Adult Education

Is pop culture dying? Is the monoculture dead? What do I mean by 'monoculture?' It's the shared experiences that all (or many) of us have. It's the series finale of a tv show that everyone watches and talks about the next morning in the office. It's the hit song that you can't escape because it's everywhere. That's the monoculture. The pop culture moments that, love them or hate them, bring us together. But as we continue to be siloed off into our social media algorithm's, it seems like the monoculture is dead. Joining me today to discuss this is journalist and author Leslie Gray Streeter. She's a columnist for the Baltimore Banner and has recently published her latest novel titled "Beignets and Big Feelings."

We are taking a step back in time to the magical land of Los Angeles in 2006. In the latest publication of ECW Press' Pop Classics series, Lisa Whittington-Hill takes on The Hills and it's cultural impact. We have a great conversation about early 00's pop culture, that time I was in the same room as Lauren Conrad but didn't get a picture, and my hot take about Scandoval.

To all of the Ska music fans that are checking out this podcast, I mean you no harm. I have a love and appreciation for ska. But you have to admit there are a lot of mixed feelings out there for punk rock with horns. I'm so excited to speak with Matt Sullivan from the band Title Holder. I've recently gotten back into ska music thanks to bands like his.Matt and I talked about how he started Title Holder, his musical background and the world of ska. I hope you enjoy our conversation.

When reality tv took over the world in the early 00's many people thought it was just going to be a fad. There was no way these shows could last, right? More than two decades later and reality programming is alive and well. Journalist and author Calum Marsh has a new book titled, "True Lies: The Art Of Reality Television." He pulls back the curtain on the genre by talking to the camera operators, producers, cast members and more to give us a comprehensive look at everything that goes into making a show seem real while also being entertaining.

For a long time it was said that punk rock was a young man's game. Being in a punk band was something you did in high school or your early to mid 20's. But at some point you have to grow up and become an adult. It's a tale as old as time. So, what happens to all of those punks when they get older? Turns out a lot of them are picking back up their guitars. Shane Maziekien is the drummer for the New Jersey band Turn Two. He joins me on the show today to talk about his history in music, how the band Turn Two came together, and what it's like to have a second shot at music.Check out Turn Two on socials @turntwoband and take a listen to their new EP "Never Meant To Fit."

Over the last few months I've fallen back in love with music. I turned my TikTok account into a music discussion. Check it out @stpierreonair.Through this experiment I've been able to discover a lot of new, and developing, artists, and I've made some great connections. I'm going to have a lot of these artists on the podcast.The first one is Mitch Rip. He dropped a song late in 2025 called 'Hot Boyfriend.' This song is such a jam. It pleases me to bring you a conversation with Mitch.

I love a good conspiracy theory and the discourse that can surround it. But, doesn't it feel like conspiracy theories are becoming much more rampant? The stories are starting to get larger and wilder. I saw a neighbor on the nextdoor app blame potholes in our neighborhood on an evil cabal of blood drinking democrats. Feels like a stretch to me.Lee Kuhnle and Nathan Radke have been hosting the Uncover Up podcast for the last decade. They've finally taken their knowledge to the book world with 'Uncover Up: How To Think Clearly In An Age Of Conspiracies.' We got to discuss a lot about how things have changed, how people can get wrapped up in a conspiracy theory and how the wilder they get the more detrimental they are to our democracy. I hope you enjoy our conversation. The book is released July 28th via ECW Press.

Most of the time when I ask artists about albums that inspired them they will reference an artist or album that came out when they were younger. Or, maybe one that came out when they were learning how to play music. They tend to be choices that had a major impact on their growth with music. In today's episode, country artist Sheyna Gee and I will talk about Tyler Childers' 2017 release "Purgatory."

It's been a long hiatus but my series called The Unskippables is back. I speak with a musician about an album they think is perfect from start to finish. An album with no skips. This week I caught up with my old friend Payton Smith. I say "old" because I met him 7 years ago, but he's still 26. I've been following his career since he was a teenager. Payton is such an impressive songwriter and guitar player.In this episode we discuss Eric Church's album "The Outsiders." Despite being one of his least commercially accessible albums, "The Outsiders" has been a standout to the Church Choir and all of his fans. Payton and I discuss how he found himself in Nashville at such a young age, how the pandemic derailed all of his momentum and how Eric Church has always been an inspiration to him.

I'm excited to welcome country singer Taylor Austin Dye to the show. If you're not familiar with her work, I hope you'll check it out (after you're done listening to the podcast). I know you'll be very happy with what you hear. Taylor is poised to make some big waves in the country world over the next year as she's out there with her first radio single, "Man For That." In this episode we discuss where she found her love of music, what it was like to go from a town of just over 100 people to Nashville, and how playing on Broadway helped her hone her craft.