Popcast: A music podcast with unexpected scholarly angles. A review and highlighted episode selection

Abstract

Popcast is a freely-available weekly podcast produced by the New York Times , hosted primarily by music critic Jon Caramanica. Episodes from August 2015 to present are available to stream on the Times website, and through Apple and Google. Episodes dating back to August 2014 are available exclusively through Spotify Premium. Hip-hop music is a prominent subject, but a variety of genres are covered, along with industry, cultural, and technological trends. Guest with pop culture expertise often appear (e.g. Jia Tolentino, Jenna Wortham, Wesley Morris); they regularly bring race and gender perspectives alternative to the host's white, cisgender male.The program is an outstanding site of scholarship on pop music in the online-era.Librarians broadly concerned with pop culture may additionally find the show to be broadly applicable to issues in scholarly communications. Copyright, metrics, and preservation are all covered, if only in the context of Charlie Puth and Ariana Grande. Personally speaking, listening to Popcast , since 2016, has been surprisingly informative in developing my professional understanding of the research publishing industry. The utility of this connection inspired me to write a full article. 1 Boston 2