Into It

So much pop culture. So many movies, TV shows, music, and memes. In Vulture’s flagship podcast Into It, host Sam Sanders will help you obsess … better. Every week, we’ll break down the pop culture we can’t stop thinking about, with friends from Vulture and the occasional celebrity. From the tiny, dumb scene on loop in our brains to the big, deep questions we have about what it all means … we’ll get into all of it — amazing, terrible, or just insanely memorable. New episodes drop every Tuesday and Friday.
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into it

Britney Was Always Trying to Tell Us Who She Was

The Woman in Me is out today, but her music already serves as a record of her story.

More From Into It

  1. Let’s Give Mommy Bloggers Their DueIn her new book, Extremely Online, Taylor Lorenz highlights the ways that women and marginalized content creators shaped the social web.
  2. Hip-Hop at 50 Still Has a Long Way to GoThe genre faces a midlife crisis as it reckons with the homophobia and misogyny that have been present since its inception.
  3. Billboard’s ‘Hot 100’ Doesn’t Make SenseThere’s seemingly no discernible trend happening at the top of the Billboard chart. Is it actually measuring the most popular music right now?
  4. Love Is Like Solitary Confinement“They slowly take away your identity,” says Love Is Blind contestant Nick Thompson, who’s demanding worker protections across the reality-TV industry.
  5. Brandon Taylor Wants to Bring Gatekeeping Back to Book CriticismThe internet didn’t invent argument-driven criticism, but it did breed a culture of forming an opinion on a piece of media before consuming it.
  6. Chance the Rapper Will Always Be Proud of Acid RapTen years after his breakthrough mixtape, the Chicago native reflects on the days of being broke, “just trying to make this dream work.”
  7. The Mystifying, Enduring Success of Big BrotherOne of TV’s longest-running reality shows is weird, problematic, and often boring. And people love it.
  8. Hollywood’s AI Future Is NowAnyone who’s seen a de-aged Tom Cruise or a resurrected Paul Walker on screen has seen that AI has already arrived in Hollywood.
  9. How #FreeBritney Split Into TwoRebecca Jennings joins Into It to discuss her reporting on the latest evolution of the Free Britney movement.
  10. Bravo’s Real Housewives Is Basically SNL“People come and go, but the franchise is stronger than any of the players,” says resident Housewife scholar Brian Moylan.
  11. Barbiecore Is Nothing NewForemothers Elle Woods, Paris Hilton, and Nicki Minaj walked so Barbie could run.
  12. Why Are Intimacy Coordinators Still the Butt of the Joke?It’s 2023 and Hollywood is still confused about what they do and how to use them.
  13. Beyoncé or BustSoaring ticket prices expose serious cracks in the touring industry as fans face impossible choices to see their favorite artists this summer.
  14. The Movies That Caused Our Queer AwakeningLena Waithe, Alex Newell, and Guy Branum share the films that have had a lasting impact on their identities.
  15. Netflix Envy Broke TelevisionIt’s a bad moment for TV. Blame the streaming platforms, the shareholders, but also, yourself.
  16. VFX Artists Are Tired of Fixing It in PostAmid the writers strike, another unionization effort is brewing.
  17. Christy Carlson Romano Is Not Afraid to Monetize the Trauma of Childhood Stardom“I call it ‘making the kids eat their vegetables,’” she explains. “They come for the tea, but then they get something more.”
  18. Does The Little Mermaid Pass the Black Princess Test?Determining whether Halle Bailey’s Ariel is a Black princess—or simply a princess that happens to be Black.
  19. Comedian Samantha Irby Doesn’t Want the Che Diaz Treatment“Let me just work on other people’s shows so that no one ever does this to the TV version of me.”
  20. The End of Search As You Know ItAI is about to turn content discovery on its head.
  21. The Mrs. Davis Writers’ Room Was Built With New Voices and New Values“There’s a finite amount of microphones in this job,” says co-creator Damon Lindelof. “You have to put down the mic and let someone else pick it up.”
  22. Polite Society Depicts Sister Fights As They Are: ‘Brutal, Violent, and Hideous’Nina Manzoor’s movie tucks family drama into an action comedy with influences ranging from Rush Hour to All About Eve.
  23. Roy Wood Jr. Will Pull No Punches at the White House Correspondents’ DinnerClarence Thomas, you’ve been warned.
  24. It’s Time to Change Your Relationship With Spoilers“Think about the word spoil itself. Are you actually now ingesting something that will harm you?”
  25. ‘Drag Is a Space for Disruptors’Sasha Velour explains the the liberating and subverting power of drag in a moment when it’s more mainstream (and more at risk) than ever.
  26. Succession Succeeds Beyond Our Hatred of the One PercentThe show accepts the fundamental truth about most of us: that we stay as awful as we’ve always been.
  27. Should a Unicorn-Poop Song Parody Be Considered Fair Use of ‘My Humps’?A seemingly silly copyright lawsuit could change our understanding of artistic license.
  28. ‘We Can Be Serial Killers Too’Swarm co-creator Janine Nabers cuts through the buzz to explain the series’ elusive protagonist and bittersweet ending.
  29. We Love Mess?The constant dissection of Scandoval and the drama around Selena and Hailey has us caring so much about so little.
  30. Would It Kill You to See The Fabelmans?It’s not that the Oscars stopped nominating films you’ve seen, it’s that audiences’ tastes have changed.
  31. Thank Leprechaun and Puppet Master for Cocaine Bear“I’ve always loved gore and violence on film,” says screenwriter Jimmy Warden. “And taking those things and blending them with comedy.”
  32. The Good Place Helped Us GrieveThat final episode had nothing to do with morality. “It’s really about love and attention and caring.”
  33. Imagine The Last of Us on Network TVIt wouldn’t have the same budget, but it might be more interesting.
  34. Rihanna Should Take Notes From These Super Bowl Halftime Performers“We’ve seen Lady Gaga jump off the roof, we saw Katy Perry come in on a giant lion, and you will never top Diana Ross leaving in a helicopter.”
  35. Lil Rel Howery Supports the Academy’s Andrea Riseborough InvestigationBut she’s not the person he’d drop from the Best Actress race.
  36. When Your Show Is Relegated to Cruising AltitudeGordita Chronicles was pulled from HBO Max, making the series largely inaccessible — and leaving its creator concerned for the future of Latino TV.
  37. James Wan Just Wants to Scare HimselfThe horror maestro expounds on the genre’s surging popularity and why movies such as M3gan resonate so deeply with audiences.
  38. Spare’s Oversharing Serves a PurposeHarry picks apart his own life to preempt the tabloids.
  39. Is Hollywood Starting 2023 in a Recession?The short answer is yes. Expect more layoffs, cost cutting and cancellations.
  40. 2022 Was a Liminal SpaceBut the slap, pink sauce, and Bennifer 2.0 carried us through a transitional year.
  41. Matt Rogers Is a Seasonally Ubiquitous PrinceThe comedian is claiming a spot in the pop Christmas canon.
  42. Avatar: The Way of the Water Still Captivates, Even When It’s Silly“I think you’re gonna laugh when this whale first starts talking, but by the end … you’re gonna cry.”
  43. The Bear, Pachinko, and Reservation Dogs Took Risks in an IP-Driven TV LandscapeIn 2022, some of the best shows stood out by aiming for a sentimental sweet spot.
  44. ‘Auntie Will Never Retire’Sheryl Lee Ralph has big plans for her post-Emmys career, so long as the younger generations keep hiring her.
  45. The Lesson From Elon Musk’s Thud? Always Be Skeptical of Him.Twitter’s new owner cheekily introduced his short-lived satire project in 2018 as an “intergalactic media empire.” Then he bailed.
  46. Celebrity Memoirs Are Good for Your Mental and Emotional Health“I learned more about dating, assault, breakups, power dynamics, getting a job and losing a job in these books than from any other source in my life.”
  47. Why Is It Hard to Say Wakanda Forever Isn’t Good?Sam Sanders tries to make peace with the fact that he found the Black Panther sequel disappointing.
  48. Abbott Elementary’s Sheryl Lee Ralph Wants to Host the EmmysThe Emmy-winning actress is ready to take over hosting duties.
  49. Atlanta Wasn’t for EveryoneStephen Glover on testing the boundaries of television as his (and his brother’s) show signs off.
  50. How Does Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Fit Into the MCU’s Get-Weird Phase 4?“With everything in flux, this is kind of the statement blockbuster of the year. It feels like a restore-the-order moment.”
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