Pop Culture Junkie®

Pop Culture Junkie®

Pop Culture Junkie® has your weekly entertainment fix! The Pop Culture Junkies review and preview the best of what's happening now and what's coming up in movies, music, TV and more. Tune in every week to hear the best in what you love most: pop culture.

Episodes

Superheroes and Sequels: A Summer Movie Preview

June 12, 2025 • 40 mins
Shauna shares her upcoming cosplay plans, while Olivia shares her musical revenge against a petty neighbor, and they both wonder if the podcast is becoming a little too murder-y (or is it just murder-y enough?) Then it's time to preview the films that will be keeping them both indoors during the heat (or fog) this summer. Olivia's looking forward to the film that may just revive the romcom, while Shauna has her eyes on some high-pr...
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PCJ Pop #4

June 3, 2025 • 6 mins
In PCJ Pops, the Pop Culture Junkies share their recommendations on what to experience in pop culture, today and yesterday. This week, Olivia wants you to watch Overcompensating on Prime starring TikTok-er Benito Skinner so she gets a second season, and Shauna has only good things to say about the books Bonfire and Retreat, by Krysten Ritter (yes, THAT Krysten Ritter.)
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Return of the Athletic Zombies: 28 Years Later

May 29, 2025 • 42 mins
The Junkies compare vacations: Shauna stayed in a hostel and didn’t get murdered (yay!) and Olivia enjoyed the Big Little Lies vibes at an oyster farm north of San Francisco. Then it’s time to talk zombies: specifically the scary-fast ones featured in the 28 Days Later movie series. They both can’t wait for the premiere of the third movie, 28 Years Later, and go back to relive the events leading up to it. (Warning, spoilers for 23-...
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PCJ Pop #3

May 20, 2025 • 4 mins
This week, the Pop Culture Junkies share their recommendations on what to experience in pop culture, today and yesterday. Shauna recs Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith and Olivia pushes everyone to see Speak No Evil with James McAvoy.
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The Problem(s) with Katy Perry

May 15, 2025 • 34 mins
This week, Shauna and Olivia are finally face to face and back in the studio after Olivia temporarily cures her Seasonal Affect Disorder with a trip to the sunny desert from gloomy San Francisco. After a brief celebration, the Junkies turn to one of today's most serious problems: Katy Perry. Once a teenage dream, now a middle-aged nightmare, Katy only seems to make headlines for ill-advised and tone-deaf actions. Shauna and Olivia ...
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PCJ Pop #2

May 6, 2025 • 7 mins
In PCJ Pops, the Pop Culture Junkies share their recommendations on what to experience in pop culture, today and yesterday. This week, Shauna breaks down the Cobra Kai finale and Olivia describes everyone’s shock at The Last of Us, season 2, episode 2.
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PCJ Book Club: 'Sunrise on the Reaping' by Suzanne Collins

May 1, 2025 • 54 mins
Olivia and Shauna take a deep dive into Suzanne Collins' new book Sunrise on the Reaping. Set before the events of her Hunger Games trilogy, Sunrise on the Reaping is the story of young Haymitch Abernathy. The Junkies look at the book's origins, the philosophers who inspired the author, and how its themes of resistance, individual agency, controlling the narrative, and the use of propaganda inform the author's message. There will b...
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PCJ Pop #1

April 22, 2025 • 8 mins
In PCJ Pops, the Pop Culture Junkies share their recommendations on what to experience in pop culture, today and yesterday. In this episode, Olivia continues her 2024 binge read with Spiral by Bal Khabra (among others!) and anime fan Shauna finally watches the 1988 film Akira.

Watch the full video version up to one week early on Patreon: patreon.com/PopCultureJunkiePodcast 
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Cats, Canines, Killer Whales and Other Pop Culture Creatures

April 17, 2025 • 44 mins
This week, the Junkies talk about the best pets in pop culture: the goodest boys, the bestest girls, the finest...fish? Whether furry, feathery or finned, animal characters in the media are often the most lovable and memorable. Shauna and Olivia discuss what makes a great on-screen critter. Cats, dogs or other? Animated or animatronic? Talking or mute? They list their favorites, including Garfield, who happens to both Junkies' spir...
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Living in the Simulation

April 3, 2025 • 54 mins
Olivia and Shauna get pixelated this week with a look at The Sims, the long running game that allows - even encourages - murder and other virtual, victimless vices. They delve into the game lore, highlighting the oddball characters that appear in every version of the game, and discuss the various ways they make the game their own. The Junkies also talk about the Sims movie being produced by Margot Robbie, and answer the important q...
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Looking at 'V' with Michael E. Cullen II

March 20, 2025 • 47 mins
Shauna and Olivia welcome special guest Michael E. Cullen, award-winning filmmaker and host of the All2ReelToopodcast. Michael has directed films like the horror comedy Pi Day Die Day (available on Tubi!), the Christmas horror film Shelved, and co-hosts the podcast All 2 Reel Too, a look at the "wild and wacky realm of pop culture". Michael joins the Junkies to talk about the 1983 NBC miniseries V, about a large-scale invasion of s...
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Celebrity Besties

March 6, 2025 • 41 mins
Pulling an Uno Reverse from their last episode about celebrity feuds, Olivia and Shauna take on celebrity best buds, looking at famous people who genuinely like each other a lot. To figure out what makes a great friendship, the Junkies examine their own iconic pop culture friendship, and determine it's down to being annoying in the same way. Are celeb BFFs like Gayle and Oprah, Snoop and Martha, Cameron and Drew, Brad and George, J...
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Got Beef?

February 20, 2025 • 58 mins
Celebrities are not like us: when they bicker amongst themselves, it's all over the news, and maybe even the Super Bowl half-time show. Shauna and Olivia break down why celebrities feud publicly - and why we like it so much. Olivia thinks maybe it's a way to satisfy our deep-seated need for interpersonal conflict in ways we mere mortals can't achieve in our petty office spats, while Shauna thinks we just really enjoy laughing at th...
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Mayhem and Unicorns: Looking Ahead at 2025

February 6, 2025 • 40 mins
Olivia and Shauna are working on their long-distance relationship, but they're always together in spirit, especially when it comes to talking about pop culture. 2025 is going to be a monumental year, for better or worse, and in order to have something to look forward to, The Junkies discuss the pop culture they most want to put in their veins this year. Olivia tries to convince Shauna to keep watching White Lotus, and Shauna makes ...
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A Wicked Holiday Romance

December 19, 2024 • 42 mins
Olivia and Shauna find themselves on the Naughty List (again) this holiday season, so this episode is all about those holiday romance movies - the kind where big-city girls visit their hometowns and fall for a hunky carpenter/baker/farmer (or whatever) and learn the true meaning of Christmas. These movies are often associated with the Hallmark Channel, but can be seen everywhere, really. Netflix in particular, is doing their best t...
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Road Trippin'

December 5, 2024 • 47 mins
This week, Olivia and Shauna give their book reports - how many books they've read this year above and beyond their goal, and not to brag, but we know two people who'll get coupons for a personal pan pizza this year. In other news, it's the holiday season, and for a lot of us, that means traveling, whether to get to or get away from family. And the perfect marriage of pop culture and traveling is the road trip movie. The Junkies ta...
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Our Favorite 'F' Word

November 21, 2024 • 46 mins
The Junkies gather together to mourn some hopes, but also to celebrate an important victory. And while the future looks uncertain, Shauna and Olivia vow that we'll all get through whatever comes next together, and pop culture is going to help us do just that. Speaking of girl power and pop culture (and we were!), this week the Junkies take a good look at the history of feminism and how it was represented by pop culture. The Junkies...
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Psychological Political Thriller

November 7, 2024 • 58 mins
Olivia recently spent some time in San Francisco, giving her time to think about her proximity to the Zodiac Killer's turf (and to binge watch both Princess Diaries movies.) Shauna continues to brush up against the cool and the famous in her quest to save Arizona from itself by getting out the vote. Speaking of propositions, the Junkies (and everyone) are nervous about the upcoming election, so what better way to cope than by...tal...
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The Descent Into Horror

October 24, 2024 • 57 mins
Olivia is back from the Big Apple, where she took a tour through Jimmy Fallon's "Tonightmares" - a haunted house based on the late night host's own personal night terrors. Shauna is continuing to fight the good fight politically here in AZ, and as a reward got to meet a certain 'Electra-fying' star. The Junkies then discuss the perfect pairing of Halloween and pop culture, specifically in the multifaceted horror movie genre. From s...
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Tripping Through Uncanny Valley

October 10, 2024 • 43 mins
Shauna details her busy week getting interviewed by the national press (and the advocacy work that got their attention, and Olivia describes her slightly less fun adventures (though she did get a chance to consume a LOT of pop culture.) Then Shauna tells us about being a mathlete until Olivia challenges her to a bit of mental arithmetic and...BUSTED! Speaking of mental stuff, this week The Junkies look at the Uncanny Valley phenome...
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