimes she goes through things that I go through later on. And then those lyrics hit in a way that they didn't, you know, before. And I think that that's what happened with this album too.

I feel like I went through some of these things after the album came out. And which kind of shocked me how much, but how much I related to it. But I just absolutely, I absolutely love this album.

It was my most listened to album, all five of my, on my Spotify wrapped. My top five songs were all from this album. The only show the top five was probably the top thirty one.

But yeah, it just had a blockbuster year this year. It ended up having the second best selling week in history. With 2.6 million units consumed in the first week.

She's only beaten by Adele's 25 album, which was a little over 3 million units in 2015. She's just swift. What's crazy to me is that I feel like 2023, everybody was like, that's the year of Taylor.

Somehow she managed to make 2024 pretty much about her too. With the heirs who were officially grossing over 2 billion. The book that she had came out sold 814,000 copy units in two days.

One of them was for me, of course. And so, just, oh my goodness, it was just such a good album. And I, if you're a tortured poet, you should listen to it.

AHS: Absolutely. You know, Tyler, I, it's totally spot on with the album has to grow on you a bit. Like it's, at first I was just, and I think it's just cause it's very lyric heavy.

Like it's not that she, her other albums aren't, but it just, yeah, it took a minute for me, but man, it's a phenomenal album. And she really shows her writing prowess. Not that she hasn't with her other albums, but it's just, I don't know, this one just is different to me.

TG: Yeah, I agree, I agree.

JS: Well, I'm gonna admit something right here right now. I've become a horrible music listener when it comes to new music. While artists are still putting forth fantastic albums, it's never been easier for me as a music fan to ignore them.

And ever since I started subscribing to Spotify, I've stopped buying physical copies of music. I have become an increasingly worse album listener. So really, it comes down to artists in which I've been listening to the most often.

And this year has been Cody Jinks, Charley Crockett, and Zach Top, all of whom put out fantastic albums. Jinks’ changed the game, Crockett's $10 Cowboy and Top's Cold Beer and Country Music. So I'm gonna go with Zach Top's Cold Beer and Country Music, it harkens back to the country music that I first fell in love with, 90s country, with its more traditional country themes and sounds and terrific songs, like I Never Lie, Things to Do, Use Me, Lonely for Long, and many more.

It's only Zach Top's sophomore album. So, I think we're gonna see a lot of great stuff from him in the future as well. So Zach Top's Cold Beer and Country Music is my album of 2024.
Aprille, what do you have?”

AHS: You know, I've been back and forth on this because I, so Miranda Lambert released Postcards from Texas. Her and she is my all-time favorite artist. So I, but I'm not gonna be able to pick her album this year, which actually makes me really sad because I love Miranda.

I loved that album. It was wonderful. And it's probably one that I'm gonna go back to for, you know, many, many years, like down the road.

But for whatever reason, Cowboy Carter really hit me in a special way this year. And the strangest thing about that, and this is why I'm choosing this as my album for the year, it's her eighth studio album by Beyoncé. It was released in March.

And truthfully, well, it's the second planned in a trilogy of albums. It was followed by Renaissance. And I have never been a huge Beyoncé fan.

Like, I've liked her music, like it's nothing against her. I've just never really gotten into her discography in the past. Like, you know, there's been a song or two I've liked, but I've never consistently listened to an album.

But there was so much in this. Obviously, I'm a big country music fan, so I was very excited about this album. I wanted to see what she would do.

Do I think, you know, we've done a podcast on this in terms of like, do we think it's country and this whole conversation around genres? And she, you know, pokes fun at that whole concept in this album. I just thought it was so unique.

You know, it's not pure country, but she's got country influences. She has, you know, it's a little pop, a little country, a little R&B, western, Americana roots. It's just a little bit of everything.

And, you know, she's got 27 songs on there. It's an hour and 18 minutes, I believe. And obviously, some of the songs are just kind of more short intros.

But it's still just impressive. What she was able to do with this album and make it appeal to so many different types of people. I just, I don't know.

I loved it.

JS: Yes. And that episode that you referenced that we did on Beyonce's Cowboy Carter was in April of this year, if people want to go back and check that out. So that brings us to our favorite song of the year.

And this may be something that, there's a lot of songs that are in the running for me. So, this may be something that if you ask me a week from now, I might have a different answer. But I had the pleasure of seeing Joe Stamm Band perform Flower of the Everglades at the Peacemaker Festival in Fort Smith, Arkansas, back in October.

And I can say for certain, that's one of the few times a live performance of a song has ever made me teary-eyed. It was already one of my favorites of the year from his Allegheny EP. But hearing the tale of a woman refusing to give up her home in the eye of a powerful storm and the reasons why one would do such a thing was a memorable moment for me.

Stamm, along with Charles Wesley Godwin, who both co-wrote the song and collaborates on it vocally, have crafted such a beautiful tragedy of a woman who grew up an orphan, married a rich man, found the home she always dreamed she'd one day have, and going down with it in a blaze of glory. Flower of the Everglades, the first time I heard it, sounded like an instant country classic, and I'm sure it'll always remain that way for me. Aprille, what was your favorite song of 2024?

AHS: Oh, gosh. So, you know, there was a lot of good music released in 2024. You know, I'm pretty sure I know what Tyler's song is gonna be, so I'm not gonna pick that one.

It's a Taylor song, so I'll let him jump into that one, but I'm pretty sure that was one I would definitely make one of my top songs. You know, a lot of people, American Aquarium is one of my favorite bands.

JS: Aprille, go ahead and take it, because I know Tyler doesn't actually have a Taylor Swift song.

AHS: Oh, really? Okay. Well, I'm gonna act.

Okay, fantastic. I'm gonna take, I Can Do It With A Broken Heart. That actually was the most, I believe that was one of my top songs.

I was actually gonna pick Texas Hold'em. So that's, it's hard, right? Texas Hold'em was such a fun song for me this year.

It was actually my top listen to song. But man, I really wanted to include some Taylor this year, just because The Tortured Poets Department was amazing. I Can Do It With A Broken Heart really let fans into her world when she's completely broken down and putting on this amazing, just groundbreaking concert tour and just being devastated from a relationship.

I mean, that is just giving fans that insight. It really is so relatable because how, and that's the crazy thing about Taylor Swift because it's like, how can someone like me relate to this amazing pop star who's living this life and just has all this crazy opportunity. But man, I would sing the I Can Do It With a Broken Heart so hard because it's just, and I related to it my own way of different things that I was struggling with.

So I think that that's really what makes that song brilliant. Just because it can relate to so many different people situations. So I hope I didn't take your song, Tyler.

TG: No, I will say that one was definitely like when I just wrote an article just a few weeks ago for my four favorite songs that was in my top. Definitely top four of the year. That song, I tell you, when I say that it was my third most listened to song on Spotify wrapped.

Surprised it wasn't number one, honestly. But that song, I can't tell you how many times this year where I listened to it going to work, knowing that I was going to have to smile. And for people that don't know, I work at Chick-fil-A and we're known for being very overly friendly.

And there were a lot of days I did not feel like being overly friendly because of a lot of things going on. And I listened to that song in my car so many times to hype myself up, to tell myself I could hit my marks, like I can grin like I'm winning even though I was completely falling apart. And it definitely is the top, definitely in my top four.

So that was a great choice.

AHS: Sorry, I was just going to say real quick, I love how it's such a depressing song, but it's so upbeat, which is, again, it's kind of you have to tread that line, right? Of being okay in public, especially if you're working or whatnot, and just kind of, but understanding that the backdrop is, you may be really going through something. And so I just love that how she played with both the lyrics and just the sound of the song is just so cool.

TG: Oh, yeah. Top tier.

JS: What was your number one?

TG: Okay, so I know that it could be kind of hard to, you know, with me telling that story, it could be kind of hard to understand why I wouldn't choose as my number one. But, you know, but the one that I was the most excited about this year song wise, it's called Good Luck Babe by Chappell Roan. And love this song so much.

I actually didn't know who Chappell Roan was. I, until, there's a lot of fans of Taylor Swift at my workplace. And, you know, when they kind of moved on from The Torture Poets and then I never did.

You know, they were telling me about this artist that I had to listen to. They were like, oh, you like Taylor, like you should like Chappell Roan. And it took me about three months before I finally actually listened to, you know, her.

But I finally did. And when I stumbled across Good Luck Babe, I was like, oh, my goodness, this song is so great. And the reason, you know, because this song, she's talking, basically singing to this woman that she is in love with.

And she's saying, you know, like, you could kiss a hundred boys and bars, but you're never going to stop this feeling you're having for me because it's genuine, it's real. Like you can't take, you can't change what you're feeling. And I think that that's kind of why I chose this one too, because I had this year, I had a lot of people trying to tell me how to feel and when to feel it.

And, you know, I felt kind of constricted to try to believe things that I didn't want to believe. And, you know, feel a certain way. And like, and when she said the lyric in the song that gets me is, you know, you have to stop the world just to stop the feeling.

It's like, you know, just to be aware, like, hey, you know, you're telling people to stop trying to feel things that they're feeling. But, you know, like, you have to stop the world to stop this feeling. And, you know, like, and I just loved that message of that song so much because, you know, it's, you know, it's like trying to turn off feelings.

You know, I'm sure people wish it was a light switch that you could just turn on and off, you know? And it's like, but that is not the way the world works. And in some cases, unfortunately.

But it's, you know, it's just such a fantastic song and it's nominated for record in Song of the Year. And I really, you know, I know Taylor's nominated for Fortnite for Song of the Year. And that's a Grammy that I've really wanted her to win for years.

But I definitely would. I don't even think that she would deserve it for Fortnite over Good Luck, over Good Luck, Babe, honestly.

JS: All right, so that does it for our favorites in Pop Culture for 2024. I want to thank Tyler and Aprille for joining me once again and on all the shows that y'all have joined us on for this year. And I can't wait to have you back for more in 2025.