Switched on Pop

It’s a brand new year, and what better way to ring it in than with the second annual Switched On Pop bingo? Like last year, Charlie, Nate, and Reanna polish their crystal balls and play Popstradamus, each throwing out eight outlandish pop predictions for the coming months. This time, there’s piano ballads, cover songs, and what Charlie calls the impending “death of auto-tune.”  Get your own bingo card to play along through our ⁠Newsletter⁠! Find us on YouTube! Songs discussed: The Prodigy – Firestarter The Chemical Brothers – Block Rockin’ Beats Basement Jaxx – Jump ’N Shout Fatboy Slim – The Rockafeller Skank Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars – Die With A Smile Benson Boone – Beautiful Things Post Malone, Ozzy Osbourne, Travis Scott – Take What You Want LCD Soundsystem – Losing My Edge Anamanaguchi, Hatsune Miku – Miku Crazy Frog – Axel F Hampton The Hamster – Hampsters Get the Blues K/DA – POP/STARS Madison Beer – make you mine Forrest Frank – YOUR WAY’S BETTER Tate McRae – Sports car Tata Taktumi, Timbaland – Pulse x Glitch PARTYNEXTDOOR, Drake, Yebba – DIE TRYING The Mighty Mighty Bosstones – The Impression That I Get Maddox Batson – Tears In The River JAY-Z – D.O.A. (Death Of Autotune) Adele – Someone Like You Bruno Mars – When I Was Your Man Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved Rihanna, Mikky Ekko – Stay Baauer – Harlem Shake Billie Eilish – bury a friend This Is Lorelei, MJ Lenderman – Dancing in the Club – MJ Lenderman Version WITCH – Once In A Lifetime MOLIY, Shenseea, Silent Addy, Skillibeng – Shake It To The Max (FLY) – Remix Geese – Bow Down Turnstile – LOOK OUT FOR ME Rebecca Black – Sugar Water Cyanide Bad Bunny – DtMF Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A scientist asked people to sit in a silent room for 15 minutes. Almost half of them decided to give themselves a painful electric shock instead. What is it about our brains that makes our relationship with silence so strange? And should we learn how to listen to it? This is the third episode of the four-part Unexplainable series, The Sound Barrier. Links: ⁠Newsletter⁠, ⁠YouTube Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Every Christmas season, pop stars far and wide throw their Santa hats into the ring to see who has the next "All I Want for Christmas Is You," and this year is no exception. It's a yearly tradition on Switched On Pop to explore the deluge of holiday hits, and 2025 sees formidable entries to the canon from folks like Kylie Minogue, Leon Bridges, and Willie Nelson. Links: ⁠Newsletter⁠, ⁠YouTube Songs discussed: Ariana Grande – Santa Tell Me Kelly Clarkson – Underneath the Tree Cher – Christmas Is Here Cher – Believe Kylie Minogue – Hot in December Zach Top – For You For Christmas Willie Nelson – Christmas Love Song Mickey Guyton – Sugar Cookie Meghan Trainor – Gifts For Me The Ronettes – Sleigh Ride Gwen Stefani – Hot Cocoa Train – Let's Stay in Tonight Brenda Lee – Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree Leon Bridges, Norah Jones – This Christmas I'm Coming Home Elysia Biro – The Christmas Song Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From big-ticket albums by Taylor and Gaga, to a revival of the stomp-clap revival – 2025 had it all, for better and for worse. Now that the year has come to a close, it's time to take a look back at the past twelve months: what happened in the zeitgeist, what we loved listening to, and what we missed here on the show. Reanna, Charlie, and Nate talk about it all, including a look back at our predictions from January to check off boxes for Switched On Pop bingo. Links: Newsletter, YouTube Songs discussed: Taylor Swift – The Fate of Ophelia Alex Warren – Ordinary HUNTR/X – Golden Morgan Wallen – I'm The Problem Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga – Die With A Smile Bruno Mars – 24K Magic ROSÉ, Bruno Mars – APT. Olivia Dean – Man I Need Ravyn Lenae – Love Me Not Justin Bieber, Dijon – DEVOTION Bon Iver, Dijon, Flock of Dimes – Day One Dijon – Baby! Dijon – Yamaha CA7RIEL – SHIPEA2 Paco Amoroso – Viuda Negra CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso – EL ÚNICO - Live at NPR MUSIC's Tiny Desk CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso – EL DÍA DEL AMIGO CA7RIEL & Paco Amoroso – #TETAS Breaking Rust – Walk My Walk Jack Black – Steve's Lava Chicken Saja Boys – Soda Pop Snocaps – Coast Miley Cyrus – Something Beautiful Bad Bunny – DtMF MOLIY, Shenseea, Silent Addy, Skillibeng – Shake It To The Max (FLY) - Remix Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Grammy-winning songwriter Amy Allen joins NYU Steinhardt students live to trace her path from early pitch songs to co-writing some of the decade's defining hits. She explains why Halsey's "Without Me" needed an extended chorus but no pre-made chord loops, how Harry Styles' "Matilda" required character-driven writing for emotional safety, and what made the hypnotic groove of Tate McRae's "Greedy" demand a rare third verse. Allen also unpacks the spoken hook in Rosé and Bruno Mars' "APT" and the three-step key change powering Sabrina Carpenter's recent work. The result is a masterclass in why songs work—and why the rules worth breaking are the ones you've already learned. SONGS DISCUSSED Halsey "Without Me" Harry Styles "Adore You" Harry Styles "Matilda" Tate McRae "greedy" Rosé and Bruno Mars "ATA" Sabrina Carpenter "Please, please, please" Selena Gomez "Back to You" Justin Timberlake "Cry Me A River" (Interpolated in "Without Me") Olivia Rodrigo "Driver's License" Sabrina Carpenter "Espresso" Sabrina Carpenter Short and Sweet (Album) Sabrina Carpenter Man's Best Friend (Album) Beyoncé "Love on Top" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices